Nina Forneloza 
With Lighter of the Sons of Calydon faction now available in Zenless Zone Zero, many players are curious about his most effective builds and team compositions.
After several patches, ZZZ has finally dropped its first limited S-rank male character. Lighter is a devastating fire stun agent with a knack for throwing punches and jabs at enemies. Not only does he apply daze, but Lighter also serves as a niche support in both ice and fire teams.
Despite the overwhelmingly large text blocks in his skill descriptions, Lighter’s kit is surprisingly straightforward and easy to understand. With that in mind, players can quickly grasp his abilities after pulling him. Here’s a breakdown of Lighter’s skills, along with the best Drive Discs, W-Engines, and team compositions for him.
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How to play Lighter in Zenless Zone Zero
Lighter is an S-rank stun agent in Zenless Zone Zero that doubles as a support and buffer.
The Undefeated Champion of the Sons of Calydon faction’s kit revolves around his Morale mechanic. Lighter gains Morale over time when a party member consumes energy, whether he’s on or off the field. At 80 Morale, he can land a flurry of punches on the fifth hit of his basic attack, allowing him to enter the Morale Boost state.
In this state, Lighter starts consuming Morale, boosting his impact by 20%. Then, he reduces enemies’ resistance to ice and fire attacks by 15% for 30 seconds. When his Morale is fully depleted at the end of the attack, he also applies the Collapse effect, extending the stun duration by three seconds. This is especially useful for attackers.
That’s not all. His additional ability provides the team with Elation stacks, which grant a teamwide boost to Ice and Fire damage.
Combat-wise, Lighter is a quickswap stunner agent that requires less field time. Players can start the team rotation by consuming energy until Lighter hits 80 Morale, then swap to him. Doing this triggers his quick assist, allowing him to land the fifth hit of his basic attack, which deals a ton of daze. Then, follow up with his EX special and some basic attacks until the boss is staggered.
Best Lighter Drive Disc builds in ZZZ
A combination of four-piece Shockstar Disco and two-piece Swing Jazz is the top Drive Disc pick for Lighter. There’s some flexibility to his two-piece sets in Woodpecker Electro and Inferno Metal but a four-piece Shockstar Disco is key.
Ideally, players should hunt for the following Drive Disc main stats:
- Slot 4: Crit Rate
- Slot 5: ATK% or Fire Damage
- Slot 6: Impact%
270 Impact is the sweet spot for Lighter as it allows him to increase his buff to 75%. Once obtained, players can focus on crit and attack substats.
4-piece Shockstar Disco and 2-piece Swing Jazz
As a stunner agent, Lighter relies on increasing his impact, making Shockstar Disco the optimal choice for the best Lighter build. It boosts his impact right off the bat, along with the amount of daze from his basic, dash, and dodge attacks. Swing Jazz speeds up energy regeneration, allowing him to use his EX special more often, which is crucial for stacking daze and Morale.
4-piece Shockstar Disco and 2-piece Inferno Metal
As with other stunners, building offensive stats on Lighter lets him chip in some damage while applying daze. Inferno Metal is the best option for this. A two-piece set boosts his fire damage with a comparatively small investment.
4-piece Shockstar Disco and 2-piece Woodpecker Electro
Besides fire damage, proxies can also opt for the Shockstar Disco set and pair it with a 2-piece Woodpecker Electro. In addition to impact, fire damage, and attack, players should prioritize some crit stats, making Woodpecker a viable choice.
Best W-Engines for ZZZ Lighter
The best W-engines for Lighter build are Blazing Laurel, Hellfire Gear, Ice-Jade Teapot, and Steam Oven. Lighter can make good use of several different stunner W-Engines. Though his signature W-Engine is preferred, players have some good alternatives.
Blazing Laurel (S-rank)
This W-Engine doesn’t just complement Lighter’s build, it boosts several different team compositions. Lighter’s signature W-Engine not only focuses on boosting his impact and the amount of daze he can inflict, but it also amplifies the ice and fire damage dealt by his team. If players want to push their damage further, especially in Ellen and Soldier 11 comps, picking up this W-Engine is the best call.
Hellfire Gears (S-rank)
Hellfire Gears generally is a powerful stunner W-Engine, no matter the team setup. It’s the signature W-Engine of Koleda and, naturally, it fits quite well on her fellow fire stunner. This W-Engine increases impact and energy regen while off-field. Moreover, Lighter’s EX special deals more daze. Having that said, players must use his EX Special upon entering the field to get the most out of it.
Ice-Jade Teapot (S-rank)
Qingyi’s signature W-Engine, Ice-Jade Teapot, is a very good alternative to Lighter’s. Apart from impact stats, players will be able to make use of its teamwide damage buff. Compared to Blazing Laurel, this W-Engine is much more versatile as it works well with all conceivable Lighter team compositions, not just ice and fire.
Steam Oven (A-rank)
Among all A-rank W-Engines, Steam Oven is the top choice, especially at max refinement. While it’s an energy regen W-Engine, its passive effect at U5 provides the highest impact boost. Energy regen is also useful for Lighter, as his EX special applies a lot of daze and generates a good amount of morale. Since Steam Oven is craftable, it’s also the best free-to-play option available.
Demara Battery Mark II (A-rank)
If all else fails, Demara Battery Mark II serves as a solid stat stick for Lighter. While its passive effect doesn’t benefit Lighter, the amount of impact it provides still makes it a viable option.
Best Lighter team compositions in Zenless Zone Zero
Lighter can fit in nearly any team that requires a stunner but when he has a proper build, ice and fire team compositions can benefit from him greatly. Naturally, there are different options that work based on different S-rank agents that players have on-hand. There’s also a generally strong team for free-to-play lineups.
Ellen Hypercarry: Lighter, Ellen, Soukaku (Sharkboo)
With Lighter on the team, ice attacker Ellen gets another source of damage buffs, in addition to Soukaku’s.
Ellen is an ice attacker whose damage output gets enhanced by Soukaku’s kit through her ATK and ice damage buff. In this setup, Lighter can take the place of Lycaon, who has been a staple in Ellen’s premium lineup since day one. Another option is to run an Ellen-Lighter-Lycaon team comp, though a bit pricey. Since Lighter’s a quickswap stunner, keeping Lycaon around lets the team stack both ice damage buffs and ice shred debuffs for even bigger hits.
Soldier 11 Hypercarry: Soldier 11, Lighter, Burnice/Lucy/Caesar (Rocketboo)
Similar to Ellen, Soldier 11 is the only fire DPS at the moment, so she’s the obvious choice for a Lighter mono-fire team. This Soldier 11 hypercarry team composition uses Lighter as the primary stunner and buffer. The team can be rounded out by another member of the Sons of Calydon.
The ideal flex is Burnice, who can quickly apply burn to enemies which lets a Soldier 11 with four Inferno Metal Drive Discs have regular uptime on her four-piece set bonus. Lucy is a workable alternative to Burnice, offering attack damage buffs and off-field damage. Finally, Caesar can be added to the team as a pseudo-stunner, shielder, and ATK buffer.
F2P Lighter Team: Lighter, Piper, Lucy (Luckyboo)
Sadly, there’s no A-rank ice or fire DPS in Zenless Zone Zero just yet but players can still make a workable team by pairing the secret S-rank character Piper with Lucy for a full Sons of Calydon team.
Piper can easily wipe out enemies with her spin-to-win mechanic and assault procs, helped along by Lucy’s ATK buff. On the other hand, Lighter’s sole purpose is to stagger opponents. If Lucy and Lighter can proc burn on an enemy, Piper can also bring home some juicy disorder damage when triggering assault.
