Astra Yao Early Access Preview and Thoughts

Astra Yao has finally been released on the Early Access servers, meaning I finally get the chance to browse through YouTube and look at what she’s capable of, and god, does she look ridiculous. Astra will be one of the S-Rank Agents released in Version 1.5, but the more important thing is that she will be the first limited S-Rank Support unit to be released ever since the launch of ZZZ. Support units are undoubtedly the true OGs of any gacha game, and Zenless Zone Zero is no different. So today I’ll share some of my thoughts on her.

Is Astra Yao Strong?

The first question I get whenever I see a new character is whether they’re going to be strong or not. However, I didn’t really ask myself that when I first saw information about Astra Yao. I saw that she’d be an S-Rank Support and immediately knew that she would be a ridiculous unit to have and one that everyone should have. And I was right. From her Early Access reveal, we can see that Astra Yao offers a ton, and I mean a ton, of buffs to the team. 20% Bonus Damage? 25% CRIT DMG? 1200 ATK buff? 24% Bonus damage from drives? Enabling Quick Assists and Chain Attacks? Yeah… she has all of that. Honestly, I doubt there’s anything Astra Yao can’t do. She doesn’t require any field time; she can buff your carries beyond belief, she allows for double DPS teams thanks to her Quick Assists functionality, AND she can also heal. 

That’s right, Astra Yao is the first character in ZZZ that can heal your team. This is honestly a huge milestone for the game, as with the release of Astra Yao, the developers are opening the possibility for having more units in the future that can heal or maybe even incorporate some type of lifesteal mechanic into their kit. All in all, I believe that Astra Yao is a game-breaking unit that will surely change the way the game will be played in the future, mostly due to how many possibilities she opens for future characters.

Will I Pull For Her?

I probably will. I say probably, because my Polychromes aren’t in the best state right now, especially after the release of Miyabi and her signature W-Engine, so I’ll have to see whether the gacha gods smile upon me. And whenever I pull for units in ZZZ, I also pull for their signature W-Engines; I don’t just pull for the units. So whether I get Astra Yao and her W-Engine will come down to luck, but I’ll definitely shoot my shot, as I believe that she is not a unit to be missed. Additionally, even if I don’t end up using her right after pulling her, I’ll definitely find a spot for her in the future, and I believe she is a unit that won’t be power crept easily. Supports are typically the most resilient units in any gacha game, and with the sheer amount of utility that Astra Yao provides, I doubt she’ll be replaced within the next half a year or more.

Overall Thoughts

I think that Astra Yao is amazing. She definitely lives up to being the first limited S-Rank Support and will be one of the units that everyone will have on their team. She also opens possibilities for new and unique characters in the future that will also incorporate the heal mechanic into their kits. While I am somewhat unsure of introducing healing to ZZZ, I am going to wait and see how it affects the game before taking a stance on it. Right now I believe it will make the game a bit easier, especially if you decide to run Astra Yao with Caesar. That is all. I’ll share more thoughts on it when future characters are released. For now, I’ll definitely try to get a copy of Astra and her W-Engine, and I hope you tune back in for her guide next week!