Zenless Zone Zero: Character Tier List

Curious to know where your favourite S or A rank characters sit? Here's our character tier list.

It’s been a week since the release of Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ), HoYoverse's newest ARPG. If you’re like most gamers right now, chances are you’ve been hooked by its addictive grind.

As more content unfolds, team compositions become increasingly important. Stats, character synergies, and strengths all play a significant role as you progress. You might be wondering where your favourite characters sit in terms of strength and utility. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

We’ve crafted a tier list based on their stats, skills, and overall effectiveness as DPS, Support, or Debuffers. While we've ranked these characters, it’s important to remember that you can still experiment with building other team compositions and make them work.

Here’s our ZZZ tier list for Version 1.0.

Tier 0 - OP Tier

Ellen (S-Rank)

Ellen, ZZZ’s first limited character, is at the top of our list. A powerful Attack unit, Ellen has excellent mobility and deals high damage with her Normal Attack.

She currently has the highest DPS of any Attack character, and a decent attack range and crowd control ability. Furthermore, her main damage-dealing method does not require energy, making defeating enemies with powerful combos easier.

Ellen also has a relatively powerful stacking enchantment mechanism compared to regular Banner's Attack Characters making her extremely versatile.

Rina (S Rank)

Rina can be considered the top support in version 1.0. She boosts your team's PEN Ratio, which ignores enemy DEF.  On top of that, Rina’s buffs are all-around but work best with Shock teams.

Since her abilities are related to her doll, she’s mostly an off-field support character. This means you don't need to invest as much into her equipment. 

However, Rina’s damage output is virtually non-existent, so you would need the most powerful teammates to make up for it.

Lycaon (S Rank)

As a powerful Stun unit specialising in Daze with his Basic Attacks, Lycaon fits well in any team but excels in Ice teams due to his Ice RES shred. 

His primary stun method relies on Charged Attacks rather than EX or Ultimate abilities, making his stun efficiency stable and dependable in prolonged battles. 

Lycaon's ability to reduce enemy Ice RES and increase their vulnerability during Daze periods enhances his team's damage potential, even though his damage output is relatively low. 

Tier 1 

Grace (S Rank)

Grace is a powerful and mobile Anomaly unit that uses shock damage. You can maximise the damage you deal with an Attack unit by using Grace with Shock, since enemies affected by this ability can take damage even when Grace isn't active.

Grace is key to the Shock team's Electric buildup. Her high frequency and buildup efficiency allow her to trigger Shocking quickly, making her the core of the Electro team and providing high-frequency Electro buildup for the team.

Koleda (S Rank)

Koleda is a great Stun unit that damages stunned enemies with Daze DMG and boosts the party's Chain Attack DMG. Teaming up Koleda with Ben boosts her strength so that her damage output is much better.

In effect, Koleda is one of the strongest debuffers in the game, with the strongest and fastest burst Stun. She can easily daze small enemies, triggering QTEs for teammates. 

However, she’s most effective and strongest when teamed up with Ben, so making optimal team compositions is limited.

Soukaku ( A Rank)

Soukaku is a versatile Support unit, enhancing other units' ATK and boosting Ice-centric teams with Ice DMG buffs and strong Freezing capabilities. 

Her attacks are slow and she lacks mobility, making her less effective in fast-paced fights.  However, her unique Banner skill transfers attack boosts to teammates and increases the entire team’s Ice DMG. 

This makes Soukaku an excellent support choice for Ellen and a valuable asset in ice teams.

Lucy (A Rank)

Lucy is a great Support unit who can deal off-field damage with her guard boar summons. Lucy's Guard Boars can provide ATK buffs to the party after they trigger an explosion.

She is an excellent versatile attack support for quick clears, unaffected by the environment or pairings. Once her Special is activated in battle, the boars will continue to fight, whether Lucy is on the field or off. Take note though that since Lucy’s buffs are based on a percentage of her ATK which is a fixed value, her buffs have a ceiling.

Tier 2 

Nekomata (S Rank)

Fast and mobile, Nekomata is a powerful AoE Attack unit. Nekomata's Dodge Counter and Ultimate easily defeat multiple weak enemies. Teammates of the same faction boost Nekomata's EX Special Attack damage. 

However, her potential is currently limited, since other potential teammates like Anby, Piper, and Nicole offer little to boost her output. Until she finds more compatible support allies, Nekomata remains in the lower tier among ZZZ's top S-Rank characters.

Soldier 11 (S Rank)

Soldier 11 is an effective Fire Attack unit against Stunned enemies due to her ease of use and high damage output. Activating Fire Suppression with her EX Special Attack or Chain attack boosts her Basic and Dash Attack damage. 

Her powerful output can be maintained in various environments by controlling the rhythm of these attacks and triggering the fire blade mechanism. 

Piper (A Rank)

Piper, an Anomaly unit, boosts her own Anomaly Buildup through her EX Special Attack and Ultimate. When she accumulates enough Power stacks, she enhances the party's damage, though building these stacks can be tedious.

Piper can boost teammates’ damage while efficiently building up Physical Anomaly, making her a highly versatile physical status character.

Nicole (A Rank)

Nicole, an Ether Attack Support unit, can gather enemies with her EX Special Attack and reduce their DEF with her enhanced Basic and Dash Attacks. She excels against small enemies but may struggle with larger foes.

Her Core Skill reduces enemy DEF by 40%, which is highly effective with strong DPS. Additionally, she can boost her team's Ether DMG by 25% for several seconds, making her a valuable A-rank support.

Anby (A Rank)

Anby, an Electric Stun unit, excels at dealing substantial Daze damage with her Special Attack, especially when used after the third hit of her Basic Attack.

Her quick and smooth combos have low multipliers but are effective for stunning enemies. This makes Anby ideal for delivering short bursts of damage, perfect for beginners. Her straightforward gameplay focuses on using three Basic Attacks followed by a Charged Attack for optimal Daze efficiency, with skills best utilized after the third Basic Attack.

Anton (A Rank)

Anton, a powerful A Rank Attack unit, excels at delivering multiple hits with his Basic Attacks during Burst Mode and deals extra damage to Shocked enemies.

His unique mechanism triggers an additional 45% Shock damage every five critical hits while in Burst Mode. When paired with a strong buildup character like Grace, Anton's direct attacks combine with additional Shock damage, allowing him to carry the team's damage output. This makes Anton an ideal short-cycle Electric burst DPS, capable of achieving high damage in a short time.

Tier 3

Billy (A Rank)

Billy is an Attack unit known for his strong long-range damage. While his ranged attacks make him a safe DPS choice, he struggles against multiple enemies due to limited AoE options.

His unique combo allows him to extend the second half of his crouching shot infinitely by holding the Basic Attack button, and his mechanism boosts the damage of this shot. 

Although Billy has a low ceiling for extreme damage output challenges due to his poor damage performance and simple output logic, he remains a reliable character in difficult stages thanks to his low operational difficulty and safe attack distance.

Ben (A Rank)

Ben, the only Fire Defense unit in version 1.0, excels in survivability due to his unique blocking mechanism. Despite having the slowest movement speed and the worst mobility, Ben can nullify all attacks, making him a crucial defensive character for team support.

His lenient blocking mechanism allows any hit during his Special to be blocked. Holding the Special button maintains the block, and pressing it again triggers a counterattack. 

If energy is consumed, the counterattack becomes stronger and provides a team shield based on Ben's defense. This significantly enhances team survivability in challenging stages. Although Ben's damage is low, his blocking ability and team shielding make him invaluable.

Corin (A Rank)

Corin is a Physical, Attack unit. Corin's damage output style maximises the benefits of the Daze mechanism.

 Her exceptionally high EX Special damage multiplier surpasses the ultimates of most characters, making her the best short-cycle physical burst DPS among current A Rank characters. 

While Corin's skills have excellent multipliers, her damage output is slow and heavily reliant on energy, making her most effective during burst phases. This reliance on her EX Special is both her greatest strength and her main limitation.cx