The best Zhu Yuan build in Zenless Zone Zero is all about buffing the cop's crits and ether damage so she can blow away enemies with her Enhanced Shotshells. This New Eridu Public Security officer has a special transforming gun that can load powerful rounds called Enhanced Shotshells via her EX special attack, chain attack, ultimate, and by hitting enemies with her regular combo.
Once she's got some shotshells loaded, you can hold down the attack input and Zhu Yuan will start blasting them into enemies for big damage. It's a simple playstyle and quite easy to buff, so here I'll run through my recommended Zhu Yuan build as well as what you'll need to level her.
Zhu Yuan is an ether attack character with a playstyle centred around accumulating Enhanced Shotshells and then firing them into enemies in her Suppressive Mode for big damage. Zhu Yuan has two attack modes called Assault and Suppressive. The first is her regular attack combo of martial arts and gun-fu, but if you hold attack instead, she enters Suppressive Mode and fires off any Enhanced Shotshells banked.
You can gain these Enhanced Shotshells by using her EX special attack, ultimate, chain attack, and on the 4th or 5th strike of her Assault Mode basic attack. So, a good Zhu Yuan build buffs her crits and ether damage to maximise the power of those shotshells.
The best W-Engine for Zhu Yuan is the S-tier Riot Suppressor Mark VI which launches alongside her. This buffs crit damage by 15% and grants her eight charge stacks when she launches an EX special attack. Each time she damages an enemy with a basic attack, one charge is consumed, and her damage is buffed by 35%. As you'd imagine, this synergises perfectly with the Enhanced Shotshells that Zhu Yuan fires in her Suppressive Mode, buffing their already hefty damage.
If you already have the S-tier engine, The Brimstone, which adds an eight times stackable attack bonus, this could also work for her. In terms of A-tier W-Engines, there aren't all that many that fit her super well, but either Street Superstar or Starlight Engine should provide value. The first stacks three charges as your squad members perform chain attacks, converting each stack into a 15% ult damage buff, while the latter increases attack by 12% for 12 seconds when you use a dodge counter or a quick assist.
If you're using Zhu Yuan on a team with Nicole—which you 100% should be—I'd recommend four-pieces of Chaotic Metal. Two-pieces buffs ether damage by 10%, while four-pieces increases crit damage by 20% as well as the amount of damage dealt by the Corruption anomaly—perfect for an ether focused squad. For your remaining two-pieces, I'd whack on two Woodpecker Electro for the crit rate boost. While Zhu Yuan can get a 30% crit rate buff through her additional ability, a little extra will help her crit consistently.
In terms of base stats on the Drive Discs, I recommend:
Crit damage/crit rate and ether damage bonus are no-brainers since Zhu Yuan is an ether-based attack character. I also like energy regen on the sixth piece, since her ability to generate Enhanced Shotshells—which her damage relies on—is partly tied to her EX special attack, which creates three whenever you use it. You could take something like Anomaly Mastery instead, but it seems pointless if you're running her with Nicole.
For substats, you'll want crit damage, crit rate, attack, and some penetration if you can fit it, since this will let Zhu Yuan partly ignore a chunk of enemy defense and increases the power of any Enhanced Shotshell crits she manages to land.
Here's what you'll need to level up Zhu Yuan in Zenless Zone Zero:
You can get Offense Certification Seals through the Combat Simulation activity that unlocks via the main story. Select Agent Promotion and then Attack Drill in Zhu Yuan's case. Investigator Logs also come from the same place, you just need to choose Basic Material and then Investigation Specialization instead.
It's worth noting that, similar to previous miHoYo games, you'll need to raise your Inter-Knot reputation in order to gain access to higher character levels. Once you progress far enough, you'll also be able to change what enemies you fight in Combat Simulation to create a custom reward set that'll get you exactly what you need.
