The dazzling phantom thief who fights for good and justice in his own twisted way, Hugo is one of Zenless Zone Zero’s most interesting characters both in lore and in gameplay. In this guide, we will go over everything players need to know to build the best Hugo in the game.
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Hugo Skill Kit & Playstyle Analysis
General Introduction
Hugo is a 5-star character of the Attack class in Zenless Zone Zero that deals Ice Elemental Damage to enemies. His main gimmick is the special Totalize status, which immediately consumes all of the enemies’ Stun Gauge when he uses his EX Special Attack or Ultimate to deal a massive damage instance to the enemies all at once.
Skill Analysis & Leveling Priority
 | Press Basic Attack: Deal 4 instances of Physical and Ice Damage to enemies. Hold Basic Attack: Charge up and shoot out an instance of Ice Damage towards enemies. Anti-Interrupt level is increased while using this skill, and received damage reduced by 40%. |
| Leveling Priority: Medium | |
| Basic Attack | |
| Reason: Leveling this ability up improves Hugo’s basic attack modifiers, which he uses occasionally to bridge the gap between his combo. So players can level this up to optimize his on-field damage. | |
 | Normal Special Attack: Spins his scythe to do an instance of Ice Damage to enemies, Anti-Interrupt level is increased while using this skill.EX Special Attack: With enough Energy, press Special Attack to activate: Spins the scythe to attack and then executes a powerful Finishing Move, dealing massive Ice DMG. After the skill is used, it can be directly followed up with the 4th hit of Basic Attack: Dark Abyss Quartet. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| Leveling Priority: Highest | |
| Special Attack | |
| Reason: This is one of Hugo’s main modes of damage dealing, so players need to prioritize leveling this ability up to maximize Hugo’s Totalize Damage output. | |
 | Chain Attack: Dash forward to perform a slash across a large area, then launch a shot, dealing massive Ice DMG. The shot activated by this skill is considered a charged shot.Character is invulnerable while using this skill.Ultimate: When Decibel Rating is at Maximum, press Ultimate to activate: Throws the scythe in a powerful spinning attack, then launches a Finishing Move, dealing massive Ice DMG.Character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| Leveling Priority: Highest | |
| Chain Attack & Ultimate | |
| Reason: The other form of Hugo main damage output, so this ability needs to be prioritized in order to maximize his Totalize damage output. | |
 | Press Basic Attack during a Perfect Dodge to perform a series of attacks on enemies in front, dealing Ice DMG. During the skill, hold Basic Attack to launch a shot. During the shot, hold Basic Attack to charge and perform a charged shot. The shot is considered a Basic Attack, with its DMG treated as Basic Attack DMG. |
| Leveling Priority: Low | |
| Dodge | |
| Reason: Hugo doesn’t stay on field too much to make use of his dodge, so only level this up to maximize his damage output if you have the materials. | |
 | Defensive Assist: When the on-field character is about to be attacked, press Assist to parry the enemy’s attack, dealing massive Daze. Character is invulnerable while using this skill. |
| Leveling Priority: Low | |
| Assist | |
| Reason: Hugo’s assist has low damage modifiers and doesn’t need to be used too often, so only level this up if you have materials. | |
 | Core Skill: When using Chain Attack, increase Hugo’s critical rate and critical damage. If there are 1 or 2 Stunners in the team, increase Hugo’s Attack by 300/900. After using his EX Special Attack or Ultimate, if the enemies are in the stunned state, trigger the Totalize Effect. Upon triggering, Totalize increases the damage dealt by 1000% and consumes all of the enemies’ stun duration to increase the damage output of this single instance of damage based on how long the stun duration is, up to a 3400% bonus damage increase. This effect immediately ends the enemies’ stun duration and raises their Daze gauge by 20% after the Totalize effect trigger.Additional Ability:When another character in your squad is a Stun character or shares the same attribute: Increases Chain Attack Damage. Increase Skill Damage when Totalize is triggered. EX Special Attack generates 20 energy when triggering Totalize on normal enemies. |
| Unlock Priority: High | |
| Core Skill & Additional Ability | |
| Reason: Players need to maximize and prioritize unlocking Hugo’s Core Skill to the maximum to optimize his stat bonuses and Totalize Damage Modifiers. | |
Playstyle Guide & Rotation
As a main DPS option in the game, Hugo’s gameplay is relatively simple compared to other DPS options in the game thanks to his unique effect: Totalize. Unlike other DPS in the game whose gameplan revolves around doing as much combo damage as possible during the enemies’ Stun window, Hugo can skip all of that by simply deal a massive nuke instance of Totalize Damage all at once at the cost of immediately resetting the enemies’ Stun Duration.
Hugo’s gameplan is relatively easy to execute: uses 2 Stunner characters in the team to raise the enemies’ Daze gauge as quickly as possible to stun the enemy and trigger Chain Attack. Once Chain Attack is triggered, chain into Hugo to allow him to gain additional Critical stats. Then, once Hugo is on the field, use his EX Special Attack or Ultimate to trigger the Totalize effect on enemies, dealing a massive instance of Ice Damage, resetting the enemies’ Stun duration and increasing their Daze gauge by 20%.
Rinse and Repeat this rotation until the enemies are defeated.
Hugo Best In Slot W-Engines
As a main DPS, Hugo’s preferred W-Engines are those that provide him with as much critical stats and damage boosting passive as possible.
Hugo Best W-Engines Choices
Some of Hugo’s Best W-Engine Choices are:
 |  |  |
| Myriad Eclipse | Deep Sea Visitor | Cannon Rotor |
| Limited 5* W-Engine | Limited 5* W-Engine | Battle Pass 4* W-Engine |
| Main Stat: 713 Attack |
| Sub Stat: 24% Crit Rate | |
| Myriad Eclipse | W-Engine Rating: Best Premium W-Engine |
| Effect: Increases CRIT DMG by 45%. When using an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate to deal Ice DMG, the equipper gains the Absolute Zero Death Sentence effect for 3s. While Absolute Zero Death Sentence is active, the character ignores 25% of the enemy’s DEF when landing a hit. | |
| Explanation: Hugo’s signature W-Engine that provides him with a massive boost in critical stats and allows his Totalize damage to ignore a portion of the enemies’ defense when he uses his Special Attack, Chain Attack or Ultimate, skyrocketing his damage output. | |
| Main Stat: 713 Attack |
| Sub Stat: 24% Crit Rate | |
| Deep Sea Visitor | W-Engine Rating: Best Alternative |
| Effect: Increases Ice DMG by 25%. Upon hitting an enemy with a Basic Attack, the equipper’s CRIT Rate increases by 10% for 8s. When dealing Ice DMG with a Dash Attack, the equipper’s CRIT Rate increases by an additional 10% for 15s. The duration of each effect is calculated separately | |
| Explanation: A strong alternate W-Engine option for Hugo that provides him with a massive amount of Critical Rate, allowing him to invest more into his Critical Damage while also boosting his general Ice Damage output. | |
| Main Stat: 594 Attack |
| Sub Stat: 20% Crit Rate | |
| Cannon Rotor | W-Engine Rating: BP Alternative |
| Effect: Increases ATK by 7.5%. Landing a critical hit on an enemy will inflict an additional 200% of ATK as DMG. This effect can trigger once every 8s. | |
| Explanation: A good alternative W-Engine for Hugo that serves as a stat stick, providing him with an attack and critical rate increase. | |
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Hugo Best Drive Discs Builds & Stats
Hugo Best Drive Discs Set
In terms of Drive Discs, Hugo benefits greatly from sets that give him a boost in critical stats as well as boosting his overall damage output. Therefore, players should use the 4-pcs Woodpecker Electro set on him mixed with a 2-pcs Branch & Blade Song set to maximize his critical stats.
 | Woodpecker Electro |
| 2-pc: Increases CRIT Rate by 8%. | |
| 4-pc: Landing a critical hit on an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dodge Counter, or EX Special Attack increases the equipper’s ATK by 9% for 6s. The buff duration for different skills are calculated separately. | |
 | Branch & Blade Song |
| 2-pc: CRIT DMG +16% | |
| 4-pc: When Anomaly Mastery exceeds or equals 115 points, the equipper’s CRIT DMG increases by 30%. When any squad member applies Freeze or triggers the Shatter effect on an enemy, the equipper’s CRIT Rate increases by 12%, lasting 15s. | |
Hugo Best Main Stats & Sub Stats
As a main DPS whose skill kit relies heavily on critical stats, Hugo wants as many Critical stats and offensive stats like Attack as possible.
His preferred stats are as followed:
| Drive Disc | Main Stats |
| #4 | Critical Damage% of Critical Rate% |
| #5 | Ice Damage Bonus% |
| #6 | Attack% |
| Priority | Sub Stats |
| 1st | Critical Damage% |
| 2nd | Critical Rate% |
| 3rd | Attack% |
Important Stat Threshold:
– Players should aim for the usual 1:2 ratio for Hugo’s Crit Rate and Crit Damage stats, with a heavy emphasis on Critical Damage if you have his W-Engine. Ensure that he has at least 75% to 80% Critical Rate for the Totalize Damage to not miss crit.
Hugo Best Teams
Due to his unique Additional Ability Requiring 2 stunners to be active and due to how his skill kit works, the general team comp for Hugo consist of 2 stunners that can quickly raise the enemies’ stun gauge to allow Hugo to use his Totalize Effect as quickly as possible.
Premium Hugo Team
 |  |  |
| Hugo | Lighter | Dialyn |
| Main DPS | Stunner/ Support | Stunner/ Support |
| Essential | Essential | Flexible |
Main DPS: Hugo serves as the team’s main DPS, with him switching onto the field with the help of the Chain Attack effect when other allies stun the enemies to trigger the Totalize Effect on the enemy.
Stunner/Support: Lighter is the best Stunner partner for Hugo due to his ability to quickly raise the enemies’ stun gauge while also reducing the enemies’ Ice and Fire damage resistance and provide Hugo with a Ice Damage boost to further improve his Totalize damage output.
Stunner/Support: Dialyn serves as the team’s second Stunner with her ability to quickly raise the enemies Stun Gauge and her special ability to lengthen the enemies’ stun duration, providing the team with critical Damage boost while also allow Hugo to use his Ultimate for free without spending any Decibels.
F2P Hugo Team
|  |  |
| Hugo | Lycaon | Pulchra |
| Main DPS | Stunner/ Support | Stunner/ Support |
| Essential | Essential | Flexible |
Main DPS: Hugo serves as the team’s main DPS, with him switching onto the field with the help of the Chain Attack effect when other allies stun the enemies to trigger the Totalize Effect on the enemy.
Stunner/Support: For the F2P team, Lycaon serves as the primary stunner of the team for Hugo as he can both reduce the enemies’ ice resistances when attacking, quickly raise their Stun gauge and lengthen the duration of the enemies’ stun, boosting the overall damage output of Totalize.
Stunner/Support: For the secondary Stunner options, players can consider either Anby for her quick and easy to use on field stunning ability, or Pulchra for her off-field Aftershock stunning skill kit.
Conclusion
One of the most unique DPS characters in the game with an immensely satisfying gameplay loop, Hugo promises to be one of Zenless Zone Zero’s most powerful DPS characters. Therefore, players shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to get him with the help of Enjoygm Zenless Zone Zero Discount Top Up today!
