Table of Contents
Nekomiya Mana, better known as Nekomata in Zenless Zone Zero is an S rank Agent who deals Physical anomaly and slash damage. She is an extremely fast attacker able to quickly switch between multiple targets or focus on one to easily apply the assault anomaly for massive bursts of damage.
Below, you will find the best DPS builds for Nekomata as of the ZZZ 1.0 release. Rather you are a F2P player or a spender, this guide is for you! *Note that these builds assume base talent level.
Overview
Available on the standard banner, Nekomata, a cat girl who is part of Gentle House, AKA Cunning Hares, is an agent that relies on fast attacks to overwhelm her opponents. A simple and straightforward, but fun agent to use, she is capable of outputting huge burst damage thanks to the assault effect from physical anomaly buildup. She stands out in the fact that she is able to effortlessly get behind opponents by holding her basic attack during the first 3 attacks, and that landing dodge counters grants her a temporary damage boost.
Nekomata should be built as a main DPS, as in order to maximize her damage output, you need to constantly land dodge counters and build up assault, which she excels at due to her fact attacks. With all that said, let's discuss the best W-Engines, Disc Drives, Stats, Skills, Bangboo, and Teams for Nekomata!
W-Engines
S - Steel Cushion
⭐ CRIT Rate
- Increases Physical DMG by 20/25/30/35/40%.
- The equipper's DMG increases by 25/31.5/38/44/50% when attacking the enemy from behind.
- Nekomata's canon W-Engine. This enhances her physical damage by a huge amount, and every single attack from her is physical, so this is the best W-Engine to improve her DPS output.
- Nekomata has a mechanic to get behind an enemy built into her charge basic attack, so if you take advantage of that, you're guaranteed to further increase her physical damage.
S - The Brimstone
⭐ Attack
- Upon hitting an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dash Attack, or Dodge Counter, the equipper's ATK increases by 3.5/4.4/5.2/6/7% for 8s, stacking up to 8 times. This effect can trigger once every 0.5s. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.
- As Nekomata will be on the field a lot, and thanks to her very fast attacks, you will constantly have the max amount of stacks at all time, making this a very good fit for Nekomata to boost her damage considerably.
A - Canon Rotor
⭐ Crit Rate
- Increases ATK by 7.5/8.6/9.7/10.8/12%.
- Attacks that land a CRIT on an enemy will inflict an additional 200% of ATK as DMG. This effect can only be triggered once every 8/7.5/7/6.5/6s.
- Ideal for a heavy rotation team, rotating roughly every 8 seconds in order to proc this damage boost.
- Overall, if you want additional crit and damage overall, but do not have Steel Cushion, this will be the second-best option for crit-build Nekomata
A - Street Superstar
⭐ Attack
- Whenever a squad member launches a Chain Attack, the equipper gains a Charge stack, stacking up to 3 times. Upon activating their own Ultimate, the equipper consumes all Charge stacks, and each stack increases the skill's DMG by 15/17.2/19.5/21.7/24%.
- W-Engine suited for a team with high daze, so for example, if you have Lycaon to proc more chain attacks, this in turn will boost this W-Engine for Nekomata in order to deal huge damage from her ultimate.
Disc Drive + Stats
Option 1 - "Meow Maul!"
4 Piece Fanged Metal
(2) Increases Physical DMG by 10%.
(4) Whenever a squad member inflicts Assault on an enemy, the equipper deals 35% increased damage to the target for 12s.
2 Piece Woodpecker Electro
(2) Increases CRIT Rate by 8%.
Main stats: IV. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | V. Physical DMG or PEN Ratio | VI. ATK or Anomaly Mastery
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | 2. ATK% | 3. Pen (If using PEN Ratio on V) | Anomaly Prof.
This build is focused on Assault, with Nekomata being able to deal massive amounts of damage to an enemy upon triggering it. For this build to work, you'll either need a mostly physical team or a physical anomaly agent / bangboo, or to put a lot of focus in Anomaly Mastery for Nekomata. This is a high effort build, but high reward.
Option 2 - "Critty Cat"
4 Woodpecker Electro
(2) Increases CRIT Rate by 8%.
(4) Triggering a critical hit with a Basic Attack, Dodge Counter or EX Special Attack increases the equippers ATK by 9% for 6s. The buff duration for different skills are calculated separately.
2 Piece Fanged Metal
(2) Increases Physical DMG by 10%.
Main stats: IV. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | V. Physical DMG or PEN Ratio | VI. ATK
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | 2. ATK% | 3. Pen (If using PEN Ratio on V)
This build is focused on Nekomata dealing a lot of critical hits, and with Nekomata's fast rate of attack, you should, in theory, even with a low critical hit chance of around 25%, be able to trigger Woodpecker's passive consistently, although you would still want higher crit rate to increase your overall damage!
Skill Priority
ALWAYS PRIOIRITZE CORE SKILL FIRST!!!
1. This is Nekomata's main source of damage and you will be mashing this button a lot to keep up with her fast attacks, so make sure to level this up ASAP.
2. Nekomata's Chain and Ultimate is an AOE physical attack, and is incredibly powerful, so make sure this is levelled up as your second priority.
3. Nekomata's Dodge Counter activates her core passive, which boosts her damage by 30%-60% for 6 seconds, meaning you'll be using this a lot. Make this your priority, on equal playing field with her chain attack.
4. Neko's Quick Assist also activates her core passive, although this requires the current on field character to be launched or hit before it can be activated.
5. Nekomata's Special is alright, but it should not take priority over the above skills. You will see higher damage returns from levelling up other skills first.
Bangboo
S - Bangvolver
Key Trait - When there are 2 or more Physical Attribute characters in your squad: Bangboo Chain Attack inflicts 100% more Anomaly Buildup.
A very good fit for Nekomata, as she deals considerably more damage with Assault, Bangvolver makes it even easier to apply that thanks to their 100% physical anomaly buildup.
S - Amillion
Key Trait - When there are 2 or more Cunning Hares character in your squad: Bangboo Chain Attack DMG increases with fewer enemies in combat, up to a max of 45%.
As Nekomata is a member of the Cunning Hares, as long as you pair her with another such as Billy, this will give Amillion a big boost in damage against boss enemies, making him great to bring along against elites to deal massive chunks of damage.
A - Magnetiboo
Key Trait -When there is at least 1 Anomaly character in your squad: Active Skill attack range is increased, and DMG is increased by 30%.
With the optimal team comp below which includes Nicole, this will make your team be able to consistently group together enemies, which with Nekomata's short range, will allow her to mow down enemies like a blender.
Optimal Team Comp
For Nekomata, where there are at least 2 physical or Cunning Hare agents, after any character inflicts Assault, increases the DMG of Nekomata's next EX Special Attack by 35%, stacking up to 2 times. This makes Nekomata an absolutely insane Physical damage dealer, and with Piper helping apply Physical Anomaly, you should be able to trigger assault more consistently.
Overall Thoughts
Nekomata is a very simple, but very powerful S rank physical agent. If you like playing rogue / speedy characters in games, I would recommend you use her in your squad, but if she is stuck in standard banner, wait for them to be featured so you don't push your luck, or re-roll for her, as she deals very high physical damage. Her damage potential with assault means you can beat down high HP bosses more quickly, and her dodge counter buff means you'll constantly be on your toes to land the timing.
