Just like any other Gacha game,Zenless Zone Zerofollows the formula of creating characters’ powers and abilities based on their rank. If a character belongs to the A-Rank inZZZ, they’re not supposed to compete against S-Rank characters that have more value and can offer more. This makes sense since A-Rank Agents are easier to get compared to their 5-Star counterparts, which requires far more summons on their respective banners.
S-Rank characters inZenless Zone Zeroare equivalent to 5-Star characters fromGenshin ImpactorHonkai: Star Rail. ForZZZplayers looking to get thebest 5-Stars inZZZ, here’s a list of the best S-Rank characters inZenless Zone Zero.
Updated on July 19, 2025, by Nahda Nabiilah: The character ranking in ZZZ changes significantly after the successive releases of Anomaly Agents, shifting the position of traditional crit damage dealers like Zhu Yuan and Ellen. Now, the 5-star character ranking in Zenless Zone Zero is mainly dominated by the Anomaly DPS on top, then universal support, then Crit DPS. To better reflect these changes in the meta, this article has been updated accordingly.
16Nekomata
No Support In Sight
Nekomata has one of the best AoE DPS inZenless Zone Zero. Unfortunately, instead of having some Physical units that can help her elevate her DPS, she is struggling with three other Physical Attack units that can offer her nothing. When building her team, the only characters that can give her some small benefits are Piper, Nicole, and Anby, which isnot at all good for Nekomata on release. So, until better Supports are out that can synergize with her, Nekomata has to sit in the lower tier of the best S-Rank characters inZZZ.
15Soldier 11
Lacks Teammates
Soldier 11’s lower ranking compared to most other 5-Star characters inZZZis not because of her DPS or something she lacks. In version 1.0, she’s the onlyAgent from the Obol Squad, so players are stuck with bringing Fire characters onto her team.
Of course, Support or Stun units like Lucy or Koleda are great, but compared to other 5-Star characters that can synergize with many others, Soldier 11 is at a major disadvantage.
14Koleda
Great Stun Unit
Koleda is one of the fastest characters to Stun enemies inZZZall thanks to her Core Skill that increases the Daze she deals by a whopping 60%. She also gets an upgrade to many of her moves’ animations and scaling when she’s paired with Ben, who can also unlock her additional ability, which applies a debuff on enemies to take more DMG from her team’s Chain Attack.
13Grace
Underrated Anomaly
As an Anomaly unit inZenless Zone Zero,Grace is underrated inZZZ. Her ability to keep distance while swiftly applying the Electric Anomaly, Shock, is amazing. Not only that, Grace’s movement is also top-tier and makes it very hard for enemies to land hits on her. Additionally, as an Electric character that can quickly trigger Shock, Grace is important for any unit (Support or DPS) with kits revolving around this Anomaly.
12Rina
Universal PEN Buff
Rina enjoys a universal buff that works on everyone inZZZ. Whether the DPS in her team scales with ATK, DEF, or HP, her penetration buff will surely work since she’s giving her allies up to 30% PEN. While this buff is good, it has a short duration, which meansRina works best in quick-swap teamswhere she can keep re-applying her buff.
On the other hand, Rina’s additional ability triggers when she’s teaming with an Electric unit or a character from the Victoria Housekeeping Faction. This additional ability is also a buff, but this time, it’s targeted towards Electric units where she enhances their Shock DMG and Anomaly during combat.
11Harumasa
Free But Not Cheap
Harumasa entersZZZwhile the game is filled with the Anomaly meta, causing it to be hard for him to shine. In terms of damage, Harumasa held out well, especially for single-target scenarios. Unfortunately, compared to top-tier DPS like Miyabi, his ability looks lackluster.
Playing Harumasa requires players to have a Stunner in the team since his Additional Ability revolves around Stunned enemies. This means he loses a significant amount of damage against enemies that are only Stunned for a short time, and he also demands proper rotation in his gameplay.
10Ellen
High DPS Unit
One ofthe main reasons why Ellen is so goodis because she’s one of the few characters who has a perfect team with Lycaon and Soukaku. Each of the other two Ice characters is excellent on their own, but in this team, they work together to buff Ellen and allow her to shine in her DPS role.
Sadly, her traditional Crit build is outshined by the wonderful mechanics of Anomaly and Disorder, placing Ellen lower on the ranking compared to her dominance on release day.
9Lycaon
Great Stun And Perfect Teammates
Lycaon is one of the best Stuncharacters inZenless Zone Zero. However, his role doesn’t only revolve around filling enemies’ Daze. Lycaon can also shred enemies’ resistance to Ice while increasing the team’s Daze DMG against that enemy by 35%. These two buffs are enough to make Lycaon a necessary Support/Sub-DPS for any Ice unit inZenless Zone Zero.
8Lighter
Ice and Fire Support
Lighter is like the better version of Lycaon, as he can Stun like the Wolf Thiren, while also buffing both Ice and Fire DMG. This makes Lighter an excellent support for top-tier Agents like Miyabi and Burnice.
Additionally, Lighter also reduces the enemies' Ice and Fire RES, making him even better for the two attributes.
7Qingyi
Universal Stunner
Qingyi is a great Stun Agentwho can fit into practically any team with an Attack character. Her smooth Daze buildup kit and massive Stun Multiplier make her an easy S-Tier Agent. However, although Qingyi is a great generalist Stunner, she falls short when compared to what Lycaon can offer for his niche as an Ice support. Basically, Qingyi is better if Proxies don’t have Ellen, but if they do, then Lycaon is better for the Shark Thiren.
