Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) Exploration Commission General Guide

In ZZZ, an exploration commission can be either the most fun thing ever or the most unnecessary time-sink. These commissions force you to traverse the hollow, gather items, solve puzzles, and many other things. If you want to become better at them, check out our general guide on exploration commissions in Zenless Zone Zero.

Types of Exploration Commissions in ZZZ

There are three types of exploration commissions you’ll encounter in Zenless Zone Zero: Investigation, Puzzle, and Special. The only difference between them and regular story commissions is that these aren’t mandatory; they are more like side quests.

Also, in most of them, you don’t even need to fight before you reach the end of the quest. Instead, you roam the Hollow, collecting Hollow Observation Data, materials, currency, and other valuables. They don’t have a time limit, but efficiently completing them will give you more time to grind other important modes.

Investigation Commissions

Investigation exploration commissions are the most standard of all. You’ll see plenty of them as you play the story, and they mostly require you to fight a few battles, collect Observation Data and other valuables, and complete a certain challenge, like moving a box from one side of an area to another.

Puzzle Commissions

Puzzle exploration commissions don’t involve much combat. However, they often need you to push items to activate gates, layout conveyor belts, and other similar stuff. Traversing the map in a specific order is necessary to complete them perfectly.

Special Commissions

Special exploration commissions involve solving mysteries, fighting custom modes, etc. They are often complex and with a lot of hidden stuff around the map. To solve them, you’ll need to explore every nook and cranny and exhaust every dialogue option available.

Exploration Commission Mechanics in ZZZ

Playback Acceleration

Playback Acceleration only speeds up your animations, allowing you to complete these exploration commissions a bit faster and save time for other activities in ZZZ. There is no drawback to using it except that it’s less immersive.

Tile Types

You can check which tiles are available on your current exploration commission by going to the pause menu and then to the Event Log. Switch between them to see what they do. Generally, opening this menu first can help you prepare a plan and familiarize yourself with the map.

Deployed Bangboo

Bangboo menu you can see on the left during exploration hosts Bangboos you currently have in your inventory for this exploration. By default, only the Bangboo you usually bring to the fights will be present. However, during Special explorations, you can get new Bangboos that have special abilities. You can use this menu to switch between them.

Ether Activity

Ether Activity is a mechanic that affects the difficulty of an exploration commission in ZZZ. If it’s low, then you won’t gain pressure or activate Corruption by moving and interacting with objects in the Hollow. However, if it’s medium or high, you’ll acquire it progressively, making the exploration harder and harder.

Corruption

If your pressure gauge (bar surrounding your characters at the bottom) reaches 100, you’ll get a level of Corruption. Each level imposes a debuff on you or a buff on your enemies. There are five levels of Corruption that stack cumulatively, and they are:

1. Hardening Infection — Enemies gain Daze RES but have their DEF reduced.
2. Weakened — Dodge has a longer cooldown.
3. Stress Infection — Enemy Stun duration is reduced, and Max HP is decreased.
4. Energizing Effect — Enemy Daze diminishes over time, but the Stun DMG Multiplier is increased.
5. Exhausted — Decreases HP when exploring through the monitor. In combat, on-field characters will lose HP gradually.

Gear Coins

Gear Coins are a currency you can collect by going over Gear Coin tiles. You can use them to unlock tiles or purchase special items while you’re doing the exploration. They disappear after you exit the mode, so there is no reason to keep them. Instead, use them whenever you can.

How to Move Around Efficiently in Exploration Commissions

In general, efficiently traversing the map is only important for Puzzle and Special commissions. They might require you to get things in a specific order, or because there is Ether Activity, you simply need to waste as little movement as possible to finish the commission before you die. Here is a short list of tips on how you can do that:

• There is almost always only one viable route for puzzles. Try to deduce it before you start moving. Ultimately, you can always retry it.
• Always reveal all hidden tiles, as secret stuff can be hidden underneath. Plus, tiles around the edge of the map can conceal hidden passages.
• Read the tile guide in the pause menu to make route planning easier.
• Use Gear Coins whenever you can. If there is a thing you can’t unlock yet, chances are that you’ve either missed coins or need to come back to that area later.
• Collect everything you can on the map. Most often, there is no Ether Activity, so there is no reason for you to skip out on free loot.

Exploration Commission Rewards in ZZZ

Usually, exploration commissions reward Inter-Knot Credit, Denny, and Bangboo Algorithm Modules. However, you can get extra Denny and other items by collecting everything around the map. Some can be hidden behind tiles, so try to visit every unchecked tile before you leave a zone.

Extra Objective Rewards

Each exploration commission in Zenless Zone Zero can reward Polychrome if you collect the three Hollow Observation Data discs scattered throughout the quest. You can only get 30 per stage, so try to collect them on every stage you play.

That covers all the info you’ll need to complete every exploration commission in Zenless Zone Zero efficiently. For more Zenless Zone Zero content, including tier lists, quest guides, and collectibles, check out the ZZZ section on Twinfinite.