[The House of Spiders: The Middle Apprentice] Ishmael NEW!

The Middle Apprentice Ishmael (Shortened to Middle Ishmael from now on) makes for a solid side grade to Middle Sinclair, even outperforming him in some cases. Middle Ishmael, like all other Middle units, emphasizes Envy Resonance to gain massive amounts of Offense Level while also gaining access to her S3 through her counter when there is 6+ Envy A-Resonance.

Going over Middle Ishmael’s passive first, she has three unique effects that will be elaborated upon later as they become relevant:

• Firstly, we’ll go over “The Middle - Grudge”: Every time an enemy hits Middle Ishmael, she will gain 2 “The Middle - Grudge” up to 2 times per turn. When another ally who has the tag “The Middle” is hit by an enemy, she will gain 1 “The Middle - Grudge” once per turn per Identity. Additionally, if the target that attacked the enemy has Vengeance Mark, Middle Ishmael will gain 1 more “The Middle - Grudge”. Finally, at the start of Combat, if you have Envy A-Reson, regardless of the number, the amount of The Middle - Grudge gained this turn will be doubled.

• Next is Thermal Blades. At the start of combat, if Middle Ishmael doesn’t have Thermal Blades and there is 3+ Envy Resonance, she will gain 2 Thermal Blades next turn. If Middle Ishmael does have Thermal Blades when this activates, she will gain 1 stack of Thermal Blades at 3 Envy Resonance and 2 stacks of Thermal Blades at 6 Envy Resonance. You will not be able to get more than 2 Thermal Blades per turn.

• Finally, there is a part of Middle Ishmael’s passive where she gains 1 “The Middle Styled Augmentation Tattoos” (will be abbreviated to TMSAT from now on)  every time she consumes 5 stacks of “The Middle - Grudge”. This status will be elaborated upon later.

The three unique statuses go as follows:

• The Middle - Grudge: This stacks for a maximum of 15. If the target has Vengeance Mark, deal +20% damage.

• Thermal Blades: This can stack for a maximum of 2. If the target is hit with any Base Skill that has Burn, heal for 3 SP. This can only proc twice per turn. This buff also inflicts Burn when inflicting Bleed with certain Skill Coins. At the end of every turn, this buff decays by 1.

• The Middle Styled Augmentation Tattoos - TMSAT for short can stack for a maximum of 10. This buff gives Middle Ishmael Final Power +1 for Base Skills for every 5 Stacks she has, maxing out at 2. Envy Skills and Blunt Skills deal +5% for every Stack, maxing out at 50%.

With all of that covered, Middle Ishmael’s skills will be explained alongside her gameplan.

• Skill 1 - Totally Badass Ass-kicking - 2 Coins - Min Roll 11 - Max Roll 13 - Max Roll with TMSAT - 15 - Pretty okay Skill 1, if Middle Ishmael has TMSAT, she’ll also inflict +1 Bleed Count with the skill.

• Skill 2 - Crossing Dervish - 3 Coins - Min Roll - 16 - Max Roll 19 - Max Roll with TMSAT 21 - Similar to Middle Sinclair, this Skill gains more Offense Level by the highest Resonance divided by 2, for a maximum of 3 that is rounded down. If that Resonance in question was A-Resonance, the amount of Offense Level gained from the effect will be doubled. If Middle Ishmael has TMSAT, she can inflict 1 Paralysis and 1 Bind next turn, only for a maximum of 2 times.

• Skill 3 - Violet~ Breaking Slam - 4 Coins - Min Roll 16 - Max Roll 27 - Max Roll with TMSAT 29 - This is where “The Middle - Grudge” becomes relevant. This skill gains +1 Final Power for every 5 “The Middle - Grudge” on Middle Ishmael and consumes all Stacks after attack, activating the part of her passive that gives TMSAT if conditions are met. Additionally, if this Skill was activated as a Counter, Middle Ishmael will gain 1 Blunt Damage Up. Pretty much the same as Middle Sinclair skill 3, with a lower damage ceiling.

• Defensive Skill - Clashable Counter - I’ll Get You Back for This, Man - 3 Coins - Min Roll 14 - Max Roll with TMSAT 16 - This is the skill you want to use every time the enemy can act and you can get 6+ Envy Resonance. Middle Ishmael will use her Skill 3 as a Counter if there’s 6+ Envy A-Reson, but only for a maximum of 2 times. This Defense Skill also gives you a shield for 25% of your Max HP.

For a Middle member, the gameplan is rather simple: get hit, gain as much “The Middle - Grudge” as possible, gain TMSAT, and repeat until enemy death. This directly plays in with the other Middle members, as their main source of damage comes from Counters as well.

However, much like the other Middle units, Counter playstyle isn’t safe or reliable. While there are ways to consistently maintain 6+ Envy A-Res, it has a massive damage loss if the enemy isn’t attacking or staggered, and due to how hard enemies can hit with Unbreakable Coins, it is very easy to die with this playstyle in mind.

What makes this problem even worse is Ishmael’s TMSAT ramp-up, which takes a long time to reach its maximum potential. Comparing this to Middle Sinclair’s “Book of Vengeance”, Middle Ishmael is barely able to reach 5 stacks of TMSAT.

That being said, Middle Ishmael makes for a decent sidegrade of Middle Sinclair for the Envy Resonance team.

Notable Team Synergies: 

• The Middle IDs - This is kind of a no-brainer; Middle Ishmael’s kit directly plays off of the rest of these IDs. While she doesn’t make them better, she directly benefits them.

• Any ID with a good Envy Skills or Envy Defense Skill - A good example is Queen of Hatred Don, who has an Envy S2, S3 and Defense. Reindeer Hong Lu, W Corp. Heathcliff (if overload is timed properly) and Multicrack Faust can also work.

Notable E.G.O. Synergy: None