Nina Forneloza 
Tsukishiro Yanagi debuts as the latest S-rank DPS in ZZZ, capable of wiping out foes effortlessly and an optimized Drive Disc build and team composition can absolutely make her hit even harder.
ZZZ’s version 1.3 update brings in Tsukishiro Yanagi from the Section 6 faction. She’s an S-rank Electric Anomaly agent who’s all about spamming electric attacks and tearing through enemies with disorder damage. With a stance-switching mechanic, she gets a bunch of self-buffs that can crank up her damage, only if she’s played right.
So, whether she’s already on the team or players are still trying their luck to pull her, now’s the perfect time to get the hang of her kit. Here’s a full breakdown of Yanagi’s kit in ZZZ, along with the best W-engines, Drive Discs, teams and bangboos.
Table of contents
How to use Yanagi in Zenless Zone Zero
Yanagi is an electric anomaly agent whose kit leverages disorder and shock damage. Interestingly, the Deputy Chief of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 has some handy self-buffs that ramp up her damage, assuming players know how to trigger it.
Yanagi can switch between two stances at will, Jougen and Kagen, by using her special skill. Each stance comes with its own set of normal attack animations and provides Yanagi with different offensive buffs.
- Jougen: Increases electric damage by 10%, and anti-interrupt level during basic attacks
- Kagen: Increases PEN ratio by 10% and interrupt level for basic attacks
When she switches stances, the effects kick in right away, and buffs persist eight seconds after she changes to the opposite stance. To get the best results, switch stances every eight seconds, ideally after the third, fourth, or fifth basic attack. This way, Yanagi can maintain both Jougen and Kagen buffs.
Switching stances by tapping her special skill also lets Yanagi trigger Swift Ruten, skipping the first two basic attacks, which only do physical damage, and focus on electric attacks. This speeds up anomaly application and shock procs. Keep in mind that a dash attack will reset the basic attack chain. Swift Ruten can also parry attacks, even projectiles.
Moving on to her EX Special, holding it lets her switch stances and enter the Shinranbanshou state. This state is a 15-second buff that allows Yanagi to start her hit combo from the third basic attack after completing five basic attacks.
Additionally, if the target is affected by an anomaly, she can proc a special disorder effect called Polarity disorder. This burst of damage works like disorder but deals less damage. It doesn’t remove the anomaly though, so if another anomaly agent is around, disorder can be triggered again. Polarity disorder also applies when she casts her ultimate, which not only deals massive electric damage but also builds up electric anomaly incredibly fast.
In practice, players should use EX Special at the beginning to switch stance, activate both Jougen and Kagen buffs, and enter the Shinrabanshou state. Players can easily check if both bonuses are active by looking for the two diamonds below her icon; one will light up blue for Jougen and the other orange for Kagen.
Now, looking at her core skill, she’s a huge asset in disorder teams. Her core skill raises disorder damage, including her own by 250%, which means players can expect some massive six- or seven-digit nukes.
Best Yanagi ZZZ Drive Disc builds
The four-piece Chaos Jazz and two-piece Freedom Blues combination is the best Drive Disc set for Yanagi. With her focus on anomaly, this set provides the biggest boost. While it’s her optimal setup, she still has plenty of flexibility to experiment with other Drive Disc builds.
Four-piece Chaos Jazz and two-piece Freedom Blues
A combination of Chaos Jazz and Freedom Blues is the most flexible option for Yanagi, whether building a disorder or shock-based team. Even though she can’t fully leverage Chaos Jazz as an on-field DPS, the four-piece set is still the best choice, providing solid anomaly proficiency and electric damage boosts. Adding two pieces of Freedom Blues increases her anomaly proficiency further, which helps proc shock more regularly.
Four-piece Chaos Jazz and two-piece Thunder Metal
If the players are lucky enough to secure good anomaly proficiency rolls in their Drive Discs or W-Engines, they can opt for Thunder Metal. This gives a flat percentage-based buff to her electric damage. Most will be better served by giving Yanagi two-piece Freedom Blues, but lucky players and whales can get a slight increase in damage with this build.
Four-piece Thunder Metal and two-piece Freedom Blues
Straying away from disorder, when Yanagi is used primarily as an electric DPS, players can opt for a four-piece Thunder Metal set instead. Thunder Metal revolves around making her electric attacks hit harder by boosting her electric damage and attack. However, this results in less damage through disorder compared to when Chaos Jazz is equipped.
Best W-Engine for Yanagi in ZZZ
Yanagi’s best W-Engines are Timeweaver, Fusion Compiler, Electro Lipgloss, and Weeping Gemini. The electro-anomaly agent is lucky enough to be the second of her kind, giving her access to two W-Engines tailored to electric-anomaly agents. Alongside this are a few different viable options on the free-to-play end of things. Though Zenless Zone Zero players might not have an easy time pulling Yanagi, they’ll find it surprisingly easy to build her.
Timeweaver (S-rank)
Nothing comes close to Yanagi’s signature weapon, Timeweaver, when it comes to building her out. Equipping Timeweaver, an ATK% W-Engine, yields faster electric anomaly buildup, and gives Yanagi 75 to 115 anomaly proficiency without any downtime. To fully make use of this W-engine, Yanagi must be able to reach 375 anomaly proficiency to receive a 25% disorder damage increase.
Fusion Compiler (S-rank)
Yanagi shares a role and attribute with the original electro-anomaly agent, Grace. This makes her signature weapon a great fit for the Deputy Chief as well. A mix of pen ratio, ATK, and anomaly proficiency can do a lot for her damage. Plus, she can stack the passive effect of Fusion Compiler easily.
Weeping Gemini (A-rank)
Weeping Gemini is a free-to-play A-rank W-Engine that works on any anomaly DPS, Yanagi included. It gives an ATK boost and helps stack anomaly proficiency. It’s craftable too, so getting it to R5 is easy if players have the materials. At R5, Yanagi can hit 192 AP when fully stacked.
Electro Lipgloss (A-rank)
Electro Lipgloss is a great anomaly proficiency W-Engine that also boosts ATK and damage. However, it provides less AP than Weeping Gemini, making it a better fit for mono-electric or shock-based teams.
Best Yanagi ZZZ team compositions
Yanagi is a strong and versatile DPS that can easily slot into disorder and mono-electric teams.
Best Yanagi disorder team: Yanagi, Burnice, Caesar (Red Moccus)
Yanagi’s core skill buffs disorder damage, so building a team an anomaly-focused team around her yields some of the strongest squads in Zenless Zone Zero.
Burnice is a fire sub-DPS staple for disorder teams due to her ability to apply fire damage and anomaly off-field at incredible speed. While Yanagi is on-field, swapping between her stances and triggering shock and polarity disorder, Burnice’s Afterburn can do its part. Additionally, Burnice’s presence in the team activates Yanagi’s additional ability, which increases her anomaly buildup rate. Finally, add Caesar to the team to stagger enemies, buff damage, and shield the team.
Yanagi shock-based team: Yanagi, Seth, Rina (Plugboo)
Players can also build a shock-based hypercarry team with Yanagi, featuring Seth and Rina. Seth provides Yanagi with a shield while also boosting her anomaly proficiency. Rina, another electric agent with support abilities, helps amplify Yanagi’s damage by increasing her PEN ratio and electric damage.
Jane Doe Yanagi quickswap disorder team: Jane, Yanagi, Seth (Officer Cui)
Yanagi is an on-field DPS that benefits from extended field time, but Jane Doe, an anomaly DPS, still makes a solid pairing with her. While Jane applies assault, Yanagi triggers Shock, occasionally dealing disorder damage. However, since Jane is also an on-field DPS, this limits Yanagi’s time on the field. To round out the team, slot in Seth, who can shield and provide anomaly proficiency to either Jane or Yanagi.
In this setup, Jane can also be replaced by a free-to-play alternative, Piper.
Best Yanagi free-to-play team: Yanagi, Anby, Nicole (Plugboo)
Anby and Nicole can be plugged in with almost any DPS to make a generally workable team, but there’s some extra synergy here. Yanagi and Anby sharing the electric attribute gives them natural synergy and access to a buffed-up Plugboo. Meanwhile, a properly built Nicole offers buffs that can boost Yanagi’s burst damage.
