As with all character-based gacha games, not all characters are made equal. And while each of them is definitely viable given practice and proper investment, some of them are more worthy of receiving resources. To help you make your own judgment calls, here’s our Zenless Zone Zero tier list.
A Foreword
A short foreword before we begin.
Characters will be ranked by letter grade, with S as the highest and D as the lowest.
S-tier characters excel at their stated role. There’s no reason not to use them if you have them.
A-tier characters are great. While not perfect, they’re solid picks nonetheless.
B-tier characters are okay. Definitely some room for improvement here, but decent if you’re starting out or have no one better.
C-tier characters are eh. You can make them work if you really try, but don’t expect them to really shine.
D-tier characters are bleh. Seriously, don’t waste your resources on them. Luckily, no characters in Zenless Zone Zero are bad enough to warrant this tier…yet.
Characters will be sorted by their role.
Attack characters refer to anyone who can output damage, whether that’s via onfield combos, quick swap bursts, or exploiting anomalies.
Stun characters are pretty much anyone who can stun. Since stunning is so important to combat in Zenless Zone Zero, stunners deserve their own category.
Support characters encompass any character who works better by enabling the rest of their team, whether that’s by applying buffs or debuffs.
Lastly, remember that Zenless Zone Zero is a very young game, and that the current meta shouldn’t be taken as an end-all, be-all solution. Be adaptable, build everyone that might be useful, and most importantly, keep practicing.
On to the list.
Attack Tier List
| S | Ellen, Zhu Yuan, Grace |
| A | Nekomata, Soldier 11, Anton, Piper |
| B | Billy, Corin |
S-Tier
Ellen Joe
S-Rank Ice Attack Agent
Pros:
- Incredibly fast animations that have momentum, giving Ellen surprising amounts of mobility during attacks.
- Super mobile DPS character; special mention goes to her Roaming dash mode.
- Ice Attribute gives her the ideal support member in Soukaku.
- Core Skill vastly improves Flash Freeze Trimming and Arctic Ambush.
Cons:
- Tons of crit rate required to maximize her Core Skill.
- Practice is mandatory to get used to the flow of her Roaming -> Arctic Ambush -> Flash Freeze Trimming loop and variety of follow-ups on her EX Special Skill.
As with Zhu Yuan, Ellen Joe comes out strong. As one of the best DPS units currently in the game (though sadly her banner has already passed), Ellen sets the standard for other on-field Attackers.
First, we need to talk about Ellen’s unique kit. A core part of Ellen’s kit is her special Roaming state, which grants her fantastic mobility for both disengaging from foes and striking their flanks and also allows her to build up Flash Freeze charges for an enhanced Basic Attack. Learning how to effectively use Ellen to dart in and out of combat and knowing when to spend her charges is core to getting the most out of her.
On top of that, you’ll also need to practice with Ellen’s unique EX Special Attack follow-ups; she can go EX -> Basic (optional hold) or, with enough Energy, EX -> EX -> Basic (optional hold). As she’s (so far) the only Agent who can do this, muscle memory might work against you here, so practice is mandatory. Apart from these, Ellen’s kit is simple and straightforward with the exception that she’s very mobile during her combo strings, allowing you to chain attack and defense in a frenzied dance.
Related: Zenless Zone Zero Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies for Building a Brighter Future
Thanks to her Ice Attribute, Ellen synergizes perfectly with fellow Ice Agent Soukaku. Ice also allows Ellen to take advantage of the powerful burst damage of the Shatter anomaly, and her Core Skill grants her a ramping Ice DMG buff. Said Core Skill also incentivizes maximizing crit rate for her Arctic Ambush and Flash Freeze Trimming.
Zhu Yuan
S-Rank Ether Attack Agent
Pros:
- Incredibly mobile ranged burst DPS that can dash (with invincibility frames!) during her Basic Attack combos.
- Core Skill gives her tremendous amounts of bonus damage (up to 80% at Core Skill F!)
- Compact DPS window – only really needs Suppressive Mode and her Ultimate for her damage.
- Works very well with both Anby and Nicole, who are free.
Cons:
- Burst damage is reliant on her Enhanced Shotshells, making her dependent on her EX Special Attack, Quick Assist, and Assist Follow-Up to generate ammo.
- Wants a Stun Agent on her team.
It should come as no surprise that the first two rate-up characters present very strong cases for pulling them. In Zhu Yuan’s case, she’s a very compact Ether burst DPS Agent who relies on her Enhanced Shotshells to bring the pain. Said shells are generated with Zhu Yuan’s EX Special Attack, Quick Assist, and Assist Follow Up – and I should point out that without her shotgun, Zhu Yuan’s damage suffers. Zhu Yuan’s gameplay thus involves generating and unleashing Enhanced Shotshells as quickly and as often as possible, and since her ammo generation is tied to very specific actions, you’ll need to stay on top of things to play Zhu Yuan optimally.
Once you can overcome the problem of generating ammo, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how much damage Zhu Yuan can deal. Thanks to her compact DPS window (you only really need her shotgun mode to deal the bulk of her damage), Zhu Yuan is primed to maximized both ally buffs and enemy debuffs – especially Nicole’s short-lived DEF shred. And speaking of debuffs, Zhu Yuan’s amazing Core Skill not only increases the damage her shotgun does, but also grants a damage boost against stunned enemies. This means that Zhu Yuan must have a dedicated stunner on her team, but thankfully, Anby is free and performs decently.
Grace Howard
S-Rank Electric Anomaly Agent
Pros:
- Super mobile.
- Unrivaled in terms of Shock damage teams.
- Extremely rapid Shock buildup paves the way for Disorder teams.
Cons:
- Shock teams really need Rina to extend their duration.
As one of the standard banner S-rank Agents, Grace is in direct competition with the newest characters Ellen and Zhu Yuan. While she’s not quite as mind-blowing as them, Grace still manages to hold her own in the damage department.
Just like Ellen and Zhu Yuan, Grace is very agile, with a lot of motion in her skills, allowing her to weave attack and defense with equal ease. But unlike the other two, Grace relies on applying Shock anomalies to inflict damage. Thanks to her Core Skill, every eight normal attacks result in a massive amount of Shock buildup, making Grace a key member of any Shock team and opening the path to Disorder-based teams. Triggering her second Core Skill is also easy as Anton is a perfect fit for Grace.
What sucks about Grace is that she’s heavily dependent on Shock to do damage, meaning that her teambuilding (for now) is restricted to Anton and Rina – who is another S-rank Agent. Good luck with your pulls.
A-Tier
Nekomiya Mana (Nekomata)
S-rank Physical Attack Agent
Pros:
- Fantastic movement and speed.
- Great single-target and AOE damage.
Cons:
- Core Skill must be kept active via Dodge Counters or Quick Assists, making her much less straightforward than other DPS characters.
Nekomata is a standard S-rank Physical DPS Agent. Her main gimmick is that she’s fast. With blindingly quick attack combos, Special Attacks, and movement, using her is very fun, and the generous multipliers and AOEs on her kit allow her to tackle both mob clearing and boss slaying with equal proficiency.
Where Nekomata starts to crack is in her Core Skill. While it grants a massive DMG buff (30% base, 60% at Core Skill F), the fact stands that you need to constantly trigger Dodge Counters or Quick Assists to keep the passive active. Sure, the damage buff is huge, but this makes Nekomata a lot less straightforward to play compared to other DPS units as she’ll need to juggle maintaining her buff and keeping up with the buff/debuff timers of her party.
Soldier 11
S-Rank Fire Attack Agent
Pros:
- Solid vanilla performance.
- Core Skill rewards learning her Basic Attack pattern.
Cons:
- Practice and presence of mind are needed to consistently trigger Fire Suppression.
- Extremely vulnerable to power creep.
There’s not much to say about Soldier 11 other than she’s a solid all-around DPS.
The star of her kit is her Fire Suppression Basic Attack, which triggers on perfectly timed Basic Attacks – there are videos online of how to time this, but it’s something like short-short-short-long-short. Once you’ve mastered this, Soldier 11 will have consistent access to Fire damage without using her EX/Special Skill, allowing her to get some bonus Anomaly damage in.
Soldier 11’s Core Skill further incentivizes mastering her rhythm. Meanwhile, her second Core Skill passive nets her a damage bonus as well as more punching power against stunned enemies. As Soldier 11 is the only Obol Squad character as of writing, you’ll want to pair her with another Fire Agent to trigger her damage bonus; Ben will do in a pinch though I’d recommend Lucy.
Soldier 11’s kit makes her easy to understand and use, but leaves her vulnerable to power creep; just “good damage” isn’t a future-proof skillset.
Anton Ivanov
A-Rank Electric Attack Agent
Pros:
- Incredibly good in Shock teams as he retriggers Shock DOTs at a rapid rate.
- Cinema further amplifies his support role.
- His drill is super satisfying to land.
Cons:
- Needs a ton of crit rate investment to trigger his Core Skill.
- Extremely Energy hungry as his drill performs poorly outside of his Burst mode.
- Must have a Shock team to maximize his potential.
Anton is your typical kind-hearted rough-looking character. Don’t let his looks deceive you – Anton is a total bro. It’s even in his EX/Special Attack names. Funnily enough, “bro” perfectly encapsulates Anton’s ability to serve as primary damage dealer, but do even better as a support party member.
On the field, Anton wields the power of his drill to great effect. Unlike most other characters, Anton’s EX Special Attack also triggers his Burst Mode, which vastly improves his damage and transforming his normal Special Attack into an upward drill that’s incredibly satisfying to land. Numbers go brrrr. These drill attacks are massively powerful in Shock-based teams as every four critical hits in Burst Mode cause a Shocked enemy to take another burst of damage.
Even if it is just 45% of the original damage, this can proc extremely fast at just 0.5 second delays. The trouble here is that Anton absolutely must have crit rate to maximize this – though with how quickly this damage adds up, Anton is definitely worth the effort. Coincidentally, this also means that outside of Shock teams, Anton’s kit lacks that special oomph.
One other weakness of Anton is that he needs a ton of Energy. While Smash the Horizon, Bro! only needs 40 Energy, Anton’s Burst Mode constantly drains his reserves, which in turn limits the window for his DOT amplification.
As an A-rank unit, you’ll likely pull multiple copies of Anton. The good news here is that his Cinema upgrades further cement his ability to support his allies in Shock teams. Cinema 1 improve the longevity of his Burst Mode, while Cinemas 2 and 4 grant party shields and crit rate, respectively.
Piper Wheel
A-Rank Physical Anomaly Agent
Pros:
- Can inflict absurd amounts of Assault, leading to great burst damage.
- Buffs party members.
Cons:
- Very hungry for on-field time.
- No Physical Core Skill synergies yet.
Piper is an A-rank Physical Anomaly Agent who deals surprisingly great damage thanks to her ability to quickly and reliably inflict Assault with her spinning attacks. Using Piper is simple: build up Energy, use (and hold) EX Special Attack to deal multiple hits of damage, inflict Assault and Flinch, do it again. Thanks to Piper’s Core Skill which increases gives her Power stacks, her Anomaly buildup rate quickly ramps up. Said Core Skill also allows her to buff Physical or Sons of Calydon Agents with a hefty 18% damage boost.
That said, Piper needs to be on the field to inflict her anomalies. This means that she’ll be in direct competition with other main DPS characters. The fact that we still don’t have synergistic Physical Core Skill supports also hurts Piper.
B-Tier
Billy Kidd
A-Rank Physical Attack Agent
Pros:
- Free.
- Beginner-friendly; very easy to pick up and play.
- Large AOEs on a lot of his skills despite being a gunfighter.
- Core Skill allows him to hunker down for more damage – good versus big solo targets.
Cons:
- Low damage multipliers.
- Damage drops off with distance, forcing Billy into close-range confrontations despite being ranged.
- There are currently no Agents with Core Skills that work with Billy. Might change in the future!
I think it’s safe to say that Billy is everyone’s boy. From his goofy personality to his dynamic, explosive fighting style and even his mysterious past, Billy Kidd drips personality. This translates well into gameplay: as your first (and free) DPS, Billy is remarkably easy to use and master, should you choose to continue using him.
While Billy’s low damage multipliers do hurt, he still offers a lot of utility. For one, he has a lot of AOE baked into his kit, despite being a gunfighter – this makes Billy great at mopping up trash mobs. Second, Billy has a Crouching Shot mode that he can enter to gain a respectable damage buff. Since this gives up his mobility, it’s ideally used for sniping big bosses that Billy struggles against.
Billy also gets some decent mileage out of his Core Skill, which grants him a stacking damage bonus on his Ultimate every time he does a Chain Attack. Do note that Billy’s damage drops off with distance, so despite being a ranged character, you will need to stay within melee range to maximize Billy.
What really hurts Billy is his current lack of synergistic team options. Piper and Nekomata are more tuned towards Assault Anomaly teams, while Corin wants the main DPS role. You can get around this by using Anby and Nicole instead, but their kits don’t mesh together as well as they could. Hopefully this changes in the future.
Corin Wickes
A-Rank Physical Attack Agent
Pros:
- Free.
- Fantastic single target DPS.
- Great Cinema buffs that patch up deficiencies in her kit and even allow her to run support for another physical Agent.
Cons:
- Ponderously long normal attacks that demand you Stun or restrict enemies.
- Like Billy, struggles with synergistic team options – though this will likely change.
Corin Wickes is the last of the four free units you get. If you didn’t get her yet, she’s in your mail as a pre-registration reward, even if you didn’t pre-register. Like Billy, Corin fulfills the DPS role in your team; unlike Billy, Corin focuses more on the single-target aspect side of things.
Wading into battle with her chainsaw, Corin is surprisingly slow for someone so small. This slowness translates into her gameplay as well – her combos are long and perform multiple hits, so Corin has trouble maximizing her damage against agile foes. Thankfully, her kit incentivizes you to stun enemies as Corin does have a passive bonus for hitting stunned enemies. With a perfect setup, when Corin hits, she hits hard.
Let’s be honest though – there can and will be characters that will hit harder than Corin in the future for far less setup.
Stun Tier List
| S | Lycaon, Koleda, Qingyi |
| A | Anby |
S-Tier
Von Lycaon
S-Rank Ice Stun Agent
Pros:
- Only needs Basic Attacks to reliably inflict Daze.
- Ice Attribute and Core Skill synergy make him the go-to stunner for Ice DPS Agents.
- Provides an invaluable damage debuff when hitting Stunned enemies.
Cons:
- Practice needed to minimize time between full attack charge and attack launch.
Among the current stunners in the game, Lycaon is prominent in that he doesn’t need any other tools to inflict Daze apart from his charged Basic Attacks. That alone would make him a fantastic pick – but there’s more: his Ice Attribute makes him an excellent partner for Ice DPS Agents like Ellen, his Core Skill shreds a massive 25% Ice RES on enemies he hits with his EX Special Attack or Assist Follow-Up, and he can increase the damage a stunned foe takes by an additional 35%.
That last one is particular powerful and allows Lycaon to thrive even in non-Ice teams (so long as you meet the Core Skill requirements) and ensures that Lycaon will continue to have a prominent role as the game progresses.
While not particularly bothersome, you’ll need to get some practice in with timing Lycaon’s attacks – in particular, when exactly his charged attacks are ready to release – though this is hardly a dealbreaker.
Koleda Belobog
S-Rank Fire Stun Agent
Pros:
- Simple Stun kit.
- Invincibility frames during enhanced Basic Attack allow Koleda to stay on the field longer and more reliably inflict Daze.
- Becomes stronger with Ben.
Cons:
- Vulnerable to power creep as the only thing she really offers is stun.
Koleda is your standard stunner. Honestly, there’s not much to say about her – just generate Energy, use her EX Special Attack, then go to town with her enhanced Basic Attack. She does become stronger if Ben is in your party, though it’s your call whether the extra damage + Daze is worth sacrificing a team slot for a shielder. Either way, Koleda performs as befits her rarity.
While potent, Koleda is vulnerable to power creep due to her really only offering stun. Once characters that can stun and do something else land (remember how Fu Xuan raised the standard for tanks in Honkai: Star Rail?), Koleda will fall by the wayside.
Qingyi
S-Rank Electric Stun Agent
Pros:
- Increases Stun DMG Multiplier, leading to a bigger payoff for your DPS.
- Decent DPS for a Stun agent; Core Skill rewards you for building Impact on her so you don’t need to split stats.
- Core Skill Additional Ability is super easy to proc (just add an Attack agent).
Cons:
- Most of her Stun comes from her Enhanced Basic Attacks. This means that Qingyi needs to be on field much longer than other stunners.
- Subjugation stacks also come from her Enhanced Basic Attack.
Qingyi’s kit revolves around her Voltage meter. Voltage is gained by dealing Electric damage – simple, since everything Qingyi does (bar her dash attack) is Electric-based. The best way to build this up is to mash the attack button on the third hit of her normal combo, which will cause Qingyi to stand in place and continuously generate an electric current, a la Blanka.
Once Qingyi’s Voltage surpasses 75%, she can consume all of it via holding Basic Attack to unleash her Enhanced Basic Attack, a combo of bonks. The more Voltage you use, the more damage and Daze this move will do. Rinse and repeat until the enemy is stunned. Note that you need to hold down the attack button to complete the sequence; releasing it skips straight to the finishing move. Note alsothat the finishing move counts as a Perfect Dodge if you perform it just before being attacked.
What really sets Qingyi apart from other Stun agents is her Subjugation stacks. These are tacked on to an enemy (to a cap of 20 stacks) when she whacks them during her Enhanced Basic Attack – each rush attack that lands adds one stack, and the finishing move adds five stacks, for an ideal 10 stacks per Enhanced Basic Attack. If you can score a Perfect Dodge during the Finishing Move, that’s an extra 10 stacks. Once an enemy has been stunned, it’ll gain an additional 2% Stun DMG multiplier per Subjugation stack it had – at full stacks, that’s an extra 40% damage to a stunned foe on top of the base stun bonus.
That said, Qingyi is extremely hungry for on-field time due to the combo-based nature of her stun. Granted, the trifecta of Attack-Stun-Support does encourage this, but given the other Stun options we currently have in the game, Qingyi’s demand for on-field presence stands out.
A-Tier
Anby Demara
A-Rank Electric Stun Agent
Pros:
- Free, but can hold her own until you get an S-rank stunner.
- Combos grant large amounts of Daze damage. Core Skill helps this further.
- Dodge Counter regenerates lots of Energy for her EX Special Attack.
Cons:
- Requires a shared Attribute or Faction party member to trigger her Dodge Counter buff.
- Optimal Daze combos can be lengthy and require practice.
- Vulnerable to power creep as all she really offers is stun. See Qingyi.
The cover girl of the game, Anby Demara is a decent Stun Agent who will serve you well – at least until you get someone better.
Anby’s primary (and regrettably, only) asset is her access to powerful Daze combos. These combos, while powerful, require both time and practice. In particular, one of her faster combos Basic -> Basic -> Basic -> Hold Basic means you need to remember to hold the last attack and she has to perform her entire normal combo string before the stun payoff (and yes, her Core Skill necessitate you do at least three Basic Attacks to trigger the Daze bonus). Once again, practice is key, and you’ll need to learn whether to pull Anby out of dangerous situations or suck it up and take the damage in exchange for her Daze.
While reliable, Anby is in a precarious position thanks to her single focus being Daze. Just as with Koleda, the fact that Anby only offers stun leaves her vulnerable to being power crept by future characters that can both stun and offer other utilities – something that’s already happened with Qingyi’s arrival. Still, free is free, and Anby can carry you until you get someone better.
Support Tier List
| S | Alexandrina (Rina) |
| A | Soukaku, Nicole, Lucy |
| B | Ben |
S-Tier
Alexandrina Sebastiane
S-Rank Electric Support Agent
Pros:
- Simple gameplay once you get the hang of her.
- Surprisingly mobile with long dashes.
- Great passive (virtually core) for Shock-focused teams.
- PEN Ratio is a fantastic buff that virtually all Agents can use.
Cons:
- Presence of mind is needed to maximize Rina’s uptime on her buffs. You’ll need to practice not only getting Rina’s timing but also when and where to weave her attacks and skills into your team’s rotation.
Rina is a powerful yet universal Support Agent. What I mean by this is that her PEN Ratio team buff – which is tied to her Core Skill – is generic enough that most, if not all Agents will be able to use it. On top of that, Rina has a unique buff for Shock-based teams, where she increases Shock duration and Electric damage for her team. Both these buffs grant Rina a unique (for now) niche as well as a ticket to Electric teams (whether Shock or Disorder), securing her longevity.
But while generic, Rina’s buffs are tied to her two Bangboos, Drusilla and Anastella. These two dolls must be on the field to trigger the PEN Ratio debuff, and this means that you’ll need to not only get the hang of which attacks cause Rina’s dolls to linger (as well as when they’ll return), but you’ll also need to practice with your team to ensure that you have the maximum uptime on her buffs. Finicky, but the buff is well worth the effort.
A-Tier
Soukaku
A-Rank Ice Support Agent
Pros:
- Easy access to strong ATK buffs.
- Long-lived buff duration ensures that you’ll get great mileage out of it.
- Even stronger when paired with Ice DPS Agents like Ellen.
Cons:
- While an ATK buff is universal, it takes time to maximize Soukaku’s buff.
- Needs large ATK investment to maximize her passed buff.
- Building up three Vortex stacks takes time.
- Lengthy animation on Fly the Flag.
Soukaku is the generic A-rank ATK buffer, and as of writing, is one of the best Support Agents in the game. All she does is simple – give an ATK buff based off her own ATK, which 10% – 20% of her ATK, with a cap of 500; 1,000 if the requirement is met. To do this, Soukaku needs to build up three Vortex charges using her EX Special Attacks, Chain Attacks, or Ultimate (but why would you spend this on her?), then trigger Fly the Flag (to double the buff threshold to 1,000) by holding down her EX Special Attack button, and then Quick Assist/Chain Attack into another party member.
Mind, building Soukaku’s buff does take some time especially since Vortex only builds up on her EX Special, not her Special. You could forgo the Vortex stack build up, but that’d mean only getting 500 max ATK from her buff. While we’re talking about the ATK buff, it’s worth mentioning that Soukaku does need some decent ATK investment as her buff scales off a percentage of her ATK. Fly the Flag also has a very long animation time, so I suggest getting some practice with it and learn how to Quick Assist out of it as soon as you can.
All in all, while Soukaku is foreseeably going to be a solid ATK buffer, she does take a while to get going.
Nicole Demara
A-Rank Ether Support Agent
Pros:
- Free.
- Fantastic DEF shred debuff – up to 40% at Core Skill F.
- Can group enemies with her EX Special Attack.
- Powerful enabler for Ether DPS Agents with her Core Skill.
Cons:
- DEF debuff is short-lived, making it challenging to maximize.
Nicole is a potent Support Agent that everyone gets for free. She really only has two roles in a team – first is her ability to shred the DEF of opponents she hits with either her special ammo or her EX/Special Attack, and second is her grouping prowess with, again, her EX Special Attack. If you were lucky enough to get Zhu Yuan (or any future Ether DPS), Nicole is a must-add to your team as it tacks an Ether DMG buff to your team when Nicole inflicts her DEF debuff.
That said, Nicole isn’t without her flaws. While powerful, her DEF shred is very short-lived at just 3.5 seconds. No amount of Core Skill investment improves this duration, so you’ll need to be more judicious in picking out your other party members.
Luciana de Montefio (Lucy)
A-Rank Fire Support Agent
Pros:
- Provides off-field damage and Daze with her boars.
Cons:
- Needs tons of ATK to maximize her buff; lower cap of 600 compared to Soukaku.
- Boars can be stupid.
Lucy is unique among Agents in that she offers a ton of off-field utility, allowing her to slot in easily with a variant of teams. This is done via her Guard Boars, which she can bring out with her Special and EX Special Attacks.
Once they’re out, Lucy’s Guard Boars will continue following your active character around and attack enemies. They’re not exactly smart and tend to get stuck on things or left behind, so get ready to resummon them often. But while dumb, the fact still remains that the boars remain one of the pitifully few sources of off-field damage in this early version of Zenless Zone Zero – if not the only source.
Apart from the off-field utilities her boars offer, Lucy also brings a decent ATK buff in her EX Special Attack. Keep in mind that it won’t be as effective as Soukaku’s (it has a cap of 600 and has low scaling), but a buff is a buff, and the boars ensure that even while Lucy isn’t buffing, she’s contributing something to the team.
B-Tier
Ben Bigger
A-Rank Fire Defense Agent
Pros:
- As of now, is unique in that he can provide shields off the bat.
- Major DEF scaling means you can build him as a tank without sacrificing too much offense.
- Decent Daze buildup.
Cons:
- Still weaker than a dedicated Stun Agent, and the trifecta of Attack-Stun-Support means that choosing Ben often results in lower teamwide damage due to lower Daze buildup.
- Shield requires EX Special Attack.
- More of a comfort pick.
- Low speed makes him feel terrible to use.
Of course, Belobog Industries has a bear. From the name alone, they should have a bear. But is the bear worth it? As a comfort pick, yes.
Ben’s main claim to fame is that currently (July 2024), he’s the only character who can apply shields without Cinema investment. These shields scale off his DEF, and thanks to Ben’s Core Skill, you’ll want to invest entirely in DEF, meaning that at Core Skill F, Ben doesn’t lose too much in the offense department. If only his multipliers were any good. At the very least, his shield also offers a crit rate buff…to Fire or Belobog Industries characters, meaning that he’s pretty much tailor-made to be a support for Koleda. Don’t have her? Too bad.
Apart from this, there are the usual considerations of putting a defensive unit in a team where the game is very much focused on offense. Why shield when you can just buff and finish the fight faster, after all? And while Ben admittedly does have considerable Daze damage in his kit, it still pales in comparison to dedicated Stun Agents like Anby, which makes it difficult to justify his inclusion in non-Koleda teams.
Meta Evolution
As I mentioned at the beginning, Zenless Zone Zero is a very young game, and while both rate-up S-rank characters have made a powerful showing, the meta is sure to shift as more and more characters are introduced. Stay on your toes, keep practicing, and be ready to capitalize on any new Agents that mesh well with your team!