Table of Contents
This is our preliminary tier list for all of the characters that are currently in Zenless Zone Zero as of the second closed beta (Equalizing Test). This tier list will be updated regularly as new updates and balance changes are implemented to ZZZ, so stay tuned!
Tier List
Attention, all proxies! This is a list of all available agents that are willing to take on commissions. We will be going over the agent, their ranking, and simple explanation as to why they've earned their rank!
*This list takes into account both Core: Additional Abilities and base talent level
Tier List Explanation
- S+ Tier: These agents are the best of the best, offering top mobility / defense, damage / support options, unique mechanics, skill ceiling, daze capability, and overall longevity in the meta.
- S Tier: The agents that excel in one or more of their main roles, rather that be support, main DPS, or daze applicator. Typically, only 1 agent per element and role, so for example, only 1 fire daze unit.
- A Tier: The agents that perform their role as expected.
- B Tier: These agents are generally competent, but there are probably other agents that fulfill their niches a little better.
S+ Tier
Ellen
As seemingly the first limited character, it's no shocker as to why Ellen is at the top of this list. Her penetration stat along with her flurry of fast attacks, as well as her unique Roaming State mechanic applying ice on her weapon ensues ice destruction. Her core passive has a natural crit damage increase, and her dodge is packed full of mechanics to boost her damage potential, making her the quintessential ice main DPS. However, she has a very high skill ceiling in order to reach that potential. For more information as to why Ellen is so good (and desirable), check out my build guide HERE
Nicole
Nicole, the sole ether agent, is currently the only unit capable of group wide crowd control by means of her gravity pull abilities on her special, chain attack, and ultimate, making her incredibly valuable for dealing with large groups of enemies, especially for time attack situations. Nicole will only improve as more Ether units are released. Her core abilities increase her daze capability and stun damage multipliers, making her even a decent stun unit. As she is currently the only agent with exceptional crowd control and grouping abilities, she's earned her S+ rank.
Ben
Ben, the first "tank" of ZZZ, boasting the highest defense stat and kit that scales with his defense, deals slow physical and fire damage, and applies shields to himself, and with his core passive, to the team in order for them to sustain a little extra damage. With enough player skill, Ben has the ability to literally parry any attack with his special or ex special, making him an expert boss killer. Ben is like playing as Sekiro (credit to The Game Club) when you get the rhythm down good enough. In fact, he was the top choice in CN when fighting bosses due to the forgiving timing window of the block.
To add, since his damage scales with his defense, even if you do miss a few parries, Ben could easily just shake it off as you would spec into defensive gear. Due to this extremely good mechanic (don't be surprised if this is nerfed at launch), and also the ability to provide damage mitigation, which is important as there is currently no agent that can heal HP, Ben sits at S+ rank. Zhongli, but bear.
S Tier
Rina
Rina, with one of the highest base attribute masteries in the game, is an excellent electric support DPS who can not only offer utility for the team, but also massive burst damage in both physical and electric forms. She can safely keep at a distance from her foes, and her dodge is highly mobile, making it easy to play keep away with enemies to avoid damage. Her core abilities allow for damage buffs to the entire team, as well as enhanced shock damage. For more information on Rina, check out my build guide HERE
Grace
Grace, with her natural PEN Ratio and high elemental mastery, makes for an excellent choice for support DPS, doubly so thanks to her wide AOE special and ultimate, applying electric and shock damage in a wide area. Her dodge, much like Ellen's, is a useful tool of hers as it does not interrupt her combo, meaning she can weave in dodge with any of her attacks and not lose much DPS. Her core passive recharges energy for the entire squad, making her have team utility, as well. Overall, a great agent for AOE shock application. For more information on Grace, check out my build guide HERE
Billy
Billy, a ranged physical support DPS unit, is a great option for dealing AOE physical damage from a safe distance, as well as the ability to quickly fill up the assault anomaly due to his core passive. His ultimate can also safely damage an entire arena, who is currently the only unit in the game that has that ability. If you want a strong physical unit who can chill from the back attacking from a distance, Billy is your man.
Lycaon
Lycaon is a stylish, high impact ice unit capable of dealing massive Daze attacks. He is arguably the best daze applicator in the game, with his fast attacks, and core passives that allow him to boost his already high daze skills. He is an exceptional unit in an ice team comp as the front-runner to CC enemies, then to allow your main DPS such as Ellen to come in to wreak havoc. He will be essential to ice comps for quite a while as your stagger agent.
Nekomata
Nekomata is currently the best main DPS physical agent in the game. She attacks by using very fast, but close ranged attacks, and mainly deals with enemies one on one, with the exception of her chain / ultimate attack. She deals more damage upon executing a perfect dodge or attacking stunned enemies and has high base crit rate in order to help her deal more damage. To top it off, she has a built-in mechanic with her basic attack that allows her to quickly get behind her enemy, allowing for easy setups with Steel Cushion, or to avoid attacks. To learn more about Nekomata, check out my build guide HERE
Soldier 11
Soldier 11, a great choice for a main fire DPS agent, not only has high damage, but is also a fantastic support and burn applicator. While she is on the team, when any fire agent including herself applies burn, they generate 4 energy, also making her a battery unit. After using her ultimate, all of her basic attacks will deal increased damage and fire, and as a bonus, whenever she attacks stunned enemies, her fire damage is increased by a further 20%.
Kaleda + Ben
While Kaleda is alright on her own, with Ben, she gets a damage boost in all of her most hard-hitting abilities, giving her that edge to get her to S rank. Kaleda is a fire daze applicator that when paired with Ben, does even more daze, thus making her perform her role that much better. With Ben, Koleda also gets more invulnerable attack frames, as well as anti-interrupt for her skill, allowing her to be a little extra tanky as well as dealing more damage. For more information on Koleda, check out my build guide HERE
A Tier
Kaleda
Kaleda is a high impact fire unit who specializes in dealing daze as well as fire and burn damage, and her daze is increased when attacking with fire with the use of her Furnace Fire ability. While she is solid on her own, without her main bear Ben, she is not at her full base potential, therefore I cannot place her into S, but she is still highly versatile thanks to her daze application capabilities.
Anby
Anby is an electric DPS daze applicator unit with an excellent core passive ability that can increase her daze multipliers to a considerable amount. Her damage output, while okay, is not impressive enough to push her to S rank, but if you need an electric daze applicator, then Anby will fit into your squad.
Anton
Anton is a DPS electric pierce unit who attacks at a close range, who comes with two modes, one for physical, the other for electric. His core abilities give him increased stun and damage, while his special and ultimate has decent AOE. You should not have him as your main DPS, instead, keep him in second or third position in your team, so you can chain into an EX-Special that can clear the field in one burst. With his base high crit rate, you should find some good results from him, especially against dazed and mechanical enemies.
Soukaku
While Soukaku's damage output is not nearly the best, her support and daze capabilities make her a very solid ice unit. Her chain attack inflicts a lot of ice damage, and it surrounds her in a vortex, letting you apply the damage to a wide area around her. Her Fly The Flag stance allows her to send out ranged ice attacks, allowing her to keep her distance. Soukaku's Masked state upon activating her ultimate also allows her to inflict heavy daze damage, making her very versatile. Unfortunately, due to the speed of her attacks and her support attack leaving her stuck in place for a long time, she is often vulnerable, and is easily whacked by bosses, hence why she is at the bottom of A rank.
B Tier
Corin
Corin is a physical main DPS unit who attacks at a close range, with an ultimate and core passive that lowers enemies' physical resistance, as well as increased damage when attacking stunned enemies. Her versatility is lacking for a main DPS, with attacks that often keep her stuck in place, and suffers from short ranged, slow attacks, leaving her at risky positions. Fortunately, her utility of lowering an enemy's physical resistance means she would still be good in a physical team, and good for attacking enemies when they are stunned due to it dealing increased damage, however, I would not consider her among the best choices for physical DPS.
Update / Change Log
Updates / changes to the tier list will go here, as well as brief explanations. Usually as gacha games get older and get more updates, power-creep is introduced, causing characters to move down the list in order to make new characters more appealing, so expect the same here.
December 2023
- (12-26-23) After discussion with people online, Ben is actually really good as a boss killer due to his defensive counter / parry being very abusable. Moving him up to top of A rank.
- (12-26-23) Added new row, S+, moved Ellen up to S+ as she excels in movement and damage.
- (12-27-23) After more playtesting, made several adjustments. Moved Anton from B -> A due to damage potential, Billy from A -> S due to attack range and arena ultimate, Soukaku from S -> A due to slow attacks often getting her stunned locked coming off an assist.
- (12-27-23) Adjusted positioning of Rina, Grace, Lycaon, and Soldier 11.
- (12-28-23) Moved Nekomata from A -> S due to her damage potential, Nicole from S -> S+ due to her crowd control and grouping capabilities being a unique and extremely useful mechanic. Moved Ben from A -> S+ after realizing how busted his parry on his special is and damage mitigation (shields) is very important in a game with no traditional healing.
