Zenless Zone Zero might be HoYoverse’s latest gacha sensation, but two things will always be true: there will be a fairly clear character tier list and a method to reroll your account so you have the best start possible. We’ll discuss both of those today, starting with the characters you really want.
Zenless Zone Zero Tier List
It’s incredibly early in Zenless Zone Zero‘s meta, and as more characters come out, more players get their hands on the ones already released, and start really building them, some of these rankings are bound to shift. As it stands, I can fairly confidently talk about all of the S-rank Agents as well as a few of the A-Rank.
S-Tier Characters in Zenless Zone Zero
There are currently three S-tier characters, one of which goes without saying, and the other will make some people question their life choices.
Ellen Joe
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Attack
- Element: Ice
As the first limited banner character, Ellen Joe is the best DPS available in Zenless Zone Zero and holds that position almost by default. Her damage ceiling is far higher than any of the other options, she’s more mobile, and is generally more effective moment-to-moment. Her current teams are a bit limited, and as the first of her kind, powercreep will probably catch her much sooner than later, but for now, if you want a shark-tailed powerhouse, she’s your girl.
Von Lycaon
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Stun
- Element: Ice
The only S-Tier standard banner character as of 1.0, Von Lycaon does his job as a Stun and Ice application character better than every other character in his class. He looks cooler doing it, too, but does it easier and more consistently, to boot. His damage potential is also high for a non-DPS character, so pairing him with any actual DPS immediately elevates them.
Soukaku
- Rarity: A-Rank
- Type: Support
- Element: Ice
Soukaku is at the highest possible tier of Buffer in Zenless Zone Zero, with tons of gear options, the ability to apply massive damage increases to her teammates, and solid Ice application. Her damage might not be at Lycaon’s levels, nor is her gameplay quite so straightforward, but her ability to amplify her teammates outstrips even his, befitting her Support role.
A-Tier Characters in Zenless Zone Zero
A lot of Zenless Zone Zero‘s characters fall into the A-Tier for one reason or another. In my mind, not only should an A-Tier character be a solid workhorse in their role, but they should also be relatively comfortable to play. You’re likely to see one omission base on that here.
Soldier 11
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Attack
- Element: Fire
If you know fighting game character mechanic lore, Soldier 11 is the Ryu, the Ky Kiske, the Scorpion of Zenless Zone Zero. She’s easy to play, easy to learn, and takes relatively little effort to get good damage out of. There’s nothing really flashy about her playstyle: if you like straightforward beat sticks, she provides in spades.
Nekomata
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Attack
- Element: Physical
Of the A-tier DPS characters available in Zenless Zone Zero, I think I like Nekomata’s gameplay the most. Her kit revolves around building the Physical affliction and counters. Activating any of those augments her attacks, and while she’s primarily a single-target specialist, certain attacks can clear entire rooms (or at least cause the whole room to explode in damage numbers).
Grace Howard
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Anomaly
- Element: Electric
Grace is a neat character whose primary source of damage is her status application, with all her Basic Attack strings building into her sending out bombs that buildup toward the Shock status. I think her playstyle is a bit one-note, even compared against Soldier 11, but I can’t doubt its effectiveness.
Alexandrina (Rina) Sebastine
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Support
- Element: Electric
I can’t say that Rina isn’t effective in her role, nor can I say she isn’t incredibly creepy, but I also don’t think she’s quite the same level as Soukaku. She’s a bit slow, he attacks don’t hit as consistently (in my experience), and her Ultimate can lose a lot of potential DPS if the enemy walks backward a little bit. That said, she’s still a very good support.
B-Tier Characters in Zenless Zone Zero
Just because B-tier characters aren’t in the upper echelons doesn’t mean they can’t be effective if you invest in them or enjoy their playstyles.
Anby Demara
- Rarity: A-Rank
- Type: Stun
- Element: Electric
As literally the first character you play in Zenless Zone Zero, Anby is good at everything she does but great at nothing. Her Skill, EX or not, deals good damage. Her attacks are quick, she has good mobility, and is generally just a fun, effective — if very simple — character.
Koleda Belobog
- Rarity: S-Rank
- Type: Stun
- Element: Fire
I might get raked over the coals for this take, but despite Koleda’s potential for good Stun buildup and damage, I find her immensely clunky to play. The timing of her augmented attacks is specific enough that in the heat of battle, I feel like a lot of her abilities get lost in the shuffle. If you build into her or are better at precise timing in action games than I am (not difficult), then she might rate higher for you.
Ben Bigger
- Rarity: A-Rank
- Type: Defense
- Element: Fire
Who wouldn’t want to fight as a massive, sentient grizzly bear? I can’t think of anyone, and despite Ben Bigger’s not-so-big damage, his defensive capabilities are more than worth having on a team that needs them. That’s especially true in a game that currently lacks a healer of any kind. Of course, if Ben’s damage were actually bigger, he’d be a bit broken.
Of the remaining roster, I either haven’t played with them enough to have an opinion on their ranking or I don’t find them worth talking about.
How to Reroll in Zenless Zone Zero
Rerolling in ZZZero is a lengthy process. There are two versions that I call “fast” and “full.” The fast one takes you only as far as your ability to pull on the standard banner. You get a whopping 20 pulls total, so your luck needs to be god-tier to get what you want (an S-Rank). A “full” reroll gets you the 50 pulls you need for a single, guaranteed S-Rank and maybe one 10-pull on the limited character banner.
How to Fast Reroll in Zenless Zone Zero
Here’s the process to reroll fast in ZZZ.
- Create an account with a new email.
- Play through the tutorial
- When the dialog starts, spam-click your way through it to skip all the worthless words no one worked hard on writing
- Take control of either Belle or Wise and speak to Nicole when she comes running in
- Interact with the HDD to start the commission in the Hollow
- Return to the real world and speak to Nicole and Co. in the Parking Lot
- Go back inside and speak to Wise to unlock the ability to Signal Search (the gacha system)
- Get the 20 pre-registration free pulls from mail
The “fast” reroll process takes about 15-20 minutes if you’re going as fast as you can. And twenty minutes for twenty pulls might seem like a fair trade, but the “full” one is technically better value for your time.
For a full reroll, you must:
- Do all of the fast version steps.
- Spend your first 20 pulls to see what you get.
- Complete commissions for General Chop and Susie to gain access to them as vendors
- Begin the commission The Proxy and the Hare
- Make your way through the mission until you defeat the boss
- Return to the real world
- Speak with Wise to reopen the video store
- Speak to the other merchants around Sixth Street and collect their overdue videos
- Find Wise near a cute kitty. Pet the kitty. Take a photo of the kitty.
- Get access to in-game events.
- Take all the rewards and do more pulls
The full reroll took me about 45-50 minutes with me clicking through dialog and completing fights as quickly as possible, but for that time I got the same amount of pulls per minute as the fast reroll, plus some additional rewards and a better sense of what characters I enjoyed.
Whew. And that’s how you reroll in Zenless Zone Zero, as well as a slightly abbreviated tier list of characters you’ll want. We’ll be covering ZZZ in the coming days, so stay tuned.
