Nicole Build Guide: W-Engine, Drive Discs & Teams | Zenless Zone Zero

Alexa Hunter

Feb 16, 2026

Nicole Demara is one of the most memorable characters in Zenless Zone Zero, standing out with her sharp tongue, bold confidence, and unmistakable street-smart charm. As the leader of the Cunning Hares, Nicole embodies the gritty reality of New Eridu, where survival depends as much on wit and negotiation as on combat skill. In this Nicole build guide, we’ll walk you through how to make the most of her unique mechanics, including W-Engines, Drive Disc choices, and team synergy, so you can maximize her damage output on the battlefield.

Nicole Agent Overview

Nicole Information

Agent Information
	Rarity	A-Rank
	Attribute	Ether
	Specialty	Support
	Faction	Cunning Hares
	Combat Role	Support

Nicole Overview

Nicole is an A-Rank Ether and Support Agent who specializes in applying debuffs to targets. In combat, she gains enhanced bullets through the use of Special Attack, EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, and Ultimate. These enhanced bullets can then be consumed via her Basic Attack and Dash Attack to increase the power of the aforementioned attacks. Upon hitting targets with an enhanced attack, her Core Ability will activate, giving a DEF reduction debuff of up to 40% to them for 3.5 seconds. When paired with a fellow Ether or Cunning Hares Agent, Nicole can activate her Additional Ability, making those targets take an additional 25% Ether damage.

Another mechanic Nicole possesses is the ability to generate Energy Fields, which linger on the field for a short period of time, pull enemies towards them, and trigger her Core Ability’s debuff. This can be done through her EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, and Ultimate. Nicole can also trigger Quick Assist after any Energy Field moves, further improving team rotations. Additionally, the Quick Assist via her Ultimate will also grant extra energy to the next ally swapping in. Her core gameplay revolves around tagging enemies to apply her debuff and letting your main damage dealer shine. Overall, she’s an incredibly versatile Support.

Nicole Skill Priority

Below are the best skill priorities for Nicole:

Skill	Priority
Core Skill	★★★★★ (Top)
Chain Attack	★★★★ (Top)
Special Attack	★★★★ (Top)
Basic Attack	★★ (Low)
Dodge	★ (Low)
Assist	★ (Low)

Nicole’s Core Passive: Mechanical Case reduces enemies’ Defense by a massive 40% once maxed, making it her top priority. Her Chain Attack and Special Attack come next, as you’ll be using them the most. Despite not contributing much to Nicole’s overall damage, her Basic Attack should still be upgraded once you’re done with her prioritized skills since she has to keep up her debuffs with Basic Attacks. Finally, her Dodge and Assist skill can be safely skipped, Nicole works best as an off-field support who only goes on-field to refresh her debuffs, so it is unlikely you’ll be using those two skills.

Nicole Best W-Engines

As a Support character who mainly gets her values from the use of EX Specials, Nicole wants as much Energy Regen as possible, as well as ATK for more damage contribution. Any Support W-Engines providing those two stats will complement her playstyle, which gives her several viable W-Engine options. Unsurprisingly, her signature W-Engine - The Vault - stands out as the best option, perfectly synergizing with her normal rotation. Therefore, it is advisable you use her signature W-Engine for the best performance.

Best choice
Signature W-Engine	The Vault (A-Rank)	Base ATK: 624 Bonus Stat: Energy Regen 50% W-Engine Effect (R5): Dealing Ether DMG using an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate increases all units' DMG against the target by 24% and increases the equipper's Energy Regen by 0.8/s for 2s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
Alternatives
1st	Weeping Cradle (S-Rank)	Base ATK: 684 Bonus Stat: PEN Ratio 24% W-Engine Effect (R1): While off-field, Energy Regen increases by 0.6/s. Attacks from the equipper increase all units' DMG against a struck target by 10% for 3 seconds. During this period, this effect is further increased by 1.7% every 0.5s, up to a maximum additional increase of 10.2%. Repeated triggers only refresh its duration without refreshing the DMG increase effect. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
2nd	Kaboom the Cannon (A-Rank)	Base ATK: 624 Bonus Stat: Energy Regen 50% W-Engine Effect (R5): When any friendly unit in the squad attacks and hits an enemy, all squad members' ATK increases by 4% for 8s, stacking up to 4 times. The duration of each stack is calculated separately, and each friendly unit can provide 1 stack of the buff. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
3rd	Slice of Time (A-Rank)	Base ATK: 594 Bonus Stat: PEN Ratio 20% W-Engine Effect (R5): Any squad members' Dodge Counter, EX Special Attack, Assist Attack, or Chain Attack respectively generates 32/40/48/55 more Decibels and generates 1.1 Energy for the equipper. This effect can trigger once every 12s. The cooldown for each type of attack is independent of others. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.
4th	Unfettered Game Ball (A-Rank)	Base ATK: 594 Bonus Stat: Energy Regen 50% W-Engine Effect (R5): Whenever the equipper's attack triggers an Attribute Counter effect, all units' CRIT Rate against the struck enemy increases by 20% for 12s. The bonuses triggered by the same type of passive effects do not stack.
5th	[Reverb] Mark II (B-Rank)	Base ATK: 475 Bonus Stat: Energy Regen 40% W-Engine Effect (R5): Launching an EX Special Attack or Chain Attack increases all squad members' Anomaly Mastery and Anomaly Proficiency by 16 for 10s. This effect can trigger once every 20s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack.

Nicole Best Drive Disc Sets

As Nicole uses her EX Special a lot, she’s well suited for the Moonlight Lullaby Drive Disk Set. Another competitive option is Astral Voice if you pair her with another teammate who can activate Quick Assists consistently, as Nicole herself sometimes struggle to keep up Astral stacks due to her high Energy requirement for the activation of EX Special. Swing Jazz is also a viable 4-piece set for its team DMG buff. For Nicole’s 2-piece set, you can choose from Phaethon's Melody, Astral Voice and Freedom Blues, depending on the stats she needs.

Best choice
Moonlight Lullaby	Increases Energy Regen by 20%. (2-piece Set) When the equipper is a Support character and uses an EX Special Attack or Ultimate, the DMG dealt by all squad members increases by 18% for 25s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Passive effects of the same name do not stack. (4-piece Set)
Astral Voice	ATK +10%. (2-piece Set) Whenever any squad member enters the field using a Quick Assist, all squad members gain 1 stack of Astral, up to a maximum of 3 stacks, and lasting 15s. Repeated triggers reset the duration. Each stack of Astral increases the DMG dealt by the character entering the field using a Quick Assist by 8%. Only one instance of this effect can exist in the same squad. (4-piece Set)
Swing Jazz	Increases Energy Regen by 20%. (2-piece Set) Launching a Chain Attack or Ultimate increases all squad members' DMG by 15% for 12s. Passive effects of the same name do not stack. (4-piece Set)
2-piece Choice
Phaethon's Melody	Anomaly Mastery +8%. (2-piece Set)
Astral Voice	ATK +10%. (2-piece Set)
Swing Jazz	Increases Energy Regen by 20%. (2-piece Set)

Nicole Best Drive Disc Stats

Here are the best Drive Disc main stats and sub-stats for Nicole:

1. Drive Disc Main Stats

Main Stats	Drive Disc Slot
ATK% or Anomaly Proficiency	Slot 4
Ether DMG%	Slot 5
Energy Regen	Slot 6

2. Drive Disc Sub Stats

Sub Stats	Priority
ATK%	★★★ (High)
Anomaly Proficiency	★★★ (High)
Flat ATK	★★ (Mid)
PEN	★★ (Mid)

Nicole Best Teams

As an excellent and versatile support for both Attack and Anomaly teams, Nicole can fit into many team compositions. Below are some great sample team compositions for her:

1. Evelyn Hypercarry Team

Evelyn’s Chain Attack is greatly complemented by Nicole’s debuffing capability. She serves as your primary damage dealer while Nicole applies her debuff to enemies. You can also choose Lighter and Dialyn as your stunner as they excel in stunning enemies and can provide powerful buffs for Evelyn.

Main DPS

Stun

Support

Evelyn (S-Rank)

Dialyn (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Evelyn (S-Rank)

Lighter (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Evelyn (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Astra Yao (S-Rank)

2. Zhu Yuan/Harumasa Hypercarry Team

Both Zhu Yuan and Harumasa are burst DPS characters who greatly benefit from executing combos during enemies’ stun window. Nicole’s short but powerful DEF reduction debuffs synergize with that playstyle especially well.

Main DPS

Stun

Support

Zhu Yuan (S-Rank)

Dialyn (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Zhu Yuan (S-Rank)

Qingyi (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Harumasa (S-Rank)

Dialyn (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Harumasa (S-Rank)

Qingyi (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

3. Miyabi Hypercarry team

Miyabi is undoubtedly one of the best DPS characters in Zenless Zone Zero. With the buffs from Astra and DEF shred from Nicole, she can achieve an even greater damage output.

Main DPS

Support

Miyabi (S-Rank)

Nicole (A-Rank)

Astra Yao (S-Rank)

Nicole Mindscape Cinema

M1: Supercharged Bomb

Rating: ★★★★ (Great)
Effect: The DMG and the Anomaly Buildup inflicted by Nicole’s EX Special Attack increases by 16%. For each additional 0.1s of charging when Nicole activates her EX Special Attack, the duration of the energy field created at the target location increases by 0.15s.
One of Nicole’s most impactful Mindscape. The increased Anomaly Buildup, and well as EX Special Attack duration makes her significantly better in not just Anomaly teams but also Attack teams

M2: Charging Device

Rating: ★★★ (Pretty Good)
Effect: Nicole recovers 5 Energy when Core Passive: Mechanical Case's debuff is triggered. This effect can trigger once every 15s.
A great help to Nicole’s quality of life. The additional Energy from this Mindscape allows more frequent usage of her EX Special Attack, thus increasing the entire team’s overall DPS.

M3: A Hare’s Cunning

Rating: ★ (Good)
Effect: Basic Attack, Assist, Dodge, Special Attack, and Chain Attack Lv. +2
This Mindscape only offers numerical skill level increases and barely affects Nicole’s damage.

M4: Field Expansion

Rating: ★★★ (Pretty Good)
Effect: When Nicole uses her EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate, the diameter of the energy field generated at the target location is increased by 3m.
This Mindscape takes Nicole’s enemy-grouping capability to a whole new level, allowing for faster clears and more satisfying gameplay. The increased radius also means that even boss enemies won’t easily escape her energy field.

M5: Industry Star

Rating: ★ (Good)
Effect: Basic Attack, Assist, Dodge, Special Attack, and Chain Attack Lv. +2
Similar to Mindscape 3, this Mindscape isn’t a big change to Nicole’s performance, and only serves as a stepping stone for her 6th Mindscape.

M6: Corrupting Energy Field

Rating: ★★★★ (Great)
Effect: When Nicole’s energy fields deal DMG to an enemy, all squad members CRIT Rate against that enemy increases by 1.5%, stacking up to 10 times, and lasting 12s. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.
This Mindscape significantly increases your team’s overall DPS by giving your team members 15% Crit Rate at max stacks with an easy-to-trigger requirement. With proper rotation, you’ll be able to keep up this buff for the entirety of the fight.

Conclusion

Overall, Nicole Demara is a reliable and effective Support who performs well across a variety of situations thanks to her sharp instincts and adaptable leadership. With proper understanding of her role, she can be a solid addition to any player’s experience in Zenless Zone Zero. We hope this Nicole Demara guide helps you better understand her strengths and maximize her potential.

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Nicole Build Guide: W-Engine, Drive Discs & Teams | Zenless Zone Zero

Nicole Agent Overview

Nicole Information

Nicole Overview

Nicole Skill Priority

Nicole Best W-Engines

Nicole Best Drive Disc Sets

Nicole Best Drive Disc Stats

1. Drive Disc Main Stats

2. Drive Disc Sub Stats

Nicole Best Teams

1. Evelyn Hypercarry Team

2. Zhu Yuan/Harumasa Hypercarry Team

3. Miyabi Hypercarry team

Nicole Mindscape Cinema

Conclusion