How to unlock material farming in Zenless Zone Zero

There's no escape from material farming in Zenless Zone Zero, which has an upgrade system for Agents, W-Engines, Skills, and even Bangboo. Whether you're a new player or a seasoned veteran, you'll be using a ton of Battery to farm for materials—here's how.

How to farm for upgrade materials in Zenless Zone Zero – Combat Simulation guide

To unlock material farming, simply play the game until you've progressed up to Chapter One and have completed the trial Commission with Nekomata. You'll be prompted to complete an objective that involves heading to the HIA Club via the company car.

As a new player, the first thing you'll want to do is to use up most (if not all) of your Batteries (energy) to allow them to continuously regenerate. Farming for upgrade materials is the easiest way to use up Batteries in the early game as they'll also contribute to your quick progression.

In the HIA Club, speak to Bertha to open up the Combat Simulation page, which will allow you to farm for Basic materials (level-up materials and Dennies), and Agent, W-Engine, and Skill upgrade materials. Later in the game, you'll also be able to farm for Tuning materials for Drivers (equivalent to Genshin Impact Artifacts).

After being introduced to the HIA Club, you'll also receive a VR Device in the Random Play Staff Room. It allows you to complete various combat and Agent tutorials, which are very helpful for understanding each Agent's gameplay, but material farming is only available in the HIA Club. After unlocking the HIA Club for the first time, you'll be able to teleport to its location via the map.

While farming for materials, you can configure each battle plan to contain the number of enemies you want to battle. Each slot increases the enemy encounters in each battle, while also increasing the Battery cost and number of rewards.

Additionally, you'll also be able to configure the enemy lineup in some stages, which allows you to customize your combat experience. It's a great opportunity to battle against enemies your team is strong against or to try various combat situations while getting the same rewards.

Does Zenless Zone Zero have auto battles?

Unlike Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero does not have an auto-battle system, so you'll have to farm for materials manually. On the bright side, you can customize the number of waves per battle to make it easier to get the exact number of materials you need. You can also customize the enemy lineup in some instances, so you can choose enemies that your team can defeat quickly to ease the monotonous grind.

For more on ZZZ, check out our guide on How does the banner & pity system work in Zenless Zone Zero? here on Pro Game Guides.