Anime Zero Game Modes and Difficulty Rewards Explained

By Mira Voss · Updated October 6, 2026

Everything starts in Create Lobby: pick a mode, a map, an act and a difficulty. The queue screen previews rewards and material drops before you start.

The modes

• Story: the main progression, a chain of acts across two maps: Sakamoto (ends with a boss fight against Uzuki) and HxH (added October 1, rubble-blocked areas, more enemies on higher difficulty). Each act has its own material list. LUXR praised its pacing.
• Defense: hold a position instead of pushing rooms (Sakamoto Defense is the shipped example). The least liked mode; LUXR’s review suggested removing it.
• Infinite: endless waves with a boss every few waves and a leaderboard for most waves survived. The best scaling coin and gem farm since October 4.
• Raid: the Bath House raid, Nightmare only, 3 lives each, the only source of Hu Tao. See the raid guide.

Difficulty compared

Enemies also hit harder at higher difficulty and get tougher with more players in the party. HxH spawns 40, 51, 76 and 105 enemies by difficulty plus the boss. Values come from the October 2-4 patch notes as copied by two fan wikis.

Infinite payout rules

• Coins, gems and XP are paid every wave. After wave 50 each wave pays 1.35x the one before, so deep runs compound fast.
• You only get a wave’s payout if you were there from its start, dealt damage and are alive when it clears. Leeching or dying mid-wave costs you.
• Materials drop every wave from wave 16, better ones at 31 and 46.
• Boss waves have half the normal enemy count; tank enemies show up earlier on harder difficulties.

Which difficulty to play

• Easy: learning controls only.
• Normal: leveling while you build your first Mythic and damage enchant.
• Hard: the farming sweet spot, 4x Easy’s coins with manageable pressure.
• Nightmare: 10x Easy’s coins, 7x its gems and a 40% trait crystal chance. Bring a health pair (Rubber Man + Divine Emperor) or practice perfect blocks first.

The next chapter keeps your selected difficulty since the October 1 patch, so you do not need to reselect it each act. For your first runs, follow the beginner guide.