Why Nicole is the BEST support in Zenless Zone Zero

[@eventhorizon6056]

Correct me if I am wrong but the "ATK%" buffs that the W-engines of soukaku and lucy provides are actually "combat Atk%" this is a separate multiplier to your attack. it goes something like (Base attack*(1+Atk%))*(1+combat Atk%). This makes those W-engines incredibly powerful.

[@ClearSpade]

This is correct. Tested it myself, its really powerful.

[@Shanaha]

Yes you're right, that's why in the Wengine description it actually lists it as "BASE ATK%" and not just "ATK%"

[@ZzVinniezZ]

me who waiting for Zhu Yuan and having build Nicole already: this is an absolute win !

[@remchwan]

Is Zhu Yuan guaranteed when you lose 50/50 on Ellen's banner or it's just a guaranteed random S-rank agent?

[@ZzVinniezZ]

@@remchwan zhu yuan is coming on 24th after Ellen Banner is expired

[@reverb2280]

@@remchwanyes shes guaranteed if you lost 50/50, but if you get ellen in less than pity its 50/50 again

[@remchwan]

@@ZzVinniezZ yes. I mean when Zhu Yuan's banner were already released. Is she a guaranteed pull when you lose 50/50 on Ellen's banner or just a guaranteed random S-rank agent? Originally, I planned on using my guarantee pull to get Ellen if I get Lyc on standard banner but I got his sig-w instead so I'll use my guarantee pull when Zhu's banner arrives.

[@ZzVinniezZ]

@@remchwan i have 0 pulls for event banner so it either im gonna win 50-50 or lose it. luck will tell

[@sanae99.9.9]

Except the Atk buffs in this game work different that GI and HSR. In this game there are atk out of combat and in combat and you know what, in combat atk buff base of total out of combat atk, not the base atk. That's why atk increase in combat is very valuable. I have m4 Nicole and even with AoE buff, i struggle to group all enemies. And don't underestimate Lucy and Shoukaku on-field damage, they can do tons of damage with their ex skill.

[@King369I]

Oh thank god you said this. I’d love to see in testing but it sucks to see dude speculate without testing it out in practice. I cannot imagine trying to land a perfect debuff opportunity against the Ballet twins as Nicole since they move around so much

[@sanae99.9.9]

One more detail that you can cancel whole Soukaku cyclone animation by just swap to the next character. That character will still receive a full buff while Soukaku damage the enemies off field

[@SmashTheAdam]

​@@sanae99.9.9holy shit I never knew that, her long attack was my main problem with her

[@sukanya90]

Me after failing Ellen 50/50 "Yup... I build for Zhu Yuan team" My level 45 lycon "Are you sure about that?"

[@SmashTheAdam]

Meanwhile I won Ellen's 50/50 but I don't have Lycaon

[@ghostiespectie897]

I've been using Nicole in my team quite a lot since a lot of the enemies in the later missions resist Non-Ether damage, not to mention her Defense reduction is quite nice. Cheers Nicole.

[@iamaherotoo]

If you charge Nicole’s skills while in melee range, it deals double the dmg and anomaly build up, once when charging and once when fired, this is easiest to be pulled off when you proc vital view, which happens when you use defensive assist when you have a ranged character on your team.

[@dlvarcade9729]

Nicole’s debuff durations of 3.5 seconds is kinda lame. Sou offers like an entire what 22-30 seconds?

[@Rhapsdos]

It's 3.5 seconds per tick, so it lasts the entire duration the field is out (because it keeps getting refreshed), and then lingers for an additional 3.5 seconds.

[@acupoflatte8594]

3.5 per tick, but realistically you'd **really** want her C1 as that extends her field duration to actually be of any use for a DPS phase. Good news is that if you're gonna pull for Zhu Yuan, you are very likely to get at least one dupe for her.

[@punpathpajareeyapong6983]

I think this debuff does not last long enough for Ellen to combo during stun?

[@reizero246]

3.5 seconds per tick, that is around 7 seconds debuff, and 10 seconds at C1 if you charged the skill

[@punpathpajareeyapong6983]

@@reizero246 do you know the duration of debuff when using chain attack? Because right now I am testing damage with nicole vs soukaku in VR but still find soukaku provide more dmg and utility, nicole skill and debuff always end before the stun period end and I can see the dmg drop off.

[@m1bl4n]

Nicole and her 2 big reasons is the only reason I got hyped for the game back when it was announced (over?) a year ago. I still equip her in my team even though I barely actually play as her; but I do appreciate her perfect-assist combos, she does amazing stuns.

[@farisdanial1030]

Kinda regret not getting nicole's weapon after buying the starter weapon pack

[@patheon9541]

i been building nicole since day 1 since i like her so damn much but with zhu yuan coming out around the corner it's even more priority to build her up

[@Kyle81290]

Soukaku takes millenia to do her animations, and she's loud as fuck. So I instantly switched back to Nicole because of how fast her assist and chain attacks are.

[@Illysi]

I’ve been quietly using Rina, Nicole, Piper and have been waiting for a video like this to catch on. Both support effects can stack since they technically do something different. Currently have them at B rank cores, so I drop def by 1/3 and then penetrate another ~15% of what’s left. Who needs an attack buff? Piper’s assault increases team impact enough to not require a stunner

[@asahii8409]

Give me the sauce , I’m running neko, piper and Nicole rn and then I plan on pulling for Zhu yuan

[@Mardaler]

im playing Nicole, Anby and Nekomata, greatest team i've had

[@rinkitorirataki7488]

did you convenience skip the 2 second part on nicole weapon ?, as far as it go all weapon look quite equal, the other weapon are more effective overtime, nicole weapon is a burst dmg window so nicole weapon is not better or worst then the other 2

[@reizero246]

3.5 seconds defense and 2s from weapon is resetting every tick for the field. So it's the field duration + 3.5 seconds for defense shred and field duration + 2.0 seconds for the weapon dmg button. Nicole chain attack is so fast compared to Soukaku, you can change to Nicole again and proc the field manually and you will get more time for your dps than Soukaku super slow chain attack In china people in higher floors are using Nicole instead Soukaku for Ellen team.

[@rinkitorirataki7488]

​@@reizero246 you can't exactly proc the spec EX or her chain attack with her huge energy consumstion Soukaku how ever can easiy active her weapon passive by tab it and as long as the flag is out you don't even have to hold it to skip the tonado like i said They are not exculusive better or worst than other and nicole is the best for burst than anyother support

[@reizero246]

​@@rinkitorirataki7488 Chain attacks don't use energy.

[@rinkitorirataki7488]

@@reizero246 yeah and how offend you do that agaist boss and again that for burst dmg either Lucy or Soukaku have more easy time activate their buff

[@ch.7785]

@@rinkitorirataki7488 and...? Most of the time you'll be on your stun units on fielding during bosses to get them stunned unless you're fighting Nineveh (which honestly is just an endurance battle). Idt you'd need nicole to come in during most of the stun unit's time. when they're stunned, you're most likely to just chain nicole, chain your dps, ult, then switch back to nicole, charge her ex as long as possible with her, and switch back to the dps, and spend the rest of the 7 sec bursting down the boss. It's kinda like high skill high reward damage per screenshot. If you just want to go for comfort (or sub dps), you can go soukaku or lucy, but otherwise if you don't have skill issue then nicole can be better by a margin. It's up to the player's playstyle and what they're aiming.

[@stevedoe8622]

Anyone who plays soukaku knows how annoying it is to stack her buff. I would actually would use her EX before entering a battle just so I can get max stacks. Her weapons passive is pretty much useless. She takes too much field time and her animations are too long. Also soukaku only buffs the agent that comes after her during a chain atk or quick assist while Nicole's debuff doesn't have that condition.

[@Mysteltaint]

Exactly, and Nicole is better on late game where mobs are 20 levels above since in those scenarios atk buffs from Soukaku has lesser value than Nicoles defense shred.

[@stevedoe8622]

@@runic6452 you need 3 stacks for the full buff. Why would you play a character for half the buff?

[@tectonic5719]

@@runic6452she can only consume vortex at 3 stacks…

[@Renkay141]

​@runic6452 stop. Vortex goes off anytime, yes. However the team buff requires her to be at full vortex. She has a team buff(ice smg) and a character buff(atk%)

[@tectonic5719]

@@runic6452 thats not the full buff. if you've noticed, the stacks underneath soukaku's icon get removed at ONLY 3 stacks. otherwise, you only gain half the buff (a max of 500) "Hold Special Attack to activate. Soukaku plunges her weapon into the ground, morphs it into a flag, and launches Fly the Flag, dealing Ice DMG. Hitting an enemy with Fly the Flag triggers a Quick Assist. Pressing Basic Attack or Special Attack after Fly the Flag activates a Special Attack as she retracts the flag, dealing Ice DMG. *If Soukaku owns 3 stacks of Vortex on using Fly the Flag, she consumes all 3 stacks and enters the Frosted Banner state.* In the Frosted Banner state, she can unleash an enhanced Basic Attack or an enhanced Dash Attack, dealing massive Ice DMG This effect can last up to 45s or stack up to 6 times." there is no other condition other than where she consumes all 3 stacks where she can use a single stack

[@SebTard]

Hey Shanaha, I just watched your video on why Nicole from Zenless Zone Zero is the ultimate support character, and I loved it! Your analysis was spot on, and it really opened my eyes to how versatile Nicole can be in different team compositions. One thing that caught my attention was at 3:14 in the video when you changed characters to the left instead of the right. That's such a neat trick! I've always done it the traditional way, but now I'm curious about this method you did. Could you please explain how to do that? I'd love to try it out in my gameplay. Thanks again for creating such an insightful and engaging video. Looking forward to more content from you! Best regards, Tard, Seb

[@stevedoe8622]

You're trying too hard. Trolling is best when it's subtle. Do better

[@Scatterblades]

in pc, you can press C

[@SebTard]

@@stevedoe8622 sorry, will try harder next time, thanks for the input

[@RastaMuffin21]

After seeing how little soukaku does on a team with no ice synergy, building Nicole as a tag-in anomaly attacker/stun is amazing since she provides soooo much ether buildup you can constantly trigger disruption. AND pair her, another support with a dps if she’s built with good energy regen and you can just constantly chain ether orb after ether orb buffing all the dps attacks

[@hershyijustshatmyself9253]

The problem with Nicole and why she isn't being used more is because her debuff lasts too short. For example, if you use Nicole first on a chain ATK, by the time the third character is on the field, her black hole is already gone, and you'll only have a 3.5 second window before the buff expires, which gets taken by your DPS' chain ATK, and so the moment your DPS does their rotation, the debuff is gone. Compared to Soukaku and Lucy's buff durations, your DPS can fully benefit from their buffs respectively since it lasts so long. And even if you factor Nicole's extended debuff duration, that still won't be enough for bosses specifically since you'd ideally want to do DMG when the boss is stunned, with a heavy emphasis on the word "ideally". What I will say about Nicole is her fantastic gather, and is pretty much why I use her in content with a lot of small fry's, but with how ZZZ will evolve to being more about doing boss fights, I foresee Nicole getting dropped by the majority of the playerbase until we get a unit that can fit their whole burst into Nicole's debuff duration. Just my hunch though, only the future will tell.

[@reizero246]

You should look the rotation people is using in high floors. Nicole debuff duration is not a problem at all for the most units, in fact using Nicole again after you break the enemy to proc the field again is less time wasted than using Soukaku chain attack. You only need press the skill for one second and change again to your DPS unit. Nicole will proc the field in background. So for example with Ellen, you would use Nicole chain attack, after ellen burst, change to Nicole, make the field with the skill, and change to ellen and finish the combo.

[@punpathpajareeyapong6983]

@@reizero246 Fir me personally, I play on mobile/ipad but trying to switch Nicole in during stun duration is not ideal and waste a lot of time than using Soukaku chain attack, switching 2 time press ex skill then quick assist Ellen in, after many rotation I prefer the ease of using Soukaku rathee than Nicole. If others have more trick you guys can share. Thanks.

[@Shunazo417]

her debuff refreshes for every hit of her attacks, whether that be the black hole, enhanced basics, or anything else

[@user-fn5bs4qs9c]

@@punpathpajareeyapong6983 On boss you just need break the boss on nicole holding her E. So you get buffs during chainatack and then you just finish chain atack on nicole again refreshing her buff for stun window and quick assist to your dps. It's all about correct rotation. And the higher mobs lvl, the more relevant def shred

[@jaegybomb]

Another problem is bosses just walk out of her black hole or you get ones like the teleporting guy that just dodge it completely. Lucy doesn't even have to hit to get her buff for 15 seconds.

[@Jokervision744]

C6 Nicole vs Rina? Mmmm... I need more pen rate for Rina.

[@dapperdude1550]

Ok fine I’ll upgrade her because I need the policewoman Tho I’ve been split about where to put my resources. My main team is soldier 11, Lucy, and Piper, so I’ve mainly just been putting resources to them. But I also have Anby, Anton, and Rina. Anby has been upgraded a bit, but Anton and Rina aren’t really upgraded yet Would it be worth upgrading Nicole and Zhu Yuan and just pairing them with Anby? Idk upgrading characters is just a lot of grinding

[@rainbowbulate3105]

No comparison? Side by side boss run?

[@ThisIsAHandleOrSomething]

Well, good thing I did like all the story related commissions and a lot of Hollow Zero with the starting Cunning Hares with S ranks. She was so good at chain attacking. Lol

[@alexthegreat1254]

Dont worry shoukaku this propaganda wont stop me from maxxing you first!

[@King369I]

Bruh this is a generic low effort video. I came to see actual evidence as to why she’s “The Best Support”, but all I got was a reiteration of everything I could’ve just read in the game. No practical testing done, no comparison regarding how impactful she is against the other supports, and no new useful information. I can’t believe I got click baited but I guess everyone’s gotta eat and make their money.

[@r0ny2407]

go do your own testing and stop womp womping

[@Ray_Kaminari]

​@@r0ny2407well we rely on yt videos because not everyone can have and build every character in the game. Also this is what content creators are supposed to do.

[@King369I]

@@Ray_Kaminari exactly this. Like, if you’re going to claim someone is “the best” at something, please have some supporting evidence as to why. Not everyone has the resources to trust a content creator being disingenuous. I’d be less peeved if the title said “Nicole is a GOOD support”, but the best? Bruh, that’s just clickbaiting people looking for legit guides.

[@King369I]

@@r0ny2407 Hey bruh, I don’t know why you’re defending someone being disingenuous. I’m not the one making bold claims without backing it up. I’m someone who has limited resources and time looking for legit information. So yes, bruh, I’m going to womp womp after spending 10 minutes listening to stuff I could’ve just read.

[@Ray_Kaminari]

@@King369I I don't think it's a click bait but moreso personal bais which there is nothing wrong with it but its about presentation that if you are going to present something as facts it's best you do it in practice (showing how all 3 works in different different scenarios) nicole is a great support for sure but from what I've seen from other creators as well as community in general, lucy is considered better , now I don't have lucy and don't play Nicole either that's why I have to state this as not a fact and just opinion and where it's coming from which the video lacked imo not a huge thing honestly but the way the whole video comes across from the start with rina obviously not included and still the title being what it is (like you could just put 4* in title and it will still hold weight) to saying how cinemas are more important for lucy while it literally is for nicole too it's just that one copy you get for free but we are talking who is better unit so it being free or not shouldn't matter. Sorry if I was ranting a bit just don't wanna come out as hater and disagree to the creator for no reason.

[@davidkim6469]

Nicole will be #1 when zhu yuan banner is out

[@reguret2976]

Nicole's M1 makes her the same as sukakou, Nicole needs to charge her Ex special for increased duration which obviously takes more field time bruh

[@DeehStars]

the difference is soukaku takes 3 press ex special, then hold and wait tornado, while nicole just hold 1 button then switch off. mans cant see the difference bruh. L take

[@johnshepard8550]

@@DeehStars both require same time (clicking e then space) but you have to reapply nicole very often, rather then twice (not 3) with soukaku. the only issue soukaku have is long chain assist animation, which take time from dps in stun window, but necessary to proc disk set.

[@DeehStars]

@@johnshepard8550 yes the long chain attacks is a problem too, and i know soukaku can group but nicole is such a game changer on some small mobs too with the grouping and fast assist attacks when the black hole still grouping. and the sucks things too his engine is not comparable to The Vault. So many situations where you actually need more nicole than soukaku (except if you want a mono ice team)

[@Ray_Kaminari]

nicole is definitely better than soukaku but not lucy.

[@frustratedsquirrel]

best support, objectively worst girl.

[@LordlyWeeb]

There is no worst girl