League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics
Valorant
Lost Ark
Destiny 2
Diablo 4
Download APP
Zenless Zone Zero Tier List – Version 1.2
Welcome to our Zenless Zone Zero Tier List where we cover the best characters/agents. If you want to reroll, be sure to check out our ZZZ Reroll Guide for more catered information.
Version 1.2 has just come out, releasing Caesar as a new Agent. Overall, the meta hasn’t changed too much, and Caesar simply is now part of the S-tier for the Support/Defense category.
If you want a more detailed breakdown, you can check out our ZZZ Best Teams article.
In the table below, you’ll see a breakdown of our ZZZ tier list for Version 1.2.
Note: Caesar is currently missing from the image, but she is in S-tier.
| Tier | Agents |
| S | Ellen, Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, Lycaon, Jane, Caesar |
| A+ | Soldier 11, Koleda, Grace, Soukaku, Nicole, Seth |
| A | Nekomata, Anby, Piper, Lucy, Rina |
| B | Anton, Corin, Ben |
| C | Billy |
Disclaimers
This tier list attempts to cover every character and their potential value, but be sure to take this article with a grain of salt.
Choosing the best characters for your account is a mixture of personal preference and context. If you have Zhu Yuan, then Qingyi will be a great pickup. However, if your second team has Grace, maybe Jane Doe is better pickup.
The meta will always shift as more characters release, and you can’t pull everyone unless you swipe the credit card.
Furthermore, we try to balance meta strength and flexibility. Nicole is one of the most flexible Support Agents, being impactful with low investment on essentially any team. Conversely, Soukaku is extremely relevant due to her pairing with Ellen.
For the most part, we focus more on meta strength over flexibility, but both are considerations.
Let’s jump into the Agent breakdowns. We’ll highlight the latest release at the top while the rest will be ordered by tier.
New Agents
S-Tier: Caesar
Caesar is our first Limited Agent for the Support/Defense category. Without a doubt, Caesar is S-tier and is a noticeable upgrade from the other Support/Defense options.
She grants an easy 1000 ATK buff, a large shield, Anti-Interrupt level, and a debuff that increases DMG for the entire team. Even if you take out the defensive utility, she still provides more than the other A-Rank options.
Her Anti-Interrupt level also makes playing the game much easier for certain characters. Ellen has high multipliers on her later Basic Attacks, meaning you do gain effective DPS by having Caesar’s shield. You can simply tank enemy attacks instead of dodging to use your entire Basic Attack chain.
Lastly, Caesar also stuns enemies very effectively. While she doesn’t provide a Stun DMG multiplier like Lycaon/Qingyi, she scales her shield with Impact, allowing her to Daze enemies very effectively.
Overall, Caesar is an extremely flexible Agent that will improve almost any team in the game.
Character Breakdowns
S-Tier: Ellen
S Rank |
Victoria |
Ice |
Attack |
Ellen was the first Limited Agent to release in ZZZ, and she is still a top Agent. Her damage and teams are simply stronger than other options non-limited options.
Lycaon is a great synergistic Stun Agent that is part of the Standard Banner, and Soukaku is a free Agent. This means you can build a very strong team without committing too many Polychromes. (Assuming you get Lycaon from the Standard Banner)
Ellen is also a very flexible Attack Agent. She can be played as a Burst DPS alongside a Stunner, or as a full uptime DPS with double Support teams.
As more Agents release, Ellen doesn’t shine at the top alone. Zhu Yuan and Jane are both amazing DPS Agents as well. However, until another strong Ice Agent comes out, Ellen will still be the best for tackling Ice weak enemies.
S-Tier: Zhu Yuan
|
S Rank |
CISRT |
Ether |
Attack |
Zhu Yuan was the second Limited Agent in Version 1.0, and like Ellen, she is also an Attack Agent. Currently, the only other Ether Agent in the game is Nicole, so Zhu Yuan provides nice coverage to hit Ether weak enemies.
Overall, Zhu Yuan’s damage is incredible, and her team building can be very flexible. Her AA (Additional Ability) activates if you have ANY Support on your team or an Ether Agent.
Nicole looks to be her best teammate currently, and Nicole a free Agent everyone has. Anby is also a free Stun Agent that activates her AA with Nicole. This makes Zhu Yuan a very easy Agent to build a team for.
With the release of Qingyi, the team of Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Nicole is a top meta team. This is expected since the team uses two synergistic limited Agents, but it’s still worth noting.
S-Tier: Qingyi
|
S Rank |
CISRT |
Ether |
Stun |
Qingyi was the first featured Agent of Version 1.1, and she’s the first Limited Stun Agent to release. As expected of a limited Agent, her kit combines the best aspects of all the Stun Agents.
She has a DMG multiplier on Stun like Lycaon (but higher) and her Additional Ability grants her Attack based on her Impact. Her Daze application is competitive with the others, but she outputs more damage, has the extra buff utility, and her moveset is flexible as well.
Anby can be difficult to use because you need to chain your Basic Attack 1, 2, 3 into Special/EX Special, followed by Basic 4. On the other hand, Qingyi can spam her BA 3, Dodge, and go right back into BA 3.
You will need to time her Charge Attack chain well to get the max Stun DMG buff, but that can be timed well.
S-Tier: Lycaon
|
S Rank |
Victoria |
Ice |
Stun |
Next up, we have Lycaon, an S-Rank Standard Agent. Of the Standard S-Rank Agents, Lycaon stands out since he synergizes with Ellen. While he’s not the only one, this is definitely a major plus for his rating.
His Stun DMG multiplier is very strong, and he can still be used without Ellen. You can run Corin/Lycaon/Rina for example. Since Qingyi released, Lycaon definitely is not the top stunner in the game, but he’s still a top tier Agent.
S-Tier: Jane Doe
|
S Rank |
CISRT |
Physical |
Anomaly |
Jane released in the second half of Version 1.2, and was the first limited Anomaly Agent.
While many players expected Jane to revolutionize Disorder teams (with Grace), Jane is actually just a self-sufficient DPS Agent.
Jane can be played as a traditional on-field DPS, so you can still run her with double Support or Stun + Support teams. This makes her more like Ellen, except she scales her damage with Anomaly stats rather than Crit.
Because of this, Jane is quite the flexible unit. She can be paired with other/future Anomaly Agents, Supports, or Stunners.
However, because Jane’s role is to deal damage, she can be powercrept more easily if/when future Agents come that deal more damage. Currently, Shiyu Defense is quite favorable for Physical, but that can easily change in the future as well.
Overall, in the current meta, Jane is easily top tier, and will be the best Physical damage Agent for the forseeable future.
A+Tier: Soldier 11
[Link to Full Soldier 11 Guide]
|
S Rank |
OBOLS |
Fire |
Attack |
As a Standard S-Rank Agent, Soldier 11 simply is a bit weaker when compared to Ellen/Zhu Yuan/Jane. Even still, her damage is still very good, and she has multiple team options.
Since Soldier 11 can deal Fire DMG with her Basic Attacks, this makes her Anomaly buildup stronger than most other Attack Agents. This allows her to be part of strong Anomaly/Disorder teams while still being a traditional Crit damage Agent. (Woodpecker Set/Inferno Metal)
Example: Soldier 11, Piper, Lucy
You can also play her in a more traditional Stun based team with Koleda + Ben/Lucy. The Inferno Metal set grants a 28% Crit Rate buff when hitting a Burning enemy, and Soldier 11 keeps up Burn uptime very well. If you’re planning to use Piper for Disorder, Woodpecker is likely better as you will be removing Burn once you trigger Disorder.
A+Tier: Koleda
|
S Rank |
Belobog |
Fire |
Stun |
When Koleda first released, there was a bug that reduced her Daze rather than increasing it. This led to her Daze application being very unimpressive. With the bug fixed, Koleda applies Daze almost twice as well, making her a very strong Stun Agent.
She doesn’t have the 35% damage debuff that Lycaon has, but her Daze application is just as good. You can also pair her with Ben to give her more personal damage on her skills through coordinated attacks.
Currently Koleda sees the most play in either Mono Fire teams with Soldier 11, or on Disorder teams with Grace/Rina. Both are strong options in the current meta, resulting in her A+ rating.
A+Tier: Grace
|
S Rank |
Belobog |
Electric |
Anomaly |
Grace is our next A+Tier Agent, and is a key Agent for Disorder teams. Her Shock application is very fast, and Shock is one of the best Anomalies to detonate with Disorder. Shock deals damage over a duration, but reapplying it only extends/refreshes the duration instead of dealing more damage.
This is where Disorder comes into play. By detonating the Shock, you frontload the damage, allowing you to build it up again for max efficiency. Most players detonate Shock with Assault through Piper or the newly released Jane.
When it comes to Jane teams, Grace is a strong teammate, but not necessarily the best choice by far. Jane has many viable teams, and Grace is simply one of them.
Grace can also be used in a team with Anton for a Mono-Electric team, but that team is notably weaker than Ellen/ZY/Jane teams.
A+Tier: Soukaku
A Rank |
Section 6 |
Ice |
Support |
Up next, we have Soukaku, who is a Support Agent for the Ice Attribute and Section 6 Faction.
Soukaku is a very difficult Agent to assess. Compared to the other 3 Supports, her kit is the most clunky and she takes up a lot of field time for her buff/Chain Attack.
However, her synergy with Ellen is very powerful, and Ellen is still one of the strongest DPS in the game. Soukaku provides a massive 1000 flat ATK buff at max, and her buff uptime is also very long.
There are many benefits to Soukaku, but her rating is mostly carried by the strength of Ellen rather than her own. In the future, Miyabi may release as an Ice Attack Agent (based on CBT), so Soukaku may have another synergy there as well.
Overall, we don’t rate Soukaku much higher than the other Supports. While her performance with Ellen is very good, if you don’t enjoy her clunky playstyle, you aren’t losing out on too much if you use Lucy/Nicole instead.
A+Tier: Nicole
|
A Rank |
Cunning Hares |
Ether |
Support |
Nicole is one of the free Agents you receive upon starting the game, and she is a great unit to level up. She is a flexible support for almost any team. While she may not always be your best option, she can easily fit into any team and provide a lot of utility.
Her Chain Attack/EX Special shreds enemy DEF, which is a buff useful on any team, whether hyper carry or disorder. She also applies a decent amount of Anomaly, leading to Corruption triggers.
Nicole is a great Support for Nekomata, but the team as a whole doesn’t compare to others above in the tier list. With Zhu Yuan’s release, Nicole moved right up to A+ tier as she is simply Zhu Yuan’s best Support due to the Ether DMG buff on her AA.
There are many players that even use Nicole on Ellen teams as their preferred choice. You can essentially forgo switching into Nicole and use her Chain Attack to shred enemy DEF, going right into your Attack Agent for massive damage.
A+Tier: Seth
|
A Rank |
CISRT |
Electric |
Defense |
Seth is a new A-Rank Agent featuring on Jane’s banner. As expected, the two work very well together, and Seth is basically a “support” for the team. While he provides defensive utility through shields, his main contribution will be from the Anomaly Proficiency buff he provides.
When it comes to these Agents, we rate them fairly equally due to their presence on meta teams. Nicole is best for Zhu Yuan, Soukaku for Ellen, and Seth for Jane.
All three of these Agents are very strong, but they don’t compare to Caesar, who is our only S-tier Support/Defense Agent.
A-Tier: Nekomata
|
S Rank |
Cunning Hares |
Physical |
Attack |
Nekomata is another Standard S-Rank Attack Agent like Soldier 11. Simply put, Nekomata is mid. She is a noticeable upgrade from Corin/Anton, and only slightly below Soldier 11.
However, she’s a noticeable downgrade compared to Ellen or Zhu Yuan. Jane is also essentially a better Nekomata as a Physical on-field DPS.
Even still, Nekomata is a very easy Agent to build around. You can run Anby + Nicole for a free Cunning Hares team. You can also replace Anby for Piper and play around the Assault Anomaly.
Nekomata’s AA increases her EX Special damage when any squad member triggers Assault. This can turn Nekomata into a Burst DPS, but Piper doesn’t quite have the kit to use up high field time.
Overall, she’s a solid option, not amazing, but not bad.
A-Tier: Anby
|
A Rank |
Cunning Hares |
Electric |
Stun |
Up next, we have Anby, another free Agent you get from Cunning Hares. As a Stun Agent, she is a noticeable downgrade from Koleda/Lycaon, but not everyone has both Lycaon and Koleda.
Traditional Attack/Stun teams are very strong, and Anby is one of four current Stun Agents. With Zhu Yuan, Anby provides a free Stun option that is competitive, but not meta defining.
Qingyi definitely powercreeps Anby, but she’s still a great option if you opted to skip Qingyi or are joining the game after Qingyi’s banner.
A-Tier: Piper
|
A Rank |
Sons of Calydon |
Physical |
Anomaly |
Piper released in Version 1.0, but she was not part of any CBT. Now that players have gotten the chance to play with her, she has definitely impressed.
Piper and Grace make for a solid duo, proccing massive Disorder damage numbers. Piper also applies Assault very quickly, similar to Grace and Shock.
It’s tough to rate these two as they simply work best together. However, we gave the edge to Grace as she has a bit more top teams compared to Piper.
In terms of flexibility, they are also very similar. Grace can go Mono-Electric/pair with Koleda/Rina while Piper can go Duo Physical (with Nekomata) or pair with S11/Lucy.
With the release of Jane, Grace now sits atop Piper definitively since Grace pairs better with Jane than Piper does.
A-Tier: Lucy
|
A Rank |
Sons of Calydon |
Fire |
Support |
Like Piper, Lucy released in 1.0 but wasn’t part of any CBT. She’s a strong Support that doesn’t require much field time, similar to Rina and Nicole.
Lucy provides an ATK buff similar to Soukaku, but Soukaku grants more, which makes sense considering the field time required for each.
In terms of the meta, Lucy sees play in a variety of teams. You see her on Double Support teams for Ellen or Jane and as a Support for Jane or Piper teams.
However, she doesn’t yet have a team where she is the undisputed best choice, unlike the Supports in the A+ tier.
A-Tier: Rina
|
S Rank |
Victoria |
Electric |
Support |
Moving on, we have Rina, a Support Agent from Victoria Housekeeping. In theory, Rina is a very flexible Agent since she provides PEN Ratio, which is universally good for both Anomaly and Crit based teams.
However, as time has passed, we’ve seen many players opt to use other Supports over Rina. This is because without M1, Rina’s buff uptime is fairly short, and her rotation is a bit more time consuming compared to Lucy or Nicole.
Every Limited Agent also has a best support. Soukaku for Ellen, Nicole for ZY, and Seth for Jane. This puts Rina in an awkward spot since her best pairing is with Anton, but he doesn’t compare to the limited roster.
You’ll often see Rina used in double Support teams, whether for Ellen or Jane, but that’s more of an option rather than an optimal choice.
If an Agent comes out in the future that synergizes very well with Rina, she will likely move up the list.
B-Tier: Anton
|
A Rank |
Belobog |
Electric |
Attack |
Moving on, we have Anton, an A-Rank Electric Attack Agent from Belobog Heavy Industries. As an A-Rank Attack Agent, he won’t compete with S Rank Agents, but he can be a valuable addition to your roster.
There are plenty of Electric weak enemies in Shiyu Defense where Anton can shine.
Notably, Anton M1 has a tech where you can spam his Electric Drill attack without running out of Energy. This can be great for spamming damage against Machine enemies.
Overall, he’s not a bad character by any means, and he does have application even for strong teams if you have Grace and/or Rina.
B-Tier: Corin
|
A Rank |
Victoria |
Physical |
Attack |
Corin is another Agent you receive for free as part of the pre-registration rewards. Like Billy, she already has competition being a Physical Attack Agent.
With Nekomata being a stronger Physical Attack Agent, Corin has difficult competition. If you pull Lycaon from the Standard Banner, you can use Corin/Lycaon/Soukaku for a solid F2P team.
While Ellen is definitely much stronger, you can save your pulls and use Corin instead. This gives Corin a bit of a place in the current meta as an alternative if you want to save your pulls.
There is some potential to run Corin alongside Piper for a Physical team, but this team hasn’t impressed compared to other options.
B-Tier: Ben
|
A Rank |
Belobog |
Fire |
Defense |
Next up, we have Ben, the only Defense Agent in the game currently. As it sounds, Defense Agents focus on things that provide defensive utility compared to offensive.
When you’re just starting out, avoiding damage can be nice as you can push through content without worrying about dying. There are also no healers currently in the game, which can make Ben valuable.
However, the wall most players face in Shiyu Defense is a lack of damage, not a lack of survivability. This makes puts Ben in an awkward situation for the current meta.
Even still, he does have a Crit buff on his AA, and you can pair him with Koleda for extra damage. He does have a place in the current meta, but he will quickly be phased out as time passes.
C-Tier: Billy
|
A Rank |
Cunning Hares |
Physical |
Attack |
Unfortunately, Billy is currently our only C-tier Agent. He is the last Free Agent you get from starting the game, but he is quickly outclassed.
As an A-Rank Attack Agent, he’s already at a disadvantage when trying to compete with Nekomata, an S-Rank Physical Attack Agent. His ranged playstyle can be an advantage, but that is a matter of personal preference instead of meta.
You can use Billy as a Physical Anomaly applier with Anomaly Mastery, but Piper does that role better than Billy. The other Agent that’s often lumped with Billy is Corin, but Corin has more use as an Attack Agent to pair with Lycaon outside of Ellen.
With the current roster, Billy simply doesn’t have a strong home, and there are upgrades in almost every possible team of his.
Things may change in the future if content requires strong AoE, which Billy does have. (Similar to Herta in HSR and Pure Fiction)
