Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) Shiyu Defense Guide and Overview

Shiyu Defense is a combat-focused, timed, end-game piece of content in Zenless Zone Zero that pits you against waves of enemies and bosses. It is a game mode that is very similar to the Spiral Abyss system from Genshin Impact or Memory of Chaos from Honkai: Star Rail. Meeting certain time-based thresholds will improve the final rewards for each stage, which include the coveted Polychrome currency. While the Stable Node and Disputed Node in Shiyu Defense are permanently available, the Critical Node resets on a regular schedule, offering a steady income of Polychrome every reset.

You will unlock Shiyu Defense after completing the second Inter-Knot Reputation Rank-Up Mission, which also increases the level cap of all your Agents, W-Engines and Bangboo.

Once unlocked, you can access the Shiyu Defense mode through the Video Store menu, at the bottom right where the SCOTT Outpost menu button is located. You will be able to access both the Shiyu Defense and Hollow Zero game modes from here.

Shiyu Defense is a combat-based game mode in which you have to choose a team of Agents to battle against multiple waves of regular enemies and monsters. These fights are timed, and many of the rewards are locked behind clearing each stage within a certain time-limit.

This content scales to increasingly higher levels and difficulties, while also providing you with a few buff effects that you can build your teams around. Teambuilding, utilizing the buffs of each stage, as well as understanding the weaknesses of the enemies you are fighting, are key to succeeding in this game mode. The last stages will consist of some of the toughest challenges the game has to offer, and are what many players consider the absolute end-game content of the game.

Shiyu Defense is partitioned into Stable, Disputed, and Critical Nodes. These are simply terms for different types of the same game-mode, with the Stable Node Disputed Node being permanently available, while the Critical Node will be on a rotation that cycles every two weeks. Each stage, whether they are from Stable, Disputed, or Critical Nodes, will provide one-time rewards that can be claimed once you finish a stage.

Critical Node and Disputed Node stages are significantly more difficult than the Stable Node stages, and the Critical Node offer a regular source of income of Polychrome, provided you can deal with all the enemies of a stage in a timely manner. You may be able to skip certain stages if you have cleared multiple stages in the previous cycle, i.e. S-ranking all Critical Nodes allows you to skip 3 stages in the next cycle.

All three Nodes follow a similar pattern, with multiple stages that each have their own unique team bonuses, sets of enemies and bosses, and Challenge Targets. Depending on the stage, you will be asked to select either one or two teams of 3 Agents each, as well as a Bangboo, to use in the Shiyu Defense mission. You cannot use the same Agent or Bangboo in both teams.

You can also view all of the enemies that will be waiting for you by clicking on the exclamation mark in the Team Select window, allowing you to tailor your team's elements and attack types to the weaknesses of the enemies you will be fighting.

Each stage has 3 Challenge Targets, which work like grades for how well you've dealt with each stage. Meeting individual Challenge Targets will grant you either a B-Grade, A-Grade or S-Grade once you finish up the stage, with S-Grade granting the maximum rewards for that stage. If you do not manage to claim the highest grade immediately, you can always return at a later point. Finishing a stage at any grade will automatically unlock the next one for you.

Each stage offers a different set of bonuses for all the party members you selected. These can vary wildly, from bonus damage to certain elements, increased Stun or Anomaly damage, to special effects that trigger on your Chain Attack abilities. Using these bonuses to your advantage will be key in defeating all the enemies as quickly, and safely, as possible.

The Shiyu Defense Critical Node consists of 7 stages, that will reset twice a month. You will be able to get a total of 720 Polychrome from a full clear of all Critical Node stages at S-Rank. In order to claim all the rewards, you will have to defeat the enemies of each stage within a certain time limit.

The Critical Node resets twice a month, on the 1st and 16th of each month, alongside the daily reset in your region.

Shiyu Defense Disputed Nodes differ from the Critical and Stable Nodes, in that the stages are not time-based, but instead require you to survive without losing an agent in order to claim all the rewards. You will be granted up to 2 resurrections per team, but in order to meet the S-Rank requirement you cannot have a single agent die before dispatching all the enemies and bosses. Disputed Node offers eight stages.

This mode is technically easier for those who learned all the patterns of each of the elites and bosses, but a misstep once can be very costly as the enemies in this mode hit incredibly hard. Defense characters can really shine in this mode, as they will lower the damage you take through shields or defense increases, or reduce the damage the enemy deals.

The Disputed Nodes offer one-time only rewards, and you can claim up to 2200 Polychrome if you manage to S-Rank all thirteen stages.

Whenever you clear a new stage at a grade you didn't previously clear it at, you will be able to claim a bunch of rewards:

• 100 Polychrome per grade per stage for every Stable Node Stage, for up to 3000 Polychrome total for all 10 stages of the Shiyu Defense Stable Node.
• Up to 200 Polychrome per stage for every Disputed Frontier, for a total of 1600 Polychrome.
• 30 Polychrome per grade per stage for every Critical Node Stage 1-4, and 40 Polychrome per grade per stage for every Critical Node Stage 5-7, for up to 720 Polychrome for all 7 stages of each set of Shiyu Defense Critical Node.
• A large number of Dennies
• Materials to craft and upgrade your Drive Discs and W-Engines.