Old Friend, New Look

I was scrolling through my YouTube feed and discovered some new drip marketing for Zenless Zone Zero. Pulkra, a thiren who played a pseudo-antagonist in the main story, was announced. I, like many players, anticipated this. Trigger, the mysterious sniper from Soldier 11’s story, was welcome news. What threw me off a few scrolls later was another character announcement. This new character was…Anby?

For those who don't know, Anby is one of the first characters you get in the game. She is an A rank Electric Stunner whom I still use in some main teams (I didn't really roll for Qingyi, who serves the same role).

Now, she's been announced again, this time with a new look and a new job. Instead of a Stunner, she seems to be an S rank Attacker. Although I have hopes for this new addition, I also have some concerns and a couple of controversial hot-takes.

Hopes

One of my hopes for our New Anby, aside from just being fun to play, is in regards to her Faction. Certain characters in ZZZ gain bonuses when paired with someone from the same Faction. OG Anby is in the Cunning Hares, while New Anby is currently listed as Unknown Faction.

While putting New Anby in the Cunning Hares is an obvious choice, my hope is that she's put in a different Faction:

OBOL SQUAD

A long-standing fan theory is that Anby and another character, Soldiers 11, are somehow related. Old teammates? Sisters? The list goes on.

If they are indeed connected, placing New Anby in Obol Squad would be wonderful. Since the start of the game, Soldier 11 has been the only member of Obol Squad, which is terrible because she can get a team bonus if she's with someone of the same element or Faction. This, coupled with the fact that she's the only at-launch character that still doesn't have any hangout ranks, gives the impression that Hoyoverse is neglecting her.

Placing New Anby in Obol Squad would open new possibilities for Soldier 11. She would have more options for team compositions. The addition of Trigger all but confirms this, but a tri-element team of New Anby, Soldier 11, and Astra sounds interesting, too.

Concerns

My core concern in this announcement revolves around Same-Person-New-Skills versus Alternate Costumes. ZZZ just released alternate costumes for certain characters. Players can get a free skin for Nicole, an A rank character, by completing an event, while the costumes for Astra and Ellen, a pair of S ranks, are available for real-money purchase.

Considering how recently Costumes came out, it feels odd that an alternate version of a current character is releasing already, if at all. Both the S rank costumes and characters are paid for, which doesn't sound very appealing to Free 2 Players.

Allow me to make a comparison to another Free 2 Play gacha game that treats this issue rather well: Fate/Grand Order.

FGO introduced costumes a few years ago. Unlike ZZZ, all of their costumes, even for their highest rarity characters, are obtainable through playing the game. Whether they’re available through Story progression or completing objectives in a Limited Event, as long as you have the character it’s attached to, you can obtain them for free. This feels better for a gacha game that’s already taking money for characters you’re not guaranteed to get.

Mash Kyrielight, in her regular outfit

Mash, in a special event costume

What about Same-Person-New-Skills? This brings me to hot-take #1 for New Anby:

MAKE HER THE SAME RANK AS OG ANBY.

New Anby should be an A rank, just like OG Anby. While there could be some “playing her backstory” implications that show she was stronger before joining the Cunning Hares, there is a quote from Nicole in the marketing info hinting at this is present-day, OG Anby wearing an old outfit. That should conclude that New Anby has the same strength as OG Anby.

A player-request for a while has been to add more A rank characters to ZZZ. We’ve had so many S rank characters released, we’ve already maxed out our A ranks. For the purely Free 2 Play users, their team compositions suffer because they can’t keep up with obtaining new limited characters. Making New Anby an A rank would help relieve that pressure.

There’s a high chance that Pulkra will be an A rank character, so I suppose that issue can be resolved for now. However, if New Anby is still going to be an S rank, allow me to bring up hot-take #2:

PUT HER IN THE STANDARD BANNER.

Again, let’s look at FGO. For a good number of new obtainable characters, they get moved to the Standard banner once their Limited banner has expired. This applies to certain maximum rarity characters, too. Not all are included, making them worth saving up for a rerun, but there are still some overpowered characters who enter the Standard banner. If another event related to them crops up, they’re still featured in the Limited banner, too.

ZZZ can start doing this with certain characters, too, starting with New Anby. We can still try to get her in the Limited banner. This would almost be ideal, since her chances of dropping would be higher than in the shared Standard banner. However, once it expires, bring her to the Standard banner. This will force players to think carefully about where they spend their currency, something I’m sure the developers would find rather profitable.

I am looking forward to the new batch of characters, but I still propose New Anby’s rank swap or banner change. It feels like a healthier choice for the game.