ZZZ Signal Search: how many searches a limited S-Rank Agent really takes
93.7 Searches on average for a limited S-Rank Agent, against 62.5 for any S-Rank — and a worst case that costs $475.20, twice the Stable Channel's.
A limited S-Rank Agent in Zenless Zone Zero takes 93.7 Signal Searches on average — 1.5× the 62.5 it takes to get any S-Rank on the Stable Channel. Here is where each number comes from, and what the worst case costs.
The three channels
Every Signal Search channel has a combined S-Rank rate — the chance per search once pity is folded in — and the average number of searches is simply one divided by it:
| Channel | The S-Rank in question | Combined rate | Average searches | Price range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stable Channel | any S-Rank | 1.6% | 62.5 | $1.98 – $237.60 |
| Exclusive Channel | the limited S-Rank Agent | 1.067% | 93.7 | $1.98 – $475.20 |
| W-Engine Channel | the limited S-Rank W-Engine | 1.6% | 62.5 | $1.98 – $422.40 |
Read the second column carefully, because it is what makes the three rows different. The Stable Channel's 1.6% is for any S-Rank. The Exclusive Channel's 1.067% is for the one limited Agent you are there for: not every S-Rank that channel gives you is that Agent, and the lower combined rate prices that in.
The limited Agent averages 93.7 Searches. "About one S-Rank per 62.5" is the wrong number to budget with.
The worst case doubles
Each channel also carries a price range, from $1.98 at the luckiest to a ceiling that is where pity finally guarantees the S-Rank in question. On the Stable Channel that ceiling is $237.60. On the Exclusive Channel it is $475.20 — 2× as much. The average only grows by 1.5×, but the unlucky end of a limited Agent is twice as long.
That is the number to keep in mind if the Agent is one you will not skip. The average says what a typical run costs; the ceiling says what you need in reserve to be certain.
The bottom of the range is useful too. The luckiest possible S-Rank is the one that arrives on the very first search, so $1.98 is what a single search costs at the cheapest price. Even at that price, the average limited Agent comes to $185.53. The ceilings are quoted at a dearer price per search, so the two ends of the range are not the same multiple of the search count — compare ceilings with ceilings and averages with averages.
W-Engines: an average like Stable, a ceiling like Exclusive
The limited S-Rank W-Engine has the same combined rate as the Stable Channel's any-S-Rank figure, 1.6%, so it too averages 62.5 Searches. Its ceiling is not the same, though: $422.40, 1.78× the Stable Channel's. On average a signature W-Engine is the cheaper half of a pair; at the worst case it is almost as expensive as the Agent.
Budgeting an Agent and their W-Engine
- On average: 93.7 + 62.5 = 156.2 Searches for the limited Agent and their signature W-Engine.
- On average, in money: at least $309.28 at the cheapest price per search.
- At the ceiling: $475.20 + $422.40 = $897.60.
If you have to choose, secure the Agent first: the Agent is the part of the pair that fights, and the W-Engine is the optional second step. And budget from the second line, not the first, for anything you will not skip — the gap between the two is the whole case for saving before a banner rather than during it.
Which Agent and W-Engine are on the Exclusive and W-Engine Channels right now is on the banners page; the full rate breakdown is on pull rates, and every W-Engine's stats are on W-Engines.