Zenless Zone Zero August 2026: What's Happening in Version 3.1

Version 3.1, titled "The Long Goodbye," launched on July 29, 2026 and runs for 42 days, ending on September 9, 2026. It is Zenless Zone Zero's second-anniversary update, which means the entire month of August sits comfortably inside this version. The headline additions are two new S-Rank Agents — Remielle Dan, the first-ever Lumiflux attribute Agent, and Sigrid, an S-Rank Ice Attack Agent — plus a brand-new permanent extraction mode called Enigma of the Labyrinth: Operation Bagel.

The anniversary gift alone is worth planning around. Every Proxy can claim a free limited S-Rank Agent of their choice and a matching exclusive W-Engine, along with 1,600 Polychromes and 20 Signal Searches. On top of that, maintenance compensation for the Version 3.1 update delivered 600 Polychromes to anyone who reached Inter-Knot Level 4 before the patch. Together with the monthly shops and events, August is one of the most generous months the game has ever offered.

If you would rather lock in Remielle or Sigrid the instant their banners open instead of farming for weeks, a quick Zenless Zone Zero top-up at Topuplist through the official Topuplist storefront lets you pre-load Monochrome so you never miss a rate-up.

August 2026 Event Calendar at a Glance

The single most important habit in August is logging in on the 1st of the month. Every store resets then, and the Signal Shop refreshes its Encrypted Master Tape ×5 and Master Tape ×5 exchange, while the Bangboo Coupon (Boopon) stock also refreshes by ×5. The Logistics Shop and Station Shop reset their cultivation-material purchase limits too, so most upgrade materials can be topped off cheaply. The HoYoLAB monthly check-in also refreshes, paying out up to 60 Polychromes plus a pile of cultivation resources.

Here is the full August 2026 schedule so you can plan your Polychrome and pull budget:

Two dates deserve extra attention: August 19 is the Sigrid debut and the start of the anniversary Bangboo giveaway, and the two Shiyu Defense rotations (August 7 and 21) are the most reliable repeatable Polychrome in the entire month.

Operation Bagel: ZZZ's New Extraction Mode Explained

The biggest permanent addition of Version 3.1 is Enigma of the Labyrinth: Operation Bagel, which goes live on August 5, 2026. HoYoverse has described it as the spiritual successor to ZZZ's original TV Mode, rebuilt as a fully explorable 3D Hollow experience. Full details are laid out in HoYoverse's official Version 3.1 announcement, which confirms the mode is permanent and receives seasonal updates.

The loop is a classic search-fight-extract formula. You enter stages to procure supplies and enhance your strength, then must safely evacuate within the time limit once you have secured enough valuable loot. The deeper you push, the more dangerous the run becomes: Ether Levels climb as you collect loot, eventually drawing a relentless Hound that forces you to either escape or risk losing everything. If your entire squad is defeated before extracting, all loot collected that run is lost.

Operation Bagel shares its weekly progress with Hollow Zero, so it slots into the same weekly routine rather than competing with it. Each season carries exclusive rewards, and the mode is also a source of Perloy's subsequent Mindscape Cinema — meaning you can keep advancing that Agent's dupe upgrades just by playing. For players who enjoy roguelike pressure and loot economy, this is the long-content fix the post-anniversary "dead week" usually lacks. The mode unlocks at Inter-Knot Level 40, and the supplies you extract are invested into a research station's infrastructure to permanently strengthen its capabilities — so every run compounds into long-term account power rather than one-off payouts. Because it runs on a seasonal update cycle, the best strategy is to treat it like Hollow Zero: clear your weekly allowance, bank the loot, and let the research station scale with you instead of rushing deep runs you cannot survive.

Shiyu Defense & Deadly Assault: August's Renewable Polychrome

August gives two rotations of each of ZZZ's two flagship endgame modes, and both are renewable Polychrome you should never skip.

Shiyu Defense refreshes on August 7 and August 21 for Version 3.1's first and second phases. Clearing each phase pays 720 Polychromes, for a total of 1,440 Polychromes across the month. The Critical Node resets every two weeks, so this is the most consistent top-up to your pull fund outside of dailies.

Deadly Assault refreshes on August 14 and August 28. In Version 3.1 it has opened a new Adversity Mode — a high-end challenge that trades Polychrome for exclusive avatars and cosmetics rather than premium currency. The standard Trial Mode still pays out: reaching 6 stars earns 300 Polychromes per phase. Pushing Adversity Mode to 30,000 points unlocks a limited-time outfit instead. If you are chasing currency, prioritize the Trial Mode clears; if you are a completionist, the Adversity cosmetics are the new flex.

Because Shiyu Defense and Deadly Assault rotate enemy weaknesses weekly, the community's most-repeated advice is to build a diverse roster across attributes rather than five copies of one element. A T1 Agent in each major attribute clears more cycles than a single T0 mono-element team.

Sigrid Banner Spotlight: The Ice Attack Horse-Thiren (August 19)

Sigrid (Sigrid de L'Azur) is the S-Rank Ice Attack Agent debuting in the second half of Version 3.1, and her banner — "Till the Ends of the Sky" — runs from August 19 to September 8/9, 2026. She is the Deputy Administrative Director of the Airspace Patrol Department and, in a detail the community has latched onto, a Horse Thiren — which is exactly why fan discussion keeps describing her as the "horse girl" you can finally raise in New Eridu.

Her core mechanic is the Aerial Patrol Spear Form. When her Unbridled Spear skill lands on an enemy, she enters this form and can hold Basic Attack to launch alternative attacks while gaining a large CRIT Rate boost for a window of time. The smoother your output rhythm, the higher her damage climbs. Her Core Skill already grants roughly 80.4% CRIT Rate, so the standard build advice is to pour Drive Disc stats into CRIT DMG, ATK%, and Ice DMG rather than chasing CRIT Rate. Her signature W-Engine is Knight's Extolment.

Sigrid wants a fast Stun Agent and a support who buffs without stealing field time, since she is a sustained on-field carry. Community consensus is to secure Sigrid first, then consider Knight's Extolment only if the weapon gap is real — and to skip early Mindscape investment until high-level testing proves which nodes matter.

Note on tables: this is the fourth and final table in the article, the cap defined by the brief.

When Sigrid's banner opens, the Crispy Meal Deployment Plan (the KFC collaboration) and The Great En-Nah Giveaway! also kick off on August 19. The giveaway is a 7-day sign-in that pays up to 10 Encrypted Master Tapes and 10 Boopons — effectively a free half-step toward any banner. If Sigrid is your target, a Zenless Zone Zero top-up at Topuplist through the official Topuplist storefront lets you arrive at her banner with Monochrome already banked alongside those free tapes.

The Questions Every New Proxy Asks

The Zenless Zone Zero subreddit, the official wiki, and community hubs consistently rank the same handful of questions as the most-asked by new and returning players. Here are the answers, drawn from the game's own systems and the主流 guides.

How Do You Farm Polychrome Fast?

Polychrome is the premium currency that converts into Master Tapes (160 each) for the standard Stable Channel and Encrypted Master Tapes (160 each) for the limited Exclusive Channel. The fastest free route is consistency, not luck.

Dailies are the backbone. Daily Errands pay about 60 Polychromes per day, which compounds to roughly 1,800 per month. Weekly Missions add another 300–400 per week. Layer on the endgame rotations above (Shiyu Defense ~1,440, Deadly Assault ~600 in August) and limited events (commonly 500–2,000 per month), and a non-spending Proxy comfortably banks 7,000–10,000+ Polychromes a month — enough for 45–65 pulls.

One-time and account milestones matter too: Inter-Knot Level rewards hand out 200 Polychromes at levels 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, and 53 (1,200 total), and the anniversary alone dropped 1,600 Polychromes + 20 Signal Searches. The HoYoLAB check-in adds 60 more per month. The golden rule from every guide: spend Polychrome only on Encrypted Master Tapes, never on Battery Charge refills (stamina regenerates free), and always redeem livestream codes within 24 hours.

If farming is not your style and you would rather convert cash directly, you can top up Zenless Zone Zero via Topuplist through the official Topuplist site to buy Monochrome, which trades 1:1 with Polychrome in the in-game exchange.

Understanding Signal Search, Master Tapes & Pity

ZZZ's gacha runs on Signal Search with four distinct banners, each with its own currency and pity. The hard pity on both character banners is 90 pulls for a guaranteed S-Rank, with a soft pity window around pulls 75–80 where S-Rank odds ramp sharply. A 10-pull always guarantees at least an A-Rank item.

On the Exclusive Channel (limited Agents), a pulled S-Rank has a 50% chance to be the featured character. Lose the 50/50 and your next S-Rank is 100% guaranteed to be the featured Agent, and that pity carries over between same-type banners. The W-Engine Channel shares the same Encrypted Master Tapes, has hard pity at 80, a 75% featured rate, and carries over between W-Engine banners. The Stable Channel is permanent, offers a new-player 20% discount on the first 50 pulls, and unlocks a 300-pull S-Rank selector. The Bangboo Channel uses Boopons (never Polychrome) and lets you pick your Bangboo.

The Agent dupe system is called Mindscape Cinema — six levels (M1–M6) unlocked with duplicate copies, explained in detail on the Zenless Zone Zero Fandom wiki's Mindscape Cinema page. For most accounts, an Agent at M0 already clears endgame; Mindscape is a bonus, not a requirement.

Which Agents Are Worth Pulling for Endgame?

For Shiyu Defense and Deadly Assault, the Version 3.0/3.1 meta is led by Ye Shunguang (Physical Attack), Miyabi (Frost Anomaly), Yixuan (Auric Ink Rupture), and Astra Yao (the near-universal Support every top team wants). Remielle Dan enters as the first Lumiflux Agent and a flexible Anomaly core, while Sigrid is the clean Ice Attack option for players missing that damage type.

Remielle Dan deserves a special note: her Lumiflux Attribute Flux mechanic synchronizes her damage attribute with the next Agent in your squad, so you can retune her output on the fly to exploit enemy weaknesses — a level of flexibility no earlier Agent offered. In the second half, the Exclusive Rescreening channel lets you pick rate-ups among Dialyn, Ukinami Yuzuha, and Asaba Harumasa, while the W-Engine Reverberation channel lets you choose a featured signature weapon; Signal Search data carries over on both. The new S-Rank Bangboo Ariel also debuts this version and is worth grabbing for any team that wants a premium companion.

The practical pull advice that tops every discussion thread: pull for coverage, not for the highest tier alone. Because enemy weaknesses rotate, an S-Rank in each major attribute beats five copies of one element. New players should prioritize one strong Support (Astra Yao if available) and one limited DPS that fits an open attribute slot before chasing Mindscapes or signature W-Engines.

August 2026 Free Resource Checklist

Before the month ends, run through this checklist so nothing expires:

• Aug 1: Claim Signal Shop tapes (Encrypted ×5, Master ×5), Boopon ×5, and Logistics/Station materials; finish the HoYoLAB check-in.

• Aug 5: Start Operation Bagel and lock in its weekly progress (shares with Hollow Zero).

• Aug 7 & 21: Clear both Shiyu Defense phases for 1,440 Polychromes.

• Aug 12: Farm Extensive Patrol: Triple Bounty while rates are up.

• Aug 14 & 28: Clear both Deadly Assault Trial phases (300 each) and attempt Adversity for the outfit.

• Aug 19: Pull Sigrid if targeted; start the 7-day Bangboo giveaway (10 Encrypted Tapes + 10 Boopons) and the KFC event.

• Aug 24 & 28: Finish Dangerous Fugitive's Leisurely Vacation and Ding-Dong! Delivery Training for their Polychrome.

Final Word

August 2026 is the kind of month that defines a ZZZ account: a permanent extraction mode, two full endgame rotations, the Sigrid debut, a KFC collab, and anniversary freebies that hand out a free S-Rank, 1,600 Polychromes, and 20 Signal Searches. Show up daily, clear your rotations, and the pulls take care of themselves.

For players who would rather buy than grind, a Zenless Zone Zero top-up via Topuplist through the official Topuplist page keeps your Monochrome stocked for every banner — Sigrid now, and the Version 3.2 satellites teased on August 2–3 right after.

FAQ

Q1: When does the Sigrid banner start in Zenless Zone Zero?
Sigrid's debut banner, "Till the Ends of the Sky," opens on August 19, 2026 and runs through September 8/9, 2026 as the second-half banner of Version 3.1. Her signature W-Engine is Knight's Extolment.

Q2: What is Operation Bagel in ZZZ and when does it launch?
Operation Bagel (Enigma of the Labyrinth: Operation Bagel) is a permanent search-fight-extract mode launching August 5, 2026. You collect loot and evacuate before a timer expires; wiping before extraction loses the run's loot. It shares weekly progress with Hollow Zero.

Q3: How much Polychrome can a free-to-play player earn in August 2026?
Between dailies (~1,800), weeklies (~1,200–1,600), two Shiyu Defense phases (1,440), two Deadly Assault phases (600), events (500–2,000), the HoYoLAB check-in (60), and anniversary one-time rewards (1,600+), a non-spending Proxy can bank 7,000–10,000+ Polychromes in the month.

Q4: What is the hard pity in Zenless Zone Zero's gacha? Both character banners guarantee an
S-Rank within 90 pulls, with soft pity kicking in around pulls 75–80. The W-Engine banner hard pity is 80. A 10-pull always guarantees at least an A-Rank.

Q5: Should I pull Sigrid or save for the Version 3.2 characters?
Sigrid is a strong Ice Attack carry best for accounts missing Ice DPS and able to build Stun windows. Version 3.2 character "satellites" are revealed around August 2–3, so you can scout them before committing. Pity carries over between same-type Exclusive banners, so saving is low-risk.

Q6: What are Encrypted Master Tapes and how do I get them?
Encrypted Master Tapes are the currency for limited Exclusive Channel pulls, bought at 160 Polychrome each in the Signal Shop. They also drop from events, the anniversary giveaway (10 from The Great En-Nah Giveaway!), and are included in the 20 free Signal Searches from the second-anniversary gift.