Cissia Guide and Best Builds

Cissia Guide & Best Builds

Welcome to our Cissia build guide for Zenless Zone Zero. Cissia is a powerful S-Rank Electric Sub-DPS who can be played in teams with Electric DPS Agents, providing powerful buffs to these teams. In our guide, we will cover everything you need to know to get the most out of your Cissia, from building the best Drive Discs and W-Engines to important stat priorities and combos.

Cissia's Best W-Engines

Listed below are Cissia's best W-Engines. While W-Engines are listed in a priority order, what's best to build on your Cissia can vary based on your exact team composition and playstyle.

Serpentine Seeker

Bioengineered Venom
CRIT Rate increases by 25/28.8/32.5/36.3/40%. When the equipper consumes at least 20 Energy in a single instance, every 20 Energy consumed grants 3s of a buff: when dealing Electric DMG, ignore 28/31.5/35/38.5/42% of the target's DEF. Repeated triggers extend the duration, up to a maximum of 30s. When entering combat, gain 10s of this buff. While the equipper is not the active character, the duration no longer decreases.

Bellicose Blaze

Flame-Devouring Choir
Increases CRIT Rate by 20/23/26/29/32%. When the equipper triggers an Aftershock that deals Fire DMG, their attacks ignore 15/17.2/19.5/21.7/24% of the target's DEF for 8s. Can stack once every 3s, up to 2 stacks. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

Cordis Germina

Sprouting Core
Increases CRIT Rate by 15/17/19/21/23%. When the equipper deals DMG with a Basic Attack or EX Special Attack, they gain 1 stack of a buff. Each stack increases the equipper's Electric DMG by 12.5/14.5/16.5/18.5/20%, up to 2 stacks. Each stack lasts 40s. The duration of each stack is calculated separately. Can trigger once per use of a skill. At 2 stacks, the wearer's Basic Attack and Ultimate DMG ignore 20/23/26/29/32% of enemy DEF.

Drill Rig - Red Axis (Baseline Option)

Hell's Generator
When launching an EX Special Attack or Chain Attack, Electric DMG from Basic Attacks and Dash Attacks increases by 50/57.5/65/72.5/80% for 10s. This effect can trigger once every 15s.

The Brimstone

Scorching Breath
Upon hitting an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dash Attack, or Dodge Counter, the equipper's ATK increases by 3.5/4.4/5.2/6/7% for 8s, stacking up to 8 times. This effect can trigger once every 0.5s. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.

Other S-Rank W-Engines are also usable as stat sticks, but will usually perform slightly worse than a P1 Drill Rig - Red Axis.

• Heartstring Nocturne
• Myriad Eclipse
• Severed Innocence
• Riot Suppressor Mark VI

This W-Engine ranking is made in a team with Seed, Cissia, Trigger and showcases overall Team DPS. Generally, the exact team played with Cissia does not make a noticeable difference, but it is worth noting that with Astra Yao, Starlight Engine can improve by ~1.5% due to the frequent Quick Assists Astra enables.

If you're playing Cissia as a main DPS, the general ranking still applies, albeit the difference in damage will be more pronounced.

Cissia's best teams are usually with Seed, in which case Seed's DMG makes up the majority of the team's overall damage, leaving Cissia with around 20% of the team's damage. This makes personal DMG gains less noticeable. The gap between Cissia's signature Serpentine Seeker and the A-Rank Drill Rig - Red Axis is not large, and in most cases investing into Seed's W-Engine Cordis Germina might be better.

Best Drive Discs for Cissia

Cissia can equip either a Drive Disc Set that increases her personal DMG, such as Dawn's Bloom, or a team-buffing Drive Disc set, such as Astral Voice. The general option would be Dawn's Bloom, however Astral Voice can be a better option in some cases.

Dawn's Bloom

2-Piece Set: Increases Basic Attack DMG by 15%.
4-Piece Set: Increases Basic Attack DMG by 20%. When equipped by an Attack character, using an EX Special Attack or Ultimate will further increase Basic Attack DMG by 20% for 25s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

Astral Voice

2-Piece Set: ATK +10%
4-Piece Set: Whenever any squad member enters the field using a Quick Assist, all squad members gain 1 stack of Astral, up to a maximum of 3 stacks, and lasting 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Each stack of Astral increases the DMG dealt by the character entering the field using a Quick Assist by 8%. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.

With Astra Yao in the team, using the Astral Voice set on Cissia becomes a much more viable option. The Astral Voice set does not require the equipping character to trigger Quick Assists; Astra can trigger frequent Quick Assists which can easily stack and maintain the Astral Voice buff.

Cissia equipping the Astral Voice set also frees up Astra to use the Moonlight Lullaby set which is exclusive to support agents. With Cissia, Seed, and Astra Yao, Astral Voice becomes a better option:

Overall, Dawn's Bloom is the general recommendation for its consistency and compatible playstyle. If you are playing Cissia with Seed, you might also have spare pieces to use instead of farming a new set. Astral Voice is slightly better if Quick Assists are consistent. With Astra Yao, the Astral Voice set becomes a more compelling option.

Cissia's Stat Priority

Energy Regen is an important stat for Cissia, as it allows her to stack her core skill Core Passive: Fatal Concoction buff. This allows squad members' Electric DMG to ignore enemy DEF. This effect increases with every 0.12 ER over 1.4, up to a maximum of 25% DEF ignored (3.68 ER total). This is only achievable with Cissia's signature W-Engine Serpentine Seeker, a 2-Piece Energy Regen Drive Disc set, and an Energy Regen 6th Disc. You always want to use a 6th Disc ER piece, even when playing as a main DPS.

Aside from Energy Regen, stats such as CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, ATK %, and Electric DMG are also important to maximize Cissia's damage output, as she is usually played as a Sub-DPS contributing to a portion of the team's overall damage.

Cissia's Corrode Bone can increase CRIT Rate by 8% for 15s; this can stack up to 3 times for a total of 24% CRIT Rate. As such, Cissia's ideal CRIT Rate is at 76%.

Cissia's Skill Priority

Cissia's most important skill to level up would be her Core Skill, as her Defense Ignore buff scales with her Core Skill level, and also increases the additional damage dealt after using Corrode Bone. Basic Attack: Serpent's Kiss and Corrode Bone both count as Basic Attack damage, making Basic Attack an important skill to level for Cissia's damage.

EX Specials will be frequently used by Cissia to restore her Venom resource. Chain Attack and Ultimate also deal a decent amount of damage, and as such, are important to level.

How to Play Cissia

Cissia is an Electric Attack Agent who is usually going to be played alongside a second Electric Attack agent, such as Seed (primarily) or Soldier 0 - Anby, or even as a Main DPS.

When played alongside a second Electric Attack agent, Cissia replaces the more traditional Support (or Stun) Agent slot, providing the following utility:

• Deals ~20% of the team's damage.
• Up to 25% Electric DEF Ignore for all Squad Members.
• 40% Crit DMG for all Squad Members. (Cissia receives an additional 10%)
• Decent amount of Daze serving as a pseudo-stunner.

Cissia's main resource, Venom, allows her to trigger Corrode Bone which deals a decent amount of damage, and an additional instance of DMG through her core skill. Up to 6 Venom can be accumulated. Having Venom points also allows her to apply her Electric DEF ignore buff (Core Skill), and 40% Crit DMG buff (Faction Bonus).

Venom can be gained through the following ways:

If Cissia is on-field, 1 Venom will be consumed every 5s to trigger Corrode Bone. If Venom is gained while holding the maximum 6 points, Corrode Bone will be automatically triggered, even when off-field.

When Cissia is off-field as a second Attack Agent, the main way to consume Venom and trigger Corrode Bone is through holding Basic Attack to use Basic Attack: Serpent's Kiss. This attack can be used when holding at least 1 stack of Serpentine Shadow. 1 Stack is gained at the beginning of combat, and 1 stack is gained each time 6 Venom is accumulated. This attack can be used to consume all Venom points and trigger the corresponding amount of Corrode Bone attacks.

Cissia's EX Special, alongside the usage of her Ultimate and Chain Attacks, are the main ways to generate Venom. EX Special Attack: Venomous Bite can be either tapped or held; to activate this skill, 60 Energy is required — which deals damage and grants 3 Venom points. After activation, the skill can be held if 20 Energy is available — consuming 20 Energy and granting 1 Venom point.

It is also worth mentioning that 5 Energy is restored after using this skill, and her EX Special connects to her 4th Basic Attack for an additional Venom Point.

In combat, Cissia's EX Special can effectively be used to fully stack her Venom when energy is full; this can be followed by using Basic Attack: Serpent's Kiss to consume the Venom and trigger Corrode Bone attacks. Alongside the usage of Cissia's Chain Attack and Ultimate (during stun), this gameplay loop is essentially all you need to use Cissia alongside an Electric Main DPS, such as Seed.

A simple rotation with Seed would consist of stunning, alternating between using Seed's EX Special and Enhanced Basic Attacks, and using Basic Attack: Serpent's Kiss to consume Venom and trigger Corrode Bone, followed by using her EX Special to regain Venom and grant Seed Steel Charge points.

Outside of Stun, the primary goal is to reach the stun status as soon as possible, and save both Seed's and Cissia's Ultimates for the stun window.

During Stun, the following rotation can be played as a reference (assuming stun is switched to manual, and attacks are animation cancelled):

• Enter the stun window with Seed's Enhanced Basic Attack (Save resources beforehand)
• Switch to Cissia, Hold Basic Attack consume Venom
• Hold EX Special consume all energy
• Switch to Seed and use Ultimate
• Cancel Chain window
• Hold Basic Attack and use Seed's Enhanced Basic Attack
• Switch to Cissia and use Ultimate
• Hold Basic to consume all Venom and Quick Assist to Seed
• Seed's Quick Assist triggers the Chain Window
• Use Cissia's Chain Attack
• Stun window ends

During the Stun window, the primary object is using 2 Enhanced Basic Attacks on Seed, then switch to Cissia and Hold Basic attack to consume all Venom. Follow up with her EX Special if enough energy is available. The first two Chain Attack windows are triggered first by Seed's ultimate and Cissia's Ultimate; the last Chain Attack window can be triggered by either Seed or Cissia, with either agent using their Chain Attack.

Using Cissia as a main DPS follows a similar loop to using her as a sub-DPS. The main source of damage is her Corrode Bone, and the main goal is to unload most of her damage in the stun window.

The major difference is the out-of-stun rotation, where instead of using Cissia's Hold Basic followed by her EX Special, we instead use her normal Basic Attack string and automatically trigger Corrode Bone every 5s. We can also alternate in with a Stunner, such as Dialyn, or not if playing with an off-field stunner (such as Trigger).

During the Stun window, a similar rotation is played, where Cissia's Hold Basic Attack will be used to expend Venom followed by using her EX Special. Ideally, the first 2 Chain Attack windows would be triggered by another agent so that both Chain Attacks can be used by Cissia, with using her Ultimate right at the end just before the enemy's stun window ends.

Note: Gameplay and rotations assume Manual Stun is switched on, allowing the stun window to be extended and the Chain window to be activated manually instead of automatically.

Cissia's Best Mindscapes

This Mindscape ranking is calculated in a team including Cissia, Seed, and Trigger. Cissia's M1 enhances team damage, while later Mindscapes serve to increase Cissia's personal DMG.

Cissia's M1 Traveler and Prey is a decent first Mindscape, increasing her DEF Shred buff by 40%, and allowing all Squad members' Electric DMG to ignore 5% of enemy RES, with Cissia's Corrode Bone ignoring a further 10%.

Cissia's M2 Hunger and Hard Truths increases Basic Attack: Serpent's Kiss DMG by 35%, and grants 3 Venom points when hitting a stunned enemy with either an Ultimate or Chain Attack, allowing Cissia to deal more personal DMG.

M3 and M5 increase skill level, which provides a very slight damage boost.

Cissia's M4 A Rogue's Resolve allows her to trigger additional Corrode Bone attacks that do not deal daze. Increasing Cissia's personal DMG.

Cissia's M6 Home and Sixth Street allows her to trigger even more Corrode Bone attacks (the same as M4), increasing her personal DMG even further.

Cissia's Best Teams

To learn all about Cissia's synergies and best team compositions, check our dedicated Cissia team page below:

Changelog