The best Nekomata build in Zenless Zone Zero turns this fierce Hare, in MiHiyo’s new free-to-play RPG, into a top-tier attack unit and gives your team one of the fastest melee fighters in the game. Nekomata is a Physical Attack Agent with quick melee skills. She works best with a team that supports her, but she’s flexible enough to build as either a special attack fighter or one that focuses on inflicting Anomaly statuses.
Here is a comprehensive Nekomata build guide, starting with her kit.
Best Nekomata Build in Zenless Zone Zero
Nekomata’s Kit
- Role: Attack
- Damage Type: Physical
- Faction: Gentle House aka. Cunning Hares
- Rarity: S-Rank
Nekomata’s strength lies in her quick rotations, with most of her damage happening right after she swaps in. She pairs well with other Cunning Hares or Physical Agents because they trigger a special buff that lets her deal extra damage from her special attack if the enemy is under the Assault effect. Her EX Special is her key skill, so she needs a lot of energy and good timing to maximize her damage output.
Key Skills
- Basic Attack: Hold the button to make Nekomata whirl around and attack enemies from all sides. This has a chance to trigger repeat attacks, increasing her damage significantly.
- Mindscape Cinema Level 1: Unlocking this lets her ignore some of the target’s Physical Resistance when attacking from behind and counts all attacks against stunned foes as coming from behind.
- Level 2: Boosts her Energy Regen when fighting a single enemy.
- Level 4: Increases her crit rate after activating her EX Special Attack.
- Level 6: Strengthens her CRIT damage after using her Chain Attack or Ultimate.
Best W-Engines for Nekomata
Nekomata’s signature W-Engine is Steel Cushion, which boosts crit rate and physical damage and increases damage when attacking from behind. This works well with her repeated basic attacks, especially with her first Mindscape Cinema.
Recommended W-Engines
- Steel Cushion (S-Rank)
- The Brimstone (S-Rank)
- Cannon Rotor (A-Rank)
- Starlight Engine (A-Rank)
- Housekeeper (A-Rank)
- Street Superstar (A-Rank)
- [Lunar] Pleniluna (B-Rank)
Best Drive Discs for Nekomata
As a main DPS, Nekomata’s Drive Discs should focus on boosting her offense. If she’s the sole Physical Agent on your team, consider adding Anomaly Mastery on Partition 6 to help with Anomaly Buildup, letting her trigger Assault more often. This might reduce her energy regen slightly but is still effective.
Recommended Drive Disc Sets
- Fanged Metal (4) + Woodpecker Electro (2): +10% Physical damage, +35% damage against a target for 12 seconds after Assault has been triggered, +8% crit rate.
- Fanged Metal (2) + Woodpecker Electro (2) + Hormone Punk (2): +10% Physical damage, +8% crit rate, +10% ATK.
- Woodpecker Electro (4) + Fanged Metal (2): +8% crit rate, +9% ATK for 8 seconds after triggering a critical hit with Basic Attack, Dodge Counter, or EX Special Attack, +10% Physical damage.
Best Drive Disc Stats for Nekomata
- Partition 1: HP (Primary), crit rate %, CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN
- Partition 2: ATK (Primary), crit rate %, CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN
- Partition 3: DEF (Primary), crit rate %, CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN
- Partition 4: crit rate % or CRIT damage % (Primary), crit rate % or CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN, ATK
- Partition 5: Physical damage % (Primary), crit rate %, CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN
- Partition 6: Energy Regen or Anomaly Mastery (Primary), crit rate %, CRIT damage %, ATK %, PEN
Best Nekomata Teams
Nekomata excels as a fast melee attacker but needs support to perform at her best.
Recommended Teams
- Nekomata (Main DPS), Anby (Sub DPS), Nicole (Support)
- This Cunning Hares squad works well, especially if you have Nekomata’s first Mindscape unlocked. Anby’s stun skills and Nicole’s buffs and crowd control make this team powerful.
- Nekomata (Main DPS), Piper (Sub DPS), Lucy (Support)
- This team is strong even without Nekomata’s Mindscape nodes. Piper inflicts Assault to power up Nekomata’s Core Skill, and Lucy provides offensive buffs to keep everyone’s damage high.
Nekomata Promotion Materials
To level Nekomata up to 60, you’ll need:
- Basic Offense Certification Seal x4
- Advanced Offense Certification Seal x32
- Pioneer Certification Seal x30
- Dennies x800,000
To max out all her skills, you’ll need:
- Basic Physical Chip x25
- Advanced Physical Chip x75
- Specialized Physical Chip x250
- Hamster Cage Pass x5
- Dennies x2,500,000
To upgrade her Core Skill six times:
- Higher Dimensional Data: Crimson Awe x60
- Ferocious Grip x9
- Dennies x405,000
These materials can be obtained from the VR Combat Simulation, crafting, time-limited events, and specific challenges.
Building the best Nekomata build in Zenless Zone Zero involves optimizing her W-Engines and Drive Discs while forming a team that supports her quick, high-damage playstyle. With these tips, you’ll have Nekomata slashing through enemies in no time.
