Nekomata Build: Best Drive Discs & Stats (ZZZ)

Nekomata is an S-rank Attack agent in Zenless Zone Zero. This Nekomata Drive Disc build lists the sets, main stats and substats to aim for, and the Area Patrol stage that drops them, as of version 3.2.

4-piece: Puffer Electro
2-piece: CRIT Rate +8%, CRIT DMG +16%, Physical DMG +10%, ATK +10% or PEN Ratio +8%
Disk 4: CRIT Rate
Disk 5: PEN Ratio
Disk 6: ATK%
Substats: CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG > ATK%
W-Engine: Steel Cushion
Farm at: Madman and Follower

Best Drive Disc sets for Nekomata

Nekomata's best 4-piece set is Puffer Electro. Woodpecker Electro is the alternative.

Puffer Electro Best in slot

4-piece: Ultimate DMG increases by 20%. Launching an Ultimate increases the equipper's ATK by 15% for 12s

2-piece: PEN Ratio +8%. Drops from Madman and Follower.
Woodpecker Electro

4-piece: Landing a critical hit on an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dodge Counter, or EX Special Attack increases the equipper's ATK by 9% for 6s. The buff duration for different skills are calculated separately

2-piece: CRIT Rate +8%. Drops from Tower and Cannon.

2-piece options

For the 2-piece slot the bonus matters, not the set's name. Several sets share the same 2-piece bonus, so Nekomata can take it from whichever one you have spare pieces of:

CRIT Rate +8%: Woodpecker Electro
CRIT DMG +16%: Branch & Blade Song
Physical DMG +10%: any of Fanged Metal or White Water Ballad (they give the same bonus)
ATK +10%: any of Hormone Punk or Astral Voice (they give the same bonus)
PEN Ratio +8%: Puffer Electro

Nekomata main stats: Disk 4, 5 and 6

Disks 1 to 3 always roll HP, ATK and DEF as their main stat, so the choice is on 4, 5 and 6. A > means "better than"; = means the two are about as good.

Slot	Main stat, best first
Disk 4	CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG = ATK%
Disk 5	PEN Ratio > ATK% > Physical DMG%
Disk 6	ATK%

Nekomata substat priority

Roll for CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG first. A disc showing neither of those is rarely worth levelling for Nekomata, whatever else it has.

CRIT Rate
CRIT DMG
ATK%
PEN
Flat ATK

Where to farm Nekomata's Drive Discs

Puffer Electro drops from the Madman and Follower Area Patrol stage. The other set it drops, Inferno Metal, is not part of Nekomata's build.

Area Patrol stage	Sets it drops
Madman and Follower	Puffer Electro (best 4-piece) Inferno Metal (not in this build)
Tower and Cannon	Woodpecker Electro (4-piece option 2) Soul Rock (not in this build)
Fist and Gun	Hormone Punk (2-piece option) Fanged Metal (2-piece option)
Monster Duet	Branch & Blade Song (2-piece option) Astral Voice (2-piece option)
Deceits and Bulwarks	White Water Ballad (2-piece option) Shining Aria (not in this build)

Building more than one agent? The Area Patrol Recommender ranks every stage for your whole team at once, and the Drive Disc Stat Guide says which drops to keep while you farm.

Nekomata W-Engine and skill priority

Steel Cushion S-rank, CRIT Rate sub-stat

With Pawpad Ambush on Potential Unlock, every attack counts as a Back Attack, so Nekomata's Signature runs at full effect permanently. Its Base ATK is lower than limited alternatives, but the large DMG% gains still put it ahead as her go-to choice.

Skills to level first

Special Attack
Chain Attack
Basic Attack
Dodge
Assist

Agents who also use Puffer Electro

These agents compete with Nekomata for the same set, which is worth knowing before you hand a good piece to one of them.

Check the discs you already have

Hundreds of discs in the inventory and no idea which ones Nekomata could use? Drive Disc Triage reads an export of your account and sorts every disc into lock or discard, checking each one against this build and every other agent you own.

Open Drive Disc Triage

Questions

What is the best Drive Disc set for Nekomata?

Puffer Electro 4-piece, with Woodpecker Electro as the alternative. For the 2-piece, any set with CRIT Rate +8%, CRIT DMG +16%, Physical DMG +10%, ATK +10% or PEN Ratio +8% works.

What main stats should Nekomata use on Disk 4, 5 and 6?

Disk 4: CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG = ATK%. Disk 5: PEN Ratio > ATK% > Physical DMG%. Disk 6: ATK%. Disks 1 to 3 have fixed main stats (HP, ATK and DEF), so only their substats matter.

What substats does Nekomata need?

In priority order: CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, ATK%, PEN, Flat ATK. The first two are what make a disc worth levelling for Nekomata; the rest are tiebreakers.

Where do I farm Nekomata's Drive Discs?

Puffer Electro drops from the Madman and Follower Area Patrol stage, alongside Inferno Metal. Each run at Lv.60 costs 60 Battery Charge and splits its S-rank discs between the two sets.