Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ)LycaonBuild and Guide

Lycaon is an Ice Stun Agent who offers both competitive buffs and a significant amount of Daze build-up, being one of the best Stunner choices for Ice teams and - as of his Potential release - a decent alternative for all elements.

His main focus in battle is to use Assist Follow-Ups and EX Specials to apply debuffs to enemies, then be the one to initiate Stuns for a strong Stun DMG Multiplier increase. With Encircle Prey, he can continue to build Daze even without being the active character, needing to be swapped to only occasionally so as to expend resources as needed.

Core Passive & Additional Ability

Holding Basic on Lycaon will charge it. This is explained in more detail in the Basic Attack section, but as part of his Core Passive, fully completing a charge can increase the Daze dealt from the attack by 80%. This same bonus also applies passively to Dodge Counters and Dash Attacks.

This means that fully charging his Basics is always desirable, but this doesn’t need to be done manually, as when entering the battlefield, Lycaon gains an Encircle Prey stack. When using his enhanced Assist Follow-Up: Vengeful Counterattack - Glacial Waltz, this stack is consumed and Lycaon will trigger a reverse Quick Assist. If it’s used, after swapping he will remain on field, mirroring some of the active Agent’s attacks, dealing damage and Daze, but not building up Anomaly.

When the currently active character uses a Basic Attack or EX Special, Lycaon will do the charged version of his Basics 1 through to 3. He will copy Dodges and even Dodge Counters, the latter of which links into the 3rd hit of his Basic Attack string.

The Encircle Prey state lasts 8 seconds, and once it ends, Lycaon will automatically cast Glacial Waltz. Swapping to him will pause the timer, but certain skills will pre-emptively end the state:

• If the active character stops attacking for an extended period.

• If the active character activates a Chain Attack or Ultimate.

• If Lycaon uses Assist Follow-Up: Vengeful Counterattack - Glacial Waltz.

The first 2 still lead to the automatic Glacial Waltz cast, but the last does not (as he is already using it manually). In situations where the state ends early, every second left will increase the Daze of the next Glacial Waltz by 6% to make up for the loss.

Lycaon then recovers a stack of Encircle Prey when Elite or Boss-Rank enemies are stunned, allowing for 1 use every stun cycle. 

Working around Encircle Prey to maximise his Daze contribution is key, especially as with higher Potentials, his Basics, Dash Attacks and Dodge Counters get up to 15% increased Combat Impact when in the Encircle Prey state and not the active character.

On top of all this, Lycaon’s Core Passive inflicts a debuff on enemies when hitting with his EX Special or either of his Assist Follow-Ups, they suffer 25% Ice RES Shred and take 30% more DMG from all attacks (regardless of element).

His Additional Ability demands Anomaly, or same Attribute or Faction, and it causes stunned enemies hit by Lycaon to have a 35% increased Stun DMG Multiplier. This applies even if his Heavy Attack is what initiates stun, and in fact, doing so is important to maximise its uptime.

Basic Attack:

Lycaon only has one Basic Attack: Moon Hunter. This is a standard set of hits accessed by pressing his Basic button, but as mentioned previously, they can be charged.

Normally this is a 5-hit Physical DMG string, doing pitiful damage and Daze, but when the Basic Attack button is held down, he will charge up and deal Ice DMG instead, going through hits 1 through to 3 in a single charge. Holding the button again will then charge his Basic 4, and lastly his Basic 5. which distinguishes itself from others by having 2 charge levels (indicated by the flashing gem in his prosthetics).

Despite this having decent multipliers, the time to Daze ratio compared to other abilities makes it not worth using manually in most circumstances, with Encircle Prey being the primary way to access it.

Note that Lycaon’s charged Basic 1 can apply and break Freezes, so it can be tricky to work around at times.

Specials:

Lycaon’s regular Special Attack: Time to Hunt, isn’t all that remarkable, but it is a very quick skill. This can make it useful to trigger Chain Attacks and trigger Freezes, as his Basics may break it pre-emptively.

His EX Special Attack: Thrill of the Hunt however, is one of his primary ways to build Daze and Anomaly. It costs 40 Energy to activate, but holding down the Special button will charge it and consume 20 Energy to extend it, dealing just under 50% more damage and Daze.

It isn’t always worth using the extension, as the lower Energy cost uses can be more efficient, but it can be useful to push for a bit of extra Daze needed if near stuns so that Lycaon can be the one to initiate it.

As mentioned in his Core Passive, it can apply the Ice RES Shred and DMG Bonus debuffs on enemies when landing.

Dodge:

Dash Attacks - despite gaining Daze bonus from Lycaon’s Core Passive - are weak and best avoided, dealing Physical damage and having pitifully low Daze values.

Dodge Counter however, is quite good. It also benefits from the bonus, but deals Ice DMG, has good multipliers and is very fast in activation, making it great for certain fights (like Wandering Hunter) and an effective way to initiate stun on red flash attacks.

Assist:

Assists are key to Lycaon’s kit, being one of his main sources of Daze and the method to enter Encircle Prey.

Unlike most Agents, who use up 2 Assist Points per Defensive Assist against Elites and Bosses, Lycaon only uses up 1, making it much easier for him to generate Decibels and sustain Daze build through frequent Assist Follow-Ups, of which he has 2.

The standard one is Assist Follow-Up: Vengeful Counterattack. It’s a remarkably fast skill and can be used during Encircle Prey without ending the state, making for an effective way to build Daze consistently.

The enhanced one is Assist Follow-Up: Vengeful Counterattack - Glacial Waltz. This is not only the way to enter Encircle Prey, but it also builds nearly 50% more Daze than the standard Assist Follow-Up. It is best avoided while in Encircle Prey so as to not end the state pre-emptively, but when outside of it, using it is the most accessible way for Lycaon to build Daze and apply the Ice RES Shred and DMG Bonus debuffs on enemies from his Core Passive.

Chain & Ultimate:

As far as Chain Attacks go, Lycaon’s is decently fast but rarely worth using, with only niche scenarios (such as for single Chain Attack combos in Hugo teams) enabling it.

His Ultimate is rather straightforward, being a quick and simple burst of Daze, but it’s noteworthy if only for having one of the highest single Daze multipliers in the entire game, with very few Agents (namely Qingyi) beating it. This means it’s a great way to speed through to stun quickly and will often initiate it, applying Lycaon’s Additional Ability.

Despite having the ability to charge his Basic Attacks, keeping Lycaon as the active character and manually using them tends to not be ideal. Considering how much Daze he can build with his Assist Follow-Ups, and how it is required to enter the Encircle Prey state and being the most accessible way to apply Lycaon’s RES Shred and DMG Bonus, it’s often ideal to sit on another character until an opportunity to parry presents itself.

Assist Follow-Up: Vengeful Counterattack - Glacial Waltz can then be used to consume to Encircle Prey charge and enter the state, after which he can be swapped out of and continue to build Daze and attack enemies.

If Daze and Decibels are needed, frequent parries back to Lycaon can be repeated - but make sure to not accidentally use the Glacial Waltz variant on Assist Follow-Ups unless ending Encircle Prey pre-emptively is needed.

As Energy builds up, it’s often worth using Lycaon’s EX Special Attack: Thrill of the Hunt for Daze and even some Anomaly build-up, as aligning Freeze timings for stuns can make a difference. This is true even for non-Freezeable enemies, owing to the CRIT DMG taken effect from Frostbite.

It’s not often good to charge Lycaon’s EX in full. Although its multipliers are proportional to the extra Energy cost, it’s not quite a 50% improvement and takes more time, so splitting up EX Specials across more uses tends to be better, while also having the added benefit of maintaining buffs (like King of the Summit).

As Stun approaches, make sure to open stun with Lycaon in some way to get the Stun DMG Multiplier increase, ideally with his EX Special for King of the Summit alignment.

Once Stun is over, a new Encircle Prey stack is built and the cycle repeats, with the occasional Ultimate use where needed. Note that Lycaon’s playstyle can change depending on the team, with characters like Miyabi, Hugo, Yidhari and others all having distinct adjustments to be made.

This can be in more precise management of Ice Anomaly build-up (important, as Encircle Prey attacks do not build any), having more frequent bouts of taking centre stage as the active character to make up for teammates that aren’t well suited to it, or stick to the standard, quick-swap Stunner playstyle.

So long as buffs/debuffs are maintained and stun breakpoints are met, Lycaon is a flexible unit that can adjust to the needs of the team.