Zenless Zone Zero – Best Zhu Yuan build in ZZZ

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Four characters fighting in a battle in Zenless Zone Zero.
Image via HoYoverse

Zhu Yuan is a new playable S-Rank agent in Zenless Zone Zero, and as a powerful leader of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, she brings a lot to the table with her unique kit.

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To help you understand how she works, here’s the best Zhu Yuan build in Zenless Zone Zero

Best Zhu Yuan Zenless Zone Zero build

Zhu Yuan in Zenless Zone Zero.
There’s a new sheriff in town. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Zhu Yuan is a powerful S-Rank damage dealer. Thanks to her overloaded kit, she could be one of the best agents in ZZZ. She’s an Ether main carry who excels at dishing out a ton of Ether burst damage with her Special Attack and Chain.

Although she’s a main DPS, Zhu Yuan performs best as a quick-swap carry in short-rotation teams. To fully maximize her damage potential and kit, equipping her with proper W-Engines, Drive Discs, Bangboos, and investing in her Skills are all equally important.

Best Zhu Yuan W-Engine

Qingyi and Zhu Yuan holding hands in Zenless Zone Zero.
Strength in numbers. Screenshot by Dot Esports

As an essential part of this build, W-Engines are weapons that turn agents into unstoppable killing machines. As a burst damage dealer, Zhu Yuan wants weapons with offensive stats and luckily, she has a ton of great options for both free-to-play players and light spenders.

Here are the best W-Engines for Zhu Yuan:

  • Riot Suppressor Mark VI (S-Rank)
  • The Brimstone (S-Rank)
  • Starlight Engine (A-Rank)
  • Street Superstar (A-Rank)

Riot Suppressor Mark VI is a five-star W-Engine, and as Zhu Yuan’s signature weapon, it offers everything she needs. As her best in slot, this weapon has a high base attack and a decent CRIT damage main stat, which is very valuable for Zhu Yuan. It also increases her CRIT Rate by 15 percent and Skill damage by 35 percent.

As another S-Rank weapon, The Brimstone is a solid alternative for Zhu Yuan which you can get from the Standard Banner. It’s highly competitive with her signature weapon because it provides a ton of attack percent, and whenever Zhu Yuan uses a Basic Attack, Dash Attack or Dodge, her attack increases by an extra 28 percent.

Starlight Engine is a decent four-star option you can get through ZZZ’s gacha system by wishing on any banner.

Best Zhu Yuan Drive Discs

Zhu Yuan's demo in Zenless Zone Zero.
Something to match her beat. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To increase Zhu Yuan’s damage even more, proper Drive Discs are important. Since you want a Drive Disc set that mostly focuses on her burst damage, Zhu Yuan has a couple of decent options.

Here are the best Drive Discs for Zhu Yuan:

  • Chaotic Metal (four-piece)
  • Woodpecker Electro (two-piece)

The four-piece Chaotic Metal is the way to go for Zhu Yuan as this Drive Disc set matches her entire kit. It increases Zhu Yuan’s Ether damage by 10 percent and CRIT damage by 20 percent. Additionally, whenever a character in the party triggers Corruption damage, Zhu Yuan’s Corruption damage increases by 33 percent.

To make a perfect pair with Chaotic Metal, the two-piece Woodpecker Electro gets the job done. This set is valuable for Zhu Yuan because it increases her CRIT Rate by eight percent, which makes her build much easier. 

Best Zhu Yuan Drive Discs stats and substats

While farming those Drive Discs can take a while, they alone are not enough for this build to work. Getting a good mixture of Zhu Yuan’s most desired stats is also crucial and since she’s a DPS that scales with offensive stats, you build her as a traditional carry.

Here are the main stats you should target:

  • Slot four: CRIT Rate or CRIT damage
  • Slot five: Ether damage or ATK%
  • Slot six: ATK%

To put those main stats to work, it’s necessary you get a balanced Crit ratio and aim for lots of attack percent in her substats. This increases her burst damage even more.

Best Bangboo for Zhu Yuan

Army of Bangboos running in the street of Zenless Zone Zero.
They are also part of the team. Image via HoYoverse

Besides having a good team, Zhu Yuan also needs her little Bangboo sidekick, and there are two good candidates. The best Bangboo for Zhu Yuan is Resonaboo. It provides Ether Anomaly Buildup and passively deals AoE Ether damage. Devilboo is another solid option because it also increases Ether Anomaly Buildup, but it’s not as good as Resonaboo because it doesn’t deal AoE Ether damage.

Best Zhu Yuan Skills

If you want to have the best Zhu Yuan there is, you must invest into her right abilities and Skills.

Here are Zhu Yuan’s Skills you should prioritize:

  • Core
  • Special
  • Chain
  • Basic Attack

Zhu Yuan’s main source of damage is her Core that’s connected with her Special and Chain Attack that deal burst Ether damage. While you perform wombo-combos in short rotations with her, using a couple of Basic Attacks is an additional damage output you can use.

Best Zhu Yuan Mindscapes

Four characters standing above the word Zenless in Zenless Zone Zero.
If you want to splash some Polychromes. Image via HoYoverse

Zhu Yuan’s a perfect unit that doesn’t need Mindscapes to be good, but since her first Mindscape is the best one, perhaps it’s worth considering it. If you manage to get it, this Mindscape helps Zhu Yuan get her stacks of Shotshells faster, which makes her Chain and Special attacks easier to use.

Author
Image of Lazar Pavlovic
Lazar Pavlovic
Freelance News and SEO Writer for Dot Esports, covering games like Genshin Impact, VALORANT, World of Warcraft and League of Legends to new releases. When he's not writing, you can find him grinding dungeons and raids in World of Warcraft.