In July 2024, Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ), the free-to-play game from HoYoverse, launched and has been receiving questions from new users asking: Is ZZZ a gacha game? Yes, it is. The gacha mechanics of Zenless Zone Zero are defined by the Signal Search system, which allows you to purchase pulls for agents, W-Engines, and Bangboo using premium currency. You can download the game for free and complete the campaign without paying; however, if you wish to have a large roster of characters, you will need to engage with the gacha systems. As ZZZ approaches version 3.0 in late 2026, the understanding of these mechanics will be even more critical than it was at launch.

Is Zenless Zone Zero a Gacha Game?

The Signal Search gacha mechanic controls all S-Rank agent acquisition in ZZZ. You earn or buy Polychrome, and then use it to redeem either master tapes or encrypted master tapes for gacha pulls. The product you receive is random, with the majority of products being W-Engines of lower rarity and A-rank characters, while S-rank agents are the highest value products obtainable from Signal Search.

There are three categories of items obtainable through Signal Search. Agents are your playable characters and are arranged into three-character teams with an assigned role of either attack, stun, anomaly, support, or defence. W-Engines are the character's weapons and provide character-specific stats and passives that accommodate the respective strengths of their kits. You will have access to the Bangboo robotic companions through the Bangboo Channel banner. The Bangboo will assist you with in-fight utility via skill sets that offer unique Chain Attack extensions.

Game publishers HoYoverse have made it easy for players to join in on the free-to-play entry game with the ability to download ZZZ on both PC through HoYoPlay as well as mobile devices (Android, IOS), and one of the console options (PS5, Xbox Series X and S) at no charge. The entire main story and all significant faction arcs in ZZZ will only require the player to play the game resorting to using real currency to create fun experiences up until the conclusion of Version 2.7.

HoYoverse continues to reward players with a plethora of Polychrome currency on a daily basis with daily rewards, main game world exploration, event participation, and when they achieve both the patch milestone and then continue to reward players daily through daily rewards, etc. All of this is occurring while you’re playing an always-on, live-service game that continually requires an Internet connection to play. Also, new content updates will generally arrive around every six weeks which limit the availability of characters and items that will rotate (i.e., limited banner releases) regularly.

ZZZ Gacha Banner and Pool Analysis

ZZZ uses multiple available channels on which you can access your available pulls from your respective banners. Each channel has its own specific "pity counter," wherein that individual channel and its respective pity counter function in isolation from the other channels. This is crucial information if you are planning how and when to pull. With a 90-pull hard pity for the Character Banner, you are guaranteed to get an S-Rank Agent no later than the 90th pull. However, due to how the soft pity mechanics work—generally beginning between 74 and 80 pulls with a much quicker increase from the standard rate of 0.6% for the first pull to the 0.6% rate for the next pull—most players obtain their S-Rank Agent much sooner than 90 pulls. The W-Engine Channel is the only channel that has a different set of rules; there is an 80-pull hard pity with a 75/25 split for featured weapons as opposed to the standard (character) 50/50 split.

Due to how the S-Rank Agent system is designed, every 50% chance of receiving an S-Rank Agent from Exclusive Channel Banners guarantees you have already pulled or received that S-Rank Agent (standard) from the previous banner or exclusive channel. If you pull from an Exclusive Channel with the 50/50 chance, and then receive an S-Rank Agent on the next Exclusive Channel you pull from, then you are guaranteed that the next S-Rank Agent will be from the same band information type as the S-Rank Agent you pulled/received. Therefore, if you are able to wait until a new Limited Time banner appears, you may pull for items in this banner and there will already be one or more S-Rank Agents waiting to be pulled (but you must do this after you have completed your pull from the prior Limited Time banner). ### Exclusive Channel

Exclusive Channel is where limited S-Rank Agents appear for a specific duration and will cycle out after that time. In 2.7 "Champions Never Fall to the Past" the featured units in Phase 1 were Nangong Yu (Ether, Stun) and in Phase 2 were Cissia (Electric, Attack). These characters were designed with the current meta in mind, so they tend to have superior performance compared to the vast majority of unlimited use options at endgame levels like Shiyu Defence and Hollow Zero.

The rate-up procedures on this system are straightforward — Each S-Rank is either featured as an Agent or, they also will eventually become the guaranteed Agent featured in future Channel's. Pity from expired Exclusive Channel's banners rolls to the next banner of the Exclusive Channel. This rollover is one of the more player friendly features of ZZZ's system because you don't have to worry about losing progress after an Exclusive Channel banner's expiration. This is a huge advantage for players planning long-term.

Stable Channel

ZZZ's Standard Banner is known as the Stable Channel. The permanent S-Rank units available in the Stable Channel include Grace, Koleda, Lycaon, Nekomata, Rina, and Soldier 11. These units will be able to be pulled using standard Master Tape's, not Encrypted Master Tape's - meaning that players looking for limited value will generally look to the Exclusive Channel rather than the Stable Channel as a higher priority.

New accounts do get a fair amount of incentives from the Stable Channel when they first establish. Your first five 10-pulls will cost you 20 percent less as well as your S-Rank rating in relationship to the beginner's pity being guaranteed within 50 pulls rather than the normal 90 (except in the case when another temporary banner exists with 50 available). In the Stable Channel there will NEVER be a featured system indicating a higher rate of being pulled than the other units. You are just rolling randomly in terms of the permanent pool. For those of you who want to progress in a game, this can be thought of as mostly a passive banner through which you can play on free Master Tapes and create Residual Signals. Residual Signals can be spent on additional tapes, W-Engines, and upgrade materials every month through the Signal Search Shop.

Zenless Zone Zero Monetization Experience

Polychrome income for free-to-play players typically falls somewhere between 50 to 75 pulls (or draws) every six weeks when staying consistent with daily commissions, Hollow Zero weeklies, successfully completing Shiyu Defenses, up to date on limited-time events). Version milestone rewards and checking in daily with HoYoLAB will also help. A dedicated F2P player can most likely get a serious attempt at pulling one limited banner each patch (assuming a player is doing well) while making chasing after yet another limited unit more difficult than it sounds.

If you are willing to spend a little money, the Monthly Pass and Battle Pass are two of the most effective entry points. The Monthly Pass allows you to generate 300 Polychrome over thirty days with a relatively low expense, which makes it an excellent value per dollar spent and the best income-generating option in the game. It is possible to choose up to three bundles of either Master Tapes or Polychrome after completing the Battle Pass, giving you options on how to maximize your income-producing potential after completing its patch-long to-do list. Combining these two services increases your leading edge and reduces any feelings or worries about becoming a "whale".

The time frame from Version 2.7 to the expected Version 3.0 anniversary update sees "banner" pressure begin to become real. It appears that Version 3.0 will have extremely high priority on S-Rank Agents, connected to the two-year anniversary of the game. Generally speaking, greater incentives are presented to players, but sometimes players have more than one option of what they can spend their Polychromes on, which creates additional incentive to spend more at that point in time. If you invested leading up to Patch 2.7 in getting either Cissia or Nangong Yu as your primary harvester, you may find a much narrower margin for realigning your characters (especially with 3.0) than if you had spent less during that period.

Is Zenless Zone Zero about spending money to win?

It depends. If your only goal is to complete the story, faction arcs, and most of the event content, you probably won’t need to spend any real money. ZZZ’s combat mechanics are extremely skill intensive. Timing your Perfect Dodges, planning your Chain Attacks appropriately, and knowing how your elemental anomaly interactions affect an encounter will all significantly impact the success of your team. You should have no problem completing all of the narrative-type content using a well-constructed team of standard banner units or free-to-play characters. To clearly state again, You don’t need to spend real money to experience any of ZZZ’s main elements of gameplay.

The pay-to-win conversation will become much more complicated however when transitioning to score-based end game content. For example, players with higher quality agents will generally score higher in modes such as Shiyu Defense, Hollow Zero, and Infinite Abyss, than players who utilise fewer or no agents of limited availability throughout each patch. It all boils down to how you want to measure your success; if you’re looking at the leader boards or just trying to reach the highest threshold of rewards.

The biggest challenge for players is associated with the signature W-Engine divide; each limited S-Rank Agent has an associated signature W-Engine in the W-Engine Channel, which is typically designed to work very well with the agent. In many instances, they can increase effective damage approximately 20-30% higher than strong four-star options. However, the catch is apparent: pulling for the weapon and at the same time means spending on a second banner which will greatly increase the total amount needed to fully optimize one character, nearly double the cost for most players. As a result, for the vast majority of players, greater overall roster value—having a larger number of viable teams available across elements and roles—far outweighs obtaining that extra weapon-based damage.

How New Players Can Maximize the Value of Gacha in Zenless Zone Zero

If you were to start playing ZZZ in 2026, there will already be an extensive list of previous limited Agents. Regardless, the best way for you to play in your early days will still be prioritizing character banners first. Building multiple fully-functional three-Agent teams spanning multiple elements and factions will yield you much more value (practical) over time than solely maxing out your one favourite Agent. Because faction synergy bonuses reward fluid team building, whenever you pull a new Agent, you will also be boosting many different future teams of Agents too.

Using Encrypted Master Tapes in the Stable Channel is typically a poor trade. You will accrue standard banner value over the period of time through free Master Tapes that will be provided through events, shops, and other sources. Intentionally utilizing premium resources for Master Tapes on Stable Channel to acquire Agents will hinder you from developing your roster moving forward. Most new players should view their time in the Stable Channel as background progression, rather than as a resource where you should actively use your resources to invest in.

Establishing the habit of saving for strong meta supports is one of the best things that you can do at an early stage in the game. In the meta of 2026, characters that can quickly daze and/or amplify Anomaly buildup are key in unlocking the most powerful teams; therefore, limited support chars are often better value than rolling for another DPS. It may feel tempting to roll every time a new banner comes along that has lots of shiny characters but early on, you will get a lot more bang for your buck if you set a plan to achieve one or two target characters per patch.

The W-Engine banner is also a great place for new players to be very careful. While yes, signature W-Engines are great, at the same time, an 80-pull pity from one of the other banners is going to cost you a lot of pulls, and every pull from a banner will be one less pull to get another Agent. So until your account has at least two to three solid three-character squads and good A-Rank W-Engine coverage, using the weapon banners should be a luxury and not a necessity.

Zenless Zone Zero FAQ

How generous is ZZZ with rewards and pulls in 2026?

ZZZ appears to be fairly average within the overall gacha space. It seems more generous than older HoYoverse games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail after their Version 3.0 anniversary, so hopefully, there will be more generous Polychrome rewards this year as well. Regardless, patch income is not high enough to guarantee a person will have every featured unit in each patch without budgeting for the entire patch.

Will pity carry over?

Yes, only within their respective banner types. If you have pity built up on an Exclusive Channel, it will roll over onto the next Exclusive Channel banner, as well as your guarantee status from losing a 50/50. However, pity will not roll over between character banners and W-Engine banners, and neither will either interact with the Bangboo Channel in any way.

What is the best banner for beginners?

If you’re just starting and need to determine the best target for your pulls, the Exclusive Channel banner that contains the Agent you are going to play as the core of your team is a good choice for the best target. For example, a strong Stun unit will make Chain Attack loops run much smoother, while a top-tier Support unit will enable greater Anomaly buildup and overall team contribution. Since both roles tend to have a more extended lifespan and will fit into more team compositions over time, this is a good option to choose. The benefit of the Stable Channel offer at the beginning is nice, but should not become your primary location for pulling until you have access to Encrypted Master Tapes.

Is ZZZ worth playing without spending money?

Absolutely! The gameplay is fantastic, the story-telling is solid, and HoYoverse has been fairly consistent in updating the game without blocking the best parts behind a paywall. By managing Polychrome effectively, F2P players can build competitive teams, clear any endgame level of difficulty, and see all of the narrative content the game has to offer. The only time the system may feel frustrating to play is when you attempt to get every Limited character the moment they release.

The Conclusion

Overall, Zenless Zone Zero is a gacha title; more specifically, it is an action gacha RPG following HoYoverse’s polished live-service model. The games’ Signal Search system is relatively fair compared to other games in the genre in terms of pity rules, rate transparency, and banner carryover, making it sensible to plan. The tough part will be the cost of pursuing all Limited Agents along with their associated W-Engine since the likelihood of hitting a 50/50 for yourself is very slim. However, ZZZ provides some of the best real-time combat anywhere in the genre, an attractive urban environment that keeps expanding, and a patch cycle that generally takes your time into consideration. With a plan for pulling for Agents and focusing more on total roster size than on getting the “perfect” Agent, New Eridu is honestly a great place for new players to start.