Zenless Zone Zero 2.2 Top Supports: A Comprehensive Analysis of Six Core Characters

In Zenless Zone Zero combat, there's a popular saying: "DPS determines the upper limit, support determines the lower limit." Without a strong support character, even the most powerful DPS can fail at crucial moments; but with a strong support, even a DPS character with average stats can deliver impressive damage. With the 2.2 update, the status of many characters has shifted. While some established supports remain at the top, newcomers have also entered the mainstream. This article will provide a ranking and detailed analysis of the six strongest support characters in 2.2 to help players clarify their development strategies and plan their resources effectively.

Sixth Place: Lucy - The All-Around Support Character for Beginners

Lucy is incredibly distinctive, with a simple and straightforward mechanic: a single-click skill grants a bonus to the entire team's attack damage, requiring virtually no complex controls. This plug-and-play approach makes her one of the easiest support characters for new players to learn.

While the fixed 600 attack damage bonus she provides is merely a minor bonus for a late-game main carry, her true value lies in her four-star exclusive W engine, Explosive Cannon:

Energy Regeneration: Significantly reduces support rotations, indirectly increasing the team's ultimate frequency.

Bonus Attack Damage: Stacks up to 18%, and when combined with her own bonus, provides a team-wide bonus of approximately 25%.

Highly adaptable: Almost any character requiring an attack damage boost can benefit from this bonus.

Overall, while Lucy isn't a top-tier support, her low-cost, high-return strategy makes her an essential transitional support for new players.

Fifth Place: Lina - A Potentially Potentially Powerful Multi-Form Support

Lina's strengths have been gradually revealed in patch 2.2. She's the only character in the game who can extend the duration of her Electric Abilities. When combined with characters like Yuzuha, she can elevate the team's Abilities' burst damage to new heights.

After reaching the Breakthrough, Lina's support abilities have significantly improved:

Penetration Buff: This skill increases coverage by nearly 80%, making the main damage dealer more consistent.

Exclusive W Engine [Cradling of Weeping]: Not only does it provide bonus damage to the entire team, but it also significantly increases energy regeneration, making ultimate rotation smoother.

Combined Recovery and Damage Boost: This reduces the pressure on the margin of error in difficult levels while providing independent damage bonuses to damage dealers.

Lina's downside is her slightly higher training cost, but with her exclusive weapon, her overall power rivals that of a five-star character, making her a powerful support in electric-type teams and even mixed damage-dealing lineups.

Fourth Place: Sokaku - A Stat Monster for Ice-type Teams

Sokaku is a four-star character, but her performance in Ice-type lineups far exceeds her rarity. She provides up to 1000 attack damage bonuses and a 20% increase in cold damage, making her a near-must-have when paired with Ice-type cores like Elen and Miyabi.

Her other major advantage is her rapid ABs accumulation, allowing Ice teams to frequently trigger Freezes, further strengthening their crowd control and shield-breaking abilities.

A drawback is that her mechanics are relatively complex, requiring players to master a specific skill rotation to maximize their effectiveness. Furthermore, her versatility is limited, making her primarily effective on Ice teams.

Overall, Sokaku is a typical "low-star, high-energy" character. If you're planning to develop a long-term Ice lineup, she's definitely worth training.

Third Place: Nicole - A Combination of Top-tier Control and Defense Damage

Nicole was an exceptionally strong support in Patch 2.2. Although only an A-tier character, her power rivals that of some S-tier supports.

Her core strengths are threefold:

Crowd Control: This skill has a wide-area pull effect, capable of interrupting enemy dodges or movement, making it practically the ultimate crowd control skill.

Defense Shred: Provides a 25%–33% independent defense reduction, significantly boosting the main carry's damage output.

Aether Damage Amplification: Increases the team's Aether damage by 20%, a game-changing improvement for the corresponding lineup.

In addition, her unique W engine provides additional team-wide damage bonus and critical hit boost, further enhancing the team's explosive power.

Nieko's only drawback is her high skill threshold, requiring frequent skill switching and refreshes. However, with skillful operation, she is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and versatile supports.

Second Place: Yuzuha - An Essential Pillar of a Super Ability Team

Yuzuha holds an irreplaceable position in the Super Ability system. Not only does she provide attack power and damage amplification, but her "dye" mechanic also accelerates the accumulation of allies' ailments. This means the team can trigger ailments faster, resulting in higher chain damage.

In actual combat, Yuzuha's presence is extremely noticeable:

With her, the contribution of ailment damage can increase from 35% to 60%.

Without her, DPS often needs multiple attacks to trigger ailments, significantly reducing overall damage efficiency.

She's the kind of character whose presence or absence makes the team completely different. For players focused on unusual playstyles, Yuzuya is the ultimate support.

First Place: Astra Yao - The Undisputed Strongest Support

Even after several patches, Astra Yao remains firmly at the top of the support rankings. She possesses nearly every ideal support attribute:

Triple Buff: Increased attack damage, damage bonus, and critical hit damage bonus, comprehensively enhancing the main carry.

Easy to Use: Simply stand off-board to continuously buff the team, making her perfect for beginners and casual players.

Full Team Support: Her ultimate also provides healing, boosts survivability, and creates excellent synergy with certain follow-up attack characters.

This "low-control, high-reward" combination makes her a versatile choice for any composition. Whether playing daily battles, challenging dungeons, or challenging activities, Astra Yao ensures your team's bottom line.

Summary

In Zenless Zone Zero 2.2, the support role remains incredibly important.

Lucy is perfect for beginners to quickly get started;

Lina is gradually rising in electric and mixed comps;

Sokaku is a stat-boosting character for ice teams;

Nico combines crowd control with defense penetration;

Yuzuha is a must-have for the Psychic system;

Astra Yao is the ultimate all-around hero in the entire patch.

Whether you're a casual player or a high-intensity challenger, properly developing these supports will make your lineup more powerful and stable.

In subsequent patch updates, support characters will remain the core of the combat system. Remember: DPS may fade with the meta, but the value of supports will always be there.