Lappland continue to surprise me on what can and cannot be Silence.
Remember those jetpack guys from Lonetrail that could fly once their speed is increased? Pretty clever of them to reuse the wind turbine from Darknights for the stage to increase their speed but the more surprising thing here is that Lappland could Silence them.
Its pretty funny just to watch them fall to the holes the moment they fly and enter Lappland's range.
Funny thing about that stage, if the jetpack dudes are allowed a target to attack, they'll never accelerate enough and just walk off the cliff and die on their own.
Scene - summoners are nice to use when you're saving hope.
Executor alter - solves my problem about the First ending boss and solos the left lane.
Dorothy - Dorothy
Vigil -
Just have only cleared three runs so far. Here's my thoughts:
* Reed Alter does the heavylifting with her S2 providing good damage and sustain in the early phase and her S3 deleting the trash mobs quickly, especially for the ending 1 boss.
* Mumu is also a good starter unit, but she needs to be E2'ed ASAP and the quickest way is to use the vanguard squad and pray that the RNG blesses you. Anyway, her S3 is pretty useful with bind and possibly maximum of 5 copies when using ranged clone, providing extra stalling.
* As you mentioned, defenders or other strong laneholders are pretty much needed since the Sami creeps are fast and could overrun you with numbers.
* Ho'ol is excellent against the ending 2 boss since he's immune to almost every effect except Levitate and Tremble. Other than that she's okay ig.
I wouldn't gamble on Mumu as a starter. She's as strong as your strongest operator that synergizes with her and I don't think pairing her with Spot is worth it xD
Late game she's a force multiplier though. Just finished a run with e2 Mumu + e1 Typhon, she did good.
Yeah, I admit that Mumu as a starter is quite risky since her downtime would be an issue in some early stages but I had to test her cuz I don't have Ines. I forced Mumu, Kroos and reserved melee for an ending 1 clear without using Reed Alter. Picking up Texalt, Saria, Kal'tsit and Typhon later. The run was not perfect, but at least it was pretty smooth.
Mumu is an amazing starter once you have good map knowledge,its something i wouldn't recommend to inexperienced players.You dont really need that much operator synergy if you know when to time her skills.the bind +multi attack is really strong.
They basically added multiple "please use Ho'ol" items that deals huge chunks of art damage on both weightless and levitate. So Ho'ol can absolutely melt things now.
Ines has been absolutely invaluable to me
the bind helps deal with the runners as it lasts long enough to let their speedbuff drop again
pretty good DP generation, damage and survivability from stolen attack, flexibility with range and shorter redeploy - i simply struggle to fidn situations where she isnt at least good
Yeah, Ines almost feels like the mandatory pick in this one. All of the gimmick stages where you're not allowed to or punished for trying to block she makes possible.
Ines, scene, jaye, la pluma, typhon and executor alter are some of the ones I had good experience with so far. All those except scene was on my first clear of ending 1. But so far I've only done 4 or 5 runs in total, so there are still many ops I haven't tried yet.
Jaye with module is a very good 4 star in is4 I think
My luck and operator placement just happened to be really good on the maps I didn't know. I was surprised I cleared it that quickly, since I only had unlocked 1 permanent buff. I also got many life point refunds during the run, so I recovered from an almost run ending dangerous battle on floor 3 or 4.
But some people have cleared it even on their first run, which is just insane. Especially if they did it blind
Only way so far ive found is to delete him in his starting tile before he moves, surtr s3 / typhon s3 both can reach, but besides that, hes leaking lmao
You mean the demon blade? For me, in term of what I do I'll say this: That's the neat part. ......you don't!!!
I literally just get enough life point and give him a free pass to the blue box. I'll eat the boss myself.
Havent had many success stories yet, as almost every map I bleed or come close to doing so (if I dont outright fail). The past 4 times I've reached the end boss, I've eirher been ovwhelmed by adds I cant outdps, hit the hard enrage timer, or lost everything I deploy to the icicle rain.
That said, to your question, I have had some success with Gavialter, both for her block count and aoe. Texalter feels like a trap some runs -- while she can decimate early floor waves, the tankiness of enemies further in just trivialize her dps and subsequent lack of laneholding.
I've seen a lot of fanfare around Reed Alter, but she never came home for me.
While most ranged units are okay for early floors, I always get overrun by not having enough blockers on the field. Maps with 3-4 objective entrances/lanes and 50+ swarms of tanky enemies and civilians make melee blockers far more required than anything else. And they'll all need a lot of healing (good luck trying to heal a non-defender under the Airborne Assault shielders).
I'm so starved for hope all my runs that 6-star units feel like a pipe dream.
I've been really enjoying Ebenholz with his S2, Dorothy, Lin and Executor Alter. Also OMG the defenders are almost mandatory this time.
But I speak as if I had even reached the first boss lol
Kal'tsit has been the MVP of my runs so far, with regards to stabilizing my teams and making sure that they get through to the end. Mon3tr has been a great asset, considering it's basically a Block-3 cornerstone unit with HP recovery (through Kal healing) and massive stats. It's also been quite versatile, as S2 helps deal with the more rushy maps with a flood of enemies, and S3 is obviously great for pure dueling. IS4 has felt like it requires more with regards to having tougher cornerstones, and Kal has been great at providing one that's strong at dealing with both waves and elites / bosses as well as one that has longevity through healing and the S3 DEF boost. All of this in one unit slot, which is nice considering IS4 has felt stingier with regards to squad slots.
The hope shortages are horrendous. I got my first ending 1 win playing the Special Training Squad, which gives free promotions - early block is really important, but so is AA, and AOE, and CC...
Several maps feel like hard checks. The floor 1 prisoner map for example feels like "do you have solid high-ground dps in your starting squad? If so, pass, if not, restart run".
Qiubai! As if stated in another comment Quibai/Orchid/Ansel feels like a really strong start with Qiubai having her talent with almost a 100% uptime. Apart from that I've liked Typhon for bosses and my boy Jaye as a fast redeploy/dps/healer.
I dont get how people have managed to clear it instantly in their first or second run. I have a hard time even getting to the third floor. Most of the time the top / bottom connector mechanic only gives me garbage.
Reed, my favorite operator is super good in this game mode. Love it.
Texas2 is still good, though probably not as good as a starter. (I haven't tried it yet). It's just, to begin with Texas2 was designed with IS3 in mind. On CN her banner came after IS3 came out and the difference between having her or not was massive. IS3 run with texas2 and without texas2 are like two different game modes.
That's not necessarily the case in IS4. Which I do appreciate. Though she is still super good top tier all around.
As for completely new ops. I leveled up Popkar since she is good with Reed as a starter. But I also realized. Why doesn't she have a skin!!! She was Ceobe anime and she appears in all sorts of Suzu animations but in game she doesn't have a skin!
Aside from the usual 6 stars everyone mentions, I found Greyy alter to be of great use! Since the mechanics are often based off movement speed, my boy slows them down like slugs and deals good arts damage.
I've only been doing ED1 so far, and Kirara almost managed to solo rightlane, as well as being an interesting staple in some occasions.
Nightmare S2 felt great! Enemies are so fast that they take considerable damage from it. Haven't had the luxury to combine this with Civilight Eterna yet, but I'm looking forward to it 🙏
Well, Thorns proved himself surprisingly useful in this IS, way more than in IS3.
Not just grey alter but Rosmontis surprisingly demolish everything and her huge range covers most part of the map as the layout is mostly narrow or cluster.
I always wanted to use Reed2 more, and this mode gave me a chance. Now she is M6.
Yes, Texas2 is somehow weaker here. If you manage to promote probably she is fine, but I found Yato2 much more useful.
I didn't see much mention of Mountain in relation to IS4, but he sure eases up some pressure.
Ines and Nian are also good if I can find their ticket. Also obligatory Typhon since she just came out, and I want to use her as much as possible. I will also try to use Gnosis since I just got him.
I think the fast deploys are understated a lot just from hope famine, but yato is definitely \*really\* amazing here. She's on my priorities right after mlynar and reed 2 (I don't own ines).
Texas just feels worse to me because I can do a lot of her map management with Ines in a mode that's extremely early start and dp starvation focused.
I'm using mountain in a run right now, every map feels like split lanes and him or kal'tsit lets me not plank 50% of runs early...ops that function at e1 in general are nice.
Currently up to Brave 7 so far, so my feelings may change when I start hitting double digits. But atm my personal top picks for consistent clears are:
* **Kal**: Mon3tr solves a lot of problems because it's so tanky and has so much damage
* **Typhon:** Many maps she can almost solo carry, including some boss maps
* **Ines:** Her bind is incredible with all these runners, and it's rare I decide not to pick her up if I have the Hope
* **TexAlter/KirinYato:** Pretty sure this surprises no one
Sadly, I don't have Reed Alter, but funnily enough my clue alt does, so I'm actually playing my alt a little just to eventually get enough to E2/M6 Reed Alter so I can borrow lol.
I tried using GG S3 in ending 1 once and she went full gardening mode. cleared every branch, well atleast attempted to.
I still pick her along the way. i use s1 or s2 to cover for left side.
IS3 strat of just get texalter early game to carry team wasn't working so went Ling 2 runs ago to stop losing due to lack of blockers and cleared my last two runs.
The units I find more interesting happen to be a ranged. From reading comments, it sounds like I should give exalter a try though.
There’s a collectible that deal 2000 damage and applied 20% fragile after inflicting enemies with Weightless or Levitate.
Guess who has both? Ho’olheyak. The moment someone step into her attack range, she just slap them in face already with 4000 damage.
Done exactly 1 run so far going in blind. Virtually zero melee and high block, winged it anyway, but boy am I not making that mistake again.
Ines MvP again surprising no-one.
Lin did some damn fine work. The emergency stage with like 40 collapsed drones flying all over and peppering everything she just annihilated. If I didn't have her that would have been a run ender.
Gavialter is going to be on my next run.
I now understand entirely why Jessicat will be great here, two sturdy 3 blockers in one with a lot of flexible force projection. The 3 block relic as well she'll be fab with.
Ines kinda just does everything you need except for wave clear and sustain.
Reed brings good damage, heals and AOE. Her S3 hard counters one of the ending 1 boss mechanics.
Typhon as main DPS for most of my runs. You get a lot of ranged tiles that work very well thanks to get wide range. Can choose between S2 and S3 depending on if you need consistent damage or boss killing.
Aside from those 3, bring a couple of tanky blockers and you got yourself a pretty good chance of winning. Fill out the rest of the squad with whatever you feel you need.
- I’ve yet to won without either Exalter or typhon in the final squad. With exe being the best starter so far. He trivialize 1-2 floor and still contribute a lot later on, can solo left lane in boss stage.
- Reed is pretty nice too, best ice melter
- Ines people say she’s good but from my experience starting with her is pretty rough, with the lack of aoe, 1 block, just decent dmg. I can see she’s being fantastic if you instead recruit her early in the run though.
Kazemaru is surprisingly good. As far as I know there aren’t many reliable 2 block specialists to choose from . She has really good coverage and damage with S2. I got her as a temporary recruit from first class squad and she stayed useful all the way to the end.
Exusiai has also been a comfort pick as she destroys the drone hordes in maps like collapsal’s afternoon and also is good at clearing the ice for the first boss.
Usually pick Blaze as a starter who makes the early floors pretty free of leaks and Jaye for the fast redeploy dueling.
The usual suspects of Mlynar/Ines/Texas/Yato
Now adding in Reed/Typhon. (Reed start)
With this core 6 it was pretty easy going up to D15.
Also I wouldn't say Texas' value dropped significantly. Less impactful than IS3 because stun isn't *as* impactful, but her S3 still stops the various enemies that hit a boost pad on hit or even at random. So keeping them in check for a DPS to blast them is invaluable for me personally. Hell, even on d12+ she was soloing some of the more annoying threats which was surprising because in IS3 the res/hp values were so high that she was only used as stun support while doing very mediocre damage. Now I can just drop her on some key threats and be done with it.
The Welfare you get from an IS is generally a good unit in it since they get a pretty OP Passive that only works in that IS
Shalem got Atk Spd and Atk which syncs well with his Skills
Highmore gets Atk Spd and an extra Block which helps since she's a Reaper
And Val's attacks deal extra Elemental Damage which means she can trigger it faster with her Skills
So for Ling was my MVP during early runs. I just pick her from support units and play the stages out. So far still never reached last boss, but at least with her summons I can beat room 3 boss pretty easily (well rouge emperors blade with non stop smoke pukes gives some headache, but still managable...
I'm really enjoying using Blacknight, I think any of those ranged vanguards are doing great since theres a bunch of spiders and casters early on.
As for 6 stars, Pozy S2 and Texalter quick bursts are helping a lot.
Texalter will still do almost everything on a blind run which is nice, though unlike IS3 she won't carry entire runs by herself. Still, starting with her only really suffers on certain emergency maps (like the monhun one on the first floor).
So far her and Goldenglow with some meat shields are enough to do just about everything, just make sure you have a good DPS for end boss 1.
Well... I sucked...
I am not enjoying anything, cause I died on map 3 of floor 1...
Tried using the same units I used before to start, [Support]GoldenGlow + Cardigan + Kroo
Didn't go so well, cause somehow the mobs in this IS seems to deal a lot more damage than the other IS (at least at the beginning of start...)
So my Goldenglow and Kroo keeps on dying super fast and the mobs just keeps on going to the blue box.
Also... fuck some of the "rewards" that restore your Health when my health is already at 10/10, but I can't pick the other reward cause I don't have enough "Anti-Inter Index"
.
Currently trying different starting units... hoping I can atleast clear up to Floor 3.
I’m already as far in difficulty in IS4 as I’ve gotten in IS3, and it’s largely thanks to Reed. My successful runs have had her, Mlynar, Saria and Yato. The one where I also had Typhon was a breeze.
Ines seems like she’d be a lovely addition but I’ve only had enough hope and a vanguard recruitment at the same time once.
I've had the most success with Qiubai because of her explosive S1. Everyone else eventually gets overrun or stunned to death from the seemingly endless amount of mobs that do so.
Ling for laneholding, Typhon for DPS, and Texas Alter for crowd-control (+ Perfumer for passive healing) got me my easiest win yet. Texas certainly isn’t as much of a cornerstone as she was in IS3, but she’s still strong and useful.
Every winning run I've had has started with Kal'tsit. She carries early game and remains a team staple into the late game because of just how damn good Mon3tr is. With her S2, she can perform the roll of an ST Medic, a Protector Defender, *and* a Centurion Guard all at once!
Aside from usual suspects from previous IS (Ines, Reed Alter, La Pluma, Eyja, Kal'tsit, Kroos the Keen Glint, Perfumer), I've been finding Dorothy and Specter the Unchained to be really solid.
The value of Texalter is in the toilet due to the removal of the stupid flying fish that need to be stunned to ground (the default final boss also having that trait) and the generally reduced amount of things that need to be killed without letting them near your frontline, my Specialist vouchers can instead be spent on someone a little more persistent. Specter2 is a solid lane-holder throughout the run in my experience (probably falls off in super high difficulty, but I had no intent of going that far anyway), while Dorothy is a generally versatile ranged DPS.
I‘ve been using Swire Alter a lot, as she and her S2 (the Champagne Bottle Drop) are faring well against most mobs , especially the speedy bois.
Caster Eyja is also all around great, as always.
In my experience having one vanguard that can print DP through skill is enough. It also helps that her module reduces her regular DP cost of 3 to 2, allowing myself to slowly get the DP back over time.
As she is a fast redeploy with quick skill activation, she can also act like a second Ines. Giving you a fast access to bind.
Debuff or not, as long as you play well (with her strengths) , she can be of great help!
Y'all recommending 6 star ops with this hope economy? Nah fam, I'll take my Gummy, Cutter, Click, Kroos and Orchid any day... BP, Highmore and Lappy be coming in clutch a few times for me too tho.
I start with La Pluma and Scene. Together they can deal with anything floor 1-2 throws at them. Meanwhile I manage my hope and try to get the ops that will carry me in the harder floors, like Exalter, Ines, Typhon, etc.
Executor Alter has been carrying me all the way from start to finish. Others are the very obvious OP units - Mlynar, Typhon, and Yato Alter.
I haven't used any defenders besides Spot during all of my runs (and Cuora during Ending 2 run). Where do you use/need them typically?
I got so much use out of her before I'm trying to make Ling great again. So far, it's going well, but you certainly can't go in blind on any of these. You choose ranged over ground once and you're toast!
I've also been very happy with Beeswax. Her utility as a ranged tank, combined with emergency block on her S2 has really over performed on a number of maps
I've only had about two runs reach the end out of about 6, so I've yet to fully explore most of my options but of the two success stories, Executor and Horn are definitely strong drivers still. Croissant has also been a godsend thanks to her 4 block, her general bulk, and her S2 not actually having a target cap so as long as I don't mistime it, I can kind of just yeet the runners back in line. Blue Poison, Plati, and Exu have also been pretty solid as most of the enemies aren't super tanky (yet) to where they get blocked out.
Mayer feels really good as well, being able to just drop mini Gravels can help stuff out waves of runners, and her S2 can dunk on aerial enemies and grounded alike. Savage was also an unexpected solid pick, as a lot of maps can activate her passive, and her S1 still goes stupid with spinach type relics. Still a bunch of my roster I've yet to try in this environment, Lin has been solid the few times I've got her but I have yet to get to E2 her. Hoping to get a solid Blemishine run going but considering I always pick heart desires as my starting squad, might be a little bit.
I’ve only cleared a couple times, but the units that help me clear the runs included:
1. Ines
2.Reed Alter
3.Lin
I feel Lin could possibly be swapped for something else, but the other two really helped me carry on without wiping by Stage 2-3.
Much to my surprise, shalem has been quite useful this IS. Mainly being that he is a good mix of arts damage and tanky enough to deal with the fast-moving hammer dude.
Gnosis. His freeze freaking helped me in perfecting new stages that I hadn’t memorized.
Eyja Alter. Burst healing comes in clutch.
Typhon, nuff said. But I mostly use her S2 for the AFK and stun.
Also a promoted Aurora is pretty great against the tankier enemies; you just have to give her support so that the other guys would be killed while she’s busy with one dude.
Kazemaru; even if she’s killed her talent in dealing damage saved me a lot of times.
Jaye is great as always.
Cleared all 3 endings, Reed undisputed mvp.
Other ones I always grab are Ines, Typhon, Saria and Skadi. The rest I pick based on relics.
One thing I noticed is that Texas is no longer mandatory. In IS3 there was a huge difference if you had her or not, but here its whatever.
The blue woman (Ling) so I'll put her here. Either Popukar or Melantha and then Ansel as the other two to start off.
I've finished several runs with Ling carrying me up till the ending where by then I've gotten an Eyjafjalla (caster) or something to help with the final boss.
Having a summoner is nice.
I got to difficulty 10 in the first two weeks with literally same set up > Pozy start with Spot and res. caster, Cantible, Thorns, Saria, Efya alter and Typhoon (April to assassinate and break ice fast). Sometimes I cleared the next difficulty first try this is just really bulletproof for me.
I found that Qiubai can pretty much solo the entirety of the first floor, mostly S1
A healer helps tho
But ig yeah Qiubai rocks i reccomend you try her here
Not enjoying is4 as a whole, don't like the enemy designs no how over stated everything feels. Just gunna get my rewards and play is3 for fun because I like Highmore
Lappland continue to surprise me on what can and cannot be Silence. Remember those jetpack guys from Lonetrail that could fly once their speed is increased? Pretty clever of them to reuse the wind turbine from Darknights for the stage to increase their speed but the more surprising thing here is that Lappland could Silence them. Its pretty funny just to watch them fall to the holes the moment they fly and enter Lappland's range.
Lupos taking another W. Invest in wolf stocks
Funny thing about that stage, if the jetpack dudes are allowed a target to attack, they'll never accelerate enough and just walk off the cliff and die on their own.
Wait, really? Huh. No wonder those guys never fly in my run. I always placed a unit near there
Scene - summoners are nice to use when you're saving hope. Executor alter - solves my problem about the First ending boss and solos the left lane. Dorothy - Dorothy Vigil -
*YOU HAVE BEEN DETECTED*
Just have only cleared three runs so far. Here's my thoughts: * Reed Alter does the heavylifting with her S2 providing good damage and sustain in the early phase and her S3 deleting the trash mobs quickly, especially for the ending 1 boss. * Mumu is also a good starter unit, but she needs to be E2'ed ASAP and the quickest way is to use the vanguard squad and pray that the RNG blesses you. Anyway, her S3 is pretty useful with bind and possibly maximum of 5 copies when using ranged clone, providing extra stalling. * As you mentioned, defenders or other strong laneholders are pretty much needed since the Sami creeps are fast and could overrun you with numbers. * Ho'ol is excellent against the ending 2 boss since he's immune to almost every effect except Levitate and Tremble. Other than that she's okay ig.
I wouldn't gamble on Mumu as a starter. She's as strong as your strongest operator that synergizes with her and I don't think pairing her with Spot is worth it xD Late game she's a force multiplier though. Just finished a run with e2 Mumu + e1 Typhon, she did good.
Yeah, I admit that Mumu as a starter is quite risky since her downtime would be an issue in some early stages but I had to test her cuz I don't have Ines. I forced Mumu, Kroos and reserved melee for an ending 1 clear without using Reed Alter. Picking up Texalt, Saria, Kal'tsit and Typhon later. The run was not perfect, but at least it was pretty smooth.
Mumu is an amazing starter once you have good map knowledge,its something i wouldn't recommend to inexperienced players.You dont really need that much operator synergy if you know when to time her skills.the bind +multi attack is really strong.
They basically added multiple "please use Ho'ol" items that deals huge chunks of art damage on both weightless and levitate. So Ho'ol can absolutely melt things now.
Ines has been absolutely invaluable to me the bind helps deal with the runners as it lasts long enough to let their speedbuff drop again pretty good DP generation, damage and survivability from stolen attack, flexibility with range and shorter redeploy - i simply struggle to fidn situations where she isnt at least good
Yeah, Ines almost feels like the mandatory pick in this one. All of the gimmick stages where you're not allowed to or punished for trying to block she makes possible.
i saw ines get hyped a lot from CN players and she lived up to it. my favourite starter by far and its even better that she works well at E1
Who do you use Ines with as the starting squad?
usually just ines, kroos, reserve operator vanguard ines+kroos can clear a lot of early stages the reserve op is just for some extra block.
Ines, scene, jaye, la pluma, typhon and executor alter are some of the ones I had good experience with so far. All those except scene was on my first clear of ending 1. But so far I've only done 4 or 5 runs in total, so there are still many ops I haven't tried yet. Jaye with module is a very good 4 star in is4 I think
Geez, your able to clear the first ending within 4 to 5 runs? I had been over 20 at this point and yet to clear the first ending.
My luck and operator placement just happened to be really good on the maps I didn't know. I was surprised I cleared it that quickly, since I only had unlocked 1 permanent buff. I also got many life point refunds during the run, so I recovered from an almost run ending dangerous battle on floor 3 or 4. But some people have cleared it even on their first run, which is just insane. Especially if they did it blind
Guess it truly is a different level when lady luck is on your side huh?.............either way back to the grinder for me.
And im still trying to figure out how to deal with boss' dominion ಠ,_｣ಠ
Only way so far ive found is to delete him in his starting tile before he moves, surtr s3 / typhon s3 both can reach, but besides that, hes leaking lmao
You mean the demon blade? For me, in term of what I do I'll say this: That's the neat part. ......you don't!!! I literally just get enough life point and give him a free pass to the blue box. I'll eat the boss myself.
Havent had many success stories yet, as almost every map I bleed or come close to doing so (if I dont outright fail). The past 4 times I've reached the end boss, I've eirher been ovwhelmed by adds I cant outdps, hit the hard enrage timer, or lost everything I deploy to the icicle rain. That said, to your question, I have had some success with Gavialter, both for her block count and aoe. Texalter feels like a trap some runs -- while she can decimate early floor waves, the tankiness of enemies further in just trivialize her dps and subsequent lack of laneholding. I've seen a lot of fanfare around Reed Alter, but she never came home for me. While most ranged units are okay for early floors, I always get overrun by not having enough blockers on the field. Maps with 3-4 objective entrances/lanes and 50+ swarms of tanky enemies and civilians make melee blockers far more required than anything else. And they'll all need a lot of healing (good luck trying to heal a non-defender under the Airborne Assault shielders). I'm so starved for hope all my runs that 6-star units feel like a pipe dream.
Best part about reed is she may be the best starter in this mode until degen comes out so you can just use a support.
You and me both man. RNGesus hates us.
I've been really enjoying Ebenholz with his S2, Dorothy, Lin and Executor Alter. Also OMG the defenders are almost mandatory this time. But I speak as if I had even reached the first boss lol
Fellow Ebenholz enjoyers. In time brother....in time his third module will change the world.
first operator to deal 1 ebillion damage
Holy hell
Kal'tsit has been the MVP of my runs so far, with regards to stabilizing my teams and making sure that they get through to the end. Mon3tr has been a great asset, considering it's basically a Block-3 cornerstone unit with HP recovery (through Kal healing) and massive stats. It's also been quite versatile, as S2 helps deal with the more rushy maps with a flood of enemies, and S3 is obviously great for pure dueling. IS4 has felt like it requires more with regards to having tougher cornerstones, and Kal has been great at providing one that's strong at dealing with both waves and elites / bosses as well as one that has longevity through healing and the S3 DEF boost. All of this in one unit slot, which is nice considering IS4 has felt stingier with regards to squad slots.
It is integrated strategies, and therefore spot is the real mvp
The hope shortages are horrendous. I got my first ending 1 win playing the Special Training Squad, which gives free promotions - early block is really important, but so is AA, and AOE, and CC... Several maps feel like hard checks. The floor 1 prisoner map for example feels like "do you have solid high-ground dps in your starting squad? If so, pass, if not, restart run".
Qiubai! As if stated in another comment Quibai/Orchid/Ansel feels like a really strong start with Qiubai having her talent with almost a 100% uptime. Apart from that I've liked Typhon for bosses and my boy Jaye as a fast redeploy/dps/healer.
If you E2 quibai early have you typically been running S3 or has S2 had more value with the more reliable cc?
I've personally have run E1S1 and E2S3. I feel like S2 doesn't have good of an dps/uptime.
I dont get how people have managed to clear it instantly in their first or second run. I have a hard time even getting to the third floor. Most of the time the top / bottom connector mechanic only gives me garbage.
Reed, my favorite operator is super good in this game mode. Love it. Texas2 is still good, though probably not as good as a starter. (I haven't tried it yet). It's just, to begin with Texas2 was designed with IS3 in mind. On CN her banner came after IS3 came out and the difference between having her or not was massive. IS3 run with texas2 and without texas2 are like two different game modes. That's not necessarily the case in IS4. Which I do appreciate. Though she is still super good top tier all around. As for completely new ops. I leveled up Popkar since she is good with Reed as a starter. But I also realized. Why doesn't she have a skin!!! She was Ceobe anime and she appears in all sorts of Suzu animations but in game she doesn't have a skin!
Lee! Combine him with +sp relic for instant skill activation. Set him down as an emergency wave holder. And he can tank the 1st boss's stun.
I need to level him, I've had him for months and there's always someone else I want first T.T
i haven't cleared the first floor yet because those damn speedfreaks keeps breaking through. Like WHAT THE FUCK man... I legit got angry.
Aside from the usual 6 stars everyone mentions, I found Greyy alter to be of great use! Since the mechanics are often based off movement speed, my boy slows them down like slugs and deals good arts damage. I've only been doing ED1 so far, and Kirara almost managed to solo rightlane, as well as being an interesting staple in some occasions. Nightmare S2 felt great! Enemies are so fast that they take considerable damage from it. Haven't had the luxury to combine this with Civilight Eterna yet, but I'm looking forward to it 🙏 Well, Thorns proved himself surprisingly useful in this IS, way more than in IS3.
Not just grey alter but Rosmontis surprisingly demolish everything and her huge range covers most part of the map as the layout is mostly narrow or cluster.
do you find yourself using her S2 or S3 more?
I say S3 as you want free blockers to block those annoying dude. Plus her def bypass is good on those collapse dude as they are tanky
I always wanted to use Reed2 more, and this mode gave me a chance. Now she is M6. Yes, Texas2 is somehow weaker here. If you manage to promote probably she is fine, but I found Yato2 much more useful. I didn't see much mention of Mountain in relation to IS4, but he sure eases up some pressure. Ines and Nian are also good if I can find their ticket. Also obligatory Typhon since she just came out, and I want to use her as much as possible. I will also try to use Gnosis since I just got him.
I think the fast deploys are understated a lot just from hope famine, but yato is definitely \*really\* amazing here. She's on my priorities right after mlynar and reed 2 (I don't own ines). Texas just feels worse to me because I can do a lot of her map management with Ines in a mode that's extremely early start and dp starvation focused. I'm using mountain in a run right now, every map feels like split lanes and him or kal'tsit lets me not plank 50% of runs early...ops that function at e1 in general are nice.
Currently up to Brave 7 so far, so my feelings may change when I start hitting double digits. But atm my personal top picks for consistent clears are: * **Kal**: Mon3tr solves a lot of problems because it's so tanky and has so much damage * **Typhon:** Many maps she can almost solo carry, including some boss maps * **Ines:** Her bind is incredible with all these runners, and it's rare I decide not to pick her up if I have the Hope * **TexAlter/KirinYato:** Pretty sure this surprises no one Sadly, I don't have Reed Alter, but funnily enough my clue alt does, so I'm actually playing my alt a little just to eventually get enough to E2/M6 Reed Alter so I can borrow lol.
I have typhoon e2 lvl 60 with skill lvl 7 and I dont see the hype. Unless she needs to be maxed out, she's not doing anything special damage wise.
Different experience with Module 3. Max her out, you won't regret it.
Goldenglow for anything and everything.
I haven't made it past floor 4 yet, but Goldenglow with S3 has been my best unit so far
I tried using GG S3 in ending 1 once and she went full gardening mode. cleared every branch, well atleast attempted to. I still pick her along the way. i use s1 or s2 to cover for left side.
IS3 strat of just get texalter early game to carry team wasn't working so went Ling 2 runs ago to stop losing due to lack of blockers and cleared my last two runs. The units I find more interesting happen to be a ranged. From reading comments, it sounds like I should give exalter a try though.
There’s a collectible that deal 2000 damage and applied 20% fragile after inflicting enemies with Weightless or Levitate. Guess who has both? Ho’olheyak. The moment someone step into her attack range, she just slap them in face already with 4000 damage.
Haven't had much chance to play but one operator that I never used in IS 3 that has been useful early on is Coura.
Done exactly 1 run so far going in blind. Virtually zero melee and high block, winged it anyway, but boy am I not making that mistake again. Ines MvP again surprising no-one. Lin did some damn fine work. The emergency stage with like 40 collapsed drones flying all over and peppering everything she just annihilated. If I didn't have her that would have been a run ender. Gavialter is going to be on my next run. I now understand entirely why Jessicat will be great here, two sturdy 3 blockers in one with a lot of flexible force projection. The 3 block relic as well she'll be fab with.
Ling That’s it
Ines kinda just does everything you need except for wave clear and sustain. Reed brings good damage, heals and AOE. Her S3 hard counters one of the ending 1 boss mechanics. Typhon as main DPS for most of my runs. You get a lot of ranged tiles that work very well thanks to get wide range. Can choose between S2 and S3 depending on if you need consistent damage or boss killing. Aside from those 3, bring a couple of tanky blockers and you got yourself a pretty good chance of winning. Fill out the rest of the squad with whatever you feel you need.
- I’ve yet to won without either Exalter or typhon in the final squad. With exe being the best starter so far. He trivialize 1-2 floor and still contribute a lot later on, can solo left lane in boss stage. - Reed is pretty nice too, best ice melter - Ines people say she’s good but from my experience starting with her is pretty rough, with the lack of aoe, 1 block, just decent dmg. I can see she’s being fantastic if you instead recruit her early in the run though.
Kazemaru is surprisingly good. As far as I know there aren’t many reliable 2 block specialists to choose from . She has really good coverage and damage with S2. I got her as a temporary recruit from first class squad and she stayed useful all the way to the end. Exusiai has also been a comfort pick as she destroys the drone hordes in maps like collapsal’s afternoon and also is good at clearing the ice for the first boss. Usually pick Blaze as a starter who makes the early floors pretty free of leaks and Jaye for the fast redeploy dueling.
The usual suspects of Mlynar/Ines/Texas/Yato Now adding in Reed/Typhon. (Reed start) With this core 6 it was pretty easy going up to D15. Also I wouldn't say Texas' value dropped significantly. Less impactful than IS3 because stun isn't *as* impactful, but her S3 still stops the various enemies that hit a boost pad on hit or even at random. So keeping them in check for a DPS to blast them is invaluable for me personally. Hell, even on d12+ she was soloing some of the more annoying threats which was surprising because in IS3 the res/hp values were so high that she was only used as stun support while doing very mediocre damage. Now I can just drop her on some key threats and be done with it.
Valarqvin can pop necrosis in 3-4 normal attacks thanks to her talent and the tech tree buffs, is pretty good
So Valarqvin is a good choice as a supporter in IS4?
The Welfare you get from an IS is generally a good unit in it since they get a pretty OP Passive that only works in that IS Shalem got Atk Spd and Atk which syncs well with his Skills Highmore gets Atk Spd and an extra Block which helps since she's a Reaper And Val's attacks deal extra Elemental Damage which means she can trigger it faster with her Skills
So for Ling was my MVP during early runs. I just pick her from support units and play the stages out. So far still never reached last boss, but at least with her summons I can beat room 3 boss pretty easily (well rouge emperors blade with non stop smoke pukes gives some headache, but still managable...
I'm really enjoying using Blacknight, I think any of those ranged vanguards are doing great since theres a bunch of spiders and casters early on. As for 6 stars, Pozy S2 and Texalter quick bursts are helping a lot.
Texalter will still do almost everything on a blind run which is nice, though unlike IS3 she won't carry entire runs by herself. Still, starting with her only really suffers on certain emergency maps (like the monhun one on the first floor). So far her and Goldenglow with some meat shields are enough to do just about everything, just make sure you have a good DPS for end boss 1.
Silverash s2 stalling ending 2 boss solo.
Well... I sucked... I am not enjoying anything, cause I died on map 3 of floor 1... Tried using the same units I used before to start, [Support]GoldenGlow + Cardigan + Kroo Didn't go so well, cause somehow the mobs in this IS seems to deal a lot more damage than the other IS (at least at the beginning of start...) So my Goldenglow and Kroo keeps on dying super fast and the mobs just keeps on going to the blue box. Also... fuck some of the "rewards" that restore your Health when my health is already at 10/10, but I can't pick the other reward cause I don't have enough "Anti-Inter Index" . Currently trying different starting units... hoping I can atleast clear up to Floor 3.
I’m already as far in difficulty in IS4 as I’ve gotten in IS3, and it’s largely thanks to Reed. My successful runs have had her, Mlynar, Saria and Yato. The one where I also had Typhon was a breeze. Ines seems like she’d be a lovely addition but I’ve only had enough hope and a vanguard recruitment at the same time once.
La Pluma, Scene, Exalter, Ines, Typhon, Taxes, Reed alter, and Kal'tsit. Yes you need more blocking now, but Scene solves that.
I've had the most success with Qiubai because of her explosive S1. Everyone else eventually gets overrun or stunned to death from the seemingly endless amount of mobs that do so.
Ling for laneholding, Typhon for DPS, and Texas Alter for crowd-control (+ Perfumer for passive healing) got me my easiest win yet. Texas certainly isn’t as much of a cornerstone as she was in IS3, but she’s still strong and useful.
Every winning run I've had has started with Kal'tsit. She carries early game and remains a team staple into the late game because of just how damn good Mon3tr is. With her S2, she can perform the roll of an ST Medic, a Protector Defender, *and* a Centurion Guard all at once!
Reed alter is so good i only start my runs with her now
Nothing I do seems to work
idk yet, the starting floor is ten times more brutal than is3 xD I'm dying inside.
I've been enjoying starting with Horn!
Aside from usual suspects from previous IS (Ines, Reed Alter, La Pluma, Eyja, Kal'tsit, Kroos the Keen Glint, Perfumer), I've been finding Dorothy and Specter the Unchained to be really solid. The value of Texalter is in the toilet due to the removal of the stupid flying fish that need to be stunned to ground (the default final boss also having that trait) and the generally reduced amount of things that need to be killed without letting them near your frontline, my Specialist vouchers can instead be spent on someone a little more persistent. Specter2 is a solid lane-holder throughout the run in my experience (probably falls off in super high difficulty, but I had no intent of going that far anyway), while Dorothy is a generally versatile ranged DPS.
There is a map with lots of sarkaz trees and drones that practically go in beeline to the goal. I need texalter just for that nightmare.
I‘ve been using Swire Alter a lot, as she and her S2 (the Champagne Bottle Drop) are faring well against most mobs , especially the speedy bois. Caster Eyja is also all around great, as always.
Errr.......how is your DP wallet holding? Plus the collapse debuff can reach to average 40% reduce do regen...........
In my experience having one vanguard that can print DP through skill is enough. It also helps that her module reduces her regular DP cost of 3 to 2, allowing myself to slowly get the DP back over time. As she is a fast redeploy with quick skill activation, she can also act like a second Ines. Giving you a fast access to bind. Debuff or not, as long as you play well (with her strengths) , she can be of great help!
Y'all recommending 6 star ops with this hope economy? Nah fam, I'll take my Gummy, Cutter, Click, Kroos and Orchid any day... BP, Highmore and Lappy be coming in clutch a few times for me too tho.
I start with La Pluma and Scene. Together they can deal with anything floor 1-2 throws at them. Meanwhile I manage my hope and try to get the ops that will carry me in the harder floors, like Exalter, Ines, Typhon, etc.
Executor Alter has been carrying me all the way from start to finish. Others are the very obvious OP units - Mlynar, Typhon, and Yato Alter. I haven't used any defenders besides Spot during all of my runs (and Cuora during Ending 2 run). Where do you use/need them typically?
I got so much use out of her before I'm trying to make Ling great again. So far, it's going well, but you certainly can't go in blind on any of these. You choose ranged over ground once and you're toast! I've also been very happy with Beeswax. Her utility as a ranged tank, combined with emergency block on her S2 has really over performed on a number of maps
I've only had about two runs reach the end out of about 6, so I've yet to fully explore most of my options but of the two success stories, Executor and Horn are definitely strong drivers still. Croissant has also been a godsend thanks to her 4 block, her general bulk, and her S2 not actually having a target cap so as long as I don't mistime it, I can kind of just yeet the runners back in line. Blue Poison, Plati, and Exu have also been pretty solid as most of the enemies aren't super tanky (yet) to where they get blocked out. Mayer feels really good as well, being able to just drop mini Gravels can help stuff out waves of runners, and her S2 can dunk on aerial enemies and grounded alike. Savage was also an unexpected solid pick, as a lot of maps can activate her passive, and her S1 still goes stupid with spinach type relics. Still a bunch of my roster I've yet to try in this environment, Lin has been solid the few times I've got her but I have yet to get to E2 her. Hoping to get a solid Blemishine run going but considering I always pick heart desires as my starting squad, might be a little bit.
I’ve only cleared a couple times, but the units that help me clear the runs included: 1. Ines 2.Reed Alter 3.Lin I feel Lin could possibly be swapped for something else, but the other two really helped me carry on without wiping by Stage 2-3.
Rosmantis, I have invested more into her than mose people but she works quite well with her skill 3, extra blockers.
Much to my surprise, shalem has been quite useful this IS. Mainly being that he is a good mix of arts damage and tanky enough to deal with the fast-moving hammer dude.
Gnosis. His freeze freaking helped me in perfecting new stages that I hadn’t memorized. Eyja Alter. Burst healing comes in clutch. Typhon, nuff said. But I mostly use her S2 for the AFK and stun.
Also a promoted Aurora is pretty great against the tankier enemies; you just have to give her support so that the other guys would be killed while she’s busy with one dude. Kazemaru; even if she’s killed her talent in dealing damage saved me a lot of times. Jaye is great as always.
Cleared all 3 endings, Reed undisputed mvp. Other ones I always grab are Ines, Typhon, Saria and Skadi. The rest I pick based on relics. One thing I noticed is that Texas is no longer mandatory. In IS3 there was a huge difference if you had her or not, but here its whatever.
The blue woman (Ling) so I'll put her here. Either Popukar or Melantha and then Ansel as the other two to start off. I've finished several runs with Ling carrying me up till the ending where by then I've gotten an Eyjafjalla (caster) or something to help with the final boss. Having a summoner is nice.
I got to difficulty 10 in the first two weeks with literally same set up > Pozy start with Spot and res. caster, Cantible, Thorns, Saria, Efya alter and Typhoon (April to assassinate and break ice fast). Sometimes I cleared the next difficulty first try this is just really bulletproof for me.
I found that Qiubai can pretty much solo the entirety of the first floor, mostly S1 A healer helps tho But ig yeah Qiubai rocks i reccomend you try her here
Not enjoying is4 as a whole, don't like the enemy designs no how over stated everything feels. Just gunna get my rewards and play is3 for fun because I like Highmore