Deadly Assault Guide and Best Agents for Zenless Zone Zero

Deadly Assault is a high-stakes, endgame challenge mode in Zenless Zone Zero, designed for experienced players seeking more challenge. It is a much higher difficulty than Shiyu Defense, and you will need to come prepared.

Deadly Assault acts currently as the Pinnacle Endgame activity, it is not really accessible to all players, as it requires you to master every aspect of Zenless Zone Zero. There is also no lower difficulty version, so it is not suited for beginners or low level agents.

Deadly Assault consists of time-limited battles against enhanced versions of story campaign bosses, each possessing new mechanics and increased difficulty. The objective is to accumulate as many points as possible within a three-minute timeframe, with rewards based on performance.

Deadly Assault will reset every 2 weeks on Friday. The current Deadly Assault Stages are available from June 19, 2026 until July 2nd, 2026.

Reset will erase all your progress, allowing you to challenge bosses, and receive all the rewards again! Some of the Bosses and Buffs may change upon reset. We will update this guide accordingly each time.

In order to access Deadly Assault, you need to reach Inter-Knot Level 40, and unlock the Shiyu Defense mode. After Shiyu Defense is unlocked, you will have to complete the Deadly Situation commission.

Once completed, you can access Deadly Assault at Scott's Outpost.

Deadly Assault is a time-limited challenge against Story Bosses. You will have 3 minutes per boss to score as many points as possible. The bosses are more aggressive, have more health, and new mechanics, giving you a serious challenge.

The Enemies will be level 70 versions of Story Bosses. The mode will NOT scale for lower-level agents, and you will not manage to complete it if your agents are not properly equipped.

The three bosses have 30 life bars. The goal is not to actually kill them. You can try, but even with top tier teams you will likely not get all the health down to zero. The goal is to do the most points in a very short time-frame.

There is three point thresholds you need to reach:

• B-Rank: 6000 points
• A-Rank: 14,000 points
• S-Rank: 20,000 points

You can get 3 stars per challenge, and each star gained will give you access to a reward.

You will also need three different teams. Each time you pick a squad for a boss, the agents gets locked to this specific boss, and you will need one squad per boss. You can reset the teams if you picked the wrong ones, but this means loosing your progress. The rewards previously obtained can still be claimed even after you reset a team.

You will also be able to pick between three different buffs for each team. Which one you choose will depend on your squad and the boss you are fighting:

The system is different from everything you have played so far in the game. You will earn points by doing damage, however, the most points will come from completing specific tasks that will depend on the boss.

Those tasks can be things like interrupting a specific attack, or killing adds that spawn during the fight.

Each boss has different weakness and resistances, as well as new mechanics that differ from their story version, forcing you to use specific squads and strategies to get through each boss. Here is a detailed look at the bosses and the recommended squads and strategies:

Make sure your squad are fully leveled, with good W-Engine and Disk Drives sets, and leveled Skills! You will not be able to get maximum points with agents that don't have a very good build!

6.

Bosses, Mechanics, and Recommended Squads

Girtablullu The Thrall The Defiler

6.1.

Girtablullu

The first boss you can face is Girtablullu. He is weak to Wind DMG and resistant to no other element.

6.2.

Enemy Details

Whenever an Agent inflicts an Anomaly on the Boss, they apply 1 stack of Shadow to it. Each stack of Shadow increases the Boss's Anomaly DMG taken by 7.5% and additionally increases its Vortex DMG taken by 5% for 10s. Shadow can stack up to 3 times. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.

During Corruptive Barrier, applying Shadow to the Boss additionally reduces the Corruptive Barrier by 20% of its max value and accumulates 15% Daze (cannot be repeatedly triggered within 15s). When the Boss is Stunned, all Shadow stacks are removed and an equal number of Laceration stacks are applied. Each stack of Laceration reduces the Boss's Anomaly Buildup RES by 5% and increases its Stun DMG Multiplier by 10%. When the Boss's Stunned state ends, all Laceration stacks are removed.

6.3.

Special Mechanic

Each successful parry against Girtablullu's consecutive downward smashes after it activates Corruptive Barrier grants 1000 Performance Points. Successfully triggering a Chain Parry against the final slam grants an additional 1000 Performance Points. Successfully breaking the Corruptive Barrier grants 1500 Performance Points. Maximum 5000 can be obtained this way.

In general, Anomaly Agents work best for this boss. Velina is obviously the best choice for this boss since she is the only current Agent using Wind. However, most other Anomaly Agents can be used as well in case you do not have Velina.

6.4.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Northen Wind	Velina	Aria	Sunna	Miss Esme
Northen Wind	Velina	Promeia	Ukinami Yuzuha	Ultra Jake
Northen Wind	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Northen Wind	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Northen Wind	Aria	Sunna	Ukinami Yuzuha	Biggest Fan
Northen Wind	Promeia	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Northen Wind	Hoshimi Miyabi	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin

6.5.

Notorious - Marionette

The second boss you can face is the Marionette. He is weak to Ice and Ether Damage and Resistant to nothing specific.

6.6.

Enemy Details

Damaged dealt by Boss enemies increases by 25%.

When a clone is destroyed or when the main body is stunned, 1/5 stacks of On Thin Ice is inflicted on Boss enemies respectively.

Each stack of On Thin Ice decreases the DMG dealt by the Boss by 5% and increases the Ice DMG and Electric DMG dealt to the boss by Agents by 10%.

On Thin Ice stacks will be reset when the enemy recovers from Stun.

6.7.

Special Mechanic

If you successfully destroy a dance partner, you gain additional 200 Performance Points. A maximum of 5000 Performance Points can be obtained this way.

Use your best Ice or Ether team for this fight. During the fight you want to make sure to destroy the small adds called "partners" that keep spawning. Doing so will grant you additional points.

6.8.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Northen Wind	Hoshimi Miyabi	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Northen Wind	Promeia	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Shatter	Yixuan	Lucia	Dialyn	Belion
Onslaught	Hugo Vlad	Von Lycaon	Lighter	Robin
Onslaught	Ellen Joe	Dialyn	Astra Yao	Snap
Northen Wind	Aria	Sunna	Nangong Yu	Biggest Fan
Onslaught	Zhu Yuan	Dialyn	Astra Yao	Snap

6.9.

The Thrall

The third boss you can face is The Thrall. He is weak to Ice, Wind, and Physical, and resistant to Electric.

6.10.

Enemy Details

When Sobek and The Thrall alternate turns, The Thrall gains 1 stack of Contract and Self-Sacrifice.

Contract and Self-Sacrifice can stack up to 3 times.

Each stack of Contract increases All-Attribute Anomaly Buildup RES by 15%, each stack of Self-Sacrifice increases Stun DMG Multiplier by 10%. When The Thrall is Stunned, CRIT DMG taken increases by 50%.

6.11.

Special Mechanic

When Agents inflict Weakened on Sobek and The Thrall, you get 1500 Performance Points. When you eliminate Sobek, you get 2000 Performance Points. Up to 5000 Performance Points can be gained this way.

Stun Agents are particularly useful during this fight.

6.12.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Northen Wind	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Northen Wind	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Onslaught	Ye Shunguang	Dialyn	Sunna	Sprout
Northen Wind	Promeia	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Shatter	Yidhari	Lucia	Dialyn	Miss Esme
Northen Wind	Hoshimi Miyabi	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Onslaught	Hugo Vlad	Von Lycaon	Lighter	Robin
Onslaught	Ellen Joe	Dialyn	Astra Yao	Snap

Each time you reach a Performance Point threshold you will gain one Star. Each star will give you access to a set of rewards:

Rewards will be obtainable again each time the Deadly Assault mode resets!

Deadly Assault is not really there for the rewards but more for the challenge. If you love spending hours gearing your agents perfectly and want a bigger challenge to test your squads against, this mode is what you are looking for!

It is worth trying out if you wish to get the few Polychromes and Merits you can earn, but otherwise it is only worth if you want a tough challenge for your squads.

Deadly Assault is the hardest challenge of Zenless Zone Zero for the time being. It is perfect if you have high level Agents with very good gear, and want to test your own skills against strong bosses. It can help you identify your own weaknesses, or what your agents my lack.

If you are only looking for rewards, you are better of farming Shiyu Defense, Hollow Zero, or the latest Events.