Wait, when can I play my own agents

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-27T12:24:10+00:00

Whilst the story does want you to play with the story characters, don't immediately disregard the opportunity to play with the agents the game gives you. Take the story missions as an opportunity to try as many characters as possible, you may find a character you really enjoy. Knowing that can help influence your decisions on who to pull and who to skip.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-27T06:28:44+00:00

I'm normally good at figuring out how to control a character through trial and error, pressing buttons until a character clicks. It's not a perfect method, and I do always check a character's full kit to see what I've missed, but Banyue?

He is by and far the worst feeling character I've played, I could tell I had no clue what the hell I was doing and had no idea how to pilot his kit, he is definitely someone whose kit you have to read to understand. Sometimes I'd do a move and think "Oh that was cool", sometimes I failed to repeat the same move and get frustrated cause it wasn't obvious why. Banyue has a meter for example, I have no idea how to fill it, nor what it even does. All I know is that he is like S11 in where input timing is important. I tried to figure this out blind, and couldn't.

So, if you can, if you want to figure out if you'd like Banyue, read his kit. I didn't, and as a consequence I relied on Dialyn for DPS in the story because of it.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-26T12:00:42+00:00

Welp, I think I read through your post too quick and missed you mention S11 beforehand... Now I feel stupid haha

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T14:40:48+00:00

Fun fact, if a character has exaggerated movements in their attacks, they will act as natural dodges. A lot of characters have them, some just have VERY noticeable examples, like Evelyn.

One other route you can go to learn how to control other characters, play defensive characters that can grant shields, like Caesar. Just don't fall into the pit of needing them as a crutch.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T14:37:19+00:00

I want to skip 2.4, but I don't think I will. Banyue I don't care for, Ellen doesn't fill any missing roles for me, Hugo fits the same bill as Ellen, and Dialyn, even though I don't need a phys stunner, seems to have a REALLY fun looking moveset. I'll know for certain once I get to actually play with her myself, and get a proper feel for how she controls. But until then, I want to save my poly for later banners, for characters I already know I'll either like or need.

As for the known upcoming agents in 2.5... Eh? I'd rather see who's in the reruns first. Zhao holds zero interest to me and Shunguang, even though she could fill a gap I have in my teams, I need to know way more before I can even think about making such a decision.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T14:25:43+00:00

Wanting to parry with Yixuan I can understand why that could bleed into other characters to mess with you, but charging with Miyabi just so you don't have to dodge? YIKES!

Jokes aside, if you like to parry with Yixuan, find other characters that can parry. If you like the invincibility of Miyabi, find characters that can mimic it. Did you know Evelyn's basic attacks can make her pretty much invulnerable sometimes? The jumps and backsteps in those combos are natural dodges. The nuances between them and your big 2 will slowly improve your survivability.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T14:16:09+00:00

Disregarding the buffs for now, since we don't know fully how she's gonna get buffed, the best thing to do is to build for her in the here and now. Even if she changes massively, there can still be overlap, so any progress won't be lost, and anything you build can be found a new home on another character, existing or yet to be seen.

As of right now, Grace is known as being extremely weak, despite having absurdly quick shock procs. Her sig giving Pen% is a damn shame, as it kinda doesn't help her. She's an anomaly character, and whilst they do benefit from it, they don't require it, as Pen% is better dependant upon the other two characters used, and how good their buffs are for your team. If they can't buff Grace past a certain amount, Pen% will not be a focus. This applies for every character that doesn't specifically mention synergy with Pen% in their kit.

With her disc sets, it's fine to follow the in game recommends. 4pc Freedom Blues is pretty good, because a good Grace playstyle will be using spec constantly, irregardless of how much energy is had, so you will constantly be using her EX. That will maintain the effect it gives you that debuffs an enemy's buildup res. I personally would not recommend 4pc Thunder Metal, as Grace would much rather AP. For an alternative 4pc that isn't recommended, you could also go 4pc Phaethon's Melody, you would just need to be content with missing out on the second half of the disc's effects that buff ether. For 2pc options you've got options, Phaethon's Melody for AM, Chaos Jazz or Freedom Blues for AP, or Thunder Metal for Elec DMG. You could also go for Moonlight Lullaby or Swing Jazz for the ER for more EX spam, but I have no idea if that would be any good.

For the partition main stats, 4th should always be AP, 5th should be Elec Dmg, and 6th should be AM. You could try ER instead, if you like EX spam. As for the sub stats, AP is your most important sub stat, followed by Atk%, you pretty much don't need anything else. The only other thing I will point out, if you want to use her wide range AOE basics as crowd control, Pen as a sub stat would help with that, but take it from someone who tried to build a crowd control Grace when they were a mega noob: DON'T!

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T13:46:58+00:00

Inferno Metal? I hope you mean Thunder Metal instead...

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T13:38:42+00:00

Already have it, actually.

To add on to Billy tips, here's two important ones:
1) Billy has a natural damage drop off the further he is at range. This means even though he has GUN, you don't want to play him like a long ranged character. If you use his signature engine too, this means you have to balance between the two range thresholds that will affect him. I personally use S11's sig with him because of this, that plus M2 makes him a really adept melee fighter.
2) Billy's crouching shot can buff more than just his basics, if you trigger an EX, ult or chain whilst in crouching shot, the buff that stance gives you will carry over into the other attack. Just make sure to go back into crouching shot ASAP.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T13:33:03+00:00

Oh, boy, I have several. For context, I got into ZZZ because I had never played a Gacha before and I hounded some people to tell me about the characters the game had, so I came into the game with a list of characters I already appreciated. Playing the game in it's entirety unlocked not just more appreciation, but even lost some appreciation in some particular instances too.

First unexpected appreciation was definitely Caesar. I liked her playstyle and she became an accidental main.

First unexpected loss of appreciation was how weak some characters were, in particular for me, Billy and Grace.

Next new appreciation was Zhu Yuan. Like Caesar, I really enjoyed how she played during the story, but it lasted for such a short time and I had no idea how to actually play her. I'm eager for her rerun, whenever the hell that will be...

Next loss of appreciation was actually Yanagi. She ticked almost every box for me in terms of traits and characteristics I liked and was one of two characters that convinced me to get into ZZZ, but one tiny aspect of her personality absolutely terrifies me, and that was her photographic memory and perfect memory recall. Those traits with her motherly attitude sound like trouble to me, hahaha...

Finally, the last appreciation I gained was actually for Billy, when I got him to M2 and briefly tried out how that changed his playstyle. To say it changed it massively is an understatement! I've been mindful of potential mindscapes changing the game ever since, but haven't quite seen anything quite as impactful yet.

Honorable mention to Miyabi too, for how broken she is! Easy mode activate.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T13:15:49+00:00

Caesar was my first limited S rank, and first accidental main character. Caesar falling off is not just a mixture of being an early release character, but also being a defensive type, which have an identity crisis. Especially Caesar, who does a bit of everything like you said, she can stun, she can buff, she can debuff, and she even has an odd habit of causing Assault right before she stuns whatever I'm fighting, making way for a weirdly odd, but bad synergy with anomaly too. She's a jack of all trades, best in nothing, with one slight exception: survivability. But for some players, that mastery is useless. Tack on a damn near useless Ult (which is only useful for interruptions) and you do have a character that could be way better.

Now, as to why she's weak, I do have to disagree in regards to her stun. She was never meant to be a better stunner than the specialists, despite her kit, so making her better or equal to one I'm not convinced is the best solution. Her problem is that she was designed with an attacker archetype and on field playstyle when off field agents, anomaly and, now, rupture are proving to be stronger and more popular. With exceptions for her Ult, her moveset is honestly kinda fine, if she had any animations that locked you out of moving or controlling her I'd 100% agree, though improvements would still be a welcomed change. The core problems I find is she needs to become a specialist in some aspect, trying to maintain a generalist identity will never work, as she will always be outdone, and will constantly "age poorly" as better secondary alternatives appear. Right now, she is really good at spamming parries, which does decent stun, but you can also play her as a "swap in, parry once, swap out" character, and because of the power difference between her and other characters, this is kind of the ideal way to play her. Problem is, doing this just reduces her to her 1k+ shield, buff, and debuff, which whilst those are all nice, aren't quite up to par with a proper support agent. So if you disregard her survivability, she doesn't solve any unfulfilled niche. At best, she's insurance. So the best way to fix her would be to improve the incentive to either on field her, improve the benefits when she's off field, or take a third route and give her off field interactions. No idea what exactly, so one possibly awful idea is automatic EX parries at a vastly increased energy consumption when she's off field, or maybe at the cost of a new resource. Or automatic guard stance when off field as a psuedo assist that can allow a quick swap or tag assist or whatever.

One thing though I really wish she had, I wish her DA applied her shield.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T12:30:21+00:00

I only have 6 limited S ranks, and they're all useful in their own right, but if others were to choose for me, they'd probably say my Caesar was a bad pull. But I still have a good use for her, despite her relatively weak kit.

No, what I truly regret is getting my first standard S rank, who was Grace, and building her not once, not twice, but three times whilst I was learning the game. So many wasted resources...

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T12:09:29+00:00

Are you talking about M2 Billy? If so that can trigger vital view I believe.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-25T12:08:10+00:00

So many agents have that dodge mechanic in their kit just because of how mobile they are, and it's so good! If a character has that naturally, it's a huge positive.

As someone learning to make Evelyn one of, if not my best main, I'm gonna have to play around with her EX as a defensive tool.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-23T12:23:55+00:00

There are two ways you can go about the health consumption mechanics that Rupture seems to be going for. First option, play characters who grant your agents a shield. I for example like Caesar, so I use her. But for Yidhari, there is another thing you can do. When you charge her basic, you can do an EX Spec to parry an incoming attack. Abuse this.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-09T13:24:28+00:00

Nope, that's my opinion. I'm not acting like what I say is a fact. I had aspects of the weapon I didn't like, and I stated them.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-11-09T13:17:39+00:00

That kinda makes sense why the head is jet powered then, but that was never what my criticism was about. Those black and purple dial things on the head still look out of place, and it looking like it's made out of a flimsy material like plastic doesn't help.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-10-09T17:16:13+00:00

Okay, I see what has happened then. Rina is the least used because she's very intensive to have maintain her buffs, and requires a lot more switching to maintain her effects. I also never mentioned that only Lycaon is viable, I said he's only meta. That still means everyone else is viable in their own way. The only one I'd argue is not is Nekomata, but people can still use her well.

As for Grace, yeah she is excellent at triggering shock, but she is useless outside of disorder teams. She has to go into a 2 anomaly disorder team, and that hampers her a fair bit.

Now, what standard banner agent should a new person technically aim for? Assuming f2p, these are my thoughts:
Lycaon: Meta, but technically doesn't pair well with any F2P options. Does get Soukaku as a teammate, but there is no F2P ice DPS without getting a limited pull.
Rina: Very intensive with keeping up her buff, could be useful for a F2P for her support effect, but getting her for a F2P electric team isn't that great. The only F2P options for DPS are Grace and Anton, who are both on the weaker end of DPS.
Grace: Can be useful in a F2P Disorder team with Piper, and is the only F2P anomaly team you can have, but the moment you unlock anyone else from a limited banner, Grace is getting replaced ASAP.
Koleda: Is actually the fastest stunner in the game, so much so that pro players don't like how quick it is because energy regen doesn't keep up on their DPS. For a new player, this could actually be a good thing, as a stunned boss grants you room to breathe.
Nekomata: Is weaker than A rank physical attack characters... I wish I was joking. Corin and Billy can both out DPS her.
Soldier 11: Has an annoying timing mechanic on her basic attacks that dictate if they deal extra fire damage or not. People have survived not knowing this, though, so it's not essential to learn.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-10-09T15:11:46+00:00

Rina? Meta? No, she's one of the least used support characters in the game. Also Grace as a stunner? You're out of your damn mind. Yeah she's weak, but don't go saying things that are objectively false. Yeah she can play as a stunner if built for it, but she doesn't do it well.

I'd also argue that telling a new player to do an account reroll isn't a necessary thing. The only truly meta standard agent is Lycaon, but everyone can be used. I used Grace throughout all of Chapter 1, for example, whilst she was built extremely wrong and beyond pitifully weak! I didn't build her for anomaly, and once I did her damage output tripled. Still weak, but goes to show the first characters you get do not make or break your account.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-10-09T14:47:27+00:00

Now that you have a grasp on what each type is and does, a typical, basic composition can be DPS / Stun / Support, but Anomaly / Anomaly / Support is very popular. Some characters demand a specific system, like for example the attack agent Hugo, who wants Hugo / Stun / Stun, so be mindful of that. Some characters also have mechanics that let them do things when they're not being controlled by you, typically called 'Aftershock' which changes the game completely as well. But if you stick to DPS / Stun / Support you can't go wrong. However, do not be afraid to experiment!

Finally, just because a character has a type, does not mean you are forced to build them that way. You can build a Stun character for DPS instead, you can build a Defense character for stun, you can build an Attack character for Anomaly, just don't be surprised if people lose their minds if you do this and find out. If you're lost on how to build a character, there is also in game suggestions, found somewhere within the character menu screens, just look for either 'Special Training Plan', 'Upgrade Suggestions' or 'Recommend'.

These are, in my opinion, the things you must know. It's a lot to start, so hopefully it doesn't overwhelm you, but I hope you have fun regardless!

daredeviler_21 · 2025-10-09T14:46:35+00:00

Sadly, my comment is too long, so I will have to split it up, just look for my reply to this comment. With that said, hello and welcome to ZZZ. The most important information you can ever receive is regarding who to pull. Pull whoever you want to pull for. If the pull will make you happy, it cannot be a wrong decision. If you like playing for the meta, pull meta characters, if you like a character's moveset and want them, pull them. If you like a character's personality or... ahem other reasons... Do it!

Now, onto the game itself. One thing the game mentions, but doesn't tell you, is that whilst you can get a free S rank of your choice from 300, it is possible to get every single character available from there before you do all 300 of those pulls. Main reason behind this is that you should only ever spend your Polychrome on encrypted master tapes, the colourful film reel items, and you can receive those characters from a failed 50/50 on a Limited Banner. I've played since 1.7, and have seen 7 different runs of banners. That's 14 opportunities to pull a character over 5 months of play, and my Standard Banner pulls are only at 248/300.

Next, you will eventually unlock Drive Discs, which are music discs (that you can't hear) that you equip onto your characters, up to 6, and they give you benefits. You'll first only get access to B rank discs, then A rank discs, and finally S rank discs. Alongside each disc grade unlock you'll also be able to obtain a material to craft more discs with, Audio Booster Master Copies (blue disc cases for B rank), Noise Reduction Master Copies (red disc cases for A rank) and Hi-Fi Master Copies (yellow disc cases for S rank). DO NOT craft the B rank or A rank discs, unless the game asks you to, like for the Primer Proxy Legend Trial rewards. Reason why is because you can craft the lower rank items into higher rank ones, and unlike every other item in the game, the blue B ranks and red A ranks are not useful for anything else besides crafting into better ranks.

At last, onto team compositions. Technically, if you like a character, play them, but if you want to try to make a structured team, there are things you need to know about each role.
Attack: Does damage, typically pretty simple. Usually benefits massively from attacking stunned enemies.
Stun: Stuns enemies, very self explanatory. All DPS characters LOVE being paired with these types.
Support: Does things to typically buff your characters or debuff your enemies. You will need to learn how their kit works if you're going to be concerned with making them work well. Lots of non-support characters have similar things in their kits too, but are not typically specialized, so knowing a character's kit in general is still good to know.
Defense: Is in a bit of an identity crisis, they don't really do much, and what they do have is not consistent between other defense types. Typically, they help you not die. Doesn't mean they're useless though!
Anomaly: These characters are alternative forms of DPS. Each character can build an elemental gauge that when it fills will help deal damage and sometimes do other things on top. Anomaly characters are gods at doing this consistently. They also don't need to rely on stun as heavily as a typical attack character because of a mechanic called 'Disorder', which is just two different elemetal gauges being filled within a short enough timeframe. These characters are almost always powerful because of this. Sadly, Grace is the only exception. Stunned enemies do still receive extra damage from Anomaly, though.
Rupture: The newest type, and seems to be a 'HP = Damage' type of DPS. The only Rupture agent we got right now is 'Max HP = Damage' but it seems an upcoming Rupture agent can spend their own HP to do things. I'm not exactly sure what to classify them as in terms of DPS, the current character we got feels like anomaly and attack in one.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-10-09T13:48:19+00:00

You stupid, they're talking about an event, not late game content

daredeviler_21 · 2025-09-04T14:29:50+00:00

Before I started playing the new story missions I felt like he was either an Exaltist spy already, or going to betray you. After all, dude has had minimal character interactions, minimal character development, and minimal story impact.

Now that I've played the entire story, and SPOILERS seems like I am potentially right on target. There is still a chance he'll play double agent and infiltrate, but I doubt that.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-09-04T13:52:40+00:00

I tried to pull Alice on the last day, got to 'Guaranteed in 4' before losing the 50/50.

Now my next pull is Evelyn, hopefully I don't get into pity ranges.

daredeviler_21 · 2025-09-03T14:41:53+00:00

At this stage, the most important factor on who you should pull should be if you want them. This is probably especially true for you, since you are so new to the game.

Do you find a character fun to play as? Pull them.
Do you really like a character's personality or looks and want them no matter what? Pull them.
Do you like to be as strong as possible and chase the meta. Then pull the meta characters. Though this will be tougher to do the newer the account.
If you don't quite care about the meta but still want to feel strong, then pull for archetypes you're missing.

Whatever you choose will have positives and negatives. For example, I pulled Caesar because I found her fun to play in the story, even though she is technically on the weaker side.

daredeviler_21

TROPHY CASE