Chaos Zero Nightmare 5-Star Character Kit: Full 2026 Guide

Chaos Zero Nightmare (CZN) is revolutionizing the gacha gaming landscape with its unique blend of roguelike card-based combat and compelling character designs. With eight confirmed 5-star characters already detailed in beta, players are eager to understand each character’s kit and how they’ll shape the meta. I’ve analyzed all available information to bring you the most comprehensive breakdown of every 5-star character kit in Chaos Zero Nightmare.

Whether you’re planning your reroll strategy or deciding which character deserves your hard-earned resources, this guide covers everything from basic mechanics to advanced Ego Skills. Each character brings distinct playstyles that range from resource cycling and burst DPS to tanking, healing, and team-wide debuffs. Understanding these kits before launch gives you a massive advantage in team building and resource allocation.

Complete List of All 8 5-Star Character Kits (March 2026)

The current roster includes eight meticulously designed 5-star Combatants, each with unique mechanics that define their battlefield role. These characters form the backbone of any competitive team composition. Let me break down each character’s complete kit, including their class, element, and signature abilities.

Renoa – The Resonance Bullet Specialist (Hunter/Void)

Renoa’s entire kit revolves around creating and spending Resonance Bullets for explosive damage output. Her basic cards deal damage or provide shields, while specific cards generate bullets that fuel her devastating attacks. The key to mastering Renoa lies in efficient card cycling and bullet management.

Her unique cards consume Resonance Bullets for bonus damage or chain multiple attacks together. This creates a dynamic playstyle where you’re constantly balancing bullet generation with consumption. The more bullets you accumulate, the more devastating your turns become.

Renoa’s Ego Skill, Black Thorn, converts all unused cards in your hand into Resonance Bullets and strikes for 150% damage. Additionally, it applies a strengthened damage debuff that amplifies all subsequent attacks. This skill rewards players who can time their bullet generation perfectly for maximum burst potential.

Hugo – The Hunt Mark Chain Attacker (Ranger/Order)

Hugo specializes in applying Hunt Marks that trigger devastating follow-up attacks across multiple enemies. His kit focuses on marking targets and then capitalizing on those marks with chain attacks. Every Hunt Mark applied increases his damage potential exponentially.

His card mechanics allow him to spread Hunt Marks across the enemy team while dealing consistent damage. The beauty of Hugo’s kit is that marked enemies take additional damage from all sources, making him an excellent enabler for team compositions. His ability to stay constantly active through chain attacks makes him invaluable in prolonged fights.

Hugo’s Ego Skill, Final Resolution, unleashes 250% AoE damage while applying vulnerability to all enemies. It also provides a significant boost to Hunt damage for subsequent turns. This combination of burst damage and damage amplification makes Hugo a cornerstone in multi-target encounters.

Khalipe – The Defense-Based Frontline Tank (Vanguard/Instinct)

Khalipe transforms the traditional tank role by converting her massive defense stat into offensive power. Her cards scale with defense, allowing her to generate powerful shields while simultaneously dealing respectable damage. This dual-purpose design makes her incredibly slot-efficient in any team.

Her unique cards enable shield recycling and stacking debuffs like Stagger on enemies. The more you invest in Khalipe’s defense, the stronger both her protective and offensive capabilities become. She excels at keeping allies safe while contributing meaningful damage based on her defensive stats.

Khalipe’s Ego Skill, Charisma of Resolve, hits all enemies for 300% defense-based damage while generating additional shield cards for your hand. The skill increases shield effectiveness by 200% and adds +80% damage to each card in hand. This makes her an absolute wall that enemies struggle to break through.

Mei Lin – The Passion Combo Striker (Striker/Passion)

Mei Lin thrives on building massive combo chains and exploiting Passion Weakness for burst damage. Her kit focuses on applying Sunspot debuffs that amplify fire damage while setting up devastating multi-hit combinations. Each successful combo increases her critical hit potential.

Her cards synergize to create explosive turns where multiple attacks chain together seamlessly. Mei Lin gains +20% attack card damage as she builds momentum, and her ability to apply Dark Spot 3 ensures enemies take increased damage. The key to mastering Mei Lin is understanding combo timing and maximizing Passion Weakness windows.

Mei Lin’s Ego Skill massively boosts critical rate and critical damage for one turn while dealing 100% fixed damage to all enemies. Though the translation remains unstable in beta, early testing shows this skill can enable game-ending burst damage. The skill transforms Mei Lin into a critical hit machine that can eliminate priority targets instantly.

Veronica – The Ballista Charge Ranger (Ranger/Passion)

Veronica builds Charge stacks to generate auto-firing Ballista cards that unleash destruction at turn’s end. Her standard cards provide damage, shields, and Ballista generation, while unique cards increase maximum Charge capacity or recycle Ballista cards. This creates a snowball effect where each turn becomes progressively more powerful.

The brilliance of Veronica’s kit lies in the passive damage from Ballista cards that fire automatically. While you focus on playing your main cards, the Ballista cards provide consistent additional damage without consuming action points. Strategic Charge management determines whether you’re dealing steady damage or preparing for massive burst turns.

Veronica’s Ego Skill, Hunting Time, deals 250% AoE damage while applying Strengthened debuff to all enemies. It maxes out Charge stacks instantly and spawns multiple Ballista cards. This skill essentially turns Veronica into a mobile artillery platform that devastates the entire enemy team.

Orlea – The Creature Summoner Support (Controller/Instinct)

Orlea commands an army of creature cards that provide healing, buffs, and battlefield control. Her kit focuses on summoning support creatures that persist across turns, creating a growing advantage over time. Each creature provides unique benefits ranging from healing to damage amplification.

Her unique ability to use Preserve effect twice means creature cards remain active longer than normal. Orlea can deal 40% fixed damage based on card count while healing allies for 200% HP. This combination of sustain and damage makes her the premier support character in the game.

Orlea’s Ego Skill, Salvation, summons multiple high-tier creatures simultaneously while providing team-wide benefits. The skill floods the battlefield with supportive creatures that heal, shield, and enhance your entire team. This creates overwhelming board presence that enemies struggle to overcome.

Rin – The Black Cloud Sword Specialist (Striker/Void)

Rin wields Black Cloud Sword Cards that deliver devastating single-target burst damage. Her kit focuses on generating and empowering these special sword cards for massive damage spikes. Each Black Cloud Sword Card represents potential for game-changing damage when properly enhanced.

Her cards synergize to increase critical hit rates and damage multipliers on sword attacks. Rin excels at eliminating high-priority targets with precise, overwhelming force. The void element adds penetration properties that bypass enemy defenses.

Rin’s Ego Skill, Secret Art Strike, channels all accumulated sword cards into one massive attack dealing catastrophic damage. The skill can potentially one-shot bosses when properly set up. This makes Rin the ultimate boss killer in challenging content.

Kayron – The Void Debuff Master (Psionic/Void)

Kayron specializes in applying multiple void-based debuffs that cripple enemy effectiveness. His kit focuses on stacking various negative effects while dealing consistent void damage. Each debuff applied increases the potency of subsequent void attacks.

His cards allow for rapid debuff application while maintaining offensive pressure. Kayron can apply slow, weakness, vulnerability, and unique void debuffs simultaneously. This makes him exceptional at neutralizing dangerous enemies while enabling team damage.

Kayron’s Ego Skill, Crack of Nothingness, applies severe debuffs to all enemies while dealing void damage that scales with debuff count. The skill can essentially shut down entire enemy teams by reducing their combat effectiveness to near zero. This crowd control potential makes Kayron invaluable in difficult encounters.

Understanding Character Classes and Elements

Chaos Zero Nightmare features six distinct character classes that determine base stats and battlefield roles. Strikers boast the highest attack values but sacrifice defense, while Vanguards offer maximum survivability with 102 HP and 55 defense. Understanding these class distinctions helps optimize team composition.

Rangers balance offense and mobility with 180 base attack but only 40 defense and 75 HP. Hunters provide consistent damage and utility, Controllers offer support and battlefield manipulation, while Psionics bring unique mechanics that don’t fit traditional roles. Each class fills specific niches in team building.

The element system adds another layer with five attributes: Passion (Red), Void (Purple), Instinct (Yellow), Order (Green), and Justice (Blue). Elements determine damage multipliers and special interactions between characters. Void elements particularly excel in Chaos zones, making them valuable for early progression.

Combat Mechanics and Card System Explained

Combat operates on a turn-based card system inspired by Slay the Spire’s mechanics. You draw 5 cards per turn from a deck containing all three Combatants’ cards and receive 3 Action Points (AP) to spend. Each card costs AP to play, requiring strategic resource management.

The unique Stress and Breakdown system adds tactical depth to battles. As characters take damage, their stress builds toward a breakdown threshold. Breaking an enemy’s stress bar multiplies all damage they receive, creating windows for massive burst damage.

Ego Skills consume Ego Points (EP) accumulated through combat actions. These powerful abilities can completely shift battle momentum when used strategically. Managing EP generation and spending becomes crucial in challenging content where Ego Skills determine victory.

Current Tier List Rankings

Based on beta testing and early access data, the current tier list places several 5-star characters in dominant positions. S-tier characters include Khalipe for her unmatched tanking, Orlea for essential support, and Mei Lin for explosive damage potential. These characters define the current meta.

Tier	Characters	Role Strengths
S Tier	Khalipe, Orlea, Mei Lin	Core meta picks, versatile in all content
A Tier	Rin, Renoa, Veronica, Kayron	Excellent specialists, strong in specific scenarios
B Tier	Hugo	Solid performer, requires specific team support

A-tier characters like Rin, Renoa, and Veronica excel in specific scenarios but may require more investment or team support. Kayron’s debuff utility earns him A-tier despite lower raw damage. Hugo sits in B-tier due to his dependence on multi-target scenarios.

Remember that tier lists reflect current beta state and will likely shift with balance changes. Character effectiveness also heavily depends on team composition and content type. What matters most is building synergistic teams rather than collecting individual top-tier units.

Optimal Team Building Strategies

Successful team composition in Chaos Zero Nightmare requires balancing damage dealers, tanks, and support characters. The standard formation includes one Vanguard for tanking, one Controller for support, and one Striker or Ranger for damage. This creates a stable foundation for tackling various content types.

Synergy between character elements and skills dramatically increases team effectiveness. For example, pairing Hugo’s Hunt Marks with Mei Lin’s burst damage creates multiplicative damage scenarios. Similarly, Khalipe’s shields enable glass cannon characters like Rin to survive long enough to unleash their full potential.

Consider building multiple teams for different content types rather than forcing one composition everywhere. Void-heavy teams excel in Chaos zones, while balanced elemental coverage works better in story content. Having specialized teams for specific challenges yields better results than one generalist team.

Gacha System and Pity Rates

The gacha system features a reasonable pity mechanism with soft pity beginning at 58 pulls and hard pity guaranteed at 70 pulls. Featured characters have a 50/50 chance when pulling a 5-star, meaning you might need up to 140 pulls for a guaranteed featured unit. This system provides certainty for players saving resources.

Standard banner includes all non-limited 5-star Combatants: Luke, Khalipe, Magna, Rin, Orlea, Mei Lin, Veronica, Renoa, Hugo, and Kayron. Limited banners rotate featured characters with rate-ups. Planning your pulls around pity counts ensures you get desired characters without overspending.

Partners follow a separate gacha system with 5-star, 4-star, and 3-star rarities available. While Partners enhance character capabilities significantly, focusing on Combatants first provides better account progression. Save Partner pulls for after establishing your core Combatant roster.

2026 Expert Tips for Maximizing 5-Star Characters

Early progression should prioritize Void characters due to their effectiveness in Chaos zones where you’ll farm most resources. Characters like Rin, Renoa, and Kayron provide excellent returns on investment during initial account development. Focus resources on one main team before diversifying.

Understanding each character’s resource generation and consumption patterns determines combat effectiveness. For instance, Renoa requires setup turns to generate bullets before burst phases, while Veronica needs Charge stack management for optimal damage. Master these patterns through practice in simulation runs.

During the first week, farm simulation runs to reach two or three promotions while building affinity with main characters. This provides substantial stat boosts and unlocks character potential trees. Affinity bonuses compound over time, making early investment crucial for long-term power growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Chaos Zero Nightmare’s eight 5-star characters offer diverse playstyles that cater to different strategic preferences. From Khalipe’s defensive dominance to Mei Lin’s explosive combos, each character brings unique mechanics worth mastering. Understanding these kits before launch positions you for success when building your ultimate team.

Remember that all information comes from beta testing and may change before official release. Focus on understanding core mechanics and character synergies rather than memorizing specific numbers. With proper team composition and resource management, any combination of these 5-star characters can dominate the battlefield in Chaos Zero Nightmare.