Severian launches on the same banner as his signature W-Engine, Incarcerating Grip. With a 0.6% S-Rank rate and a 90-pull guarantee, the 3.3 banner is a genuinely tempting deal — but don't go all-in just yet. An Attack unit's damage rides almost entirely on those few seconds inside the stun window; if the window never opens, even a stacked stat panel is just decoration. That's why your first team-building priority isn't more ATK — it's getting the Stun slot filled properly. Plenty of you are probably wrestling with the same questions right now: where does Severian sit on the tier list? Which substats does he want? Which Drive Disc set should you farm first? Can you run him without a Stun unit? How do you field two separate teams for Shiyu Defense? And how do you claim all 20 free pulls without missing one? Let's clear all of that up first — then deciding whether to pull and how to build him gets easy. One at a time:
Severian at a Glance: A Wind Attack Whose Damage Rides on the Stun Window
Severian is a Wind Attack unit — in-game, he's a senior commissioner of New Eridu's Public Security with a famously hardline style. Wind DMG, Attack specialty, direct damage: those three tags are the whole story, and they basically lock in his build direction. He's a straightforward pick for anyone hunting a Wind DPS.
Before farming a single disc, get one thing straight: Attack and Anomaly are completely different paths. Attack units dump their damage in one burst during the stun window, while Anomaly units grind enemies down with anomaly buildup over time. Their Drive Disc stats diverge just as sharply — Attack wants CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and Attribute DMG; Anomaly wants Anomaly Mastery and Anomaly Proficiency. Build an Attack unit like an Anomaly unit and your substats are close to wasted. So once the pulls are in hand, check whether you got Severian or Phoenix first, then decide which set to farm — don't get the order backwards.
Why Incarcerating Grip Is the First-Choice W-Engine
Incarcerating Grip is the new S-Rank Attack W-Engine in 3.3. For an Attack unit, the signature weapon matters mainly for its base ATK and CRIT-type substats — at the same refinement level, substitutes usually fall a full tier behind.
HoYo hasn't published this W-Engine's exact stats or its refinement curve yet, so before you pull, run a couple of laps in the trial stages (the in-game tryout mode). If the feel is right, then spend — don't judge it by the stat panel alone.
How to Rank the Three Key Stats
Memorize the priority: CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, then ATK%. CRIT Rate comes first because it caps your expected crit output; CRIT DMG without enough CRIT Rate behind it returns heavily diminished value.
Plenty of players stack CRIT DMG past 150% while ignoring CRIT Rate — and end up with lower expected damage than a modest 60% CRIT Rate / 100% CRIT DMG setup. A pretty stat panel doesn't mean high damage, and that gap shows up hardest on Attack units.
Drive Discs: The 4+2 Set Split and Main Stats
Drive Discs cover six slots, and the standard setup is a 4-piece set for the main effect plus a 2-piece set to patch a stat hole. Since Severian deals direct damage, pick a 4-piece that boosts damage outright, and use the 2-piece to cover CRIT or Attribute DMG.
How to Choose Slot 4 and Slot 5
Slot 4 offers ATK%, HP%, DEF%, CRIT Rate, or CRIT DMG; Slot 5 offers Attribute DMG, PEN Ratio, or ATK%. For an Attack unit the answer is fixed: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG in Slot 4, and Wind DMG in Slot 5.
Running PEN in Slot 5 isn't off the table, but it has a precondition: the enemy needs high DEF and your team needs no DEF shred for PEN to outvalue Attribute DMG. For everyday farming, Wind DMG is the safer pick.
Slot 6: Impact or ATK?
Slot 6 offers Impact, Energy Regen, Anomaly Mastery, or ATK%. Attack units usually take ATK% — but if this team is counting on Severian alone to push enemies into stun, Impact makes sense too.
The rule of thumb is simple: if the team has a dedicated Stun unit, take ATK%; if not, take Impact to prop up your stun pacing.
Team Building: Filling the Stun and Support Slots
A complete Attack team takes three slots: Attack DPS, Stun, and Support (or Defense). Severian locks down the DPS slot; how you fill the other two decides how reliably your stun windows open.
The stun gauge is a separate bar on every enemy; fill it and the enemy enters the stun state, taking noticeably more damage. An Attack unit's burst skills have long wind-ups, so they only land in full if you catch the window. Without a Stun unit, an Attack unit's damage drops to roughly half of what the panel promises — and no amount of gear can close that gap. What an Attack team really needs to solve isn't whether its ATK is high enough, but whether the window opens at all.
Should You Pull for the Velina Rerun?
Velina is a Wind Anomaly unit on rerun this version. She and Severian share the Wind attribute, but one is Anomaly and the other is Attack — put them on the same team and they fight each other for on-field time.
If you already run a developed Anomaly comp, you can add her. But if you're just looking for teammates for Severian, prioritize Stun and Support — don't force a pull just to match the attribute.
Shiyu Defense: Working Around the No-Sharing Rule
Higher floors require two teams, and no agent, W-Engine, or Drive Disc can be shared between them. In other words, you need a second setup that can actually clear content — not one top-tier build split in half, which just leaves both teams miserable.
Dividing the Two Teams on Key Floors
The standard split is one team for single targets and one for crowds: the single-target team runs Attack, Stun, and Support, while the crowd-clear team runs Anomaly, Support, and Defense. That way the two teams farm completely different disc types by design.
If you only have one complete Attack build, save it for the boss floor and let the Anomaly team sweep the mob floors. Never flip that order.
How to Read the Floor Buffs
Every floor has its own environmental buff; the current entries are shown in-game, since the official patch notes don't list them one by one. The trick to reading them: check which damage type they boost first, then decide which team takes that floor.
The Version 3.3 floor buffs haven't been published yet, so confirm them in the interface before you enter — don't rely on memory from the last version.
Event Rewards: How to Grab the 20 Free Pulls
The most valuable free resources this version are the two login events — together they add up to roughly 20 pulls.
10 Encrypted Master Tapes and 10 Boopons
Log in for 7 cumulative days during "All-New Broadcast" and you get 10 Encrypted Master Tapes; log in for 7 days during "En-Nies from the Sky" and you get 10 Boopons. Master Tapes pull on the Agent channels, Boopons pull on the Bangboo channel — the two currencies don't overlap.
With a 0.6% S-Rank rate and a 90-pull guarantee, 10 Master Tapes is about one-ninth of the way to the guarantee. Not much — but it's free, and skipping free stuff is the real loss.
How to Schedule the Other Five Events
Five other events run alongside them: Spooky Funhouse Tales, Cyber Miracle Healer on Duty!, Trails of the Hobbling Crow, Repair! Drifting Art, and the Bizarre Labyrinth Trials. Most rewards are level-up materials and Polychromes — just clear them in order of shortest remaining time.
Back to where we started: building Severian in 3.3 is, at its core, all about getting that stun window open. If the window never opens, your Attack unit is a blank board; once it opens reliably, every stat you stacked stops going to waste. Whether it's the 90 pulls you saved up or the 20 free ones from logins, they're only worth it if you spend them where they count.
ZZZ 3.3 FAQ
Is Severian Worth Pulling?
A: Yes — if you're short a Wind Attack unit and you already have a Stun unit. The S-Rank rate is 0.6% with a 90-pull guarantee; if your budget can't cover 90 pulls, wait for the rerun.
Is Incarcerating Grip a Must-Pull?
A: Not necessarily. A signature weapon usually beats substitutes by a wide margin at the same refinement level, but you can still full-clear Shiyu Defense without it — secure the agent himself first.
Which Drive Disc Set Should You Farm First?
A: Farm the 4-piece first to max out its main effect, then fill in the 2-piece. Of the six slots, prioritize CRIT Rate in Slot 4 and Wind DMG in Slot 5.
Can Both Shiyu Defense Teams Share Drive Discs?
A: No. Agents, W-Engines, and Drive Discs can't be duplicated — you must prepare two independent setups.
How Do You Claim the 20 Pulls in 3.3?
A: Each login event requires 7 cumulative days and grants 10 Encrypted Master Tapes and 10 Boopons respectively — just log in during the event period. Miss a day on these login events and your streak breaks, so make it a habit to claim them the first time you log in each day.
ZZZ 3.3 Action Checklist
- Finish the 7-day check-in on both login events and bank the 10 Encrypted Master Tapes.
- Confirm whether you got Severian; if yes, start farming Drive Discs — if not, level your Stun unit first.
- Prioritize CRIT Rate in Slot 4 and Wind DMG in Slot 5; let whether your team has a Stun unit decide Slot 6.
- Split Shiyu Defense duties as "Attack team for boss floors, Anomaly team for mobs" — don't let both teams fight over the same discs.
- Read the current floor buffs before entering; for entries the official notes haven't published, go by the in-game interface.
The 3.3 banners and event schedule run through November, and numbers may shift with future version updates. This guide is compiled from the official 2026-10-20 version notes; official announcements and in-game data always take precedence. For more on ZZZ builds and Shiyu Defense team splits, check out the GameHub guides hub.