A good ZZZ Astra Yao build is easy to put together, even if you don’t have the support singer’s signature W-Engine. Astra Yao needs just two stats, and she works with almost any party combination. That’s basically it. She’s uncomplicated compared to some ZZZ characters, but provides such strong support that it’s worth making room in any squad for her.
Our ZZZ Astra Yao build guide breaks down her best W-Engines and Drive Discs and gives some sample Astra Yao team recommendations.
ZZZ Astra Yao build
ZZZ Astra Yao W-Engines
Since Astra Yao’s kit means she basically just sings and supports, you’re free to use most support-class W-Engines, even ones that don’t have Ether as their matching element. Her signature is Elegant Vanity, which gives the equipping character five energy whenever a squad member enters battle by using a chain attack or any assist, and the effect can happen once every five seconds. When the equipping character uses 25 energy, the party gains a 10 percent damage buff that stacks twice and lasts 20 seconds. These buffs are helpful, sure, but they’re not so spectacular that you don’t want to consider other W-Engines.
Kaboom the Cannon is an excellent A-rank alternative thanks to its secondary stat, which, at level 60, gives the equipping characte 50 percent energy regeneration. Astra Yao needs energy for her kit to work, so that alone is sacrificing some extra attack buffs, especially if you wind up with less-than-favorable drive disc stats. The passive skill increases your party’s attack by 2.5 percent when any ally lands a hit on a foe, and the effect can stack four times. That’s a nice little attack buff, though since only one party member can provide one stack of the buff each at a given time, you’ll need a tight rotation to max it out.
A strong alternative you may already have on hand is Soukaku’s Bashful Demon. Ignore the ice damage bonus, since Astra Yao is ether-oriented. What matters with this one is its other passive effect, which increases the party’s damage by two percent every time the equipping character uses their EX Special. The effect stacks four times, and its duration refreshes every time the effect activates, which means with a good rotation, you’ll maintain an eight percent damage buff just by using Astra Yao’s skill. If you end up with multiple copies of Bashful Demon, the buff effect increases up to 3.2 percent.
The B-rank Slice of Time is a good choice if you don’t have any of these, even if its secondary Pen Ratio stat doesn’t help much. Slice of Time increases how many decibels the party generates when they use EX Specials, chain attacks, or assist attacks, and they generate additional energy for the equipper. Of those skills listed, Astra Yao’s core passive only works with chain attacks, but your party will still be using the other skills anyway. Since you can buy these for Dennies at the gadget store, you can get the higher end of the buff quickly and without relying on luck.
ZZZ Astra Yao Drive Discs
Astra Yao has one solid Drive Disc option: Astral Voice.
- Two-piece effect: Increases attack by 10 percent
- Four-piece effect: When an ally enters combat using a quick assist, all allies gain one Astral stack and can hold three. Each stack raises damage from the character who entered the field that way by eight percent
ZZZ Astra Yao stats
Astra Yao needs just two stats, attack and energy regeneration, but she needs a lot of them. High energy lets her maintain the Tremolo part of her kit with less downtime, and high attack raises the amount of extra attack her core skill gives to the rest of the party.
The generally accepted attack stat for the maximum buff is 3,430, but bear in mind that’s designed to reach the highest buff. Your Astra Yao will still function perfectly fine with lower attack or a W-Engine that doesn’t have large stat increases, even in high-level challenges. It’s just something to aim for and be aware of.
- Slot 4: Attack percent
- Slot 5: Attack percent
- Slot 6: Energy regen
ZZZ Astra Yao skill priority
Aside from her core passive, which you should upgrade as soon as possible, Astra Yao’s most important skills are her EX Special and her chain attack. Chain attacks don’t usually end up high on a priority list, but Astra Yao’s deals heavy ether damage and automatically puts her in the cadenza state usually associated with her EX Special.
- Core passive
- EX Special
- Chain attack
- Assist
- Basic
- Dodge
ZZZ Astra Yao teams
The short version of this is literally any team that has a damage dealer who doesn’t have to stay on-field for extended periods of time will work with Astra Yao. She’s particularly useful for teams that have two agents who already work effectively together – Anomaly teams, for example, or teams with a stun agent and an attack agent.
These two swap out frequently thanks to their kits, so you’ll not struggle to find quick assist opportunities to trigger Astra Yao’s core passive. By the same logic, you could use:
Or even:
Swap those out as you see fit for stun or attack agents of your choosing. Grace works in place of Burnice, while Harumasa or Zhu Yuan can take over for the anomaly main-DPS, and Qingyi or Lycaon can work in place of Lighter.
If you’re looking for other ZZZ characters to form a team for endgame trials, check out our up-to-date selection of Zenless Zone Zero codes for some free Polychrome.