Zenless Zone Zero combat guide
- Keep up your barrage of attacks to fill up your enemy's Daze meter
- Unleash your Heavy Attack on your foe to trigger the Chain Attack feature
- Ramp up your team's Decibel Rating to pull off an Ultimate
What sorcery is this? Zenless Zone Zero not only boasts sleek visuals and uber-cool Lofi vibes but also oozes personality and style thanks to its stunning combat. But while looking hella cool on the battlefield is one thing, it's another to actually execute the moves that'll make everyone go ooh-and-ahh over your purposeful button-mashing.
So to help you make sure you actually know what you're doing out there on dangerous Hollow terrain, we've gathered a quick guide on how to navigate Zenless Zone Zero's combat to keep your battle prowess on point. After all, you wouldn't want to be all bark and no bite - not when you've got a Proxy reputation to uphold.
Basic Attack
Basic Attacks are your regular moves that vary from Agent to Agent, depending on whether or not they're Physical attackers, Support heroes, Close Combat experts, Ranged damage dealers, and so on. As you pile on the hits, you'll generate Energy, which is displayed below your HP bar on the screen.
Combat Energy
Energy in combat can also be accumulated via Dodge Counters and Dash Attacks. The former means immediately hitting the attack button after a successful Dodge, while the latter means running long enough to hit a sprint and then attacking towards the end. You can snoop around the battlefield and destroy supply chests or loot Energy from downed foes as well.
A Perfect Dodge, by the way, will launch a quick Matrix-esque bullet-time where you're invulnerable for a short bit.
Special Attack
What exactly is the point of building up your Energy over time, anyway? Once your Energy bar is full, you can then execute a Special Attack to deal even more devastating damage to unwitting Ethereals in the Hollows.
Daze
Eventually, all your attacks will contribute to your enemy's Daze meter below their HP. Just keep up the relentless barrage and this Daze meter will eventually hit 100%, rendering your foe pretty much useless for a specific period of time. This means they've entered their Stunned phase, which will gradually deplete - the thing is, once in this state, your foe can't move or attack, so this is your chance to bring the pain.
Chain Attack
Then comes the coolest part of Zenless Zone Zero's combat system for me - the Chain Attack. When an enemy is Stunned, you can unleash your Heavy Attack on your foe to trigger the Chain Attack feature. This acts as a sort of Quick Time Event where you can hit a button to ask your teammate to swoop in and bombard them with a flurry of stylish moves that deal damage to your enemy. This depends on the number of Agents you have in your party - and yes, even a Bangboo counts as one.
Assist Attack
Your squad can help you out in more ways than one with different kinds of Assists. For instance, if you take any damage and get knocked back, hitting the Assist button calls on a teammate to pick up the slack. If you're quick enough to preempt the attack - and you can tell when a gold cross-like indicator pops up right before the enemy makes its move - you can hit the Assist button to launch a Perfect Assist.
This will either help you parry with a Defensive Assist or help you dodge incoming fire with an Evasive Assist. Parrying piles on your enemy's Daze level, while dodging gives you a small window of Vital View time that slows down your foe.
Ultimate
Now, all these cool moves will ramp up your team's Decibel Rating, which will be displayed on the upper left of your screen each time you make a hit. Once your Decibel Rating hits 3,000, you can now rain down death and destruction with your Ultimate - which you can marvel at too thanks to the gorgeous skill animations that will follow.
While all these might make combat seem overwhelming at first glance, it's actually anything but. If there's one thing that Zenless Zone Zero shines in, it's the seamless combat and god-tier skill chains that flow from one move to the next, in my opinion. Once you get the hang of the QTE-esque prompts, you'll be swinging your swords with god-like precision in no time.
If you're unsure whether to play the newest Mihoyo's child, we have a review of Zenless Zone Zero that you might want to consult.
