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Nicole is one of the first characters players get inZenless Zone Zero. As a Support unit, her job is to improve the combat effectiveness of everyone in the squad. She isn’t quite as flashy as the rest of the Cunning Hares, but it’s hard to deny how valuable she can be.
Support units are excellent in every gacha game, and they’re no exception here. If you play according to yourcharacters' specialties inZenless Zone Zero, you’ll be able to steamroll through even the most difficult content the game has to offer. Here’s a guide for Nicole that covers her best build and general tips on how to use her.
How To Play Nicole In Zenless Zone Zero
Nicole has three main roles:shred the enemy’s DEF, pull enemies together, and, once all her Mindscape bonuses are unlocked, buff the squad’s CRIT Rate. All of these are universally useful, making her a solid pick for almost every team. With that said, Nicole will be even more valuable oncemore factions and characters inZenless Zone Zeroare released.
As long as Nicole has enhanced bullets (or if she hits enemies with her energy fields), her abilities will shred up to 40% of an enemy’s DEF for 3.5 seconds. Players should prioritize leveling up her passive and Special Attack, as these are where most of her value comes from.
When using Nicole, you should be constantly using Perfect Assists to maximize the uptime of her DEF shred. Build her Energy up, and use her EX Special whenever it’s available to increase the duration of her passive shred effect.
Nicole’s EX Special Attack always enables Quick Assists for the next character in the queue. When choosing your team, ensure to put herbefore your main DPS, especially if that DPS is Billy or anyone else who benefits from Quick Assists.
Nicole Best W-Engines in Zenless Zone Zero
The best W-Engine for Nicole isWeeping Cradle, an S-rank engine that increases the energy regeneration of the user while they’re off-field. Dealing attacks with Weeping Cradle equipped also increases the damage output of everyone in the squad.Energy management inZenless Zone Zerois especially important for Support characters, so taking Weeping Cradle for Nicole should be a no-brainer.
Nicole’s second best W-Engine isThe Vault, which boosts the damage of all members whenever the user deals Ether damage with their Ultimate, EX Special Attack, or Chain Attack. It also buffs the wearer’s energy regen on top of providing a nice energy regen stat by default. If you have neither of these, then the B-rank Reverb W-Engines will suffice.
Nicole Best Drive Discs in Zenless Zone Zero
Drive Discs are the equivalent of Relics and Artifacts inZZZ. For Nicole, you’ll want to prioritize getting the following stats in order:
Nicole doesn’t need damage as much as other characters to be effective, but it doesn’t hurt to have the extra offensive stats. With that said, you’ll want to use theSwing Jazzset plus eitherFreedom BluesorChaotic Metalfor your off-set two-piece bonus. Swing Jazz boosts energy regen and the damage of all squad members. Meanwhile, you may get extra Anomaly Proficiency or Ether DMG from Freedom Blues and Chaotic Metal respectively.
Bangboos inZenless Zone Zeroprovide a variety of benefits. If you really want to double-down on energy regen for Nicole and your other characters, we highly suggest grabbing a Butlerboo. If you don’t have one, any other Bangboo that synergizes with your team will have to do.
Importance
M1 - Supercharged Bomb
Nicole’s EX Special Attack gains 16% more DMG and Anomaly Buildup. The duration of the energy field created by charged EX Special Attacks increase the longer you charge the skill.
High
M2 - Charging Device
Nicole gains 5 Energy every time her passive shreds enemy DEF. Can only be triggered once every 15 seconds.
M3 - A Hare’s Cunning
Basic Attack, Dodge, Assist, Special Attack, and Chain Attack gain +2 levels.
-
M4 - Field Expansion
The diameter of energy fields from Nicole’s EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, and Ultimate are increased by 3 meters.
Medium
M5 - Industry Star
M6 - Corrupting Energy Field
When Nicole’s energy fields damage an enemy, the CRIT Rate of all squad members against that enemy increases by 1.5%, stacking up to 10 times, and lasting for 12 seconds. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.
