Zenless Zone Zero’s Version 2.5 stream, “To Be Fuel for the Night,” laid out a dense roadmap of story, characters, rewards, and long-requested quality-of-life changes. It also confirmed one of the most generous moves the game has made so far: every player can claim the new S-Rank agent Zhao for free.
Version 2.5 release date and structure
Version 2.5 goes live on December 30, 2025, with maintenance expected to end around 11:00 (UTC+8), in line with previous updates. HoYoverse is treating this patch as the climax of Season 2’s current arc on Waifei Peninsula, but not the end of the season itself.
The update is expected to run into mid-February 2026. Phase dates are framed around two possibilities:
| Schedule model | Phase 1 | Phase 2 |
|---|---|---|
| ~50‑day version | Dec 30, 2025 – Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 21 – Feb 17, 2026 |
| Six‑week version | Dec 30, 2025 – Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 21 – Feb 11, 2026 |
Regardless of the exact end date, both debut banners launch together at the start of the patch, with reruns and special banners joining in the latter half.
Livestream timing and watch options
The 2.5 Special Program aired on December 19, 2025, at 19:30 (UTC+8), with simultaneous streams for multiple regions. For reference, that translated to:
| Region | Local time |
|---|---|
| North America (UTC‑5) | 06:30 |
| Europe (UTC+1) | 12:30 |
| Asia / TW / HK / MO (UTC+8) | 19:30 |
The video is archived on Zenless Zone Zero’s official YouTube channel and on its Twitch page at twitch.tv/zenlesszonezero.
Banner lineup: Ye Shunguang and Zhao debut together
Version 2.5 abandons the strict “Phase 1 / Phase 2 separate debuts” structure and instead launches both new S-Rank agents on day one. Their character banners sit alongside matching W‑Engine banners.
| Banner group | Content | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Light Upon Fingertips | S-Rank Ye Shunguang (Honed Edge · Attack) | Limited debut, standard 5★ rules |
| Priceless Heart | S-Rank Zhao (Ice · Defense) | Limited debut, also given once for free |
| Dissonant Sonata / Dazzling Choir | W‑Engine banners | Feature Cloudcleave Radiance and Half-Sugar Bunny |
During the second half of the patch, a new rerun format appears:
- Exclusive Rescreening – an Agent rerun banner where you pre-select which S-Rank (Alice, Soldier 0 Anby, or Astra Yao) you want to guarantee on pity. The usual 50‑50 against the standard pool does not apply on the first S-Rank of this banner.
- W-Engine Reverberation – a similar W‑Engine banner where you choose the featured S‑Rank W‑Engine linked to those agents.
Pity on Exclusive Rescreening and W‑Engine Reverberation carries over to their next appearance, but is separate from the pity counters on the main limited banners.
Free Zhao and other major rewards
The stream confirmed several headline rewards that do not require gacha pulls:
- Free S-Rank Zhao: every account can claim Zhao once the version goes live, alongside materials to raise her to roughly level 40. The distribution runs through the “Special Visitor” login event.
- Free Jane Doe outfit “Nocturne of Light”:
- 1,000 Polychromes:
- Top-up milestone selector:
On top of those, pre‑registration and login events tied to Version 2.5 can add hundreds more Polychromes, Boopons, and Encrypted Master Tapes over the patch’s lifespan.
Livestream redemption code
The stream included a single-time redemption code with the standard mix of currency and upgrade materials:
| Code | Rewards |
|---|---|
| VOIDHUNTER1230 | 300 Polychrome, 30,000 Dennies, 2 Senior Investigator Logs, 3 W‑Engine Energy Modules |
Step 1: Open the code redemption page at zenless.hoyoverse.com/redemption in a browser.
Step 2: Log in with the HoYoverse account linked to your Zenless Zone Zero profile.
Step 3: Select the correct server, enter the code VOIDHUNTER1230, and confirm. Rewards arrive via in‑game mail.
Who are Ye Shunguang and Zhao?
Ye Shunguang is introduced as the game’s first dual‑form Void Hunter and an S‑Rank Honed Edge Attack agent. Her kit revolves around the Qingming Sword and a resource called Qingming Sword Force. She can shift into an Enlightened Mind state, changing her moveset and unlocking a powerful AoE finisher, Illuminating Darkness, once she has built six Sword Force.
Support and Defense teammates can feed additional Sword Force whenever they activate Ether Veil, making Ye Shunguang inherently synergistic with defensive buffers like Zhao. Triggering her Ultimate in her empowered form produces a different animation and damage pattern, underscoring the “two forms” framing.
Zhao is an S‑Rank Ice Defense agent from the Krampus Compliance Authority. Instead of classic tank gameplay, she functions as an HP‑scaling buffer and off‑field extension piece:
- She accrues Frostbite during combat, then consumes it when she enters with an Entry Skill and Ether Veil: Wellspring, distributing buffs to the team.
- Her Ether Veil provides different bonuses depending on teammate roles (Attack, Anomaly, Support), all based on Zhao’s maximum HP.
- Once switched out, she can continue chaining attacks on her own, letting DPS characters stay on the field while still benefiting from her presence.
The result is a relatively straightforward rotation: bring Zhao in to refresh buffs and Ether Veil, then hand the field back to your carries while she keeps contributing in the background.
New W‑Engines, Drive Discs, and Bangboo
Two new S‑Rank W‑Engines and one event W‑Engine round out the 2.5 gear chase:
| W‑Engine | Type | Key effects (R1) |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudcleave Radiance | Attack | High base ATK and CRIT DMG; ignores a portion of Physical RES and, under Ether Veil, grants a long‑lasting boost to both damage and CRIT DMG. |
| Half-Sugar Bunny | Defense | Raises Energy Regen each second, plus a team‑wide ATK and HP limit buff; EX Special Attacks and Ether Veil windows add a large team CRIT DMG bonus. |
| Cauldron of Clarity | Rupture (A‑Rank) | Stacks a self‑damage buff whenever the equipper uses EX Special Attack; at three stacks, also grants extra CRIT Rate. Earned through the Sword Seeker Chronicles event rather than gacha. |
For Drive Discs, 2.5 introduces two new 4‑piece sets:
- White Water Ballad – focuses on Physical damage dealers. The 2‑piece effect adds Physical DMG, while the 4‑piece builds CRIT Rate and ATK around being inside Ether Veil, with a grace period that persists briefly after leaving it.
- Shining Aria – aimed at Ether and Anomaly playstyles. The 2‑piece adds Ether DMG, and the 4‑piece stacks Anomaly Proficiency from Basic Attacks and grants a sizable damage buff when enemies become Stunned.
Both sets drop from Routine Cleanup stages once the version is live.
On the Bangboo side, Sprout, a sword‑wielding S‑Rank Bangboo associated with Ye Shunguang, is added to the Outstanding Partner banner pool. This gives Physical/Honed parties a new premium Bangboo option to pair with her.
Main story: Season 2 Chapter 6 “To Be Fuel for the Night”
The story content for 2.5 is framed as Season 2’s big mid‑season climax. Chapter 6, titled “To Be Fuel for the Night”, pulls together Belle, Wise, Ye Shunguang, Zhao, and a broad slice of the cast for a final confrontation against Sarah and a corrupted Ye Shiyuan in Waifei Peninsula.
The narrative leans on “hope” as a core theme, contrasting the earlier, more oppressive chapters. From a gameplay standpoint, the chapter introduces a new Hollow map, Lumite Mine, with its own enemies and a fresh Perception Technique that affects how you move through and interact with the environment.
Back in New Eridu, the long‑teased antique shop in Failume Heights, Buyan Store, finally opens. It serves as both a shop and a mission hub under the new “Buyan Store” mission system, tying exploration‑style tasks to this location.
A new Advance Screening feature allows players to jump straight to the latest chapter, skipping previous main story content if they prefer to catch up quickly. Dialogue skipping outside of cutscenes is also being loosened, cutting down on friction for returning players.
Events and co-op: what to expect during the patch
As usual for a major version, 2.5 stacks a full slate of limited‑time events and a new cooperative mode.
| Event / mode | Focus |
|---|---|
| Sword Seeker Chronicles | Epilogue‑style event following Ye Shunguang after the main story, featuring Qingming Realm trials and the Cauldron of Clarity W‑Engine as a reward. |
| Joint Investigation: The Divine Maze | Three‑player co‑op combat where each player controls one agent. Nine agents are available, some with co‑op‑specific tweaks. |
| Shadow Riptide Clash | VR combat event with battles tailored around Ye Shunguang and Zhao. |
| Angels and Delusions of Muse | Slice‑of‑life event centered on the Angels of Delusion idol faction, mixing exploration, photography, and music creation at 404 LiveHouse. |
| Wish Filing Station | Battery‑based login and spending event where you convert “Wish Bottles” into rewards. |
| Data Bounty: Combat Simulation | Double‑drop event for W‑Engine and agent materials in HIA. |
| Advanced Bounty: Area Patrol / Routine Cleanup | Double‑drop event focused on Drive Discs in Routine Cleanup stages. |
Alongside those, the Coronation of the Void Hunter pre‑registration campaign and All-New Program login events drip‑feed extra pulls and materials across the patch.
System changes: Proxy Outposts, Potential Vision, and endgame tweaks
Version 2.5 carries meaningful changes to how players interact with each other and how older agents age into the meta.
Proxy Outpost social system. Players can now join or create Proxy Outposts, essentially clan‑style groups. Outposts include an Intel Board where members post and claim delegated Commissions. These can be cleared either by the poster or by other members, sharing rewards and progress. Outposts also grant ranks, titles, and shared progression perks over time.
Potential Vision enhancements. A new layer of combat upgrades arrives for several existing agents: Burnice, Soldier 11, Grace, Soldier 0 Anby, and Ellen. These enhancements, framed under the “Potential Vision” and “awakening” terminology, do two things:
- Adjust kits directly with new passives or mechanical hooks (where needed).
- Add raw stat and multiplier boosts in later stages.
The currency used to unlock these boosts comes from weekly and challenge modes in Ridu, and a new shop allows you to convert that currency into awakening materials and side items like Bangboo vouchers.
Shiyu Defense rework. Critical Node 5 of Shiyu Defense is rebuilt into a three‑room, score‑based format with a five‑minute timer per room and a 60,000‑point ceiling. Points come from damage and kills, with early damage benefiting from strong time‑based multipliers. Key thresholds include:
- 25,000 points in a room for an S rank there.
- S ranks in all three rooms for an overall S.
- 90,000 total points for an S+ clear.
Rewards are also adjusted: earlier nodes lean on Polychrome, while the new fifth node can pay out either Polychrome or awakening currency depending on your rank. Lower nodes are simplified to five Frontiers instead of seven.
Deadly Assault and combat UI QoL. Deadly Assault gains a squad recommendation tab so you can see prebuilt team suggestions for each boss. Globally, the HUD receives clearer damage number presentation, and a new third‑person camera option lets you frame scenes more flexibly for screenshots.
Resource and farming changes. An Ether Battery Synthesis function lets you convert 60 Backup Battery Charge and one Prepaid Power Card into an Ether Battery. Those batteries can now be spent to “sweep” Combat Simulation and Regular Purge stages, instantly collecting rewards. Before running Routine Cleanup, you can set auto‑dismantle rules for Drive Discs to automatically scrap lower‑rarity drops.
Finally, a redesigned Proxy menu and a side panel style UI let you jump between major features and fast travel options more quickly, including customizable wallpapers and charms.
Cosmetics: Ye Shunguang and Jane Doe outfits
Two new character skins headline the cosmetic side of 2.5:
- Touch of Dawnlight (Ye Shunguang): a casual outfit inspired by her earlier story appearance, sold through the in‑game shop for premium currency.
- Nocturne of Light (Jane Doe): a summer‑style outfit that is free to claim during the version window via the shop’s outfit claim flow.
As with previous skins, these are purely visual and do not affect combat stats, but they do show up in battle, exploration, and most story scenes.
For players who skipped recent patches or are just coming back, Version 2.5 is structured to be immediately approachable: you can fast‑forward to the latest chapter, pick up a free S‑Rank support in Zhao, and experiment with co‑op and clan‑style systems without needing to grind through every prior update first. The rest of the patch is about giving long‑time players more to solve—whether that’s optimizing new score targets in Shiyu Defense or re‑building older favorites like Soldier 11 under the new Potential Vision system.
