Even if you've played various HoYoverse games before, Zenless Zone Zero will be a breath of fresh air because of how different it is from the rest. The game features a unique animation style, making its characters look much more lively, alongside a phenomenal combat system relying on dodges and parries.
However, one thing that remains the same is the presence of limited characters on the banners, with Ellen being the first. She's a five-star Ice DPS with a specialty in Attack, and here's how you can build her properly and deal massive damage.
Best Ellen Builds
Once you get Ellen Joe in Zenless Zone Zero, you'll first have to put a W-Engine and some Drive Discs on her. If you're relatively early in the game, you might not have Drive Discs unlocked since they open up with the music store quite late. Both these gear types provide Ellen with some much-needed stat boosts alongside various buffs.
However, not all W-Engine or Drive Discs can go well with her, and you'll be losing out on quite a bit of damage if you use the wrong ones, so here are your best choices:
Best W-Engines For Ellen
|
Rank |
Name |
Synergy With Ellen |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Deep Sea Visitor |
Ellen's signature W-Engine is undoubtedly the best for her as it not only gives her Crit Rate from the secondary stat, but also gives her an extra 20 percent Crit Rate upon the use of Basic and Dash attacks. On top of all this, your Ice DMG increases by 25 percent as well. |
|
2 |
Cannon Rotor |
If you're buying the premium tier of the battle pass, this weapon can also give you some much-needed Crit Rate along with some extra ATK and damage. |
|
3 |
Street Superstar |
When you're fighting a boss enemy, you'd always want to use Ellen's Ultimate after using three Chain Attacks, and the Engine can increase the Ultimate's DMG by 45 percent if you do that. |
|
4 |
Starlight Engine |
This is a simple stat-stick W-Engine, which can increase your ATK from the secondary stat and when you trigger a quick assist or dodge counter. |
|
5 |
[Lunar] Noviluna |
Finally, if you're lacking Crit Rate on Ellen, you can use this B-tier W-Engine to get a bit from the secondary stat. However, you'll have a lower ATK overall. |
Best Drive Discs For Ellen
|
Set Name |
Synergy With Ellen |
|---|---|
|
Polar Metal |
This is the best in slot set for Ellen when it comes to having a 4-pc as it gives her 10 percent Ice DMG while also providing up to 40 percent extra DMG on Basic and Dash attacks as long as you apply freeze or shatter on the enemy. |
|
Puffer Electro |
If you're looking to build Ellen around her Ultimate, since that also deals a sizeable damage, this set can increase this DMG while also giving her some ATK at the end of it. However, you can also just use the two-piece of this set to get some PEN Ratio. |
|
2-pc Woodpecker Electro |
You can use one 4-pc and one 2-pc on a character at the same time in Zenless Zone Zero, and this set is perfect for the latter as it can give you some extra Crit Rate, which is quite essential on Ellen. However, if you're using her signature weapon, it may be better to go for Puffer Electro as the 2-pc. |
Best Bangboo For Ellen
Bangboo is a special mechanic introduced in Zenless Zone Zero, and it involves a cute little creature joining you in every battle. Bangboos mostly deal automatic additional damage on the battlefield, but you can also use a special Chain Attack for some of them. Each Bangboo has a special skill as their "b" skill, and some of them suit Ellen more than others:
|
Sharkboo/Penguinboo |
These two are essentially the same Bangboo when it comes to their "b" skill, except the former is an S-tier while the latter is an A-tier. Penguinboo has higher multipliers on its damage inherently while Sharkboo enjoys a higher buff from the passive. Both of them can deal a ton of Ice Anomaly Buildup to the enemy, allowing you to trigger the effects of the Polar Metal Drive Disc set easily. |
|---|---|
|
Bagboo |
This is a more basic Bangboo that you can use if you don't have the two above as it can deal some extra Chain Attack DMG due to Ellen's presence. |
|
Butler |
If you're planning to use two or more characters from Victoria Housekeeping Co. in your team, this Bangboo can be used to regenerate Ellen's energy much faster. |
How Ellen's Abilities Work
When it comes to a combat-centric game like Zenless Zone Zero, building a character isn't quite enough since it's also important to understand how they work. If you try to use any character without reading their abilities in this game, your experience will be significantly worse, making you feel like the character isn't strong.
The same goes for Ellen as she has her main focus around using consistent Dash Attacks, which isn't something you normally do on other characters. Ellen has a specific mechanic called the Flash Freeze Charges, and here's how you get them:
- After pressing the dash button twice or holding it, you enter a specific dash mode. Hitting an enemy with a normal attack in this mode gives you one charge, while performing a charged attack gives you three.
- You can get one charge from both instances of your EX-Special Skill (each consuming 40 Energy), but using these also allows you to directly use your third basic attack.
You can reduce the charging time of your charged dash attack after performing a perfect dodge or quick assist.
Ellen can hold up to six Flash Freeze Charges at a time, which can be seen on the top left of your screen, and she essentially consumes one charge whenever you use a basic attack as the attack gets Ice infusion. The special part about this kit is the third basic attack as you can hold the button during this to make it last much longer.
This is the main reason for Ellen to get her third attack directly after using her buffed Special Skill. With this kit, you'd never want to perform a basic attack dealing Physical DMG since getting the Ice infusion is quite easy. Finally, Ellen's Ultimate is a standalone ability that deals a ton of damage both with her Chain Attack and Ultimate, but doesn't contribute to the main kit.
Ellen Skill Priority
Finally, now that you've understood what Ellen's kit does, it's also important to understand the prioritization of her skills. Ideally, you wouldn't want to upgrade every skill for every character since this can be quite resource-intensive and you don't use every skill on support units. Unfortunately, Ellen is a main DPS, which means you get the most benefit by upgrading all her skills.
However, while you're consistently farming resources for her, here's the best order to upgrade them:
- Basic Attack
- Special Attack
- Chain Attack (Ultimate)
- Dodge
- Assist
However, it's highly important to upgrade Ellen's Core Skill whenever you can since it increases the Crit DMG she gets from her Ice-infused Basic and Dash attack. The Core Skill essentially takes priority over everything except the Basic Attack.
