Zhao Best Builds, Teams, Guide & Review

Zhao is an Ice Defence Agent who is handed out for free to all players. She's a remarkably universal supportive unit, slotting in most Attacker and Anomaly comps and even a best-in-slot option for Ye Shunguang at the time of her release.

She offers:

• 1,000 Flat Combat ATK to all squad members.
• Up to 40% DMG Bonus to all squad members, scaling with her initial Max HP.
• Ether Veil: Wellspring activations.
• 10% Combat ATK and HP as well as 30% CRIT DMG to all squad members with her Signature W-Engine, Half-Sugar Bunny.
• A decent amount of Daze build for a supportive Agent, with little field time commitments.

Frostbite Points & Ether Veil: Wellspring

All of Zhao's buffs are tied to her ability to activate Ether Veil: Wellspring her her "Frostbite Points" are full, a resource tracked via a gauge beneath her portrait in combat. It has a cap of 100 and is built through a variety of different ways:

• 6 points when the currently active character hits an enemy (3s CD)
• 5 points on using Chain Attack
• 20 points on using EX Special or Ultimate

Once at 100 points, some skills will consume it all to activate Ether Veil: Wellspring for 40s. These are:

• Assist Follow-Up
• EX Special
• Ultimate
• Basic Attack: Final Verdict
• Entry Skill

The "Entry Skill" is a mechanic introduced with Zhao and Ye Shunguang, where swapping to a character once a specific criteria is met will cast it. For Zhao, this is having 100 Frostbite Points in stock.

Core Passive & Additional Ability

Core Passive

Being able to build and spend Frostbite Points constantly is critical to getting the most value out of Zhao because her Core Passive: Ideal Colleague provides 1,000 Combat ATK for 50s to all squad members when activating Ether Veil: Wellspring.

Unlike most characters, Zhao does not "extend" the duration of Ether Veils, and upon activating one, she immediately ends the previous instance. This means that despite the "activation" criteria, so long as she is the one to do so, its buffs will always work.

Her Core Passive also gives her 100 Frostbite Points as soon as she loads into combat, allowing for instant Ether Veil: Wellspring activation if needed, and has an added benefit of providing 1.4% CRIT Rate to Zhao for every 1,000 initial Max HP that she has.

This bonus is uncapped, but stat limitations and build priorities means it's likely to sit at around 37.5%, which does partially help boost her damage contribution to a team.

Additional Ability

The initial Max HP bonuses also apply to her Additional Ability, which requires Attack, Anomaly or Support characters.

When Zhao is within any Ether Veil, she increases provides up to a 40% team-wide DMG Bonus. By default this bonus is only 10%, but if Zhao's initial Max HP exceeds 15,000, every additional 400 initial Max HP increases this DMG bonus by an additional 1%.

So at 27,000 initial Max HP the buff is maxed.

It's important to make a distinction between initial Max HP and combat Max HP. The former is strictly that which is shown on the stat sheet before a fight, so HP % bonuses from Ether Veil: Wellspring for example would not help here.

As Zhao's Ether Veil: Wellspring only lasts 40s, even though she would technically only need to re-apply it every 50s for the Core Passive buff, doing so means having 10s in downtime of the Additional Ability DMG Bonus. Therefore it's important to make sure Ether Veil is always up for when characters are due to burst.

Quick Assists & Final Verdict

When activating Ether Veil: Wellspring, Zhao will trigger a Quick Assist prompt.

She does not need to do so in order to get a Quick Assist however, as many skills will provide Quick Assists so long as Zhao is in an Ether Veil. So activating one isn't required, but being in one is, which is all the more reason to have as much uptime of one as possible.

These skills are:

• Basic Attack: Final Verdict
• EX Special
• Assist Follow-Up
• Chain Attack
• Ultimate

Other than Final Verdict, if a Quick Assist prompt is used and Zhao is swapped out of, she will transition into an automatic cast of Final Verdict.

This skill has a rather low DMG Multiplier, but it will automatically charge for up to 5 seconds, then consume the charge to deal additional damage. For every 1 second charged, 24% of Zhao's combat Max HP is added, for a total of 120% in fixed damage.

As it can happen even while Zhao is inactive, this is her primary method of dealing damage. It also does not lock her out from being swapped to, functioning similar to an Aftershock skill in that regard.

Basic Attack, Dodge, Chain & Ultimates

Basic Attack

Aside from Final Verdict, Zhao does have a standard Basic Attack string, being Glacial Judgement. This is something that should not be used however, as having her attack with Final Verdict while inactive is a much better use of time.

Dodge

Similar to her standard Basic Attack string, her Dash Attack and Dodge Counters are unremarkable and shouldn't be used in most circumstances, not being worth the time spent on them.

Chain Attack & Ultimate

Despite her Chain Attack: Temporary Alliance generating 5 Frostbite Points, it is quite slow to cast and isn't strong enough to warrant its use, with its Quick Assist prompt triggering at the very end of its cast. Although its multipliers are deceptively high, as it has no HP scaling of any sort and Zhao is primarily built with HP stats in mind, it doesn't amount to all that much damage.

Her Ultimate however, will see use. As it generates 20 Frostbite Points, it makes up for the lengthy animation and late Quick Assist trigger, at times be needed to sustain full Ether Veil uptime. Still, it shouldn't be used on cooldown as unless Zhao needs Frostbite Points it might not be necessary. Balancing out other Agents' field time with her resource economy is important to her gameplan.

EX Specials

Another skill that generates 20 Frostbite Points and is to be used as often as possible is her EX Special. It has some absurd multipliers, at 2421.9% DMG and 1215.9% Daze, but unlike her Chain Attack and Ultimate, triggers a Quick Assist straight away.

With almost no time needing to be spent on Zhao, there's rarely a time where it isn't worth using, with optimal play only ever delaying its cast for Astral Voice stack alignment or to prevent early Ether Veil activations in invulnerability phases.

It has an added effect where upon cast, it drains 5% of Zhao's current HP, then grants all squad members an HP regeneration buff for 5s, healing 1.7% of Zhao's Max HP p/s.

Her Special is entirely unremarkable and not worth using, but it also has this same effect, with both skills sharing a 30s CD on the HP drain and regeneration buff.

Assists

Although Zhao has many ways of triggering Quick Assists, her own Quick Assist is not particularly good, with no real redeemable qualities.

Her "Entry Skill" however, hits decently hard and its cast counts as activating a Quick Assist, meaning that Drive Disc set effects like Astral Voice build stacks upon its use. It does not, however, bestow the Astral Voice buff on Zhao, as it only counts as activating a Quick Assist as opposed to entering the field through one.

It should be noted that the Entry Skill can only ever be activated by swapping to Zhao when at 100 Frostbite Points. This swap also cannot be done via a Defensive Assist, as it will take priority.

As a Defender, Zhao's Defensive Assists consume only 1 Assist Point when used regardless of the attack, which can be helpful for sustaining Proto Punk. Her Assist Follow-Up can be rather slow, with a late Quick Assist activation when in Ether Veil, but its Decibel generation is decent and it sees occasional use.

1. Core Passive
2. Basic Attack | EX Special
3. Assist | Ultimate
4. Dodge

As Zhao's Combat ATK buff scales directly with her Core Passive and her A to F nodes provide more HP %, it is by far and away the most important skill to max.

Following that, Basic Attack and EX Special will help the most. The HP scaling properties of her Basic Attack go up with level, and the ridiculous multipliers on her EX Special make it a great skill for both daamge and Daze build, so both are worth investing in.

As Zhao's Defensive Assists only cost 1 Assist Point and don't do terrible Daze, it's not a bad idea to put some levels in it, doubly so as her Assist Follow-Up can give Quick Assists, so it's occasionally used. Her Chain Attack rarely ever sees use, but her Ultimate is worth casting at least once or twice per fight due to its Frostbite Points generation, so it's worth at least some investment.

Dodge however, can be safely left at 1, as Zhao is unlikely to ever use it.

Zhao gets a lot of bonuses from her Signature W-Engine, and although there are alternatives, the raw amount of buffs it provides to the team makes it a particularly strong upgrade over others. Considering she's a free character, investing into it is recommended to get the most out of her.

Half-Sugar Bunny

Half-Sugar Bunny (P1) provides:

• 30% HP
• 0.46 Energy Regen
• 10% Combat Attack to all squad members
• 10% HP to all squad members
• 30% CRIT DMG to all squad members

As far as Signature W-Engines go, this is one of the strongest single supportive picks available. Notoriously strong W-Engines like Yesterday Calls and Blazing Laurel offer only 30% in CRIT DMG to team members. Dreamlit Hearth gives 25% in DMG Bonus and 15% in Max HP, but this still isn't sufficient to outpace Half-Sugar Bunny.

Having an HP % maintstat means it's easier for Zhao to hit her 27,000 initial HP threshold, the Energy Regen allows for far more consistent uptime of Ether Veil: Wellspring through more EX Special uses and its total team-wide buffs are top class.

Although it isn't necessary to have this, it is in large part the reason Zhao can do as well as she does.

Tusks of Fury

Tusks of Fury (P1) provides:

• 18% Impact
• 18% DMG Bonus to all squad members
• 12% Daze dealt increase to all squad members

Despite not having an HP mainstat, making it not realistically feasible for Zhao to hit the 27,000 initial HP threshold without running an HP % D6 (which may not be worthwhile due to the reduction in EX Special casts), the DMG Bonus that it gives makes up for the loss.

Impact and Daze % aren't particularly good stats for Zhao, as her Daze build isn't all that impressive, but as the Daze % applies to the entire team it can make it much easier to hit faster stuns or 4+ stuns in certain encounters, meaning it isn't that bad a choice and still above any of the A-Rank options.

Original Transmorpher

Original Transmorpher (P5) provides:

• 25% HP
• 12.5% Combat Max HP
• 16% Impact upon being hit for 12s

Out of the A-Rank options, Original Transmorpher is the pick simply due to its HP % mainstat, which makes it possible to hit 27,000 initial Max HP without the need for an HP % D6.

In theory any W-Engine with an HP % mainstat could be used, but the extra Combat HP it provides does help increase the damage of Basic Attack: Final Verdict, so it's a nice to have. Aside from that, there isn't much in its offering, as the Impact bonus only applies on being hit, and so will rarely if ever be up (not to mention it's negligible benefit).

At the very least it means that Half-Sugar Bunny isn't required to max out Zhao's HP-scaling buff, so it is still decently useful.

Stats

D4 - HP %

D5 - HP %

D6 - Energy Regen

Zhao wants to have 27,000 intial Max HP to max out her Additional Ability's DMG Bonus, making it necessary to build her for HP with both main and substats.

D4 and D5 are strictly set, and D6 should almost always be ER. Half-Sugar Bunny and Original Transmorpher both provide HP %, and without the extra Energy it's difficult if not outright impossible to cycle through Ether Veil: Wellspring often enough.

A case can be made to run HP % with Tusks of Fury, if on Attacker teams and short encounters, like a sub minute Shiyu Defence run, or on certain bosses where extended invulnerability phases/Miasma Shield refunds enable the time and resources to have it up for stuns, however this isn't generally recommended unless you have a route fully planned out that ensures uptime for critical periods.

For Anomaly or Ye Shunguang teams, Energy Regen will always be the way.

Drive Discs

There are 2 decent 4-piece set options that can be used:

• 4-piece Astral Voice for Attacker teams.
• 4-piece Proto Punk for dual Damage Dealer/Anomaly teams.

Considering that there are multiple ways for Zhao to provide Quick Assists, be it with her Assist Follow-Up, EX Special, Ultimate or Ether Veil: Wellspring activations, she is able to bestow and build stacks of Astral Voice.

Unfortunately, she is not able to consistently max out its stacks with ease, but compared to other options it is still the best for single Damage Dealer teams, as by planning around Zhao's skills it is possible to have multiple stacks up for stuns.

As Astral Voice needs a character to be Quick Assisted to in order to receive the buff, it falls behind on dual Damage Dealer teams, as only one character would benefit from it. In such situations - and especially on Anomaly teams that are not too fussed about Stuns - having more consistent uptime of a team-wide DMG Bonus works out better.

The lowered Assist Point cost on Defensive Assists by Zhao can help with uptime by increasing the number of times the set can be triggered in a run.

As for 2-piece, Yunkui Tales is needed for Zhao to have much of a chance to hit her 27,000 initial Max HP requirement. Technically an Energy Regen set, like Swing Jazz or Moonlight Lullaby could be used, but one would need an absurd level of substat rolls for it.

Zhao is a pretty universal unit, with her teams likely a shell of:

• Attacker | Filler | Zhao
• Anomaly | Anomaly | Zhao

General

The general nature of her buffs and low field time commitment needs mean that she can slot into almost any Attacker or Anomaly, team with the only limiting factor she has being the fact she's a Defender.

She can go in a Zhu Yuan with Dialyn, or pretty much any Alice team. She'd slot in with Ellen and could serve as a Support/Stunner replacement for Seed. Attackers, like Evelyn, Harumasa, would work so long as a Stunner is present, and Anomaly units, like Yanagi and Vivian, have their requirements met by each other.

On the other hand, as Miyabi needs a Support or Section 6 unit, Zhao would only ever slot in teams with Yanagi if 2 Anomaly units are used. Hugo wants double Stunners, so Zhao wouldn't be a good pick. Soldier 11 couldn't be run with Dialyn and would require Lighter or at the very least Trigger.

It should be observed that despite her supplying Ether Veil: Wellspring, Zhao does not slot in Rupture teams owing to the lack of Additional Ability matching and ATK oriented buffs outside of it, which do not scale well with Sheer Force. Although she can work with a Support (e.g. Yidhari | Astra Yao | Zhao), it's not recommended to do so as Pan Yinhu would be a better fit.

Ye Shunguang

Despite her universal value, aside from Ye Shunguang, Zhao would not be a best-in-slot option for any team. With Ye Shunguang however, she is an ideal partner, due to the 3 Qingming Sword Force points generated whenever allies activate Ether Veil and Zhao being able to supply it on top of her decent buffs.

With Half-Sugar Bunny and an ER D6, it's possible for Zhao to have full Ether Veil uptime for all Enlightened Mind Statea activations. To top if off, unlike other Ether Veil characters, Zhao is unable to extend Ether Veil and will always forcefully end the existing instance, meaning there is no risk of overlaps leading to missed points.

When paired with Dialyn for a Ye Shunguang | Dialyn | Zhao comp, the 3 together make for the strongest single team any character has had at the time of their release.

Mindscape 1

Righteous Verdict provides:

• 15% All-Attribute RES Ignore to all squad members for 50s when swapped out of

As far as M1s go, Zhao's is rather standard. It isn't quite the 18% that Astra Yao's 12-Tone Equal Temperament or Lucia's Secret Friend have, nor does it have additional bonuses like Dialyn's Boundless Hospitality (with its Positive Reviews generation increase), but even still it's a solid Mindscape.

15% All-Attribute RES Ignore to the whole team is quite strong, being always active as the frequent Quick Assists out of Zhao will count as a swap out. Considering that Zhao is a free character, having her M1 putting her almost on par with an M1 Astra in terms of performance is quite the significant boost.

Mindscape 2

Krampus Senior provides:

• 20% Combat ATK increase to Zhao & 15% Combat ATK increase to remaining squad members for 50s when Zhao recovers HP

As any use of Special or EX Special will both consume then recover Zhao's HP with a 30s cooldown, this should have full uptime in fights.

As Zhao already has a 1,000 Flat Combat ATK buff and gets some from Half-Sugar Bunny, this can get a little saturated, but 15% is a large increase that puts it on par with Puffer Electro's 4 piece. With how lacklustre some M2s in this game can be, having both a sizeable personal and team-wide damage boost makes it a very competitive Mindscape.

Mindscape 4

Featherlight Footsteps provides:

• 250 Decibels when Zhao activates Ether Veil
• 40% CRIT DMG increase to Ultimate, Chain Attack and Basic Attack: Final Verdict

Had this been on a damage dealer, it would be a solid M4. Unfortunately, Zhao is not a damage dealer, making it lacklustre at best.

While the 250 Decibels on Ether Veil can help cycle through Ultimates faster, the lengthy animation means that there aren't many routes where Zhao needs to use her Ultimate early, and in fact, many have her constantly overcap on Decibels or skip Ultimate use altogether.

It is very helpful if Half-Sugar Bunny is not available, as the additional casts could help make up for the fewer EX Special uses, but if Zhao is being taken to M4 then her Signature W-Engine is likely to be in use.

As for the CRIT DMG, it doesn't apply to her EX Special (a 2421.9% DMG Multiplier move!) which lowers its value. Even with Core Passive: Ideal Colleague's CRIT Rate increase, Zhao isn't likely to have a CRIT Rate that is all that far above 50%, meaning that CRIT DMG increases do not yield significant gains as the lower chance for attacks to CRIT lessens its impact.

For those committed to have Zhao as a sub-damage dealer unit, it's a fair pick, but it isn't all that great in regards to total team damage and contribution.

Mindscape 6

No Value Has Its Own Value provides:

• x1.25 gain to Core Passive: Ideal Colleague's CRIT RATE conversion
• x1.4 gain to Basic Attack: Final Verdict's HP scaling charge bonus
• Charge time when using Basic Attack: Final Verdict is no longer consumed

in general play, Zhao's M6 does nothing to her team, and while it does increase her personal damage it isn't by much, with a minor increase to CRIT RATE and a sizeable but not all that significant gain to Final Verdict's damage.

The fact that Final Verdict it has a low base DMG Multiplier and is limited by Zhao's Max HP (which conflicts with building for damaging stats, like CRIT) means that even with this bonus it isn't a particularly strong skill.

The value of this Mindscape lies in the final bonus: not consuming charge time when using Final Verdict. This allows for an active Zhao playstyle, as she no longer has to charge up to 5s and can simply loop Final Verdicts over and over.

If she's handled normally, with swapping out and letting Final Verdict auto cast, it won't make much of a difference, as these are tied by the frequency of Assist Follow-Ups, EX Specials, Ultimates, etc. being used. If staying on Zhao constantly though, then this can truly shine.

When it comes to pure scores, it is a terrible Mindscape, but for those that specifically want to play Zhao as a main damage dealer, it's a necessity.