Zenless Zone Zero 2.3 Brings Halloween Chaos, Three New Agents, and a Turn‑Based Twist

Halloween hits New Eridu-and ZZZ goes turn-based (for a minute)

Zenless Zone Zero version 2.3 drops on October 15, and it’s leaning hard into spooky season. What caught my attention isn’t just the pumpkin spice vibe-HoYoverse is adding three new agents, a creepy new Hollow anchored by a “Night Demon” encounter, and, oddly, a main event that flips the game into a turn-based mode. For a series that thrives on timing dodges and swapping for perfect chains, that’s a bold detour. Let’s break down what actually matters for players (beyond the cobwebs and neon pumpkins).

Key takeaways

• Release date: October 15, with maintenance compensation in Polychromes afterward.
• Three new agents: S-rank Lucia (Support/Ether), S-rank Yidhari (Ice/Breaker toolkit), and A-rank Kamano Manato (Fire, offense-first).
• Main event “When Dreams Remain Unfinished” is a turn-based mode set inside Yidhari’s dreams; complete it to snag a free copy of Kamano plus a white alt outfit.
• Viviane gets a swimsuit skin-paid, unless you hit 180 pulls across 2.3-2.4 to claim it free with accessories. That “free” path won’t sit well with everyone.
• Banners: Phase 1 features Lucia (with Kamano rate-up) alongside Viviane; Phase 2 reruns Ju Fufu and debuts Yidhari.
• Limited-time code LUCIA1015 was shared during the reveal—try it, but it may be expired by the time you read this.

Breaking down the new agents

Lucia lands as an S-rank Support/Ether character who spends “Dream” points to enter a powered state, buffing allies, countering, and laying down a debuff that amps team damage. On paper, she looks like the missing piece for Ether/Anomaly-leaning squads that want sustained buffs without sacrificing survivability, especially since she can patch the team with a zone-based heal. If you’ve been juggling supports just to keep uptime on damage windows, Lucia’s kit reads like quality-of-life with a high ceiling for coordination.

Yidhari, also S-rank, is Ice with a Breaker slant and risky self-HP mechanics. She can charge an attack that blocks incoming hits, consumes HP for extra power, and in return scales harder with crit when she’s low. It’s the classic glass-cannon bargain: if her frame data and i-frames are generous, she’ll shred bosses; if not, expect painful whiffs. The intriguing bit is partial defense ignore—if that’s reliable, she’ll slot into boss-melting comps fast.

Kamano Manato is the new A-rank Fire bruiser, all swagger and straightforward burn. He can sacrifice HP to enter a defense-piercing state and just go to work. The big W: you can earn a copy of Kamano free via the main event, which makes testing Fire comps painless even if you’re saving premium currency for Lucia or Yidhari.

Events: a stylish detour into turn-based tactics

HoYoverse calls the headline event “When Dreams Remain Unfinished,” a dream dive into Yidhari’s subconscious where you command creatures in a new turn-based mode. It’s temporary, so no, ZZZ isn’t abandoning its action DNA. But I’m into this for two reasons: first, it’s the studio experimenting without risking core balance; second, it’s a smart way to let players tinker with strategy pacing and team synergies without perfect dodge pressure. If you bounced off past high-difficulty combat gauntlets, this could be your on-ramp to learn enemy patterns in a lower-stress wrapper.

Elsewhere, Miyabi hosts a peninsula combat event with branching paths and scaling complexity—a nice change from linear arena checklists. There’s a mid-combat photo mode event (yes, you’ll charge a meter, pop filters, and aim for style points), a light fortune-telling mini-event, the returning daily “battery drain” rewards, and time-limited login bonuses. It’s standard live-service seasoning, but the mix seems more playful than grindy this round.

Skins, value, and the 180-pull elephant in the room

Viviane’s swimsuit arrives as a paid skin, unless you log 180 wishes across version 2.3 through 2.4, which unlocks it and some accessories at no extra cost. I’ll be blunt: tying a cosmetic to a cumulative gacha spend target is clever engagement design, but it also blurs the line between “free reward” and “you already paid for this via pulls.” If you were rolling anyway, cool—bank the bonus. If you’re strictly F2P or a light spender, this feels like the kind of FOMO-tuned carrot that’s become a HoYoverse staple across its catalog.

On the plus side, earning Kamano via the main event offsets some pressure, and Lucia looks impactful even at baseline investment—support-centric kits usually deliver value quickly. Just don’t expect to fully explore Yidhari’s high-risk playstyle without decent gear and a comfort level with her HP trade mechanics.

Why this matters now

ZZZ has been finding its live-service rhythm: big character drops, side modes that toy with the formula, and a steady cosmetic drip. The Halloween framing isn’t just seasonal dressing—it’s a good excuse to push a freakier Hollow (the “Night Demon” tease sounds like a spectacle boss) and test a tactics format without splitting the playerbase. It mirrors a broader HoYoverse pattern: use limited events to prototype ideas that may feed future permanent modes.

One small PSA on platforms: ZZZ is currently on PS5, PC, iOS, and Android. There’s no Xbox version at the time of writing, despite rumors that never quite materialize with HoYoverse titles.

Finally, about that code: LUCIA1015 was a limited-time Polychrome drop shared during the 2.3 reveal and may be dead by the time you see this. Still, it costs nothing to try, and you’ll get maintenance comp on patch day anyway.

TL;DR

Version 2.3 hits Oct 15 with a Halloween Hollow, a turn-based dream event that grants a free Kamano, and two headline S-ranks—Lucia the team-boosting Ether support and Yidhari the risky Ice breaker. The gameplay experiments look fun; the 180-pull swimsuit “freebie” is the kind of monetization that’ll split the room. Roll smart, grab your comp rewards, and enjoy the spooky detour.