Introduction to Zenless Zone Zero Dancing on Strings Guide

“Dancing on Strings” is a limited-time event introduced in Zenless Zone Zero as part of the Version 1.6 update, titled “Among the Forgotten Ruins.” This event adds a fresh narrative layer to the game’s ongoing story while continuing to explore the ominous realm of the Lost Void. Rich in atmospheric storytelling and character development, “Dancing on Strings” focuses primarily on Soldier 11—an agent of the OBOLS faction—as she is drawn deeper into the unknown. It’s not just a simple event with combat trials; it’s a character-centric storyline with strong emotional stakes, enhanced by cinematic presentation, unique mission design, and an eerie ambiance that reflects the unstable nature of the Void.

Version 1.6 expands the game’s lore and worldbuilding by pushing the boundaries of what’s known about the Lost Void, and “Dancing on Strings” is one of the central pieces of this narrative. The event features exclusive story chapters that unfold as players progress, revealing more about Soldier 11’s past and her connection to the anomalies found within the Void. As the story progresses, players will also encounter new enemy types, unique environmental mechanics, and a variety of challenges tailored to reinforce the tension and themes of the narrative. This blend of story-driven content and action-based gameplay makes “Dancing on Strings” a major highlight of the update.

Accessing this event requires players to meet specific conditions. Most importantly, they must have completed Soldier 11’s earlier questline, “Mole in the Hole.” This quest chain not only provides foundational background on her character but also introduces players to the mechanics and hazards of the Lost Void. Completing it unlocks the new Void zone introduced in Version 1.6, which acts as the primary setting for “Dancing on Strings.” Only then will players be able to begin this new storyline. As with other major event content, progression is structured through stages, and players are encouraged to engage with all aspects of the event to fully appreciate its narrative depth and in-game rewards.

“Dancing on Strings” also adds new voice lines, cutscenes, and event-exclusive rewards that provide insight into Soldier 11’s motivations and relationships with other agents. This event continues the tradition of Zenless Zone Zero’s immersive storytelling, giving players a deeper understanding of the agents they fight alongside, while also shedding light on the larger mysteries of the Hollow crisis. For those following Soldier 11’s arc or interested in the darker, more psychological corners of the story, this event is a must-play.

Story and Narrative

The “Dancing on Strings” event unravels a gripping mystery centered around the sudden disappearance of Ray, a prominent researcher assigned to study the unstable and enigmatic realm known as Hollow Zero. As part of the Version 1.6 “Among the Forgotten Ruins” update, this story-rich event plunges players—taking on the role of the Proxy—into a tense and high-stakes investigation set deep within the Lost Void, an area that continues to challenge and unsettle even the most experienced agents.

The narrative begins when Ray vanishes under suspicious circumstances while conducting research inside the Lost Void. Her disappearance raises red flags, particularly due to her connection to sensitive Hollow Zero experiments. As the Proxy, players are commissioned to investigate the situation, retrace her steps, and uncover the truth behind her vanishing. This task gradually pulls them into a web of secrets involving Geppetto, a recurring and mysterious figure whose true intentions remain elusive. As suspicions rise, so does the tension within the research and mercenary circles, leading to the involvement of multiple factions, including The Institute, a scientific organization with deep ties to Hollow research.

Throughout the investigation, players will encounter a host of characters who either aid or obstruct their mission. There are key dialogues and confrontations with researchers, operatives, and Hollow specialists, many of whom express their unease about Geppetto’s methods and the experiments tied to Hollow Zero. As the story unfolds, players uncover deeper truths not just about Ray’s fate, but also the growing instability of the Lost Void and the dangerous knowledge being tampered with in secret.

A standout moment in the story is the appearance of Ju Fufu, a newly introduced A-rank agent, who makes her debut during this storyline. She becomes a significant presence in the investigation, bringing her unique perspective and combat expertise to bear in the tense environment of the Void. Her interactions with both the Proxy and other characters help push the plot forward, adding layers of complexity to the unfolding mystery. Ju Fufu’s role also signals her integration into the broader cast of playable agents, aligning her narrative debut with her availability for recruitment during the event period.

“Dancing on Strings” is fully set within the Lost Void, a chaotic and unpredictable area filled with reality-bending phenomena and residual energy from Hollow Zero. This setting plays a crucial role in the story’s tone and gameplay. The mission design makes full use of the area’s instability, often challenging players with environmental hazards and surreal transitions that reflect the growing breakdown of space and memory within the Void. The event’s atmosphere is thick with dread and intrigue, supported by cinematic cutscenes, reactive dialogue, and high-stakes encounters that test both the player’s skill and understanding of the world’s deeper lore.

This storyline not only deepens the mystery behind Hollow Zero but also strengthens the narrative connection between key agents, new characters, and the escalating dangers threatening New Eridu.

Gameplay and Mechanics

“Dancing on Strings” is a structured story commission within the Lost Void activity in Zenless Zone Zero, introduced in Version 1.6 as part of the “Among the Forgotten Ruins” update. Unlike standard Hollow Cleanups or combat trials, this mission is heavily narrative-driven and designed to expand on the lore of Hollow Zero while introducing new gameplay features and mechanics specific to the Lost Void. It plays a central role in the event, acting as both a narrative continuation of Soldier 11’s previous arc and a deeper exploration of the instability permeating the Lost Void.

The storyline begins with “Ray, Vanished”, the first commission that doubles as a tutorial for the Lost Void. This initial segment introduces players to the core mechanics of navigating the Void, such as node-based progression, Void Instability effects, and how strategic choices impact route difficulty and rewards. Players are also introduced to special interactive elements unique to the Void, which are essential for understanding how to survive in its shifting and hazardous environment. This mission sets the foundation for later stages, gradually increasing in difficulty while pushing the narrative forward.

As players progress through the story, the investigation leads to a confrontation with Geppetto, a newly introduced boss residing deep within the most corrupted sectors of the Lost Void. This battle is a major highlight of the event, combining high-stakes storytelling with a challenging encounter that leverages both the environmental dangers of the Void and Geppetto’s own advanced combat techniques. The encounter is tightly integrated with the mission’s narrative, providing players with context and motive behind Geppetto’s actions, and reinforcing the stakes of the Hollow Zero crisis.

For the duration of the story commission battle against Geppetto, players may be provided with a trial team, often consisting of characters such as Evelyn, Lighter, and Lucy. These agents are presented with optimized builds to ensure players can fully engage with the boss mechanics regardless of their own roster. The trial team setup helps streamline the experience and ensures that all players, whether veterans or newcomers, can participate in the event without needing to meet high build requirements.

A key gameplay feature introduced during this mission is the experimental use of Replica Relics. These relics are specialized combat boosters developed by The Institute, and potentially augmented through data gathered from Geppetto’s research into Hollow Zero phenomena. Players are asked to test these relics during their investigation, with each one offering unique enhancements to combat abilities or survivability. Some may provide temporary stat boosts, while others can alter the way characters interact with enemy debuffs or Hollow anomalies. The use of Replica Relics is integrated into the mission progression and adds a layer of tactical depth, allowing players to customize their playstyle in response to the growing instability of the Lost Void.

Altogether, “Dancing on Strings” serves as a pivotal event mission that bridges story, gameplay innovation, and combat challenge. It not only deepens the understanding of Hollow Zero’s threat but also enriches the player’s experience in the Lost Void through well-paced tutorials, high-intensity boss design, and the introduction of experimental combat tools that may influence future gameplay systems.

Boss Guide: Geppetto

Geppetto is a powerful and pivotal boss unlocked during the “Dancing on Strings” story commission, which players access through Ray at The Outpost in Zenless Zone Zero. As players investigate Ray’s disappearance and the growing instability within the Lost Void, the mission ultimately leads to a confrontation with Geppetto—an enigmatic figure tied to Hollow Zero research whose manipulation of dangerous technology poses a serious threat. This battle takes place within the Lost Void and serves as the climax of the event’s storyline.

Geppetto employs a variety of basic and advanced attacks that test both awareness and combat precision. His standard move set includes close-range melee strikes, which are swift and capable of chaining into short combos, and ranged energy beam attacks that sweep across the field. These beams are used to pressure players from afar and control space, requiring well-timed dodges to avoid being locked down or chipped away at during the fight.

One of the most dangerous techniques in his arsenal is Curtain of Phantoms—a powerful, arena-wide ability in which Geppetto summons large, purple-hued curtain constructs that fall onto the field. These deal significant area damage and inflict the Suspend state, temporarily immobilizing characters and rendering them vulnerable to follow-up attacks. The curtains appear in fixed zones, giving players a brief moment to reposition and avoid the strike. Recognizing the visual telegraph and dodging early is critical to surviving this phase.

During the fight, Geppetto can also summon Ethereal enemies—ghostly constructs attached to string-like tethers. These enemies act as extensions of Geppetto’s control, attacking players in tandem with his own abilities. While they can be a distraction, defeating them has strategic value. Taking them out clears the battlefield and can open brief damage windows where Geppetto’s aggression is reduced, allowing players to focus on positioning and rotation resets.

To efficiently defeat Geppetto, it’s best to build teams focused on burst damage, as he has no innate elemental resistances or weaknesses. This makes it easier to bring in your strongest units regardless of attribute. High burst output is especially effective during windows when Geppetto is stunned or impaired, allowing players to capitalize on his brief vulnerability.

Triggering the Impaired state is a key mechanic in this battle. By targeting Geppetto’s hands or tail, players can break his balance and interrupt his attack patterns. When impaired, Geppetto becomes highly susceptible to incoming damage and briefly halts his attacks, creating a perfect moment to unload EX Specials or ultimates. Building a team with agents capable of Stun generation is equally effective—controlling the timing of his openings is vital in higher difficulties or repeat encounters.

Dodging is an essential skill in this fight. Geppetto’s attacks, especially Curtain of Phantoms, cover wide areas and are difficult to survive if not avoided. Mastering Evasive Assist or Perfect Dodges is crucial to navigating his patterns without losing momentum.

While the story mission may offer a trial team (such as Evelyn, Lighter, and Lucy), players looking to optimize their own compositions for repeat fights or similar encounters can rely on solid general-purpose teams. Notable options include Miyabi/Yanagi/Astra, which offers strong control and consistent burst, or Evelyn/Lighter/Astra, which balances AoE suppression and support. These team setups excel in boss encounters thanks to their synergy and fast rotations, making them excellent choices when facing high-pressure threats like Geppetto.

In summary, the Geppetto boss fight in “Dancing on Strings” blends mechanical challenge with narrative payoff, requiring strategic team building, precision dodging, and effective use of burst windows to overcome.

Rewards and Progression

Participating in the Lost Void activity in Zenless Zone Zero provides players with a variety of valuable rewards that contribute to account progression and character development. As players navigate through the branching pathways and combat challenges of the Lost Void, they can earn key resources such as Resonium, W-Engines and Drive Discs (Gear), Bangboo Channel Points, and Upgrade Materials. These rewards are distributed based on performance, difficulty, and completion of specific nodes, encouraging replayability and experimentation with different routes and strategies.

Completing the “Dancing on Strings” story commission also offers meaningful progression. While there are no exclusive cosmetic or character-specific rewards tied strictly to this story mission, completing the storyline advances the player’s access to deeper tiers of the Lost Void and unlocks Geppetto as a regular boss encounter. The first-time clear of the mission contributes to overall mission completion and yields the standard rewards granted by story commissions, such as Polychromes, materials, and mission EXP.

A key progression milestone tied to the Lost Void is the unlocking of Battlefront Purge—an advanced challenge mode that becomes available after completing the initial story commission involving the Lost Void. Battlefront Purge features increasing difficulty levels and allows players to take on more intense versions of enemies, including enhanced boss encounters. This mode offers higher-tier rewards, including better gear drop rates, special materials, and opportunities to earn additional Polychromes. It encourages players to optimize their team builds, engage more deeply with Void mechanics, and revisit previously cleared areas with greater difficulty and improved payouts.

Overall, both the standard Lost Void runs and the “Dancing on Strings” mission contribute to long-term account growth by unlocking content and improving access to late-game materials and encounters. Players who complete these objectives not only benefit from tangible loot, but also open up more complex and rewarding gameplay systems within the Hollow Zero narrative.

Further Implications and Lore

The “Dancing on Strings” storyline delves deep into the murky connections between The Institute and Geppetto, shedding light on the organization’s knowledge—and possible manipulation—of his actions. As players progress through the investigation, it becomes increasingly clear that The Institute is not simply reacting to Geppetto’s emergence but may have played a role in enabling or even anticipating his work with Hollow Zero technologies. Throughout the mission, dialogue and data fragments suggest that The Institute has been monitoring Geppetto for some time and may have withheld key information about the risks of his experiments, hinting at a deeper agenda or internal conflict within the organization.

Towards the end of the storyline, players are exposed to cryptic revelations regarding the nature of certain corrupted entities found within the Lost Void. The dialogue implies that some of these powerful anomalies may be artificial in origin—not merely the result of natural Hollow corruption, but man-made constructs or mutations born of tampered data and dangerous experimentation. These revelations add a layer of intrigue and suspense to the event’s conclusion, hinting at larger narrative threads that may unravel in future updates and expanding the scope of the Hollow Zero threat far beyond Geppetto alone.

Due to the player’s instrumental role in uncovering the truth behind Geppetto’s operations, The Institute grants extended clearance to continue investigating the Lost Void. This in-story development reflects both narrative progression and gameplay access, as players are formally recognized for their efforts and given authorization to delve deeper into high-risk zones. The clearance also symbolizes a shift in The Institute’s perception of the player’s proxy status, treating them more like a trusted operative than a mere contracted agent.

Following the climactic confrontation with Geppetto, the aftermath plays out back at The Outpost, where players are informed of the demolition of key facilities—specifically, the aircraft hangar and the logistics station. This decision is made in response to the security breach and technological instability caused by the Geppetto incident. The demolition not only serves as a visual marker of the consequences of the mission but also reinforces the story’s themes of containment and the cost of unchecked scientific ambition. These environmental changes at The Outpost can be seen during and after the mission, grounding the narrative impact in the game world itself.