Shiyu Defense Guide & Teams｜Zenless Zone Zero

Hey, Proxies! A fresh round of the "Shiyu Defense" event is here, and I've got your back with a full guide and the best team setups to tackle it. S-rank evaluations? We're grabbing them all!

From June 6 to June 20, Zenless Zone Zero is hosting the latest Shiyu Defense event, and I'm here to break it down for you. This event isn't too brutal overall—especially if you've got strong attackers like Hugo. Whether you're a newbie just stepping into the fray or a seasoned veteran, this guide's got everything you need: Buff breakdowns, boss strategies, and team recommendations. Let's jump right in!

 

Buff Effects

Shiyu Defense comes with unique Buffs that shape how you fight. Get a grip on these, and you'll be racking up wins—and S-ranks—without breaking a sweat.

Effect: 

• Agent’s Max HP is increased by 15%.
• Ether Damage and Ice Damage are increased by 20%.
• When the agent uses [Quick Assist] or [Ultimate], they gain +30% Penetration Damage and +20% Crit DMG for 20 seconds (duration refreshes if triggered again).

Quick Take: 

This phase’s first-layer buff favors Ether and Ice damage dealers, especially Yi Xuan.

The second-layer buff benefits direct damage characters, and currently, Yizhen is the only one who fully benefits from both Penetration Damage and Max HP scaling.

Overall, you can easily sweep all stages with one Ice team and one Ether team. If you have Miyabi and Yi Xuan, just assign one to each side — it makes the run extremely easy.

*Pro Tip: The latest event node still judges S-rank by time. You'll need more than 5 minutes left on the clock to hit that top tier. Plan accordingly!

 

6th Frontier's Boss Analysis

The first five Frontiers are a breeze, so let's dig into the real stuff starting at the sixth line. Here's what you're up against and how to take it down.

Phase I Boss:  Palicus

Current Intel:

• Paricus appear as a pair—rarely seen acting alone. They have a strong bond and coordinate their attacks.
• When only one is visible on screen, the other will teleport in shortly, allowing them to strike in unison.

Strategy:

• Keep Them Together：Lock the camera on one sister to make the other teleport close. This prevents being flanked. Use AOE or dual-wield characters to strike both simultaneously.
• Dodge/Parry Timing is Crucial：Many of their powerful moves involve glowing cues → vanish → teleport dash. Recognize the glow and dodge at the right time.
• Use Parries to Counter Finishing Moves：Especially during skills like Triple Void Thrust, wait for the last hit and parry to stagger or interrupt.
• Post-Kill Phase — Don’t Drop Your Guard：Once one is defeated, the surviving sister enters a rage mode with faster, deadlier attacks. Play patiently and focus on dodging/parrying windows.

Phase II Boss:  Notorious – Armored Hati

Current Intel:

During combat, Notorious: ArmoredHati's armor significantly reduces DMG and Daze taken, but Defensive Assist greatly reduces its armor. Its roar also unleashes even more powerful Ether bullets than usual.

Strategy: 

Focus on Stagger Control：

• Use Defensive Assists followed by Assist Follow-Ups repeatedly to break through its armor and trigger Stagger faster.
• In Expert mode, this approach is especially effective due to the increased Stagger buildup rate from assists.

Combat Flow & Counterplay：

• Watch out for its roar – it signals the launch of powerful Ether bullets. Keep your distance or use an Assist Dodge to avoid it.
• When Stagger is triggered, quickly switch to your DPS and unload damage. Prepare to repeat the combo chain to reapply pressure before it recovers.

 

6th Frontier's Recommended Teams

Phase I & II Team Recommendations

Both the upper and lower weaknesses and resistances are the same, and you can choose any two from the following teams.

High DMG Team
Yi Xuan	Pan Yinhu	Astra Yao / Pulchra
Ellen Team
Ellen	Lycaon	Soukaku
Hugo Team
Hugo	Lycaon	Lighter
Miyabi Team
Miyabi	Vivian	Soukaku
Miyabi	Nicole	Astra Yao

Ellen Team
Ellen	Lighter	Astra Yao

F2P Team
Zhu Yuan	Qingyi	Nicole

 

7th Frontier's Boss Analysis

Phase I Boss: Miasma Ravager – Avarus

Weakness: Fire, Ether Resistance: Ice

Current Intel:

Rolls rapidly into a ball form then charges for fast, heavy strikes

Can generate Miasmic Fields:

• While active, every skill drains part of the shield but boosts attack damage accordingly
• Shield resists stagger; breaking it via ultimate, dodge counter, or defensive assist purifies the field and restores Agent energy/adrenaline

Strategy:

During combat, Miasma Ravager Avarus will use its massive body to perform rolling attacks. If you successfully counter this skill with Defensive Assists 3 times in a row, you can interrupt its rolling attack and expose its weakness. After taking a certain amount of DMG in battle, it will activate a Miasmic Field.Use parries, deflections, and finishers frequently. Quickly break the shield and restore your own energy.

Phase II Boss: Tepes

Current Intel:

In battle, Tepes will frequently utilize the spiked hammer in both hands to launch powerful attacks, and has a damage reduction effect of his own. If you use [Defensive Assist] multiple times to successfully block Tepes's hand attacks, it will cause damage to his hammers. After the hammers are broken, some of Tepes's moves will break, Tepes loses his mitigation effect, and an Imbalance vulnerability effect is applied to Tepes.

Strategy: Tepes as a new meat shield boss, blood is also exceptionally amazing.He comes with a damage reduction effect, but he can cause damage to parts of his body by bouncing back multiple times.At the same time, after his spiked hammer is destroyed, he loses his damage reduction effect.It will be more efficient to output when it applies the Imbalance Damage effect.

 

7th Frontier's Recommended Teams

Phase I Team Recommendations

 

Yi Xuan Team
Yi Xuan	Pan Yinhu	Astra Yao / Pulchra

Evelyn Team
Evelyn		Lighter		Astra Yao
F2P Team
Zhu Yuan	Qingyi		Nicole

Phase II Team Recommendations

Miyabi Team
Miyabi		Vivian	Soukaku
Hugo Team
Hugo	Lycaon		Lighter
Ellen Team
Ellen	Trigger			Caesar
Miyabi Team
Miyabi	Yanagi		Rina

 

Conclusion

This Shiyu Defense round isn't too punishing—especially if you've got Strong Attack characters in your roster. Stick to this guide, leverage the Buffs, and build teams around boss weaknesses, and those S-ranks are as good as yours!

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