Welcome to the glorious year of 2026, where Proxy-kind still obsesses over shiny characters, flashy weapons, and the eternal currency treadmill known as Polychrome. Zenless Zone Zero remains as generous as a gacha can be while still teasing you with that sweet, sweet Master Tape conversion. Veteran players know the drill: Polychrome is the premium grease that keeps the Signal Search banners spinning, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up staring at a ‘Not Enough Currency’ pop-up right when your dream Agent graces the rate-up. Fear not—whether you’re a fresh-faced Inter-Knot recruit or a jaded Hollow diver, this guide lays out every free, repeatable, and sometimes outright sneaky method to stuff your pockets with Polychrome before the next limited banner drains your stash.
🎮 The Arcade: More Than Just Mindless Button Mashing
By 2026, the Godfinger Arcade on Sixth Street has ballooned into a monstrous time-sink of retro goodness—and a surprisingly consistent Polychrome printer. Forget grinding the same commission for the hundredth time; each mini-game (yes, even that cursed Snake Duel sequel, Snake Duel: Hollow Serpent) ships with its own dedicated achievement list. Nail a high score, survive a set number of rounds, or simply play enough rounds to question your life choices, and you’ll be rewarded. The best part? Arcade victories often stack with the general achievement system, meaning double the dopamine when you nail that tricky no-hit run. Rack up Polychrome while pretending you’re just practicing your Bangboo rhythm game skills. It’s multitasking paradise.
Pro tip for 2026: A recent update added weekly rotating arcade tournaments. Even if you get stomped in the first round, participation alone tosses a handful of Polychrome your way. Losing never felt so rewarding.
🏆 Achievements: Your Ever-Growing Polychrome Checklist
If you have a completionist bone in your body, the achievement menu is your new best friend. Located conveniently from the main screen, it now houses over 300 individual challenges, each coughing up between five and 20 Polychrome. The early ones are laughably easy—literally just ‘open the map’ or ‘say hi to a cat’—but later tiers demand things like clearing Shiyu Defense nodes under bizarre conditions or petting all 47 sidewalk Bangboo. The total haul if you clear the entire board has crept past 4,000 Polychrome, enough to make a full-time Proxy weep with joy. Keep an eye out for hidden feats attached to newly released city districts, because Hoyoverse loves to bury surprise challenges where nobody looks.
⬆️ Inter-Knot Level: The Slow-and-Steady Payday
Every time that Inter-Knot XP bar fills up, your mailbox explodes with goodies. The real jackpot arrives at specific milestones: levels 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, and 53 still grant a crisp 200 Polychrome each in 2026, unchanged since launch. That’s 1,200 Polychrome without breaking a sweat if you simply play the game long enough. Higher levels beyond 53 keep sprinkling smaller amounts, so no pressure to speed-run—the game already knows you’ll log in daily anyway. Treat these milestone drops as your quarterly bonus for enduring proxy work.
📘 Proxy Primer: Challenge Clusters Worth the Hassle
Think of the Compendium’s Proxy Primer as a battle pass that doesn’t ask for a single Denny. Each primer bundles together themed tasks—reach a certain Inter-Knot level, promote an Agent, craft a W-Engine, or spend an unhealthy amount of time in the arcade. Individual steps might only shower you with upgrade materials and pocket change, but finishing an entire primer unlocks a treasure chest of Polychrome, W-Engines, and even Master Tapes. By 2026, the primer system has expanded to include seasonal primers that reset every few months, so check back frequently. Proxies who ignore this tab are leaving stacks of premium currency on the table.
🕵️ Agent Demos: Try Before You Pull, Earn While You Try
Navigate to the Signal Search page, find an Agent you haven’t unlocked (there are now over 30 in 2026), and hop into their demo combat trial. The first clear for each Agent awards 20 Polychrome, and the trial itself lets you mash buttons with zero consequences. With the expanded roster, fresh demos appear with every new character release, so that’s a reliable 20 Polychrome per patch cycle if you keep up. Even if you have no intention of pulling for some edgy Hollow investigator, the free currency is too easy to ignore. Just don’t get too attached to the flashy animations—they’re designed to make you swipe later.
📜 Commissions: Story and Side Quests Pay the Bills
The main storyline remains the chunkiest early-game source of Polychrome. You’ll waltz through chapters, and the game practically throws currency at you for showing up. The real trick is cleaning up side commissions and hidden exploration missions. In 2026, the Hard Mode variants of commissions also reward more Polychrome, often gated behind time-limit objectives that are annoying but mercifully short. If a random NPC on Sixth Street wants you to deliver a suspiciously heavy package, do it—there’s probably a Polychrome with your name on it.
🎉 Events: FOMO That Actually Pays Off
No matter when you’re reading this, there’s almost certainly a limited event running. Login streaks, combat marathons, photo contests, even cooking mini-games—these temporary shindigs are the most lucrative Polychrome sources outside of wallet transactions. A major 2026 update introduced the ‘Hollow Navigator’ event series, which seasonally drip-feeds thousands of Polychrome to active players. Set a reminder to check the event tab every Friday, because missing a two-week event is like setting fire to a chunk of your future W-Engine fund.
🐕 Howl’s News Stand: The Daily Scratch Card Gamble
Right across from Random Play on Sixth Street, a dog named Howl operates the most generous newsstand in New Eridu. Scratch his daily Lucky Card, and you’ll sometimes walk away with a neat little Polychrome prize. The odds aren’t astronomical, but since it costs nothing but a few seconds of tap-tap-tap, every day you skip is a potential 10-30 Polychrome left on the rug. Treat it like a morning coffee ritual—minus the coffee and plus a helpful canine.
📋 Proxy Handbook: The Laziest Click of Your Life
Head to the Workbench in the back room of Random Play, open the Proxy Handbook, and feast your eyes on rows of tutorial entries marked ‘NEW’. Every single one you inspect (even without reading) grants a single Polychrome. There are dozens available from the start, with more added whenever a new mechanic drops. It’s the lowest effort currency grind conceivable, and the collective payout easily funds a couple of extra pulls over time. Don’t be a hero and actually read them—just click and claim.
By weaving together all these methods, an average free-to-play Proxy in 2026 can expect to scrounge up thousands of Polychrome each month without ever touching the top-up menu. The grind never truly ends, of course—but at least it’s padded with arcade nostalgia, scratch-off pets, and enough achievement dopamine hits to keep the burnout at bay. Now go forth, harvest that premium currency, and may your 50/50 pity luck shine brighter than a fully upgraded Bangboo.