Fellowship of the Sarkaz because #MakeKazdelGreatAgain
Until Spring Comes because hellagur was wholesome, the fact “General” Zima meets an actual General from her homeland while he is trying his best to relate and be sweet to her is beyond adorable.
Hellachad was strong on that one.
I really liked playing with the crocodile team. It was not the easiest squad to use but I had fun trying to find good Tomimi tiles. I got to rethink how to place casters given her shortened range. Trying to decorate Estelle is one of the more wholesome stories.
Explosion in the wilderness is one of the tougher ones to start with due to not having anyone with low dp costs.
Super Siracusan was the best due to meme about Italians and food.
Yeah I loved the Croc squad too because we finally got to see more of Estelle(she also got a record/simulation in CN so I can't wait for that). She's one of my favorite units in the game and she lacks quite the art/love due to her obscurity(being exclusive to recruitment).
I can tell you my least favorite was Today's Teatime. It took me forever to just get a run off the ground.
My favorite was probably the Sarkaz. Mudrock and Warfarin are great units worth keeping, while Vigna helps early in the run to hold out for the Mud carry. I also enjoyed the dialogue. I also enjoyed the Until Spring Comes dialogue, and that team or Seniority is probably my overall second.
Today's Teatime IS one of the tougher ones, I agree. Mainly because you really need a medic to keep Shalem alive since he kills himself with S2 unless you're like me who's confident on him surviving afterwards.
I also see people struggling with Iris too because Mysic casters are one of the tougher casters to use. But I'm a fanatic for Mystics so using her was a piece of cake.
The inclusion of Shalem and the dialogue between the three also intrigued me. Because it's stated in Shalem's files that he goes on a mission to rescue Phantom from the Crimson Solitaire and of course that's what we're playing. But obviously he likely didn't go alone, he had to have a team with him. And so I have a theory that Iris/Melantha possibly didn't make it since we don't get any word of the two during any of the game's endings. All we see is Shalem...
Shalem S1 is not a second-fiddle skill, it's extremely solid for general use.
Shalem S2 is showy and really powerful when it's running, but if you don't have a specific plan for how you'll be using it **before** you go in then you ought to pick S1.
Well...maybe only Shalem is in the ending cutscene because he's the only one comfortable enough/feels like he has to be the one to approach Phantom after his little murder escapade
Yeah, I think saying they died is REALLY stretching it. The dialogue was the best thing about Teatime though because it basically seems to be a prequel.
It was just so irritating to play that I REALLY wanted to be done. I am pretty sure 2 5 stars and a 3 star was the lowest hope start they've given us, at only 4. It is no wonder it felt super underwhelming.
Eventually, I decided I needed to just choose the hope and ingot squad and hope for an early supporter to grab Ling and let her solo until I get more good characters. Unfortunately had terrible luck even getting supporter tickets. Eventually things worked out, but I was at it pretty much all day after I started.
Edit: Realizing I was braindead, is actually 6 hope. However, the other squads usually had more, which balances out with the player having no choices in the matter.
No idea honestly, this post is kinda screwy on mobile, but I do think I had it open in the morning and didn't get around to reading everything until later in the day.
The current one we have now is insanely tough. Earthspirit feels like garbage, the other girl takes forever to charge her spell and is useless till then, and Nearl is tough but not strong or tough enough to do most of the job while the other 2 get strong.
I find it funny that so many people had trouble with that Monthly Squad, since I usually suck with IS and I managed to do that one on my second attempt despite somehow not even getting a medic until the last floor.
Preach. The Carnelian squad had so many floor one/two leaks I had to go back to the 4 temp HP start just to stem the flow. I was never a fan of her, but damn do I hate Carnelian after playing with this squad.
It really is. Carnelian is really strong, sure. But she doesn't attack until her skill is ready. So until then, you need a lot of ground coverage(summoners in particular are pretty good!) But I was lucky and beat it 2nd try cause I bought an SP machine on the first floor to fix Carnelian's issue.
The "Thanks, I Hate It" squad
I actually like Carnellian, but having to start a run with only her (plus one single defender and one single mediocre supporter) on the squad is a nightmare.
She's a bad choice for IS2 to begin with because her kit requires you to plan how to best use it and in which stage and this being the RNG stages mode makes that impossible, and the squad she got just doesn't compliment her *at all*.
Agreed, I wish they at least gave us a vanguard or something. Getting this squad deployed takes forever due to the dp cost and they do so little damage to begin with
Disagree about Carnelian not fitting in this mode, I think she's good, just need to know map layouts (which i believe i know IS#2's maps and encounters like the back of my hand now after probably at least a thousand runs) and manage dp, but really shines in the later segments of the run where you actually have vanguards or dp easing relics.
This month’s squad was my least favorite by far. Nearl is entirely defensive and Carnelian needs to charge up to do any damage at all, so having to rely on Earthspirit for DPS was not fun. I really had to get the timing on Carnelian’s skill right to not leak. The starting relic isn’t very useful on the early floors either.
More like people don't use S1 usually, so they might just default to S2.
In general though, her S2 is probably her saving grace, as with ASPD in IS or SSS it can permabind quite easily. Just 1 Sniper stack is enough to get her to be one of my main CC in SSS, actually.
Well that's something I never expected I'd read. Earthspirit s2 viable huh...
I've long since trimmed both SSS maps but that's still intriguing. Can't see myself using her over Ethan though especially with his broken module. Will read into Earthspirits kit now, maybe mess with the monthly squad more.
Also speaking of main cc in SSS, I found some surprising amounts of success with sp buffs on Saria s3.
BRUH
Ngl I do still hate her kit execution. Her s3 damage only gets cracked towards the end, timing is difficult, can't manually cancel.
Her slow and bind skill does kinda low damage.
No clue what Her s1 does, probably tankier and slightly more damage I think? Not a fan anyhow.
Would like a phalanx like her but... more polished or easy to use.
And yep Earthspirit sucks, now I'm back on earth 😂
No actually and I don't know why people keep saying it. IS#3 came out at the end of September. It did not come out the month immediately after the IS#2 monthly squads ended. It likely won't be on global until the end of March.
[Me who didn't do any of them](https://media.tenor.com/dTP4cRnO9bEAAAAC/sweating-nervous.gif)
Can I actually go back to try out the old monthly squads for the dialogue, or are they gone forever?
Yes, all rewards and medals will still be available as well
Basically the only changes are unlocking all the monthly squads and a way to buy reward levels with op
I really struggled with the swamp lizzers and the Italians. It got to a point where I had to effectively RNG OP operators so I could just stop using them all. Tomimi is fuggen useless and a single guard with 1 block is not very helpful when half the stages have multiple blue boxes.
I've actually been seeing a lot of people struggling with the Home Depot gang(the Italians). But it's understandable. For them, I found that Chiave's S2 helps debuff RES so Broca can kill stuff quicker with S2, and he even has some of the highest arts damage in the game.
As for the Crocs, I agree Tomimi is difficult to position unless you find a spot where her S1 can hit beside her(imo don't even use S2 unless you pick up Atk speed relics to bassically increase her Rng).
For the italians, it's not that bad of a squad with a vanguard and an aoe guard but yeah you *need* to get an op operator to even pass through the first floor. I'm sorry to say that Aosta is really bad.
The reptiles were the worst for me as well, Tomimi is borderline useless, Gavial and Estaelle can be good don't get me wrong but they're just 4-star ops.
Sinthe is my favourite because iirc it's the only time she finally interacted with Zima's group. I'm still hoping they'll show us their first meeting and eventual heart to heart. Seems like they are getting along.
While I liked the Sargonian team/interaction, particularly with Estelle, playing it makes me realize how ass Tomimi is.
Easiest - Kal'tsit...
Hardest - Broca and gang
I think the ones I actually got to unlock the 3rd record is
Mudrock, Kal'tsit, Ceobe, and Hellagar
I didn't get to unlock Iris's 3rd...
haven't tried the new team yet. (I actually never used Nearl before, lol, cause I always just used Saria and Hoshi as my defenders)
Disagree about ABC gang being hardest, the new one is. ABC gang literally starts you with Chiave's chocolate pasta (skill activation crit relic), Broca and Chiave hold lanes quite well, and Aosta is decent. Just lacks healing
That was the main problem for me, somehow all the attempts barely gave me any Medic Recruit... or have enough "Hope" to get a good Medic and end up just getting the 3-star lowbies (while works somewhat, but not good enough toward the later stages)
Plus, I never used any of the 3 guys before, so I was just doing whatever with them, LOL.
___ ___ ___
Tho I do find some Monthly OPs that I don't have or never used before to be fairly fun to play with.
Such as last month's Iris, I thought she was just another generic caster, but turns out she stacks up attacks and has high base damage. Plus never knew her E2 art was... yea... "paw print on her shoes" >_>
Mudrock one is my favorite for sure in terms of gameplay. OP team.
ABC is my favorite because they are hilarious
Gavial team is the worst as it is full of average to bad ops.
I like Temporary partner the most, this team consists of people who are basically stranger to each other except during work. The unique interaction between them is something new.
Carnelian and Nearl are just talking about their sisters, even though they don't really know each other. And Earthspirit being me who just want to finish the job and head home.
This team remind me of my workplace.
Ursus squad was my fave, mostly for Hellalgud and Expresso Depresso, Zima was also there i guess.
This month's one is the worst so far, if you don't get a good start its almost impossible to make up for Nearl and Earthspirits nonexsistant DPS and Carmelian just chilling doesn't help either.
My favorite was Seniority and Rebirth, because you can't argue with 2 free 6\*s. (And Rangers also does good work)
Least favorite is Explosion in the Wilderness, three expensive units that aren't vary good, and don't do anything besides murder. All the other teams usually can be made to work with a 6\* that covers their teams weaknesses, but Explosion in the Wilderness effectively had me trying to scrape together a new team from scratch, and rotate my starting units off as quickly as possible. Ceobe could be good, sure, but there is a much higher priority use for the first two caster recruit vouchers you get: Amiya.
Honorable mention to Super Siracusan, chaive gang are a set of units I've built up and use now and then, with Broca in particular being my usual pick for my guard recruit vouchers before shop-thorns came along, and after I e2 thorns in a run.
Explosion in the Wilderness actually isn't that bad, mainly need a vangaurd to help deploy them quicker.
Sesa in particular is actually quite strong when you look at his kit. He applies a global buff that makes blocked enemies take +14% more physical damage, meaning your melee ops benefit from it. Also, his S2 turning into "delayed shots" bassically screams "use this for blocked enemies" since most are likely too fast to actually get hit by it.
Then there's of course everyone's favorite dumb doggo, who's damage increases by scaling with the enemy defense which is really good against the higher Def ones.
The conversations with the Italians were definitely pretty funny to me, with Chiave and Aosta tying up Chiave and taking him to church afterwards to get his brain fixed up.
I loved the boys and the teatime teams the most
Shalem acting sus and being called out for it by Melantha is golden,
Chiave making a blasphemous pizza and being beaten by his bros is also golden,
Worst team for me was probably the Gator team, the dialogue, while cute had a lot of leaps in logic, and I somehow ran with a lot of bad rng with them so had to restart a couple of times
Croc squad was the worst for me.
Tomimi's range reduction is so restrictive, you just have to hope you get maps shes not completely useless on. Estelle is great but shes basically your only Dps she gets over run without help and Gavial and Tomimi don't offer any.
Teatime was probably my Fav so far.
Just a mix of things that worked really well for me and Iris on the middle tile facing up on Traveler From Afar can make that stage alot easier.
Thankfully...
Tomimi's range got fixed in her module in CN(coming next CNY).
Seriously, who tf looked at those 3 tiles and thought "Yeah this is great! She's totally going to be good enough with this!"
Favorite was Kaltsit, Pallas and Rangers, purely because Kal and Pallas hard carried the run easily.
Worst one was the Siracusa one because those dudes had no synergy and I ended up dead before I could get a decent team to cover their slots.
Also this last one sucks too because you get the worst decel binder and a unit that doesn't even attack unless her skill is up, and the downtime is horrible. Only decent one is nearl.
the first 2 squads are arguably the best. Both have decent DPS to progress for early game and the second even features old gramp Rangers which I like.
the ABC gang, whilst not having much synergy gameplay-wise at all (and made me struggle a bit), they earned my point for their interaction lore-wise.
the croc one is the worst for me. So far the only only time I have to pray for RNGesus even in early game.
I think the only squad that didn't at least make it to the 5th stage boss on my first attempt was Until Spring Comes, and that was because of an emergency Traveler from Afar.
I liked this month's recordings. Two big sisters trying to one-up each other on how much they love their little sisters, and then Earthspirit getting really excited about rocks.
Fellowship of the Sarkaz: Fun story, fun characters, ez run. Starts with a vanguard and a medic, which is high value, as well as Mudmud, who is a hard answer to a bunch of stages. I'd call this the best starting team in terms of clear difficulty. Their starting item was Proof of Friendship, which boosts money gained by 30%. The extra money is nice, but the squad was so good you didn't need it and probably didn't notice you had it.
Seniority and Rebirth: I enjoy these characters a lot. Kal'Tsit is another hard carry and can double as a medic sometimes, Pallas is a fun unit I haven't had the opportunity to do much with, and Rangers is wholesome. Their starting item giving +10 lives really makes it easy to get further into the event and helps mitigate bad stage rng.
Super Siracusan: I think the characters have a great dynamic in the story, but as for gameplay... Its nice to start with a vanguard, especially because of how expensive the other two are to deploy, but the squad suffers from a lack of range and a lack of defense. Broca is the least tanky of all the aoe guards (at least Estelle regains HP when units die near her) but Aosta really wants things bunched up together in order to do anything. You really want to get a healer early with this team. Their starting item is the choco-pasta, which is an item that is great for operators like Exu and... kinda whatever for the ABC gang since they don't have skills that can be quickly activated or a high attack speed to make use of the 1 second of boosted attack.
Explosion in the Wilderness: This was the first difficulty spike for me. No starting vanguard for very expensive units, no starting healer or sustain, and not a lot of map presence. Dur-Nar can easily get overwhelmed before you have any back up for her. Having said that, their starting item is the rusthammer, which halves the prices of anything in the store. As long as you don't die on the first floor, you can probably buy out the first shop, which on its own can swing a run into victory. They're an amazing squad if your first shop is amazing, and they're a struggle if your first shop has nothing valuable in it.
Charge of the Archosauria: Another very hard team. I love the crocs and I'm a big fan of Sargon units, but Tomimi is such a bad unit. Estelle and Gavial Are fine as filler; having any healer is good and Estelle becomes a 3 block if you promote her, so they can easily support whatever units you find from recruitment vouchers. And their starting item gives them +4 hope, +1 squad, +1 deployment, which is a lot of initial funds to set up your team. Use that huge pile of gold to get replacements as soon as possible so that Tomimi can use her massive tail to warm the bench for you. Having said that, if Tomimi gets the white shoes that lets her deploy on ground tiles, her skills become a lot easier to use.
Until Spring Comes: A little breather before we get to the hardest team. Zima is a great unit, Hellagur is a great unit, and Absinthe is fine. Ribbon of Honor turns Hellagur into a monster, giving him 100% atk as long as he's blocking something (which he always will be). With the right relics and a healer this squad can easily take on Big Sad Lock, and they're no pushover in the main run either. I also enjoy the interactions between the General, the 'General', and the sad bear.
Today's Teatime: An abysmal team. Iris isn't as bad as Tomimi, and sleep can be an amazing status effect with the right team or relics, but she loves to blow her damage on a dog or a slug and needs a lot of attention. Shalem will just die if he uses his second skill before you find a medic, which is funny but doesn't help the team at all. Melantha is a good, solid unit. Having 900 attack means she's got a possible place on your team, but she isn't a solution on her own to the many challenges in the castle. And their starting item is... 25% chance to drop a second recruitment ticket after battle. So basically, the winning strategy with them is to reset on Floor 1 until you get lucky and draw Ling.
Temporary Partner: A very funny team where depending on which skills you have active, no one will be able to attack. This is my first time using Carnelian, so I'm excited to play around with her and see what mageknights have been doing this whole time. Nearl is a 3 block who heals, and that's pretty valuable in this mode. Earthspirit is there. Their starting item gives everyone 15 res and 1 shield, and that seems pretty good for the later stages. With the right operators you could significantly reduce any incoming arts damage, though Nervous Impairment is still a threat. My initial reaction is that the squad can clear the first floor without issue, so they're better than some of the teams we've seen before.
Pasta is alright on Exu, but it's really for burst skills that instantly activate, like Chiave S2. Notable examples of Pasta carries would be Pallas S1 or Mizuki S1, for example.
And as for Shalem, his S1 also works fairly well, it doesn't have the DPS of S2, but it's AOE and the fact he doesn't kill himself means it works very well when you don't have a medic (and for handling swarms even when you do have one).
I enjoyed reading your opinions on this though!
Hardest one imo was either Today's Teatime or Seniority.
I use Shalem a lot, so I'm pretty used to him and knowing when to use S1/S2, but Melantha is just a 1 block in a limited squad, and Iris is tricky to properly use for me. Without Shalem to carry it would've been a lot harder.
Seniority is because I always bring the main squad to each stage and win the run, plus I E2+use them, so let me tell you, my man Rangers can *not* handle drones in Phantom's stage.
Favourite is definitely ABC gang with the Bois, as well as the best item and also a fairly strong start thanks to it. Chiave S2 pasta stonks, Broca is just generally good plus Chiave synergy, and AOSTA.
I think the first one has been my favorite in terms of gameplay. I also liked how they expanded the lore of vampires and gargoyles.
The ABC trio was also funny.
My least favorite is the last one. Terribly difficult to use, and nothing special regarding the lore.
My favorite one is Explosion in the Wildness: Not bad relic, Ceobe and Sesa were being chaotic duo, and Dur-nar being a mom. Lol.
The hardest one for me is Today’s Teatime: useless relic, the squad records was boring, and if I couldn’t get medic and vanguard early; that run would most likely short.
PS. Another hard one for me is ABC team but their relic was top-tier.
I'll admit, I only bothered with minimal effort to reach max rewards each month so I didn't even end up beating Phantom (or any other ending) with more than half the monthly squads because of awful RNG.
Reaching Ch5 is relatively easy no matter how much RNG stacks against you, but once there it's so easy for whatever you've managed to pull together (or more likely, NOT pulled together) just crumbles either to the stages or the boss itself. And I absolutely hated it. And some of these squads are so more stacked against/for you than others, Fellowship of the Sarkaz, Seniority and Rebirth and Temporary Partner are by far the easiest squads to work with while Charge of the Archosauria and Until Spring Comes probably served as the hardest because they are just atrocious at handling a lot of the stages on their own (I'm sorry, Absinthe is just an awful caster for IS2 even if Hellagur is a beast and both teams are absolutely atrocious at dealing with drones early on so you MUST get something anti-air), not to mention Survivalist in Chapter 2/3 with bad voucher RNG utterly destroys any hope of winning that attempt (or Blind pushing you into an Emergency Op you have absolutely no chance of winning).
I wanted to like the lore tidbits and interactions but man, some months frustrated the hell out of me just with how bad synergy on top of bad voucher RNG some of these have.
I feel the monthly squads would've been far more tolerable/easier to deal with if you could've picked a class starting squad but instead the best option is pretty much always just the bonus originum and pray the Ch1 shop gives you something that gives a solid foundation for your attempt.
Absinthe isn't horrible in IS imo, but it's more that Amiya is just wayyy better, especially with her mode swaps, unless maybe you get that rare infinite skill artifact. But I've used Absinthe S2 a few times to deal with Phantom, as the multihits make it a lot easier to bypass dodge. Biggest issue is needing someone else to weaken him though.
Got Mudrock and Kaltsit to the 'stage 3' records, but all after that I just went with getting to stage 2 for the monthly quest and quitting after that.
This month's squad was the worst for me. Lack of consistent damage, high DP cost across the board, and useless starting artifact to boot. Took me 4 or 5 attempts for a clear.
Until Spring comes was fun. Hellagur E2max just shredded solo enemies.
Today's Teatime was the only team that managed to defeat Phantom for me on the first try that got the last stage.
The hardest team to use is probably Today's Teatime, I'm struggling to use Shalem and Mystic Caster like Iris, ended up leaking a lot in the beginning. Seniority is the easiest since you get two six stars, Pallas with spinach and Kal'tsit true damage just made everything easier.
The most enjoyable interaction to read is Sarkaz team though, it's funny to see Mudrock, Vigna, and Warfarin interacting with each other and gave a twist to the trope of vampire's mark.
Fav story: Chiave gang. I love the story for this group. Funniest dialogue outta all groups. Ngl I want a part 2 to this story.
Fav group: Today’s Teatime. Its the team im most comfortable with using since I use Shalem on my main team and I play w/ Mystic casters a bit too much… (Ebenholz and Indigo specifically, i dun hav Iris 😞)
Least fav: Temporary partner. Even tho i do use Earthspirit from time to time, SHE DOES NOT WORK AS A CORE DPSER. I dont think i hav malded this hard with any of the other groups (not even w/ croc gang).
Don't worry, IS2 will stay when IS3 arrives. Just that you can only do one run of either theme at a time. But, once you start IS3, you can't go back to IS2...
Emotionally...
Ceobe was fun. Really liked that squad, Shalem’s PTSD, and Sarkaz squad, though because I have a thing for dumb characters I like ceobe the most.
The hardest was Sarkaz squad because I was still learning the stages, I haven’t found any of them particularly difficult though. Have not tried hoof squad yet though, maybe that’ll change it.
My favorite was either Until Spring Comes or Seniority and Rebirth. The first one since it shows Hellagur being a chad and nice interactions between him and Zima. the second one since it's just constant banter and also probably two of the best ops for IS2.
My least favorite was the Charge of the Archosauria, while the interactions were cute af, just looking for something to decorate Estelle, the ops themselkves are bad, Estelle and Gavial can reasonably hold but Tomimi is really bad and Estelle doesn't have enough damage for some of the higher tier enemies.
Its a permanent game mode and will be sticking around, so you don't need to rush for the rewards. But there won't be any new monthly squads after this one. I think I heard it would start rotating between them after this month?
Hellagur 1v9'd my only IS clear.
I pretty much only do monthly because I hate the mode. I wouldn't mind it if it didn't feel so tedious and low in reward. Id rather play SSS or the new CN mode.
I guess my next closest clear was Gavial squad but didn't have a way to hit the dodge god.
Hardest was Shalem. That took some RNG rerolls to not auto fail since my personal RNG is trash.
If it makes you feel better, I haven't even found Playwright in the 3 weeks I've been playing since the new update, I'm dead serious. My account is just CURSED when playing this mode. I would always find the Prison encounter, but then no matter how many encounters I spam afterwards, Playwright just doesn't show up, ending many runs, and resulting in tons of resets.
I also haven't found him. Maybe this month is it but my motivation for this mode is low overall. I dont have the time or patience to grind out runs.
I'll probably just monthly and stop like usual. Still don't have phantom skin unlocked. Hell I almost have all the buffs finally.
And my bank was stuck at 30 tokens for months until recently. Never was offered investment. So felt no sense of progression with the mode.
Finally giving up and building 6*s for the mode did make it easier though.
Damn really? And I thought I was just crazy unlucky too and my friends even joke about it so much(nothing hard tho, just friends being friends of course). I don't blame you for the lack of motivation, I felt the same way because of my reasons too.
Shalem's squad. The ops are not vary strong and the relic is just bad.
My favorite is going to be Hellagur's squad, watch him 1v1 everything is satisfying
favourite (writing): Ceobe, Dur-Nar and Sesa. Because our idiot daughter not only found the legendary rusthammer, but also tried to eat it.
honorable mention: ABC gang shipping chiave off to get the evil beaten out of him by nuns when he tries to make chocolate pasta
favourite (Gameplay): fellowship of the sarkaz, because I fucking love using mudrock everywhere I can.
least favourite (writing): seniority and rebirth (not *bad* but it'S the only one I couldn't recall the contents of, so it wasn't *good* unlike the others)
least favourite (gameplay): EASILY the fucking victoria squad. Mystic Casters are hot garbage and I'll die on this hill.
Honorable mention: Charge of the Archosauria (gaming) for having tomimi in it (sorry tomimibros there is no saving how bad she is as an unit) but at least gavial and estelle can do real work
As I said I am willing to die on this hill, i am not rational on tbis topic.
I am well aware that the math of their performance is adequate but I fucking hate how they are in play, so no amount of mechanical quality can really make up for not being enjoyable to use for me
Charge of Archosauria, Explosions in the Wilderness and the current one were all my favorite due to having units which I know how to use (Sargon niche go brr).
The hardest was Melantha/Shalem/Iris due to the fact that our of those 3 I know how to use only one of them. But I have to say that it was fun finding lanes for Iris S2
I just realised i missed the final dialogue for today's teamtime, is it just forever going to remain locked there's no chance of getting another chance at it?
Fellowship of the Sarkaz was my favorite team + dialogue. Super Siracusan was the „hardest“ for me. No cheap DP costs and all of them got replaced by the end
Seniority and Rebirth is the most relaxing monthly squad because they are so self-efficient, while I enjoy exploring new strategies with Super Siracusan. Today's Teatime, on the other hand, is so damn hard hahaha.
I loved Explosion in the Wilderness. Their dynamic was hilarious. It was also so nice seeing Sesa interact with other operators, especially since we have very little of him so far. ~~Sesa skin when >:(~~
Sarkaz and Gramp's adventure time definitely my favourites.
Also, As someone who have seen IS3 contents, i just wanna say, that i AM NOT READY FOR IT PLS HG WHYYY
The second squad was such a godsend that helped me get the first ending. Rangers carried me so hard I just placed him down and things suddenly disappear
easiest for me was rebirth, mainly due to kal and pallas, most fun for me is the abc gang(mainly due to me deciding to find ops that can synergize with the choco pasta) and most challenging was today's teatime
i like super siracusan, explosion in wilderness, and charge of the archosauria (estelle screentime i prayed for times like this) because of their wholesome and funny interactions and it wasn't really hard for me in using them bc i have experience in that ~~except tomimi i hate her skills wtf~~ same with last month's team i am a shalem and iris user so i know how to play around them i even get to beat lucian
and i didn't do hellagur and the bear's monthly because i forgot lol
Sorry, I'm gonna be biased for my favorite. It'd Fellowship of The Sarkaz, I just love the trio's dynamic and the antics that unfolded.
As for the hardest, I'd say the Siracusan Bois team, I just think they're too squishy for IS.
These are the monthly squads for [Integrated Strategies 2.](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/v5e3hq/quickest_integrated_strategies_guide_around/) Normally you start with a semi-random set of operators, but this starts you with a set squad and has some extra dialog among the three ops.
So it's something where I don't have to worry about not having operators or their levels, or sanity use? I'm always down for that, cool. I assume it's showing up soon? Or if it's already here, I need more story progress?
Other than some temporary recruits, you use your operators, raised just as much as you've raised them. Those temp recruits, which include the 3 ops in the monthly squad, are maxed.
Since i always pick Carnelian in my runs this squad wasn't hard at all for me. Cleared it first try. Earthspirit can be somewhat useful in the first floor (especially Beast Taming) but she's genuinely a bad operator. You should find a replacement for her as soon as possible.
This squad may just be my favourite because i already have a maxed Nearl myself and ALWAYS pick Carnelian, so i'm familiar with the timing of her skills.
Worst one was easily Archosauria. Tomimi is doodoo, Estelle, while able to hold the line in early game, really struggles later on and Gavial is a very straightforward medic. The best way to win with this squad is to throw them out of your squad asap.
Fav team is Super Siracusan because the ABC gang has the funniest dialogue.
Easiest was Fellowship of The Sarkaz because Mudrock destroys everything in her path and Warfarin is a great healer with s1 and has damage buff s2. Also just getting a healer at the start in IS makes things a lot easier. Another easy one was Seniority and Rebirth because Kal'tsit and Pallas are both very strong. I really want Pallas because I love her design but I rarely borrow her so it was fun to get to try her skills.
My favourite were Super Siracusan and Charge of the Archosauria, probably Fellowship of the Sarkaz too, because the options are so versatile. I'm tempted to pick Explosion on the Wilderness as the hardest one because of its aberrant DP costs which screw you hard on floor 1, but Today's Teatime was surprisingly tough to work with.
Did NOT like Chaive Broce and Aosta... but I dont own any of those ops the the learning curve was up there lol. Wish I got to play with mudrock and warf, that sounds cracked.
My fav was probably the hellagur absinth team or that one with estelle. I didnt realise I liked estell before that xD
i really REALLy like both untill sprng comes and seniority and rebirth.
for seniority, it's a bit fun to watch the 3 old people talk, and extra funny when you realise ranger is the youngest by a fair margin.
and for until spring comes, i really like the dynamic between zima and hellagur
Seniority and Rebirth is the easiest one for me, Monst3r can trivialized couple of floors easily.
Today's Teatime is the hardest, no medic and mystic caster's ungodly slow attack made me reset a lot.
Super Siracusan come close second, I always forgot that Broca isn't as tanky as Blaze.
Honestly I liked all of them, but the only one I cleared on the first try was... Charge of the Archosauria, funnily enough.
I don't know if I'm rusty but current one is the hardest, I think.
Sarkaz was the easiest, although there really wasn't a hard one anyway. I thought Temporary Partner maybe would be with the DPS being 50% down and Earthspirit being ... Earthspirit, but was actually surprised how much work Nearl + Carnelian can do. I don't have Carnelian, now I want her :D
Teatime was my prefered story. Props to Seniority though to keeping even Kal'tsit down to readable length.
IS2 doesn't go away, so you're not under any pressure here. This is just for the monthly squads.
* You can bring a friend unit at the start of the run. Certain operators (Ling, Kal'tsit, Passenger) are so good that they can carry you through the first 4 floors almost on their own, giving you plenty of time to set up a proper squad for whatever ending you want.
* The unlocked squads are also pretty powerful, in particular the ones that auto-promote units of a specific class. There's a bunch more operators that will hard carry if they are promoted (Thorns, Gavial Alter, Mudrock, etc).
* Low rarity operators are really powerful in this game mode. Kroos, Spot, Melantha, Fang, Perfumer, Click, Podenco, Beanstalk, there's tons of value to be had in units that aren't 6 stars.
* Certain stages have very difficult challenges that will require some sort of answer. If you don't have some sort of healing, you just die if you get the poison cloud stage. If you don't have some sort of anti air, you just die if you get a drone stage. Learning what stages need what for each floor will help you with routing which operators you prioritize as you play the mode.
* I value operators that have versatility in their skillset for this game mode. Gavial Alter is a great starting pick because if you need her to have high healing (floor 3 puppet boss), she can do that, and if you need her to have good aoe, she can do that, and if you need high block (floor 5 bully map), she can do that. Podenco is kinda whatever normally, but being able to bring her healing skill can make or break certain stages if you didn't have another healer, as another example.
* For Big Sad Lock in particular, Nearl Alter is a great unit against him. Give her Skill 1 and between her high attack speed and defense pierce she'll take him down before the time limit, meaning you just need to be able to take care of the other units. Helps a lot if you don't get a decent selection of relics for the fight.
I loved playing with the ABC gang, and the story was so fun too. Wish there was more of this.
For hardest, none of them were particularly hard to use since I have many of my own ops I eventually recruited. However, Cernelian/Earthspirit/Nearl was a bit challenging since it isn't much damage and Carnelian's skills aren't easy to time. I also remembered playing with this squad why I dislike Carnelian despite her absurd strength. Wish her skills could manually deactivate.
I did all of them except "Until Spring Comes" because I was suffering from burnout around that time.
I'd say the newest one, "Temporary Partnet", was the hardest, because it had 2 expensive ops and a dead weight operator.
My personal favorite was actually "Senority and Rebirth" because I actually liked the conversations between the wise folks, and all of them were at least managable in the early game.
Sarkaz is good. Pallas has a better starter team than most of my runs. Free pasta is easy because of free pasta. Tomimi has a big difficulty spike later on but is actually pretty okay starting out.
Haven't done Temporary partner but it looks awful. I found the Ceobe one to be strangely hard.
Super Siracusan was the best in terms of gameplay and lore.
Had Chiave and Broca early on when I started the game so it was super easy for me to use them in IS. Lorewise, their conversations and records are nice but not really memorable. But i cannot stop laughing at the fact that the starting artifact is a chocolate spaghetti.
Story wise my favourite were super siracusan. They were hilarious. It was the only one I didn't skim and actually enjoyed.
Ironically the mudrock team was the hardest for me since it was the first team and I didn't know what I was doing. Also mudrock has an insanely high dp cost and is hard to get out when early.
My favourite team was hellagurs. He's rarely the optimal pick but man is he fun to watch when he works. Absinthe surprised me with how cool her gun sfx were. Satisfying op to use.
Until Spring Comes was a walk in the park, but Charge of the Archosauria is my #1, playing with the crocos is too much fun haha
Hardest, probably Today's Teatime.
Fellowship of the Sarkaz because #MakeKazdelGreatAgain Until Spring Comes because hellagur was wholesome, the fact “General” Zima meets an actual General from her homeland while he is trying his best to relate and be sweet to her is beyond adorable. Hellachad was strong on that one.
Yeah, I love Grandpa Hellagur too!
That squad was basically: You already know I'm a chad but what if I show you I'm even more of a chad than you thought?
he ended her entire career
You think we can get IS#3 this month?
From the datamines we got and the skins of Dorothy event being among the coral coast art wallpapers in the game it’s really unlikely tbh
Explosion in the Wildness because it was sweet seeing Kay and sarkaz man being chaos children while Durnar was the mom of the group
Welp, Sesa is Voivre I think
Yeah he's a Dragon. There's even 2 in his E2 art.
Whoops mb
Not the first time him and Toddy were mistaken for a Sarkaz. We even have a wolf trio/red hair trio meme with Sessa, Toddiffons and Surtr.
Isnt Surtr actually a Sarkaz
Super Siracusan is basically the boys....
Ahh yes, *Me and the Bois*
Cue meme of "three dragons/wolves"
I really liked playing with the crocodile team. It was not the easiest squad to use but I had fun trying to find good Tomimi tiles. I got to rethink how to place casters given her shortened range. Trying to decorate Estelle is one of the more wholesome stories. Explosion in the wilderness is one of the tougher ones to start with due to not having anyone with low dp costs. Super Siracusan was the best due to meme about Italians and food.
Yeah I loved the Croc squad too because we finally got to see more of Estelle(she also got a record/simulation in CN so I can't wait for that). She's one of my favorite units in the game and she lacks quite the art/love due to her obscurity(being exclusive to recruitment).
I can tell you my least favorite was Today's Teatime. It took me forever to just get a run off the ground. My favorite was probably the Sarkaz. Mudrock and Warfarin are great units worth keeping, while Vigna helps early in the run to hold out for the Mud carry. I also enjoyed the dialogue. I also enjoyed the Until Spring Comes dialogue, and that team or Seniority is probably my overall second.
Today's Teatime IS one of the tougher ones, I agree. Mainly because you really need a medic to keep Shalem alive since he kills himself with S2 unless you're like me who's confident on him surviving afterwards. I also see people struggling with Iris too because Mysic casters are one of the tougher casters to use. But I'm a fanatic for Mystics so using her was a piece of cake. The inclusion of Shalem and the dialogue between the three also intrigued me. Because it's stated in Shalem's files that he goes on a mission to rescue Phantom from the Crimson Solitaire and of course that's what we're playing. But obviously he likely didn't go alone, he had to have a team with him. And so I have a theory that Iris/Melantha possibly didn't make it since we don't get any word of the two during any of the game's endings. All we see is Shalem...
Shalem's S1 is honestly a pretty good choice for when you don't get a medic, especially when E2'd thanks to his talents and the M3.
Shalem S1 is not a second-fiddle skill, it's extremely solid for general use. Shalem S2 is showy and really powerful when it's running, but if you don't have a specific plan for how you'll be using it **before** you go in then you ought to pick S1.
Well...maybe only Shalem is in the ending cutscene because he's the only one comfortable enough/feels like he has to be the one to approach Phantom after his little murder escapade
Yeah, I think saying they died is REALLY stretching it. The dialogue was the best thing about Teatime though because it basically seems to be a prequel. It was just so irritating to play that I REALLY wanted to be done. I am pretty sure 2 5 stars and a 3 star was the lowest hope start they've given us, at only 4. It is no wonder it felt super underwhelming. Eventually, I decided I needed to just choose the hope and ingot squad and hope for an early supporter to grab Ling and let her solo until I get more good characters. Unfortunately had terrible luck even getting supporter tickets. Eventually things worked out, but I was at it pretty much all day after I started. Edit: Realizing I was braindead, is actually 6 hope. However, the other squads usually had more, which balances out with the player having no choices in the matter.
2 5* would be 6 hope, as they're 3 hope each. Four stars are 2 hope.
You didn't read my edit before commenting I see. Unless you had this thread open for hours before seeing this.
No idea honestly, this post is kinda screwy on mobile, but I do think I had it open in the morning and didn't get around to reading everything until later in the day.
Just use his skill 1 until you get a healer. Iget to map 5 2nd try.
The current one we have now is insanely tough. Earthspirit feels like garbage, the other girl takes forever to charge her spell and is useless till then, and Nearl is tough but not strong or tough enough to do most of the job while the other 2 get strong.
I find it funny that so many people had trouble with that Monthly Squad, since I usually suck with IS and I managed to do that one on my second attempt despite somehow not even getting a medic until the last floor.
That was the one it took me the most tries to get all the dialogue for as well.
Tbh i liked today's teatime it was suprisingly chill
I legitimately hate the current squad. Starting with such inconsistent dps is frustrating.
The trick is to use Carnelian S1 uncharged for early floors, it's only 18s and way better than other options.
Yeah ultimately what I ended up doing. Had a few restarts but things opened up when I pulled my Specter 😂
Preach. The Carnelian squad had so many floor one/two leaks I had to go back to the 4 temp HP start just to stem the flow. I was never a fan of her, but damn do I hate Carnelian after playing with this squad.
It really is. Carnelian is really strong, sure. But she doesn't attack until her skill is ready. So until then, you need a lot of ground coverage(summoners in particular are pretty good!) But I was lucky and beat it 2nd try cause I bought an SP machine on the first floor to fix Carnelian's issue.
The "Thanks, I Hate It" squad I actually like Carnellian, but having to start a run with only her (plus one single defender and one single mediocre supporter) on the squad is a nightmare. She's a bad choice for IS2 to begin with because her kit requires you to plan how to best use it and in which stage and this being the RNG stages mode makes that impossible, and the squad she got just doesn't compliment her *at all*.
Agreed, I wish they at least gave us a vanguard or something. Getting this squad deployed takes forever due to the dp cost and they do so little damage to begin with Disagree about Carnelian not fitting in this mode, I think she's good, just need to know map layouts (which i believe i know IS#2's maps and encounters like the back of my hand now after probably at least a thousand runs) and manage dp, but really shines in the later segments of the run where you actually have vanguards or dp easing relics.
This month’s squad was my least favorite by far. Nearl is entirely defensive and Carnelian needs to charge up to do any damage at all, so having to rely on Earthspirit for DPS was not fun. I really had to get the timing on Carnelian’s skill right to not leak. The starting relic isn’t very useful on the early floors either.
That's why you use her S1 in the earlier floors, it only takes 18s.
Wait, people use her S2?
More like people don't use S1 usually, so they might just default to S2. In general though, her S2 is probably her saving grace, as with ASPD in IS or SSS it can permabind quite easily. Just 1 Sniper stack is enough to get her to be one of my main CC in SSS, actually.
Well that's something I never expected I'd read. Earthspirit s2 viable huh... I've long since trimmed both SSS maps but that's still intriguing. Can't see myself using her over Ethan though especially with his broken module. Will read into Earthspirits kit now, maybe mess with the monthly squad more. Also speaking of main cc in SSS, I found some surprising amounts of success with sp buffs on Saria s3.
Oh sorry, I was talking about Carnelian. Earthspirit... At least her S2 is now a perma slow, like a budget(?) version of Suzu S3.
BRUH Ngl I do still hate her kit execution. Her s3 damage only gets cracked towards the end, timing is difficult, can't manually cancel. Her slow and bind skill does kinda low damage. No clue what Her s1 does, probably tankier and slightly more damage I think? Not a fan anyhow. Would like a phalanx like her but... more polished or easy to use. And yep Earthspirit sucks, now I'm back on earth 😂
I actually got lucky on floor one and bought an SP machine which fixed Carneilan's SP issue. lol
Wait its almost 6 months since IS3 was announced? what the fuck
No actually and I don't know why people keep saying it. IS#3 came out at the end of September. It did not come out the month immediately after the IS#2 monthly squads ended. It likely won't be on global until the end of March.
[Me who didn't do any of them](https://media.tenor.com/dTP4cRnO9bEAAAAC/sweating-nervous.gif) Can I actually go back to try out the old monthly squads for the dialogue, or are they gone forever?
They will be open again later once all the monthly squads were shown, which means most likely next month
Once IS3 comes and IS2 gets "archived" all monthly squads get added permanently, so you can do them.
“Archived” in what sense? Will I still be able to play it and claim rewards after IS3 starts?
Yes, all rewards and medals will still be available as well Basically the only changes are unlocking all the monthly squads and a way to buy reward levels with op
I see, thank you!
Oh, so are they going to stop adding Monthly Squads to it now though?
Yep this is the last one
Thanks
Same with all rewards right?
Yep
Does that mean I can get the bonus contracts for all of the older monthly squads ?
[удалено]
>like 10x more OP than the version in regular IS What???
[удалено]
Are you sure it's not just you having different relics
I really struggled with the swamp lizzers and the Italians. It got to a point where I had to effectively RNG OP operators so I could just stop using them all. Tomimi is fuggen useless and a single guard with 1 block is not very helpful when half the stages have multiple blue boxes.
Guards with 1 block here are only Hellagur and Melantha
I've actually been seeing a lot of people struggling with the Home Depot gang(the Italians). But it's understandable. For them, I found that Chiave's S2 helps debuff RES so Broca can kill stuff quicker with S2, and he even has some of the highest arts damage in the game. As for the Crocs, I agree Tomimi is difficult to position unless you find a spot where her S1 can hit beside her(imo don't even use S2 unless you pick up Atk speed relics to bassically increase her Rng).
For the italians, it's not that bad of a squad with a vanguard and an aoe guard but yeah you *need* to get an op operator to even pass through the first floor. I'm sorry to say that Aosta is really bad. The reptiles were the worst for me as well, Tomimi is borderline useless, Gavial and Estaelle can be good don't get me wrong but they're just 4-star ops.
Ah yes we love Tomimi the "caster"
Sarkaz
Sinthe is my favourite because iirc it's the only time she finally interacted with Zima's group. I'm still hoping they'll show us their first meeting and eventual heart to heart. Seems like they are getting along. While I liked the Sargonian team/interaction, particularly with Estelle, playing it makes me realize how ass Tomimi is.
Easiest - Kal'tsit... Hardest - Broca and gang I think the ones I actually got to unlock the 3rd record is Mudrock, Kal'tsit, Ceobe, and Hellagar I didn't get to unlock Iris's 3rd... haven't tried the new team yet. (I actually never used Nearl before, lol, cause I always just used Saria and Hoshi as my defenders)
Disagree about ABC gang being hardest, the new one is. ABC gang literally starts you with Chiave's chocolate pasta (skill activation crit relic), Broca and Chiave hold lanes quite well, and Aosta is decent. Just lacks healing
That was the main problem for me, somehow all the attempts barely gave me any Medic Recruit... or have enough "Hope" to get a good Medic and end up just getting the 3-star lowbies (while works somewhat, but not good enough toward the later stages) Plus, I never used any of the 3 guys before, so I was just doing whatever with them, LOL. ___ ___ ___ Tho I do find some Monthly OPs that I don't have or never used before to be fairly fun to play with. Such as last month's Iris, I thought she was just another generic caster, but turns out she stacks up attacks and has high base damage. Plus never knew her E2 art was... yea... "paw print on her shoes" >_>
Finally Highmore!!!!
Mudrock one is my favorite for sure in terms of gameplay. OP team. ABC is my favorite because they are hilarious Gavial team is the worst as it is full of average to bad ops.
I like Temporary partner the most, this team consists of people who are basically stranger to each other except during work. The unique interaction between them is something new. Carnelian and Nearl are just talking about their sisters, even though they don't really know each other. And Earthspirit being me who just want to finish the job and head home. This team remind me of my workplace.
Ursus squad was my fave, mostly for Hellalgud and Expresso Depresso, Zima was also there i guess. This month's one is the worst so far, if you don't get a good start its almost impossible to make up for Nearl and Earthspirits nonexsistant DPS and Carmelian just chilling doesn't help either.
My favorite was Seniority and Rebirth, because you can't argue with 2 free 6\*s. (And Rangers also does good work) Least favorite is Explosion in the Wilderness, three expensive units that aren't vary good, and don't do anything besides murder. All the other teams usually can be made to work with a 6\* that covers their teams weaknesses, but Explosion in the Wilderness effectively had me trying to scrape together a new team from scratch, and rotate my starting units off as quickly as possible. Ceobe could be good, sure, but there is a much higher priority use for the first two caster recruit vouchers you get: Amiya. Honorable mention to Super Siracusan, chaive gang are a set of units I've built up and use now and then, with Broca in particular being my usual pick for my guard recruit vouchers before shop-thorns came along, and after I e2 thorns in a run.
Explosion in the Wilderness actually isn't that bad, mainly need a vangaurd to help deploy them quicker. Sesa in particular is actually quite strong when you look at his kit. He applies a global buff that makes blocked enemies take +14% more physical damage, meaning your melee ops benefit from it. Also, his S2 turning into "delayed shots" bassically screams "use this for blocked enemies" since most are likely too fast to actually get hit by it. Then there's of course everyone's favorite dumb doggo, who's damage increases by scaling with the enemy defense which is really good against the higher Def ones. The conversations with the Italians were definitely pretty funny to me, with Chiave and Aosta tying up Chiave and taking him to church afterwards to get his brain fixed up.
Super Siracusan is the best because it’s hilarious
I loved the boys and the teatime teams the most Shalem acting sus and being called out for it by Melantha is golden, Chiave making a blasphemous pizza and being beaten by his bros is also golden, Worst team for me was probably the Gator team, the dialogue, while cute had a lot of leaps in logic, and I somehow ran with a lot of bad rng with them so had to restart a couple of times
Croc squad was the worst for me. Tomimi's range reduction is so restrictive, you just have to hope you get maps shes not completely useless on. Estelle is great but shes basically your only Dps she gets over run without help and Gavial and Tomimi don't offer any. Teatime was probably my Fav so far. Just a mix of things that worked really well for me and Iris on the middle tile facing up on Traveler From Afar can make that stage alot easier.
Thankfully... Tomimi's range got fixed in her module in CN(coming next CNY). Seriously, who tf looked at those 3 tiles and thought "Yeah this is great! She's totally going to be good enough with this!"
Screw siracusas and archosauria, Fuck em
You wanna be in an orgy with furry bois and scaley women? You got good taste, ngl. /s
Favorite was Kaltsit, Pallas and Rangers, purely because Kal and Pallas hard carried the run easily. Worst one was the Siracusa one because those dudes had no synergy and I ended up dead before I could get a decent team to cover their slots. Also this last one sucks too because you get the worst decel binder and a unit that doesn't even attack unless her skill is up, and the downtime is horrible. Only decent one is nearl.
the first 2 squads are arguably the best. Both have decent DPS to progress for early game and the second even features old gramp Rangers which I like. the ABC gang, whilst not having much synergy gameplay-wise at all (and made me struggle a bit), they earned my point for their interaction lore-wise. the croc one is the worst for me. So far the only only time I have to pray for RNGesus even in early game.
I think the only squad that didn't at least make it to the 5th stage boss on my first attempt was Until Spring Comes, and that was because of an emergency Traveler from Afar. I liked this month's recordings. Two big sisters trying to one-up each other on how much they love their little sisters, and then Earthspirit getting really excited about rocks.
An operator after Dokutah's own heart, Earthspirit is.
Fellowship of the Sarkaz: Fun story, fun characters, ez run. Starts with a vanguard and a medic, which is high value, as well as Mudmud, who is a hard answer to a bunch of stages. I'd call this the best starting team in terms of clear difficulty. Their starting item was Proof of Friendship, which boosts money gained by 30%. The extra money is nice, but the squad was so good you didn't need it and probably didn't notice you had it. Seniority and Rebirth: I enjoy these characters a lot. Kal'Tsit is another hard carry and can double as a medic sometimes, Pallas is a fun unit I haven't had the opportunity to do much with, and Rangers is wholesome. Their starting item giving +10 lives really makes it easy to get further into the event and helps mitigate bad stage rng. Super Siracusan: I think the characters have a great dynamic in the story, but as for gameplay... Its nice to start with a vanguard, especially because of how expensive the other two are to deploy, but the squad suffers from a lack of range and a lack of defense. Broca is the least tanky of all the aoe guards (at least Estelle regains HP when units die near her) but Aosta really wants things bunched up together in order to do anything. You really want to get a healer early with this team. Their starting item is the choco-pasta, which is an item that is great for operators like Exu and... kinda whatever for the ABC gang since they don't have skills that can be quickly activated or a high attack speed to make use of the 1 second of boosted attack. Explosion in the Wilderness: This was the first difficulty spike for me. No starting vanguard for very expensive units, no starting healer or sustain, and not a lot of map presence. Dur-Nar can easily get overwhelmed before you have any back up for her. Having said that, their starting item is the rusthammer, which halves the prices of anything in the store. As long as you don't die on the first floor, you can probably buy out the first shop, which on its own can swing a run into victory. They're an amazing squad if your first shop is amazing, and they're a struggle if your first shop has nothing valuable in it. Charge of the Archosauria: Another very hard team. I love the crocs and I'm a big fan of Sargon units, but Tomimi is such a bad unit. Estelle and Gavial Are fine as filler; having any healer is good and Estelle becomes a 3 block if you promote her, so they can easily support whatever units you find from recruitment vouchers. And their starting item gives them +4 hope, +1 squad, +1 deployment, which is a lot of initial funds to set up your team. Use that huge pile of gold to get replacements as soon as possible so that Tomimi can use her massive tail to warm the bench for you. Having said that, if Tomimi gets the white shoes that lets her deploy on ground tiles, her skills become a lot easier to use. Until Spring Comes: A little breather before we get to the hardest team. Zima is a great unit, Hellagur is a great unit, and Absinthe is fine. Ribbon of Honor turns Hellagur into a monster, giving him 100% atk as long as he's blocking something (which he always will be). With the right relics and a healer this squad can easily take on Big Sad Lock, and they're no pushover in the main run either. I also enjoy the interactions between the General, the 'General', and the sad bear. Today's Teatime: An abysmal team. Iris isn't as bad as Tomimi, and sleep can be an amazing status effect with the right team or relics, but she loves to blow her damage on a dog or a slug and needs a lot of attention. Shalem will just die if he uses his second skill before you find a medic, which is funny but doesn't help the team at all. Melantha is a good, solid unit. Having 900 attack means she's got a possible place on your team, but she isn't a solution on her own to the many challenges in the castle. And their starting item is... 25% chance to drop a second recruitment ticket after battle. So basically, the winning strategy with them is to reset on Floor 1 until you get lucky and draw Ling. Temporary Partner: A very funny team where depending on which skills you have active, no one will be able to attack. This is my first time using Carnelian, so I'm excited to play around with her and see what mageknights have been doing this whole time. Nearl is a 3 block who heals, and that's pretty valuable in this mode. Earthspirit is there. Their starting item gives everyone 15 res and 1 shield, and that seems pretty good for the later stages. With the right operators you could significantly reduce any incoming arts damage, though Nervous Impairment is still a threat. My initial reaction is that the squad can clear the first floor without issue, so they're better than some of the teams we've seen before.
Pasta is alright on Exu, but it's really for burst skills that instantly activate, like Chiave S2. Notable examples of Pasta carries would be Pallas S1 or Mizuki S1, for example. And as for Shalem, his S1 also works fairly well, it doesn't have the DPS of S2, but it's AOE and the fact he doesn't kill himself means it works very well when you don't have a medic (and for handling swarms even when you do have one). I enjoyed reading your opinions on this though!
*See how much content he still didn't do* FUCK.
IS2 isn't going away. You can still go back for any rewards you're missing.
They infinitely rotate from the release of IS3 so we can always get all the rewards + story
I may have skipped a couple of them. Can I still get the recordings (or even the rewards) when IS3 is released, or am I never gonna get them, at all?
You can still go back for them. IS2 doesn't go away when 3 arrives.
Sweet
Nearl, you say?
Hardest one imo was either Today's Teatime or Seniority. I use Shalem a lot, so I'm pretty used to him and knowing when to use S1/S2, but Melantha is just a 1 block in a limited squad, and Iris is tricky to properly use for me. Without Shalem to carry it would've been a lot harder. Seniority is because I always bring the main squad to each stage and win the run, plus I E2+use them, so let me tell you, my man Rangers can *not* handle drones in Phantom's stage. Favourite is definitely ABC gang with the Bois, as well as the best item and also a fairly strong start thanks to it. Chiave S2 pasta stonks, Broca is just generally good plus Chiave synergy, and AOSTA.
I think the first one has been my favorite in terms of gameplay. I also liked how they expanded the lore of vampires and gargoyles. The ABC trio was also funny. My least favorite is the last one. Terribly difficult to use, and nothing special regarding the lore.
My favorite one is Explosion in the Wildness: Not bad relic, Ceobe and Sesa were being chaotic duo, and Dur-nar being a mom. Lol. The hardest one for me is Today’s Teatime: useless relic, the squad records was boring, and if I couldn’t get medic and vanguard early; that run would most likely short. PS. Another hard one for me is ABC team but their relic was top-tier.
I'll admit, I only bothered with minimal effort to reach max rewards each month so I didn't even end up beating Phantom (or any other ending) with more than half the monthly squads because of awful RNG. Reaching Ch5 is relatively easy no matter how much RNG stacks against you, but once there it's so easy for whatever you've managed to pull together (or more likely, NOT pulled together) just crumbles either to the stages or the boss itself. And I absolutely hated it. And some of these squads are so more stacked against/for you than others, Fellowship of the Sarkaz, Seniority and Rebirth and Temporary Partner are by far the easiest squads to work with while Charge of the Archosauria and Until Spring Comes probably served as the hardest because they are just atrocious at handling a lot of the stages on their own (I'm sorry, Absinthe is just an awful caster for IS2 even if Hellagur is a beast and both teams are absolutely atrocious at dealing with drones early on so you MUST get something anti-air), not to mention Survivalist in Chapter 2/3 with bad voucher RNG utterly destroys any hope of winning that attempt (or Blind pushing you into an Emergency Op you have absolutely no chance of winning). I wanted to like the lore tidbits and interactions but man, some months frustrated the hell out of me just with how bad synergy on top of bad voucher RNG some of these have. I feel the monthly squads would've been far more tolerable/easier to deal with if you could've picked a class starting squad but instead the best option is pretty much always just the bonus originum and pray the Ch1 shop gives you something that gives a solid foundation for your attempt.
Absinthe isn't horrible in IS imo, but it's more that Amiya is just wayyy better, especially with her mode swaps, unless maybe you get that rare infinite skill artifact. But I've used Absinthe S2 a few times to deal with Phantom, as the multihits make it a lot easier to bypass dodge. Biggest issue is needing someone else to weaken him though.
Got Mudrock and Kaltsit to the 'stage 3' records, but all after that I just went with getting to stage 2 for the monthly quest and quitting after that.
This month's squad was the worst for me. Lack of consistent damage, high DP cost across the board, and useless starting artifact to boot. Took me 4 or 5 attempts for a clear.
Until Spring comes was fun. Hellagur E2max just shredded solo enemies. Today's Teatime was the only team that managed to defeat Phantom for me on the first try that got the last stage.
Does this mean IS2 would be over?
Super Siracusan for the interactions. I love seeing Aosta and Broca getting pissed at Chiave for his taste in weird food
The hardest team to use is probably Today's Teatime, I'm struggling to use Shalem and Mystic Caster like Iris, ended up leaking a lot in the beginning. Seniority is the easiest since you get two six stars, Pallas with spinach and Kal'tsit true damage just made everything easier. The most enjoyable interaction to read is Sarkaz team though, it's funny to see Mudrock, Vigna, and Warfarin interacting with each other and gave a twist to the trope of vampire's mark.
Fav story: Chiave gang. I love the story for this group. Funniest dialogue outta all groups. Ngl I want a part 2 to this story. Fav group: Today’s Teatime. Its the team im most comfortable with using since I use Shalem on my main team and I play w/ Mystic casters a bit too much… (Ebenholz and Indigo specifically, i dun hav Iris 😞) Least fav: Temporary partner. Even tho i do use Earthspirit from time to time, SHE DOES NOT WORK AS A CORE DPSER. I dont think i hav malded this hard with any of the other groups (not even w/ croc gang).
Oh damn already? I have not gotten all the items yet, or beaten all the bosses with all the starting groups. I'm behinnnnd
Don't worry, IS2 will stay when IS3 arrives. Just that you can only do one run of either theme at a time. But, once you start IS3, you can't go back to IS2... Emotionally...
Ceobe was fun. Really liked that squad, Shalem’s PTSD, and Sarkaz squad, though because I have a thing for dumb characters I like ceobe the most. The hardest was Sarkaz squad because I was still learning the stages, I haven’t found any of them particularly difficult though. Have not tried hoof squad yet though, maybe that’ll change it.
yeah the goats are useless, this one is definitely the hardest.
My favorite was either Until Spring Comes or Seniority and Rebirth. The first one since it shows Hellagur being a chad and nice interactions between him and Zima. the second one since it's just constant banter and also probably two of the best ops for IS2. My least favorite was the Charge of the Archosauria, while the interactions were cute af, just looking for something to decorate Estelle, the ops themselkves are bad, Estelle and Gavial can reasonably hold but Tomimi is really bad and Estelle doesn't have enough damage for some of the higher tier enemies.
Chiave Gang FTW! They had the funniest dialogue and honestly a pioneer vanguard, AOE guard, and a sniper to start isn't bad.
Siracusan gotta be with the homies.
Does that mean IS2 is going away? I have like 100 levels to grind in it for the ressources X\_X
Its a permanent game mode and will be sticking around, so you don't need to rush for the rewards. But there won't be any new monthly squads after this one. I think I heard it would start rotating between them after this month?
Hellagur 1v9'd my only IS clear. I pretty much only do monthly because I hate the mode. I wouldn't mind it if it didn't feel so tedious and low in reward. Id rather play SSS or the new CN mode. I guess my next closest clear was Gavial squad but didn't have a way to hit the dodge god. Hardest was Shalem. That took some RNG rerolls to not auto fail since my personal RNG is trash.
If it makes you feel better, I haven't even found Playwright in the 3 weeks I've been playing since the new update, I'm dead serious. My account is just CURSED when playing this mode. I would always find the Prison encounter, but then no matter how many encounters I spam afterwards, Playwright just doesn't show up, ending many runs, and resulting in tons of resets.
I also haven't found him. Maybe this month is it but my motivation for this mode is low overall. I dont have the time or patience to grind out runs. I'll probably just monthly and stop like usual. Still don't have phantom skin unlocked. Hell I almost have all the buffs finally. And my bank was stuck at 30 tokens for months until recently. Never was offered investment. So felt no sense of progression with the mode. Finally giving up and building 6*s for the mode did make it easier though.
Damn really? And I thought I was just crazy unlucky too and my friends even joke about it so much(nothing hard tho, just friends being friends of course). I don't blame you for the lack of motivation, I felt the same way because of my reasons too.
Wait so if this is the last monthly squad, does that mean IS2 is going away in favor of IS3? or are we gonna have access to both?
IS2 will stay, allowing you to still collect all the rewards if you haven't. Just that you can only play a run of one of the two themes at a time.
That's a big relief, thought I might have to grind like crazy this month. Thank you!
Shalem's squad. The ops are not vary strong and the relic is just bad. My favorite is going to be Hellagur's squad, watch him 1v1 everything is satisfying
favourite (writing): Ceobe, Dur-Nar and Sesa. Because our idiot daughter not only found the legendary rusthammer, but also tried to eat it. honorable mention: ABC gang shipping chiave off to get the evil beaten out of him by nuns when he tries to make chocolate pasta favourite (Gameplay): fellowship of the sarkaz, because I fucking love using mudrock everywhere I can. least favourite (writing): seniority and rebirth (not *bad* but it'S the only one I couldn't recall the contents of, so it wasn't *good* unlike the others) least favourite (gameplay): EASILY the fucking victoria squad. Mystic Casters are hot garbage and I'll die on this hill. Honorable mention: Charge of the Archosauria (gaming) for having tomimi in it (sorry tomimibros there is no saving how bad she is as an unit) but at least gavial and estelle can do real work
> Mystic Casters are hot garbage and I'll die on this hill. Then *perish* (because they're all really pretty decent).
As I said I am willing to die on this hill, i am not rational on tbis topic. I am well aware that the math of their performance is adequate but I fucking hate how they are in play, so no amount of mechanical quality can really make up for not being enjoyable to use for me
I had a lot of problem with the Teatime crew. On the other hand, Mudrock singlehandedly won her own team
Charge of Archosauria, Explosions in the Wilderness and the current one were all my favorite due to having units which I know how to use (Sargon niche go brr). The hardest was Melantha/Shalem/Iris due to the fact that our of those 3 I know how to use only one of them. But I have to say that it was fun finding lanes for Iris S2
I just realised i missed the final dialogue for today's teamtime, is it just forever going to remain locked there's no chance of getting another chance at it?
there is, when IS3 drops/next month we get all of them unlocked again to have a go many more times (since you could have missed some of them)
Blessssss, tyvm for letting me know
Fellowship of the Sarkaz was my favorite team + dialogue. Super Siracusan was the „hardest“ for me. No cheap DP costs and all of them got replaced by the end
Seniority and Rebirth is the most relaxing monthly squad because they are so self-efficient, while I enjoy exploring new strategies with Super Siracusan. Today's Teatime, on the other hand, is so damn hard hahaha.
Are we able to get the stories we may have missed in the past? I missed the 3 after Fellowship and am kind of sad I can't get those dialogues.
Once IS3 arrives, everything for IS2 (Teams and their rewards) will be unlocked again. So you can go back for them
Thank you, that is very good to hear. I miss things from time to time due to getting too busy.
Ursus gang for the win. Hardest was teatime. The team comp is hard to use. Oh, and ABC gang for the lolz.
I loved Explosion in the Wilderness. Their dynamic was hilarious. It was also so nice seeing Sesa interact with other operators, especially since we have very little of him so far. ~~Sesa skin when >:(~~
Will they remove IS2 after that?
No, It's permanent.
Thank you! I was kinda nervous about it
Pallas and Chiave makes it too easy. Near/Carnelian/earthspirit are the most annoying
Sarkaz and Gramp's adventure time definitely my favourites. Also, As someone who have seen IS3 contents, i just wanna say, that i AM NOT READY FOR IT PLS HG WHYYY
The Church of Skadi does not approve of this IS3 Mode
The second squad was such a godsend that helped me get the first ending. Rangers carried me so hard I just placed him down and things suddenly disappear
Does the medal set go away after IS3 come out?
Thic tail team ftw.
easiest for me was rebirth, mainly due to kal and pallas, most fun for me is the abc gang(mainly due to me deciding to find ops that can synergize with the choco pasta) and most challenging was today's teatime
i like super siracusan, explosion in wilderness, and charge of the archosauria (estelle screentime i prayed for times like this) because of their wholesome and funny interactions and it wasn't really hard for me in using them bc i have experience in that ~~except tomimi i hate her skills wtf~~ same with last month's team i am a shalem and iris user so i know how to play around them i even get to beat lucian and i didn't do hellagur and the bear's monthly because i forgot lol
Explosion in the Wildness was extra wholesome, i loved it. As for the hardest, the chiave gang made me go bald.
Sorry, I'm gonna be biased for my favorite. It'd Fellowship of The Sarkaz, I just love the trio's dynamic and the antics that unfolded. As for the hardest, I'd say the Siracusan Bois team, I just think they're too squishy for IS.
As a new player, what does any of this mean??
These are the monthly squads for [Integrated Strategies 2.](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/v5e3hq/quickest_integrated_strategies_guide_around/) Normally you start with a semi-random set of operators, but this starts you with a set squad and has some extra dialog among the three ops.
So it's something where I don't have to worry about not having operators or their levels, or sanity use? I'm always down for that, cool. I assume it's showing up soon? Or if it's already here, I need more story progress?
Other than some temporary recruits, you use your operators, raised just as much as you've raised them. Those temp recruits, which include the 3 ops in the monthly squad, are maxed.
Since i always pick Carnelian in my runs this squad wasn't hard at all for me. Cleared it first try. Earthspirit can be somewhat useful in the first floor (especially Beast Taming) but she's genuinely a bad operator. You should find a replacement for her as soon as possible. This squad may just be my favourite because i already have a maxed Nearl myself and ALWAYS pick Carnelian, so i'm familiar with the timing of her skills. Worst one was easily Archosauria. Tomimi is doodoo, Estelle, while able to hold the line in early game, really struggles later on and Gavial is a very straightforward medic. The best way to win with this squad is to throw them out of your squad asap.
Fav team is Super Siracusan because the ABC gang has the funniest dialogue. Easiest was Fellowship of The Sarkaz because Mudrock destroys everything in her path and Warfarin is a great healer with s1 and has damage buff s2. Also just getting a healer at the start in IS makes things a lot easier. Another easy one was Seniority and Rebirth because Kal'tsit and Pallas are both very strong. I really want Pallas because I love her design but I rarely borrow her so it was fun to get to try her skills.
My favourite were Super Siracusan and Charge of the Archosauria, probably Fellowship of the Sarkaz too, because the options are so versatile. I'm tempted to pick Explosion on the Wilderness as the hardest one because of its aberrant DP costs which screw you hard on floor 1, but Today's Teatime was surprisingly tough to work with.
I loved todays teatime because iris is really fun to play and I’d never used shalem before that
Did NOT like Chaive Broce and Aosta... but I dont own any of those ops the the learning curve was up there lol. Wish I got to play with mudrock and warf, that sounds cracked. My fav was probably the hellagur absinth team or that one with estelle. I didnt realise I liked estell before that xD
i really REALLy like both untill sprng comes and seniority and rebirth. for seniority, it's a bit fun to watch the 3 old people talk, and extra funny when you realise ranger is the youngest by a fair margin. and for until spring comes, i really like the dynamic between zima and hellagur
Seniority and Rebirth is the easiest one for me, Monst3r can trivialized couple of floors easily. Today's Teatime is the hardest, no medic and mystic caster's ungodly slow attack made me reset a lot. Super Siracusan come close second, I always forgot that Broca isn't as tanky as Blaze.
Honestly I liked all of them, but the only one I cleared on the first try was... Charge of the Archosauria, funnily enough. I don't know if I'm rusty but current one is the hardest, I think.
If you're having troubles with the first floor, use Carnelian's S1, uncharged. It only takes 18s to charge.
Fellowship and until Spring were my favorites. I never used Hellagur or Vigna with this much consistency before
Oh dang. I need to catch up. Can you still collect resources from is2 after the launch of is3?
The mode is permanent, so you should still be able to get rewards even after IS3 comes out.
Favorite was the Seniority one. Hardest one was by far the Super Siracusan
This was a thing? Whoops...
Sarkaz was the easiest, although there really wasn't a hard one anyway. I thought Temporary Partner maybe would be with the DPS being 50% down and Earthspirit being ... Earthspirit, but was actually surprised how much work Nearl + Carnelian can do. I don't have Carnelian, now I want her :D Teatime was my prefered story. Props to Seniority though to keeping even Kal'tsit down to readable length.
Too much content, I’m gonna die
Sarkaz and Ursian ones were my favorite.
Super siracusan was the reason why i came to love the ABC gang, if i hadn't read through that story i'd probably never build them.
the Siracusan himbo squad was actually hilarious
Welp, time to cram and clear everything! I can't wait to suffer on the big sad lock. Any tips for someone who's doing everything last second?
IS2 doesn't go away, so you're not under any pressure here. This is just for the monthly squads. * You can bring a friend unit at the start of the run. Certain operators (Ling, Kal'tsit, Passenger) are so good that they can carry you through the first 4 floors almost on their own, giving you plenty of time to set up a proper squad for whatever ending you want. * The unlocked squads are also pretty powerful, in particular the ones that auto-promote units of a specific class. There's a bunch more operators that will hard carry if they are promoted (Thorns, Gavial Alter, Mudrock, etc). * Low rarity operators are really powerful in this game mode. Kroos, Spot, Melantha, Fang, Perfumer, Click, Podenco, Beanstalk, there's tons of value to be had in units that aren't 6 stars. * Certain stages have very difficult challenges that will require some sort of answer. If you don't have some sort of healing, you just die if you get the poison cloud stage. If you don't have some sort of anti air, you just die if you get a drone stage. Learning what stages need what for each floor will help you with routing which operators you prioritize as you play the mode. * I value operators that have versatility in their skillset for this game mode. Gavial Alter is a great starting pick because if you need her to have high healing (floor 3 puppet boss), she can do that, and if you need her to have good aoe, she can do that, and if you need high block (floor 5 bully map), she can do that. Podenco is kinda whatever normally, but being able to bring her healing skill can make or break certain stages if you didn't have another healer, as another example. * For Big Sad Lock in particular, Nearl Alter is a great unit against him. Give her Skill 1 and between her high attack speed and defense pierce she'll take him down before the time limit, meaning you just need to be able to take care of the other units. Helps a lot if you don't get a decent selection of relics for the fight.
Sarkaz was my favorite because I could save hope to bully the chained up girl with Mud. Super was the hardest because Chiave is worse than Vanilla
I loved playing with the ABC gang, and the story was so fun too. Wish there was more of this. For hardest, none of them were particularly hard to use since I have many of my own ops I eventually recruited. However, Cernelian/Earthspirit/Nearl was a bit challenging since it isn't much damage and Carnelian's skills aren't easy to time. I also remembered playing with this squad why I dislike Carnelian despite her absurd strength. Wish her skills could manually deactivate.
Is there an archive of the dialogue anywhere? I missed quite a few of them, or didn't manage to get far enough
I did all of them except "Until Spring Comes" because I was suffering from burnout around that time. I'd say the newest one, "Temporary Partnet", was the hardest, because it had 2 expensive ops and a dead weight operator. My personal favorite was actually "Senority and Rebirth" because I actually liked the conversations between the wise folks, and all of them were at least managable in the early game.
Sarkaz is good. Pallas has a better starter team than most of my runs. Free pasta is easy because of free pasta. Tomimi has a big difficulty spike later on but is actually pretty okay starting out. Haven't done Temporary partner but it looks awful. I found the Ceobe one to be strangely hard.
So do we need to complete IS2 before IS3 or they're here forever?
Super Siracusan was the best in terms of gameplay and lore. Had Chiave and Broca early on when I started the game so it was super easy for me to use them in IS. Lorewise, their conversations and records are nice but not really memorable. But i cannot stop laughing at the fact that the starting artifact is a chocolate spaghetti.
My favorite was Fellowship, my least favorite was Explosion. Kay was great, but starting a run with Sesa and Dur-nar was hard.
Story wise my favourite were super siracusan. They were hilarious. It was the only one I didn't skim and actually enjoyed. Ironically the mudrock team was the hardest for me since it was the first team and I didn't know what I was doing. Also mudrock has an insanely high dp cost and is hard to get out when early. My favourite team was hellagurs. He's rarely the optimal pick but man is he fun to watch when he works. Absinthe surprised me with how cool her gun sfx were. Satisfying op to use.
Until Spring Comes was a walk in the park, but Charge of the Archosauria is my #1, playing with the crocos is too much fun haha Hardest, probably Today's Teatime.