Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) Shiyu Defense Guide and Overview for Critical Nodes

The Critical Node is comprised of stages that rotate on a twice monthly basis. Critical Node stages focus on killing enemies within a certain amount of time, and meeting certain thresholds will grant you the maximum rewards. You will be able to gain up to 780 Polychrome from this content, provided you manage to clear all five stages on S-Rank. Each stage has 3 sets of rewards that you can gain at B, A and S-Grades respectively.

Clearing any stage at any grade will unlock the next one for you, so don't fret if you do not manage to get an S-Grade immediately. Depending on how many stages you have cleared in the previous cycle, you may be able to skip some stages. S-ranking all 5 Critical Node stages will allow you to skip the first 3 stages in the upcoming cycle.

In this guide we will provide detailed information on each of the 5 stages, highlighting the weaknesses of the enemies in each stage, as well as potential team recommendations that might make your life a little easier in order to claim the mode's rewards.

Keep in mind that a well built character may perform better than others, even if it does not match the enemies weakness. Just make sure to not pit them against enemies that are resistant to their damage type.

There are 5 stages in the Critical Node section of the Shiyu Defense. Each stage has its own set of enemies, buffs and effects that boost your characters, as well as their own Challenge Target time-limits. In the first four stages you will have to field 2 teams, requiring 6 Agents and 2 Bangboos total. You cannot use the same Agent or Bangboo twice.

The final stage requires 3 teams instead, meaning a total of 9 Agents and 3 Bangboo. Agents cannot share their Drive Discs or W-Engines between stages, as attempting to use equipment used by another Agent in another stage will reset the previous Agent's stage entirely.

Disclaimer: Depending on your account, you may not own some of the teams listed, or you may own parts of the teams, if this is the case please refer to the Agents personal Guide Page to see what alternatives they might be able to use in place of the missing Agents, however simply making sure to not field a team that the enemy units have resistances against, and try to take advantage of the bonuses granted each cycle.

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The first 4 nodes of this rotation of Critical Nodes heavily benefit Armorer DPS, specifically Claret because she is currently our only Armorer Agent. While only Claret will benefit from the Sharp DMG and DEF increases, all Agents will benefit from the Stun DMG Multiplier increase.

The final node includes fights with the following bonuses:

• Room 1: Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.
• Room 2: Agent Anomaly Buildup Rate increases by 15%, and Attribute Anomaly DMG dealt increases by 20%.If there are 2/3 Agents in the squad with the Anomaly specialty, Agent Anomaly Proficiency increases by 20/60.
• Room 3: Agent Ether DMG increases by 20%, and Anomaly Proficiency increases by 20. When Agents inflict an Attribute Anomaly on enemies, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.

4.1.

Critical Node: First Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Ice, Ether Team 2 Electric	Team 1 None Team 2 None

4.2.

Recommended Teams for First Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun/Support	Support
Team 1
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Ye Shunguang	Sunna Zhao	Dialyn Astra Yao
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Team 2
Claret	Trigger Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao

4.3.

Critical Node: Second Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Ice, Ether Team 2 Electric	Team 1 None Team 2 Fire

4.4.

Recommended Teams for Second Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Ye Shunguang	Sunna Zhao	Dialyn Astra Yao
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Team 2
Claret	Trigger Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao

4.5.

Critical Node: Third Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Ice, Ether Team 2 Electric	Team 1 None Team 2 Fire

4.6.

Recommended Teams for Third Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Ye Shunguang	Sunna Zhao	Dialyn Astra Yao
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Team 2
Claret	Trigger Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao

4.7.

Critical Node: Fourth Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >300s remaining A-Rank: >180s remaining B-Rank: Defeat All Enemies	Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Ice, Ether Team 2 Electric	Team 1 None Team 2 Ice

4.8.

Recommended Teams for Fourth Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Sigrid	Dialyn Norma	Sunna Zhao Alexandrina Sebastiane
Ye Shunguang	Sunna Zhao	Dialyn Astra Yao
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Team 2
Claret	Trigger Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Cissia	Trigger Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao

4.9.

Critical Node: Fifth Frontier

Time Limit	Bonus Effects	Weakness	Resistance
S-Rank: >25,000 Score in all 3 Rooms A-Rank: >16,000 Score in all 3 Rooms B-Rank: >8,000 Score in all 3 Rooms	Room 1: Agent Sharp DMG increases by 25%, and DEF increases by 15%. When an Agent hits an enemy and triggers a critical hit, if the enemy is Stunned, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 10s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Room 2: Agent Anomaly Buildup Rate increases by 15%, and Attribute Anomaly DMG dealt increases by 20%.If there are 2/3 Agents in the squad with the Anomaly specialty, Agent Anomaly Proficiency increases by 20/60. Room 3: Agent Ether DMG increases by 20%, and Anomaly Proficiency increases by 20. When Agents inflict an Attribute Anomaly on enemies, the Stun DMG Multiplier increases by 20% for 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration.	Team 1 Electric, Physical Team 2 Ice, Physical Team 3 Ether, Physical	Team 1 Ether Team 2 Electric Team 3 Fire

4.10.

Recommended Teams for Fifth Frontier

DPS	Sub DPS/Stun	Support
Team 1
Claret	Trigger Norma Koleda Belobog	Alexandrina Sebastiane
Seed	Cissia Orphie & Magus	Trigger Sunna
Nekomata	Norma Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao
Team 2
Remielle Dan	Aria Promeia Jane Doe	Velina Vivian
Velina	Promeia Jane Doe	Ukinami Yuzuha Astra Yao
Hoshimi Miyabi	Nangong Yu Tsukishiro Yanagi Von Lycaon	Astra Yao Ukinami Yuzuha Sunna
Team 3
Aria	Sunna Zhao	Velina Nangong Yu
Pyrois Zhu Yuan	Dialyn Norma	Astra Yao Zhao Nicole Demara
Nekomata	Norma Dialyn	Sunna Astra Yao