Zenless Zone Zero Nicole Guide - Skills, Builds, Teams, and More (2024)

Zenless Zone Zero Nicole Demara Overview

Welcome to our Zenless Zone Zero character guide, where we cover everything you need to know about Nicole.

Nicole Demara is an A Rank Agent from the Cunning Hares Faction with the Ether Attribute and Support Fighting Style. She is also one of the free characters you obtain early on in the game. You can obtain more copies of Nicole on any character banner through the Gacha System.

Nicole is one of the few characters in the game with the Support Style. This makes her a valuable addition to many teams, as she can effectively buff up just about any team in the game. While other Support Agents may be better in specific scenarios, you can’t go wrong with Nicole since you get her for free.

She also provides extra utility by grouping small enemies, making her even more valuable.

Nicole		Cunning Hares
A Rank	Ether		Support

Nicole Skills/Abilities

Basic Attack

Basic Attack: Cunning Combo

Press Basic Attack to activate. Unleashes up to 3 strikes, dealing Physical DMG.

Basic Attack: Do As I Please

After using a Special Attack, EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate, Nicole can reload, and her Basic Attack and Dash Attack are enhanced, increasing the power of her bullets.

Dodge

Dodge: Speed Demon

Press Dodge to activate. A rapid dodge. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. Move the joystick to dodge, then hold Dodge to reload while dodging, enhancing Basic Attacks and Dash Attacks up to 8 times.

Dash Attack: Jack in the Box

When moving the joystick during a dodge, press Basic Attack:
Dashes in the target direction and strikes nearby enemies, dealing Physical DMG.

When not moving the joystick during a dodge, press Basic Attack:
Vaults backward and launches a ranged strike against enemies in front, dealing Physical DMG.
Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance her Basic Attack and Dash Attack, up to 8 times.

Dodge Counter: Diverted Bombard

Press Basic Attack during a Perfect Dodge to activate. Dodge backwards and send a ranged strike at enemies in front, dealing Ether DMG. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

Special Attack

Special Attack: Sugarcoated Bullet

Press to Special Attack activate. Unleashes a ranged strike against enemies in front, dealing Ether DMG. Anti-Interrupt level is increased while using this skill. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

EX Special Attack: Stuffed Sugarcoated Bullet

When Nicole has enough Energy, press EX Special Attack to activate. A powerful ranged strike, generating an energy field that pulls enemies towards its center to deal Ether DMG.

Hold down EX Special Attack to charge up this attack, during which a small energy field is generated at the muzzle as Energy is consumed, dealing bonus DMG to enemies nearby.

Character is invulnerable while using this skill. A Reactive Assist is triggered when this skill hits an enemy. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

Chain Attack

Chain Attack – Ether Shellacking

When a Chain Attack is triggered, select the character to activate. Unleashes a powerful ranged strike at enemies in a small area, generating an energy field that pulls enemies towards its center to deal Ether DMG.

Character is invulnerable while using this skill. A Reactive Assist is triggered when this skill hits an enemy. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

Ultimate – Ether Grenade

When Decibel Rating is at Maximum, press Chain Attack to activate. Unleashes a powerful ranged strike at enemies in a small area, generating an energy field that pulls enemies towards its center to deal Ether DMG.

Character is invulnerable while using this skill. A Reactive Assist is triggered when this skill hits an enemy. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

Core Skill

Core Passive: Mechanical Case

After hitting an enemy with a Special Attack, EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate, Nicole can reload, enhancing her Basic Attack and Dash Attack. When her enhanced bullets or Energy Field hits an enemy, the target’s DEF is reduced by 20% for 2s.

Additional Ability: Hare of Many Burrows

When another character in your squad shares the same Attribute or Faction:
When Nicole’s Core Passive: Mechanical Case applies a debuff, the target additionally takes 25% more Ether DMG.

Reactive Assist: Emergency Bombard

When the on-field character is launched, press to Perfect Assist activate. Dodge backwards and send a ranged strike at enemies in front, dealing Ether DMG. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. Automatically reloads after the attack to enhance Basic Attack and Dash Attack up to 8 times.

Defensive Assist: The Hare Strikes Back!

When the character on field is about to be attacked, press Perfect Assist to activate. Parries the enemy’s attack, dealing massive Daze. Character is invulnerable while using this skill.

Assist Follow-Up: Window of Opportunity

Press Chain Attack after a Defensive Assist to activate. Charge forward and bombard enemies, dealing Ether DMG. Character is invulnerable while using this skill.

Nicole Talents

Zenless Zone Zero Nicole Build Guide Overview

W-Engine		Drive Disc
The Vault Slice of Time		Chaotic Metal (4) Swing Jazz (2) Swing Jazz (4) Chaotic Metal (2)
Main Stat		Substats
(4) Anomaly Proficiency (5) PEN Ratio%/Ether DMG% (6) Anomaly Mastery/Energy Regen%		Anomaly Mastery ATK% PEN Crit Rate%/Crit DMG%

Since Nicole is a supportive character, you don’t need to worry too much about her personal damage. Those stats are simply a nice bonus to have.

The main priority is getting a strong 4-piece set with a support effect, and increasing her Anomaly stats. More on this down below.

Nicole W-Engines

The Vault

ATK:42/624 |Energy Regen: 20%/50% When equipped, dealing Ether DMG using an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate increases all squad members’ DMG against the target by 15/17.5/20/22/24% and increases the equipper’s Energy Regen by 0.5/0.58/0.65/0.72/0.8 per second for 2s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.

Slice of Time

ATK: 40/594 | ATK%: 10%/25% Any squad members’ Dodge Counter, EX Special Attack, Assist Attack, or Chain Attack respectively generates 20/23/26/29/32 (Dodge) | 25/28.5/32/35.5/40 (Special) | 30/34.5/39/43.5/48 (Assist) | 35/40/45/50/55 (Chain) more Decibels and generates 0.7/0.8/0.9/1/1.1 Energy for the equipper. This effect can trigger once every 12s. The cooldown for each type of attack is independent of others. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.

When it comes to W-Engines in ZZZ, every Agent has a signature weapon. You can definitely tell as one W-Engine will match the aesthetic and kit of every character.

For Nicole, her signature W-Engine is The Vault. This gives solid base ATK, high Energy Regen, and a support passive that works with her Ether DMG kit. Since there aren’t any other Ether Support Agents in the game, Nicole is the only Agent that can fully utilize this W-Engine.

For our second recommendation, we haveSlice of Time, which is a strong generic Support W-Engine that can go on just about any Support Agent. If you don’t have either of these two, you can use whatever you have that has high base stats or an applicable passive effect.

Tip: You can get a copy of Slice of Time for free by participating in the Web Event.

Nicole Drive Discs

Chaotic Metal	(2): Increases Ether DMG by 10%. (4): Whenever a squad member inflicts Corruption on an enemy, that enemy takes 18% more damage for 12s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
Swing Jazz	(2): Energy Regen increases by 20%. (4): Launching a Chain Attack or Ultimate increases all squad members’ DMG by 15% for 12s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.

When it comes to Drive Discs for Nicole, there are two sets to highlight: Chaotic Metal and Swing Jazz.

Chaotic Metal is the Ether DMG set, but the 4 piece bonus provides a buff for the entire team. When you inflict Corruption (Ether Attribute Anomaly), the enemy will take more damage from all sources. This is a very powerful buff effect, and is the main reason we suggest building Nicole with Anomaly stats.

The Swing Jazz set is another alternative to Chaotic Metal. The 4 piece bonus once again buffs the entire squad, but this effect relies on launching a Chain Attack or Ultimate. When launching Chain Attacks, you move through your entire team already, so this is easy to activate.

Since these two are both strong supportive sets, you can pick whichever one you have better Drive Discs for. For your 2 piece bonus, pick the opposite set or any other generic set that gives something like ATK% or Impact.

Note: If you are playing a team with multiple Ether units, you only need one Agent to hold Chaotic Metal (4). This buff applies to the entire team regardless of who equips it, so having a second would be useless.

Nicole Drive Disc Stats

Main Stats

• (4) Anomaly Proficiency
• (5) PEN Ratio%/Ether DMG%
• (6) Anomaly Mastery/Energy Regen%

When it comes to Main Stats, Partition IV and VI are the most important. Partition V mainly has personal damage Main Stats like PEN Ratio or Ether DMG, which aren’t a high priority.

Partition IV and VI provide the Anomaly stats, which synergize very well with Chaotic Metal (4). Anomaly Mastery will increase the buildup of Attribute Anomaly, while Anomaly Proficiency increases the damage of Attribute Anomaly.

If you’re just starting out, Anomaly Proficiency won’t be as big of a priority, since this contributes to Nicole’s damage rather than her supportive capabilities. Once you have built up your DPS units, you can look to optimize Nicole’s stats with Anomaly Proficiency, Ether DMG%, etc.

Substats

• Anomaly Mastery
• ATK%
• PEN
• Crit Rate%/Crit DMG%

When it comes to Substats, things are mostly the same. Anomaly Mastery is your biggest priority, as this speeds up the Corruption buildup. After that, you can look to increase her personal damage with things like PEN/ATK%/Crit, but these aren’t really a priority.

Anomaly is the main priority, and everything else is just a bonus.

Nicole Skill Priority

Once the game releases, we’ll update this section. In general, leveling up an Agent’s Core Passive is the most effective, as this levels up their Core Passive, Additional Ability, and Assist Moves.

Nicole Teams

As with all characters, Nicole pairs best with other Agents that are either the same Attribute or Faction. This activates her Additional Ability, which provides strong passive buffs.

However, since Nicole is a flexible Support Agent, you can run her on just about any team. There also aren’t that many Cunning Hares/Ether Agents in the game, so the Faction/Attribute synergies are quite limited.

Cunning Hares Hyper Carry Free Team

Billy, Anby, Nicole

This first team is the free Cunning Hares team you get upon starting the game. It’s a nice start because it has the complete team breakdown you would need. Billy is an Attack Agent, Anby is Stun, and Nicole is Support.

This gives you a balanced team to start out with, and gives you an idea of how to team build. For the purposes of our guides, we will call this type of team “Hyper Carry.” This is because you focus on the damage of the Attack character (Billy), with the Stun and Support character buffing them up with their kits.

You can replace Billy with Nekomata and have a similar team setup as well.

Zhu Yuan Ether Team

Zhu Yuan, Anby, Nicole

Zhu Yuan is a playable character from the CBT, but we don’t know exactly when she will release. There’s speculation that she will come in the second half of Version 1.0, but nothing has been confirmed.

Zhu Yuan is from the CISRT Faction, which has no other Agents. She is also the only other Ether Agent in the game. This makes Nicole the only way to activate her Additional Ability.

As a result, Anby is a decent unit to slot in as your Stun Agent. As more Agents release, we may see this team become better, but as of right now, the flexibility is limited.

Anomaly Disorder Team

Grace, Rina, Nicole

Lastly, we have a team featuring Grace (Electric/Anomaly), Rina (Electric/Support), and Nicole. Grace and Rina form a powerful duo that can deal a lot of damage through the Electric Attribute Anomaly.

Since Attribute Anomaly doesn’t scale off Crit or ATK, having Nicole with Chaotic Metal (4) is a strong way to increase the damage of the Anomaly. With Nicole, you can also trigger Disorder, which happens when two Attribute Anomalies trigger on an enemy.

This team can likely be very powerful, but you’d be using three very powerful Agents on one team. In Shiyu Defense (Abyss/MoC) you will eventually need two teams. Having Nicole on this team could make your second team worse, but this will depend on your own account.

Closing Words

This wraps up our guide for Nicole in Zenless Zone Zero. Nicole is one of the free characters you get upon starting the game, but she’s a powerhouse unit that will be relevant for a good amount of time.

If you don’t have the right roster of Agents to make use of Faction/Attribute buffs, you can easily slot Nicole into any team. She will shine more if you synergize with other Ether/Cunning Hares Agents, but the roster is quite limited at the start.

Overall, Nicole is a strong 3rd Agent for just about any team, and will be an ideal option for specific teams. Feel free to invest levels/skills into Nicole early on, as she will be a useful Agent for a good amount of time.