In Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ), Ellen Jo is a 5-star character belonging to the Offense type and using the Ice attribute. In a team, she can act as the main damage dealer, dealing significant ice damage with basic attacks. In this guide, you will learn about her best build, amplifiers and drive disks, as well as recommended squads with her and Banbu.
Ellen Jo's Main Features in ZZZ
How to Get Ellen Jo
In the first phase of version 1.5, the Shark Maid was re-appeared in the banner, which increased her drop rate. In the future, this heroine will only be obtainable via Signal Search. Unfortunately, HoYoverse only held one event that rewarded a 5-star fighter (Harumasa), so you definitely won't be able to get Ellen for free.
Ellen Jo Key Stats
| Rarity | Faction | Attribute | Specialty | Attack type | Main parameters (60 lvl) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 stars |
Victoria Household Staff Agency |
Ice |
Assault | Chopper | HP: 7673 Attack: 863 Defense: 606 Critical Hit Chance: 19.4% |
Ellen Jo's Abilities and Their Upgrade Priority
You can read the information about the heroine's abilities in the game itself, so we decided to add it under the spoiler so as not to increase the size of the article. We also recommend that you read our combat system guide to better understand it.
Basic Attacks
Sharpen Teeth
Press the Basic Attack button (LMB) to launch. Ellen attacks enemies in front of her (up to 3 hits), dealing physical damage. Quickly tap or hold the button during the 3rd hit to extend it.
Instant Freeze Slash
To launch, press the basic attack button (LMB) after activating Flash Freeze. Ellen performs 3 slashes in front of her, dealing Ice damage. Each slash consumes 1 charge of Flash Freeze. Quickly tap or hold the button during the 3rd slash to extend it.
Dodges
Dodge: Vortex
Press the dodge button (RMB or L Shift) to quickly dodge while dashing. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable. When Perfect Dodge is activated, Ellen gains the Quick Charge effect: the reactivation time of the next attack in the Arctic Ambush dash is reduced. This effect lasts up to 5 seconds or 1 activation.
Dash: Wandering Hunt
Hold down the dodge button (RMB or L Shift) or double-tap it to initiate the action. Ellen enters a Wander state, which allows her to move in a sprinting motion. While Wandering, use the joystick to set Ellen's direction and release it to stop. Ellen is invulnerable for a short time after activating this skill.
Dash Attack: Arctic Ambush
To activate, press the Basic Attack button (LMB) during Wander. Ellen performs a sweeping slash on an enemy, then performs a quick Scissor Strike, dealing Ice damage. Whenever Quick Scissor Strike hits an enemy, Ellen gains 1 stack of Flash Freeze.
Hold down the basic attack button in Wander to launch. Ellen performs a swinging slash on the enemy, then performs a charged scissor strike, dealing heavy ice damage. When the charged scissor strike hits an enemy, Ellen gains 3 Flash Freeze. If the charged scissor strike hits a frozen enemy, the Shatter effect is triggered. While charging, Interrupt Defense is increased and damage taken is reduced by 40%. While using the skill, Ellen becomes invulnerable for a short time.
Flash Freeze
When Ellen has Flash Freeze stacks, the Flash Freeze effect is activated. Once activated, basic and dash attacks consume Flash Freeze stacks and deal massive ice damage. Ellen can store up to 6 stacks.
Dash Attack: Monstrous Wave
Press the basic attack button while dodging to launch. Ellen slashes at enemies in front of her, dealing physical damage.
Dash Attack: Frost
Press the Basic Attack button while dodging while in Flash Freeze to launch. Ellen consumes 1 Flash Freeze charge and slashes enemies in front of her, dealing Ice damage.
Post-Dodge Counter: Reefs
To activate, press the Basic Attack button (LMB) after launching a Perfect Dodge. Ellen runs through enemy lines with her scissors open, dealing slashing and ice damage. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable.
Help
Quick Help: Guardian Shark
To activate, press the help button (Space) when the active character is thrown up. Swiftly moves through the enemy line and makes a scissor strike forward, dealing ice damage. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable.
To activate, pull the joystick and press the assist button when the character is knocked up on the battlefield. Enters the Wandering state, which allows for rapid dashes. During Wandering, you can change the direction of movement using the joystick. Release the joystick to stop. The heroine is invulnerable while using this skill.
When Quick Assist is activated, Ellen gains the Quick Charge effect: the charge time of the Arctic Ambush dash attack is reduced. This effect lasts up to 5 seconds or 1 trigger.
Defensive Assist: Frontal Wave
To activate, press the Assist button (Space) when the character is about to be attacked. The agent parries the attacks of enemies in front of him, accumulating a lot of stun points on them. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable.
Additional Attack Assist: Shark Cruiser
To activate, press the Basic Attack button (LMB) after using Defense Assist. Ellen rushes at enemies in front of her, slashing them and dealing ice damage. Quickly press or hold LMB during this attack to extend the skill's duration. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable.
Special Attacks
Special Attack: Tail Sweep
Press the Special Attack (E) button to activate. Ellen quickly swipes her tail in front of her, dealing Ice damage. Interruption Defense is increased while using this ability.
Enhanced Special Attack: Tail Smash
Press the Special Attack button (E) when Ellen has enough energy to activate. Ellen slashes her tail powerfully, dealing large amounts of Ice damage. When hitting a target, she gains 1 stack of Flash Freeze. While using this skill, Ellen is invulnerable. After using this skill, Ellen can enter Stage 3 of her Basic Attack.
Enhanced Special Attack: Shark Tsunami
To activate, press the Special Attack button (E) after performing Tail Smash when Ellen has enough energy. Ellen performs a series of powerful slashes, dealing massive Ice damage. Upon hitting the target, she gains 1 stack of Flash Freeze. While using this skill, the heroine is invulnerable. After using this skill, Ellen can enter the 3rd stage of Basic Attack.
Attack Chains
Attack Chain: Avalanche
Target an agent while the attack chain is active to activate. Ellen descends upon enemies from above and summons an ice storm, dealing massive ice damage. She is invulnerable while using this skill.
Super Ability: Eternal Winter
To activate, press the Ultimate (Q) button at maximum decibel level. Ellen falls on enemies from above and causes an ice storm, then performs a powerful scissor strike, dealing massive ice damage. The heroine is invulnerable while using this skill.
Making
Main Passive: Razor Teeth
When Ellen uses a charged Scissor Strike during her Arctic Ambush dash attack or uses a charge of Flash Freeze to activate her Flash Freeze Slash basic attack, the move's critical damage is increased by 50-100%.
Secondary Ability: Gathering Storm
If there is another agent with the same attribute or from the same faction in the squad: When Ellen deals Ice damage, her subsequent Ice damage is increased by 3% for 10 seconds. The effect stacks up to 10 times. Repeated launches reset the duration.
As for leveling up the heroine's talents, the priority should be the inclinations and basic attacks, since the former provide significant buffs, and the latter are the main source of damage (especially the 3rd strike). Next in importance are special attacks, allowing you to quickly get Instant Freeze charges and instantly move on to a powerful 3rd basic strike.
Once you've maxed out the above abilities, you can move on to upgrading your attack and dodge chains to increase the shark girl's overall damage. Upgrade Assist last, as it's noticeably less useful than other abilities.
Ellen Jo's Mental Picture
To open it, you need to save up Agent Profiles, which are given out when duplicates of the heroine drop, which, of course, is random. Considering the small chance of getting 5-star characters, you will need to spend a lot of time and money to unlock all the mental ones. However, even without them, Ellen can easily play the role of the main damage dealer.
The table below lists all the mental ones, their descriptions and benefits for the hero.
| Name | Bonus | Usefulness |
|---|---|---|
| Harbinger of Winter | When Ellen hits an enemy with a quick Scissor Strike during her Arctic Ambush dash attack, Flash Freeze stacks are increased to 3. When she hits an enemy with a charged Arctic Ambush: Flash Freeze Scissor Strike, Flash Freeze stacks are increased to 6. Each Flash Freeze stack consumed increases Ellen's Critical Hit Chance by 2% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 6 times. Each level of the effect is calculated separately. | Significantly increases the build rate of Flash Freeze stacks, which provide an extremely useful additional buff that makes it easier to balance crits. Very useful. |
| Arctic Ocean Predator | After the 3rd hit of the basic attack “Instant Freeze Slash”, you can immediately launch the enhanced special attack “Shark Tsunami”. When activating the enhanced special attack, each stack of Instant Freeze increases the critical damage of the current skill by 20%, max bonus is 60%. | The rotation is now guaranteed to include an enhanced special attack that hits an area and deals considerable damage, and the stacks of Instant Freeze now also increase critical damage, making it even easier to balance crits. Brings very high benefits. |
| Allergy to Overwork | Base Attack, Evasion, Assist, Special Attack, Chain Attack +2. | Provides average benefit. |
| Endless Frost | When any party member applies the Freeze effect to an enemy or stuns them, Ellen gains Instant Freeze (6) and the Quick Charge effect, generating 4 units of energy. The energy generation effect is triggered once every 10 seconds. | Motivates you to use more Ice or Intimidation heroes in your party to quickly freeze or stun enemies, making it easier to stack Flash Freeze and providing extra energy for enhanced special attacks. Provides medium-high benefit. |
| Enough Sleep | Base Attack, Evasion, Assist, Special Attack, Chain Attack +2. | Provides medium benefit. |
| Let the Feast Begin | When Ellen uses her empowered special attack, chain attack, or has the Rapid Charge buff, Ellen's Penetration Rate is increased by 20% for 6 seconds, and Ellen gains 1 stack of Feast (stacks up to 3 times). At 3 stacks of Feast, when Ellen hits an enemy with her Arctic Ambush dash attack, she performs a charged Scissor Strike, consumes 3 stacks of Feast, and increases the damage of the current attack by 250%. | Significantly increases the heroine's damage, but the numbers are still not so high that it would be worth spending so much money and time for M6. |
If you still decide to try your luck, you can stop at M1 and M2, thanks to which it will be much easier for you to gain Instant Freeze charges, and you will be able to significantly increase the heroine's crits. If you have a choice between the first mental and a signature weapon, then a lot depends on whether you have an alternative weapon. For example, if you have “Sulfur”, it is better to spend resources on opening M1.
How to play as Ellen Jo
Ellen's gameplay is built around using basic attacks, which by default deal physical damage, but when Instant Freeze charges are spent (shown under the heroine's portrait), they begin to hit painfully with ice. At the same time, the main passive significantly increases their critical damage. The greatest damage, however, is dealt by the 3rd hit, which can be extended by quickly pressing or holding the attack button (this way you will also group opponents and instantly appear behind them).
Each Ice Strike consumes one charge of Flash Freeze, so in the basic scenario it is recommended to collect 3 stacks to guarantee reaching the 3rd strike. However, if you have energy, there is an easier option – use Enhanced Special Attack (gives 1 charge), after which you can immediately move on to the 3rd strike.
If you use this skill twice in a row, then perform “Shark Tsunami”, which deals about 1.5 times more damage and hits a large area, which is useful against large groups of enemies. Plus, you get 2 charges and can also immediately move on to the 3rd hit. The gif above shows both attacks.
We don't recommend using “Shark Tsunami”, though, since it will be more effective to use a twice-enhanced special attack + 3rd basic hit than just “Shark Tsunami” + 3rd basic hit. As a result, we get a basic combo for Ellen when she has energy:
- Perform a powered up special attack, and then quickly press the basic attack button to perform a 3rd hit.
- Perform a powered up special attack and a 3rd hit again. Repeat this combo until you run out of energy.
- Usually a full energy bar is enough for 3 such combos.
What to do when there is no energy and it is impossible to get Instant Freeze charges using enhanced special attacks? In this case, we resort to Ellen's special dash called “Wandering Hunt”, which is activated by holding or double-clicking the dodge button. By pressing the attack button in this state, the heroine will perform a scissor strike and receive 1 stack of the effect. If you hold the button, you will perform a charged strike and get 3 levels at once.
Of course, a charged strike will be much more effective, but it has an extremely long animation, which, fortunately, can be significantly shortened. Firstly, you should not hold the button for a long time – release it as soon as you see the flash. Secondly, you can instantly charge the scissor strike. To do this, use the following two methods:
- Perform a perfect dodge by holding the dodge button or double tapping to instantly enter Wandering Hunt, then perform a charged scissor strike to gain 3 stacks. You can then immediately perform 3 basic attacks with ice damage.
- Tilt the joystick (hold WASD) before performing a quick assist so that when you switch to Ellen, you immediately enter Wandering Hunt, and then perform a quick scissor strike. After that, you can immediately perform 3 basic attacks with ice damage.
Then just use any of these combinations to continuously attack the enemy with ice basic attacks, and when energy accumulates, move on to the tactics described above. This information will be quite enough to maximize the potential of the heroine.
Ellen Joe's Advantages and Disadvantages
With her unique abilities, the Shark Maid can easily deal with both single opponents and groups of enemies. Her advantages also include:
- She is an excellent hypercarry with straightforward gameplay based on the use of basic attacks, with which she can inflict gigantic ice damage.
- She has incredible mobility in her Wandering Hunt state, allowing her to quickly move around the level and change positions when fighting bosses.
- Her attacks have movement and evasion elements built into them, making her harder for enemies to hit.
- She is able to buff herself with her active and passive abilities, plus she doesn't require any specific characters to reach her full potential, making her a self-sufficient damage dealer.
- One of the few damage dealers who can do without Intimidation or Anomaly characters, having two supports in the team at once.
- Relatively easy to build, since you essentially only need to maximize the heroine's attack power and crits.
- Her combinations are relatively easy to master, so she is also suitable for beginners.
However, Ellen cannot be called an ideal character, since she also has her drawbacks:
- While the combos are simple, they are there – you won't be able to do much damage by mindlessly mashing the attack buttons, so you'll still have to spend time learning her basic moves.
- Her combos can be easily interrupted if you're not careful. Plus, her 3rd hit is quite long, so she can take a lot of damage from the boss at that point.
- Ellen's attack chain lasts longer than other characters, which can cause you to lose valuable damage opportunities during the enemy's stun window. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid using such attacks with Shark Girl.
Best Build for Ellen Jo
Best Amplifiers
We recommend choosing weapons that increase critical damage, critical hit chance, ice damage, or attack power. Options that increase basic attacks will also be useful. The table below shows the most interesting options.
| Name | Stats | Ability |
|---|---|---|
Guest from the Depths | Base Attack: 48-713 Critical Hit Chance: 9.6-24% | Increases Ice Damage by 25-50%. When hitting an enemy with a basic attack, the agent with this item has a 10-20% increase in critical hit chance for 8 sec. When dealing Ice damage with a dash attack, the agent with this item has a further 10-20% increase in critical hit chance for 15 sec. The duration of each effect is calculated separately. A signature booster for Ellen that gives her all the boosts she needs. With this booster, you can focus more on critical damage when picking up drive discs. If you have to choose between the M1 and a signature weapon, we recommend taking the “Guest from the Depths” in the absence of good alternatives. |
Sera | Base attack: 46-684 Attack power: 12-30% | If a basic attack, dash attack, or counterattack after dodging hits an enemy, the agent with this item's attack power is increased by 3.5-7% for 8 sec. Stacks up to 8 times, triggers once every 0.5 sec. The duration of each level of the effect is calculated separately. An extremely good alternative for Ellen, which can significantly increase her attack power, and therefore her overall damage. Shark Maid will be able to easily activate the passive, since she will regularly use basic attacks and dash attacks. It lags behind the signature by about 10-15%. |
Artillery Rotor | Base Attack: 40-594 Critical Hit Chance: 8-20% | Attack Power is increased by 7.5-12%. Whenever an enemy is critically hit, additional damage is dealt equal to 200% of attack power. Cannot be triggered more than once every 8-6 seconds. Gives Ellen the critical chance she needs and increases her attack power, though not very much. She will be able to activate the second part of the passive without any problems, since she will crit often. At the 5th rank of awakening, it is inferior to the signature by about 19-20%. |
Marcato Reverb | Base attack: 40-594 Crit chance. hit rate: 8-20% | Increases the owner's attack power by 6-9.6% for 8 seconds when an enhanced special attack or chain of attacks hits an enemy. Attack power is additionally increased by 6-9.6% if the target is in an attribute anomaly state. Another good option that allows you to increase the crit chance and attack power of the shark. However, to get the second buff, you will have to fulfill additional conditions in the form of frequent use of enhanced attacks and accelerating the accumulation of ice anomaly in the enemy. |
Star Engine | Base Attack: 40-594 Attack Power: 10-25% | When performing a counterattack after an evasion or quick assist, the agent with this item's attack power is increased by 12-19.2% for 12 seconds. Significantly increases attack power, therefore increasing the heroine's overall damage. However, you will have to use quick assist or counterattack more often after dodging, which is not recommended, since it is better to immediately switch to Wander mode after dodging. |
Star of the streets | Base attack: 40-594 Attack power: 10-25% | When a squad member initiates a chain of attacks, the agent with this item gains 1 charge level. Can stack up to 3 times. Using the super ability uses up all charges. Each charge effect increases the damage dealt by the skill by 15-24%. Also gives a lot of attack power and can increase the heroine's overall damage. However, to do this, you will have to perform chains of attacks more often (stun enemies). |
Best Drive Discs
The table below shows the best artifact options for this hero.
| Name | Bonuses | Advantages |
|---|---|---|
Polar Heavy Metal | 2 parts: Increases ice damage by 10%. 4 pieces: Basic and dash attacks deal 20% more damage. When any team member casts Freeze or Shatter on an enemy, the effect is increased by 20% for 12 seconds. | The best set for Ellen, allowing you to significantly increase her overall damage, even if you can’t keep the passive activated all the time. However, it is only suitable for those teams where, in addition to the shark girl, there is at least 1 ice hero, in order to cast Freeze on enemies faster. It is recommended to combine it with Woodpecker-Electro (2 parts). |
Woodpecker-Electro | 2 parts: Increases critical hit chance by 8%. 4 pieces: Each time a basic attack, counterattack after dodging, or enhanced special attack deals critical damage, the wearer gains 1 level of buff. For each stack, the wearer's attack power is increased by 9% for 6 seconds. The buff duration varies for different skills. | A good option for Ellen if she is the only ice character in the team (but can also be used in mono-ice packs). With it, you can increase her attack power and critical hit chance, making it easier for yourself to balance stats. It is recommended to combine it with Polar Heavy Metal (2 parts) or Electro Fugu(2 parts). |
Fugu-Electro | 2 parts: Increases the chance of penetration by 8%. 4 parts: The super ability deals 20% more damage. When activating the ult, the wearer's attack power increases by 15% for 12 seconds. | The best option if you are going to play through the super ability and stunning enemies. That is, your squad must have an Intimidation character, and you must be able to activate the ult every time you stun enemies. If you can't do this, then it is better to take one of the first two sets. It is recommended to combine it with Polar Heavy Metal (2 parts) or Dyatlokor-Electro (2 parts). |
As for the main characteristics of drive discs, then your choice should look like this:
- IV-sector: crit. chance/crit. damage in a ratio of 1 to 2.
- V-sector: ice damage bonus (priority) or attack power%.
- VI-sector: attack power%.
- Substats: critical damage = crit chance > attack% > penetration.
If we talk about the recommended values of Ellen Joe's parameters, they should look something like this:
- Attack: 2700-3100+ units
- Health: 9500+
- Defense: 780+
- Critical Hit Chance: 75-100%
- Critical Damage: 120-180%+
Best Teams for Ellen Jo
F2P Team
| Main DD | Sub DD | Support | Banbu |
|---|---|---|---|
Ellen |
Enby |
Sokaku |
Pingwibu (Packet, Barobu, Sumobu) |
Sokaku is the best 4-star support for Ellen, as he can boost her attack and ice damage. Enby will help in stunning opponents for subsequent use of the shark's super ability.
Teams with hypercarry
| Main-DD | Sub-DD | Support | Banbu |
|---|---|---|---|
Ellen |
Lycaon |
Astra (Caesar) |
Akulabu (Mozhardom, Pingvibu, Packetnik) |
Ellen |
Lightyear (Qingyi) |
Sokaku |
Akulabu (Pingwibu, Packet) |
Ellen |
Sokaku |
Astra (Caesar) |
Shark (Pingweeb, Packet) |
The first two squads are optimal teams for Ellen, in which Astra, Caesar or Sokaku will give the necessary buffs to the damager, and Lightyear or Lycaon will stun opponents and increase the shark's ice damage.
The third squad is quite unique, as it involves using two supports at once to maximize Ellen's damage, who will be on the field for almost 90% of the entire battle.
Leveling up Ellen Jo
The table below shows the materials needed to level up the heroine, her skills, and her inclinations, as well as their total amount.
| Leveling up | Skills up | Inclinations up |
|---|---|---|
Denny x800000
Entry-level attack tokens x4
Top Tier Offense Tokens x32
Pioneer Tokens x30 |
Denny x500000
Basic Freeze Chips x5
Advanced Freeze Chips x15
Specialized Freeze Chips x50
Pass to the “Hamster Cage” x1 |
Denny x400000
Bloodthirsty Fist x9
High-dimensional data: obituary x60 |
That's it for the guide to the best build for Ellen Jo in ZZZ can be considered complete. We hope that this information will help you choose the best amplifiers, drives and commands for the heroine.
