ZZZ 2.7 Simmering Flavors: 900+ Polychrome & Hidden Rewards

Event Overview

This is a hotpot cooking mini-game set at Simmer Hot Pot in Lumina Square. Your Proxy helps Blaze run the restaurant by filling orders and earning customer reviews. Light on combat, heavy on mini-game mechanics — which is exactly where most hidden reward triggers live.

Key Dates

Total Rewards

540 + 360 = 900 Polychrome from the two main tracks alone. The gap between 800 and 1,100 likely comes from story quest mail rewards and achievement bonuses that some trackers miss. Plan around 900 as your confirmed floor.

Unlock Schedule

Day 1 — March 25

• Search for Freshness Stage 1 (Clear Soup and Beef)
• Exquisite Tastes (I)

Don't just follow the main quest marker. Exquisite Tastes (I) is live on day one as a separate menu entry — players who ignore it lose 360 Polychrome without realizing it.

Day 2 — March 26

• Search for Freshness Stage 2
• Exquisite Tastes (II)

Missed day one? You can catch up on Stage 1 while Stage 2 is available. Two stages in one session is manageable.

Day 3 — March 27

• Search for Freshness Stage 3
• Exquisite Tastes (III)

Full event is live from March 27 onward. Everything after this is self-paced until May 5 — but the shop closes hard on that date. Unspent event currency disappears.

How the Hotpot Mini-Game Works

Each round:

1. Select ingredients — each has effects that trigger during scooping
2. Scoop from the pot — limited attempts per round

3. Trigger effects — fire based on what you scoop and in what combinations
4. Hit the target score — each stage has a point threshold to clear

Stage 1 ingredients (Clear Soup and Beef): Carrot, Fish Balls, Marbled Beef, Rib Eye Beef, Handmade Beef Balls, Fresh Beef, Rice Noodles, White Radish, Premium Tender Beef, Lazuli Lettuce, Gloomy Squid Balls.

The 12 Food Effects — With Strategic Context

What the game doesn't tell you: Strawberry Sweetboo and Stuffed Boo are multiplicative. More scoops with a bigger ladle means dramatically more food per round. Stack those two first, then add Sodaboo — a larger ladle makes hitting the ≥4 food threshold almost automatic, triggering the bonus food addition every scoop.

Two other strong combos:

• Cornboo + Fried Dumplingboo: Cornboo upgrades non-Premium items at turn start, then Fried Dumplingboo amplifies your Legendary card quantities
• Sodaboo + Stuffed Boo: Bigger ladle → more items scooped → Sodaboo fires constantly

Players who skip these interactions will clear stages but miss higher milestone thresholds — which means fewer material drops.

Every Polychrome Source

Search for Freshness (540 Polychrome)

Three stages, distributed across completions — not a lump sum. Unlocks March 25–27.

Exquisite Tastes (360 Polychrome)

Parallel track, same unlock schedule. This is the most commonly skipped reward in the event. It's a separate menu entry, not a sub-section of the main stages. Open the event menu on March 25 and confirm both tracks are visible before you do anything else.

Additional Sources

• Senior Investigator Logs x36 — pull-adjacent resource
• W-Engine Energy Module x12 — upgrade material
• 1,600 City Fund EXP — Battle Pass progression from completing all Search for Freshness stages
• Story completion mail rewards — check your mailbox after finishing each narrative chapter. These aren't captured in main stage reward tables and likely account for the gap between 900 and the higher community estimates.

Hidden Rewards Most Guides Miss

Exquisite Tastes is effectively hidden. It's live day one, it's a separate menu entry, and it's worth 360 Polychrome. That's the single most common mistake in this event.

Food effect synergies aren't explained in-game. The Sodaboo + Stuffed Boo interaction in particular — the game won't tell you these stack. You have to figure it out or read it here.

The 'VIP Shoppa the Explorer' title unlocks after completing all story chapters. It's cosmetic, but finishing all chapters is also the trigger for story-related mail rewards. If your Polychrome total looks low, check whether you've actually finished every narrative chapter.

Overclock materials drop from both stages and side quests. Don't skip side quests assuming they're story filler — the material drops are real and useful for W-Engine upgrades.

Event Shop Priority

Claim Immediately

• The Simmering Pot — free A-Rank Stun W-Engine, no cost. Even if it doesn't fit your current roster, hold it for future Stun-type characters.

• W-Engine Energy Module x12 — always useful
• Senior Investigator Log x36 — direct pull resource

After Tier 1

• Overclock materials — prioritize if you're actively upgrading a W-Engine
• Denny (255,000 total) — passive from event completion, no active decision needed

One thing worth noting: Polychrome isn't purchasable in the event shop. It comes from stage and quest completions only. Don't hoard event currency waiting to buy Polychrome — spend it on materials.

If you're a few pulls short of a pity reset, Zenless Zone Zero top up discount March 2026 options at BitTopup are worth checking. Closing a small gap is much cheaper than missing a banner entirely.

F2P Resource Optimization

900+ Polychrome from a single event is roughly 5–6 Masterwork Stash pulls. That's enough to shift a pity count meaningfully. The 1,600 City Fund EXP compounds this — faster BP tier progression yields additional Polychrome on top of what the event directly provides.

On the save vs. spend question: this event ends May 5, well within the 2.7 patch window. If you're pulling on a 2.7 banner, the Polychrome is available before it closes. If you're saving for 2.8, it carries over as standard currency — it doesn't expire. Complete the event fully, then make your pull decision based on your total stack, not just this event in isolation.

For players supplementing free resources with a top-up, the buy Zenless Zone Zero Monochrome cheap recharge deal at BitTopup offers competitive rates.

Last-Chance Checklist (Before May 5, 2026)

• Search for Freshness Stage 1, 2, and 3 — 540 Polychrome
• Exquisite Tastes I, II, and III — 360 Polychrome
• All event story chapters — title + mail rewards
• Claim The Simmering Pot W-Engine
• Check mailbox for story completion rewards
• Spend all event currency (disappears at close)
• Collect Senior Investigator Logs x36 and W-Engine Energy Modules x12

What carries over: Claimed Polychrome stays in your wallet. The W-Engine goes to inventory. What doesn't: Unclaimed event currency and uncollected stage rewards expire May 5. Nothing from this event rolls into Patch 2.8.

FAQ

How much Polychrome does this event give? Confirmed floor is 900 (540 + 360 from the two main tracks). Community estimates reach 1,100 including story mail rewards and achievement bonuses — unverified. Plan around 900.

When does it end? May 5, 2026. Roughly six weeks from the March 25 launch.

What's the most commonly missed reward? The Exquisite Tastes track — 360 Polychrome that many players never open because it's a separate menu entry from the main hotpot stages.

Is The Simmering Pot worth claiming? Yes, unconditionally. It's free, officially confirmed, and A-Rank W-Engines have long-term value for future Stun-type characters even if it doesn't fit your current roster.

Can I start late and still get everything? Yes, if you start by mid-April. All three stages unlock by March 27, and you can complete them at your own pace until May 5. Don't wait until the final week — six stages plus story content takes multiple sessions.

Does food effect selection affect rewards, or just scoring? Both. Higher scores unlock higher milestone rewards within each stage. An optimized run (especially with Strawberry Sweetboo + Stuffed Boo) can mean additional material drops compared to a minimum-threshold clear.

Event data current as of ZZZ 2.7 patch launch. Community-sourced Polychrome totals will be updated within 48 hours of confirmed in-game verification.