Banyue Mindscape Cinema in Zenless Zone Zero — What Each Level Does and When It’s Worth Pulling

Banyue is one of Zenless Zone Zero’s most demanding Rupture DPS agents, and his Mindscape Cinema (M1–M6) leans into that complexity. Each duplicate doesn’t just add numbers; it changes how he shreds Fire RES, sustains Adrenaline, and stretches stun windows to fit his long, fighting‑game‑style strings.

Quick refresher: what Banyue already does without Mindscapes

Banyue is an S‑rank Fire Rupture agent whose damage converts to Sheer DMG that ignores enemy DEF and scales from his Sheer Force. His Core Passive “One With the Mountains” is the backbone of his kit:

• HP to Sheer Force conversion — Every 1 point of Max HP adds 0.1 Sheer Force, and all Fire DMG becomes Sheer DMG that uses Sheer Force as the multiplier and bypasses DEF.
• Adrenaline and Wrathful Fires — He starts combat with 60 Adrenaline and can hold 120. Every point of Adrenaline spent gives 0.5 Wrathful Fires. Parries, Perfect Blocks, Perfect Dodges, and Defensive Assists also generate Wrathful Fires.
• Visage of Wrath state — At 120 Wrathful Fires, holding Basic Attack (Immolate) puts him into Visage of Wrath. He gains 4 stacks of Mountain’s Might. In this state, EX Special Attacks spend 1 Mountain’s Might instead of Adrenaline and restore 10 Adrenaline per EX, up to 4 casts.
• Finisher and manual combo reward — Holding Basic Attack in Visage of Wrath spends 120 Wrathful Fires on Toppling Mountain, ending the state. After two different EX Specials in that state, holding Basic Attack instead triggers Crushing Peaks into Toppling Mountain.
• Self‑buffs on EX / Assist hit — Each EX Special Attack or Assist Follow‑Up grants Sheer Force, Fire DMG, and CRIT DMG for 30 seconds (up to 300 Sheer Force, 36% Fire DMG, 36% CRIT DMG when fully upgraded).

His Additional Ability “Mountain’s Zenith” activates when there’s a Stun or Support agent on the team. While in Visage of Wrath, each EX Special Attack that spends Mountain’s Might through branches or quick inputs grants one stack of Vidyaraja, up to three stacks of 5% Fire DMG for 8 seconds. That reward only applies when you perform manual EX chains instead of the auto Wrath sequence.

On top of that, Banyue’s entire kit is built around four EX Specials and their “Wrath” variants:

• Earth Shaker — Ground slams, usually after the 3rd/4th hit of Towering Peaks or via quick inputs.
• Mountain Tremor and Mountain Tremor – Wrath — Thrown “mountain” follow‑up to Earth Shaker or quick inputs.
• One’s Path — Bead/orb projectile string, often from Majestic Summit branches or counters.
• Lion’s Roar and Lion’s Roar – Wrath — Sonic‑wave finisher that follows One’s Path.

This is already a dense rotation: build Wrathful Fires with EXs and parries, enter Visage of Wrath around a stun window, squeeze in four EX Specials plus Crushing Peaks → Toppling Mountain, then exit and rebuild. Mindscape effects bolt extra debuffs and resource flow on top of that loop.

Banyue Mindscape Cinema effects (M1–M6)

M1: Tremor, Fire RES shred, and longer stuns

M1 is the most transformative breakpoint for Banyue and the one that justifies calling him a “Mindscape character.” It layers three effects directly onto how he already wants to play.

First, Earth Shaker and One’s Path now inflict the Tremor state. Tremor cuts an enemy’s Fire RES by 10% for 30 seconds. Because those two EX Specials are Banyue’s most common “first tier” EXs, you naturally apply Tremor early in your combo and maintain it through regular play. Every Fire unit on the team benefits from this shred, not just Banyue.

Second, hitting a Tremor target with Lion’s Roar, Lion’s Roar – Wrath, Mountain Tremor, Mountain Tremor – Wrath, Toppling Mountain, or Crushing Peaks boosts the Sheer DMG of those hits by 10%. That’s effectively a targeted multiplier applied to the “second tier” EX Specials and the Wrath finisher sequence. The Earth combo (Earth Shaker → Mountain Tremor – Wrath) and Orb combo (One’s Path → Lion’s Roar – Wrath) both take advantage of this automatically once Tremor is up.

Third, when Crushing Peaks hits a stunned enemy, the current stun duration is extended by 2 seconds. This effect only triggers once per stun and doesn’t stack with other, similar extensions from characters like Dialyn or Lighter. In practice, you want Crushing Peaks to land after initial stun‑time extension sources have already been applied, so this extra 2 seconds sits on top of them. That extra breathing room is often what lets Banyue fit Crushing Peaks → Toppling Mountain and, in many cases, an Ultimate inside a single stun phase.

For teams that rely on long, manual Wrath combos, M1 is effectively a damage and QoL spike in one copy: Fire RES shred, EX multipliers, and more comfortable stun windows.

M2: Bigger self‑buffs and smoother Wrath rotations

M2 does not change Banyue’s flow, but it meaningfully scales what he already does well.

The Core Passive’s Fire DMG and CRIT DMG bonuses each gain an additional 15%. At full Core upgrade, that pushes those values to 36% Fire DMG and 36% CRIT DMG. With M2, those bonuses reach 51% Fire DMG and 51% CRIT DMG instead. Since Banyue triggers this buff with any EX Special Attack or Assist Follow‑Up and refreshes it regularly inside his normal loop, it functions as a nearly permanent offensive aura for himself.

The second half of M2 improves Adrenaline sustain inside Visage of Wrath. Each time a Mountain’s Might stack is spent on an EX Special Attack, Banyue now restores 15 Adrenaline instead of 10. Over four EXs, that’s 60 Adrenaline instead of 40. This makes it easier to come out of a Wrath cycle with enough Adrenaline to keep chaining EX Specials while you rebuild Wrathful Fires, and it softens mistakes where you consume an EX at awkward times.

For players who already have M1 and lean into manual Wrath strings, M2 is a strong second pickup: it’s pure damage with a clear quality‑of‑life payoff.

M3 and M5: Flat skill levels that quietly stack up

M3 and M5 share the same type of effect: they each add +2 levels to Banyue’s Basic Attack, Dodge, Assist, Special Attack, and Chain Attack.

Because Banyue’s damage is spread across many buttons — from Towering Peaks and Majestic Summit strings to his various EX branches and Chain Attack — these extra levels apply across almost all of his active toolkit. That means:

• Higher multipliers on the normal hits that feed into EX branches.
• Stronger Assist Follow‑Ups, which matter because they can also trigger Core Passive buffs and EX shortcuts.
• More damage on Chain Attack, which often leads directly into Visage of Wrath and a full combo.

What they do not do is alter his rotation, open new lines, or provide utility such as RES shred or stun time. They are high‑value for raw output but low‑impact on how Banyue feels to play. For anyone considering stopping at a certain Mindscape, they are comfortable “filler” on the way to something else, rather than required breakpoints.

M4: Burst damage focus on Wrath EXs and finisher

M4 focuses directly on Banyue’s biggest hits inside Visage of Wrath:

• Lion’s Roar – Wrath
• Mountain Tremor – Wrath
• Toppling Mountain
• Crushing Peaks

Each of these skills gains 30% additional damage. These are exactly the abilities that sit at the heart of “Earth combo,” “Orb combo,” and the full manual Wrath combo. Because the Wrath variants cost more Adrenaline outside of Visage of Wrath (and are free inside it via Mountain’s Might), they are where a large chunk of Banyue’s practical DPS budget lives.

In long stun windows where you can execute Earth Shaker → Mountain Tremor – Wrath → One’s Path → Lion’s Roar – Wrath → Crushing Peaks → Toppling Mountain, M4 turns almost every step from the second EX onward into a noticeably heavier hit. When combined with M1’s Tremor multipliers and M2’s higher Fire/CRIT bonuses, M4 effectively turns Banyue’s entire Wrath burst into a stacked multiplicative spike.

For players who consistently hit perfect cancel windows and already own M1 and M2, M4 is the point where Banyue starts functioning like a “one‑stun delete” unit against many bosses, assuming solid team support.

M6: Vidyaraja as a permanent buff and a nuclear Crushing Peaks

M6 reimagines Vidyaraja from a small, Wrath‑only reward into a defining buff for Banyue’s entire gameplan.

Without M6, Vidyaraja stacks only build in Visage of Wrath when you spend Mountain’s Might on EX Specials via branches or quick inputs, and they grant 5% Fire DMG each (up to three stacks) for 8 seconds. Since Wrath has no built‑in timer but blocks further Wrathful Fires gain, its practical use is to fuel four “free” EXs and a finisher inside or just before a stun phase.

With M6:

• Any EX Special Attack grants Vidyaraja, regardless of Wrath state.
• Battle Cry dodge after an EX can also grant Vidyaraja, making it possible to double up on stacks quickly if you weave in his taunt dodge.
• Vidyaraja’s Fire DMG per stack jumps by 8%, to 13%, and its duration stretches to 30 seconds. At three stacks, that’s 39% Fire DMG on a long timer that overlaps comfortably with his Core Passive’s self‑buffs.
• Crushing Peaks gains an extra hit equal to 600% of Banyue’s Sheer Force to nearby enemies, which is a massive multiplier on a move that already ends his most important sequences.

In practice, this means Banyue can maintain near‑constant Vidyaraja uptime by simply playing his normal EX‑heavy style, even outside of major stuns or Visage of Wrath windows. The Fire DMG bonuses from the Core Passive (51% with M2) and Vidyaraja (up to 39% with M6) stack, turning any combo that ends in Crushing Peaks into an enormous AoE nuke worth building around.

M6 also rewards mastery of Dodge: Battle Cry. If you taunt after an EX Special Attack and input the quick command for the next EX before the clap animation completes, you keep the combo going while gaining extra Vidyaraja uptime. The timing window is tight, and the tech is not mandatory, but players who invest in it gain additional stability on that 39% Fire DMG buff.

Which Banyue Mindscapes are worth pulling?

The obvious catch with Mindscape Cinema is cost. Banyue is an S‑rank, so every Mindscape copy is a significant Polychrome investment on top of his initial pull and any W‑Engine wishes. It helps to think of his Mindscapes in tiers of value rather than as a straight 0–6 ladder.

High‑value breakpoints: M1 and M2

M1 is the single best improvement for most players who want to push Banyue. It:

• Adds reliable Fire RES shred (Tremor) tied to the EX Specials you use most often.
• Directly multiplies Sheer DMG on your main Wrath EXs and finisher, where damage matters most.
• Extends stun by 2 seconds through Crushing Peaks, easing the biggest practical pain point for Banyue players: finishing full combos inside a stun timer.

For anyone building him as a main DPS, M1 is excellent “one‑and‑done” value. If you plan to stop very early, stopping at M1 makes sense.

M2 is the logical next step if resources allow. It:

• Raises his core, near‑permanent Fire/CRIT buffs to 51% each.
• Improves Adrenaline sustain during Visage of Wrath, making rotations less punishing and letting you exit Wrath with more EX opportunities in the bank.

Together, M1 and M2 give Banyue a clear identity: a high‑skill Rupture DPS who reliably shreds Fire RES, sustains himself through long EX chains, and can fit an entire Wrath sequence into a stun phase more comfortably than at baseline.

Mid‑tier value: M4 and the damage‑stacking path

M3 and M5 are strong on paper but generic in effect. They stack well if you are already deep into duplicates, but they aren’t reasons to target more copies on their own.

M4, however, is a notable power spike if you’ve already committed this far. A 30% damage bump to Lion’s Roar – Wrath, Mountain Tremor – Wrath, Toppling Mountain, and Crushing Peaks disproportionately amplifies the parts of Banyue’s kit that define his burst identity. When paired with M1 and M2, and with a team built to extend stuns via units like Dialyn or Lighter, M4 helps Banyue turn those elongated stun windows into devastating, repeatable burst phases.

For players aiming to clear top‑end content quickly and who enjoy the challenge of executing full manual Wrath combos, pulling up to M4 creates a distinct “hyper carry” profile: Banyue demands field time, resources, and mechanical skill, but returns extremely high peak damage when everything lines up.

Whale territory: M6 and full‑investment Banyue

M6 is designed for players who intend to center an account around Banyue and are comfortable investing heavily.

The expanded Vidyaraja behavior — high Fire DMG per stack, long duration, and universal EX triggering — effectively gives Banyue a secondary Fire DMG steroid that stays active far outside Visage of Wrath. The extra 600% Sheer Force hit on Crushing Peaks shifts even more of his value into the Wrath finisher, rewarding teams that can ensure he finishes every important stun phase with Crushing Peaks into Toppling Mountain.

For that niche of players, M6 transforms Banyue from “hard but rewarding” into a showcase unit with near‑permanent self‑buffs and explosive finisher damage. For everyone else, especially those working within limited pull budgets, it is a luxury rather than a target.

How Banyue’s Mindscapes compare to his signature W‑Engine

Banyue’s signature Rupture W‑Engine grants:

• 20% CRIT Rate.
• HP% as the main stat (30%), which feeds directly into Sheer Force via his Core Passive.
• Up to two stacks of Fire Sheer DMG on EX Special Attack, each adding a sizable percentage for 20 seconds.

Because Banyue already has only 5% base CRIT Rate and wants heavy HP investment, that combination of HP main stat, Crit, and Fire Sheer DMG stacks is very efficient. A weapon is also always equipped; its benefits are present in every fight with no conditional setup beyond using EX Specials, which Banyue does constantly.

Measured against that:

• M1 offers RES shred and multipliers that only apply after specific EXs hit and only to certain follow‑ups, but it also adds invaluable stun extension.
• M2+ are pure damage boosts and resource tweaks that sit on top of what the weapon already provides.

For most players with limited currency, prioritizing Banyue’s signature W‑Engine before chasing high Mindscapes is the more stable, broadly valuable path. The W‑Engine fixes critical stat issues (CRIT Rate, HP) and gives a large, consistent Fire Sheer DMG bonus.

If you already own the signature W‑Engine and intend to main Banyue long term, M1 is the standout early duplicate for Fire teams and stun‑centric endgame modes. Beyond that, pushing to M2 or M4 is best reserved for players who actively enjoy his demanding execution and are comfortable investing large amounts into a single DPS.

Banyue’s Mindscape Cinema is built around players who are willing to learn tight quick‑input timings, abuse perfect cancels, and plan entire team rotations around long stun windows. His constellations reward that commitment with subtle utility (M1’s Tremor and stun extension) and increasingly dramatic damage spikes (M2, M4, M6). If that playstyle appeals — and your pulls can support it — he becomes one of the most expressive and explosive Rupture agents in Zenless Zone Zero.