#Arknights Integrated Strategies

[exoticalmonde]

IS2 also known as Phantom & Crimson Solitaire but the Part where I learn about some of the Lore via Operator Records

This all started because I am a stupid idiot simp and have no self-control, okay?

The other day I was trying to mind my business when I was wondering who out of my Bandorio (husBandorio) squad I want to E2. It was almost an unfair match between Shalem and Mr. Nothing (whose position in the band is already shaky with Lessing and Hoderer coming eventually).

I thought to myself 'The best way to really know who I want is to see how useful they are in batte-' WRONG, I wanted to know if I vibe with them on a personal level. Which meant that I had to sit down and read their Operator Records.

And proceeded to yap about Shalem on TWTR since harlot gloves and an iridescent shine on his tail + it being cutely wrapped around his leg is the go-to if you want to impress me.

Also because I like the look of sheer exhausted, barely clinging to sanity look he gives me when I zoom in on his person.

Continue below if you want to see me cry about Shalem, the Troupe and then about the Crimson Solitaire and what it was throwing at me the last two days.

So being said, I started admiring... everything that is happening in his E2. Prior to actually reading anything I knew that Shalem has something to do with Phantom, at least something enough that he has to go and save him from IS2. I've dabbled with it before just a tiny little, never reached an ending and I still haven't as I write this.

Items of background as of yet unverified, which is really funny because I think the same goes for Phantom. Maybe I should look him up while I'm here to read side-by-side comparison.

Take note, it says Shalem works in logistics.

Both Victorian, born within a month and a bit of each other, so that's interesting. What's that? Phantom is taller?? Than shalem?? The twink black cat is taller than the black snake?

Insanity.

Oh, he's doomed. Who do I like that ISN'T infected with Oripathy??? It feels like they're all sick... But now that I look at my list, Chongyue, Ebenhol-

Okay... that leaves SilverAsh, Vigil, Lee, Tequila, Lessing they're all fine.

My head is too full of Czerny and Hoederer being Infected on a very advanced level, so it feels like my world is ending every time I start reading the Medical Analysis.

-Shalem Trust 50-

Considering Rhodes Island's operators come from all corners, races, temperaments, histories and myriad diversities of the land, there are indeed plenty who are weak with communication yet possess a kind heart, and thus HR's operators haven't had serious concern, vis-a-vis the state of Shalem's life. 

Me *handshake* Shalem Disliking mixing friend groups so we just avoid it at all cost

He's been waiting forever, waiting for his chapter's end, but he doesn't anticipate that in ten or so months, when Rhodes Island life has long since become routine, that a shadow of the past will sorrowfully arrive.

Congratulations, everybody, another sad boy has reconsidered subearthing themselves because he found a place to call home and a bed he can sleep in with both eyes closed.

-Phantom Trust 50-

When Phantom first set foot on Rhodes Island, he terrified the logistics personnel who were on duty at the time. He suddenly appeared behind one individual, standing there without a word until the person turned around to discover his presence.

IF SHALEM WORKS IN LOGISTICS WAS THIS ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT HIM???? I can't believe Shalem was stalked by Phantom for absolutely no reason and then Closure got pissed that this arrogant feline just boarded the ship without telling anybody, or anybody noticing even, until it was too late.

Talk about being a professional assassin.

Accompanying Phantom on his arrival to Rhodes Island was a person as mysterious and alluring as the night itself, someone known as 'Ms. Christine.' Through her demeanor, it was clear that she was a refined and haughty woman. No one knows whether she will remain or leave, and she is not always seen with Phantom, instead happy enough to wander around as if quietly patrolling her turf.

To this, I have only one responce

*Throws 15, 000 of those at Phantom* I HAVE THE LADY'S PERMISSION!!

-Shalem Trust 100-

After a field mission ended, Shalem noticed a phantasm behind him. He was the most brilliant of those young stars in the troupe, its leader's favorite, a crimson blood diamond, and he stared at him, naturally not seeking to reminisce. 

Oh my god I was right.

An acquainted operator informed him someone called Phantom had joined as an Operator in the past few days. Who was Phantom? Shalem knew in his heart as clear as night.

Joined like it's nobody's business.

After which Shalem just decided his anxiety is too much to handle and didn't go out of his room for a small eternity.

When he received a mission on his terminal to seek the missing Operator Phantom, Shalem believed someone to be pranking him, but after verifying high and low, he realized Phantom truly had departed Rhodes Island, and no one was more familiar with the mission objective's search area than Shalem. It was his and Phantom's home, and the beginning of their nightmares. The past had already found Shalem, and he could not choose to stay uninvolved again. He accepted the mission to search for Phantom.

Oh no, he's being sent to whatever hellhole the Troupe is situated at. That must actually be one hell of a notice to get on his terminal. Go look for the person you have been trying to avoid, with whom you were potentially raised to play an endless play because he disappeared.

How did Phantom even end up there??? I have more questions than I have answers now.

-Phantom Trust 100-

After receiving his permission, Rhodes Island conducted a series of tests aimed at targeting this ability, basically confirming that Phantom's ability to alter the shadows is related to sound. By using his throat to vocalize certain sounds, he is able to interfere with and severely damage the psyche of a living being. The more intense the emotion in the tone, the deeper the effect is, producing psychological damage that is difficult to repair or reverse.

Sweet Mouthpiece... What the actual hell?

-Shalem Trust 150-

After the flood receded, some sumptuously graceful guests entered the village. Yes, they handed people money to seek local aid; yes, they carefully selected, adopted many children who were without claim, now their parents had vanished or been lost.

I have a bad feeling about thi-

Numbering one of them was the young Shalem.

I hate this with all my life, actually.

'You are children of the arts. Now, you may rest well.' So the old butler promised, and so Shalem believed. Soon after, his life became a play. Modest and gentle was the label the troupe gave to Shalem, and ever since then, it has become his 'true personality.'

'Modest' and 'Gentle'? Explain this, then

We shan't dwell on the daily physical training and rehearsal of lines. Understudies as excellent as Phantom would be led upon stage, given verbal motivation and material reward in front of them all.

Yeah, so they did know each other and everybody hated Phantom because he was good at what he was doing. Actually terrible by definition.

The children who entered the troupe together one by one disappeared, and those left were completely changed in temperament, not a speck of the innocence of their years left visible. As they grew in years, Shalem had convinced himself to accept one fact: We were only brought into this troupe to offer our lives to the arts. If we are unable to perform... Then we have no right to live within the troupe. Whether voluntary or not, so long as you joined the troupe, the script you were given would be written long in advance. To run until your life's end.

God, Shalem... My darling...

Survival drives all to the brink, and they who ought to have worked together past these difficulties began to slaughter each other. In the end, no one escapes. Only a few uneaten slices of meat remain, scooped away by fowlbeasts, flapping their wings across the endless waters.

Is this... hinting at... cannibalism...? Again?

-Phantom Trust 150-

We can infer from our investigations that a wave of Oripathy that ripped through parts of Victoria a few years ago destroyed this troupe, and changed the trajectory of Phantom's life. He may have had a wonderful voice in the past, but as he is now, he could not be further from the stage.

I feel like I need a little more context about this. Shalem's town was flooded, but the Troupe exploded because of a wave of Oripathy? Where did it come from? Did I miss it somewhere? Obviously, this information is outdated because we know the Troupe exists in a much more bloody cult-like fashion now, but WHY? What is their point?

I can also tell you about the impressions I now have about him, but it may not be of any use to you, because there's a good chance you won't listen. But if you insist? Very well. I don't have much to say, but there is one suggestion. —Stay away from him. He's still caught in a nightmare, not fully awake yet.'

—A conversation with Schwarz

Schwarz?

This Schwarz?

Ma'amn you need to explain why you think all of that, I'm getting a little sweaty about how much people know and what they think about Phantom, because I kinda still do like him.

-Shalem trust 200-

He should have delivered that dagger to their heart, felt the spasm of their limbs, watched the light in their eyes little by little melt away. But the boy of the abyss did not do so. The weapon meant to murder instead cut the rope, and was handed to another to become a tool protective of life. And so did a meticulous production end. A play rendered a complete shambles by this boy of the abyss. A stage offered to him to prove his talent, so wasted and defiled by a conscience. Sinner, sinner! This coward, this lamentable coward. A hunter letting go its prey, presuming to still return to the castle, to report to its king. And yet he! He follows the prey's steps, disappears with it into the barrens' ends?! Let him be far from civilization, far from art, to go to that wild brink. He is fit only to be exiled.

HE ESCAPED BY TURNING ON THE TROUPE IN A MOMENT OF CONSCIOUS GUILT AND REBUTTAL!! My sweetest, tormented darling yeah, you get to stay in my husband team forever.

-Phantom Trust 200-

[Classified Log] We found the site of the incident that befell the troupe at the time.

Alright...

All the residences, facilities, and public spaces have been preserved as is, including the troupe's tents stationed in the park, just like in the records - the only thing that's missing are the residents.

Gosh, the description is like they got wiped away by Nuclear power. What in the world kind of Oripathy wave was that???

The best way to describe it is as if a piece of cake was sealed within a plastic bag, then thrown into a fervent crowd at an Iberian festival.

Someone gave their all fishussy to write this line.

What we managed to recover is pretty similar to whatever would be left in that bag afterwards. As for the portion of the data that was sent out, the path was too vague and could not be tracked.

Data sent out? Am I understanding this correct, the show was being streamed?

In order to verify the content, we played a portion of the video footage that could be considered somewhat intact. While doing so, three of the investigators present experienced degrees of psychological disturbance, so we were forced to temporarily seal off the remaining files.

What the absolute hell, so we never got to really see/hear what was happening? Was Phantom... the one to do this? Was he singing and it destroyed everything?

[Video File - Encrypted] [Encrypter - Kal'tsit] [Danger Level - 3] '■■■stage, death■■■■behind■■■loop, song■■, ■■■■end, all■begin.'

I need to ask Dr. Pinkie as soon as they wake up about this. I didn't read a lot of stuff about the game while I was playing it, only laughing at items I got.

-Shalem E2 Promotion-

When a person begins learning to perform, or takes up the profession of an actor, they bear for the rest of their life a curse: Are you doing what you would, or carrying out an endless performance?

This is not going anywhere nice.

Do you enact your true personality? Or is your false personality itself the true you? Oh, I imagine you likely can't make heads or tails anymore. Let me show you a way forth. Whether you're the bottomless boy of the abyss taking the stage, or the nobody Shalem aboard Rhodes Island. Listen to this suggestion from your old butler. Everything is a sham. You are not your own self. You were born a performance. Don't be led astray by your self. You are a role, and the role is all that you are. The role's choices are your choices. Now take the stage, performer. The time to offer yourself to art has come.

-Phantom E2 Promotion-

...

...

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[adorablegorilla]

The Troupe Playwright is a little whiny bitch. I don't mean so much in gameplay, he's a definitely harder than Mouthpiece but he's manageable as long as you bring a Therapist Medic, but the fact that the Silent Chapter Ending is literally him going "wah wah it's unfair that we lost so I'm going to use my bullshit reality powers to make things Bad in the future >:(" okay you whiny little sore loser. Come over here so I can shove you in a locker like the overglorified theater nerd you are 👊

[oltammefru]

A lot of the (non-ending) IS4 stages don't really exist diegetically or in a way acknowledged by the story, but are merely just there for gameplay. In contrast to this, not only does Illusions in the Sand exist diegetically within the story of IS4, we know exactly who designed it in-universe, because there is in fact an in-universe character that designed the stage that imo is the worst stage in the entirety of Arknights.

YOU

Local Banshee designs "worst stage ever" asked to leave Rhodes Island Elite Op.

Please never let this man cook ever again.

[snowlily-art]

Grounded

[the-cornuthaum]

So we got the stats for IS3 today, with its runtime officially over.

0.16% of doctors collected all relics.

And we all fucking know why. Because of head-ass relics like Pathfinder Fin (you will literally never get this if you don't play with the Dice squad), Silver Forks and Cathedral Puzzle.

This got me to think long and hard about why I ended up *not* 100%ing all of IS3 - I never got the Pathfinder Fin even after I did All Endings All Squads before the content expansion, and I just couldn't make myself grind more dice squad (which I did not enjoy, as the dice mechanic largely sucked until the content expansion)

Goodbye IS3. You were in so many ways a huge improvement over IS2. No longer did we have to do 5-6 runs just to get to see the ending 3 or 4 encounter chain happen once. The maps were much faster and generally more challenging. You had a much more fleshed-out difficulty system. Better relics that led to more fun combos.

Goodbye IS3. You were a fucking disappointment full of glaringly half-baked implementations and poor design decisions. Whether it was the completely asinine unlock requirements for some of your relics, the completely binary light mechanic where you either had 100 light or no light as far as curses went, the poorly laid out difficulty curve (+1 hope cost, literally the single biggest swing, at level 4? rather than the nothingburgers that they put at 13 and 14?), two of the worst bosses in all of Arknights (I'm looking at you, The Last Knight and Izumik) and generally the lingering feeling that you could have been SO much better if only they'd actually put more thought into the supporting mechanics for each run.

I will miss you, but not nearly as much as I could have.

[cosmickasha777]

Typhon, along with various things seen in Expeditioner's Jǫklumarkar in Arknights

[xoyvsstuffs]

something shown on and a result of a recent stream by @cerastes

[clarste]

This bit from Skadi's memory mapping in IS3 is the most adorable thing in the entire game, imo.

Transcript:

The hatchlings seem afraid to leave the water. Their immature anatomies find the dryness uncomfortable. After some trial and error, they choose to attach themselves to the rock wall, curiously scanning the world above the surface with their visual organs. Skadi takes out a lyre, tunes it, and begins playing. She sings. It is a song that knows neither trouble nor sorrow. It is full of love and kindness. The hatchlings stretch out and sing along with their developing organs.

[bobbile-blog]

Arknights Lore Recap - August 2024

Sorry I'm late on this one - it ended up being way longer than I expected, and rounded out at over six thousand words. PLEASE do skip around and just read what's important to you, I know I certainly couldn't stomach reading all this in one sitting. Also, this isn't gonna include a lot of IS4 stuff, not even because it isn't important but because I haven't actually gotten most of the endings yet :(

Anyway, regardless of all that, here's your biannual Arknights lore recap! The usual disclaimers apply - while this will technically be spoilers for everything up to the current state of the Global server (Post-Here a People Sows, Pre-Lucent Arrowhead and Babel), I've done my best to avoid individual spoilers whenever possible. The idea is to summarize the game's current plotlines in a way that can get new players up to speed and refresh the memory for folks who've just lost track of all the nonsense going on at the moment. All this and more, under the cut!

Side Plots:

Okay first of all, I'm changing the way I organize things. I've realized it's somewhat silly to have the big spoilers right at the top, so the main story is now at the bottom.

In addition, to just quickly define what I consider an "active plotline", I'm including plots that have had more than one continuous event and haven't had a major resolution to its story.

Sui Siblings

Ancient Forge(?) / Who is Real / Invitation to Wine / Where Vernal Winds will Never Blow / A Death in Chunfen(?) / Here a People Sows

Nian / Dusk / Ling / Chongyue / Shu / Ji / Wang / Lava / Zou Le / Lee / Lin Yusha / Waai Fu / Basically every major Yanese government figure

Long ago, in the pre-history of Yan, the land was ruled by ancient gods called Feranmuts. In the founding myth of of the country, a leader named Yan united the disparate tribes of humans and then waged war on them. Despite the god-like powers of these Feranmuts, Yan was able to subdue them with the aid of a traitor - a young and haughty Feranmut named Sui who sought to be the only one with the powers of a god. In the "Great Hunt", all of the old Yanese Feranmuts were killed or subjugated, and then Yan turned on Sui, binding and sealing It forever. With the Feranmuts gone, the nation of Yan lived in peace and prosperity, free from their shadow forevermore.

At least, that's what was supposed to happen, but Feranmuts aren't quite so easy to contain. Over time, Sui's consciousness began to slip out of its bonds piece by piece. These fragments each wandered the world without real form until they were able to answer the question "Who am I", at which point they gained personality and ego distinct from Sui. The Yanese government isn't exactly happy about these fragments wandering around, but there isn't really a whole lot they can do about it - the Sui fragments have godlike powers, after all. They've established a secret branch of the government called the "Sui Regulator" to keep an eye on them, and have mostly left them alone.

The events featuring the Sui Siblings actually take place a few years after where we are in the main story - Zwillingstürme im Herbst takes place around the fall of 1100, while Who is Real takes place in the fall of 1101 and Here a People Sows is in the early Summer of 1102. These events follow a series of plots surrounding the revival of Sui - that is, if all of the Sui siblings gather together in one place, they will re-combine into Sui again and It will be freed from its prison. This is promoted by some factions of the government, who presumably want to take advantage of the Feranmut's power once more, as well as some of the Sui siblings - to our current knowledge, these are Wang and Ji. Most of the Yanese government opposes this for obvious reasons, and has instead taken a stance hostile to the Sui siblings. We've even run into other Feranmuts who have gotten involved with the conflict - Ya, an ancient peer of Sui, is roaming Yan seeking retribution from Sui, and wants to reform It so It may finally answer for its betrayal. Finally, a growing portion of the Sui siblings are gathering to try to figure out a way to escape their fate. The exact details of this plan aren't totally clear yet, but it seems to involve using some sort of magical proxy of Sui to grant them independence.

A last note should be given to the subject of Jie, the Sui Sibling with the domain of writing. She's been alluded to in previous events, but we only really got details in Here a People Sows, and it's implied she'll be important going forwards. Jie was a kind and benevolent figure who wanted to spread literacy and writing among the people of Yan. She was successful - she appears to have birthed the modern Yanese education system - but in doing so, she gave up herself. Around 60 years ago, she either disappeared or was murdered. Whatever the case, she appears to have disappeared from the memories of everyone but her siblings (without spoiling Here a People Sows, that's an important clue). Her disappearance seems to have affected all the siblings, but Wang most of all, and he cites her as a major reason behind his actions to reform Sui.

Seaborn Struggles

Grani and the Knight's Treasure / Under Tides / Stultifera Navis / Mizuki and Caerula Arbor

Skadi / Specter / Gladiia / Kal'tsit / Irene / Lumen / Ulpanius / Mizuki / The Last Knight / I guess we can count Ishar'mla as a character here too.

Of the many dangers facing modern Terra, none are quite as terrifying as the Seaborn. Armies can be reasoned with, superweapons can be commanded, Originium can be cleaned, but the Seaborn alone present a constantly growing and evolving threat to all life on Terra. The Seaborn are probably best described as an organized group of convergently evolved sea creatures working together under a single will, with an animalistic drive to absorb and assimilate all life into itself. It spreads and consumes across the ocean floor, becoming more powerful with each new creature it eats.

The nations of Terra are no strangers to the seaborn. Iberia used to be one of the most prosperous nations on Terra. During the nation's golden age, they quite literally spanned the continent and established colonies across Terra. Their navies spread their power across the world and made them almost unarguably the most powerful nation on Terra - but all that fell apart when the seaborn finally set their sights on Iberia in a period known as the First Great Silence. Iberia's international empire collapsed, their grand ships fell into ruin, and the people became insular and distrustful of outsiders, guided by an inquisition tasked with burning out the alien with the little fire they had left.

Besides Iberia, the Seaborn are also an enemy of the isolated underwater nation of Aegir. Aegir is much more technologically advanced than the rest of Terra, but they've also been alone against the Seaborn for decades if not centuries. While we haven't been there yet, they're apparently not doing very well. They've struggled to match the Seaborn's strength, adaptability, or unending numbers - which led them to some desperate places. In a last bid for survival, they created a small group of super-soldiers by putting Seaborn blood into a select group of Aegir people who would be able to resist its call. This elite force of soldiers struck back against the Seaborn and, in a desperate final battle, slew the "god" of the Seaborn, Ishar'mla, a single entity that commanded the collective Seaborn will.

However, as is often the case in Arknights, gods don't die all in one go. The will of Ishar'mla was preserved in the mind of one of the Abyssal hunters that killed it, a young woman named Skadi. She and the scattered remnants of the Hunters were cast ashore and eventually gathered in Rhodes Island. Now, the Abyssal hunters fight a twofold battle against the Seaborn and themselves. They must use the strength in their blood to push back the Seaborn and protect the land, but they must also keep an understanding of who they are, or else Ishar'mla will awaken and all will be lost once more.

A special addendum should be added here to explain Integrated Strategies 3, which is (kind of) canon. Ending 1, in which Mizuki meets Highmore and brings her to Rhodes Island, did actually happen. On that mission, though, they find the Stele featured in the "Wander into Wonderland" node and the furniture rewards. Through a mixture of ancient technology and Seaborn-ness, this object allows Mizuki to read the memories of the Seaborn in alternate timelines, and play those potential futures out for the Doctor. We as the Doctor have seen pieces of these futures, but they do not exist as of yet.

Angels and Apostates

Guide Ahead / Hortus de Escapismo / Zwillingstürme im Herbst

Mostima / Fiametta / Executor / Enforcer / Cecelia / Andoain / Pope Yvangelista XI / Oren / Arturia / lots more people but I think those are the important ones

The city of Laterano is something that should not exist on the face of Terra - a paradise. The city of the angelic Sankta people is peaceful, calm, and harmonious - a rare oasis set apart from the suffering of the rest of Terra. The Sankta share an innate ability called "empathy" which allows them to share their emotions with each other, allowing for a uniquely peaceful society almost alien to Terra. Laterano is a city without conflict and without pain, and yet it is still wrong.

As much as I would love to get deep into the philosophy of the Laterano plotline, the first draft of this section ended up being like a thousand words on its own and I'm not going to put you through that. To be extremely brief, the plotline centers around the exceptions that are made to the supposedly absolute Law of Laterano. The first event follows a mixed-race Sankta and Sarkaz child, who shouldn't be able to exist according to the scriptures. Sankta and Sarkaz are ancient enemies and considered to be anathema to each other, and Sarkaz are not allowed into Laterano. Her very existence raises questions about the nature of the Sankta and the faith's rules, and not everyone is eager to have these questions answered.

This is followed up by Hortus de Escapismo, which is one of the most dense and critically complex events in the game. In short, Federico Giallo, known to Rhodes Island as Operator Executor, is canonized as a Saint of Laterano and given all the authority that comes along with it. He is then sent out on a mission to a lost monastery that was stranded for the last ten years, in order to return it to Laterano. Over this time the Sankta in the monastery have built a settlement with other people of Terra in order to survive, and that includes Sarkaz - who cannot be allowed in the city of Laterano. Bringing the monastery back and helping the people there will require breaking the community and leaving the Sarkaz behind. As a Saint, it is now thrust on Federico to navigate this conflict between the doctrines of the Lateran faith and the real, practical world before him.

Moving forward, though, it looks like this storyline will become part of the next big act of the main story, particularly in its role in fighting the coming calamity. Pulling back the curtain a bit, Laterano is secretly ruled by a god-like supercomputer called The Law. This computer gives the Sankta their abilities and writes the laws that they must follow. In observing all of the disasters occurring across Terra, notably the Collapsals and the Seaborn, It predicts an even greater calamity on the horizon that It is now acting to stop. Because of this, It is canonizing a group of new Saints of Laterano, something that hasn't happened since the founding of the holy city itself. Supposedly, it's calculated that this is best chance Terra has at success - but judging by the people it's choosing, things look desperate indeed.

Colonial Kjerag

Break the Ice / The Ride to Lake Silberneherze

Silverash / Pramanix / Kjera / Cliffheart / Gnosis / Degenbrecher / Ratatos / Sicurius / Monch / Arctosz / Harold

Nestled in a valley surrounding Mount Karlan is a rare sanctuary. Kjerag, though harsh and cold, is a land that has never known Catastrophes. For all of Kjerag's history it has been protected by the hand of the goddess Kjeragandr and has thus developed in relative safety compared to the rest of Terra. However, in part because of this, Kjerag is an insular nation which comes across as more of a pre-industrial nation than the rest of Terra. They're still very much an agrarian society, and despite recent modernization projects like railroads and mining operations the country remains small and isolated.

These modernization projects are the brainchild of Enciodes Silverash, CEO of Kjerag's largest international corporation and patriarch of the Silverash clan. Enciodes grew up in Kjerag but left to pursue higher education in Victoria, and had a front-row seat to not only their modern industrial world but also to their aggressive colonial ambitions. He came to the understanding that for Kjerag to survive, it would need to become a modern nation like its neighbors, and he resolved to see this happen by any means necessary.

Not everyone agrees with him, though. Kjerag's government has traditionally been formed of the leaders of the three largest clans - the Silverashes, the Browntails, and the Paleroches. Unfortunately for Enciodes, the leaders of both the Browntails and the Paleroches are just short of hostile. Ratatos Browntail is interested in the economic benefits but trusts Enciodes about as far as she could throw him, and Arctosz Paleroche is a staunch traditionalist and trusts Enciodes significantly less than he could throw him - both totally fair opinions considering his sizeable private army and the attempted coup he did a few years back. However, after said coup, all three of these figures ceded most of their authority to the Saintess Enya Silverash, Enciodes' estranged sister and the voice of the goddess Kjeragandr. While she acknowledges that Enciodes has a point, she seeks to modernize Kjerag in unity with its people rather than in opposition to them - rather than making a modern nation, she wants to make a modern Kjerag. It's a small distinction, but an important one, and her popular support and religious authority is one of the few things that can actually keep Enciodes in check.

At the moment, Kjerag is in the process of exiting their centuries of international isolation. It's a slow process but they've made significant steps forward - the country has entered scientific collaborations with Rhine Lab and signed important trade agreements with their neighbors that will ensure the country can keep developing. They've even fought off some intimidation from the Victorian army, stating firmly that they are an equal nation and not a subordinate. Despite this, though, there's a great deal of work still to be done if Kjerag wants to step onto the world stage with its identity intact.

Contemporary Columbia

Mansfield Break / Dorothy's Vision / Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures

Mountain / Robin / Domma / Astigenne / Dorothy / Jessica / Coldshot / Woodrow / Clip Cliff / Liskarm / Franka / Tila

This one isn't really a cohesive plotline per se, but we can be reasonably sure that the game is going to keep going down this road, so it's worth a mention. In the background of the Rhine Lab plotline, we've gotten lots of backstory on what life is like in Columbia. Now that that story is finished, Arknights seems interested in exploring more lower-class Columbian experiences and stories, and putting the people we've seen in the B-plots of the Rhine Lab events in the spotlight.

Life in Columbia might seem glamorous and high-tech from the top, but for most people in the country it isn't nearly as pleasant. Arknights is heavily inspired by the world of the early 20th century, and if you know anything about American history in that period, you'll know that it was kind of a terrible time. Columbia takes a lot of the worst of it, everything from loan sharks to company stores to price gouging on vital goods like medicine. Life in Columbia tends to mean being trapped in a cycle of debts, keeping you just afloat enough to keep working while maximizing the boss' bottom line. But despite all that, Columbia doggedly looks forward instead of inward, spurred onward by a myth of the frontier that promises a brighter future ahead, no matter how you get there.

This plotline has been in the shadow of the Rhine Lab storyline for a while, but has since developed into its own storyline. The roots of this story were laid in Mansfield Break, our first event in Columbia proper. The background world-building told us a fair bit about life in Columbia and especially the outsize impact corporations have on Columbian society. We wouldn't see the full picture, though, until Dorothy's Vision. The DV B-plot showed us the vicious downward spiral of infection in Columbia - Oripathy medication is both prohibitively expensive and practically ineffective, and the debt they take on usually puts them out of house and home. Without the money to keep themselves from going under or the means to change the system beating them down, most infected are forced into brutal frontier work as pioneers, treated little better than beasts of burden. Finally, Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures showed a similar process happening to the people of Davistown even without any infection - the exploitative cycle works no matter who it's working on. Anything is permissible as long as it serves a larger bottom line, no matter how many people it crushes underfoot. In the future, we're likely to follow the mercenary organization Blacksteel as Columbia contracts them to support its growth, but it's hard to say more than that. We really don't know much about where this story is going, just inferences from the rest of the game's stories.

In addition to these plots, we have a few honorable mentions which don't really have enough plot to be included in the main list but I want to throw in anyway:

Slumbering Sami

The Black Forest Wills a Dream / Expeditioner's Joklumarkar / I would argue Fire within the Sand and Zwillingstürme im Herbst belong here too.

Typhon / Magellan / Santalla / Muelsyse?

Life on Terra doesn't suck enough, so you know what we need? Eldritch horrors! The Collapsals are extraterrestrial entities that we're barely able to understand, let alone fight. They appear to exert some sort of corrupting power on reality around them, and are heavily implied to come from outside our reality somehow. We don't know what they are, what they want, or what to do about them. We barely even know where they come from or how to fight them.

The good news is that for the moment the Collapsals are mostly contained. They've only shown up in very remote regions of Terra - namely in the Sami Icefields in the far north and the Foehn Hotlands in the far south - I think? I know the portal was supposedly closed during the Khaganquest but I remember seeing somewhere that they've started to show up again and I can't put a source to it. Someone back me up in the notes if you remember where that's from. Anyway, a lot of very hard work is put in by the Sami people and the Empire of Ursus to make sure that the average person on Terra doesn't even know what a Collapsal is. If you've gotten far enough to know what the Emperor's Blades are, know that we've only seen two or three throughout the main story because all the rest are up North fighting off the Collapsals. Let's kindly thank them for their service, and the fact that we're not going to have to worry about them at all. Definitely. Don't watch PV-4 just trust me.

Fangs of the Feraerus

Main Story excerpts / Il Siracusano

Texas / Lapland / Don Bernardo / Vigil / Crownslayer / Projekt Red / Lunacub I guess

The Feraerus, also known as the Beast Lords, have been hinted at with a couple of characters for a while now. They are powerful creatures similar to but distinct from the Feranmuts who look like animals from our world, instead of the new creatures Terra has in their stead. Some examples are Emperor, the High Priest from Acahualla, or Siege's lions. They are powerful creatures with inherent magic and some apparent responsibility to protect their associated creatures, though the relationship between the beast lords and the races of Terra, human or otherwise, is still unclear.

Regardless, a particular group of Beast Lords is notable for their threat - the Signori Dei Lupi. These are a pack of wolves that live in what is now Siracusa. Because they're wolves in a fictional work, they go by debunked wolf science rules, and are in a power struggle to determine the pack's alpha. Unfortunately, fighting amongst themselves isn't very effective when every member of the pack is an immortal being, so they've instead chosen to settle things by a competition. Every wolf in the pack has picked a human to serve as their champion, teaching them to hunt the others and letting them loose in a sort of battle-royale-style death game. As far as we're aware, Don Bernardo was a fang but has been replaced by Lappland, Projekt Red and Lunacub are both fangs of different wolves, and Crownslayer's mentor, killed by Red in between Chapter 6 and Il Siracusano, was not just a fang but "the first true wolf". We don't know much else about this competition, but we're definitely going back to Siracusa in the future, so this competition is only just getting started.

I don't have an alliteration for Team Rainbow :(

Originium Dust

Ash / Blitz / Frost / Tachanka

Team Rainbow isn't remotely plot-relevant, but with a sequel event coming up I thought I'd quickly recap the original event for those who couldn't read it. Team Rainbow is a special forces from our Earth, or if not something very close to it. A segment of Team Rainbow is sent on an operation to capture the rogue Russian scientist Levi Klitschko. Klitschko has, unbeknownst to everyone, been experimenting with Originium, and right before he's captured he activates a device that sends the entire bunker to Terra.

The team arrives in Sargon and is quickly drawn into a local power struggle. The local lord made a deal with Klitschko, giving him protection and resources in exchange for the scientist creating him an army of Originium-infused mutants. Team Rainbow, on the other hand, ends up helping the local infected when the lord's men come to push them around. Things go south pretty quickly, but Team Rainbow runs into a Rhodes Island squad and they're able to mount a unified assault on the Lord. They break through his mercenaries and reach Klitschko just in time to watch him sacrifice himself to unleash a massive mutant creature, which they eventually bury in the rubble of the bunker.

In the aftermath, Team Rainbow is rescued by Rhodes Island reinforcements and brought to the landship. They don't have a way to return home, but Terra can always find room for another squad of mercenaries, so they decide to make the most of things and set off to explore this new world.

Finished Plotlines:

These are mostly copy/pasted from my last post, because they haven't really changed much. Same deal as before - these plots have basically wrapped up, so I'll give as spoiler-free a review as possible. They're good plots, go back and read them, but until you can this is just a quick summary of where the world stands now that they're completed.

Fear Neither Hardship Nor Darkness

Maria Nearl / Pinus Sylvesteis / Near Light / An Obscure Wanderer

Maria Nearl / Zofia Nearl / Margret Nearl / Młynar Nearl / Dikaiopolis / All of Pinus Sylvestris / Platinum / Roy and Monica / The Doctor / Gravel / basically all the major political figures of Kazimierz

Kazimierz, and the infected living within it, lived without hope. They lived in a dark world, where an oppressive hyper-capitalist system suffocated them, leaving them not just without the means to survive but without any chance of changing the system or fighting the world around them. Pinus Sylvestris knew how to fight the Chamber of Commerce, Dikaiopolis knew how to open up paths for the infected, and Rhodes Island knew how to get medicine to people in need - but none of that could save Kazimierz, because Kazimierz lived in a world without the hope that the system could be changed. Kazimierz needed a Knight - a Knight of honor and virtue, a Knight taken directly from the pages of the storybooks, a Knight that could be the noble light that illuminates the land. They needed brilliant, blinding hope, hope that could not be hidden and could not be denied, to descend from the heavens in their hour of need. The only person who could have saved Kazimierz was Margaret Nearl.

Margaret Nearl won the 24th Major and became the Grand Knight, and has since stayed in Kazimierz to improve living conditions for the infected and push back against the General Chamber of Commerce. The Armorless Union has mostly been decapitated - the Platinum defected, the Lazurites have disappeared and taken on new identities, and the Darksteel has promised to stay away from Margaret and Rhodes Island. Finally, Pinus Sylvestris and most of the rest of the Nearls are now on the landship, working for Rhodes Island.

A New Age is Upon Us

Rhine Lab Manhua / Mansfield Break / Dorothy's Vision / Lonetrail

Silence / Saria / Ifrit / Muelsyse / Ptilopsis / Ahrens Parvis / Kristen Wright / Dorothy / Ferdinand Clooney / Ho'olheyak / Tin Man / Trevor Friston / Mark Max

6,152 meters above sea level, there exists a mysterious barrier called the Starpod. It disrupts arts, tears apart solid matter, and even warps the light that travels through it, rendering space travel or even any sort of medium-altitude flight impossible. It has not always existed, but has covered Terra for almost all recorded memory, and was a simple fact of the world - until Kristen Wright tore it open and flung a spacecraft through.

On November 21, 1099, the world of Terra fundamentally changed. It didn't change in a particularly perceptible way - everyone still got up and went about their day the same day afterwards, and you'll be hard-pressed to actually link anything that will follow to the actions of Kristen Wright. But despite that seeming insignificance, Kristen Wright has left her mark on every living being in Terra, from the magistrates of Yan to the farmers of Sargon to the seaborn crawling amidst the oceans. There is a little something that never existed before - a little fragment of possibility that comes from seeing the world behind the curtain, even if for just a moment. It's impossible to tell where that spark will go. But one thing is for sure - "if, in a century or a millennium, our descendants walk among the stars, the masses will sing her praises."

In more concrete effects, Saria is now the Control of Rhine Lab. She heads the company, and Silence now serves as a senior ethical consultant and head of a burgeoning movement for scientific ethics in Columbia - using the sudden momentum generated by the Trimounts project to push for greater oversight and consideration in the scientific world. Both her and Saria now split their time between Trimounts and Rhodes Island, and Ifrit once again has two moms to spend her time with :)

Finally, Ho'olheyak has joined Rhodes Island with the piece(?) of Trevor Friston that she captured with her arts. The Tin Man and the Maylander Society now have their eyes on Rhodes Island, but more importantly, The Doctor is coming to understand more and more about their past. They're starting to understand their identity, and like Kal'tsit has said, they may not be able to stop.

A Tune, Lingering in my Head

Lingering Echoes / Zwillingstürme im Herbst

Ebonholz / Kreide / The Witch-King / Czerny / Hibiscus / Lessing / Fremont / Hildegarde and Grimmacht

The Witch-King of Leithanien was one of the most powerful casters in Terran History, and even after his death, ripples of his presence still echo through Leithanien and beyond. The events of the Stimmverlust had two main consequences - the Güldensgesatz being weakened, and the Sarkaz Liches departing from Leithanien, as well as the longer-term effect of making Leithanien aware of the presence of the oncoming collapsal crisis.

All of these are significant in their own way - these events were extraordinary important for world-building and writing magic lore and setting up later plots, but none of that really lends itself particularly well to a brief summary, about the closest I can get is "powerful magic leaves ripples, and fundamentally changes the world around it in a way that can be difficult or impossible to undo". It's the sort of plot which can either be explained in bare bones or in extreme detail, but it's too tightly wound around other plots and world-building that there's nothing in between the two. This storyline is likely going to get wound into the Laterano plotlines in the future, so where necessary I'll include explanations with them.

The Main Story:

Main story chapters / Vigilo / What the Firelight Casts

Not a whole lot has changed since our last plot recap, which feels a little weird because of how big chapter 13 was. It's hard to list everything that happened, so I think I'll keep to a shorthand list of all the factions at play in Victoria and what each of them wants, as of the end of Chapter 13.

Rhodes Island

Amiya / Kal'tsit / Doctor / Logos / Ascalon / Closure / Dazmati / etc.

Rhodes Island's goals aren't really set in stone, but they are generally interested in pushing the Sarkaz out of Victoria and ending the suffering caused by the occupation. Amiya has embraced her role as the lord of fiends - she understands that to bring peace to the Sarkaz, she must first shoulder all of the pain they feel, and she pushes on regardless. Towards that goal, Kal'tsit has started to reveal more of the history of the Sarkaz, and Logos and Ascalon are becoming more important. As Amiya becomes more powerful and more sure of herself, the Sarkaz courts are finding her harder and harder to deny.

Darknights+

W / Innes / Hoderer / Paprika / Ulšulah / Ermengarde? I guess?

The Darknights trio has finally made friends! I'm so proud of them. You could make the argument that these folks belong in the Rhodes Island section, but their aims are different enough that I think they ought to get their own brief. This group, but mostly Hoderer and W, are exploring the idea of a new Kazdel - that is, what does Kazdel without the constant cycle of hatred even look like? This has mostly taken the form of rebellion from inside Kazdel's military forces, and actually communicating with people on the other side to ask questions like "Hey do we have a plan beyond constant occupation" and "This kinda sucks, are we sure this is how we want to live". They're the other half of Rhodes Island's philosophical strategy - Amiya can free the Sarkaz of the cycle of hatred, and W and Hoderer can find a way for them to live afterwards.

The Exemplars

Siege / Glasgow Gang / Delphine / Self-Salvation Corps / Horn / Misery

The Exemplars were, originally, an elite unit within the Victorian Military. They were considered heroes, renowned for legendary deeds in service of Victoria. But, in one of their many wars with Gaul, the Exemplars were sacrificed in a political move by the Dukes - the unit was wiped out, the name wasn't revived, and what was left of the unit eventually became the Tempest Platoon we met in chapter 9.

It wasn't Siege's intention to fight a war. Her intent was always to protect its people - the real people, like her gang and the people of Norport. As they've travelled through a war-torn Victoria, though, she's realized that she will not be able to bring peace to her people without the power to end the war. And so, she brings together the people she has saved under the banner of the Exemplars, revived once more - an army free from the Dukes and the Sarkaz, who can bring peace to the people, if Siege can live up to the symbol she represents.

Reunion

Nine / Talulah / Guard / Redblade / Percival / Norwell

I nearly forgot Reunion was here too. Reunion has been going through an identity crisis ever since capturing Talulah. Not only have they lost faith in their strong figurehead, but that figurehead has lost a lot of her own spark, leaving the identity and direction of the movement in question.

That's not quite a bad thing, though - Nine is a much more thoughtful leader than Kashchey/Talulah ever was, Red has always been more of a good guy than a villain, and Guard brought a lot of the philosophy of Rhodes Island with him when he joined up. They now have a chance to not just rebuild Reunion, but to remake it into something better. The trick will be getting it right, because in war-torn Victoria, they'll find plenty of lost infected with nothing to lose.

The Dukes

Caster / Windmere / Wellington / Gododdin / Probably more that I'm forgetting / Eblana and Dublinn

The Dukes of Victoria have been the ruling power in the country for the last few decades or so, and they aren't interested in leaving the country to the Sarkaz. While they've been too busy with their power plays and politicking to oust the Sarkaz before now, they've finally come together enough to begin a united offensive against the Sarkaz, putting the whole of Victoria's might on the field against the invaders.

However, it hasn't been going great for them. The Sarkaz fight differently from the formal armies that Victoria is used to fighting. They field massive revenant constructs, use strange witchcraft, and wield oripathy as a weapon like any other against the Victorian army, and the Dukes have been slow to adapt. The exact state of the war is unknown, but it doesn't seem likely the Dukes will be able to win the war on their own, especially while the Sarkaz control Londinum's catastrophe-causing superweapon.

Even if the Dukes don't win the war, though, they'll still be a threat to everyone else in Victoria. No matter how the Sarkaz are removed, the moment they're gone the Dukes will hold a near-monopoly on military force in the country and will probably try to seize power again, to say nothing of potential retaliation against Kazdel or the Sarkaz diaspora. The Dukes aren't an immediate problem, but they also aren't going away any time soon.

The Confessarius

Shining / Nightingale / Amiya arguably / Qui'sartuštaj / Salus

To be totally honest, I barely understand the Confessarius plotline. As far as I understand it, they want the power of the Lord of Fiends. This is possible because the first Confessarius, thousands of years ago, was a Lord of Fiends and they've kept his soul alive through magic eugenics? I think? Qui'sartuštaj currently holds that soul, but when he dies, it'll go to Shining and she'll be taken over by it. Nightingale was also artificially designed as a vessel for that soul, and because of that, Qui'sartuštaj wants to recover her and use her to reincarnate(?) the original Confessarius Lord of Fiends. I think. If someone else knows this plot better than I do, please correct me and I'll update this because I haven't been paying enough attention and I'm kinda lost.

The Sarkaz Court/ Kazdel Military Commission

Theresis / Theresa / Sanguinarch / Qui'sartuštaj / Dazmati / Manfred / Lettou

The Kazdel Military Comission, acting under the supervision of King Theresis, is the current ruling power of the Sarkaz and the acting government in control of Londinum. A few years ago, a group of nobles called for the help of the KMC in restoring order in Londinum, and once they occupied it they chose not to leave and instead took over both the city and the catastrophe-causing superweapon, The Shard, located within it. Ever since, they've been carefully trying to preserve their control over both Kazdel and Victoria.

With the introduction of Rhodes Island and the Dukes closing in, this has gotten a lot harder. Theresis now needs to pacify and manage every individual subgroup of Sarkaz, keeping them satisfied enough to stay under the banner. While doing this, he needs to fight both a war outside the walls, against the Dukes, and inside, against Rhodes Island and various rebellious Sarkaz elements like the Darknights trio and whatever is going on with the Dazmati.

The one reason he's been able to hold on this long is the authority of his sister, Theresa. I'm not gonna go over the entire Theresis/Theresa plotline, because it's difficult to summarize and tied into nearly every other plot in the game, but the really short version is that Theresis represents the traditional Sarkaz rule by fear and Theresa represents a new future, a hope for a future without conflict. When taking Londinum, Theresis ceded to the strong suggestions of the Confessarius and used some unknown ritual to return the late Theresa to life, and presumably render her somehow compliant to him. She now serves as a figurehead of the KMC, and the hope she sparks in the Sarkaz is a big reason why Theresis' ambitions haven't collapsed around him.

And, I think that's most everything! Sweet sassy molassey, that took a while. I may skip the next anniversary's recap, since it'll only be main story stuff anyway. Anyway, as usual, if there's something relevant I've missed, let me know, and if not, I hope this helped! Enjoy your life and practice your art, Doctors!

[lanymme]

I gotta be honest. I don’t think I like IS4 anymore.

It’s always had some really frustratingly steep and specific checks, and a lot of killer stages, and I think it can be punishing in a way that’s not really fun. But it does have some really cool mechanics like foldartals and the bosky passage. And the Encounters are much better than they’ve ever been.

But I think this new update has pushed it beyond a mixed bag into active dislike.

I truly don’t understand what the mode wants from me now, or how it expects me to meet the extreme challenges it constantly puts forward. I regularly feel that I have no chance for victory and no idea how to solve the problems presented to me in a way I’ve never been made to feel previously in this mode.

[cerastes]

It’s great that IS4 will have better distributed and more “fun” oriented intensifiers (called ‘Natures’ in this case, until they release an official term, if they change it). Waves in IS3 were, to be frank, rather shoddily implemented, starting with the way Arts damage gets kneecapped horribly bad. In IS4, it’s instead a general, smaller Damage Reduction for both Phys and Arts.

The Hope handicap in IS3 was the reason a good amount of people didn’t really even try or stuck to People Skills squad: it was too early, too much

3* non-reserves cost 1 Hope. That immediately changes how IS is played at a fundamental level: Kroos 3* is a great addition to any team because of her innate good damage, spinach compatibility, and 0 cost… But is she worth that precious 1 Hope when your 6* mainliners will cost a whooping 7 Hope? Suddenly that Reserve Sniper seems a whole lot better at 0 cost. It’s a pretty big ask at Waves 4: Even if you only consider Waves 7 as the max difficulty for the purposes of scoring, that’s still way early to throw such a huge change into the mix. Nature 6 seems more apt, and note it only affects 4* and up. I think it’s a step in the right direction; at Waves 4, using Reserves is fine, but at Waves 13 and up, by the time enemies receive their Floor 2 buffs, that’s already a stat heft the Reserves will struggle to compete with, and they have no Skill to even the field. Yes, Waves 8 and above is flexing and testing your own limits, but this can and should also be fun, and getting Hope-starved so badly is a huge turn off to a lot of people, so they use People Skills squad. Then they get bored because using anything but People Skills squad on Waves 4 and above means dealing with the Hope drought.

I also would like if they made Natures more apparent in the UI tbh. This is definitely not an HG blunder, but a concerning amount of people didn’t know (maybe don’t know) that there’s a ladder of difficulties in IS3, because AK players hate reading or are allergic to tutorial text or some other phenomenon, so I had plenty of anons saying IS3 was easier than IS2 and in the same ask asking what these Waves I spoke of were.

All in all, I hope IS4 ends up feeling better than IS3. I do like IS3, but it was a bit of a letdown, to be dorothy frank. I think the Seaborn aesthetic was not really used to its fullest (maps are boring slates of light blue with a pretty boring bgm). It was fun grinding out the Week 1 Waves 15 clear, but after that, it didn’t grab me nearly as hard as IS2 did with it’s excellent aesthetic and replayability.

When it comes to bosses and minibosses: IS3 minibosses are kiiiinda mid. IS2’s Golem and Jetman are fun, the Clown was scary depending on your build, the… Shooty dude was mid, and IS3 midbosses feel like him for the most part.

I like Highmore Boss more than Phantom Boss, I think Highmore is a really good boss and map. Last Knight is the single most miserable boss to fight in the game and very boring even when you know what to do, and somehow worse than Big Sad Lock. Ishar-mla is fine, not bad, not very good, just fine, which is a bit of a letdown for me, considering Mouthpiece is one of my favorite bosses in the game. Jury’s still out on Boss #4, hope it’s good, Playwright isn’t phenomenal but he’s good.

My thoughts on the state of IS3. Though these are various criticisms I have for it, I do wish to note: it’s still a fun mode, and I think a great learning experience: balancing a roguelike or roguelite is not easy and it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but it’s still a fun game mode.

[adorablegorilla]

Hand of Snatcher was good in IS2, but I never though it was incredible and often felt it wasn't worth buying from the shop. But in IS3, one of the common enemies unique to the gamemode is a ranged enemy that flings minions onto your melee units that they remove by attacking... and it counts as killing enemies for the Hand.

Without actually changing the stats, IS3 took a relic that was already good and made it amazing simply by how useful it commonly is. With only two Pioneers, Hand of Snatcher made me confident enough in my DP generation to take Bedrock with Ifrit in my squad- AND I WON.

Anyway, I just think it's a neat case of game design

[lemon-dokuro]

Favourite thing to do in IS4: triggering "change node to X" foldartals on nodes that already are that thing

[oltammefru]

There's this one detail in the IS4 floor4 stage "Collapsals' Afternoon" I fucking love.

Specifically the part of the stage where Collapsed Constructs begin flying from one end of the map to the other in intricateish patterns.

Now what's up with that?

They're fucking birds now. After spending too long witnessing The Horrors and having their programming overwritten and having gained something like sentience they've decided actually being a Beachbrella icefield surveillance drone sucks shit I Want To Be A Bird And Fly Around In Patterns With My Buddies Now. And became birds they did.

[petterwass]

Welp, the Gardener kicked my ass well and truly. My normal tactic of beating it down with Abyssal Hunters didn't work. They attack too slowly for the few seconds it is vulnerable and in the end, time ran out on me.

Not entirely sure how to best it honestly? Maybe hope for double Guard pulls and go Degenbrecher and Ch'en, slam their S3's with Corrupting Heart buffs and try to burst it down every time it is vulnerable? Will probably need Nightingale to keep them alive since they're not Hunters, which is another 6* I need to pull. And hope for Spinach?

Probably still want a Gladiia to hold the other side though, she did admirably at that, as she always do.

It was my first try at it, so not really sure what the optimal way is.

[the-cornuthaum]

IS players be like: "oh no I am dying help i have not gotten a single medic voucher since floor 1, this poison mist is killing me, woe is me, all I had were these 8 supporter tickets"

please for the love of god, fellows, if you play IS enough, hear me out and heed my advice and BUILD YOUR QUERCUS yes that's right you want to BUILD THE DRUID OF GODDODIN she is A BETTER MEDIC THAN MOST MEDICS and will CASUALLY KEEP YOUR SQUAD ALIVE

how? why? she has SO MUCH SHELTER on units above 70% hp and then also permanent healing uptime because her s1 is indefinite so please my brethren in christ and my brethren in not-christ-but-just-IS I beg you

build your quercus. also kazemaru because #kazemarugang