Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ)YixuanBuild and Guide

Yixuan is an S-Rank Auric Ink Agent belonging to the brand new Rupture class who specializes in breaking enemy defenses to deal massive Sheer Force damage. Yixuan is an Agent packed with several unique mechanics that make her stand out from her peers as she possesses a completely separate kit & playstyle from any Agents we’ve seen before. She remains simpler to put in practice, but explaining her kit will require us to tackle a lot of new terminology.

First of all, since the Rupture class is new, we’ll take some time to introduce it. Rupture Agents deal damage based on a new stat called Sheer Force. In Yixuan’s case, she gains Sheer Force both through increasing her ATK and her HP (the latter of which is more favourable for her). A certain percentage of these stats is converted into Sheer Force. In the case of Yixuan, she converts 10% of her HP and - applicable to all Rupture Agents - she also converts 30% of her ATK into Sheer Force (however this is less favourable for her than HP).

All Sheer DMG completely ignores enemy DEF, meaning PEN and DEF-related stats are completely ignored on Yixuan - they functionally don’t influence her damage at all. This means Support Agents like Rina and Nicole, or even Trigger’s Signature W-Engine have their effectiveness greatly negated and aren’t worth using with Yixuan on the team.

Yixuan’s Energy is replaced by Adrenaline, they serve the same purpose but function differently. At a default regeneration rate of 2 per second, Energy Regen buffs become ineffective, from Disk Drives to Agent buffs. She restores Adrenaline in a few ways, which we will recap after introducing her abilities one by one.

When Yixuan consumes Adrenaline, she restores a golden bar below her in-battle character icon called Technique (at a rate of 2/3 of her Adrenaline). When she reaches 120 Technique (180 Adrenaline consumed), she can use a special Ultimate called “Endless Talisman Suppression” which deals massive damage to enemies. This does not consume any Decibels, used separately for a more powerful Ultimate called “Qingming Skyshade”.

Final specialty inherent to her class, very similarly to Miyabi’s Frost element, Yixuan’s unique Auric Ink element is functionally the same as Ether - however, it has its own Anomaly bar which, once filled, restores Adrenaline for Yixuan and triggers Auric Ink Corruption (functionally the same as Ether Corruption). For this reason of filling this Anomaly meter but also several abilities that take a while to execute, while restoring Adrenaline efficiently, she will generally want to remain active on the field for extended periods of time in order to cast as many Ultimates as possible (we’ll also throw in the reminder that Decibel generation is significantly faster for the on-field Agent, so it all plays in Yixuan’s favour).

With all of these mechanics explained, we’re finally ready to explain her attacks in detail. Yixuan’s primary tool in her kit is her EX Special, so let’s explain that first:

It has three separate versions: the first, accessed by simply pressing EX Special with enough Adrenaline, causes her to do a 3-part attack: the first costs 40 Adrenaline, the second costs 0, and the third costs 20. In order, they are called “Ink Manifestation”, “Celestial Cloud Blitz - Break” and “Qingming Eruption - Break”. However, it’s possible to hold EX Special to enter a Parry stance. When a successful parry (called “Perfect Block”) is triggered against an enemy attack, it activates Ink Manifestation and a follow-up multiplier (called a “talisman attack”), which can optionally be followed up by the other 2 EX Specials in the sequence. This negates the DMG from the attack received and refunds Yixuan’s Adrenaline by 10.

Finally, the third EX Special called “Cloud Shaper” is activated by holding Basic Attack, which consumes up to 60 Adrenaline and deals similar damage to the first two attack sequences if fully charged, in which case it automatically triggers another attack called “Ashen Ink Becomes Shadows”. However, it’s preferable to use this version during Stun, as it deals 30% increased damage to enemies. Outside of Stun, this EX Special can be ignored.

We already explained her two Ultimates prior, however it is worth noting using them also makes her enter the Meditation state, which increases her CRIT DMG by 40% for 15s, which is a small boost to her damage. It is also worth noting the Technique point Ultimate restores an “Auric Ink Point” for her, visible to the right of her Technique gauge. It can be consumed by holding Dodge either after an EX Special sequence or an Ultimate to quickly access it, or it can be accessed on its own, which casts a special Basic Attack called “Auric Array” and is automatically followed up by “Qingming Eruption” which deals high damage and recovers a big chunk of Adrenaline.

Lastly, an additional effect of her Decibel Ultimate is that it redistributes HP evenly across party members, allowing Yixuan to heal injured teammates or heal herself if she is injured, at the cost of the others’ HP.

Now that all of this is explained, let’s detail how Adrenaline is restored so that we can discuss key gameplay elements and conclude this review. Yixuan restores:

•  2 Adrenaline per second passively;

• 10 Adrenaline from parrying with her EX Special;

• 5 Adrenaline from a Perfect Dodge;

• 5 Adrenaline from switching her out and performing a Perfect Assist;

• 2 Adrenaline per second for 10 seconds after any Squad Member uses an Ultimate (this does not stack, the duration of this effect can only be refreshed);

• 10 Adrenaline for applying the Auric Ink Corrosion Anomaly;

• 7 Adrenaline per second for 3 seconds after casting Auric Array by consuming an Auric Ink Point.

Note that this means her Perfect Dodges and Assists are important to Adrenaline regeneration. If Yixuan switches out and her squad member performs a Perfect Assist as a result, she triggers a lightning strike attack of her own while restoring Adrenaline. The more aggressive the enemy you face, the better Yixuan can respond and the more effective her kit becomes.

Yixuan’s Basic Attacks have some mechanics which are worth detailing as well:

• After a Quick Assist or Dodge Counter, Yixuan can follow up with Basic Attack stage 4.

• After a Dash Attack, Yixuan can follow up with Basic Attack stage 3.

• Without an Auric Ink Point available, Yixuan can still use Basic Attack: Ink-Veil Cloud Coalescence by holding Dodge and switch out of the field for lots of off-field damage. The animation & damage are fully performed and Yixuan even automatically follows up with Basic Attack stage 5 — however note it prevents Yixuan from properly performing Perfect Assists and Dodge Counters, so use this sparingly (in which case the Dash Attack or Quick Assist combos will be preferred).

Yixuan’s Chain Attacks, Dodges and Assists are very similar to other Agents in functionality aside from the significant aid Dodges and Assists provide in restoring Adrenaline for Yixuan, but note her Chain Attacks are a noteworthy part of her damage nonetheless. Additionally, holding the Dodge button while inputting a directional input allows her to enter the Light as Air state which significantly enhances her movement — great for chasing down enemies.

So fundamentally, her gameplay sums up to the following:

• Prepare Adrenaline for your Stun windows so you can use EX Specials during it;

• While on field, perform at least 1 sequence of EX Specials while parrying an enemy attack in order to restore Technique for your Stun window;

• Accumulate daze on the enemy and perform Perfect Dodges and Assists;

• Ensure to utilize your Auric Ink Point and Ultimates from allies to restore Adrenaline;

• Ensure to build up Daze and upkeep buffs from Stun and Support Agents who are part of Yixuan’s squad;

• If nothing else can be done, use Basic Attacks while waiting for an opportunity to respond to the enemy;

• During Stun, unleash all your most powerful moves in quick succession: Chain Attacks, EX Specials and Ultimates for optimal damage.

This was a lengthy explanation, but it was necessary as Yixuan is not only the first Rupture-class Agent, she has a ton of unique mechanics that make her a standalone Agent who introduces a fresh way to enjoy Zenless Zone Zero combat.

Regarding her position in the meta, Yixuan is one of the top damage dealers in the game without a doubt. Whether she will live up to the expectations of the DPS powerhouse Miyabi and match up to her is a question that is difficult to answer (ironically also the case in the game’s lore). But it goes without saying that Yixuan is a top tier character, who can handle certain kinds of enemies better than Miyabi can, while Miyabi can handle certain kinds of enemies better than Yixuan can. Generally speaking, the more aggressive the enemy, the closer the gap between Yixuan and Miyabi becomes, to where Yixuan may even outdo her in some situations — all this comparison to say, she can be regarded as either the best or the second best damage dealer in the game, which is nothing but fitting of Yixuan’s importance to the lore of Zenless Zone Zero.

Her main flaws lie in the fact that she is highly dependent on the enemy’s aggression in order to respond with Perfect Assists and Perfect Dodges, and she is also dependent on specific teammates and builds as she benefits more from HP than ATK and she does not benefit from Energy Regen-related buffs (Adrenaline being counted as separate), and both PEN and DEF-related stats also have no effect on her which restricts teammate options. However, so long as her team complements her perfectly (and the enemy isn’t a punching bag), she’s one of the most well-rounded Agents capable of handling most situations brilliantly.

In conclusion, Yixuan is a complex Agent who introduces a bunch of new mechanics and with them, a bunch of damage potential, in spite of a couple key flaws that need to be taken into account to make her shine.

Nonetheless, if Proxies can adapt to her uniqueness, in the right hands, she will be able to perform as one of the top damage dealers in Zenless Zone Zero, justifying her position as a top-tier character.

Yixuan can be quite demanding of field time, as she wants to be actively hitting enemies for more Adrenaline generation and then wants to be spending said Adrenaline to build up to her Technique Points before every stun period, but not to the point where she has none for her burst.

Her damage multipliers on EX Specials are very high, but which to use when is important to be mindful of. EX Special Attack: Cloud-Shaper is best reserved for the in-stun period, as for out of stun, using EX Special Attack: Ink Manifestation is the priority - ideally only when enemies are attacking so as to successfully counter them and get the partial Adrenaline refund. Then transition into Celestial Cloud Blitz - Break, and Qingming Eruption - Break for the highest damage:Adrenaline spend ratio.

When there is no Adrenaline available, make use of her Dodge Counters for the 5 Adrenaline generation that she gets on Perfect Dodges from her Core Passive.

It’s important to balance out Yixuan’s resource generation with other characters in the team. As her Additional Ability generates 5 Adrenaline when being swapped out via a Perfect Assist, make use of Evasive and Defensive Assists to still build Adrenaline, get Decibels and give your Stunners the opportunity to apply daze.

As stun approaches, be mindful so as not to be low on Adrenaline, with at least 90 - 100 in stock being a good base, but the more the better.

To get Yixuan’s best combo, one needs to master a “Chain Trigger Tech”. This involves getting a Chain Attack window to trigger halfway through a move that’d normally be swap locked, namely Ultimate: Endless Talisman Suppression.

For it, hold Basic Attack to get EX Special Attack: Cloud-Shaper, then after a short while, release and then use the Ultimate. Doing so with the right timing will cause the EX Special Attack: Ashen Ink Becomes Shadow explosion to land after the Ultimate cutscene, allowing for Yixuan to be swapped out of during the Ultimate animation. That way, it’s possible to get other characters’ Chain Attacks without wasting any time.

Too early and Yixuan won’t cast Ashen Ink, leading to no trigger, but too late and it will trigger before the Ultimate begins.

Regardless of whether or not you are able to perform this tech, the combo shell remains the same:

• Cloud-Shaper 

• Ultimate: Endless Talisman Suppression (Chain Trigger Tech)

• Chain Attack to a Stunner for King of the Summit

• Chain Attack to Yixuan

• Ultimate: Qingming Skyshade

• Auric Array (optional, do not use if Adrenaline is required for later in the run)

• Cloud-Shaper

• Cloud-Shaper

If you aren’t able to perform the tech, the combo still works perfectly fine, with the only difference being that there will be less time with which to cast Cloud-Shapers in stun. Double Chains are not quite worth using, as - assuming you have enough Adrenaline - doing Cloud Shapers yields more damage.

If you are able to perform it, then be careful as some characters’ Chain Attacks are too fast. Going to Trigger then back to Yixuan would not give enough time for Ultimate: Endless Talisman Suppression to land in full, which would necessitate a third character’s Chain Attack before Yixuan’s. On Dialyn for example, her Chain Attack alone is enough, but it does require waiting in the Chain Attack window for as long as possible to allow for enough time to get all hits to connect.

The most optimal combo would ideally begin with Ultimate: Qingming Skyshade so as to enter the Meditation State faster and not waste Decibels. Such a combo would be:

• Ultimate: Qingming Skyshade

• Cancel

• Cloud-Shaper 

• Ultimate: Endless Talisman Suppression (Chain Trigger Tech)

• Chain Attack to a Stunner for King of the Summit

• Chain Attack to Yixuan

• Cloud-Shaper

• Cloud-Shaper

Note that it is not possible to fit Auric Array in the above variant (owing to lack of shortcut points), meaning that if Decibels aren’t needed, it could do even less damage than the previous one.

Auric Array most frequently is not worth using in combos, though, as Yixuan’s resource requirements are already quite demanding. It’s usually better to reserve its use for after the stun burst, as the Adrenaline regeneration that it provides makes it much easier to set up for the following stun.

With all that done, it’s back to the same flowchart of using Ink Manifestation parries, Perfect Assisting to other characters, and building back resources in time for another stun.