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 April 24, 2026 until May 7, 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

Sanguine Sweeper Primordial Nightmare - "The Creator" The Defiler

6.1.

Sanguine Sweeper

The first boss you can face is the Sanguine Sweeper. He is weak to Electric DMG and Ether DMG, and resistant to Fire DMG.

6.2.

Enemy Details

While Corruptive Barrier is active, Anomaly DMG dealt by Agents is increased by 50%, and Anomaly Buildup is increased by 30%.

When the Boss is Stunned, Anomaly DMG taken is increased by 15%, and Anomaly Buildup inflicted by Agents is increased by 15%. When the Boss is not Stunned, DMG taken is reduced by 15%.

6.3.

Special Mechanic

If you successfully counter and trigger a special stagger against the Boss's attacks, you earn 1000 Performance Points. During the Control Skill, each successful counter against the Boss's attacks grants 500 Performance Points. If you manage a Shutdown on the Boss's Control Skill, you obtain 2000 Performance Points. You can obtain a maximum of 5000 Performance Points this way.

In general, Anomaly Agents work best for this boss.

Aria is generally your best option here. If you do not have her, other Anomaly agents such as Tsukishiro Yanagi is a great options as well. The Boss starts the fight with his Control Skill, and you want to time an assist right before it hits you. The animation will slightly slow down before it hits you, so make sure to pay attention and swap at the right time.

6.4.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Metamorph	Aria	Sunna	Nangong Yu	Biggest Fan
Metamorph	Aria	Sunna	Ukinami Yuzuha	Biggest Fan
Metamorph	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Alice Thymefield	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Metamorph	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Vivian	Astra Yao	Robin
Metamorph	Hoshimi Miyabi	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Metamorph	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Metamorph	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme

6.5.

Primordial Nightmare

The second boss you can face is the Primordial Nightmare. He is weak to Physical DMG and resistant to Ice DMG and Ether DMG.

6.6.

Enemy Details

Boss Anomaly DMG taken is reduced by 30%. When switching from Miasmic Shield state to normal state, or from normal state to Miasmic Shield state, Agent CRIT DMG against them is increased by 20%.

This effect can stack up to 3 times and resets when the boss recovers from Stun.

6.7.

Special Mechanic

During the fight, trigger the Miasmic Shield Purification to obtain 1000 Performance Points. During the control skill, each successful counter against the Boss's attacks grants another 500 Performance Points. Performing a Shutdown on the Boss's Control Skill grants 2000 Performance POints. A maximum of 5000 Points can be obtained this way.

This boss is tailored for Attack Agents, especially Ye Shunguang. If you do not have any Physical Attack Agent, you can use Fire Rupture Agents like Komano Manato or Banyue. Even if the boss is not weak to Fire, the fact they are Rupture agents will at least help you break through the Miasma SHield easier.

6.8.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Heartcrusher	Ye Shunguang	Dialyn	Zhao	Sprout
Heartcrusher	Ye Shunguang	Dialyn	Sunna	Sprout
Heartcrusher	Komano Manato	Lucia	Dialyn	Miss Esme
Heartcrusher	Banyue	Lucia	Dialyn	Miss Esme

6.9.

The Defiler

The third boss you can face is The Defiler. She is weak to Electric DMG and Physical DMG, and resistant to Ice DMG.

6.10.

Enemy Details

When an Agent hits The Defiler with Defensive Assist, the whole squad gains 1 stack of Adjudication; when an Agent knocks down The Defiler attacking in mid-air, the whole squad gains 4 stacks of Adjudication.

Adjudication can stack up to 6 times and lasts for 30 seconds. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

For each stack of Adjudication, the Agent's CRIT DMG is increased by 8%. The Defiler receives 25% less Attribute Anomaly DMG.

6.11.

Special Mechanic

If you successfully cause Impaired status you earn 2500 Performance Points. If an Agent shoots down The Defiler while it's attacking in mid-air, you gain another 1500 Performance Points. You can obtain a maximum of 5000 Performance Points this way.

There are three main things you need to pay attention during this fight. The first one is when The Defiler summons Troopers. You need to successfully parry their attacks with defensive assists to expose the boss' weakness and give you an opening.

The second is when she fires Miasmic Blades, you can deflect them with defensive assists.

The third is after the boss has taken a certain amount of DMG, she will create a Miasmic Field. You have to take down the Defiler's parts on time in order to impair her. If you don't, she unleashes a Miasmic Tsunami that will one shot your current on-field Character.

6.12.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Heartcrusher	Ye Shunguang	Dialyn	Zhao	Sprout
Swift Strike	Seed	Cissia	Trigger	Mercury
Swift Strike	Seed	Soldier 0 - Anby	Trigger	Mercury
Metamorph	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Metamorph	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Metamorph	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Alice Thymefield	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Metamorph	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Vivian	Astra Yao	Robin
Swift Strike	Soldier 0 - Anby	Trigger	Pulchra	Plugboo

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.