Chaos Zero Nightmare (CZN)HugoBuild and Guide

• Hunt Commence: Hugo’s unique mechanic Hunt Commence is a stackable buff that allows him to trigger additional attacks each time a card that targets a single enemy is used by him or allies (AoE and randomly targeting abilities do not work). Hunt Commence is gained via the majority of Hugo’s cards and is stackable up to 5 times, and after it’s triggered, Hunt Commence’s stack size is reduced by 1. When triggered, it deals 50% of Hugo’s ATK plus an extra 30% per stack up to 200%.
• Something that’s important to know is that all the damage, including the stack damage, is base damage, meaning it is multiplied by multiplicative +% damage bonuses.

6

Last Resort

Ego Skill

250% Damage to all enemies.
+30% Commence the Hunt Damage.

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Last Resort

Costs 6 EP, deals a large amount of AoE damage, and applies a permanent 30% damage boost to all Hunt Commence damage on use. It should be used as early as possible to activate the buff to maximize Hugo’s damage output.

1

Throw Dagger

Attack

100% Damage.

Throw Dagger

Hugo’s basic attack starts standard, but can be upgraded via Potentials to have a 50% chance to grant a stack of Hunt Commence, boosting its value in the early game. Despite this, it is still a target for removal in endgame Hugo builds, but is still serviceable in Zero System.

1

Defense System

Skill

100% Shield.​

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Defense System

Hugo’s basic shield is completely standard and doesn't have any extra synergy with his kit, a high-priority target for removal.

1

Hunting Instincts

Upgrade

[Initiation]

When another Combatant uses an Upgrade or Skill Card, gain 1 Commence the Hunt.​

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Hunting Instincts

A 1 AP Upgrade with Initiation, meaning it will start in your hand. This is the main way Hugo maintains high Hunt Commence stacks. After activation, whenever another Combatant’s skill or upgrade is used, Hugo gains 1 Hunt Commence. This card is the backbone of all of Hugo’s best builds, with many aiming for multiple copies to make maintaining high Hunt Commence effortless.

1

Fan of Daggers

Attack

[Haste]

60% x 3 Damage to random enemies.
Commence the Hunt for each target hit.

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Fan of Daggers

Fan of daggers is a 3-hit random targeting ability that grants Hunt Commence stacks equal to the number of enemies hit. A good way to accumulate stacks early on in Zero System runs, but not a core part of Hugo’s best endgame builds.

1

Quick Fix

Attack

[Haste]

80% x 2 Damage.
If in Commence the Hunt, Draw 1 Attack Card.

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Quick Fix

A single targeted attack that hits twice, and if Hunt Commence is active, draws an Attack Card from the deck. Hugo’s best personal Hunt Commence trigger card, which replaces itself on use, making it a staple include and high upgrade priority in most Hugo decks.

1

Dingo Howling

Skill

100% Shield.
2 Commence the Hunt.

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Dingo Howling

An enhanced shielding Card that shields but also grants 2 Hunt Commence on use. Not a must-have at baseline, but it gains some incredibly powerful epiphany options, making it a strong inclusion in Hugo’s best strategies.

1

Fixer's Approach

Upgrade

[Unique]

+40 Extra Attack of Commence the Hunt Damage.

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Fixer's Approach

Another Upgrade card for Hugo, this time with the Unique Tag. While active, it increases the damage of Hunt Commence Extra Attacks multiplicatively by +40%. An excellent damage increase to a major part of Hugo’s total damage output. Note: Here is how it works with max Hunt Commence Stacks and no other multipliers. (50% + 150%) x 1.4 = 280%.

Hugo’s Signature Potentials offer significant damage boosts as well as some additional functionality, making them a high priority to unlock.

• 3-1: Adds a 50% chance to gain Hunt Commence when using Hugo’s Basic Attack Throw Dagger, helping with stack generation in Zero System runs. Not too relevant in endgame builds though.
• 5-1: Increases Throw Dagger’s base damage multiplier by +5% and if ATK is higher than 500 an additional +5% is added. Also not hugely impactful in endgame Hugo decks and is more for early Zero System power.
• 7: Improves Additional Damage multiplier by +4% while Hugo’s ATK is 700 or higher. Also grants an extra +1% for every 50 ATK over that up to 8%. A nice damage boost overall and definitely worth picking up.

Standard Playstyle

Hugo’s damage potential lives and dies by how effectively he can establish and maintain high Hunt Commence stack sizes while also having teammates that can trigger them frequently enough. Just stack generation or just high attack frequency isn’t enough to draw out Hugo’s potential; decks built around him need to have both to be effective. Outside of balancing this dynamic, Hugo’s gameplay is simple. Generate and maintain stacks, establish his upgrades, and use as many single-targeting attacks as possible.

Note

For every Epiphany, we're colored their name based on how useful we think it is compared to the other variants. Here's the key to the colors:

• Epiphany Name - the best variant,
• Epiphany Name - a good variant,
• Epiphany Name - a niche variant.

Recommended Loadout

2-PC Bonuses

• 

  Executioner's Tool [2-PC]

  - The 25% unconditional Crit DMG from this set makes it Hugo’s best option among 2P sets.
• 

  Black Wing [2-PC]

  - A 12% unconditional ATK% increase benefits all of Hugo’s abilities and is a stat he can’t get anywhere else apart from gear, making it a high priority.
• 

  Cursed Corpse [2-PC]

  - Grants +10% Multiplicative DMG% to all of Hugo’s abilities, including Hunt Commence (Despite not showing on the tooltip), as long as there is Agony on the target. A great option for Hugo, but he already gains Multiplicative DMG% from Fixer’s Approach, reducing its value a bit.

4-PC Bonuses

• 

  Bullet of Order [4-PC]

  - Offers a 1-turn stackable +5% Multiplicative DMG bonus to all abilities, including Hunt Commence (even though it doesn’t show on the tooltip), capping out at 15%. The buff from this set is applied after attacks, meaning Hugo only gains the full 15% bonus on the 4th attack. This, combined with the ramp-up time needed each turn, makes this set underwhelming for him.

Weapon

• 

  Second Method
• 

  Obsidian Sword
• 

  Bone Cutter
• 

  Crimson Sword

Armor

• Flex

Trinket

• 

  Dimensional Cube
• 

  Amorphous Cube
• 

  Quantum Collector

Comments - Weapons

1. 

   Second Method
   - Grants +30% Additive Extra Attack damage to Hunt Commence, boosting its damage at low stacks significantly while still being impactful at higher stacks. One of Hugo’s best accessible choices.
2. 

   Obsidian Sword
   - Grants +8% Multiplicative damage to all of Hugo’s damaging abilities. What makes this good is that Hugo’s Hunt Commence stack bonus is considered base damage, so this item multiplies the full 200% at 5 stacks.
3. 

   Bone Cutter
   - Another +30% Additive damage multiplier for Hugo, but to all his abilities, but only while they have the Weaken debuff. A good option if you can consistently apply the debuff; otherwise, not usable.
4. 

   Crimson Sword
   - A way for Hugo to apply Agony to enemies, which may be important if you’re using the 2P Agony set on him. Otherwise very underwhelming, especially compared to Hugo’s top shop options.

Comments - Armor

1. Flex - As an ATK scaling DPS, Hugo’s shielding from defense items is underwhelming, and unfortunately, none of the shop-based armors have much synergy with his kit. This slot is ideally taken up by an Event/World item, but if you don’t find any, feel free to fill it with any equipment you see fit.

Comments - Trinkets

1. 

   Dimensional Cube
   - An option that stands above the rest, but requires specific teammates to function, or else it’s useless. Grants the wearer +10% additive damage whenever any character discards any card anywhere, with the exception of the end-of-turn discard. When paired with characters like Nia and Cassius, this option can outperform all other Shop damage choices.
2. 

   Amorphous Cube
   - Grants Hugo a permanent +15% Additive damage bonus to all his abilities, including his Extra Attacks. A very nice across-the-board card damage boost, making this always a safe pick.
3. 

   Quantum Collector
   - A higher-potential alternative that requires specific play. Grants Hugo a stacking +20% multiplicative damage bonus to all his damage for 1 turn per upgrade played this turn. As this applies to all damage, it’s strong but has a short duration, and upgrades can only be played once, limiting its longevity.

Important!

CZN is a game of randomness; sometimes you’ll be offered generic or Divine epiphanies that are stronger than a character's standard five options. In these cases, breaking the listed build can result in an even more powerful save. Adjust as you see fit!

Build Comments

There are currently two build paths Hugo can go down: the more consistent but less explosive Outbreak of War build, or the higher damage but more annoying to get going Coordinated Attack build.

• The Coordinated Attack build relies on hard drawing the Hunting Instincts upgrade, with Hugo lacking impact and a way to generate stacks before then. Still, it achieves much higher damage once it’s get going.
• The Outbreak of War build starts with Hunting Instincts, ensuring Hugo starts immediately, but has a lower damage ceiling.
• The 0-cost Outbreak of War Hunting Instincts is currently thought to be bugged and not showing up; in the meantime, people are using the Divine Epiphany Outbreak of War version instead.

Card Removal Priority

• Defense System: First priority to be removed in all endgame Hugo decks.
• Throw Dagger: Should also be removed if possible, as Hugo can rely on other Combatants to trigger his Hunt Commence far more efficiently for close to free. The stack generation here is also inconsequential in most builds.
• Fan of Daggers: A high-quality card, but one that isn’t always needed in high-end Hugo decks with 2 or 3 copies of Hunting Instincts, as you’ll gain enough Hunt Commence to sustain almost passively. An optional removal target.

Card Dupe Priority

Dupe Priority

Hunting Instincts >>> Quick Fix

Prioritize duplicating Hunting Instincts as the highest priority, chasing events whenever possible. Doing so will grant you far superior Hunt Commence stacks, ensuring you’re on five far more consistently. If you don’t get a chance at duping Hunting Instincts, Quick Fix, and its card draw is the next best option.

Epiphany Alternatives

• Hunting Instincts: As mentioned above, both Hunting Instincts I (Outbreak of War) and III (Coordinated Attacks) are viable depending on how you want your Hugo to play. Worth noting is that it’s usually better to have a higher amount of copies of III compared to I, though, as you’ll need to hard draw them, so a higher amount makes that easier.

Tressa

• Generates many 0-cost targeting attacks with very little effort - all being able to trigger Hunt Commence on use. Absurdly efficient enabler for Hugo.
• Can apply Weaken and helps a reasonable amount with damage.
• Many of her best cards are cheap skill cards, which fuel Hunting Instincts.

Mika

• Provides outstanding healing, keeping the team alive in endgame.
• An absurd AP battery allowing for far more cards to be used per turn.
• Many 0 Cost skills all trigger Hunting Instincts to build stacks easily.
• When combined with Tressa can generate Shadow Daggers every heal for 1 or no cost, allowing Hugo to cheat many Hunt Commence triggers.

Nia

• The majority of her best cards are all skill cards, fuelling Hugo’s Hunt Commence stacking.
• Has access to enough healing that she can work within the Tressa/Hugo team combo, fuelling the Dagger -> Hunt Commence playstyle.
• Great card searching and deck churning ability to get to the cards that matter most fast.
• Allows Hugo to take advantage of Dimensional Cube due to all her discards boosting his high hit frequency damage profile considerably.

Luke

• Like Tressa, he’s also able to generate and use many high-hit targeting attack cards to trigger Hunt Commence.
• Doesn’t require healing synergy like Tressa’s usual best build to function, allowing for different team compositions to be used with Hugo.

Important!

If you’re losing runs when playing a damage-focused composition either to sanity or dying, consider using a team with more defensive characters - so including both a shielder and healer. This is especially important in the Zero System mode.

Hugo + Tressa Team

The usual go-to team for Hugo abuses Tressa’s free dagger generation on heal to trigger Hunt Commence while also restacking it at the same time, as every heal is a skill. Use Mika for superior healing, more 0-cost healing, and huge AP generation. Use Nia for better deck accessibility, draw power, and the ability to use the Dimensional Cube to stack damage.

Damage

Support Damage

Support

Hugo + Luke Team

Any support or shielder can be used in the Flex spot in Hugo/Luke teams. Use your shielder of choice to maximize survivability or target card draw, AP generation or damage amplification via a support. Just ensure you maintain a reasonable skill activation count to keep Hugo’s Hunt Commence rolling.

Damage

Support Damage

Flex

Flex