Table of Contents
The Liu boys get another addition to the crew! This time, it's Ishmael rocking in with a new 3* and a coat to accompany it. As always, we expect Burn to play a vital role in playing to the Liu's strengths, so let's explore them.
Red KickSkill 1: A good Lust skill as it is. Multiple coins and nice overall power.
And yet, it gets better, as its coins get a buff if the enemy being targeted has enough Burn stacks on them. This turns a skill with a maximum of 10 power into 12 power instead.
It also has the nice added bonus of inflicting Burn, but it's not as noteworthy. Still good to have though.
Frontal AssaultSkill 2: A Wrath skill with the same conditionals as the first skill, but with double the required Burn instead.
Considering just how many coins this skill already has and how powerful it is even without that buff, the required Burn stacks isn't that big of a deal, but it turns this skill into an even bigger hitter than it already is.
The coins also apply Burn (or Burn Count for its last skill) as an added bonus. Again, not too notable, but they can at least help her in getting more Burn stacks.
Inner Gate Elbow StrikeSkill 3: Skill 3 is a slightly inferior clashing skill compared to skill 2 but more than makes up for it by having more coins to go through and a conditional that makes the entire skill deal 30% more damage if it activates, meaning that it can reach truly disgusting numbers in terms of damage.
However, you're going to need the Liu squad for this one, as getting to activate the third skill's conditional without any assistance in inflicting Burn and Burn Count is going to be a near impossibility.
Like the previous skill, it inflicts Burn and Burn Count. It also has a notable effect of giving Plus Coin Boost for the next turn, but only if the 4th coin in the skill staggers or kills an enemy.
Defense (Counter): A decently powerful Counter that makes Ishmael inflict Burn Count on the enemy that hits her.
Passive (Intense Blaze, 3 Resonance Wrath): ”Deal +10% Blunt damage for every 3 Burn Count on target. (Max 30%)”
This passive shows just how reliant Ishmael is on her enemies having Burn, as she can deal even more damage against enemies if they have enough Burn Count. The difficulty comes from being able to apply that much in the first place, which the Liu boys can help her with.
It's also not really consistent, since it's a Resonance passive, but it's not that expensive especially if you're running the other Liu Identities, thankfully.
Support (Intense Blaze, 6 Owned Wrath): “1 ally with the lowest Speed deals +5% Blunt damage for every 3 Burn Count on target. (Max 15%)“
A good passive but only if you're running Blunt and Burn, otherwise this passive is useless. It requires a pretty hefty price of 6 Wrath too.
Strengths
- Great coin power for all skills.
- Can boost coin prowess even further for skill 1 and 2.
- Skill 3 deals ridiculous damage if the conditional is met.
- Can help Burn teams by adding more Burn to go around.
- Has great synergy with all her EGOs (Capote, Ardor Blossom Star, etc.) especially when paired with the Liu boys.
Weaknesses
- Needs Burn Identity Sinners to complement her in a team as she doesn't inflict much Burn on her own.
- The 4th coin's effects of her skill 3 is difficult to get right, as it's that specific coins that needs to stagger or land the killing blow, otherwise the effect does not activate.
Potential Sinner Synergies
Meursault - Liu Association South Section 6,Gregor - Liu Association South Section 6,Hong Lu - Liu Association South Section 5,Sinclair - The One Who Shall GripAnalysis
Finally, a Liu Identity that can actually clash beyond 11 power. Liu Ishmael is a very strong Identity that jumps in as part of the Liu gang, meaning her gimmicks are built around Burn and application of it.
As mentioned above, her skills are really good. They're already decent even without any buffs, but they go above and beyond if their conditionals regarding the amount of Burn an enemy has is met.
You may have noticed, however, that she doesn't really inflict that much Burn by herself, especially compared to her other Liu buddies. That's right, she's more someone who uses the Burn stacks of her allies to power herself up rather than being mainly an inflictor of it. This does have the unfortunate side effect of her being 'selfish' and reliant on Burn-inflicting allies to have the conditionals of her skills activate, but it's well worth it considering her overall potential in terms of damage when they do activate.
Plus, she has insane synergy with her current EGOs. Ardor Blossom Star and Capote can finally be utilized to their fullest potential now that an actual Burn Identity for Ishmael has shown itself.
After the disappointing release of Sloshing Ishmael, it's nice to know that her Liu Identity does not disappoint.
