Whether you’ve been looking forward to the latest game from HoYoverse, saw that hype music video with DJ Tiesto, or are just in the market for a new free-to-play action RPG, Zenless Zone Zero has all the style and action you could hope for.
Unlike the developer’s previous projects, this game is set in a postapocalyptic city called New Eridu that is under siege by interdimensional monsters called Ethereal. Your character is a Proxy who must venture through portals to fight the Ethereal and find resources to keep humanity alive. The game does share some elements with previous HoYoverse titles, but plays very differently than the likes of Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail. To help you get a leg up on the Ethereal, take note of these tips when getting started.
Battery management
No matter how different a HoYoverse game might look, they are all built around gacha mechanics. The only way to unlock new characters or weapons is via the gacha system, so get ready to grind out dailies. Everything you do outside of the main story and events costs battery charge, which is essentially your stamina gauge. You will need to manage how much you spend grinding for extra cash or various materials.
Battery recharges passively at a rate of one per minute, but caps out at 240. Never let your battery sit maxed out or you will just be wasting time it could be charging. If you want to recharge faster, you can buy a coffee to instantly get 60 charge back, but you can only get one per day. If you’re very impatient, the only other method to get more charge is to use Zenless Zone Zero‘s premium currency called Polychrome.
Follow the story
Even when you’re let off the leash and can choose whatever activities you want to do, stick to the main story until you get through the entire thing. Zenless Zone Zero will introduce a lot more new features through the story that you will want to get access to as soon as possible. You can easily tell what is the main story mission by the red exclamation mark above the character’s heads.
Grind XP materials in VR
After chapter 1, you can enter the VR Training Mode. This mode will give you various combat challenges where you can easily grind almost any material you need. Combat simulations can earn you Basic Materials, Agent Promotion, Agent Skill, and Modify W-engine, Driver Validation grants you Drive Discs, Expert Challenge gives upgrades to Agent core skills, and Reckless Challenge give materials to level Agents.
Going back to our previous tip, though, more VR challenges are unlocked as you go through the story.
Practice your combat
Fighting in Zenless Zone Zero is far flashier and mechanically deep than in Genshin Impact. You will be pulling of tons of combos and using special abilities to overcome very punishing bosses. Take advantage of the VR training to get a good feel for how the combat flows. Chain Attacks are a new feature you will want to master early. The same goes for timing on perfect dodges to get easy counterattacks.
This is also the best place to test out your Agent’s Ultimate. This takes a long time to charge up, so you want to know the best situation and timing to use it for your Agent.
Don’t fight on an empty stomach
Before you start any mission, make sure you stop by General Chop’s on Sixth Street to buy one of their dishes. All the food here costs the basic currency, so you don’t have to worry about spending real cash or any valuable premium currency, and each dish gives a substantial buff. A few examples include +30 attack for the Vegetable Noodles, +30% damage to bosses from the Bone Broth Noodles, and +15% HP and +15% physical damage from the Pumpkin Soup Noodles. There’s no reason not to chow down between each battle, so never start a fight without an active buff.
