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Zankou - Version 2 vs Version 3
Oct 6, 2026, 12:10 PM
Updated current version content and acquisition details
Oct 6, 2026, 07:24 PM
Corrected wikilink existence flags and punctuation
11Zankou is a limited S-Class playable character in Neverness to Everness, introduced on August 19, 2026 with the Version 1.3 Update. She is an Incantation Esper built as a main DPS around damage-over-time stacking and follow-up attacks, and her kit is built around switching between two distinct combat forms mid-fight.22Her introduction on the Hethereau Special Bulletin sets her tone bluntly: "You can think of me as a secret. A phantom. A nightmare that's yours alone..."44Profile66FieldDetailRarityS-Class (limited)Esper typeIncantationArc typeGasEsper AbilityThe Eye of DelusionCombat roleMain DPS, damage over time, follow-up attacksAliasBellaGenderFemaleAffiliationThe Scarlet Letter (adopted daughter of Inanna)Release dateAugust 19, 2026How to obtain"Alluring Shadows" Limited Board, see Version 1.3 Banners88Within The Scarlet Letter she is described as the most uncanny and dangerous Esper under Inanna's command, reading her targets with her right eye and answering with illusions. She is the younger sister of Daffodill and the older sister of Poinsette.99Background1111Zankou rarely talks about the years before The Scarlet Letter. In-game intel places her earliest memories inside a dungeon run by a secret society called "Eyepecker", which believed Esper Abilities were a gift granted to people born with special eyes and collected such children as vessels. She was bound daily and had a searing liquid dripped onto her eyeballs in the belief that transplanting the resulting eyes would hand the society that power.1313The ability did awaken, though not in the way her captors intended. On the day she was brought out for the extraction ritual, she saw her first colour beyond black and white, and the Eye of Delusion covered the entire island. The society's members turned on each other inside the hallucination until nobody was left alive.1515Inanna found her in the aftermath and took her home with the line "Let me see your face, my poor little petal. From today on, the Scarlet Letter is your home." The name "Red Nightshade" followed, and in elite social circles it became a name that frightened celebrities and magnates alike.1717Her Esper Ability shapes how she reads people. Faces register to her as monochrome, but she sees the flame of each soul burning red, and her profile text notes that "Everyone has a flame burning in their heart." Most of those flames strike her as mundane. She lingers only when one burns itself down to ash. The exception is a single soul that first appeared blinding white and later shifted into a colour she had never seen anywhere else, which pulls the reaction "How beautiful... I'm unable to look away."1919Her own first-meet voice line runs: "I'm a skeleton in your closet, an illusion in your reflections, a nightmare in your dreams… Embrace me, and sink."20+Her own first-meet voice line runs: "I'm a skeleton in your closet, an illusion in your reflections, a nightmare in your dreams... Embrace me, and sink."2121Combat2323Zankou fights across Reality Form and Illusion Form, and most of her damage comes from moving between them rather than parking in one. Her skills carry Heartwrench stacks and spread damage-over-time effects across a group, which makes her scale with the number of DoT sources on the field. The kit details below come from community testing on the live build rather than a published first-party skill sheet, so exact ratios may shift.2525Skills2727SkillTypeFormEffectWildfireBasic AttackRealityUp to 5 consecutive blade attacks dealing Incantation damage. The 5th hit pulls in nearby targets. Grants the Hunt buff for the duration.Nightmare WaltzBasic AttackIllusionUp to 4 consecutive attacks that inflict 1 stack of Heartwrench on hit and pull targets on the 3rd hit. Each attack spreads up to 4 DoT effects from the target to every enemy in the area. Grants Delusion, and its damage counts as follow-up attack damage.Flickering ShadowBasic AttackRealityHold Basic Attack during the 1st or 2nd stage of Wildfire for extra Incantation damage.MoonfallBasic AttackIllusionHold Basic Attack during the 1st or 2nd stage of Nightmare Waltz. Inflicts 1 stack of Heartwrench and counts as follow-up attack damage.Broken TwigsBasic AttackEitherAirborne plunge dealing area Incantation damage on impact, scaling with fall height by up to 100%.Sanguine DashSkillReality to IllusionSwitches her into Illusion Form. An enhanced version becomes available for a short time after the 4th or 5th stage of Wildfire, Flickering Shadow or Voidstep. Inflicts Heartwrench and triggers Disarray, cutting enemy Break over a large area. If interrupted before completing, the form switch is cancelled.SoulcrossSkillIllusion to RealitySwitches her back to Reality Form, with an enhanced version available shortly before Illusion Form expires. Deals heavy area damage, inflicts Heartwrench, and triggers Oblivion to activate Bloodfeast Reverie. All of its damage counts as follow-up attack damage.Stoked FlameChain SkillEitherA single blade strike dealing Incantation damage when called in from the bench.2929Illusion Form ends when Soulcross or Bloodfeast Reverie is cast, when its timer runs out, or when Zankou leaves the field. Both Hunt and Delusion linger briefly through a form switch instead of dropping instantly, which is what lets her chain the two stances together. Her skill flavour tracks the same idea: Wildfire reads "The nightmare drifts in, and despair burns from within." Sanguine Dash reads "No need to wake up yet. The nightmare is only beginning." And Stoked Flame reads "Fear is the finest fuel."3030Awakening3232Awakening effects can be swapped freely until all of them have been activated, so early owners can test setups without locking in. Resonance bonuses unlock at 3 and 6 total activations.3434LevelNameEffectA1Eyes of AbyssWildfire, Flickering Shadow, Voidstep and the enhanced Sanguine Dash and Soulcross all spread DoT effects. Grants Hunt and Delusion permanently, removed only on defeat. Hunt's damage bonus rises to 40% and Delusion's team-wide DoT crit damage bonus rises to 50%.A2Abyssal KissBuilds Kindling whenever Zankou joins a Cycle that triggers Scorch or Hexed, raising the final damage of the next Inferno Flamenco by 150%. Kindling can bank up to 1 stack in advance.A3Kiss in a NightmareHunt adds 50% Resistance to Interruptions. Delusion restores 4% of her Max HP per second.A4Nightmare BloomActivates Bloodfeast Reverie the moment Inferno Flamenco becomes available, and applies the Kindling damage bonus to it via shared stacks.A5Bloom in BloodThe first Breakable target hit by enhanced Sanguine Dash is guaranteed to enter Broken, once per target per battle. Raises all allies' Break damage by 300% while she is on the team.A6Blood Stained EyesIncreases the damage of Oblivion's final single-target hit by 12% per DoT stack on that target, up to 240%, calculated per target.A7Scarlet FeastAdds 1 skill level to Wildfire, Nightmare Waltz, Sanguine Dash, Soulcross, Inferno Flamenco and Bloodfeast Reverie, and raises the damage ratios of Bloodfeast Reverie and Inferno Flamenco by 20%.A8Venom FlameGrants 40% ATK for 20s after dealing damage, refreshing on retrigger. Defeating a Scorch-afflicted target enhances this for 60s, maxing Scorch stacks on any target she applies DoTs to during the window.3636Team Synergy3737As an Incantation Esper she sits adjacent to Anima and Chaos on the cycle, so those pairings open her duo reactions. Pairing Incantation with Chaos triggers Scorch, a 15 second damage-over-time burn, which feeds directly into her Kindling and Venom Flame bonuses. See the Esper Cycle System for the full grid and Scorch Teams for common compositions.3939Other Espers carry Scorch enhancement passives that stack with hers, including Baicang and Adler. Because her whole payoff loop counts DoT stacks on each target, teammates who add independent DoT sources are worth more to her than raw flat buffers. She also brings a Break angle at A5, which pushes her toward compositions that want targets Broken quickly.4141On the encounter side, bosses with an Incantation weakness let her hit without resistance. Community tracking currently lists the Serenetti story encounter among them. General placement is tracked on the Tier List.4343How to Obtain4545Zankou is available only from the "Alluring Shadows" Limited Board, which ran from August 19 after the update until September 9, 05:59 (UTC+8). First-party notes state there are no other planned routes to obtain her at this time. The board requires clearing the main story quest "Prologue - A New Destination - Head to Eibon Antique Shop", and rolls use Solid Dice or Alluring Dice.4747The featured S-Class is guaranteed within 90 rolls, and the board upgrades to a rate-up Modified state if she has not appeared within 70 consecutive rolls. Her signature Arc, Ravenous Blade, is a separate limited pull from the "Spellbound Special" Arc Research Program. Full rules are on the Version 1.3 Banners page.4949Outfits5151OutfitHow to GetNotesRed NightshadeUnlocked once you obtain ZankouTies to her Scarlet Letter epithetMoonlit CourtyardUnlocked at Bond Lvl 10Requires owning herAutumn Vignette"Alluring Shadows" board tile or Alluring Perks milestoneBoard-exclusive during Version 1.3Twilight NoirShop, Riftcrystal x1,680 discounted from x2,480Permanent, 32% off until September 30Searing LavenderShop, Riftcrystal x2,680 discounted from x3,280Added August 26, permanent, 18% off until September 305353She also received a "Sandy Mirage" livery for the Sirocco vehicle and a "Scarlet Sash" glider livery on the same board. The wider catalogue is indexed under Outfits.5454Bond and Invitations5656Version 1.3 shipped a full Bond package for her: dedicated Bond quests, new Bond interactions that unlock a passenger-seat ride-along at the required level, and a combat tutorial. She also anchors the new Invitation mode "Home Time", which opens once you own her and reach the required Bond Level.5858Voice Cast6060LanguageVoice ActorEnglishStephanie WongChineseChen TingtingJapaneseInoue KikukoKoreanHeo Ye-eun6262Related Pages6363See Version 1.3 Update for the rest of the patch, Version 1.3 Banners for board rules, Ravenous Blade for her signature Arc, and the Characters (Espers) Guide for the full roster.6565Adoptive Family6767Zankou is Inanna's adopted daughter and bodyguard. Her Esper Ability is Eye of Delusion.
