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The culmination of the first story arc inZenless Zone Zerotakes place in the Ballet Twins, a derelict hotel buried in a Hollow, and the end boss is the Twin Marionettes, a pair of dancing Ethereals intent on not just expelling you but putting you in an early grave. For the unprepared, this fight can be a nightmare.
Beating the Twin Marionettes is as much a dance as it is a fight, befitting their appearances. It’s also a DPS-management sim because the Marionettes each have their own health bars, and you need to defeat both of them in quick succession.
All Twin Marionnette Attacks
The Twin Marionettes don’t have the longest attack list, nor do they have a second phase, asyou’re fighting two boss-level enemies at once. However, that doesn’t mean their bladed tutus can’t shred your entire party in a few swipes.
Can Be Parried or Dodged?
Triple Kick Into Dive Kick
All hits of the attack can be parried and dodged.
Each Marionetteteleports to youand tries to kick you, then one of themkicks a third time, jumpsinto the air, and uses adive kick.
Because this attack is so fast,reaction parrying it is tough, and you shouldonly parry the final attackto keep from using too many Perfect Assist tokens.
Spinning Tutu Blades
Can be dodged but not parried.
After brieflyraising their right handsabove their heads, both Marionettes willproduce several blades from their tutusand spin for several seconds.
The easiest way to avoid this attack is tosimply run away, as itdoesn’t track and hasabysmal range. It does, however, have afew seconds of recoveryto let you get infree damage.
Twirl
The attack can be parried and dodged.
The Marionettes willlock handsand theone will begin to twirl the otherfor several seconds,kicking with bladed legsthe whole way.
Like the spinning tutu blades attack, you caneasily run awayfrom this attack, as itlacks any trackingor range. Therecovery is almost five seconds,as well.
Twirl and Toss
For this attack, the Marionettes willteleport to the centerof the arena andbegin to twirl.They’ll then both lunge at you andspin their blades three times.
Your best bet here is tostart running perpendicular to the bosses and dodgejust after they generate a large purple flash.
Caesar’s Skill can “parry” the attack,but other characters willjust need to dodge.Like the smaller twirl attack, this one has a long recovery.
Synchronized Dive Kick
The Marionettes will come together andjump highin the air, coming down in adive kick as a pair.
As with the Twirl and Toss, theMarionettes will flash just before the attack goes off, giving you a marker for when to dodge.
Silvered Leg Slashes
In this attack, the Marionettesget up on one leg one at a time andslash at you.Each slash leaves asilver trailin the air. Thefirst strikeonlyslashes once. Thesecondsetslashes once, then spins twice.
Each slash has abrief windup, anddodgingahalf-second after each windupwill allow you to avoid the attack.
Synchronized Silver Slashes
Aftercoming together and holding hands for a moment, thered unblockable lightwill shine and both Marionettes willstart to spin,leaving a silver trail where their legs travel.
As soon as this attack starts,dodge out of the wayand wait for it to end. It has minimal tracking andno forward momentum.
Deadly Dance
Themore dangerousversion of thetwirl and toss, here the Marionettesreturn to the centerof the arena andturn into beams of energythatcross the space seven times.
Watch thelines that appear on the ground, as these will tell youwhere the Marionettes will cross.
Dodgeabout ahalf-second after the lines appearto avoid that strike.
Best Teams And Strategies
The Marionettes, as launch window bosses, areweak to both Ice and Ether damage, andlack any significant resistances, making them fairly easy to build for. However, you should still keep the following in mind:
Damage
Agent Gulliver
To say Miyabi cracks the game open like an egg is an understatement. She reduces it to atoms, and withYanagi providing Disorder activations and Astra Yao’s massive buffs, heals, and supplemental Ether damage, don’t expect the Marionettes to take much effort at all. Specifically:
Bangboo
This team assumes you’ve done at least a few pulls on some limited S-Rank banners, but don’t have access to the full suite of top-tier options. However,it’s still more than capable of taking on the Marionettesbecause:
Buffs and shields
Electroboo, Brawlerboo, Luckyboo
While you shouldn’t expect this team to have nearly as comfortable a time as any team with an S-Rank, the community has been makingPiper into an endgame-shredding powerhouse since launch, and that’s unlikely to change.
