Norma is an interesting addition to the Zenless Zone Zero meta, capable of being both a supportive stunner and a credible sub-DPS, depending on her build.
The stunner role has undergone the biggest shift throughout ZZZ’s history, with things shifting away from being the primary on-field agent to largely being an off-field support. Norma doesn’t fully reverse that, but she does take up a good amount of field time and delivers a lot with it.
This includes improving the viability of many season-one DPS characters who struggle mightily into the current ZZZ endgame content. Naturally, this is contingent on building Norma properly.
Full Norma guide
How to play Norma in ZZZ
Norma is a unique stun agent who offers a mix of buffs to teammates and strong personal damage output, alongside the ability to generate chain attacks for allies. Similarly, she pulls this off with a combination of both on-field and off-field gameplay.
Her EX special attack can be held to unload a missile battery from her hat, while her held basic attack can be used to initiate an assist to the previous character in the party. Alongside this, she lays down turrets on the field that deal fire damage for a time.
Her EX special track and turrets charge up her unique resource. Once her unique resource meter is charged to 80%, her held basic attack can initiate chain attack for the previous character in the party.
When Norma has a good build that includes her signature W-Engine, it gives her an exceptional set of tools that lets her elevate a long list of DPSs, including some that have slid out of relevance.
Should you pull for Norma?
Norma is worth pulling for players who are in need of a credible S-rank stunner, but may not be worth getting for those who already have multiple options.
On her own merits, Norma is a best-in-slot supporting piece for many rupture and attack DPS agents. The exact reason for this varies from character to character, with her ability to generate chain attacks, her ability to attack during other agents’ ultimates, and her individual damage output all contributing to different compositions.
The trouble for Norma is the sheer amount of competition in this position. While Norma is best-in-slot for many DPSs, including top free-to-play agent Pyrois, she isn’t radically superior to Dialyn anywhere and isn’t inherently better than Ju Fufu in some cases.
Newer players in particular might actually want to consider pulling Norma and her W-Engine based on her ability to elevate free-to-play DPS characters. Existing players, especially those who have Dialyn, may want to save their pulls.
Best Norma Drive Disc build
Norma wants four-piece King of the Summit, with her ideal two-piece set varying based on her team composition and substat rolls, with these being her best options:
- Four-piece King of the Summit, two-piece Swing Jazz / Moonlight Lullaby
- Four-piece King of the Summit, two-piece Woodpecker Electro
King of the Summit is the best stunner Drive Disc set in Zenless Zone Zero and Norma utilizes it well. From there, the only real question is whether Norma can reach 100% crit rate in-battle without needing Woodpecker Electro. If she can hit that mark without it, she’s best served by the extra energy regen from two-piece Swing Jazz or Moonlight Lullaby.
Here are Norma’s best main stats for each Drive Disc slot:
- HP
- Attack
- Defense
- Crit Rate%
- Fire Damage%
- Impact% or Energy Regen
Choosing between impact and energy regen on slot six is highly situational, depending on the team composition, boss, and Norma’s overall build. In the same vein, there are certain situations where PEN ratio may be preferred in slot five.
In terms of substats, Norma is best built purely for damage. That starts with pushing her crit rate to 100%, then increasing her attack and crit damage.
Norma stat breakpoints
Norma’s lone stat breakpoint is bringing her initial crit rate up to 100%. Norma’s core passive converts crit rate above 50% into bonus crit damage and daze. Conveniently both of these bonuses are capped out once Norma reaches 100% initial crit rate.
Best Norma W-Engines
Norma’s signature W-Engine, Chief Sidekick, is a strong W-Engine option that helps her serve as a stunner, sub-DPS, and support. When Norma is built properly and has her signature W-Engine, she checks a lot of boxes, but that changes when she doesn’t have Chief Sidekick. That makes her W-Engine alternatives a bit more nuanced in their offering.
Does Norma need her signature W-Engine?
Norma can perform fairly well as a stunner and sub-DPS without her signature W-Engine. The trouble without her signature is how hard her support offering falls off without it. Chief Sidekick offers a 25% damage boost to the whole team with easily maintained uptime. While she can perform well without Chief Sidekick, those looking to pair Norma with Evelyn, Soldier 11, Nekomata, and other older DPSs should definitely commit to vertical investment.
Blazing Laurel
Lighter’s signature W-Engine is Norma’s best alternative weapon option, with the big catch that it’s only useful with fire or ice DPSs. That’s great if she’s next to Evelyn or Soldier 11, but it’s comparable with free-to-play alternatives if not.
Steam Oven
Steam Oven is the best alternative W-Engine for Norma overall, with the energy regeneration from Steam Oven letting Norma reliably spam her missiles. While this lacks the supportive elements of her signature W-Engine, her own damage output and stun application remain generally solid.
Hellfire Gears
A basic Hellfire Gears is actually fairly comparable to Steam Oven, but actually starts out-performing it after two or three Overclocks depending on the team composition. Again, it lacks the supportive element of Chief Sidekick, but can do reasonably strong work in terms of damage and daze buildup.
Best Norma team compositions in Zenless Zone Zero
Whether Norma is working with an optimized build or an alternative W-Engine, there are a decent number of solid team compositions available to her. That said, the ideal composition does vary based on whether she has her signature W-Engine.
Norma rupture hypercarry composition: Norma, Lucia, Starlight Billy / Manato / Yidhari / Yixuan / Banyue
Norma alongside Lucia makes for a great foundation for any rupture DPS. Manato is more dependent on Norma having her signature W-Engine, but she can comfortably help limited S-rank rupture agents clear endgame content with little trouble.
The major caveat here is that Norma doesn’t play well with Pan Yinhu or any other character that quick assists backwards such as Pulchra or Trigger. Since Norma also procs quick assists to the previous character in her team lineup, hypercarry compositions only really work with supports who quick assist forward, like Lucia and Astra.
Norma attacker hypercarry composition: Norma, Astra Yao / Sunna, Soldier 11 / Nekomata / Evelyn / Orphie & Magus / Cissia / Pyrois
Putting Norma alongside Astra Yao or Sunna makes for a great foundation for many attacker hypercarry teams, when she has her signature W-Engines. Notably, Norma also helps convert Cissia and Orphie & Magus into primary DPS options.
While Norma can work alongside almost every attacker, Astra and Sunna aren’t the best thirds for some attackers. Hugo still wants a double-stunner composition, while Ye Shunguang needs someone that can provide ether veil.
Best Norma free-to-play team: Norma, Nicole, Pyrois
Even without an optimal build, Norma is an extremely powerful ally for Pyrois and is potentially a best-in-slot teammate for them. Put her alongside Zenless Zone Zero’s former free-to-play queen Nicole and both new and low-spend players have a ready-made team that can effectively tackle endgame content.
