Compiling a ZZZ tier list is no mean feat, not when character abilities are only half of what counts. Who they pair well with, how easy they are to learn, whether it’s worth becoming an expert with the more complicated characters, and if you’re expected to splash out for premium builds are all just as important as the agent’s base capabilities.
We’ve taken all of that into consideration and split our ZZZ tier list into a few different pieces – one list that includes every character split into DPS, sub-DPS, and support roles and shorter lists covering every agent type, for example, the best stun agents, the best anomaly agents, and so on. Rupture is the exception, since there’s just Yixuan in that category until ZZZ 2.2.
ZZZ tier list
The best Zenless Zone Zero characters
Our main tier list includes every character regardless of combat type and ranks them based on what they bring to a team – how quickly they fight, for example, whether they’re easy to pair with others, and how much setup they require. We’re also ranking them based on how easy they are to build without their signature W-Engines, as we believe a good character is one you can make use of without having to invest heavily into premium builds, so this list might look rather different from those you see elsewhere.
Lighter, for example, benefits from his signature W-Engine and maxing out his passives, but he doesn’t need it to perform very well. He needs fire and ice teammates to function well, but those are hardly in short supply. Qingye, meanwhile, requires as much on-field time as a standard DPS and drags the party’s performance down, while Ju Fufu is noticeably less effective without her signature weapon. Both characters are lower on the list as a result.
ZZZ S-tier characters
ZZZ A-tier characters
ZZZ B-tier characters
ZZZ best attack characters
HoYoverse blurred the lines between anomaly and attack characters in recent updates, with the likes of Miyabi and, more recently, Alice often dealing as much damage as the best attackers. The thing that sets these roles apart, though, is that you can build standard DPS stats on attack characters, pair them with a buffer or debuffer, and set them loose without much trouble, where anomaly characters require more specific teams and stat combinations.
S-rank attack characters
A-rank attack characters
- Zhu Yuan
- Harumasa
- Soldier 0 – Anby
- Harumasa
B-rank attack characters
- Anton
- Soldier 11
- Nekomata
- Corin
- Billy
ZZZ best anomaly characters
The short version of this list is that every anomaly character is good. They all have high-powered skills that deal heavy damage, many can still trigger their effects while the character in questionA few are just even better.
S-rank anomaly characters
- Miyabi
- Alice
- Burnice
- Vivian
A-rank anomaly characters
Yanagi is only in the A-tier on account of her combos, which require her to remain on-field for extended periods of time. She’s an excellent fighter, but her style limits potential teammates to those whose effects linger while they aren’t around, such as Vivian or Burnice.
B-rank anomaly characters
Grace is a capable shock applier, but she’s rather slow. When her EX Special isn’t ready to use and she isn’t triggering an anomaly, you’re dealing noticeably less damage. As a quick-swap partner who jumps in to apply shock and then leaves again, though, Grace works quite well.
ZZZ best stun characters
Stun characters exist in an odd hybrid space, somewhere between sub-DPS and support, depending on which agent you’re looking at. Trigger, for example, just pops in to blast some people and leaves, but deals Aftershock damage from off-field; Pulchra is almost exclusively off-field; Lycaon needs time for his rotation; and Lighter is practically a sub-DPS. As ever, team composition is more important than just picking a meta character, and we’ve kept that in mind with our tier placements.
S-rank stun characters
A-rank stun characters
Lycaon belongs in the S-tier bracket if you’re using him in an ice team, as his ice resistance reduction is spectacular in those scenarios. Without an ice DPS, Lycaon’s charged basic attack rotation is a little too slow to warrant a spot at the top.
B-rank stun characters
ZZZ best support characters
There are almost no bad support characters in ZZZ, though some of them depend heavily on team composition. Soukaku, for example, is much less useful if she’s in a team without an ice main-DPS. Rina, meanwhile, helps the entire party deal more damage just by existing, which makes up for her slow skill speed and lets her slot into any team.
S-rank support characters
There’s no reason not to use any of these characters in any team. Astra Yao and Yuzuha provide hefty attack buffs without much investment, and Yuzuha is the support for anomaly characters thanks to her unique quirk that matches an existing anomaly damage type on the field. Nicole shreds defense like no others and doesn’t even need specific stats to function well.
A-rank support characters
B-rank support characters
ZZZ best defense characters
It seems like HoYoverse hasn’t quite figured out what to do with defense characters yet. The best ones do something other than just shield their allies, like Caesar’s attack buff and daze support or Seth’s anomaly buff. The ones who aren’t Caesar are incredibly slow, though, which makes them tough to recommend in endgame challenges where clearing fights as quickly as possible matters more than anything.
Then there’s Pan Yinhu, who just doesn’t have a purpose unless Yixuan’s on your team, though that’ll likely change once ZZZ 2.3 rolls around.
S-rank defense characters
A-rank defense characters
B(en)-rank defense characters
Poor Ben. Such a big heart, but just too slow to be of much use anymore.
We’ll update this list regularly as new characters debut, but for now, check out our up-to-date selection of Zenless Zone Zero codes for some free Polychrome.