A strong ZZZ Hugo build is rather annoying to put together, thanks to HoYoverse’s neglect in adding enough W-Engines and A-rank character during the RPG’s first year. Hugo is strong, sure. However, he also needs a specific stat mix and teammates to make the most of his kit, and it’s not easy to find the right balance.
Our ZZZ Hugo build guide breaks down his top W-Engines and Drive Discs, with some Hugo team recommendations as well.
ZZZ Hugo build
ZZZ Hugo W-Engine
Despite Hugo’s reliance on Stun agents, his stat needs are typical of your standard attack character. Hugo wants high attack, high crit rate, and as much crit damage as you can stack on him. His signature W-Engine, Myriad Eclipse, has a bit of everything he needs. Its passive skill grants the equipping character 45 percent extra crit damage outright, and the secondary stat provides 24 percent crit rate at max level. Myriad Eclipse also lets the user ignore 25 percent of the target’s defense with the Zero Death Sentence effect, which activates when they use their EX Special, chain attack, or ultimate.
It’s a strong choice, though other attack engines complement his kit as well. The issue is that most of them are S-rank engines, since HoYo hasn’t added many A-rank attack agents or engines in ZZZ’s first year. The second best choice is Ellen’s Deep Sea Visitor, as it also has the same crit rate buff for its secondary stat and gives the equipping character a 25 percent ice damage bonus. Hitting enemies with a basic attack increases the user’s crit rate by 10 percent for eight seconds, and if one of those attacks deals ice damage, they get an additional 10 percent crit rate buff.
For Hugo’s other W-Engine choices, you’re aiming mostly for stats over specific abilities, as there are no other ice-oriented options. Evelyn’s Heartstring Nocturne, for example, gives Hugo a large crit rate and crit damage buff, which is helpful even if he can’t benefit from reducing an enemy’s fire resistance. Likewise, he can’t get the full effect from Severed Innocence, Soldier 0 Anby’s engine, since he can’t deal aftershock damage, but the hefty crit damage buff works in his favor anyway.
Harumasa’s Zanshin Herb Case is one of the better S-rank engine choices if you have it and don’t use Harumasa. Its secondary stat is crit damage, and its passive effect increases crit rate by 10 percent and then by a further 10 percent when an enemy is stunned or under an anomaly. That’d give Hugo a welcome boost just before he unleashes his most powerful attacks.
Finally, while attack isn’t a popular stat for Hugo among the ZZZ community, he still needs plenty of it. The Brimstone, Soldier 11’s signature, works for him and potentially can be free if you save up enough currency to spend in the in-game shop. It increases attack by 30 percent at max level, and its passive increases attack by a further 3.5 percent when the equipping character uses a basic attack, dash attack, or dodge counter. That effect stacks up to eight times.
Hugo’s best A-rank option is Marcato Desire, thanks to its crit rate support, but until HoYoverse brings it back, you can’t get it if you don’t already have it. Marcato Desire was an event-exclusive W-Engine. That leaves you with Gilded Blossom, an engine with attack as its secondary stat and a passive that increases attack by six percent and EX Special damage by 15 percent outright, without special requirements to meet. Hugo’s damage mainly comes from his charged basic attack, but he still deals quite a lot with his EX Special.
[Lunar] Pleniluna is your best bet for B-rank options, as it raises the equipping character’s basic, dodge, and dash damage by 12/20 percent. Since you can buy that one at the gadget store for Dennies, you can hit the 20 percent buff comparatively easily.
ZZZ Hugo Drive Discs
Hugo’s stat needs and the challenge of finding a good W-Engine make Woodpecker Electro an excellent choice for him.
- Two-piece effect: Increases crit rate by eight percent
- Four-piece effect: Increases attack by nine percent when the equipping character lands a critical hit with a basic, dodge, or EX Special attack
You could supplement that with two pieces of Branch and Blade Song to get its 16 percent crit damage increase or Polar Metal for a 10 percent ice damage buff.
Hormone Punk is another decent choice, though it doesn’t give Hugo much help in the crit department.
- Two-piece effect: Increases attack by 10 percent
- Four-piece effect: Upon entering combat or switching in, the equipping character’s attack increases by 25 percent for 10 seconds. The effect can only trigger once every 20 seconds
The long cooldown before the effect triggers again seems harsh, but Hugo won’t always be on-field anyway. He needs to let his Stun partners do their thing.
ZZZ Hugo stats
Hugo needs the usual combination of DPS stats – attack, crit rate, and crit damage – and in the ideal situation, he’d have a lot of each. Aim for 75 percent crit rate or higher – 80 or 85 percent would be fantastic if possible – and double that for his crit damage if you can make it happen. For attack, the best range is 2,500 to 3,000.
Bear in mind that Hugo is still exceptionally powerful even if you only manage to raise his attack, something that’s likely without his signature W-Engine or another strong S-rank choice. You don’t have to have perfect stats for him to blaze through enemies.
So, TL;DR:
- Slot 4: Crit rate or crit damage
- Slot 5: Ice damage or attack percentage
- Slot 6: Attack percentage
ZZZ Hugo teams
Hugo needs at least one other Stun agent for his core passive to function properly and for his bonus ability. It’s non-negotiable if you want to get his core passive’s exceptionally strong burst attack, where Hugo deals extensive damage to enemies when they’re stunned. However, if you just want a fast and capable ice attack character and don’t have Stun agents to spare, he’ll still serve you well.
The ideal, premium team is:
Lighter reduces enemy resistance to fire and ice, which is ideal for Hugo and Lycaon, and he stuns quickly without having to be on the field too often. Lycaon is the easier of the two to obtain if you haven’t chosen your free S-rank agent yet, and while he’s dropped off in the meta over the last few patches, he’s still one of ZZZ’s best Stun agents.
That said, you could swap either of them for Qingyi or Trigger and still end up with good results. Koleda works, though her slow attack speed drags out battles and makes it harder to set up for Hugo’s burst damage.
A potentially easier team to put together is:
The issue with a Stun team for Hugo is that HoYoverse has neglected A-rank agents in general and especially for the Stun category. Anby is the only one you automatically get, and if you didn’t get Pulchra for free, you’re out of luck.
You could still make one with Anby and add a support character in the third slot, such as Lucy or Soukaku, or you could just treat Hugo as a normal DPS and pair him with Nicole for defense reduction and Lucy for attack support.
What tier is Hugo in ZZZ?
Hugo is a strong character with high damage potential, but the annoyingly specific requirements for his kit, lack of suitable W-Engines, and equal lack of easy-to-obtain Stun agents means we’re putting him in the A-rank of our ZZZ tier list. He’s great if you have the perfect tools, but far too demanding to be practical for everyone else.
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.