Zenless Zone Zero: Best Nicole Build (W-Engine, Team & Drive Discs)

In Zenless Zone Zero, Nicole's best build utilizes her Ether and Support capabilities. Compared to creating the best Anby build in ZZZ, optimizing the leader of the Cunning Hares is all about buffing teammates while boosting her damage. Although the first Support character at your disposal, Nicole also stands out with her ranged attack capabilities.

There are a handful of playable Zenless Zone Zero characters to unlock, but Nicole being one of the first you can play, it doesn't mean she should be taken for granted. Her Ether typing can make her one of your only choices for various challenges until you can unlock more particular Agents. Plus, her EX Special Attack and Sugarcoated Bullet make her great for crowd control. She is made better with the W-Engine and Drive Discs pointed out in her best build.

Related All Zenless Zone Zero Icons Explained Zenless Zone Zero’s map uses a complicated set of icons to represent a variety of different events and encounters. Here’s what all of them mean.

The Best W-Engine For Nicole

The Ideal Engine Pick

For Nicole, the best W-Engine for her perfect build in Zenless Zone Zero is The Vault - her iconic weapon. Designed with the pink-haired Agent in mind, this W-Engine increases squad member damage by 15% whenever she deals Ether damage with an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or an Ultimate. Her Energy Regen will go up by 0.5/s for 2s as well.

You can get a guaranteed pull of The Vault by purchasing the Eridu Welcome Gift ($0.99/£0.99) from the "24-Hour" in-game store. You can select the W-Engine from four available options, unlocking it immediately.

However, as an A-Rank, The Vault can take a lot of luck to pull from the in-game Signal Search gacha system. In the meantime, Reverb-Mark III makes an excellent backup W-Engine for your Nicole ZZZ build. This easy-to-pull weapon increases squad members' ATK stat by 8% for 10 seconds after launching Chain Attacks and Ultimates - being a nice early-game buff for your playable ZZZ protagonist to use for any player's team.

The Best Drive Discs For Nicole

Chaotic Metal & Swing Jazz All The Way

For the Drive Discs in the best ZZZ Nicole build, a 4-piece set of Swing Jazz and a 2-piece set of Chaotic Metal is the loadout to go with. As you'll discover when learning how to unlock Drive Discs, each type offers different effects based on the number of pieces equipped. These two sets make the most of Nicole's strengths in Ether and Support.

Chaotic Metal is an excellent choice for characters of this Attribute - boosting the damage of Ether attacks by 10% when two pieces are equipped. Swing Jazz is a first-rate set of Drive Discs for Support builds - increasing the squad member damage by 15% for 12 seconds following Chain Attacks or Ultimates. For players wanting a Nicole who can still inflict damage while buffing her teammates, this is the setup to go with.

How To Get Chaotic Metal & Swing Jazz

Getting Through A Big Chunk Of The Story

Once you unlock Drive Discs after 9-10 hours of Zenless Zone Zero's story, you must complete specific missions to obtain the Chaotic Metal and Swing Jazz Drive Discs. Since they're not usually available to redeem with free ZZZ codes, Chaotic Metal can be gained as a reward for beating the "Monster and Weirdo" Routine Cleanup mission via Roland at the Scott Outpost. Swing Jazz can be obtained as a reward for the same mission.

The mission may have to be completed multiple times to get all the pieces you need since the number of Drive Discs given out at the end of the mission seems to indicate that each Drive Disc piece can only fit into a specific 1-6 Equipment slot.

The Monster and Weirdo may need to be defeated continuously until the right mixture of pieces is obtained. With the level players need to be to unlock the challenge, defeating these bosses numerous times should be fine.

Best Team Combo For Nicole In Zenless Zone Zero

The Cunning Hares Are Here

Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

To complement the best Nicole build in ZZZ, the ideal team to put her in is with her fellow Cunning Hares, Anby, and the best Billy Kid build. This comes down to Nicole's passive ability, which is the hare of many caves. With teammates in the same Faction or Attribute, and Nicole applies a debuff with her Core Passive: Mechanical Case ability, her Ether Damage will increase by 25% for 3.5 seconds.

As an Ether character, Zhu Yuan would also work, but she's only available as a rare banner pull. Since they're available right from the start, Anby and Billy Kid are the clear choices. With them, using The Vault W-Engine with the Chaotic Metal and Swing Jazz Drive Disc, you'll have the best Nicole build for Zenless Zone Zero.