Zenless Zone Zero Shows that 2 Heads are Better than 1 with Orphie & Magus

With the ZZZ’s roster of characters growing at an exorbitant rate, certain gameplay niches are starting to become oversaturated. Fortunately for Orphie & Magus, Off-Field damage is still somewhat lacking. That said, if you are planning on grabbing them, I’d do so now because, at the rate ZZZ is going, they’ll be replaced by someone better in just a few patches.

How Do Orphie & Magus Work

Orphie & Magus are a S-Rank Fire Attack unit consisting of Orpheus Magnusson and the Intelligent Construct Magus. They provide both Off-Field and On-Field damage.

Aftershock Done Two Ways

Orphie & Magus’ main contribution to a party is their Aftershock damage, which changes depending on how much Energy they have. When they have less than 60 Energy, they will use the Special Attack: Corrosive Flash automatically whenever an ally attacks. When they have 60 or more Energy, they will instead use EX Special Attack: Crimson Vortex, which deals more damage. Both versions restore 20 Bottled Heat.

Heating Things Up

Orphie & Magus’ gain “Bottled Heat” when they perform either of their Aftershock attacks (20), when they use their regular EX Special Attack (20), when they are part of a Chain Attack (20), and when they use their Ultimate (20). When Orphie & Magus reach 100 “Bottled Heat”, they can Hold the Special Attack button to unleash a powerful laser that both deals and grants all party members “Zeroed In” for 12 seconds.

Allies under the effects of “Zeroed In” have their ATK increased by 280 (at Core Passive level 7). This ATK Buff is further increased based on Orphie & Magus’ Energy Regen (every 0.1 ER over 1.6 increases the Buff by 20, up to a maximum of 700 when their Core Passive is fully leveled). Furthermore, Agents with “Zeroed In” who trigger Aftershock (not deal, trigger) have the duration of the Buff extended by 4 seconds (up to a maximum of 20 seconds).

Additionally

Orphie & Magus’ Ultimate deals damage and triggers a Quick Assist (like Burnice). If you activate the Quick Assist, the damage period of their Ultimate will be extended. Orphie & Magus’ Core Passive, which provides the “Zeroed In” Buff, also increases their CRIT Rate and Aftershock DMG. Their Additional Ability, which causes Aftershock DMG dealt by allies with the “Zeroed In” effect to ignore 25% of the enemy’s DEF, activates when there is either a Stu or Support character in the party with Orphie & Magus.

What to Build on Orphie & Magus

ATK is their main damage Stat. They get a good amount of CRIT Rate passively, so a CRIT DMG DD4 is probably best. DD5 should be Fire DMG, and their DD6 should be Energy Regen, since you need 4.1 total Energy Regen to gain the full benefits of their increased ATK Buff. Not sure if you can actually get there without their personal W-Engine.

As such, there really isn’t a good alternative S-Rank option. The only one that can sort of work is Heartstring Nocturne. As for A-Rank choices, Cannon Rotor is probably your best bet. Housekeeper does provide Energy Regen when Off-Field, but also increases Physical DMG, which is somewhat wasted on them.

Her best Disc Drive setup is 4 Shadow Harmony and 2 Moonlight Lullaby (for the extra Energy Regen). If you don’t need the Energy Regen (lucky you), go for either 2 Branch & Blade Song or 2 Inferno Metal.

Who Synergizes with Orphie & Magus

Because of their considerable Off-Field presence, Orphie & Magus can fit into most Support/Attack or Stun/Attack teams without issue. They can work with Astra and Evenlyn, Nicole/Qingyi and Zhu Yuan, Lycaon and Ellen, Lucy/Lighter and Soldier 11, and many more. Effectively, if your main DPS character doesn’t quite put out enough damage, you can bring in Orphie & Magus to help out.