Yanagi build | Zenless Zone Zero
Zenless Zone Zero’s Yanagi is a badass agent and the Deputy Chief of Hollow Special Operations Section 6. In this Yanagi build, we dive into this unique S-rank anomaly DPS, laying out her playstyle, W-engines, drive discs, team comps, and more – so prepare for some studying!
While you’re reading up on Yanagi, make sure to grab the new Zenless Zone Zero codes so you can bag yourself a playable character from the latest Zenless Zone Zero banner. Or, if you’re thrifty, you can save up for the next Zenless Zone Zero update by taking part in all the current Zenless Zone Zero events.
Here’s everything in our ZZZ Yanagi build:
What is the best ZZZ Yanagi build?
Yanagi is an S-rank anomaly specialty character who deals electric attribute damage and belongs to the Section 6 faction. She’s an on-field DPS with a unique kit that sees her excel in disorder or shock-focused teams, but her complex stance system and heavy combos can take a bit of practice to perfect.
Here’s a brief overview of our best Yanagi build:
| Rank | S |
| Attribute | Electric |
| Specialty | Anomaly |
| Attack type | Slash |
| Best W-Engine | Timeweaver |
| Best drive discs | 4pc Chaos Jazz and 2pc Freedom Blues |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats | Anomaly proficiency > attack ratio > pen |
Yanagi’s best W-Engine is her signature S-rank, Timeweaver. Her best drive disc set is four pieces of Chaos Jazz combined with two pieces of Thunder Metal, though you can go for a full set of Thunder Metal if you intend to exclusively play her in mono-electric or shock-focused teams.
When building Yanagi, you should focus on boosting her anomaly proficiency above all, though she also benefits from attack ratio and pen. Due to her powerful additional ability, we highly recommend pairing her up with at least one other electric or anomaly agent.
How to use Yanagi
Yanagi is a unique damage dealer best suited to a main DPS role in teams that focus on attribute anomalies and debuffing enemies. Her kit predominantly revolves around her special Polarity Disorder mechanic tied to her EX special attack and ultimate.
Generally, the disorder status effect to enemies, which deals an additional blow of damage and daze when an enemy is afflicted with a second attribute anomaly while the first is still active. However, Polarity Disorder allows Yanagi to trigger her own version of disorder on demand, regardless of the target’s anomaly buildup and whether the enemy’s current anomaly is the same or different from Yanagi’s (shock). She also boosts her squad’s disorder damage multipliers, allowing for some incredibly potent debuffs.
Due to her ability to trigger disorder on command and regardless of the anomaly, she’s capable of performing well in mono-electric teams, which previously struggled due to inconsistent shock application. However, she’s also an incredibly powerful DPS in disorder-focused teams, especially when paired up with fellow anomaly agent Burnice.
Yanagi offers top notch burst and sustained anomaly application, allowing you to keep your enemies shocked (and disordered) fairly consistently, and making her a brilliant main DPS in her top teams. However, she’s a very combo-heavy character who requires a bit of practice to master, as you need to pay attention to multiple buffs, her two stances, different combos and attack animations, and even character swaps and anomaly management in order to make the most of her abilities.
She also requires a lot of field time in order to maximize her rotations. This makes her team comps quite rigid, as she relies on them being able to complete their rotations and set up all their anomaly applications and buffs quickly so she can get back on the field as fast as possible.
When getting to grips with Yanagi’s playstyle, one of the most important parts is her stance mechanic. Yanagi has two stances – Jougen and Kagen – that she can swap between freely using her special attack or EX special attack. The two stances alter her basic attack pattern, while also granting her a different buff. Here’s a breakdown of the differences between the two stances:
Jougen stance
- Full basic attack combo deals a little more damage and anomaly build-up than the Kagen stance
- Offers a 10% electric damage buff. This buff remains active for eight seconds after switching to the Kagen stance
- Increases Yanagi’s anti-interrupt level throughout her basic attack combos
Kagen stance
- Full basic attack combo deals a little less damage and anomaly build-up than the Jougen stance
- Offers a 10% pen ratio buff. This buff remains active for eight seconds after switching to the Jougen stance
- Increases Yanagi’s interrupt level against enemies
Both Jougen and Kagen stance’s basic attack combos consist of five attacks – two physical attacks followed by three electric attacks. The two physical attacks aren’t very useful, but a lot of her skills allow her to skip right to the third basic attack in her combo, allowing you to pull off combos far quicker and more efficiently.
As noted above, the buffs provided by the different stances remain for eight seconds after switching. Additionally, if you have at least one other electric or anomaly agent on your team, switching stances also triggers her additional ability, which offers a substantial electric anomaly buildup boost that also lasts for eight seconds.
You can track what stance Yanagi is in, as well as which buff is active, by looking at the top-left corner of the screen. If both sides are lit up, it means that both the Jougen and Kagen buffs are active, meaning you have both the 10% pen ratio buff and the 10% electric damage buff.
As such, the bulk of her gameplay revolves around switching stances between tight, eight second combos in order to maximise her electric anomaly buildup and make the most of her self-applied buffs, using her EX special attack and ultimate to trigger Polarity Disorder, and occasionally switching between characters to apply buffs and trigger standard disorder reactions.
While Yanagi is on the field, your main priority should be keeping both buffs active by performing tight combos and using her special attack to switch stances regularly, which also allows you to skip right to the third basic attack in her combo. During this, your combo should be:
Special attack ➔ basic attack 3 ➔ basic attack 4 ➔ basic attack 5 ➔ repeat
When you have enough energy, you can press and hold her special attack to perform a two-part attack and trigger polarity disorder. This EX special attack also grants her the Shinrabanshou State, which means that whenever she uses her basic attack 5 she can immediately skip back to basic attack 3 without any assistance. Shinrabanshou State lasts for 15 seconds, allowing you a good period of time where you can perform her optimal basic attack combo even more consistently. In this state, your combo should be:
EX special attack ➔ basic attack 3 ➔ basic attack 4 ➔ basic attack 5 ➔ basic attack 3 ➔ basic attack 4 ➔ basic attack 5
Finally, Yanagi’s ultimate also triggers Polarity Disorder, dishing out a nice chunk of damage. It also offers a great amount of electric anomaly. Therefore, it’s certainly worth your decibels – but it isn’t crucial to Yanagi’s kit, so don’t worry if you feel a different ally’s ultimate would be more beneficial in the moment.
Believe it or not, this is a pretty brief summary of Yanagi’s kit – there are even more buffs and bonuses tied to her core passive, dodges, and assists – but getting to grips with all of it just takes a bit of practice in-game. Overall, while her skills and combos seem quite complicated, they come as second nature with a bit of time, and her outstanding damage and unique utility are certainly worth the effort. Plus, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she?
What’s Yanagi’s best W-Engine?
Yanagi’s best W-Engine is her signature S-rank, Timeweaver. It’s perfectly tailored to her kit, offering an unconditional flat boost to her attack ratio and electric anomaly buildup rate. It also boosts her anomaly proficiency when her special attack hits enemies suffering an attribute anomaly, and, when her anomaly proficiency hits a certain threshold, the disorder damage she inflicts also increases, which compliments her playstyle and team rotations perfectly. It’s an incredibly powerful option for her in all team comps, and is especially potent in disorder-focused teams.
Yanagi’s second-best W-Engine is Electro-Lip Gloss. It offers a welcome boost to her anomaly proficiency, while also boosting her attack ratio and damage dealt when there are enemies inflicted with attribute anomaly on the field. Due to her already excellent anomaly buildup, it’s pretty easy to keep all of these bonuses active consistently, with only a little prep time at the start of battle when you’re initially applying the very first anomaly to the enemy. Naturally, it performs best at S5 (superimpose level five), but is still a solid A-rank option at lower superimpose levels.
The standard S-rank W-Engine, Fusion Compiler, is also a strong option for Yanagi. It offers a flat boost to her attack ratio and pen ratio, while also mirroring Timeweaver’s ability to boost Yanagi’s anomaly proficiency whenever she uses a special attack or EX special attack. It doesn’t perform quite as well as Timeweaver, but as a standard weapon, its reliable stat boosts are still welcome. The main caveat is that you need to ensure that you’re weaving special and EX special attacks into Yanagi’s combos frequently to keep those stacks up.
If you don’t have any of the W-Engines above, Weeping Gemini is another decent A-rank W-Engine for Yanagi. Its effect provides Yanagi with a nice boost to her anomaly proficiency whenever a squad member inflicts an enemy with an attribute anomaly, and this boost can stack up to four times – though it does expire when the enemy recovers from stun or when you defeat it.
In battles where you’re facing multiple enemies and frequently inflicting attribute anomalies, Weeping Gemini at S5 can actually outperform some of Yanagi’s other W-Engine options – however, it’s a bit more situational, especially with the stacks’ expiration rules, meaning you may not be able to keep the stacks up and enjoy that tasty anomaly proficiency boost consistently.
Here are Yanagi’s best W-Engines:
| Timeweaver | Stat: attack ratio Effect: increases Yanagi’s electric anomaly buildup rate by 30%. When special attacks or EX special attacks hit enemies suffering an attribute anomaly, Yanagi’s anomaly proficiency increases for 15 seconds. When her anomaly proficiency is greater than or equal to 375, the disorder damage she inflicts increases |
Obtain from limited banner |
| Electro-Lip Gloss | Stat: anomaly proficiency Effect: when there are enemies inflicted with attribute anomaly on the field, Yanagi’s attack ratio increases and she deals additional damage to the target |
Obtain from standard or limited banners |
| Fusion Compiler | Stat: pen ratio Effect: increases attack. When using a special attack or an EX special attack, Yanagi’s anomaly proficiency increases for eight seconds, stacking up to three times. The duration of each stack is calculated separately |
Obtain from standard or limited banners |
| Weeping Gemini | Stat: attack ratio Effect: Whenever a squad member inflicts an attribute anomaly on an enemy, Yanagi gains a buff that increases her anomaly proficiency and stacks up to four times. This effect expires when the target recovers from stun or when you defeat them. The duration of each stack is calculated separately |
Obtain from standard or limited banners |
What are Yanagi’s best drive discs?
In disorder-focused teams, Yanagi’s best drive disc set is four pieces of Chaos Jazz. It offers a welcome boost to her anomaly proficiency and electric damage, and also boosts the damage of her EX special attacks and assist attacks whenever she leaves the field.
While other options are viable in disorder teams, this is easily the most comfortable and reliable, catering to her team rotations comfortably. This set is also quite flexible and, while it doesn’t perform as well as Thunder Metal in electric teams, allows you to comfortably switch up team comps without having to alter her build every time.
If you choose to equip Yanagi with four pieces of Chaos Jazz, we recommend combining it with two pieces of Freedom Blues for even more anomaly proficiency. However, you can also go with two pieces of Puffer Electro if you want to stack pen ratio, two pieces of Thunder Metal for additional electric damage, or two pieces of Hormone Punk for an additional attack ratio boost.
If you don’t have a full set of Chaos Jazz, a solid alternate drive disc set for disorder-focused Yanagi is two pieces of Chaos Jazz, two pieces of Freedom Blues, and two pieces of Thunder Metal. This offers 60 anomaly proficiency and 10% electric damage bonus, helping you boost her stats until you get a better set.
For electric teams, Yanagi’s best drive disc set is four pieces of Thunder Metal. This set offers 10% electric damage bonus, while also boosting her attack whenever an enemy is shocked. As electric teams focus on ensuring enemies are shocked at all times, Yanagi can freely make the most of the powerful attack ratio buff that this set offers.
If you choose to equip Yanagi with four pieces of Thunder Metal, we recommend combining it with two pieces of Chaos Jazz or Freedom Blues for the additional anomaly proficiency. Alternatively, you can choose to combine it with two pieces of Puffer Electro if you’re stacking pen ratio, or two pieces of Hormone Punk if you’d prefer the additional attack ratio boost.
Here are Yanagi’s best drive discs:
| Chaos Jazz | Two pieces: increases anomaly proficiency by 30 Four pieces: increases fire damage and electric damage by 15%. When off-field, increases the damage caused by EX special attacks and assist attacks by 20%. When Yanagi switches back onto the field, this buff continues for five seconds. The lasting effect can trigger once every 7.5 seconds |
| Thunder Metal | Two pieces: increases electric damage by 10% Four pieces: as long as an enemy in combat is shocked, Yanagi’s attack increases by 28% |
| Freedom Blues | Two pieces: increases anomaly proficiency by 30 |
| Puffer Electro | Two pieces: increases pen ratio by 8% |
| Hormone Punk | Two pieces: increases attack by 10% |
Stat recommendations
When selecting drive discs for Yanagi, we recommend prioritising the following stats.
Main stats:
- Disc 4: anomaly proficiency
- Disc 5: pen ratio or electric damage
- Disc 6: attack ratio
Sub-stats:
- Anomaly proficiency > attack ratio > pen
What are Yanagi’s best team comps?
Yanagi performs best as the main DPS in either disorder-focused teams or mono-electric teams that revolve around shocking enemies. Generally, disorder teams offer the highest damage potential, but Yanagi’s Polarity Disorder also diminishes a lot of the pre-existing issues in previous shock teams. As such, both options are viable, and we recommend trying them out to see which team comp and playstyle suits your personal preferences.
Here are Yanagi’s synergies:
- Burnice: Burnice and Yanagi make for an incredibly powerful anomaly duo, and create the basis of a formidable disorder-based team comp. As Yanagi’s kit is geared towards an on-field disorder damage dealer, Yanagi really appreciates Burnice’s DoT-based anomalies and low field time requirements. Additionally, Burnice’s ability to constantly apply anomaly through her Afterburn and the strong burst application offered through her EX special attack an ultimate allow you to line up plenty of disorder triggers for Yanagi to take advantage of
- Rina: Rina is a brilliant team mate for Yanagi in electric and shock-focused teams. Yanagi appreciates Rina’s electric/shock-specific buffs, and Rina’s pen ratio bonus compliments the pen ratio passive tied to Yanagi’s Kagen stance. Additionally, Rina doesn’t require much field time, which allows Yanagi plenty of room to pull off her combos
- Caesar: Caesar is an incredibly flexible support for both Yanagi’s disorder and electric teams. She offers a huge, refreshable shield with anti-interrupt, which is welcome when pulling off Yanagi’s combos, and also offers a potent (and almost permanent) attack buff, which Yanagi really appreciates. She also offers a great level of daze application, allowing you to disarm your opponents with ease
- Seth: While not as powerful as Caesar, Seth is a solid support for Yanagi in both disorder and electric teams. He has a very simple playstyle and takes up minimal field time, while also offering decent shields, a chunky anomaly efficiency bonus for himself and an ally, and a handy debuff that causes enemies to lose anomaly buildup resistance. Yanagi appreciates all of this, and her teams can take full advantage of his buffs, making him a welcome addition if you don’t have Caesar to back you up
- Lucy: Lucy is another solid support for Yanagi. Instead of focusing on defensive shields, she offers a substantial buff of up to 600 flat attack, which Yanagi appreciates. Additionally, her boars remain on the field and keep attacking enemies, dealing a small amount of damage and daze even when Lucy leaves the field, which is a nice bonus during Yanagi’s long field time. Her buffs and playstyle are quite flexible, and scale well through promotions, enhancements, and mindscape cinemas, which is also welcome as a launch release A-rank
Here are some of the best Yanagi team comps. Note that the support unit is flexible, so you can pick Caesar, Seth, or Lucy depending on who you have available – though Caesar will generally perform best in most scenarios.
What are Yanagi’s skills?
Here are all of Yanagi’s skills at level one. Keep in mind that you can level up each of her skills using the enhancement materials listed later in this guide.
Here are Yanagi’s attacks:
| Basic attack | Tsukuyomi Kagura Yanagi has two stances called Jougen and Kagen. Press the attack button to execute up to five forward slashes based on the current stance, dealing physical and electric damage. During combat, Yanagi gains the corresponding stance buff based on her current stance:
For eight seconds after switching stances, Yanagi retains the bonus from the previous stance |
| Special attack | Ruten Press the special attack button to perform a forward slash dealing electric damage, and switch the current stance. Anti-interrupt level increases during this skill. If activated after the third, fourth, or fifth hit of a basic attack, it activates Swift Ruten, speeding up the slashes while switching her current stance. Yanagi blocks enemy attacks while Swift Ruten is active. Upon activating Swift Ruten, Yanagi can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
| EX special attack | Gekka Ruten With enough energy, hold the special attack button to charge up power for a quick forward thrust followed by a downward attack, dealing massive electric damage. Upon executing the thrust, Yanagi switches stances and enters the Shinrabanshou state for 15 seconds. During this time, when Yanagi follows up with a subsequent basic attack from the fifth hit of a basic attack or other skills, the combo begins directly from the third hit of the basic attack. Additionally, if the skill’s downward attack hits an enemy suffering an anomaly, it triggers a special disorder effect called Polarity Disorder. Polarity Disorder deals 15% of the original disorder effect’s damage to the target, plus an additional 725% of Yanagi’s anomaly proficiency. Polarity Disorder does not remove the target’s anomaly. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill |
Here are Yanagi’s dodges:
| Dodge | Wandering Breeze Press the dodge button to perform a quick dash dodge. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Dash attack | Fleeting Flight Press the attack button during a dodge to slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage |
| Dodge counter | Rapid Retaliation Press the attack button during a perfect dodge to slash enemies in front, dealing electric damage. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill. After using this skill, you can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
Here are Yanagi’s combo attacks:
| Quick assist | Blade of Elegance When an enemy launches the on-field character, switch to Yanagi to slash enemies in front, dealing electric damage. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill. After using this skill, you can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
| Defensive assist | Radiant Reversal When an enemy is about to attack the on-field character, switch to Yanagi to parry the enemy’s attack, dealing massive daze. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Assist follow-up | Weeping Willow Stab Press the attack button after a defensive assist to switch stances and quickly deliver multiple slashes to enemies in front, dealing electric damage, Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill. After using this skill, you can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
| Chain attack | Celestial Harmony When a chain attack triggers, select Yanagi to switch stances and unleash a powerful slash on enemies in front, dealing massive electric damage. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill. After using this skill, you can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
| Ultimate | Raiei Tenge Yanagi unleashes her potential and delivers a powerful slash to a large area of enemies in front in a very short time, followed by an additional lightning strike, dealing massive electric damage. When the lightning strike hits an enemy affected by an attribute anomaly, it triggers a special disorder effect called Polarity Disorder. Polarity Disorder deals damage equal to 15% of the original disorder effect plus an additional 725% of Yanagi’s anomaly proficiency. Polarity Disorder doesn’t remove the target’s anomaly. Yanagi is invulnerable while using this skill. After using this skill, Yanagi can immediately follow up with the third hit of the current stance’s basic attack |
Here are Yanagi’s passives:
| Core passive | Lunar Eclipse After Yanagi activates her EX special attack, the damage multiplier of disorder increases by 125% when any squad member applies the disorder effect to an enemy, lasting 15 seconds. When her EX special attack hits an enemy, Yanagi’s electric damage against the target increases by 10% for 15 seconds |
| Additional ability | Gessou When another character in your squad is an anomaly character or shares the same attribute (electric), when Yanagi hits an enemy with her basic attack Tsukuyomi Kagura after switching stances, electric anomaly buildup increases by 45% for eight seconds |
What are Yanagi’s mindscape cinemas?
Mindscape cinemas are special buffs and passive skills that you can unlock when you pull a duplicate of a character on a banner, similar to Genshin Impact’s constellations or Honkai Star Rail’s eidolons.
Here are all of Yanagi’s mindscape cinemas:
| 01 | Know Thy Self, Know Thy Enemy When any squad member inflicts an anomaly on an enemy, Yanagi gains one stack of clarity, lasting 15 seconds, stacking up to three times. Repeated triggers reset the duration. When an enemy attack hits Yanagi, she consumes one stack of clarity to gain invulnerability for one second. When Yanagi has one or more stacks of clarity, her anomaly proficiency increases by 80 |
| 02 | Outstanding Adaptability During Yanagi’s EX special attack, the rapid thrust’s electric anomaly buildup increases by 20%. Holding down the special attack button after hitting an enemy with a rapid thrust consumes ten additional energy to launch another thrust. If Yanagi’s energy is insufficient or you release the button, the attack automatically follows up with the downward attack. When the downward attack hits an enemy suffering an anomaly and triggers Polarity Disorder, the damage multiplier increases to 20% of the original disorder effect. Each additional thrust increases this multiplier by 15%, up to a maximum of two extra thrusts |
| 03 | Tsukishiro Style Management Increases the level of Yanagi’s basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack by two |
| 04 | Chessmaster When Yanagi inflicts attribute anomaly damage on an enemy, they suffer the exposed effect for 15 seconds. Attacks on enemies under the expose effect have 16% increased pen ratio |
| 05 | “Other Mother” Increases the level of Yanagi’s basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack by two |
| 06 | Inhuman Blood After a thrust attack during Yanagi’s EX special attack, the duration of the Shinrabanshou state increases to 30 seconds. While the state is active, EX special attack damage increases by 20%. Increases the maximum number of times the additional damage multiplier increase effect for Outstanding Adaptability’s Polarity Disorder can trigger to four, and halves the energy cost for the first four additional thrust attacks |
What are Yanagi’s promotion materials?
If you want to level Yanagi up, you need to promote her at certain intervals using denny and anomaly certification seals.
Here are all of Yanagi’s promotion materials:
| 10➔20 |
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| 20➔30 |
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| 30➔40 |
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| 40➔50 |
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| 50➔60 |
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Here’s where to get all of Yanagi’s promotion materials:
- Anomaly certification seals – obtain from the agent promotion combat simulation challenges
What are Yanagi’s core skill enhancement materials?
You can enhance Yanagi’s core passive by increasing her core skill level, but you need a set of specific materials to do so.
Here are all of Yanagi’s core skill enhancement materials:
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| C |
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| D |
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| E |
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| F |
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Here’s where to get all of Yanagi’s core skill enhancement materials:
- Higher dimension data – destructive advance – obtain from the Typhon Slugger expert challenge
- Living drives – obtain from the Unknown Corruption Complex notorious hunt
What are Yanagi’s skill enhancement materials?
You can increase each of Yanagi’s individual skills to a maximum of level 12 using a specific set of materials.
Here are all of Yanagi’s skill enhancement materials:
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| 03 |
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| 04 |
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| 05 |
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| 06 |
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| 07 |
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| 08 |
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| 09 |
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| 10 |
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| 11 |
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| 12 |
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Here’s where to get all of Yanagi’s skill enhancement materials:
- Shock chips – obtain from the agent skills combat simulation challenges
- Hamster cage pass – obtain from events or the New Eridu City Fund (battle pass)
Who is Yanagi?
Tsukishiro Yanagi is the Deputy Chief of Hollow Special Operations Section 6. While we don’t know much about her yet, the quotes on her Agent Record imply that she’s a stickler for rules, and always sets out to get the job done properly, with Harumasa suggesting that she “does not have the phrase ‘turn a blind eye’ in her dictionary.” Despite this, it seems like she’s still willing to joke around sometimes, as shown in her reveal tweet – though whether these “jokes” are actually funny is another story.
Yanagi also seems to take on quite a motherly role when it comes to the other members of Section 6, with a new Hollow Special Operations employee even noting that her desk was filled with flowers on Mother’s Day.
Beyond that, Yanagi appears to have a certain passion for red bean buns, causing Soukaku to question whether they’re “really that tasty” after Yanagi gave Soukaku the rest of her lunch box in favor of going off to buy more of those delicious buns.
That’s everything in our ZZZ Yanagi build. While you’re here, be sure to check out our Zenless Zone Zero tier list to see how the current Zenless Zone Zero characters rank.
