How to Build a Team for Speedrunning/Gameplay

Written Guide to Speedrun Team Building

Hey, I’m Aesir Halcyon, a top level speed runner of Zenless Zone Zero. I have been playing since release and have kept a very close eye on the speedrun meta. There’s quite a few characters with even more possible combinations. You may be wondering how to pick the right team for speedrunning. That’s what I want to discuss here.

I’d like to get the elephant out of the room first. Yes the meta will absolutely be the best characters/comps for categories that let you use your own characters. However, you don’t absolutely need them to get good times. If you’re the type that needs to pick the best, I’ll go over that too.

I’ll discuss meta characters first since that will be a bit shorter and competitive types won’t want to read the whole guide (I’m one of those people lmao). Right now the possible categories you could run with your own characters are chapter commissions, hollow zero, shiyu, and individual levels. Depending which you run the meta will be different. Hollow Zero specifically is the oddball out so I’ll talk about that last. First I want to discuss the other three as it’s the most standard with the largest player base in speedrunning at the time of this guide.

The meta right now is solely and undoubtedly a Qingyi meta. Her stunning capabilities, and damage makes her the most valuable character by a mile. If you want first place, you will need Qingyi. It’s a bit of a harsh truth but I can confirm this is the case. My Zhu Yuan is m0 with the battle pass W engine, while my closest competition is m1 with her signature. But despite the large difference in damage output with our main dps, I still come out on top due to my Qingyi which is m3 with signature. Because of this, the best comp, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Nicole at the time of this guide. It does not need to be outdated necessarily though we can learn from it. Unless things change, the value limited stun characters provide will be immense. For those who didn’t get her, Lighter is right around the corner. Don’t miss out.

The other meta possibility is Ellen teams if you pulled for her. Of course, this is entirely dependent on Lycaon (stun is just op). But Ellen, Lycaon, Soukaku teams can also compete. I don’t have too much to say as this comp is already in the process of being power crept, but if we eventually see a limited ice stun, Ellen could potentially make a comeback.

As for 1 character meta, that’s a little less concrete. Qingyi and Ellen are strong, But Jane is making waves right now, and in my opinion, is the best right now for 1 character. She has yet to take over 3 characters but when Caesar and Burnice release, there’s no telling what might happen.

Now to discuss Hollow Zero. See Hollow Zero is the rebel. As of writing this, Corin holds the top spot. I was able to get a second place time, but haven’t had enough time in my personal life to really get first with Zhu, Qingyi, and Nicole. But the fact I have to even try that hard to get it is a testament to the wild nature of the Hollow Zero meta. The resonia change everything, and with the game not being old enough yet, there’s new stuff being found all the time. So my current opinion, is if you can find a broken build, it can compete with meta comps. This might not be true forever, but for now, play who you like. I think Jane has the highest potential for this right now, but I can’t prove it.

So to summarize the meta, pull limited stun characters, with a good comp, and you’re playing the meta. Use Qingyi if you have her and if you don’t, pull Lighter or any future stun characters.

Now for the rest of the player base who either does not like the characters who are meta, or just wants to play who they like (which I respect a lot btw). Don’t worry, you’re not left without options at all. Actually, in a game where f2p can hold on better than ever, and seconds off your time can mean the world, your skill matters a ton. So I’ll give you a few options if you just want to follow the guide and build what I say based on who you like, and I’ll also give you some general pointers to teambuilding for speedruns that you can use to make your own comps.

To start, I’ll talk about each S rank character and their best teams. After this I will give a few f2p teams. So to start off, I’ll talk about Nekomata. Feel free to skip to whoever you’re interested in if this is for you.

Nekomata is a pretty good physical dps overall. I have her M1 with signature so I’ve got a bit of experience with her. Up until now, physical has had a really bad time trying to keep up with other elements, and unfortunately it’s still somewhat the case. Nekomata being an on field dps, means she demands more field time than most characters. She is all about her own dps, and right now there just is no supporting units. There’s no physical stun or supports. So you have to make due with what we have. Right now, her optimal team is undoubtedly Nekomata, Anby, and Nicole. It sounds silly that it’s a Cunning Hares comp, but it truly is the best for her. Anby offers the much needed stun character, directly synergizing with her backstab requirements. And Nicole’s resistance shred is key for doing extra damage. Not to mention she takes no field time at all. This is the only comp she has that can keep up at the moment. If you want to play her in the long term, do not skip Caesar. She is the only unit that will work with her that will be released for a long time.

Next I’ll discuss Soldier. She suffers from what Nekomata does, but even worse. There’s no one in her faction right now, and flame units are sparse. Right now there is only two good options, which requires pulling another standard S rank. The comps are Soldier, Koleda, Ben and Soldier, Koleda, Lucy. Koleda provides stun and burn, while Ben’s flame synergy plus extra synergy with Koleda gives the comp a bit of a push. Unfortunately, there’s not much to say as these are the only viable comps right now. She may be able to be played with Burnice, but it depends on how much field time she takes. Lighter though, is a must pull. Soldier has a lot of potential to grow though. We will see how she does with future units.

Lycaon is a great standard unit to pull. As I’ve mentioned before in this guide, stun is meta. And as such, Lycaon is very good. His best comp of course is with Ellen being Ellen, Lycaon, Soukaku. This is a meta build as ice does not have an alternative for Lycaon yet. On average he performs much better than Koleda who is his main competition. He also can be used as an excellent stun unit for Corrin. You can pretty much mix and match Victoria housekeeping units with Lycaon and it would be a good comp. Just don’t do Ellen Corrin. If you have him but do not have Ellen and do not want to play Corrin, since he is a good stun unit, you can slap him into any comp that needs a stunner. Of course, it won’t be as valuable, but unless you pulled Qingyi, Lycaon will always be the best stunner to pick minus solider comps and Anton comps.

Next up let’s talk about Rina. Rina is a very interesting case. In theory she should be an amazing unit, but just doesn’t have the teammates available to her yet. As of right now, I’d say the best possible team to use her in is either a team of Ellen, Lycaon, Rina (if you don’t have or want to use Soukaku), or a comp of Anton, Qingyi, Rina. You will notice though these are very difficult comps to actually get. So I’ll give some easier alternatives. Corrin, Rina, Anby and Anton, Anby, Rina are both good f2p alternatives that would work well. As more electric characters get released, Rina might see a bit more love. Until then though, these are pretty much your best choices.

Koleda, the other standard banner stunner, unfortunately was not given as much love as Lycaon. As of now, her only viable uses are either in a team of same faction units, or with Soldier. Even when paired with Anton though, you could argue most of the time Anby could net better results depending on the enemy. Still though, she has value as a stunner, and because of that she isn’t completely unusable. You can use her as another stunner if you didn’t pull Qingyi or get Lycaon for content that requires two teams. Other than that the only main use of her is for Soldier, Koleda, Ben or Soldier Koleda Lucy.

Lastly is Grace. So Grace might be the least power creeped standard banner unit of the starting cast so far. She has a HUGE benefit of being an anomaly unit, plus requiring little field time to use. Since anomaly units are a bit different than others, you could pair her with any non electric anomaly, and use her to her fullest potential. Anomaly comps want to focus on procing disorder, so generally you would avoid putting her on all electric teams. She’s still usable this way though, so if you’re a Belobog fan and want to use her with Anton, while not meta, is certainly playable. As of right now, Jane is by far her best teammate. Jane is one of the strongest damage dealers in the game, and as an anomaly, she needs another. Grace takes no field time away from the field time hungry Jane, and procs disorder with her easily. Jane, Seth, Grace is hands down the best comp currently, with Caesar replacing Seth if you pull for her. If you do not have Jane, you can always use Piper for anomaly procs. And when Burnice comes out, Burnice as well. Essentially take 2 anomaly of different elements and slap in a support and it’s a good team.

Now onto the start of the limited units. For Ellen, undoubtedly her best comp is Ellen, Lycaon, and Soukaku. Those two units were practically designed for supporting Ellen. With stun and elemental resistance shred from Lycaon, and damage buffs from Soukaku, it’s by far her best. From there, if you don’t have him you could replace him with whichever stunner you have available to you. You have the option of Rina if you have her for a Victoria Housekeeping team. Other than that though there is almost no case when you would run anyone other than Soukaku. If you just really hate her, there’s no real alternative, but you could sub in Rina if you have her. If you don’t have either, then just pick Corrin or something to use for synergy as a stat stick. She’s the hardest to build a team for out of the limited characters, as there’s no fixes for that in the near future.

Zhu Yuan is probably the current meta dps to run. Even though her team comps are limited, she’s so strong she’s worth running no matter what. Her comp, and the best comp in the game at the moment, is Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, Nicole. Nicole’s defense shred is top tier despite her being a starting character and a four star. On top of that, her assist swaps restore Zhu Yuan’s ammo. She gives the value of a 5 star nearly, with elemental synergy with Zhu Yuan. Qingyi of course, has faction bonus and is the best stunner, and best character (imo) in the game right now. Her stunning capabilities are unmatched with way more damage than a stunner normally has access to. Zhu Yuan needs a stunner to succeed, and as such, Qingyi is her best teammate period. If you do not have Qingyi, there is pretty much only a few alternatives. You could theoretically run a Jane, Seth, Zhu Yuan, and use her as more of a skill and burst dps, as Jane needs the field time. You can also run Seth as a direct replacement for Qingyi, which is not optimal, but is possible if you really like Seth. Other than that, I would just use Anby since stunners are crucial for her. Essentially it’s Qingyi > Anby > Seth > Jane for the second slot. You always want Nicole.

Qingyi is the best stun unit, in a stun meta. Not only that, but she has more raw dps than most characters when it comes to speedrunning. Her quick stun often out-scales every other modifier. I covered her best team in Zhu Yuan’s section, but her best comp is Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Nicole. This being the best comp in the game currently. Other than this, she can be used as a Swiss Army knife for any comp that can use a stunner. She is so powerful she often will just be better despite having no synergies with whichever dps. As a F2p non Zhu Yuan alternative, Anton, Qingyi, and another support for Anton is a great choice. Anton, Qingyi, and Rina is likely Anton’s best comp. No matter what though, if you have Qingyi you want to be using her. If you pulled her, congrats! If not, don’t skip Lighter.

Jane is currently the character on banner at the time of this guide, and as such, she’s still a little new. But what isn’t up in the air is her best comp. Jane, Seth, and Grace is currently her best comp. I went over it in depth in the Grace section, but Grace takes no field time and can proc disorder with Jane. Seth directly buffs anomaly comps, and since there is no physical support, Seth is the best in slot. If you don’t have Grace, the comp becomes a bit more difficult. Running her with Piper is inefficient as they are both physical and cannot proc disorder, though it’s okay as a worst case scenario. Until Burnice comes, I would just run her with the best buffers for her that you have available. Seth gets replaced with Caesar, which will become crucial for optimizing Jane teams. Her best team after 1.2 will undoubtedly be Jane, Caesar, Burnice. But pulling three units back to back for free to play is extremely painful. I highly recommend pulling for Yanagi if you’re skipping Burnice and want to main Jane. Or get Grace as soon as you possibly can. As an anomaly, you do not need to run stun as her damage is not based on raw dps or crit. Because of this, running another anomaly instead will always be better. If you do not have any characters I listed, just smack on physical units for synergy and solo with Jane.

Now in this last section, I want to talk to the people who are either completely f2p, or needs a team of f2p units. I’m sure you have one of the 5 stars, but I’m going to give teams here that do not include them. If you have them refer back to their section. With f2p in ZZZ, you surprisingly aren’t completely at a loss for options. As a matter of fact, the two best free to play units are given to you right off the bat being Nicole and Anby. In my opinion, the best possible team you could make with only 4 stars is Anton, Anby, and Ben. Ben is just a filler, but Anton is likely the strongest 4 star dps, and as such, Anby becomes the best choice in a stun meta, as she synergizes elementally. Aside from this, any comp you use ideally includes one of these. Even though Billy is weak, you can consider the Cunning Hares, as Nicole’s defense shred is still top tier, and Anby is the best 4 star overall besides Nicole. With those teams, you can complete any content you may need to until you can pull an S rank, though with difficulty.

There was a ton of words so let me summarize as best as possible. If you have pulled a limited character, refer to their section, but also make sure you’re always using them. If you have S rank characters, and you want to use them, refer to their specific section. If you’re f2p, or need to make a f2p team, use the section above this.

No matter who you choose to build, or what content to run, don’t feel shy about submitting runs! Every run on the leaderboard is valuable and appreciated, and thank you for reading this guide! If you have any questions for me regarding your account and what you have, or just want to discuss with me in general, join the Zenless Zone Zero speedrunning discord. I’m always as active as possible in there.

AesirHalcyon

Zenless Zone Zero

Notorious Hunt (Lv. 65)

Story Commission: Ch. 4 (Hard)

Story Commission: Season 1 - Epilogue (A) (Hard)

Xbox Series X

MKDoge

Drbaconnuget

BAPYC

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Soul Hounds III: 500m

Soul Hounds III: 1000m

Snake Duel: 10 Million Points

Snake Duel: 30 Million Points

Chapter 1 Gacha

Chapter 2 Gacha

Invisible Assistant

A Perilous Duty

Prologue - Ch. 1 (Hard)

Chapter 2 + Intermission (Hard)

3 Characters

Old Capital Metro: Core

Construction Ruins: Core

Abandoned Skyscraper: Core

Withering Garden: Core

Withering Garden: Core Ether Activity 11

Casual Mode

Challenge Mode

Monster and Weirdo

Fist and Gun

Hunter and Hound

Tower and Cannon

Madman and Follower

Sharp Fang and Blunt Axe

1 Character

Notorious - Dullahan

Troublemaker - Wanted Enforcer

Notorious - Armored Hati

Hans - Energized

Typhon Slugger

Newborn Dead End Butcher

Unknown Corruption Complex

Twin Marionettes

The Hare and the Proxy

The Proxy and the Hare

Escape from Certain Doom

Explosive Last Train

Earlybird Ticket to Safety

Path of the Proxy 1

Emergency Rescue

Emergency Rescue 2

Somewhat Totally Out of Control

Let's Go, Bro!

Mechanical Love

Speedy Chaser

Trace to the Source

Path of the Proxy II

Soldier 11: Passing Off as Fake

Nekomata: Cat and Mouse Misplaced

Grace: Grace's "Frankenstein"

Koleda: Back to School

Lycaon: Thieves and Guardians

Rina: Sweetcakes that Never Expire

Soldier 11: Mole in the Hole

Soldier 11: Deep "Treason"

Nekomata: Cat on Patrol

Nekomata: Caught by the Cat Burglar

Grace: Witch's Trial

Chapter

Arcade

Chapter (New Account)

Version

Story Commissions

Chapter (Story Commissions) 

Characters

Hollow Zero

Difficulty (New Account)

Routine Cleanup

Expert Challenge

Notorious Hunt

Difficulty

Agent Commissions

Rally Commissions

Combat Commissions

Exploration Commissions

Arcade (High Score)

Score

If the commission for the run you want to submit does not exist, please suggest it in ”category-suggestions” channel on Disocrd or in "Other Commissions Request" thread on Speedrun.com.