Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) Shiyu Defense Guide and Overview for Critical Nodes

The Critical Node is comprised of stages that rotate on a twice monthly basis. Critical Node stages focus on killing enemies within a certain amount of time, and meeting certain thresholds will grant you the maximum rewards. You will be able to gain up to 780 Polychrome from this content, provided you manage to clear all five stages on S-Rank. Each stage has 3 sets of rewards that you can gain at B, A and S-Grades respectively.

Clearing any stage at any grade will unlock the next one for you, so don't fret if you do not manage to get an S-Grade immediately. Depending on how many stages you have cleared in the previous cycle, you may be able to skip some stages. S-ranking all 5 Critical Node stages will allow you to skip the first 3 stages in the upcoming cycle.

In this guide we will provide detailed information on each of the 5 stages, highlighting the weaknesses of the enemies in each stage, as well as potential team recommendations that might make your life a little easier in order to claim the mode's rewards.

Keep in mind that a well built character may perform better than others, even if it does not match the enemies weakness. Just make sure to not pit them against enemies that are resistant to their damage type.

There are 5 stages in the Critical Node section of the Shiyu Defense. Each stage has its own set of enemies, buffs and effects that boost your characters, as well as their own Challenge Target time-limits. In the first four stages you will have to field 2 teams, requiring 6 Agents and 2 Bangboos total. You cannot use the same Agent or Bangboo twice.

The final stage requires 3 teams instead, meaning a total of 9 Agents and 3 Bangboo. Agents cannot share their Drive Discs or W-Engines between stages, as attempting to use equipment used by another Agent in another stage will reset the previous Agent's stage entirely.

Disclaimer: Depending on your account, you may not own some of the teams listed, or you may own parts of the teams, if this is the case please refer to the Agents personal Guide Page to see what alternatives they might be able to use in place of the missing Agents, however simply making sure to not field a team that the enemy units have resistances against, and try to take advantage of the bonuses granted each cycle.

Use the Stage-Slider to select the stage you would like more information on.

The first 4 nodes of this rotation of Critical Nodes heavily benefit Armorer DPS, specifically Claret because she is currently our only Armorer Agent. While only Claret will benefit from the Sharp DMG and DEF increases, all Agents will benefit from the Stun DMG Multiplier increase.

The final node includes fights with the following bonuses:

• Room 1: Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.
• Room 2: Agent Ice DMG and Ether DMG increase by 25%, and their Ice and Ether Anomaly Buildup Rate increase by 15%. When an Agent inflicts an Attribute Anomaly on an enemy, the enemy's DEF decreases by 10% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.
• Room 3: Agent Fire DMG and Electric DMG increase by 35%, and Daze dealt by Agents with the Stun specialty increases by 15%. After an Agent Stuns an enemy, the enemy's Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 30% and they recover from Stun 15% slower for 20s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

4.1.

Critical Node: First Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Electric Team 2 Wind, Ether	Team 1 None Team 2 Physical

4.2.

Recommended Teams for First Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun/Support	Support
Team 1
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn Seed	Sunna Astra Yao
Team 2
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Aria	Sunna Zhao	Velina Nangong Yu

4.3.

Critical Node: Second Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Electric Team 2 Wind, Fire	Team 1 Fire Team 2 None

4.4.

Recommended Teams for Second Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma Roxy	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Team 2
Orphie & Magus	Soldier 0 - Anby Seed Norma	Trigger Astra Yao Sunna
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Banyue	Dialyn Ju Fufu	Lucia Pan Yinhu

4.5.

Critical Node: Third Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Electric Team 2 Wind, Electric	Team 1 Fire Team 2 None

4.6.

Recommended Teams for Third Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn Seed	Sunna Astra Yao
Team 2
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna

4.7.

Critical Node: Fourth Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Wind, Physical Team 2 Wind, Electric	Team 1 Ice Team 2 Fire

4.8.

Recommended Teams for Fourth Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn Seed	Sunna Astra Yao
Team 2
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma Roxy	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Ye Shunguang	Sunna Zhao	Dialyn Astra Yao

4.9.

Critical Node: Fifth Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >25,000 Score in all 3 Rooms A-Rank: >16,000 Score in all 3 Rooms B-Rank: >8,000 Score in all 3 Rooms	Room 1: Agent Sharp DMG increases by 20%. After defeating normal enemies, Agents with the Stun specialty restore 15 Energy. After being hit by an Agent's Chain Attack, enemies recover from Stun 15% slower for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Room 2: Agent Ice DMG and Ether DMG increase by 25%, and their Ice and Ether Anomaly Buildup Rate increase by 15%. When an Agent inflicts an Attribute Anomaly on an enemy, the enemy's DEF decreases by 10% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Room 3: Agent Fire DMG and Electric DMG increase by 35%, and Daze dealt by Agents with the Stun specialty increases by 15%. After an Agent Stuns an enemy, the enemy's Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 30% and they recover from Stun 15% slower for 20s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Wind, Electric Team 2 Ice Team 3 Fire, Electric	Team 1 Physical Team 2 Physical Team 3 Physical

4.10.

Recommended Teams for Fifth Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Claret	Roxy Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma Roxy	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Team 2
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma Roxy	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Promeia	Vivian Nangong Yu Tsukishiro Yanagi	Sunna Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Aria	Sunna Zhao	Velina Nangong Yu
Team 3
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn Seed	Sunna Astra Yao
Orphie & Magus	Soldier 0 - Anby Seed Norma	Trigger Astra Yao Sunna
Banyue	Dialyn Ju Fufu	Lucia Pan Yinhu