Zenless Zone Zero Bardic Needle Guide: Introduction

The Zenless Zone Zero Bardic Needle Guide explains that the Bardic Needle is a pivotal location in Zenless Zone Zero that serves as a central hub for upgrading and optimizing your Agents. Located on Sixth Street, just outside the iconic Random Play video store, this unassuming music shop becomes a vital resource in your journey through the game. The shop is run by the NPC Elfy, who acts as your guide in accessing the shop’s features and managing your upgrades.

In Zenless Zone Zero, Drive Discs play a crucial role in enhancing your Agents’ combat capabilities, and the Bardic Needle provides the tools needed to unlock their full potential. Players can use the shop to fine-tune their characters by tuning, dismantling, and managing Drive Discs. These discs, which are essential upgrade materials, are used to improve various attributes of your Agents, from combat skills to overall performance. The extensive database available at Bardic Needle ensures that players can optimize their characters in specific areas, allowing for a more personalized and strategic approach to team-building.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your Agents’ abilities for tougher battles or simply want to increase their effectiveness in different scenarios, the Bardic Needle offers everything you need to make your characters stronger and more versatile. This shop is an indispensable part of the gameplay experience, offering not only character upgrades but also an in-depth system for customizing your Agents to suit your playstyle. Exploring the Bardic Needle is key to gaining an edge in combat, making it an essential stop for any player seeking to advance in Zenless Zone Zero.

Unlocking the Bardic Needle

To unlock the Bardic Needle in Zenless Zone Zero, you must advance through the main story and complete a series of steps that will eventually grant you access to this crucial location for character upgrades. The process begins when you reach the “Mission Unthinkable (A)” stage in the main storyline. During this mission, Roland will contact you with a request to visit Scott Outpost. This marks the start of a chain of events that will lead to unlocking the Bardic Needle.

As you progress through the mission, you will engage in Routine Cleanup missions within the Hollow Zero area. These missions are essential not only for advancing the story but also for gathering important materials. Throughout these tasks, you will collect Audio Booster Master Copy materials, a vital item needed to unlock the shop. These materials are specific to the Bardic Needle and are crucial for moving forward in your progression, as they are required to access the services offered at the music store.

Once you’ve obtained the necessary Audio Booster Master Copy materials, head over to the Bardic Needle, where Elfy awaits. Deliver the materials to Elfy to complete the unlock process. Upon doing so, the Bardic Needle will become fully accessible, and you will be able to take advantage of its features, including upgrading your Agents and fine-tuning their abilities. The shop will become a key part of your strategy, enabling you to enhance your characters and improve their combat performance in future missions. This unlock not only opens up new gameplay possibilities but also deepens the connection to the story, as it highlights your growing role in the unfolding events of Zenless Zone Zero.

Navigating the Bardic Needle

Once unlocked, the Bardic Needle becomes an essential tool with several functions that help you optimize your Drive Disc collection and progression.

The primary function is Tuning, which allows you to acquire new Drive Discs. By using Master Copies, you can craft different Drive Discs, each paired with a unique soundtrack. The type of Master Copy you use determines the rarity and power of the resulting Drive Disc, making it crucial to select the right one for your needs.

To enhance your chances of obtaining specific Drive Disc sets, the Track Settings function comes into play. This feature lets you adjust the drop rates of particular sets, ensuring you can reach a 100% chance of obtaining the desired set, giving you more control over your collection.

The Dismantling function offers a way to recycle unwanted Drive Discs into valuable resources. When you dismantle a Drive Disc, you receive Master Copies and Plating Agents, with the specific items you get depending on the rarity of the Disc. However, it’s important to note that once a Drive Disc is dismantled, it cannot be recovered. To dismantle a disc, simply go to the disc drive page and click the square located in the top right corner.

Lastly, the Database serves as an invaluable reference tool. It keeps a record of all the Drive Discs you’ve produced, allowing you to review their names, effects, and appearances. This is especially helpful for making informed decisions about which Discs to dismantle or which to create through the tuning process, ensuring you always have the best options available.

Upgrading the Bardic Needle

The Bardic Needle can be upgraded twice as you progress through Zenless Zone Zero, enhancing its capabilities and unlocking new features that are essential for optimizing your Drive Disc collection.

Level 1 is the initial stage of the Bardic Needle, available right from the start. At this level, you gain access to Beginner Tuning, which enables you to obtain A-Rank Drive Discs. The primary feature of this level is the ability to increase the drop rate of the selected set to 100%. Each Tuning at this stage requires 5 Audio Booster Master Copies and grants a random B-Rank or A-Rank Drive Disc.

The drop rates for these Discs are as follows: A-Rank Drive Discs have a base drop rate of 11%, with a total drop rate (including guarantees) of 25%, while B-Rank Drive Discs have a base drop rate of 89%, with an overall drop rate of 75%. Notably, every 5th Tuning guarantees at least one A-Rank Drive Disc, making this a key feature for early progression.

Level 2 becomes available upon reaching Inter-Knot Level 35 and speaking with Elfy. This upgrade introduces Intermediate Tuning, which allows you to acquire S-Rank Drive Discs. The added feature at this level is the ability to select a partition to Tune, giving you more control over the Tuning process. Each Tuning requires 5 Noise Reduction Master Copies and grants either an A-Rank or S-Rank Drive Disc. S-Rank Drive Discs have a base drop rate of 11%, with an overall drop rate of 25%, while A-Rank Discs maintain a base drop rate of 89% and an overall drop rate of 75%. Just like at Level 1, every 5th Tuning guarantees at least one S-Rank Drive Disc.

Level 3 is unlocked upon reaching Inter-Knot Level 40 and speaking with Elfy. At this stage, the Bardic Needle grants access to Advanced Tuning, which guarantees an S-Rank Drive Disc with every Tuning. The key feature here is Main Stat Orientation, allowing for more targeted Tuning. Each Tuning requires 3 Hi-Fi Master Copies and grants a guaranteed S-Rank Drive Disc, making this level a significant boost to your Drive Disc collection, especially for those focusing on acquiring high-level Discs with consistency. At Level 3, S-Rank Drive Discs have a 100% drop rate, ensuring that every Tuning results in a high-tier Disc.

As you progress through the levels of the Bardic Needle, it becomes an increasingly powerful tool, allowing you to fine-tune your Drive Disc collection and maximize the quality of the Discs you obtain. Completing Dailies and other tasks will help you reach the necessary Inter-Knot levels to unlock these upgrades.

Tips for Mastering the Bardic Needle

To make the most of the Bardic Needle, there are several key strategies you can implement to optimize your Drive Disc collection and enhance your character builds.

Material Conversion is a powerful strategy to ensure you always have the materials needed for high-quality Drive Discs. Through the crafting system, you can convert lower-tier Master Copies into higher-tier ones. For example, five Audio Booster Master Copies (the lowest tier) can be crafted into one Noise Reduction Master Copy, and five Noise Reduction Master Copies can be further converted into one Hi-Fi Master Copy. This conversion process ensures you have a steady supply of the more advanced Master Copies required for Tuning at higher levels.

Targeted Tuning is another important strategy. Always use the Track Settings to focus on specific Drive Disc sets. This will increase your chances of acquiring the exact Discs you need for your characters, making it much easier to tailor your collection to your specific goals.

When you reach Music Store Level 2, you can take advantage of Partition Selection. This feature allows you to select a specific partition to tune, focusing on certain Drive Disc slots. This is especially useful for targeting particular slots for your characters, ensuring you’re getting the exact stats and effects you want for each slot.

At Music Store Level 3, you can make use of Main Stat Orientation. This feature allows you to select the main stat of the Drive Disc you’re tuning, which is essential for optimizing your character’s performance. The Tuning Calibrators used for this purpose can be obtained through Hollow Zero and the Outpost shop. This is especially useful for slots 4, 5, and 6, where the main stat plays a significant role in enhancing your character’s abilities.

To maximize Cost Efficiency, consider avoiding specific disc selection if you’re just looking to acquire set pieces rather than aiming for particular stats. By opting for random Discs, you can get them at half the usual price, which is a great way to build up your collection without spending too many resources.

It’s also important to Prioritize Disc Slots to get the best enhancements for your characters. Focus especially on slots 4, 5, and 6, as these offer a wide variety of main stats that can significantly improve your character’s overall performance. Slot 4, for instance, can yield stats such as attack ratio, HP ratio, defense ratio, crit rate, crit damage, and anomaly proficiency. Slot 5 is ideal for damage dealers as it offers elemental damage bonuses, while Slot 6 provides important stats like energy regeneration, impact anomaly mastery, and more attack, HP, and defense ratios.

Finally, avoid using Advanced Tuning for Slots 1, 2, and 3. These slots are locked to specific stats—HP, attack, and defense—making it inefficient to use advanced tuning on them. Instead, focus your advanced tuning efforts on slots that provide more varied and impactful stats, such as Slots 4, 5, and 6.

By carefully following these strategies, you can make the most out of the Bardic Needle, optimizing your resources and ensuring your characters are always equipped with the best Drive Discs possible.

Material Farming

Routine Cleanup missions in Hollow Zero are an essential part of your progression, providing a consistent supply of Drive Discs and materials necessary for tuning and upgrading your Agents. These missions should be regularly undertaken to ensure that you have a steady stream of resources, which is crucial for enhancing your Agents’ capabilities and obtaining the best possible Drive Discs.

In addition to regular Cleanup missions, there are a few additional tips to maximize your efficiency when working with the Bardic Needle. Disc Experience is one valuable feature to understand. To transfer the experience from one Drive Disc to another, you’ll need to dismantle the leveled Disc. This process will provide you with a resource that can be used to level up other Discs, allowing you to concentrate experience on the Discs that matter most for your builds.

Another effective strategy is Merging Discs. Instead of collecting a wide array of lower-tier Discs, it’s more efficient to merge them into higher-tier ones. This process maximizes the value of your Discs, helping you create more powerful options for your Agents with fewer resources.

When you reach level 40, you’ll unlock the ability to roll for S-Rank Discs, an important step in optimizing your gear. This unlock also gives you the option to select specific Disc slots and main stats, which allows for a more tailored approach to equipping your characters. This opens up significant opportunities for maximizing your Agents’ performance with high-quality S-Rank Discs.

By following these strategies and utilizing the Bardic Needle to its full potential, you’ll be well-equipped to improve your agents and progress in Zenless Zone Zero. Regularly engaging in Cleanup missions, understanding Disc experience transfer, merging Discs, and rolling for S-Rank Discs at the right time are key steps to optimizing your character builds. Good luck, and happy tuning!