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 October 31, 2025 until November 13, 2025.

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

Wandering Hunter Miasmic Fiend - Unfathomable The Defiler

6.1.

Wandering Hunter

The first boss you can face is the Wandering Hunter. He is weak to Fire DMG and Ice DMG, and resistant to Physical DMG.

6.2.

Enemy Details

Wandering Hunter's Base DEF increases by 40% in Miasma Field. When an Agent hits Wandering Hunter with an Assist Follow-up or Dodge COunter, 1 stack of Wavering is applied.

Wavering can stack up to 5 times and lasts 15 seconds. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

When an Agent's attacks hit Wandering Hunter, for each stack of Wavering, the Agent's Sheer DMG is increased by 7%.

6.3.

Special Mechanic

During the hide-and-seek phase, use your Perception Technique to break Drowned Ideals. This will grant you 3000 Performance Points. After breaking the true form, successfully counter the ambush with a Defensive Assist or Evasive Assist to get an additional 2000 Performance Points, up to a maximum of 5000 points.

This boss is tailored for Rupture characters, especially Yidhari or Komano Manato. If you do not have those, you can use other Rupture Agents or other Fire and Ice Agents.

6.4.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Sub	Support	Bangboo
Pinnacle	Komano Manato	Lucia	Ju Fufu	Miss Esme
Pinnacle	Yidhari	Lucia	Ju Fufu	Robin
Dream Delusion	Hoshimi Miyabi	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Combined Attack	Evelyn Chevalier	Lighter	Astra Yao	Snap
Pinnacle	Yixuan	Lucia	Ju Fufu	Belion

6.5.

Miasmic Fiend - Unfathomable

The second boss you can face is a the Miasmic Fiend. He is weak to Physical DMG and Ether DMG, and resistant to Fire DMG.

6.6.

Enemy Details

When Miasmic Fiend is affected by Attribute Anomaly, it takes 8% bonus Anomaly DMG from Agents, stacking up to 6 times.

Activating Miasmic Shield clears all stacks, with each stack increasing the reduction efficiency of Miasmic Shield by 2.5%.

6.7.

Special Mechanic

If you successfully bait Miasmic Fiend's ground attack into detonating at least 5 Miasma Pools at once and avoid being hit by the attack and pool explosions, you earn 1700 Performance Points. You can obtain a maximum of 5000 Performance Points this way.

Jane Doe is generally your best option here. If you do not have her, Alice Thymefield will be a great choice as well. This boss is one of the most annoying. He has automated attacks that can not be blocked after he enhances its weapon. His Miasma pool mechanic is not really easy to figure out either. You need to draw its attack towards the miasma pools on the floor to detonate them. Basically if you do not do this, he constantly regenerates its miasma shield. In order to do so, place your character on the MIasma pool, and as soon as he launches the second attack, move out quickly. You can not be hit by the second attack if you want the maximum points. Make sure also to jump back or run away when he jumps back in, as he will do a big AoE attack.

6.8.

Recommended Squads

Buff	DPS	Stun/Sub DPS	Support	Bangboo
Dream Delusion	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Dream Delusion	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Pinnacle	Yixuan	Pan Yinhu	Ju Fufu	Belion
Combined Attack	Zhu Yuan	Nicole Demara	Astra Yao	Snap

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
Combined Attack	Seed	Soldier 0 - Anby	Trigger	Mercury
Dream Delusion	Jane Doe	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Robin
Dream Delusion	Alice Thymefield	Vivian	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Dream Delusion	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Alice Thymefield	Ukinami Yuzuha	Miss Esme
Dream Delusion	Tsukishiro Yanagi	Vivian	Astra Yao	Robin
Combined Attack	Soldier 0 - Anby	Trigger	Pulchra	Plugboo
Combined Attack	Asaba Harumasa	Qingyi	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.