Zenless Zone Zero best Lycaon build
The best Drive Disc, W-Engines, and teams for Lycaon.
Lycaon is an S-Rank Ice character with the Stun Speciality in Zenless Zone Zero who you get on the Star-Studded Cast Banner, and by losing the 50/50 on a limited-time character's Banner.
You can also pick Lycaon as your free regular S-Rank character after pulling 300 times on the Star-Studded Cast Banner in Zenless Zone Zero.
As he's such a good Stun character, it's good to know the best Lycaon build in Zenless Zone Zero so you can make the most out of his kit. This includes the best Lycaon Drive Discs, the best Lycaon weapon, and the best Lycaon teams to use.
If it's more general information you're after, then be sure to check out our Lycaon materials and kit page for details on his Core Passives, and what materials you need to Promote him, and level-up Lycaon's Skills.
On this page:
Best Lycaon Build
We have more detailed explanations and alternative picks below, but at a glance, here's what we consider the best Lycaon build in Zenless Zone Zero:
- Best Weapon: S-Rank The Restrained.
- Best Drive Disc Set: 4-piece Shockstar Disco and 2-piece Swing Jazz.
- Best team: Ellen and Soukaku.
How to play Lycaon
The key with Lycaon is to hold his Basic Attack to perform a Charged Attack, then hold the Basic Attack again to finish his Charge Attack combo. An easy way to time this is to hold the Basic Attack button until you see Lycaon's leg suspended in the air, then hold the Basic Attack button again.
You want to perform this combo to deal Ice damage and activate Lycaon's Core Passive, which increases the Daze damage enemies take. Stunning enemies is your main goal with Lycaon, as it lets you swap to your main DPS to cause as much damage as possible before the Stun duration runs out.
You also want to use Lycaon's EX Special Attack or Assist Follow-Up as often as possible, as it decreases the target enemies' Ice Resistance for 30 seconds when Lycaon lands a successful hit on them. A very useful, very long, buff that is perfect for your Ice teams, or if you want to build Lycaon in more of a main attacker role.
Just remember to hold the EX Special Attack button down to enhance its effects.
Best Lycaon teams
Lycaon's best team is with Ellen and Soukaku, which just so happens to be one of the best teams in Zenless Zone Zero overall. The squad is so good because Lycaon in the best and quickest at Stunning enemies (and has Ice Resistance Shred), Soukaku is a fantastic Ice Support thanks to the massive attack buff she gives the character you swap to after using her Fly the Flag ability, and Ellen is the strongest Attack character in the game, as of writing. Ellen and Lycaon also get an additional buff, as they are part of the same Faction.
All is not lost if you don't have this ideal team, however, as Lycaon is so good, you can slot him into almost any other team, thanks to his speedy Stun and Daze capabilities. Just keep in mind that he is best utilised in Ice teams, or teams with an Ice Attack character.
That said, although you can run Lycaon with any attacker, pairing him with Corin might give you a bit of an edge in some situations, thanks to their Faction buffs. The same logic applies when picking Rina if you're in need of a Support character other than Soukaku, as Rina is also in the same Faction as Lycaon (and is also just generally a fantastic Support character).
Best Lycaon Drive Discs
We think the 4-piece Shockstar Disco is the best Drive Disc set for Lycaon in Zenless Zone Zero, as its 2-piece increases Impact, and its 4-piece inflicts 20% more Daze on a main target enemy - both very useful boosts for Stun characters.
Alternatively, you could equip the 4-Piece Swing Jazz Drive Disc set on Lycaon, as its 2-piece increases Energy Regen, and its 4-piece increases all squad members' damage for 12 seconds when Lycaon launches a Chain Attack or Ultimate. This is a great general support set for your entire team, but overall, we think Shockstar Disco benefits Lycaon the most (unless you have incredible substats on your Swing Jazz pieces and no other character is using them!)
We do recommend using Swing Jazz in your 2-piece slots, however, to get that boost to Energy Regen. You could also slot the 2-piece Polar Metal set here instead, if you want Lycaon to deal a little more Ice damage.
Best Lycaon weapons
S-Rank The Restrained is Lycaon's best weapon in Zenless Zone Zero. It's the best pick for him because it increases the Daze and damage dealt with Lycaon's Basic Attacks, which you want to be doing anyway, and it passively boosts Lycaon's Impact and Attack.
The S-Rank Hellfire Gears is Lycaon's next best option, as it also passively boosts his Impact and Attack, while its main effect increases Lycaon's Energy Regen when he's off-field, and increases Lycaon's Impact when using an EX Special Attack, which can stack two times.
As for A-Rank options, we think the Precious Fossilized Core is generally the best option overall. It increases the Daze Lycaon deals when an enemy is above 50% HP, which is great for mobs, but do keep in mind its value decreases when fighting single-target or duo-target bosses with a lot of health.
If you don't want to deal with this limitation, then the A-Rank Six Shooter is a good alternative for its increase to Lycaon's Daze when using an EX Special Attack. The A-Rank Steam Oven can be even better if you have enough Energy Regen for Lycaon, as for every 10 Energy accumulated, Lycaon's Impact is increased, stacking up to eight times. After his Energy is consumed, the bonus remains for eight more seconds.
If you're yet to get any of these options, then the only B-Rank option really worth your time is the Vortex Arrow for its passive Impact boost and Daze increase.
All the best building Lycaon in Zenless Zone Zero!