January 22, 2025
Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.5 is adding two truly stunning characters to the game: Astra Yao and Evelyn Chevalier. The new chase units in this update are captivating in more ways than one, but should you pull for them? Well, there definitely are plenty of reasons to do so...
Astra Yao is already available to summon now, as she is the featured unit for the first half of Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.5. Evelyn's banner will release in the second half of the update, starting February 12, 2025. This version of Zenless Zone Zero is definitely worth some pulls. Let's start explaining why.
Astra Yao is a huge celebrity in New Eridu, thanks to her superstar performances as both an actress and a songstress. In fact, miHoYo has even released a music video for one of her songs. But while Astra Yao may just seem like your average pretty girl, there is a surprising amount of depth to her. Astra's character teaser showed that she has personally been affected by Hollows. She recognizes the suffering that they cause, which gives her plenty of reason to combat them.
As for what Astra Yao offers gameplay-wise, there is a lot. Astra Yao is an Ether Support character who fits just about anywhere. And as the first S-Rank Support unit, she certainly doesn't disappoint. Astra Yao provides a wide range of significant buffs. She can boost the party's DMG and CRIT DMG by a really good amount, up to 20% and 25% respectively just with her base kit. Add in the Astral Voice drive disc set and her signature W-Engine to the equation and your characters will be able to do more than double their usual damage on critical hits.
Astra Yao isn't demanding to play whatsoever. In fact, she needs almost no field time at all. Once you enter the Idyllic Cadenza state via her Special Attack, that's all you need out of her. You can then switch out to your other squad members, reaping the full benefits of Astra's buffs. By the way, you can definitely use her in a more active role. She just doesn't offer too much outside of her Ultimate that heals the whole squad. That's unique to her in the game so far, by the way. She's a team player through and through.
Evelyn Chevalier is Astra Yao's manager and personal assistant. She is incredibly protective of Astra, almost obsessively involved with every little thing that the songstress does or is supposed to do. Evelyn also doubles as Astra's bodyguard, and she is definitely very capable in that role. There's probably more to the character, but we'll have to wait a bit to learn more about her.
Zenless Zone Zero has focused a bit too much on Anomaly characters over the last several months, so it's nice to see that Evelyn will offer a break from that. As a Fire Attack character, Evelyn is definitely designed to be a critical hit merchant. Evelyn's Additional Ability wants you to be at over an 80% CRIT Rate to enhance her Chain Attack and Ultimate DMG multipliers. That's more than attainable with Evelyn, considering that her core passive boosts her CRIT Rate by up to 25% with little effort required.
Evelyn's gameplay is mostly designed around her unique mechanic, Burning Tether Points. To accumulate them, Evelyn essentially just needs to use her normal attacks a bunch. She'll eventually start performing Garrote attacks in place of her normal attacks, with each activation granting her 1 Burning Tether Point. Once Evelyn has acquired 3 Burning Tether Points, her next attempted Garrote attack will consume all of those points to then replace her next attack with Chain Attack: Lunalux - Snare.
To further improve her damage consistency, Evelyn's Ultimate allows her to permanently retain 1 Burning Tether Point. She also takes her jacket off after using her Ultimate. That's important, too, for some. Evelyn's strategy is fairly simple. Just try and Chain Attack as much as possible. It's worth it. She can do unfathomable amounts of damage.
Perfectly detailing the value of Zenless Zone Zero characters is pretty hard, so hopefully most of this is actually intelligible. Astra Yao and Evelyn Chevalier are not characters to be underestimated. If you had to pick just one, Astra Yao is definitely a more impactul addition. Evelyn could end up an unstoppable force, though, if future character additions play more into her kit. These two characters are definitely worth your time. You're unlikely to ever regret summoning for them.