Zenless Zone Zero 3.0 Banner Roadmap and the Real Strength of Starlight Billy

Zenless Zone Zero 3.0 Banner Roadmap and the Real Strength of Starlight Billy

Wind finally lands in New Eridu, and the patch that delivers it is stacked. Between Velina kicking off 3.0, Norma closing it out, an anniversary headliner in 3.1, and a protagonist form that gets handed out for free, the next two months reshape the agent roster. Stitched into all of that is Starlight Billy, a Physical Rupture DPS whose kit looks intimidating on paper and turns out to be one of the cleanest rotations in the game once you see what the numbers actually do. This is the long version, ranked from what matters most to what you can safely skip.

Velina Airgid kicks off 3.0 and brings the Wind attribute online

Version 3.0 launches June 17, 2026; introduces Wind attribute. That single sentence is the entire reason this patch is a milestone — every Anomaly main has been waiting on a new element to break the Electric/Ice/Fire/Physical/Ether/Frost rotation, and Wind is what arrives. The first banner is Velina Airgid, an S-Rank Wind Anomaly headlining Phase 1.

Lore-wise she is not a side character. Velina Airgid is head of Roscaelifer External Strategy Department and the first playable Wind agent. Being the debut Wind unit matters mechanically too: she is the only character on the roster who can apply Wind disorder on her own, which means any future Wind sub-DPS or supporter will be balanced around her existence. Pulling her now isn't just about the immediate kit — it's about owning the anchor for an entire future archetype. The creator is openly biased here ("I really love her, must have"), and honestly the F2P calculus agrees: if your account is short on Anomaly mains, this is the slot to spend on.

The 3.0 window itself is tight. The version 3.0 window is roughly 17 days. That compressed schedule has consequences — Phase 1 will be short, so if you intend to pull Velina you should not waste pulls on the standard banner the week before launch. Save Encrypted Master Tapes, Polychrome, and standard pulls for the limited banner specifically.

Wind as an attribute slots into Anomaly teams that previously had to flex around element coverage. Until now, multi-element Anomaly comps were forced to mix Ice/Fire or Electric/Physical pairings — Velina lets you build a clean Wind core. Expect the next year of patches to fill that core out with a Wind Stun unit and a Wind support.

Norma Hollowell and the Phase 2 fire pivot

Closing out 3.0 is a hard tonal shift. Phase 2 brings Norma Hollowell, an S-Rank Fire Stun from the External Strategy Department. Two units from the same faction back-to-back is unusual for Zenless Zone Zero — it telegraphs that the External Strategy Department is going to drive the main story arc through 3.x.

Norma being a Fire Stun is the more interesting part. Fire Stun is one of the thinnest specialty slots in the game, and Norma joining means Fire Anomaly DPS units (and any future Fire Attack DPS) finally get a dedicated stunner who shares their element for resonance bonuses. If you were already running a Fire Anomaly comp, Norma is a near-mandatory pull regardless of personal preference.

There's a knock-on effect for resource planning. Two limited S-Ranks inside a ~17-day patch means you cannot full-pull both without saving for several months ahead of 3.0. If you have to pick, the rule of thumb is element-of-the-month: pull Velina if you don't have a Wind unit (no one does), pull Norma if you already run a Fire core.

The 3.1 anniversary lineup and what Remielle actually does

Version 3.1 is the second anniversary patch, expected to launch around July 4, 2026. Anniversary patches in this game have historically come with login generosity, and 3.1 is no exception. Anniversary rewards include bonus Master Tapes, limited bundles, and login rewards. Plan around the freebies — they typically cover 20-30 pulls' worth of currency for free.

The headliner is the part that matters. Phase 1 of 3.1, running roughly July 4 to 25, features Remielle Dan, an S-Rank Ether Anomaly Support/Sub-DPS Void Hunter, positioned as an Ether Anomaly support upgrade over Yuzuha; she teams with Velina, Aria, and Vivian but does not synergize with Miyabi.

Read that synergy list carefully. Remielle is being built as the new ceiling-raiser for Ether Anomaly comps but explicitly does not pair with Miyabi — which is a deliberate balance choice to stop the Miyabi-everything trend that has dominated since her release. If you are a Miyabi main, Remielle is not your upgrade. If you run any of the three named partners, she is a serious DPS jump.

Phase 2 is Sigrid, an S-Rank Ice Attack Spear Melee DPS, running roughly July 25 to August 15. Her full kit is still pending, so I am not going to oversell her — but Ice Attack DPS is a slot where the existing options have aged. A new spear-class melee unit in that element is overdue.

Looking further ahead, the creator pegs the other Void Hunter, Wanzhou, for roughly version 3.5. Beyond that, the named pipeline through 3.8 includes Clarae, Roxie, Fione, the Lowell brother Severian, and the eye-patched Storyteller. Severian Lowell is Seth Lowell's elder brother, a New Eridu Public Security HQ Senior Commissioner who maintains a good childhood relationship with Seth, with the sibling link discovered via shared last name. That last detail is a fun bit of writing — the reveal comes out of the surname rather than a dramatic confrontation.

Pyrois — the free S-Rank protagonist form

This is the headline freebie of the patch. Pyrois is a new combat form of Phaethon (the protagonist/Proxy), expected as a free agent in 3.0 alongside Velina and Norma. The dossier flags Pyrois as an Ether Attack agent from the Phaethon faction, expected as a free A-Rank or S-Rank story agent with unconfirmed banner placement.

The creator's read is that the unlock mirrors the precedent set by other HoYoverse titles: complete the designated 3.0 story content and the character is yours. Even with a static portrait rather than an animated one, a free S-Rank Attack unit in an underserved element (Ether Attack has very few options) is a massive value gift. If you're F2P, this single agent meaningfully expands what teams you can run.

Strategically Pyrois is also a hedge. If you whiff on Velina pulls and end up Wind-less, Pyrois gives you a usable Attack DPS to anchor mono-element Ether comps with Lucia in the support slot. The protagonist's flexibility — being repeatable in story content and not banner-gated — makes this the most account-defining freebie in recent memory.

Starlight Billy's kit, the HP-to-Sheer Force engine

Now to the rerun half of the patch. Starlight Billy looks busy in the menu but operates on a single conversion principle.

Billy converts Max HP into Sheer Force; all his Physical DMG becomes Sheer DMG that DEF and scales with Sheer Force. The conversion rate is the single most important number on his kit: every 1 Max HP increases Sheer Force by 0.1. That ratio is why HP main-stats on a DPS aren't a typo — they are literally his attack stat.

The damage amp layer stacks two ways. At above 25% HP, his Special Attack consumes HP and grants +90% CRIT DMG for 45 seconds; at or below 25% HP, he takes 50% reduced damage. That's a built-in survival floor at low HP plus a crit window at high HP — Billy is designed to live in the upper HP band, dip when he uses Special, and refill via abilities.

On top of crit damage, his Additional Ability layers another buff. Billy requires a squad member with Stun/Defense/Support specialty, which grants Starlight stacks (max 2, 45 seconds) providing +20% DMG to specified attacks. The subtitle creator reads this as roughly 40% increased damage when both stacks are up on the right skills, which lines up with two 20% multiplicative or additive stacks.

The actual nuke is his held basic attack. Full-Throttle Starlight is the hold input at 100 or more Determination, dealing heavy Physical DMG via motorcycle charge and laser beam with full invulnerability. At level 10 the multiplier is just under 1900% per cast, which is where the bulk of his damage comes from in a real rotation.

Rotation, Determination management, and the special attack loop

Determination is the resource that gates the nuke, so the rotation revolves around filling it as fast as possible while staying alive.

Drive Suppression is his Special Attack — a motorcycle crash dealing continuous Physical DMG that can block to restore 5 Determination. That block effect is the part that defines the playstyle. You stand on the field, the enemy windups telegraph, you tap Special to block, you generate Determination from the parry, you cycle into EX Special, and you finish with the hold-attack nuke when Determination caps.

The EX variants matter individually because each does a different job:

Rocking Footwork is the one to spam when you have Energy and full Determination already — the creator flags it as a second primary damage source with a multiplier over 1700%.

Determination regen is generous. Determination recovers over time and also from blocks, basic chains, Chain Attacks, and the Ultimate. That means you essentially never run dry in a real fight — the limiting resource is Energy for the EX casts, not Determination itself.

The clean loop reads: block incoming attack with Special, spend Energy on EX Special when available, top off Determination, hold basic attack for Full-Throttle Starlight when at cap. Repeat. Skill priority is Core Skill > Basic Attack = EX Special Attack > Chain Attack.

One more freebie that's easy to miss: Billy enters with +60 Adrenaline, triggerable once per 180 seconds in Investigation Zone. Lead with Billy in Hollow Zero runs to get a free EX cast on the opener.

Weapon and Drive Disc setup

The creator's stance on his signature engine is firm — pull it if you can. The alternatives, in roughly descending order of how close they get to the signature:

1. Yixuan's signature W-Engine (the Azure Aviary)
2. Banyue's signature W-Engine (the Wrathful Vajra)
3. 5th-stage four-star Blazing Hazy Night
4. 5th-stage event reward Azure Ripple Cauldron

The point the creator hammers is that the gap between these options is small. The signature gives 60 Adrenaline at entry and 18% Physical Resistance on EX Special hits — useful, but not transformative. If your account is engine-rich, skip the signature and farm Polychrome for Velina or Remielle instead.

Drive Disc set is unambiguous. Yunkui Tales gives HP +10% on 2-piece, and on 4-piece grants +4% CRIT Rate per stack on EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, and Ultimate (max 3 stacks, 15 seconds), with +10% Sheer DMG at max stacks while in Wrath State. Run 4-piece Yunkui Tales with a 2-piece offering CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG depending on which stat you need to balance.

Main stats per slot:

Sub-stat priority is CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG > ATK% > PEN. HP sub-stats are not a trap — they convert into Sheer Force — but the math still favors crit substats because the +90% crit damage buff and the 4-piece set effect both lean into a crit-focused profile.

Team building around Billy

The team frame is standard Rupture. Slot 2 wants a Sheer Force enabler with buffs, slot 3 wants a Stun unit.

For slot 2, Lucia is the top pick. Lucia (Elowen) is an Ether Support and Spook Shack member with the forum name "Night Emissary"; she buffs HP, Sheer Force, and crit damage, and her M1 reduces all resistances. Every line of her kit feeds directly into a Billy DPS profile — HP becomes Sheer Force becomes damage, the crit damage stacks on Billy's 90% crit damage window, and the M1 resistance shred is the cherry on top.

For slot 3, the creator's preferred picks are Liuyin, Banyue, or Qingyi. Qingyi is the primary Stun/Daze applicator and runs in compositions like Qingyi + Nicole + Billy as the F2P option. Qingyi is the easiest pick if you already own her — she generates daze fast enough that Billy gets a long Stun window per rotation to land the Full-Throttle nuke.

A note for F2P accounts: no viable F2P team exists for full Rupture comps due to limited Rupture characters available. The honest read is that you need at least one of Lucia, Pan Yinhu, or a similar Sheer Force enabler to make Billy's ceiling meaningful. Without one, Billy still functions but plays as a generic Physical DPS rather than the Sheer-Force monster he's built to be.

Position your supports carefully too. Pan Yinhu enables Sheer Force mechanics, provides attack buffs, and his EX skill acts as an off-screen support tool that does not count toward Chain Attacks. That off-screen behavior matters because it means Pan Yinhu buffs without interrupting Billy's field time — perfect for a DPS that lives on staying engaged with his Special Attack block loop.

Active redeem codes are worth claiming before 3.0 drops. ZZZ28HERO gives 60 Polychrome and 6666 Denny, and ZENLESSGIFT adds another 50 Polychrome plus support materials. The 3.0 livestream codes should land around June 5, so keep an eye out. Redeem in-game via Menu → More → Redemption Code (requires Inter-Knot Level 5) or via the official site.