Starlight Billy Best Build, W-Engine, Teams and Mindscapes — Complete ZZZ Guide

Starlight Billy is not just a cool-looking skin on an old character. He is a fully reworked S-Rank Physical Rupture DPS with his own resource system, HP-burning mechanics, and one of the most satisfying damage windows in Zenless Zone Zero right now.

Starlight Billy: Complete Mobile Cheat Sheet

• HP = Raw Damage

• DEF Bypass Enabled

• Converts Max HP to Sheer Force at a 1:0.1 ratio.

• Special Attack consumes 16% HP for a +90% CRIT DMG buff.

• Hold Basic Attack at 100 Determination to burst.

1. Starlight Rider (Sig S)

2. Qingming Birdcage (S)

3. Cauldron of Clarity (A)

• Signature: +30% HP / +20% CRIT / Stacking Sheer DMG.

• Stat Stick: Uses S-Rank base stats (12% weaker).

• F2P Event Engine: +25% HP / Stacking EX DMG.

• 4pc Yunkui Tales

• 2pc Flex (HP or CRIT)

• Main Stats: Disc 4: CRIT | Disc 5: HP% or Phys | Disc 6: HP%

• Substats: CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG > HP% > Flat HP

• Stat Targets: 18,000 HP | 60% CRIT Rate | 150% CRIT DMG

Top Teams

(Scores)

1. Dialyn + Lucia (Premium)

2. Lucia + Astraea (No Stun)

3. Pan Yinhu + Lucy (F2P)

• Premium Meta: Shi Yu: 36.7k | Deadly Assault: 44.2k

• Double Support: Shi Yu: 32.0k | Deadly Assault: 39.2k

• Budget A-Rank: Shi Yu: 21.7k | Deadly Assault: 25.5k

• M1: Absolute Best Value

• M6: Major Trap (Skip)

• M1: Shreds 18% enemy Physical RES (+14% damage jump).

• M6: Tiny 11% total gain. Pull Signature weapon first.

His banner is live before Version 3.0, which has some players hesitating. But if you are missing a Rupture DPS or you keep getting wrecked by Physical-weak bosses in Shi Yu Defense, he is well worth your Polychrome.

This breakdown covers his kit, the best W-Engine options at every budget, which Drive Discs to use, his top team picks with actual benchmark scores, and whether his Mindscapes are actually worth pulling.

How Starlight Billy’s Kit Actually Works

Starlight Billy runs on a unique resource called Determination, and the whole point of his kit is to stack it fast, then cash it out for big damage.

He gains Determination through passive regeneration over time, basic attacks, Chain Attacks, EX Specials, blocks, and Perfect Dodges (which grant 3 Determination each time). The cap sits at 120, and once you hit 100, you can hold the Basic Attack button to trigger Full-Throttle Starlight, a motorcycle charge into a laser beam that hits for massive Physical Sheer damage.

His Core Passive is what separates him from a standard attack-scaling DPS. He converts Max HP into Sheer Force at a 1:0.1 ratio, and all of his Physical damage becomes Sheer DMG, which bypasses enemy DEF entirely. This means you want to stack HP, not ATK, on every piece of gear you build for him.

Drive Suppression is his central loop. When his HP is above 25%, using his Standard Special Attack burns 16% of his Max HP and launches him into enemies on his motorcycle.

Additions Tips

This also triggers a 90% CRIT DMG buff through his Core Passive for 45 seconds, and refreshes on repeated use, so this buff is essentially permanent once you get the rotation going. If enemies hit Billy during Drive Suppression, he blocks the hit automatically and gains 5 bonus Determination. Drive Suppression then chains into Cool Wheelie, which adds another 8 Determination on contact.

If his HP drops to 25% or below, he cannot use Drive Suppression, but he takes 50% reduced damage instead, so there is a natural safety net built in.

His Additional Ability activates when his team includes a Stun, Defense, or Support Agent. Landing the 4th hit of his Basic Attack, using Cool Wheelie EX, performing a Chain Attack, or casting his Ultimate grants one stack of Starlight, up to a maximum of 2 stacks. Each stack boosts the damage of Full-Throttle Starlight, his EX Specials, Chain Attack, and Ultimate by 20%, so 2 stacks means a 40% damage increase on his strongest hits. This is why running him without a Stun or Support teammate costs you real damage output.

Starlight Billy’s Best W-Engines, Ranked

His W-Engine choices are relatively straightforward. Since he scales off HP and deals Sheer DMG, you want engines that give HP as the main stat and supplement CRIT Rate or Sheer DMG in the passive.

Starlight Rider Faceplate (S-Rank, Signature)
His best-in-slot option by a clear margin. It gives 30% HP as the main stat, a 20% CRIT Rate boost, and each Special Attack use stacks his Physical Sheer DMG bonus by 10%, up to 2 stacks. Every passive on this engine feeds directly into his kit, which is why no other W-Engine keeps up with it at equal refinement.

Qingming Birdcage or Other Limited S-Rank Engines
These still provide 30% HP and 20% CRIT Rate, which are the key stats. But their secondary passives do not interact with Starlight Billy’s kit, making them roughly 12% weaker than his signature in practice. They work as stat sticks but nothing more.

Cauldron of Clarity (A-Rank, Event)
A strong accessible alternative. It gives 25% HP and stacks a damage bonus every time Billy uses an EX Special, up to 3 stacks, and the 3rd stack also adds a CRIT Rate boost. This sits around 15% below his signature, which is a reasonable gap for a free engine.

Radiowave Journey (A-Rank, Battle Pass)
Technically usable and not far behind Cauldron of Clarity. The catch is that it is Battle Pass-locked, so it is not accessible to truly free-to-play players.

Puzzle Sphere (A-Rank)
Gives ATK percent as its main stat, which is one of the weakest possible stats for an HP-scaling Rupture DPS. Use it only if you have literally nothing else.

Drive Discs: What to Farm and What to Skip

4-Piece Yunkui Tales is the only set worth farming for.

The 2-piece bonus increases HP, directly boosting his Sheer Force scaling. The 4-piece effect gives him 4% CRIT Rate per stack (up to 3 stacks, lasting 15 seconds) whenever he uses an EX Special, Chain Attack, or Ultimate. At 3 full stacks, it also bumps his Sheer DMG by 10%. Given how often Billy triggers EX Specials and Chains in a normal rotation, he maintains these stacks with very little effort.

The good news for returning players: if you already have a Yuxuan, Yaoyueguang, or any other Rupture DPS, you have likely farmed this set already. You may not even need to touch the domain again.

For the 2-piece flexible slot, any of these work depending on what you already have with good substats:

• Woodpecker Electro (CRIT Rate)

• Branch and Blade Song (CRIT DMG)

• Bunny Band Wonderland

• Fang of Metal

• White Water Ballad

The specific 2-piece matters far less than the quality of your substat rolls. A Yunkui 4-piece with clean CRIT substats beats any fancy 2-piece combo with bad rolls.

Main Stat Priority:

• Disc 4: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG

• Disc 5: HP% or Physical DMG Bonus

• Disc 6: HP%

Substat Priority: CRIT Rate = CRIT DMG, then HP%, then Flat HP

Stat targets to aim for (using 4-piece Yunkui Tales with his signature):

• Around 18,000 HP

• Around 150% CRIT DMG

• 50 to 60% CRIT Rate on paper, which climbs close to 100% once in-combat stacks activate

Starlight Billy’s Best Teams and Real Benchmark Numbers

Billy performs best in a standard Stun-plus-Support setup, where the stun window gives him back-to-back Chain Attacks and his Additional Ability can activate.

Top Team: Starlight Billy + Dialyn + Lucia

This is his best combination by a solid gap. Dialyn provides a forced Ultimate window and strong personal damage, while Lucia is the premier support for Rupture agents and amplifies his Sheer Force output directly. In testing, this team scored 36,700 in Shi Yu Defense and 44,200 in Deadly Assault.

Strong Alternative: Starlight Billy + Trigger + Lucia

If you have Trigger but not Dialyn, this team holds up well, scoring 31,400 in Shi Yu Defense and 36,200 in Deadly Assault. Still a high-performing option.

Double Support: Starlight Billy + Lucia + Astraea

For players who prefer not running a dedicated Stun unit, this team scored 32,000 in Shi Yu Defense and 39,200 in Deadly Assault, which is strong for a non-Stun composition.

F2P-Friendly: Starlight Billy + Pan Yinhu + Koleda

No limited S-Ranks needed here beyond Billy himself. This team reached 23,000 in Shi Yu Defense and 28,000 in Deadly Assault, which is genuinely impressive for a non-limited support setup. Getting an S-rank clear on Shi Yu Defense with these numbers may require cleaner substats and tighter rotations, but it is achievable with practice.

An even more accessible option, Starlight Billy + Pan Yinhu + Lucy, logged 21,700 in Shi Yu Defense and 25,500 in Deadly Assault. Lower ceiling but nearly zero resource investment outside of Billy himself.

His Stun Window Combo, Broken Down

This is where Starlight Billy separates himself from casual play. Getting the stun combo right is the single biggest damage increase available to you, no extra investment required.

The core stun window rotation works like this:

1. Use your Stun or Support Agent’s EX Special just before the boss enters the stun state (this activates disc set buffs like King of the Summit or Moonlight Lullaby)

2. Swap to Billy, hold Basic Attack to have Full-Throttle Starlight queued

3. Trigger the stun with another agent, then activate Billy’s first Chain Attack

4. Cancel the remaining chain prompt, then use Billy’s EX Special

5. Trigger stun with a second agent swap, then activate Billy’s second Chain Attack

6. Use Billy’s Ultimate

7. End with Full-Throttle Starlight (held Basic Attack)

If you are running Dialyn, you may need to drop one Chain Attack to fit her Forced Ultimate into the window. It is a small trade-off that is worth it in most cases.

Mindscapes: Skip, Pull Once, or Go Further?

Mindscapes are never required to make Starlight Billy function, but his first two offer legitimate damage gains.

M1 is his most impactful unlock. It makes Billy start the fight with full Adrenaline and lets his attacks ignore 18% of enemy Physical RES for 45 seconds after landing an EX Special. That Physical RES shred alone is a roughly 14% personal damage increase.

M2 bumps the damage of his Basic, EX Special, and Ultimate, and adds a Turbo Charge follow-up after Cool Wheelie for a further 12% increase. Both M1 and M2 together are a meaningful upgrade.

M4 adds CRIT DMG stacks on Drive Suppression use and passive HP regen when off-field below 35% HP, which is more of a quality-of-life improvement.

M6 increases Sheer DMG on his Ultimate and Basic Attack and adds a Brilliant Starlight stack system for bonus Physical hits on his final strikes. The total personal damage increase is only around 11%, which is relatively low for an M6 investment.

The general priority: if you are debating between M1 and his signature W-Engine, the signature offers better overall value because it boosts damage more broadly and benefits all content. Pull the signature first, then consider M1 if you love the character.