Zenless Zone Zero players play as Belle or Wise but a good case can be made that Nicole is ZZZ’s true mascot and with the right build, she’s also one of the best characters in the game.
HoYoverse games are not particularly generous when it comes to free-to-play characters. Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact players have seen many of their favorites get quickly forced out of the meta by premium alternatives and bosses’ ever-growing health pools. It’s standard fare for gacha games, but it can be brutal for players that get their favorites get forced onto the shelf by power creep.
Nicole might end up going down as one of the biggest exceptions. The leader of the Cunning Hares is one of the most versatile characters in the game and fits into a wide variety of team compositions. Assuming, of course, that ZZZ players give Nicole a proper build including the right Drive Discs and W-Engine.
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How to play Nicole in Zenless Zone Zero
Nicole is an ether-support character that serves as a debuffer and sub-DPS on many teams.
The long and short of Nicole’s gameplay is straightforward. When she hits enemies with an EX special attack, chain attack, or ultimate, they die.
Her core passive makes it so when she hits an enemy, they get a defense reduction debuff. Her signature W-Engine then adds a flat outgoing damage buff for allies against enemies that are hit by her EX special attack, chain attack, or ultimate. Then her additional ability gives a teamwide ether damage boost to enemies that are debuffed. The cherry on top is that she can then add extra even more buffs with her Drive Discs.
Though this debuff doesn’t last a long time, it’s extremely easy to apply. Making it even easier is that her key moves all offer the chance for a quick assist.
This also makes Nicole one of the easiest agents to play in Zenless Zone Zero. Using her effectively boils down to using her EX special attack, doing a quick assist, and repeating ad nauseum. While it’s important to save up a move before stuns and DPS’s ultimate, that’s pretty darn easy to do.
Is Nicole good in Zenless Zone Zero?
Nicole is one of the best support agents in Zenless Zone Zero and is easily the best agent to build for new players.
A strong case can be made that Nicole is the single best free-to-play character in any HoYoverse game, ever. Even in ZZZ Season 3, she remains among the best supports in the game with her mix of buffs, debuffs, and respectable damage.
Not only is Nicole extremely good individually, she is also extremely versatile. She is very good on both attack and anomaly teams, something few supports can boast.
Best Drive Disc build for Nicole in ZZZ
Nicole has a number of solid Drive Disc options, with the best option varying based on team composition and other agents’ discs. There are three strong four-piece Drive Disc effects tailored to support agents alongside many different good two-piece choices for Nicole, specifically. Here’s a breakdown of the best sets, and what they have to offer.
Four-piece Moonlight Lullaby, two-piece Phaethon’s Melody
The best all-around Drive Disc set for support agents is Moonlight Lullaby, and it works brilliantly for Nicole in particular. A 20% Energy Regen boost and a team-wide damage buff when she uses an EX special attack or ultimate synergizes perfectly with her kit. There are plenty of decent two-piece options including damage boosts for Nicole specifically, but expanding her anomaly footprint with either Phaethon’s Melody, Chaos Jazz, or Freedom Blues is the way to go.
Four-piece Astral Voice, two-piece Moonlight Lullaby / Swing Jazz
Astral Voice is meant to be Astra Yao’s signature set, but it’s good for any support that can trigger regular quick assists. Nicole fits that bill perfectly, assuming no other agent on the team is using it. There are loads of viable two-piece Drive Disc options, but the Energy Regen boost of Moonlight Lullaby and Swing Jazz make it easy to pull out an EX special attack whenever it’s needed.
Four-piece Swing Jazz, two-piece Phaethon’s Melody
While there are a few different ways to build Nicole, the discussion long started with a four-piece Swing Jazz Drive Disc set. That’s not the case anymore, but it’s still not a bad choice. The combination of 20% energy regen and a damage boost after chain attacks and ultimates makes it so Nicole can regularly contribute major buffs to her DPS. The uptime and buffs aren’t quite as good as Moonlight Lullaby, but players who haven’t bothered changing their Drive Disc build on Nicole since Zenless Zone Zero 1.0 don’t have to worry too much.
Best W-Engines for Nicole
The Vault is decisively the best W-Engine to give Nicole. Signature W-Engines are typically the best to give to an agent, but the difference between The Vault and every other option is stark. While options like Soldier 11’s The Brimstone are hypothetically useful on any attack agent, The Vault is meticulously designed to work with Nicole.
Other options are workable, of course. But there’s no excuse for choosing anything over The Vault when building out Nicole in Zenless Zone Zero.
The Vault
Nicole’s signature W-Engine increases her off-field impact and boosts her energy regen on two fronts. The Vault offers loads of energy regen which combines with four-piece Swing Jazz to let her regularly use her EX special attack. The W-Engine then makes this move even more powerful by increasing incoming damage to enemies hit by the move and boosting Nicole’s energy regen even more. This W-Engine is central to any build and is key to keeping Nicole as a viable support option in ZZZ.
Weeping Gemini
Weeping Gemini is a generally solid support W-Engine, though it still falls short of The Vault. Its combination of PEN Ratio and energy regen does work well with Nicole and can help proc more anomalies, it’s best to use The Vault on Nicole while giving Weeping Gemini to a different support agent.
Slice of Time
Cutting through the technobabble of the Slice of Time’s description, the W-Engine basically makes ultimates charge faster and gives the equipper more energy regen. Nicole actively builds for plenty of the latter. As for the former, this helps teams, but not more than what’s offered by The Vault.
Best ZZZ team compositions for Nicole
Nicole is a strong support option for both attack and anomaly teams. Assuming players go with a proper support build on Nicole, she stands as an excellent flex option for many teams. If players have two solid heroes with the same faction or attribute, with one of them being a viable DPS, Nicole can be plugged in as the third. A few compositions are more notable than others, though.
The one major note is that Nicole should not be used alongside rupture DPSs. Because Rupture agents are specifically designed to ignore enemies’ defense, Nicole’s defense shred is functionally useless. With that in mind, here are the best options available:
The Cunning Hares: Nicole + Anby + Billy / Nekomata (Amillion)
The default squad of Zenless Zone Zero is Nicole, Anby, and Billy. Pairing the trio with Amillion gives them a major boost, as does swapping in Nekomata as a replacement for Billy. Once players pull a stronger DPS unit, the combination of Nicole and Anby serves as a solid catch-all core for anomaly or attack teams.
Third wheel Nicole: Nicole + Evelyn + Astra Yao (Snap)
There are loads of characters that are specifically designed to work together in battle. Astra Yao and Evelyn, Cissia and Seed, Zhao and Ye Shunguang. The list goes on. Nicole serves as a great third agent for all these teams.
Worth noting is that she remains a great option for these teams despite not having her additionally ability activated on most of them. While this lowers her personal damage output, she still contributes plenty with her defense shred and buffs.
Miyabi-plus-two team: Nicole, Miyabi, Astra Yao / Nangong Yu / Zhao / Vivian
Nicole serving as an effective third isn’t exclusive to attack teams. Nicole can work as an effective support for most hypercarry anomaly teams and some disorder teams. The easiest is putting Nicole alongside Miyabi and adding in another supporting piece or a sub-DPS. Astra Yao, Yuzuha, Vivian, Zhao, and many others can get the nod here.
That also goes for the primary DPS. Though Miyabi is still arguably the best anomaly DPS in Zenless Zone Zero, other on-field agents like Alice, Promeia, or Aria can slot in here.
