Zenless Zone Zero

ZZZ Signal Search: how many searches a limited S-Rank Agent really takes

93.7 Searches on average for a limited S-Rank Agent, against 62.5 for any S-Rank — and a worst case that costs $475.20, twice the Stable Channel's.

By the GachaData team Updated September 23, 20263 min read

A limited S-Rank Agent in Zenless Zone Zero takes 93.7 Signal Searches on average — 1.5× the 62.5 it takes to get any S-Rank on the Stable Channel. Here is where each number comes from, and what the worst case costs.

The three channels

Every Signal Search channel has a combined S-Rank rate — the chance per search once pity is folded in — and the average number of searches is simply one divided by it:

<thead><tr><th>Channel</th><th>The S-Rank in question</th><th>Combined rate</th><th>Average searches</th><th>Price range</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>Stable Channel</th><td>any S-Rank</td><td>1.6%</td><td>62.5</td><td>$1.98 – $237.60</td></tr><tr><th>Exclusive Channel</th><td>the limited S-Rank Agent</td><td>1.067%</td><td>93.7</td><td>$1.98 – $475.20</td></tr><tr><th>W-Engine Channel</th><td>the limited S-Rank W-Engine</td><td>1.6%</td><td>62.5</td><td>$1.98 – $422.40</td></tr></tbody>

Read the second column carefully, because it is what makes the three rows different. The Stable Channel's 1.6% is for any S-Rank. The Exclusive Channel's 1.067% is for the one limited Agent you are there for: not every S-Rank that channel gives you is that Agent, and the lower combined rate prices that in.

The limited Agent averages 93.7 Searches. "About one S-Rank per 62.5" is the wrong number to budget with.

The worst case doubles

Each channel also carries a price range, from $1.98 at the luckiest to a ceiling that is where pity finally guarantees the S-Rank in question. On the Stable Channel that ceiling is $237.60. On the Exclusive Channel it is $475.20 — 2× as much. The average only grows by 1.5×, but the unlucky end of a limited Agent is twice as long.

That is the number to keep in mind if the Agent is one you will not skip. The average says what a typical run costs; the ceiling says what you need in reserve to be certain.

The bottom of the range is useful too. The luckiest possible S-Rank is the one that arrives on the very first search, so $1.98 is what a single search costs at the cheapest price. Even at that price, the average limited Agent comes to $185.53. The ceilings are quoted at a dearer price per search, so the two ends of the range are not the same multiple of the search count — compare ceilings with ceilings and averages with averages.

W-Engines: an average like Stable, a ceiling like Exclusive

The limited S-Rank W-Engine has the same combined rate as the Stable Channel's any-S-Rank figure, 1.6%, so it too averages 62.5 Searches. Its ceiling is not the same, though: $422.40, 1.78× the Stable Channel's. On average a signature W-Engine is the cheaper half of a pair; at the worst case it is almost as expensive as the Agent.

Budgeting an Agent and their W-Engine

On average: 93.7 + 62.5 = 156.2 Searches for the limited Agent and their signature W-Engine.
On average, in money: at least $309.28 at the cheapest price per search.
At the ceiling: $475.20 + $422.40 = $897.60.

If you have to choose, secure the Agent first: the Agent is the part of the pair that fights, and the W-Engine is the optional second step. And budget from the second line, not the first, for anything you will not skip — the gap between the two is the whole case for saving before a banner rather than during it.

Which Agent and W-Engine are on the Exclusive and W-Engine Channels right now is on the banners page; the full rate breakdown is on pull rates, and every W-Engine's stats are on W-Engines.