You fight a lot of bosses inZenless Zone Zero, and while some have a smaller amount of story significance, others exist as part of a new game mode or activity and live nowhere else. Thankfully, you can still experience most of these less narratively significant fights as part of the Expert Challenge.

You’ll want to fight them, too, because you’ll need the upgrade materials they provide. Expert Challenge fights aren’t particularly difficult but are a key part of character progression. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the Expert Challenge.

Belle standing in the HIA building with Lyla in Zenless Zone Zero.

How To Unlock Expert Challenges

There aretwo requirementsto unlock all Expert Challenges:

You probablywon’t be able to access Expert Challengesfor a few days afterstarting a fresh account, as you need to beat least Inter-Knot level 22. That level isexperience-gatedfor most players, especially if you’re free-to-play. The main hangup isa lack of Battery Chargeto speed up leveling.

Once bothcommissions are complete,you’ll get atext message from the HIAinviting you toparticipate in the Expert ChallengeVR mode. Visit them andspeak to Lylaon the right side of the front desk to try out the mode for the first time.

The Notoroius Dullahan Expert Challenge stat screen in Zenless Zone Zero.

All Expert Challenge Bosses And Rewards

There areeight Expert Challenge bosses, and each fight hasfour difficulties:levels 25, 35, 45, and 55. All the fightsshare the same rewards, save for thatboss’s specific skill upgradematerial and the amount of rewards you receive.

Each bossalso has their own set ofweaknesses and resistances, and encounters apply onebuff and one debuffto the enemies, particularly the boss. And while you don’t need to make bespoke teams for Expert Challenges, having several adequately built ones does make farming easier.

Ellen Joe, Lycaon, and Soukaku in a team in Zenless Zone Zero.

Daze increasedby 20 percent.

Daze recovery rate reducedby 15 percent.

Ifall initial enemies are defeatedwhen Dullahan takes the field, itenters with 20 percent Daze buildup.

Audio Booster Master Copy: 4-6 (levels 25 and 35)

All characters who need Dullahan materials in Zenless Zone Zero.

Noise Reduction Master Copy: 3-5 (levels 45 and 55)

Thedamage bonus resetswhen he’sstunned, and his Stundamage multiplierincreases by20 percent.

Defensive Assist and Assist Follow-upDaze buildup increasedby 10 percent.

Fire, Physical

Ice

While in thechargingstate, hisdamage is increasedby 20 percent, butAnomaly buildup also increasesby 15 percent.

Physical

Boss damage takenfrom Dodge Counters and Assist Follow-up attacksincreasedby 40 percent.

Every time theboss dodges or blocksan agent’s attack, itsdamage increasesby six percent, up to 30 percent.

Ice, Ether

Non

While in itschargedstate,increases damage dealt by 20 percent, butAnomaly buildup increasedby 15 percent.

Dennies: 1,500-2,500

Best Teams For Each Expert Challenge

Again,using optimal teams isn’t necessaryto easily beat an Expert Challenge, especially once you may take your characters to level 60. However, using the proper setups while you’re leveling your account can make the process easier.

Sub-DPS: Lycaon

Support: Soukaku

EllenJoe is asolid Ice DPSwho’s straightforward to play, easy to build, and candish out respectable damage.

Lycaonis afantastic Ice Stununit whoincreases the Stun window damagebonus anddecreases enemy Ice resistance.

Soukakurounds out the 1.0 DPS meta team with aneasy-to-apply Attack bonusand surprisingly goodIce Anomaly and Stun buildup.

Sub-DPS: Grace

Support: Lucy

Soldier 11is aserviceable Fire DPSwho’s not too technical to use and, built well,can do workable damage.

Graceis part of this team primarily for herShock Anomaly buildupand theDisorderactivations, but she’sa fine Anomaly characteron her own.

Lucyis a great Support whoenables quick swappingand damagebuffswith her Skill, plus a fair bit ofadditional Fire Anomalybuildup.

Sub-DPS: Anby

Support: Seth

Zhu Yuanis a veryfun to play Ether DPSwith a bit of technicality to her kit and who hassome of the best Stun window damagein the game.

Anbymight notquitebe on the level of S-Rank Stun units, buther mobility and Stun buildupare more thanusable.

Sethprovides ashield, the faction and attribute bonus, and somebuffs to Zhu Yuan’s Anomalydamage.

Soldier 11is here totake advantageof Hans’sFire weakness.

Burniceis thepreeminent Fire Anomaly applier, and between her and Soldier 11, yourenemies will always be Burning.

Soukaku’s buffs aside, herIce Anomaly buildup is extremely helpfulhere for Disorder activations.

Sub-DPS: Qingyi

Support: Rina

Harumasaisabsurdly strongfor being completely free, and his ability toswapbetweenlong and short-rangecombat means he’s just a biteasier to keep alive.

Qingyi’s greatest asset to the team is her ability togreatly increase the Stun window damage bonus, which lets Harumasa deal even more damage.

Rina’sShock damage bonusandPEN Ratio reductionboth synergize well with Harumasa and Qingyi, plusher own damage isn’t terriblefor a Support, either.

Sub-DPS: Burnice

Piper’s damage outputfor an A-Rank unit ispretty wild, and thoughshe requires a lot of fieldtime to put up numbers, it’s well worth the effort.

Burnice’s flames ensurePiper will always have a consistent source of Fire Anomalyto activate Disorders from. Plus, Burnice’s supplemental damage is pretty good.

Lucy’s buffsgive Piper a bit ofextra raw damageon top of her Anomaly buildup, as well asrounding out the Sons of Calydon squad.

Support: Caesar

Fighting Jane with Janeis more than just fun metagaming.Real Janewillcut deepinto the Doppelganger’sPhysical Weaknessand applytons of Physical Anomalybuildup.

BurnicegivesJanethe ability tocomfortably activate Disordersand provide some solid damage of her own.

Caesar’s shields are the strongestin the game, and provide the active character with somesolid damage buffs, as well.

Sub-DPS: Yanagi

Support: Astra Yao

Miyabitakes fulladvantage of Thracian’s Ice weakness, and combined with herout-of-this world damagepotential, the boss won’t know what hit it.

Yanagi enables Miyabi’s kit via additional Disorder activations, andher Electric damageis definitely substantial.

Astra Yaonot only provideshuge buffsto Miyabi and Yanagi’sAttack, she lets themquick swapwith ease, canheal with her Ultimate, and is very easy to use.

All Characters And Their Linked Expert Challenges

If you want toupgrade an Agent’s Skillall the way, you’ll need tocomplete the Expert Challengesthat award their specific upgrade materials. All told, you’llneed 60 of their Higher Dimensional Datato unlock every Skill node. Specifically: