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Last updated: 27/May/2026
Best guide and build for Adelheid from Chaos Zero Nightmare (CZN). Adelheid is a 5✦ character from the Vanguard class and Void attribute.
Last review update
Season 3
Last build update
Season 3
Last profile update*
27/May/2026
*Profile update means updates done to reviews/builds/gear within a season - showing the last date we changed anything on this page.
To learn more about Adelheid check the sections below. Use the tabs to quickly switch to the kind of information you're looking for.
Profile
Gather Around
Attack
Fairy's Protection
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us
Skill
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales
Upgrade
Show Effects
Truth Behind A Story
Attack
Show Effects
Garden of Secrets
Upgrade
Show Effects
Doggie
Attack
Show Effects
Teddy
Skill
Show Effects
Doggie (Pack)
Attack
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Doggie (Morphed)
Attack
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Teddy (Morphed)
Skill
Show Effects
Happy Ending
Ego Skill
Show Effects
Epiphany cards are special evolutions for the cards you can obtain while playing the roguelike mode. Only some cards in the character's deck can get Epiphany effects. Since there's quite a lot of them, we don't display them by default - press the button below to show them.
Epiphany Bonus
Potential 1
Basic Card Upgrade
Potential 2
Common Card Upgrade
Potential 3
Basic Card Proficiency
Potential 3-1
Add Blessing to Gather Around and Fairy's Protection cards.
Unique Card Upgrade
Potential 4
Health Proficiency
Potential 5
+1.6/8% Health.
Basic Card Proficiency
Potential 5-1
+5% Shield Gain Amount to Adelheid's Fairy's Protection. If Adelheid's Defense is greater than 250, add an additional +5% to the modifier
Divine Epiphany Adaptation
Potential 5-2
Defense Proficiency
Potential 6
+1.6/8% Defense.
Unique Stat Upgrade
Potential 7
If Adelheid's Defense is greater than 300, +5% Void-Attribute Damage Amount. For every 10 Defense exceeding 300, add an additional 2% to the modifier (additional +10% max).
Sleeping Memory
Manifest Ego 1
For the Garden of Secrets card, decrease Cost by 1 and add +100% Shield Gain Amount.
Awakening Memory
Manifest Ego 2
Gain the Bliss of Dreams effect for each Blessing Adelheid applies or creates. At the start of the turn, gain the Bliss of Dreams effect for each Blessing card in possession
Bliss of Dreams: Increase Damage Amount of allies by 3% (max 10 stacks)
Vivid Memory
Manifest Ego 3
+200% Shield Gain Amount to Happy Ending. Changes the restrictions of the Fixed Heal equal to Shield in possession effect to (does not exceed 50% of max HP).
Inner Memory
Manifest Ego 4
At the start of battle, apply Blessing to any number of cards in hand.
When a Blessing Upgrade Card is used, apply Blessing to 1 random card in Draw Pile.
Complete Memory
Manifest Ego 5
Liberated Memory
Manifest Ego 6
For Bliss of Dreams, decrease max stacks by 5 and change the increased Damage Amount effect to 8%. At the start of the turn, if Bliss of Dreams is 5, Draw 1 Blessing card.
Review
Adelheid is a 5-Star Void Vanguard that wants to protect her friends from the horrors of Chaos. She does so by telling various Fairy Tales to bring her friends to life whilst granting her allies a Protective Blessing.
Adelheid nearly has it all when it comes to being a defensive support. She offers an extremely consistent source of Shielding thanks to the [Blessing] tag that requires next to no AP investment to get rolling. In addition to this, she can also retain a portion of the Shield generated each turn thanks to her Mythic card “Garden of Secrets”. Adelheid also has a solid source of draw included in her kit that allows her to cycle the deck efficiently. Adelheid brings additive damage buffs to the table as well, further enhancing her supporting capabilities. She does almost everything you want in a defensive support quite well, making her a Jack of “most” trades, but master of none.
Adelheid’s kit positions her to be an extremely consistent support in Chaos or Sortie, thanks to how much utility is jam-packed into her kit. In Save Data content, however, if you’re looking for a dedicated draw/Shielding/buffing unit, Adelheid may not suit your needs. Due to the cap that her [Blessing] can provide, she doesn’t have the ability to provide as much Shielding compared to some other Vanguards available, but in content where you may be taking consistent damage to wear down your Shield, Adelheid is amazing. Whilst Adelheid does have the option to deal damage through her created “Doggie” card, the “Friends from Fairy Tales” has the [Unique] tag, which prevents you from fully leaning into a more offensive-focused playstyle with Adelheid, too. However, Adelheid will still be an extremely potent unit on her own, even though she doesn’t have a direct edge over other combatants.
Adelheid does have synergy when paired with other combatants who benefit from stacking Shield or deal damage based on your Shield value, thanks to her steady Shield generation, combined with offering 25% Shield Retention from her Mythic card “Garden of Secrets”.
With the amount of utility Adelheid brings, her overall game plan is still quite simple: apply the [Blessing] tag to cards to generate Shield when they’re played, cycle through your deck through “Protect Us” to obtain more [Blessing] tagged cards, while debuffing their enemies to boost her team's damage output.
Very consistent Shielding output for low investment.
Very solid draw power.
Extremely versatile for Chaos/Sortie.
Mediocre damage output.
Doesn’t beat out specialized units in buffing/draw.
The ratings below are based on the Season Save Data, Chaos Manifestation, and Great Rift modes. Each of the modes values different mechanics, so some characters may shine in one of them, while being underwhelming in the other.
Blessing: If a card has the [Blessing] tag, when that card moves from hand to the Graveyard (even when activated), if your current Shield value is less than 30% of your maximum health, your team will gain a 60% Fixed Shield. This is the bread and butter of Adelheid’s defensive output. Simply by playing cards that have the [Blessing] tag, she can generate a solid amount of Shield for next to no investment of her own.
Note: When [Blessing] activates, it will use Adelheid’s Defense stat for the Shielding value, even if the card that is activated is owned by another combatant.
Doggie: A 0-Cost Attack Card that has the [Blessing] and [Haste] tags. A single target attack card that deals 60% Defense-Based damage 4 times to an enemy. This is the offensive card that can be created from her “Friends from Fairy Tales” card. Adelheid can be played as a sub-DPS thanks to this card. Paired with additive damage buffs, this card can deal some solid damage on a budget. This card can also be modified through various Epiphanies from “Friends from Fairy Tales” to increase its potential damage output further. As Adelheid is more primed to be a defensive wall than a DPS option, this will likely be chosen less than her other option, Teddy.
Teddy: A 0-Cost Skill card that has the [Blessing] and [Haste] tags. When played, it Shields for 200% and grants 2 stacks of Damage Reduction. The more defensive option that’s created from “Friends from Fairy Tales”. Providing a solid upfront 200% Shield whilst also granting a flat 15% Damage Reduction. If you’re aiming to play Adelheid as a brick wall for your teams, this will be your go-to card. This also has an improved version that can be generated via the 5th Epiphany for “Friends From Fairy Tales”.
DEFENSE% = HEALTH% >= Unique Card DMG% > Common Card DMG% = Basic Card DMG%
3-1: Adelheid’s 3-1 Ego grants her starting Basic Cards “Gather Around” and “Fairy’s Protection” the [Blessing] tag. A pretty solid Potential to unlock to assist with some extra Shielding when starting Chaos/Sortie runs.
5-1: Adelheid’s 5-1 Ego increases the Shield provided by her “Fairy’s Protection” card by +5%. If her Defense is greater than 250, it applies an additional +5% to that modifier. A small increase to her defensive capabilities early in Chaos/Sortie, prior to having her Basic Cards removed.
7: Adelheid’s Potential 7 increases her Void-Attribute damage modifier by +5% if her Defense is greater than 300, for every 10 Defense exceeding 300 - add an additional 2% to that value up to a maximum of +10%, for a total of +15% Void-Attribute damage. Overall, a relatively lackluster Potential for Adelheid as she primarily fills a support role in a team and won’t be a primary Damage Dealer, but still provides a decent damage increase when played as a sub-DPS role.
Base
Ego 1
Ego 2
Ego 3
Ego 4
Ego 5
Ego 6
Happy Ending
Ego Skill
Show Effects
Happy Ending is Adelheid’s Ego Skill, costing 6 Ego Points to activate. When used, it will Shield for 300%, and will also apply a fixed heal equal to Shield currently owned - but cannot exceed 30% of your Max HP. Overall, not an amazing Ego for the cost, but it can offer a substantial amount of defense and healing in a pinch.
Gather Around
Attack
Gather Round is Adelheid’s basic offense card, a 1 Cost Attack Card Dealing 100% Defense-Based Damage to a single enemy. Very stock standard, one of the first cards to be removed when building decks, as it provides no extra utility to her game plan.
Fairy's Protection
Skill
Show Effects
Fairy’s Protection is her Basic support card; she starts with 2 copies of this card in her deck, a 1 Cost Skill card that Shields for 100%. Very standard, offers some basic Shielding to help in Chaos and is commonly removed in refined save data.
Once Upon A Time
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time is a 1-Cost Skill Card that has the [Exhaust 2] tag. When activated, it will apply the [Blessing] Tag to 2 random card(s) in the Draw Pile, and then will draw 1 of those cards that had [Blessing] applied to it. A decent draw card that removes itself from the deck after two uses - helps with the Shield output provided from Adelheid, whilst also offering some light deck cycling.
Protect Us
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us is a 1-Cost Skill Card that has the [Blessing] tag. After being activated, when you play the next two cards that have the [Blessing] tag, you will draw 1 card that also has the [Blessing] tag. A great support card that provides even more deck cycling when playing [Blessing] cards. When paired with “Once Upon a Time”, it can allow you to almost target draw cards when paired together - this interaction gets even stronger with her Epiphanies.
Note: This card will count itself as a [Blessing] card, and will immediately draw a [Blessing] card after being used.
Friends from Fairy Tales
Upgrade
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales is a 1-Cost Upgrade card that has the [Unique] tag. When used, Adelheid will create either 1 copy of “Doggie” or “Teddy”. A versatile card that allows Adelheid to either lean into a more damage-focused role or a defensive role. Depending on how you’re aiming to play Adelheid, this card can be removed as it can create an unnecessary card that could clog your deck.
Truth Behind A Story
Attack
Show Effects
Truth Behind a Story is a 1-Cost Attack Card that has the [Haste] tag, dealing 200% Defense-Based Damage to a single target and will also apply a debuff to that enemy that increases damage taken by the target by 100% for 1 turn. This is a solid source of an additive damage multiplier that can help with the damage output of multi-hit attacks, such as Adelheid’s own Doggie card. If you’re pairing Adelheid with units who don’t necessarily need additive buffs, you can also look to remove this card.
Note: Stacking multiple effects of this card's additive damage debuff does NOT increase the damage taken by the enemy; instead, it increases the number of turns the debuff will last.
Garden of Secrets
Upgrade
Show Effects
Garden of Secrets is Adelheid’s Mythic-tier card; it has the [Unique] tag and provides 240% Shield once upon activation, but it will allow your team to retain 25% of Shield owned at the end of each turn. Offers some decent upfront defense whilst allowing your team to retain the leftover Shield Adelheid generates thanks to her [Blessing] tag. Helps with maintaining Adelheid’s already consistent source of Shielding to function as a buffer each turn to ensure you take as little damage as possible.
Best Epiphanies
Note
We have given a star rating for each Epiphany, showing how strong and useful it is - with 1 being the lowest rating and 5 the highest.
Once Upon A Time I
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time II
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time III
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time IV
Skill
Show Effects
Once Upon A Time V
Upgrade
Show Effects
Epiphanies:
Divine Epiphanies:
Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: Draw 1, -1 Cost-Reduction, 1 AP (Once Upon A Time II, III).
Protect Us I
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us II
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us III
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us IV
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us V
Skill
Epiphanies:
Divine Epiphanies:
Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: Draw 1, -1 Cost-Reduction, 1 AP (Protect Us IV).
Friends from Fairy Tales I
Upgrade
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales II
Upgrade
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales III
Upgrade
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales IV
Upgrade
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales V
Upgrade
Show Effects
Epiphanies:
Divine Epiphanies:
Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: Draw 1, -1 Cost-Reduction.
Truth Behind A Story I
Attack
Show Effects
Truth Behind A Story II
Attack
Show Effects
Truth Behind A Story III
Attack
Show Effects
Truth Behind A Story IV
Attack
Show Effects
Truth Behind A Story V
Attack
Show Effects
Epiphanies:
Divine Epiphanies:
Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: Treated as a Common Card, Draw 1 Common Card, -1 Cost-Reduction, Draw 1 Card of this Unit.
Gear
The Memory Fragments & Equipment suggestions below are based on calculations we did. If you want to check the damage formula and how scaling the damage works in CZN, check this guide.
2/2/2 as usual is the most flexible and all around safe choice for Adelheid, combining easy access to the correct stats with a strong amount of DEF% and HP% and the option for a flex set of your choice. It's important to note though that compared to other characters this is not always Adelheid's absolute best set choice, if you team features Counter or Extra attackers or you lack the Glory Reign set on another combatant those can win out.
Use either Seth's Scarab to boost the shielding output of Basics for early chaos comfort or you can bypass Seth's small bonuses in favor of using non-set pieces to target better main/sub stats.
When playing Adelheid alongside Counter or Extra Attackers 4P Starlight and Dreams becomes her clear best supporting option thanks to the fact she can quickly stack it up and grant the entire team a full 25% (multiplicative) damage bonus to those specific attack types. When not playing Adelheid with these types of attackers though its effect is wasted.
In some niche situations you may find your team without a Glory Reign activator and no viable beneficiary of the 4P Starlight and Dreams buff. In these scenarios it is possible for Adelheid to run this set but only if you're keeping in her [Exhaust] cards and even then due to the fact they aren't a core part of her kit in every scenario it will stack slowly and sometimes not even to maximum making choosing this set quite situational.
In a lot of cases, flat sub-stats are better than percentage ones when it comes to HP, ATK and DEF. The reason behind this is that in CZN the characters stats are pretty low and you get more value from flat bonus rather than percentage one based on calcs.
DEF > DEF% > HP > HP% > Ego Regen
Unlike most characters Adelheid has no specific stat requirements for standard play as a support.
CRIT Rate% = CRIT DMG% > DEF > DEF% >>> ATK > ATK%
Our best Partner recommendation try to balance both the raw damage boost they provide based on our calculations with the additional utility provided by the skill - combined with how it interacts with the character's kit. We have rated each Partner based on how much additional damage and the utility they provide. Read the comments under each Partner to better understand our reasoning.
No calculations in Chaos Zero Nightmare are completely accurate for all scenarios, including the ones below. What team, decks, epiphanies, gear, equipment, and enemies you're facing all impact them. Because of this, take the results as guidelines and combine them with the explanations to make your decisions. Calculations use endgame save data set-ups, including 5 turns of combat using the whole deck with all Ego skills unless otherwise stated.
Clara, Adelheid's signature partner is in most cases her best parter when playing her as a support due to the fact she's the only Vanguard partner capable of providing any tangible buffs to the team. Because of this whether it's E0 or E4 Clara stands above the competition in all modes. When it comes to raw sustain things become a little more competitive with other options however Clara's fixed healing combined with her excellent ego utility usually ensures she still remains the best choice even then.
With Clara being the clear best choice, if you don't have her you're left to choose from the remaning Vanguard partners, none of which are perfectly ideal of Adelheid but each offer a large amount of Combat DEF at the very least as well as minor bonuses. Eishlen is on such option you may choose, her DEF% boost is nice and while most of Adelheid's shielding is Fixed some of it remains standard making the Shield % Eishlen provides somewhat useful as well. The Main reason to use Eishlen over other alternatives though is her shield retain ego skill.
If you don't have Clara, and want an alternative to Eishlen, Wilhelmina is usually the next choice to consider, thanks to her high Combat DEF and ease of accessibility being a non-6 star. A high ego level Wilhelmina is one of best shield boosting and damage boosting options for Adelheid across all content beating out all but the highest investment options (High ego Eishlen or Clara). This makes Wilhelmina a perfect default pick if you're ok giving up the Ego potential of other partners as Wihelmina essentially offers nothing but raw stats.
If neither Eishlen nor Wilhelmina appeal to you or you don't have them at a suitable Ego level Rachel can be used instead. Rachel doesn't provide DEF% and instead provides Shield% which wont work on Adelheid's blessing which is a decent amount of her shielding. One of the redeeming qualities of Rachel though is the draw utiltiy she provides through her low cost Ego Skill. If you're ok giving up the defense from alternatives and don't have Clara you can use Rachel if her Ego appeals to you.
In the Zero System, it's incredibly easy to access all items acquirable via the shop thanks to the five free refreshes you get each shop node - that's why the recommendations below are limited to them only. ATTENTION! Area-specific items can sometimes be more powerful than shop items, but are far less consistent to get or require running a specific world or giving up certain event options. Use the shop list as a starting point for building up your deck saves.
The equipment recommendations are based on items obtainable in Season 2’s Chaos - Burning Life. If you’re running content outside of Season 2, it’s possible some options may not be available for acquisition, or that other options not obtainable in Burning Life may be better.
We're currently working on updating all builds for Season 3.
Deck & Teams
Check the best builds for Adelheid below.
Once Upon A Time II
Skill
Show Effects
Protect Us I
Skill
Show Effects
Friends from Fairy Tales II
Upgrade
Show Effects
Garden of Secrets
Upgrade
Show Effects
Base performance of the character.