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Nekomiya Mana, better known as Nekomata in Zenless Zone Zero is an S rank Agent who deals Physical anomaly and slash damage. She is an extremely fast attacker able to quickly switch between multiple targets or focus on one to easily apply the assault anomaly for massive bursts of damage.
Below, you will find the best DPS builds for Nekomata as of the ZZZ 1.0 release. Rather you are a F2P player or a spender, this guide is for you! *Note that these builds assume base talent level.
Overview
Available on the standard banner, Nekomata, a cat girl who is part of Gentle House, AKA Cunning Hares, is an agent that relies on fast attacks to overwhelm her opponents. A simple and straightforward, but fun agent to use, she is capable of outputting huge burst damage thanks to the assault effect from physical anomaly buildup. She stands out in the fact that she is able to effortlessly get behind opponents by holding her basic attack during the first 3 attacks, and that landing dodge counters grants her a temporary damage boost.
Nekomata should be built as a main DPS, as in order to maximize her damage output, you need to constantly land dodge counters and build up assault, which she excels at due to her fact attacks. With all that said, let's discuss the best W-Engines, Disc Drives, Stats, Skills, Bangboo, and Teams for Nekomata!
W-Engines
S - Steel Cushion
⭐ CRIT Rate
Metal Cat Claws (level 1 stats)
- Physical damage is increased by 25%. This effect is increased by an additional 35% when attacking from behind.
- Nekomata's canon W-Engine. This enhances her physical damage by a huge amount, and every single attack from her is physical, so this is the best W-Engine to improve her DPS output.
- Nekomata has a mechanic to get behind an enemy built into her charge basic attack, so if you take advantage of that, you're guaranteed + 60% to her physical damage.
- Crit Rate advanced stat on top of her base crit rate of 17% at level 60 means you can sacrifice a few crit rate rolls on your disc drives for other stats if you so choose.
S - Canon Rotor
⭐ Attribute Mastery
Oversized Barrel (level 1 stats)
- Crit Rate is increased by 16%.
- Attacks that deal a CRIT on an enemy will deal an additional 275% ATK as damage. This effect can only trigger once every 5 seconds.
- Nekomata has the highest base attack in the game thus far at 954, meaning the 275% ATK bonus will scale very nicely.
- Attribute Mastery advanced stat here will help Nekomata to apply the physical anomaly assault more often, which is a key part of her core kit.
A - Starlight Engine
⭐ ATK%
Knight Plummel (level 1 stats)
- Launching a Chain Attack increases ATK by 24% for 10s
- With how high Nekomata's attack is, when she comes off from a chain attack, this will give her a sizeable damage boost, and Neko can cause plenty of carnage with those 10 seconds due to her speed.
- ATK% advanced stat will further scale nicely with her already high base attack.
A - Electro-Lip Gloss
⭐ Attribute Mastery
Kiss of Death (level 1 stats)
- Deal 40% more Attribute Anomaly Damage
- 40% more assault damage could be very effective, considering that's where a huge bulk of Nekomata's damage will come from.
- More Attribute Mastery = easier for Nekomata to apply assault, which with at least 2 physical agents in the squad, assault can give you a massive burst of damage.
Disc Drive + Stats
Option 1 - "Critty Cat"
4-Pieces Woodpecker Electro
2-Pieces Fanged Metal
Main stats: IV. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | V. ATK% | VI. Anomaly Rate% or ATK%.
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | 2. ATK% | 3. Attribute Mastery | 4. ATK
This build is for if you want Nekomata to become a critical hit machine, foregoing PEN and PEN Ratio in favor of pure attack and crit damage. As her base attack is amongst the highest in the game, any ATK% or flat attack roll will help you to dish out more damage. You will want as high crit rate as you can afford in order to constantly trigger the Woodpecker Electro 4-piece set bonus, which shouldn't be difficult due to how fast Nekomata attacks.
For VI, you can go with either ATK% or Anomaly Rate%, if you're finding yourself itching for more assault triggers, go for Anomaly Rate%. However, if you are going with optimal team, go for Anomaly Rate% to trigger the catwalk ability more.
Option 2 - "Claws of Steel"
4-Pieces Fanged Metal
2-Pieces Puffer Electro
Main stats: IV. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | V. ATK% or PEN% | VI. Anomaly Rate%
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG | 2. PEN | 3. ATK% | 4. Attribute Mastery
This build takes full advantage of the assault physical anomaly. Whenever assault is triggered, Nekomata's PEN ratio increases by 40%, and adding the 10% from Puffer Electro, you get a base 50%, not counting any bonuses you can get if you choose PEN% as your V main stat. If you go this route, you must prioritize rolling for PEN after you get an adequate level of crit rate and crit damage (100% crit damage for 50% crit rate, for example)
For VI, you absolutely must go Anomaly Rate% in order to trigger assault more, which is what this build relies on, not to mention assault + optimal team will land Nekomata as a top DPS for a long, long time.
Skill Priority
ALWAYS PRIORITIZE CORE SKILL FIRST!!!
- You want to prioritize Nekomata's dodge first because of her passive rewarding perfect dodges. Levelling this up first ensures you will do the maximum damage from the dodge attack and take advantage of the 15% damage buff upon landing a perfect dodge.
- As a main DPS, you want to focus on the basic attack next, as this is where the bulk of your damage will come after landing that perfect counter hit.
- Nekomata's core ability when there are at least 2 slash agents activates upon her landing a special EX attack on an enemy, making this higher priority than her ultimate. Not to mention decent scaling.
- Outside of chain attacks, her ultimate is her only reliable way to deal AOE damage, and it also ignores 10% of the enemies DMG Res, which, combined with my "Claws of Steel" build, pairs nicely. I rate it bottom priority though, as for a main DPS, you won't be relying on this to do most of your damage, more as a stylish finisher or room clear.
Bangboo
S - Amillion
Key Trait - Increases CRIT DMG of all Agents by 28%, and the CRIT DMG of Cunning Hares Agents by an extra 28%
As Nekomata is a member of the Cunning Hares, this gives her a bonus 56% CRIT DMG bonus, which is extremely strong, and allows you to roll for other stats, such as getting your CRIT Rate or ATK% up. Also, Billy, who I consider optimal in Nekomata's team comp, is also a member of Cunning Hares, so this benefits him as well for an overall stronger team.
S - Butler
Key Trait - Increases CRIT Rate of all Agents by 14%, and the CRIT Rate of Victoria Housekeeping Co. Agents by an extra 14%
While Nekomata is not a maid in Victoria Housekeeping, a 14% crit rate bonus will help you overall in your RNG stat rolls by needing less crit rate. The reason why this bangboo is especially good, however, is because Corin, who I consider to be optimal in Nekomata's team comp, is a member of Victoria Housekeeping, thus giving her a 28% crit rate bonus.
If your gacha luck fails you, Paperboo and Luckyboo are also viable A rank options, while Sumoboo is an acceptable B rank option.
Optimal Team Comp
This team consisting of Nekomata, Corin, and Billy gives you perfect physical synergy between all involved by checking off all the requirements in their Core Skill Additional Ability. For Nekomata, where there are at least 2 physical or Cunning Hare agents, after any character inflicts Assault, increases the DMG of Nekomata's next EX Special Attack by 35%, stacking up to 2 times. This makes Nekomata an absolutely insane Physical damage dealer, and with 3 Physical damage dealers, you should be able to trigger assault more consistently.
Overall Thoughts
Nekomata is a very simple, but very powerful S rank physical agent. If you like playing rogue / speedy characters in games, I would recommend you use her in your squad, but if she is stuck in standard banner, wait for them to be featured so you don't push your luck, or re-roll for her, as she deals very high physical damage. Her damage potential with assault means you can beat down high HP bosses more quickly, and her dodge counter buff means you'll constantly be on your toes to land the timing.
