6 Tips You Should Know Before Playing Zenless Zone Zero

Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

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Human Made

Brittany is our resident Palia and Honkai: Star Rail specialist.

Hoyoverse has become the king of gacha games, and Zenless Zone Zero is the latest game the tech otakus have released. Blending fast-paced ARPG action with a cyberpop, dystopian world, Zenless Zone Zero can initially feel intimidating. The game has a lot to do, which can make starting daunting. We’re here to help you get everything out of Zenless Zone Zero while having a smooth, easy start.

Whether you’re a gacha beginner or veteran, these six tips will help you make the most of your time in New Eridu.

1. Take advantage of character demos (VR and Signal Search)

Zenless Zone Zero VR Device — Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

Combat in Zenless Zone Zero can be misleading. Story missions generally use trial characters who are leveled up and equipped well for each fight – getting through these is generally a breeze. However, combat missions and other content require you to form your own team, which will not be as overpowered.

To make up for this, it’s important to use characters correctly. Each character has special things that significantly boost their usefulness and damage, such as Ellen Joe’s Roaming state or Von Lycaon’s hold attacks. Zenless Zone Zero has in-depth character demos that help you learn and practice using every character and understanding their quirks.

To access the demos, head to the VR Device in Random Play (this is right across the room from the HDD in the Staff Room). The Cooperation Exercises are the demos, and there’s one for every playable character in the game.

Completing these demos also gives rewards, such as the coveted Polychromes and skill-leveling resources. It’s worth checking all of the characters out to decide who you want on your team, especially since you can go back and redo the demos whenever you want.

2. Be selective when using resources

Skill in Zenless Zone Zero — Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

Building a good team requires more than just knowing the ins and outs of the characters. The characters themselves and all of their abilities will need to be leveled up. This is also another way to get a few Polychromes, which makes leveling up everyone tempting. Unfortunately, the resources to level them up don’t come easy.

When you first start Zenless Zone Zero, you’ll get a lot of rewards. Between free characters, an abundance of Polychromes, and even some leveling materials, the game gives you quite a lot. Players are rolling for characters in the gacha often, and the beginning rewards will give you at least two guaranteed five-star characters.

The team you think you’ll build at the start is more than likely going to be different after getting all the free rewards. Considering you’ll rarely need your team before Chapter Two ends, it’s worth saving your resources to use once you’ve got a few options to pick from. This saves you time, money, and precious battery charge to use for other things.

3. Use up battery charge when it’s available

For those familiar with Hoyoverse’s other gacha games, like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, the limited battery charge resource isn’t a surprise. This resource is used for getting leveling materials, which means it’s really important to use.

Battery charge in Zenless Zone Zero refreshes over time, maxing out at 240. The unfortunate thing about this is that, when you need a lot of resources, you’re limited in how much you can grind. Because of this, the best thing to do is use up all or most of your battery charge every time you play. Things like character leveling materials will always be needed, so even if you don’t know what team you want to use, you can still grind.

There are a few ways to replenish battery charge without waiting, like using Ether Batteries. However, these are very limited and hard to get, so it’s not a good thing to rely on. Using your battery charge well from the start will keep the game flowing as your characters stay on top of the enemies.

4. Dodging is overpowered, do it

Combat in Zenless Zone Zero — Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

When it comes to the actual combat of Zenless Zone Zero, dodging is as important as knowing how the characters work. Get good at dodging, and fighting is much easier.

This is pretty easy to do once you’ve got the timing right. Enemies will flash golden light before attacking, though every enemy has different times between when they attack after they flash the light. Once you successfully dodge, time will briefly slow down, and you can launch a counter-attack.

While it’s simple to do, doing it correctly can be a trial-and-error process for each enemy. Some enemies have slow attack patterns, while others will launch repeated attacks that have you dodging constantly. No matter what kind of attacks the enemy has, dodging is a vital part of dishing out as much damage as possible in Zenless Zone Zero.

5. Check the map for ways to level up and things to do

Exploring in Zenless Zone Zero — Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

Zenless Zone Zero will force you to slow down at times, requiring Inter-Knot levels before progressing in the story. When this happens, it’s time to explore.

While Sixth Street has a lot of commissions and things to do to increase your level, other things do, too. Even using your battery power and grinding gives quite a bit of experience. The map is a major resource for making sure you’re not missing anything.

To check it, click on the circle that looks like a broadcast (pictured above). This brings up a list of places to teleport to. Going through them all and exploring everything will make sure you don’t miss any missions or even gameplay loops that provide valuable experience. Plus, it’s helpful to get a feel for where everything is. It’s easy to forget everything the game has to offer, especially when you’re just starting out.

6. Explore when using the HDD (and, really, everywhere)

Belobog team in Zenless Zone Zero — Hoyoverse / Brittany Alva

Exploring in Zenless Zone Zero is the key to getting the most out of your time. For example, exploring when you’re using the HDD gives you better and more rewards. This makes your time spent on these longer missions much more beneficial.

When you’re out in New Eridu, there are plenty of situations that you can interact with. These are not only funny but rewarding as well. Officer Mewmew, the giant cat on Sixth Street, will give you rewards if you find certain things in each area. Additionally, a lot of achievements will also give you rewards for exploring.

While it seems like exploring takes more of your time, the rewards make it well worth it in every area of the game.

That’s everything you need to know before hopping into Zenless Zone Zero! The game can seem daunting at first, but following these tips and going with the flow of the game will make your time in New Eridu very enjoyable.

If there’s anything you have questions about or additional tips you have for players, feel free to comment down below. You can also subscribe for more gaming content.

Good luck on your journey into the Hollows!