If you like to play as a cute catgirl in your gacha games, Zenless Zone Zero’s Nekomata is the one for you. This character is very mischievous and according to her Hoyolab bio has had many ‘curiosity killed the cat’ moments. She wields a weapon that looks a bit like an extra deadly box cutter, and you better watch out, cause this kitty got claws.
Nekomata is part of the Cunning Hares faction, so if you’re curious about other Zenless Zone Zero characters who work with her, make sure you check out our Zenless Zone Zero Billy, Zenless Zone Zero Nicole, and Zenless Zone Zero Anby guides.
Here’s everything you need to know about Zenless Zone Zero’s Nekomata:
What is the best Nekomata build?
Nekomata is an S-rank attack agent who dishes out slash attacks to deal physical damage. Dealing physical damage to enemies accumulates physical anomaly buildup, and, when you’ve accumulated enough, triggers the assault and flinch effects. Assault interrupts the enemy and deals massive physical damage, while flinch increases the daze an enemy takes temporarily.
We recommend you equip her with the Steel Cushion W-Engine to increase her crit rate and physical damage. As for her drive discs, go with a four-piece set of Woodpecker Electro to increase her crit rate and either two pieces of Fanged Metal or two pieces of Puffer Electro for a boost to physical damage or PEN ratio respectively.
| Best W-Engine | Steel Cushion |
| Best drive discs | Four pieces: Woodpecker Electro Two pieces: Fanged Metal or Puffer Electro |
| Main stats | Crit (rate or damage) > attack ratio > anomaly mastery |
| Sub-stats | Crit (rate or damage) > attack ratio > anomaly proficiency > attack |
Due to her additional ability, Nekomata performs better when paired up with at least one other physical and/or slash character – as such, pairing her up with Zenless Zone Zero’s Corin is a great idea.
What is Nekomata’s best W-engine?
Nekomata’s best W-engine is Steel Cushion. It’s an S-rank unit specifically tailored to her kit and boosts her physical damage and crit rate significantly. If you haven’t got your hands on Steel Cushion just yet, a good lower-rarity option is Starlight Engine.
| W-engine | Effect |
| Steel Cushion | Increases physical damage by 20%. Increases Nekomata’s damage by 25% when attacking an enemy from behind |
| Starlight Engine | Increases Nekomata’s attack by 12% for 12 seconds after launching a dodge counter or quick assist |
What are the best drive discs for Nekomata?
Drive discs are similar to Genshin Impact’s artifacts or Honkai Star Rail’s relics. You can equip each character with six drive discs, and each drive disc set offers both a two-piece set bonus and a four-piece set bonus.
We’re currently still working out the best drive discs for Nekomata, but we do have some recommendations in the meantime. Currently, we recommend equipping Nekomata with a full four-piece set of Woodpecker Electro to boost both her crit rate and basic attack damage.
In the other two slots, you can go for two pieces of Fanged Metal to boost her physical damage, or two pieces of Puffer Electro to increase her pen ratio.
| Drive discs set | Effect |
| Woodpecker Electro | Two pieces: Increases crit rate by 8% Four pieces: Increases Nekomata’s attack by 9% for six seconds when she triggers a critical hit with a basic attack, dodge counter, or EX special attack. The buff duration for different skills is calculated separately |
| Fanged Metal | Two pieces: Increases physical damage by 10% |
| Puffer Electro | Two pieces: increases PEN ratio by 8% |
Of course, we’ll be sure to update this guide as we learn more about the different stats and unlock more drive disc sets, so check back soon.
Nekomata’s stat recommendations:
Make sure you increase these stats when building Nekomata.
Mains stats:
- Crit (rate or damage)
- Attack ratio
- Anomaly mastery
Sub-stats:
- Crit (rate or damage)
- Attack ratio
- Anomaly proficiency
- Attack
What are Nekomata’s skills?
Here are all of Nekomata’s skills you can use in-game.
Nekomata’s attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack – Kitty Slash | Unleashes up to five slashes, dealing physical damage. There’s a 33.33% chance of repeating this hit three times on the final strike |
| Basic attack – Crimson Blade | Hold down the attack button during the first three hits of Nekomata’s basic attack to slash enemies in front and pass through them, dealing physical damage. There’s a 33.33% chance of repeating this hit three times on activation |
| Special attack – Surprise Attack | Unleashes a downward strike, dealing physical damage. Increases anti-interrupt level during this skill |
| EX special attack – Super Surprise Attack! | When Nekomata has enough energy, press the special attack button to unleash a powerful falling slash that deals massive physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
Nekomata’s dodges:
| Skill | Effect |
| Dodge – Can’t Touch Me-ow~ | Perform a rapid dodge. Nekomata is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Dash attack – Over Here! | Tap attack while dodging to slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage |
| Dodge counter – Phantom Claws | Press attack during a perfect dodge to slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable while using this skill |
Nekomata’s combo attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Quick assist – Cat’s Paw | Slashes enemies in front, dealing physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Defensive assist – Desperate Defense | Parry an enemy’s attack, dealing massive daze. Nekomata is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Assist follow-up – Shadow Strike | Charge forward and slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable while using this skill |
| Chain attack – Claw Swipe | When a chain attack triggers, select Nekomata to unleash a powerful upward slash at enemies in a large AoE, dealing massive physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
| Ultimate – Claw Smash | When the decibel rating is at maximum, press the ultimate button to unleash powerful slashes at enemies in a large AoE, dealing massive physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
Nekomata’s passives:
| Skill | Effect |
| Core passive – Stealthy Paws | Increases Nekomata’s damage by 15% for six seconds when her dodge counter or quick assist hits an enemy |
| Additional ability – Catwalk | When another character in your squad shares the same attribute or faction: increases the damage of Nekomata’s next EX special attack by 35% after any character inflicts assault. Can stack up to two times |
What are Nekomata’s promotion materials?
To get Nekomata to max level you need to save up your denny and offense certification seals from combat simulation – agent promotion or craft them from old seals and components you don’t need.
Here are all of Nekomata’s promotion materials:
| Level | Denny and materials |
| 20 | 24k denny and four basic offense certification seals |
| 30 | 56k denny and 12 advanced offense certification seals |
| 40 | 120k denny and 20 offense certification seals |
| 50 | 200k denny and ten pioneer’s certification seals |
| 60 | 400k denny and 20 pioneer’s certification seals |
What are Nekomata’s mindscape cinemas?
To increase Nekomata’s mindscape cinema level you need to pick up a duplicate of her during a signal search. The mindscape cinema is similar to Honkai Star Rail’s eidolons and Genshin Impact’s constellations.
Here are all of Nekomata’s mindscape cinemas:
| Mindscape cinema | Effect |
| Bird Hunter | Nekomata ignores 16% of her target’s physical resistance when hitting them from behind. All of Nekomata’s attacks are considered back attacks when the enemy is stunned |
| Cat & Mouse | Increases Nekomata’s energy generation rate by 25% when there’s only one enemy on the field and she’s in combat |
| Curious Left Tail | Increases the level of basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack by two |
| Sharpen Claws | Increases Nekomata’s crit rate by 7% for 15 seconds when she uses her EX special attack, stacking up to two times. Each stack’s duration is calculated separately |
| Lucky Right Tail | Increases the level of basic attack, dodge, assist, special attack, and chain attack by two |
| Predator Lineage | When Nekomata launches a chain attack or uses her ultimate, her crit damage increases by 28%, stacking up to three times and expiring when she leaves battle. This effect gains max stacks immediately on defeating an enemy |
What are Nekomata’s core skill enhancement materials?
To increase the levels of Nekomata’s core skills you need lots of denny, some higher dimensional data: murderous obituary from expert challenges, and a few ferocious grips that you can gather from notorious hunts.
Here are all of Nekomata’s core skill enhancement materials:
| Required level | Denny and materials |
| 15 | 5k denny |
| 25 | 12k denny and two higher dimensional data: murderous obituary |
| 35 | 28k denny and four higher dimensional data: murderous obituary |
| 45 | 60k denny, nine higher dimensional data: murderous obituary, and two ferocious grips |
| 55 | 100k denny, 15 higher dimensional data: murderous obituary, and three ferocious grips |
| 60 | 200k denny, 30 higher dimensional data: murderous obituary, and four ferocious grips |
What are Nekomata’s skill enhancement materials?
You need different levels of shock chips to enhance Nekomata’s skills. You can get them by completing combat simulation – agent skills and by dismantling other chips. Additionally, if you want to max out one of Nekomata’s skills (level 12), you also need a hamster cage pass (similar to Genshin’s crowns), which you can earn through events or the New Eridu City Fund.
Here are all of Nekomata’s skill enhancement materials:
| Required level | Denny and materials |
| 15 | 2k denny and two basic shock chips |
| 15 | 3k denny and three basic shock chips |
| 25 | 6k denny and two advanced shock chips |
| 25 | 9k denny and three advanced shock chips |
| 35 | 12k denny and four advanced shock chips |
| 35 | 18k denny and six advanced shock chips |
| 45 | 45k denny and five specialized shock chips |
| 45 | 67.5k denny and eight specialized shock chips |
| 55 | 90k denny and ten specialized shock chips |
| 55 | 112.5k denny and 12 specialized shock chips |
| 60 | 135k denny, 15 specialized shock chips, and one hamster cage pass |
That’s all we have for you on Zenless Zone Zero’s Nekomata. Peruse our Zenless Zone Zero tier list, Zenless Zone Zero codes, and Zenless Zone Zero banner guide to fill your noggin with nonsense.