Zenless Zone Zero’s Ellen Joe is an S-rank agent, and a member of Victoria Housekeeping Co. This adorable maid may look sweet, but she’s a powerful ice character with a huge shark tail and a hefty weapon that she’s not afraid to use in battle. So let’s take a look at her best build, personality, and more.
If you want to see how Ellen sizes up against the other Zenless Zone Zero characters, be sure to check out our Zenless Zone Zero tier list. You can also head over to our Zenless Zone Zero codes to snap up some freebies, and check out our Zenless Zone Zero events guide to see what’s happening in New Eridu.
Here’s everything in our Zenless Zone Zero’s Ellen build:
What’s the best Ellen build?
Ellen is an S-tier character that deals plenty of ice damage and slash attacks. She made her debut in the second closed beta, revealing a pretty complex yet flexible kit that revolves around fast movement and heavy-hitting attacks.
In terms of teams, we can recommend pairing her with Zenless Zone Zero’s Lycaon and another slash agent to unlock some boosts to her ice damage.
Ellen does have a signature W-Engine which is easily her BiS. However, as it’s a limited five-star, you have to pull for it on a separate banner. So, if you don’t manage to snap that one up, we recommend The Restraint for her. Any attack or attribute mastery-boosting disc drives help to improve her damage and the rate she can inflict freeze on enemies.
What is the best W-Engine for Ellen?
Ellen’s best W-Engine is her limited S-rank, Deep Sea Visitor, which boosts her attack. Other than that, we recommend The Restrained (made with Lycaon in mind) which you could get as a level reward during the beta.
Or, for a more easily accessible option, you can go with the A-rank Starlight Engine or [Reverb] Mark III.
| W-Engine | Effect |
| Deep Sea Visitor | Bonus stat: attack% Effect: Attack increases by 20%. Crit rate increases by 27% for six seconds after applying freeze to an enemy |
| The Restrained | Bonus stat: increases attack Effect: Ice damage increases by 25% in combat. When a basic attack deals ice damage, the skill deals an additional 15% damage and daze |
| Starlight Engine | Bonus stat: increases attack Effect: Launching a chain attack increases attack by 24% for ten seconds |
| [Reverb] Mark III | Bonus stat: increases attack Effect: Damage dealt by basic attacks and special attacks increases by 16% |
What are the best disc drives for Ellen?
The best four-piece disc drive set for Ellen is Polar Metal, as it dramatically boosts her personal damage. Pair this with two pieces of an attack boosting set like Assassin’s Ballad or Noisy Pop for a nice attack boost, or two pieces of Monsoon Funk to boost her attribute mastery.
| Disc drives | Effect |
| Polar Metal | Two equipped: increases ice damage by 10% Four equipped: upon hitting a frozen enemy or triggering shatter, reduce the struck target’s ice res by 28% for eight seconds. This effect doesn’t stack |
| Assassin’s Ballad | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: basic attacks deal 20% more damage and an additional 12% upon defeating an enemy. This effect can stack up to three times and lasts for 15 seconds. Repeated triggers reset the duration |
| Monsoon Funk | Two equipped: increases attribute mastery by 20 Four equipped: when inflicting attribute anomaly effects on an enemy, attribute mastery increases by 22, stacking up to three times |
| Noisy Pop | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: increases damage dealt by basic attacks by 15% |
What are Ellen’s skills?
Here’s Ellen’s kit as of the second closed beta. It can look a little confusing at first, with a variety of states and different types of attack, but with a bit of practice it’s very powerful and flexible, making her a valuable ally in a range of different combat scenarios. Check out our showcase video at the top of this guide to see all of her skills in action.
Ellen’s attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack – Saw Teeth Trimming | Unleashes up to three strikes, dealing physical damage, when pressing the basic attack button. Hold or double-press the button during her third attack to extend the duration |
| Basic attack – Flash Freeze Trimming | When activating the Flash Freeze effect, press the basic attack button. Ellen launches three attacks at an enemy in front of her, dealing ice damage. Each attack consumes one point of Flash Freeze Charge. Hold or double-tap the basic attack button during the third attack to extend the attack duration |
| Special attack – Drift | Press the special attack button to use a quick tail sweep attack in front, dealing ice damage. Ellen’s anti-interrupt level increases during this skill |
| EX special attack – Tail Swipe | When Ellen has enough energy, press the special attack button to activate. She performs a powerful tail whip attack that deals massive ice damage. She is invulnerable during this skill |
| EX special attack – Sharknami | If Ellen has enough energy after using Tail Swipe, press the special attack button to activate Sharknami. She delivers multiple powerful slashes in front, dealing massive ice damage. Ellen is invulnerable during this skill |
Ellen’s dodges:
| Skill | Effect |
| Dodge -Vortex | Press the dodge button to rapidly evade an attack. If a perfect dodge triggers, Ellen obtains the Quick Charge effect. This reduces the charge time of her next Arctic Ambush and lasts for five seconds. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
| Dash – Roaming Hunt | Hold the dodge button or double press to activate. Ellen enters the Roaming state, allowing her to dash and avoid enemies. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
| Dash attack – Arctic Ambush | While in the Roaming state, press the basic attack button to activate. Ellen delivers a spinning slash to enemies before opening her scissors and performing a swift attack, dealing ice damage. She gains one point of Flash Freeze charge when the attack hits. Hold the basic attack button to charge the attack and trigger an enhanced attack, dealing massive ice damage. This gains Ellen three points of Flash Freeze charge. If the enhanced attack hits a frozen enemy, it always triggers Shatter. Ellen’s anti-interrupt level increases while charging and using an enhanced attack, and reduces her damage taken by 50% |
| Flash Freeze | When Ellen’s Flash Freeze charges number more than three, the Flash Freeze effect initiates. Once it activates, basic and dash attacks expend charges and deal massive ice damage. When the charges finish, the effect ends. Ellen can have up to six charges at once |
| Dash attack – Monstrous Wave | Press the basic attack during a dodge to activate. Ellen launches a dashing slash attack at enemies in front of her, dealing physical damage |
| Dash attack – Cold Snap | When Flash Freeze is in effect, press the basic attack during a dodge to activate. Ellen launches a dashing slash attack at enemies, dealing ice damage. This consumes one charge |
| Dodge Counter -Reef Rock | Press the attack button during a perfect dodge to activate. Ellen rapidly moves through enemies with open scissors for a cutting strike, dealing ice damage. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
Ellen’s chain attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Chain attack – Avalanche | When triggering a chain attack, select Ellen to activate. Ellen falls from above and unleashes an ice storm, dealing massive ice damage. Ellen becomes invulnerable while using this skill |
| Ultimate – Endless Winter | When the decibel rating is at maximum, press the ultimate button to activate when Ellen is on the field. Ellen falls from above and unleashes an ice storm before a powerful scissor strike, dealing massive ice damage. Ellen becomes invulnerable while using this skill |
Ellen’s core skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Core passive – Sharp-Toothed (unlocked at agent level 15) | When Ellen uses a charged dash attack (Arctic Ambush) to deal an enhanced attack, or consumes a Flash Freeze Charge to activate Flash Freeze Trimming, the skill’s crit damage increases by 20% |
| Additional ability – Rising Storm (unlocked at agent level 15) | When there are at least two ice agents in your squad, Ellen gains the following: -Ellen’s ice damage increases by 7.5%. Attacking stunned enemies grants a further 12.5% increase When there are at least two slash agents in your squad: -When Ellen’s EX special attack hits enemies, she gains one point of Flash Freeze |
| Reactive assist – Shark Sentinel | When the character in combat gets knocked back, press the swap character button to activate. Speedily move through the enemy with open scissors for a cutting strike, dealing ice damage. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
| Defensive assist – Wavefront Impact | When the character in combat is about to be attacked, press the swap character button to activate. Ellen parries the enemy attack, inflicting massive daze. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
| Assist follow-up – Shark Cruiser | Press the skill button after an evasive assist to activate. Ellen charges and slashes enemies in front of her, dealing ice damage. Tap or hold the basic attack button during the attack to extend the duration of the skill. Ellen is invulnerable when using this skill |
What are Ellen’s talents?
Each character in Zenless Zone Zero has six talents that get unlocked if you pull an extra copy of them off the banner. If you’re lucky and manage to pull more than one copy of Ellen, here are the boosts and buffs that you can unlock.
| Talent | Effect |
| A – Glacial Omen | When Ellen or any friendly unit freezes an enemy, Ellen gains three Flash Freeze charges and gains the Quick Charge effect. This can trigger once per second |
| B – Arctic Ocean Predator | When Ellen charges Arctic Ambush, the skill’s damage increases by 50% and Ellen is invulnerable during the enhanced attack. Upon hitting a frozen enemy, the damage dealt increases by 100% |
| C – Overtime-Intolerant | All skill levels increase by two |
| D – Endless Hoarfrost | When using Flash Freeze Trimming or Cold Snap, Ellen expends one Flash Freeze charge to generate three energy and one stack of Chill. Chill: Ellen’s ice damage increases by 15%, lasting ten seconds, stacking up to three times. Duration refreshes when the skill reactivates |
| E – Adequate Sleep | All skill levels increase by two |
| F – The Feast Begins | Tail Swipe deals 20% more damage. On use, Ellen deals 30% more crit damage, lasting for 15 seconds. Duration refreshes when the skill reactivates. Sharknami deals 40% more damage. Ellen uses up to three Flash Freeze charges. For each charge consumed, the attack’s damage further increases by 20% |
What are Ellen’s skill enhancement materials?
In order to upgrade Ellen’s skills you need freeze chips. These are super easy to get as you can buy them from the 141 store on Sixth Street, which has bangboos outside it.
What are Ellen’s promotion materials?
Promoting Ellen to higher levels requires slash seal items. You can obtain these in the VR Training, and craft them into the higher rarities needed for Ellen’s later levels. Think of it like ascending characters in Genshin Impact.
Who are Ellen’s voice actors?
Ellen’s CN voice actor is Xiao Quingyan, who you may recognize as Alice from Arknights or Central Affairs Bureau Kirino from Blue Archive. Ellen’s JP voice actor is Shion Wakayama, who also plays many other roles including the Necrologist in Reverse: 1999, Lila in Ys. C: Nordics, and Ohara in Pokémon: Paldean Winds.
We don’t know the name of Ellen’s English voice actor just yet, but we’ll update this page as soon as we find out.
Who is Zenless Zone Zero’s Ellen?
Ellen Joe is a member of Victoria Housekeeping Co. who believes simplicity is key to all things in life. Her mottos are ‘work smart and rest more’, and ‘work with focus, prevail with caution’ – meaning she tries to take breaks at the best times to avoid getting too wound up, and, whether she takes her work too seriously or not seriously enough, it’s her enemies that end up suffering for it.
Despite her frosty expression and snappy quips, Ellen has a secret love for sweet things. In fact, you might just catch her unwrapping a lollipop and getting lost in her thoughts from time to time.
Her fellow Victoria Housekeeping Co members include Zenless Zone Zero’s Corin, Zenless Zone Zero’s Rina, and Zenless Zone Zero’s Lycaon. Ellen is the first limited character to appear on a Zenless Zone Zero banner, and she’s available throughout the entirety of the second beta.
That’s everything we’ve got on Zenless Zone Zero’s Ellen. For more Hoyo fun, head over to Teyvat with our Genshin Impact events, Genshin Impact tier list, and Genshin Impact codes guides. Or you can hop aboard the Astral Express with our Honkai Star Rail tier list, Honkai Star Rail codes, and Honkai Star Rail events guides.