Astra is the most flexible agent in the game and as a support, her ATK and Energy Regen buffs will help teams dish out more damage at a more consistent rate.
The brightest star of new Eridu is finally here! Arriving with Zenless Zone Zero’s version 1.5 update, Astra Yao is an Ether Support character from a new faction, Stars of Lyra.
As the first limited S-rank support agent, Astra Yao introduces some astranomical buffs to every team composition. Her kit is centred around the “Idyllic Cadenza” state, enabling quick-swap spamming and providing powerful team-wide buffs, making her essential for almost any roster.
Combat overview
Playing Astra can be quite simple: just press the special attack button (E on the keyboard), which triggers the Idyllic Cadenza state. In this state, Astra boosts the team’s damage and CRIT significantly. While in this state, she cannot move, but she can perform basic attacks and Dodge, gaining increased anti-interrupt level and damage reduction. When switching characters, she also remains in the field with invulnerability.
Her ultimate ability is another game-changer, placing her back into Idyllica Cadenza, triggering quick assist, healing for up to 2,950 damage, and converting the next two quick assists into chain attacks. This makes her ultimate not only a powerful healing tool, but also an excellent source of additional damage for your team.
On top of this, when you activate a Precise Assist, Astra Yao will create Energy, Tremolo, and Tone Clusters. Astra utilises Tremolo and Tone Clusters to achieve the Idyllic Cadenza State, delivering powerful ATK buffs.
Skill Priority
Of course, Astra’s Core Skill is the most important to upgrade, since it it increases Damage buffs. Special Attack is just as important because it increases damage buffs during the Idyllic Cadenza state. Upgrading Astra's Chain Attack will increase the amount of healing she offers on her Ultimate, so upgrade this after her Core Skill and Special Attack.
Next, you can work on Astra’s Basic Attack to provide optimal damage when Astra is on-field. The last two that you should upgrade are Assist and Dodge, because they don’t do much overall.
Best Build for Astra Yao
Best W-Engine
Recommended:
- Elegant Vanity
- Bashful Demon
Alternatives:
- Kaboom the Cannon
- The Vault
- Reverb Mark I
Astra’s signature W-engine, Elegant Vanity is one of the best choices for her. It offers strong attack boosts and team-wide buffs like energy regen and 20% damage over time. Her signature w-engine’s energy regen buffs allows her better access to her skills and more uptime.
Others argue however, that her signature w-engine isn’t all too necessary and that Soukaku’s signature, Bashful Demon (R5) could be much better for her, because of the overall damage an R5 version of it can dish out, compared to Astra’s signature weapon.
So fret not if you weren’t able to get her signature w-engine because her other options are pretty viable. Even the F2P Reverb Mark I is pretty decent, and only 10% less effective than the Elegant Vanity.
A little warning on Nicole’s signature, The Vault: it requires you to time your quick assists well, so it’s a less consistent option overall.
Disc Drives
- Astral Voice (4pc) + Swing Jazz (2pc)
- Astral Voice (4pc) + Hormone Punk (2pc)
The most important stats to focus on for these would be ATK and Energy Regen. For the best results, equip Astra Yao with the Astral Voice Drive set, which increases her damage by 24% and boosts her attack by 10%, significantly enhancing her impact in battles.
To fully optimise her core attack buff, aim for 3,429 attack by prioritising attack percentage substats on Slots 4, 5, and 6.
Hormone Punk is also another good alternative to Swing Jazz as a 2-piece set, albeit a wee bit less effective.
Mindscapes
Astro Yao’s Mindscape upgrades are essential for enhancing her role as a support:
- Mindscape 1 grants 18% resistance shred and improves her survivability.
- Mindscape 2 increases her core attack buff to 1,600 and lowers the attack threshold to 2,963, making it easier to maximise her potential.
- Mindscape 6 dramatically boosts her damage output, particularly when she is off-field, providing significant contributions during battles.
Best Teams
Astra is probably the strongest support unit in the game so far, so she synergises with many team setups—whether it be ATK or Anomaly proficient teams. Here are some of the best teams you can form with her:
Astra ATK Teams:
Astra can be slotted in team comps with typical ATK + Stun + Support combinations. She needs to be in the first slot of the team, followed by the ATK agent so the transition from her Special Attack to an ATK unit will be smooth.
Here are some combinations you can consider:
Ether:
- Astra + Zhu Yuan + Qingyi
- Bangboo: Resonaboo/Devilboo/Booressure (or any bangboo that buffs ATK)
If you had Astra, it looks like Nicole can take a back seat for a bit, especially since Astra’s buffs are great for better survivability in tougher challenges—all while providing the team’s much needed buffs. Astra is also an Ether unit, so Zhu Yuan would probably benefit the most among all attack agents in this regard (aside from upcoming agent Evelyn).
Electric:
- Astra + Harumasa + Qingyi
- Bangboo: Plugboo/Electroboo (or any bangboo that buffs ATK)
If other Electric agents aren’t available, Astra will still sync well with Harumasa and Qingyi. With Qingyi’s electric stuns and Astra’s buffs, Harumasa’s ATK can increase considerably.
Ice:
- Astra + Ellen/Miyabi + Lycaon
- Bangboo: Sharkboo (or other bangboo that buffs ATK)
Astra is a good alternative for Rina, especially if the team needs more healing than PEN.
Fire
- Astra + Soldier 11 + Lighter or;
- Astra + Evelyn + Lighter
- Bangboo: Rocketboo, Red Moccus
The same works for fire teams—including upcoming Fire ATK agent Evelyn. However, it’s good to note that sometimes, Caesar will still be better in some cases because of team synergy (faction and element) or shielding, depending on the content you’re trying to clear.
F2P
- Astra + Nekomata + Anby or;
Astra + Billy + Anby - Bangboo: Avocaboo, Sumboo, Exploreboo
Astra even works for F2P setups for those who are just starting the game—with Astra replacing the leader of the Cunning Hares as Support.
Astra Disorder Teams
Astra also fits with Disorder teams, which consist of two Anomaly agents and Astra, with Astra being on the first agent slot. These agents can benefit both from her buffs and her healing.
Here are the teams you can form:
- Astra + Miyabi + Yanagi
- Astra + Jane Doe + Yanagi
- Astra + Burnice + Yanagi
- Astra + Burnice + Piper
- Bangboo: Snap, Agent Gulliver, Booressure, Bangvolver
With Astra shaping up to be the most flexible Support agent ever, it would make sense to invest and build her to the best of your ability. While this might look difficult to do, especially if you’re an F2P player, Astra still has a lot of flexibility with her w-engines. Good luck!
