Zenless Zone Zero’s Lycaon is one of Hoyoverse’s first full-on anthropomorphic animal characters, something that seems exclusive to the urban fantasy game. As his name suggests, Lycaon is an elegant-looking wolf man with a grudge against grime and some super-powered robot legs. We’ve got everything you need right here for his best build including W-Engines, drive discs, and more.
Make sure to check out our comprehensive guides covering all of the available Zenless Zone Zero characters, our Zenless Zone Zero tier list, and our Zenless Zone Zero codes list. Plus, we’ve got build guides for more powerful agents like Zenless Zone Zero’s Nicole, Zenless Zone Zero’s Miyabi, and Zenless Zone Zero’s Soldier 11.
Here’s everything you need to know about Zenless Zone Zero’s Lycaon:
What is the best Lycaon build?
Lycaon is an S-rank stun character that deals a huge amount of ice-infused strike damage using his robotically enhanced legs in combat. Lycaon gains invulnerability during many of his skills and dodges, allowing him to avoid some damage during his close-up combat.
We recommend equipping Lycaon with The Restrained W-Engine, a four-piece set of Shockstar Disco drive discs, and a two-piece set of Polar Metal. Focus on increasing his crit, attack ratio, and impact stats to get the most out of his kit.
| Best W-Engine | The Restrained |
| Best drive discs | Four-piece Shockstar Disco and two-piece Polar Metal, or vice versa |
| Main stats | Crit rate = crit damage > attack ratio > impact |
| Sub-stats | Crit rate = crit damage > attack ratio > anomaly proficiency |
You can also increase Lycaon’s damage by having another ice anomaly in the squad, or another member of Victoria Housekeeping like Zenless Zone Zero’s Ellen or Zenless Zone Zero’s Rina.
What are Lycaon’s best W-Engines?
Lycaon’s best W-Engine is his signature W-Engine, The Restrained, which massively increases his stun potential by buffing his daze. However, it’s an S-Rank engine, so it’s not the easiest thing to get your hands on.
A good A-Rank alternative is Precious Fossilized Core, which deals more daze to healthy enemies, giving you a chance to get the jump on them.
| W-Engine | Effect |
| The Restrained | When an attack hits an enemy, damage and daze from basic attacks increase for eight seconds, stacking up to five times. You can trigger this effect once during each skill and the duration of each stack is calculated separately |
| Precious Fossilized Core | When the target’s HP is 50% or above, Lycaon inflicts more daze on them. When the target’s HP is 75% or above, this bonus increases once more |
What are the best drive discs for Lycaon?
We recommend equipping Lycaon with a four-piece set of Shockstar Disco to lean into his stun specialty and a two-piece set of Polar Metal to buff his ice damage output. You can also try swapping the two around for a more ice-heavy build, especially if you’re running multiple ice attribute agents.
Of course, this information is subject to change as we experiment more with Lycaon and his kit.
| Drive disc set | Effect |
| Polar Metal | Two equipped: increases ice damage by 10% Four equipped: increases basic attack and dash attack damage by 20%. When any squad member inflicts freeze or shatter, this effect increases by an additional 20% for 12 seconds |
| Shockstar Disco | Two equipped: increases impact by 6% Four equipped: basic attacks, dash attacks, and dodge counters inflict 20% more daze to the main target |
Lycaon stat recommendations
Aim for these main and sub-stats on Lycaon’s drive disc:
Main stats:
- Crit (rate or damage)
- Attack ratio
- Impact
Sub-stats:
- Crit (rate or damage)
- Attack ratio
- Anomaly proficiency
What are Lycaon’s skills?
Here are all of Lycaon’s active and passive skills in combat that help him stun the enemy and deal ice damage.
Lycaon’s attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack – Moon Hunter | Unleashes up to five strikes in front that deal physical damage. Hold the attack to increase its power and deal ice damage |
| Special attack – Time to Hunt (press) | Press the special attack button to unleash a series of strikes in front of Lycaon that deal ice damage |
| Special attack – Time to Hunt (hold) | Hold the special attack button to increase Time to Hunt’s power and Lycaon’s anti-interrupt level |
| EX special attack – Thrill of the Hunt (press) | When Lycaon has enough energy, press the special attack button to use Lycaon’s EX special attack. This unleashes a series of powerful strikes in front of him which deal massive amounts of ice damage |
| EX special attack – Thrill of the Huny (hold) | Hold the special attack button when EX special attack is charged to consume energy and increase the attack’s power. This also makes Lycaon invulnerable while using the skill |
Lycaon’s dodges:
| Skill | Effect |
| Dodge – Suitable Positioning | Press the dodge button to avoid an enemy attack and make Lycaon invulnerable |
| Dash attack – Keep it Clean | When dodging, press the basic attack button to slide forward and launch a series of strikes in front of Lycaon that deal physical damage |
| Dodge counter – Etiquette Manual | Press the basic attack during a perfect dodge to deal ice damage to enemies in front of Lycaon, and become invulnerable |
Lycaon’s combo attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Quick assist – Wolf Pack | When an enemy launches the active character, press the swap character button to activate this assist. Lycaon swaps in, becomes invulnerable, and deals ice damage to enemies in front of him |
| Defensive assist – Disrupted Hunt | Press the swap character button to activate this assist when an enemy is about to attack the active character. Lycaon parries the enemy’s attack, dealing massive amounts of daze. He also becomes invulnerable |
| Assist follow-up – Vengeful Counterattack | Press the basic attack button after using Disrupted Hunt to create an icicle in front of Lycaon that deals ice damage to all enemies in a certain range. Lycaon is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Chain attack – As You Wish | When you trigger a chain attack, switch to Lycaon to become invulnerable while using his skill and deal massive amounts of ice damage to enemies in front of him |
| Ultimate – Mission Complete | When the decibel rating is at maximum, press the ultimate button to unleash powerful strikes at enemies in a large area, dealing ice damage and making Lycaon invulnerable |
Lycaon’s passives:
| Skill | Effect |
| Core passive – Metallic Paws | When Lycaon charges his basic attack to completion, it deals 40% increased daze to enemies. When Thrill of the Hunt or Vengeful Counterattack hits an enemy, their ice damage resistance decreases by 25% for 30 seconds |
| Additional ability – Elegant Predator | When another character in your squad shares the same attribute (ice) or faction (Victoria Housekeeping): When Lycaon hits a stunned enemy, the target’s stun damage multiplier increases by 35% |
What are Lycaon’s promotion materials?
As you level up Lycaon, you’ll need to promote him at various points to increase his level cap, similar to ascension in Genshin Impact. You’ll need stun certification seals to do this, which you can get from combat simulation – agent promotion combat challenges, plus plenty of denny.
Here are all of Lycaon’s promotion materials:
| Level | Denny and materials |
| 10 | 24k denny and four basic stun certification seals |
| 20 | 56k denny and 12 advanced stun certification seals |
| 30 | 120k denny and 20 advanced stun certification seals |
| 40 | 200k denny and ten buster certification seals |
| 50 | 400k denny and 20 buster certification seals |
What are Lycaon’s mindscape cinemas?
Pulling multiple copies of Lycaon allows you to unlock his mindscape cinemas which are additional buffs and effects to help in battle. If you’re already a Hoyoverse fan, mindscape cinemas are similar to Genshin Impact’s constellations or Honkai Star Rail’s eidolons.
Here are all of Lycaon’s mindscape cinemas:
| Mindscape cinema | Effect |
| Full Moon Momentum | When Lycaon’s EX special attack hits an enemy, the attack’s daze increases by 12%. This effect can trigger once every eight seconds. When Lycaon charges his EX special attack to completion, this buff increases by an additional 10% |
| Energy Feedback | Lycaon gains five energy when he stuns an enemy or triggers a squad member’s chain attack. This can trigger once every second |
| Attendant Training | Lycaon’s basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack each gain two levels |
| Graceful Demeanor | If an enemy attacks Lycaon while he is using a basic attack or special attack, he immediately gains a shield equal to 7.5% of his max HP that lasts for 15 seconds. During this time, Lycaon’s anti-interrupt level also increases. This effect can trigger once every 15 seconds |
| Alpha Nature | Lycaon’s basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack each gain two levels |
| Ruthless Hunter | When Lycaon hits an enemy with a charged attack, he deals 10% increased damage to that enemy, stacking up to five times and lasting for 12 seconds. You can only gain one stack per skill use, and repeated triggers reset the duration |
What are Lycaon’s core skill enhancement materials?
You can enhance Lycaon’s core skills to power him up even further, but you’ll need special materials and a bunch of denny to do so. You can obtain higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit from the expert challenge game mode, whereas you can find the finale dance shoes in the notorious hunt mode.
Here are all of Lycaon’s core skill enhancement materials:
| Required level | Denny and materials |
| 15 | 5k denny |
| 25 | 12k denny and two higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit |
| 35 | 28k denny and four higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit |
| 45 | 60k denny, nine higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit, and two finale dance shoes |
| 55 | 100k denny, 15 higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit, and three finale dance shoes |
| 60 | 200k denny, 30 higher dimensional data: ethereal pursuit, and four finale dance shoes |
What are Lycaon’s skill enhancement materials?
Enhancing Lycaon’s core skills can only get you so far – you need to level up his combat skills too. You can use freeze chips to increase each skill’s level if you have enough denny and you’re a high enough level. You can get these from the combat simulation – agent promotion combat challenge or craft them using lower-level materials. Hamster cage passes come from the New Eridu City Fund or from event rewards, similar to Genshin Impact’s crowns of insight.
Here are all of Lycaon’s skill enhancement materials:
| Level | Denny and materials |
| 2 | 2k denny and two basic freeze chips |
| 3 | 3k denny and three basic freeze chips |
| 4 | 6k denny and two advanced freeze chips |
| 5 | 9k denny and three advanced freeze chips |
| 6 | 12k denny and four advanced freeze chips |
| 7 | 18k denny and six advanced freeze chips |
| 8 | 45k denny and five specialized freeze chips |
| 9 | 67.5k denny and eight specialized freeze chips |
| 10 | 90k denny and ten specialized freeze chips |
| 11 | 112.5k denny and 12 specialized freeze chips |
| 12 | 135k denny, 15 specialized freeze chips, and one hamster cage pass |
That’s a wrap on our Zenless Zone Zero Lycaon build. We’ll regularly update this guide as the meta changes. In the meantime, make sure you check out our other Hoyoverse guides, such as builds for Genshin Impact’s Qiqi, Genshin Impact’s Kaeya, Honkai Star Rail’s Black Swan, and Honkai Star Rail’s Firefly.