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 dishes out slash attacks to deal physical damage. Dealing physical damage to enemies accumulates the physical attribute anomaly, and, when you’ve accumulated enough, triggers the assault and armor break effects. Assault interrupts the enemy and deals massive physical damage, while armor break reduces the enemy’s physical damage resistance temporarily.
Nekomata is a close-range, melee character, and is extremely fast in combat – the closest comparison we can draw is that she’s kind of like a rogue in other games. She excels in multi-target scenarios, as she can dash between multiple enemies very quickly, but she’s also capable of dealing a lot of damage to bosses and weakening their physical damage res.
Due to her core skill, 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, as she’s both physical and slash, resulting in a boost to both Nekomata’s assault and physical damage.
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.
We’re currently still crunching numbers and working out the systems to bring you the best alternates. For now, we recommend using [Reverb] Mark III if you don’t have Steel Cushion, as it boosts Nekomata’s crit rate, along with her basic and special attack damage.
| W-engine | Effect |
| Steel Cushion | Bonus stat: crit rate Skill: increases physical damage by 25%. This effect increases by a further 35% when the wearer attacks an enemy from behind |
| [Reverb] Mark III | Bonus stat: crit rate Skill: increases basic attack and special attack damage |
What are the best disc drives for Nekomata?
Disc drives are similar to Genshin Impact’s artifacts or Honkai Star Rail’s relics. You can equip each character with six disc drives, and each disc drive set offers both a two-piece set bonus and a four-piece set bonus.
We’re currently still working out the best disc drives for Nekomata, but we do have some recommendations in the meantime. Currently, we recommend equipping Nekomata with a full four-piece set of Assassin’s Ballad to boost both her attack% and basic attack damage.
In the other two slots, you can go for two pieces of Noisy Pop to boost her attack further, or two pieces of Monsoon Funk to increase her attribute mastery and help her accumulate the physical attribute anomaly more quickly.
Of course, we’ll be sure to update this guide as we learn more about the different stats and unlock more disc drive sets, so check back soon.
| Disc drive set | Effect |
| Assassin’s Ballad | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: basic attacks deal 20% more damage and an additional 12% upon defeating an enemy. This effect can stack up to three times and lasts for 15 seconds. Repeated triggers reset the duration |
| Noisy Pop | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: increases damage dealt by basic attacks by 15% |
| Monsoon Funk | Two equipped: increases attribute mastery by 20 Four equipped: when inflicting attribute anomaly effects on an enemy, attribute mastery increases by 22, stacking up to three times |
What are Nekomata’s skills?
Here are all of Nekomata’s skills, attacks, and talents as of the second closed beta. Keep in mind that the game is still under development, so these details may change on the Zenless Zone Zero release date.
Nekomata’s attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack – Kitty Slash | Unleashes up to five slashes, dealing physical damage |
| Basic attack – Crimson Blade | Hold down the attack button during the first three hits of Nekomata’s basic attacks to slash enemies in front and pass through them, dealing physical damage |
| Special attack – Surprise Attack | Unleashes a downward strike, dealing physical damage. Anti-interrupt level increases 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 chain attacks:
| Skill | Effect |
| Chain attack – Claw Swipe | When a chain attack triggers, select NEkomata to unleash a powerful upward slash at enemies in a large area, 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 area, dealing massive physical damage, ignoring 10% of the struck target’s damage resistance. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
Nekomata’s core skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Core passive – Stealthy Catwalk | When Nekomata’s dodge counter hit an enemy, her damage increases by 15% for six seconds |
| Additional ability – Catwalk | If there are at least two physical agents in your squad, when Nekomata hits an enemy with her EX special attack, assault damage increases by 22.5%. This effect stacks up to two times and resets when the enemy takes assault damage. When there are at least two slash agents in your squad, Nekomata’s physical damage increases by 7.5%, and by a further 12.5% when she attacks stunned enemies |
| Reactive assist – Cat’s Paw | When the character in combat is knocked back, switch to Nekomata to slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
| Defensive assist – Desperate Defense | When an enemy is about to attack the active character, switch to Nekomata to parry the enemy’s attack, inflicting massive daze. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
| Assist follow-up – Shadow Strike | Press the skill button after a defensive assist to charge and slash enemies in front, dealing physical damage. Nekomata is invulnerable during this skill |
What are Nekomata’s talents?
In ZZZ, talents are similar to Genshin Impact’s constellations or Honkai Star Rail’s eidolons – they’re unique buffs and bonuses that you can unlock by pulling more than one copy of a character.
Here are all of Nekomata’s talents:
| Talent | Effect |
| A – Cat & Mouse | When there’s only one enemy on the field and Nekomata is in combat, her energy generation rate increases by 30% |
| B – Bird Hunter | When Nekomata attacks from behind, she ignores 16% of her target’s physical res. If the enemy is stunned, all Nekomata’s attacks are considered back attacks |
| C – Curious Left Tail | Increases the level of all of Nekomata’s skills by two |
| D – Sharpen Claws | When Nekomata uses her EX special attack, her crit rate increases by 12% for 15 seconds, stacking up to two stacks, with each stack’s duration calculated separately |
| E – Lucky Right Tail | Increases the level of all of Nekomata’s skills by two |
| F – 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 skill enhancement materials?
You can level up Nekomata’s skills using basic, advanced, and specialized physical chips. You can get these from the 141 store on Sixth Street (the one run by the three Bangboo).
What are Nekomata’s promotion materials?
You can level Nekomata up using investigator logs, but you also need to promote her at certain intervals. In order to promote Nekomata, you need a lot of cleave seals, which you get as rewards from VR Training.
Who is Zenless Zone Zero’s Nekomata?
Nekomiya, better known by her nickname Nekomata, is a member of the Cunning Hares, AKA Gentle House, alongside Nicole, Billy, and Anby. According to her Hoyolab intro, once you get to know her you may be surprised to find she’s hiding something behind that cheerful exterior.
Hoyoverse also showed her off via Twitter, giving us a glimpse of this adorable demi-human kitty girl.
Who are Nekomata’s voice actors?
Huā líng is Nekomata’s Chinese VA, she doesn’t have too many credits to her name but has appeared in Naruto. Hara Sayuri voices Nekomata in Japanese, and she also plays Z36 in Azur Lane and Rinwell in Tales of Arise.
We should find out her English VA very soon, so stay tuned for those details.
That’s all we have for you on Zenless Zone Zero’s Nekomata at the moment, but we’ve been working hard to make sure your ZZZ knowledge is as extensive as it can be. Peruse our Zenless Zone Zero tier list, Zenless Zone Zero codes, and Zenless Zone Zero banner guide to fill your noggin with nonsense.