Zenless Zone Zero Beginner Guide (2025)

Welcome to our Zenless Zone Zero Beginner Guide! In this guide, we’ll cover everything about the game, whether you’re completely new to gacha games or a returning veteran.

Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) is an urban fantasy setting action RPG gacha game, developed and published by Hoyoverse. Hoyoverse is the same company behind games like Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, and Honkai Star Rail.

Zenless Zone Zero released on July 4th, 2024 on Windows, iOS, Android, and PS5.

Welcome to New Eridu — Where Humanity Rises Anew!

ZZZ takes place in an apocalyptic future, where a mysterious disaster known as Hollows wiped out most of humanity. The game takes place in New Eridu, a city that has advanced technology to co-exist with the Hollows.

You take on the role of a “Proxy,” or someone that can help guide others through the Hollows, fighting monsters known as the Ethereal.

Assemble a team of three to take on the hollows, fighting the Ethereal with action-packed combat. Use a combination of Basic and Special Attacks, Dodges and Parrys, and Chain Attacks to neutralize the threat.

Before getting into the game, let’s briefly cover the system requirements for Zenless Zone Zero. Here is also a link to the main website, where you can pre-register/download the game.

System Requirements – Windows

System Requirements – Android

System Requirements – iOS

If you’ve played Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail, many mechanics will carry over to ZZZ. The different game modes, character abilities, and progression systems are near identical.

The combat system is what sets ZZZ apart from Hoyo’s other games. Honkai Star Rail is turn-based, but Genshin Impact does have a robust combat system.

Compared to Genshin Impact, ZZZ is much more fast-paced, with a larger focus on dodging/parrying attacks. Genshin Impact is also an open-world game, while ZZZ is not.

Here’s a quick rundown of the combat in ZZZ.

• Players assemble a team of 3 characters and one Bangboo (more on this later).
• You will control one character, swapping between team members to use different attacks.
• Every character has their own Health bar, Energy Bar, and Decibels.
• Daze mechanic
• • As you attack enemies, they will accumulate Daze. Once full, enemies will be stunned, taking more damage and allowing you to activate QTE attacks known as Chain Attacks.

Combat Moveset

Every character will have a set of attacks. While the categorizations are the same, each character will have their own unique attacks. They might be from range, close combat, large AoE, etc.

• Basic Attack
• • A simple chain of attacks always available to use. Some characters will have extra mechanics with their basic attacks.
• Special Attack
• • Similar to a skill from Genshin, except special attacks have no cooldown. If you have enough energy, you can launch an empowered version (EX Special).
• Chain Attack
• • Use a Heavy Attack after Stunning an enemy to launch a Chain Attack. This will result in a QTE (Quick Time Event). Click on a team member to “chain” between the characters, dealing massive damage.
• Ultimate
• • Each character also has an Ultimate bar known as Decibels. Performing moves will increase this bar until a character can use their Ultimate.
• Dodge
• • A fairly straightforward dodge/dash mechanic. When dodging at the right time, you’ll have a perfect dodge, which you can then attack afterward to trigger a Dodge Counter.
• Switch / Assist
• • A button used to switch between characters in your team.
• Perfect Assist (Defensive/Evasive Assist)
• • If you switch to another character right before an enemy attack (flashes gold), you’ll trigger a perfect assist and consume an Assist Point (cap of 6). Some Agents will Defensive Assist and inflict Daze, while others will perform Evasive Assist and slow down time.
  • Attacking afterward will result in an Assist Follow-Up.
  • Certain moves regenerate Assist Points in longer fights.

Moving on, we have the Gacha System where you actually obtain characters and weapons. Some characters and weapons will be given for free through quests, events, rewards, etc. A large majority of the characters/weapons you acquire will be through the gacha.

Just like Genshin, the gacha system is largely the same. You’ll have two different rarities of characters: A Rank and S Rank. There will be 6 “Standard” S Rank characters, which you can obtain at any time (albeit randomly).

Limited S Rank characters will be obtained through a limited-time banner, and the same goes for limited weapons.

In Zenless Zone Zero, characters are referred to as Agents. These Agents come from different factions, each with unique attacks and abilities.

Miyabi / Soukaku

As previously mentioned, there are two rarities: A Rank and S Rank. Generally, S Rank characters are stronger than A Rank, but this isn’t always the case. Certain Agents pair well together or have certain synergies, so there is reason to use just about any character.

Agents also have an Attribute and Specialty. Here’s a quick rundown of each:

Attributes

• Fire
• Electric
• Ice
• Physical
• Ether

Specialties

• Attack
• Stun
• Anomaly
• Support
• Defense
• Rupture (introduced in Version 2.0)

In Zenless Zone Zero, your weapons will be “W-Engines.” This is essentially the same as your weapon from Genshin Impact, increasing the character’s stats and providing an additional effect.

Starlight Engine

W-Engines will be classified by Specialty, so you can equip an “Attack” W-Engine on an Attack Agent.

You’ll get W-Engines through the gacha system. A Ranks will be available on any banner, while S Ranks will be acquired through W-Engine specific banners.

Drive Discs are like equipment that you put on your characters for additional stats and set effects. This will be similar to Artifacts from Genshin Impact or Relics from Honkai Star Rail.

Astral Voice

There isn’t too much different when it comes to Drive Discs compared to the other Hoyo games. You’ll equip them for stats and having multiple of the same set will provide a bonus effect.

Bangboos are little bunny-like robots, created in New Eridu to assist humanity.

Snap

These are like pets that you can assign to your team to assist you in combat. Overall, Bangboos don't impact gameplay too much, and are mostly there as part of the game's setting.

You will obtain special currency to pull for Bangboos in the gacha system, but these are its own special currency that the game is generous in giving out, so don't worry too much about saving them.

When it comes to Endgame, there are technically four game modes, but these first two are what most players think of when referring to endgame.

Shiyu Defense

Shiyu Defense are timed stages where your goal is to defeat an enemy or waves of enemies within a certain time limit. This is similar to Memory of Chaos from HSR or Spiral Abyss from Genshin. This game mode rotates every two weeks, allowing you to earn recurring rewards and tackle new content.

Shiyu Defense requires two teams to complete, meaning you'll need to invest into around 6 characters to tackle this content well.

Deadly Assault

Deadly Assault is the endgame mode that most consistent players care about. It's a boss rush where you have 3 minutes to deal as much damage to a boss as possible.

While still a timed mode, it provides a different gameplay experience from Shiyu Defense which is often a race. In comparison, Deadly Assault is more like a marathon.

Deadly Assault also resets every two weeks and requires 3 teams to complete.

Battle Tower

Battle Tower is a technically infinite tower that you can climb, defeating stages of enemies. After a certain point, the levels will simply repeat, so it's more a contest of endurance than anything.

You don't need to get too far to claim the content rewards, but the content is there to climb if you want. Unlike the above two modes, the Tower is untimed, but the enemies deal massive damage. You also don't get to heal, so avoiding damage completely is the focus of this content.

Hollow Zero

Hollow Zero is a "rogue-like" mode where you accumulate buffs to empower your team as you progress through a randomly generated map of levels.

While it's technically a rogue-like, the system itself is treated more like a weekly quest to complete for rewards rather than difficult content.

When it comes to starting gacha games, less is more. If you want to level up every character and weapon you obtain, you’ll be strapped for resources very quickly. Try to narrow down your favorite characters or focus on one team to upgrade.

This will ensure you can continue to tackle harder content without running out of resources.

Furthermore, Zenless Zone Zero does not have “healers.” Because of this, you may think that you only need to focus on damage. While this is somewhat true, different characters have different gameplay styles and aesthetic.

You can try to follow the “meta” and upgrade only the strongest characters, but that will be a never-ending cycle. Hoyoverse is generally quite good about designing characters that synergize with one another, making use of combat mechanics over raw strength.

When deciding on what characters to use, there is no wrong answer. You can go for Agents you enjoy, the ones you think look best, or the ones that do the most damage. Or maybe you let fate decide and see what you get. Whatever the case may be, remember that ZZZ is a game to enjoy, not to win.