Velina is positioned to turn Zenless Zone Zero’s anomaly upside down, and she’ll be the first new agents players build in version 3.0.
ZZZ version 2.0 kicked off with the introduction of the wind element. The big new mechanic of 3.0 is the wind element, with Velina being the first agent of this type. She also brings a unique wrinkle to anomaly teams that no other character can emulate.
So how can players get the most out of her? Here’s a full build guide to Velina, how to play her, and the best teams for her right now and going forward.
Table of contents
Is Velina worth pulling?
It is strongly recommended that players pull for Velina in ZZZ version 3.0 and beyond.
While HoYoverse has done a generally poor job of integrating new gameplay mechanics into Zenless Zone Zero’s established framework, that’s not the case with the wind element. Multiple existing bosses were retroactively given a weakness to wind, and there’s a high likelihood that more will be added over time. Velina being the first wind element character positions her for success for a long while to come.
Just as importantly, players need to be able to run three different teams to get all rotating endgame rewards. There was a long stretch where players could get by with just attacker DPSs or just anomaly. Those days are gone and for anomaly teams, Velina is likely to be a key to success for some time.
How to play Velina in ZZZ
Velina is primarily meant to be a sub-DPS in anomaly teams. Her gameplay as a sub-DPS largely boils down to using her EX special and held basic moves to charge her unique resources and speed up the process of triggering anomalies.
In particular, she sets her team up to hit enemies with vortexes. Vortexes are, essentially, a different form of disorder that is tied to the wind element’s windswept effect, the wind equivalent of burn or freeze.
She can spend her unique resource by using a held basic attack. Her held basic attack summons a giant tornado that deals damage over time in a large AOE and reduces enemies resistances to wind and other attributes they’re currently afflicted by.
Alongside this is another unique resource attached to her bar; enhancement points. She gains one point each time she triggers a vortex. When she has two enhancement points and triggers a vortex, it will deal massive bonus damage.
While this sounds elaborate, she’s not a difficult character to play. Using her effectively largely boils down to using her EX special attack and bringing in an on-field anomaly agent. The skill ceiling for her boils down to being able to effectively time anomalies in order to get the most out of her kit.
Best Velina W-Engines
There are a few W-Engines that Velina can use, but she is best served by her signature W-Engine, Joyau Dore. Similar to Trigger and Nangong Yu, Velina scales on stats that aren’t traditionally used by her role. Though there are some decent generic W-Engine options in ZZZ for Velina, they fall well short of Joyau Dore.
Does Velina need her signature W-Engine?
Velina can be played and is reasonably effective without her signature W-Engine, but she greatly prefers having Joyau Dore. While agents like Sunna have A-rank options that hold up remarkably well, that’s not the case here. Velina scales off energy regen and no other anomaly engine offers this.
Because Velina is positioned to be an extremely powerful agent for the foreseeable future, players should pull her even if they don’t have the pulls to reliably get both her and her engine. But make no mistake, there’s a big step down from Joyau Dore.
Practiced Perfection
Velina can get some value out of a number of different limited S-rank anomaly W-Engines. Vivian’s Flight of Fancy is the most straightforward, but Aria’s Angel in the Shell, Alice’s Practiced Perfection, and Burnice’s Flamemaker Shaker all offer something to her, whether it’s a new buff or great stats.
Fusion Compiler
Fusion Compiler, if it’s available, is about as good as limited S-rank alternatives. Velina can effortlessly squeeze all the juice out of its anomaly proficiency bonus, and gets a lot of value from the 24% PEN ratio substat.
Weeping Gemini
Weeping Gemini is the go-to A-rank W-Engine for most anomaly agents and that’s the case for Velina. A straightforward buff that increases anomaly proficiency by up to 192 isn’t a bad thing, even if it doesn’t match S-rank alternatives.
The Vault
All support W-Engines that offer energy regen as a substat make a good stat stick option for Velina. Though Yuzuha’s Metatanuki and Sunna’s Thoughtbop are better thanks to the S-rank boost, Kaboom the Cannon, The Vault, and Unfettered Game Ball can all work as A-rank options. Velina can’t activate their secondary effects regardless, so just use whichever is free.
Best Drive Disc build for Velina in ZZZ
There’s little discussion when it comes to Velina’s best Drive Disc build. Velina needs to use four-piece Wuthering Salon with two-piece of either Moonlight Lullaby or Swing Jazz. Similar to Ye Shunguang and Miyabi, Velina has a signature Drive Disc that other characters can’t fully make use of. Here are the only viable Drive Disc builds for her:
- Four-piece Wuthering Salon, two-piece Moonlight Lullaby
- Four-piece Wuthering Salon, two-piece Swing Jazz
Wuthering Salon has a two-piece +10% wind damage effect and a four-piece set that boosts anomaly proficiency with EX special attack uses. Velina gets a lot out of this, but nobody else will until there’s another anomaly wind agent.
As for the two-piece set, she needs energy regeneration. The only two options on that front are Moonlight Lullaby and Swing Jazz.
As for Velina’s preferred Drive Disc main stats, here’s the best way to build her:
- HP
- Attack
- Defense
- Anomaly proficiency
- Wind damage %
- Energy regen
For substats, anomaly proficiency is far and away the most important stat to roll for. She also gets value out of attack and PEN boosts, but just remember that she’s an anomaly agent.
Velina stat breakpoints
Velina doesn’t really have a “breakpoint” in the way that Astra Yao, Sunna, and various other supports do. Instead, it’s just a matter of getting energy regeneration wherever possible. This includes an S-rank W-Engine with an energy regen substat, Moonlight Lullaby or Swing Jazz as a two-piece set, and energy regen in the sixth Drive Disc slot.
Best Velina teams
Velina works well alongside most other anomaly agents, with the notable exception of Miyabi. She’s is best used in a standard two-anomaly team composition, with either a stunner or support third. This is likely to change over time, though. Here are the best teams for Velina, assuming she was given a proper sub-DPS build.
Velina vortex teams: Velina + Yuzuha / Nangong Yu + Aria / Promeia / Burnice / Alice / Grace / Jane
The wind element isn’t significantly different from what players are used to, outside the fact that it gets rid of disorders in favor of vortexes. That means standard team building works.
With Aria, Promeia, Jane, and Alice, Velina serves as a standard sub-DPS while Yuzuha and Nangong Yu boost damage. With Burnice, Velina takes on more field time but the overall logic and gameplay loop remains the same.
Worth noting is that Miyabi doesn’t make the cut here. While Miyabi is still a strong agent, the issue between her and Velina is that Miyabi needs disorders to give her energy. Because the wind element cannot get disorders, the two have some intense anti-synergy.
Best free-to-play Velina team: Velina + Piper + Lucy / Pulchra
Piper is still one of the best A-rank agents in Zenless Zone Zero and works well alongside Velina. The team can be rounded out with either Lucy or Pulchra. While Pulchra is the better agent in general, Lucy still brings valuable buffs and a not-insignificant amount of off-field damage to the table.
