[Zwei. Assoc. West Section 3] Ishmael

Zwei Association West Section 3 Ishmael, in short Zwei West Ishmael, introduces herself as the new gold standard for Tanks that not only can soak damage but also dish it out as well.

She utilizes Defense Level Up for both her tanking capabilities and as skill conditionals, but what sets her apart from the rest of Tanks is the sheer pace at which she generates Defense Level Up. Let’s start diving into her kit with ID’s unique mechanic & Defensive Skill.

Her Defense Skill is a Clashable Guard with an unbreakable Coin (thus even if you lose a Clash, it will still activate). Clashable Guard (or Power Guard for short) raise a target’s Stagger Threshold by the user’s final Clash Power when it wins a Clash and when it loses a Clash, the attacker’s final Skill Power is reduced by the user's Final Power instead. It does not benefit from the Resonance nor Level difference between the opposing skills As a guard, this skill’s power can only be raised by increasing Ishmael’s Defense but she herself has no issues gaining Defense Level Up to increase Guard’s power. Using her Power Guard gives her 10 Tremor Count, but also activates Defensive Stance which provides the following benefits:

• Fixes her Speed to its minimum value.

• Gains 5 Defense Level Up.

• Gain Aggro on all of her Skill Slots by 10 divided by the number of slots she has.

• Triggers Tremor Burst on all skills on Clash Win without consuming Tremor Count.

• Cannot be Staggered by damage

• Can redirect any enemy’s attacks regardless of Speed.

Now we can finally move to her skills

• Skill 1, Zwei Knight’s Greatsword Form  – 2 Coin Skill, Base Roll – 11, Conditionals Met – 13. Inflicts 2 Tremor Count on an enemy (her only skill to inflict Tremor Count). Grants up to 3 Defense Level Up this turn and 4 Defense Level Up next turn for every 2 Tremor Count on self.

• Skill 2 - Can’t Let You Through  – 3 Coin Skill, Base Roll – 16, Conditionals Met – 19. Inflicts up to 8 Tremor Potency. The third Coin inflicts Tremor Potency equal to self Tremor Count/2 - maxing out at 4. Grants up to 3 Defense Level Up this turn and 4 Defense Level Up next turn for every 2 Tremor Count on self.

• Skill 3 - Ward  – 3 Coin Skill, Base Roll – 17, Conditionals Met – 29. Gains +1 Coin Power for every 4 Defense Level Up on self. Inflicts 2 Tremor Potency on 1st and 2nd Coin each. Consumes all self Tremor Count to inflict up to 20 Tremor Potency on target with its last Coin. Deals up to 50% additional damage  based on excess Tremor multiplied by 5 and Burst Tremor. If in Defensive Stance, the skill will deal 70% additional damage and Burst Tremor again on Third Coin.

Zwei West Ishmael is an ID that excels in long battles thanks to her Tremor Count gain being off the charts. Her Tremor Infliction is great but requires a bit of set-up to use, that is, using her Defense Skill at least 2 times to reach the maximum amount of Tremor inflicted by her Skill 3. Regardless, her utility and tanking capabilities are off the charts, her S3 holds the potential to roll extremely high, and her Clashable Guard can trigger Tremor Burst without consuming Tremor Count and raise Stagger Threshold - making her an insane pick if the enemy has Tremor Reverb. And let us not forget how beastly her Defensive Stance is in itself!

In conclusion, Zwei West Ishmael is the ideal Tank, should you ever need one, or if you are looking for an alternative to LCCB Ishmael for long-term fights for your Tremor team. Her Clashes and damage are both excellent, she can redirect and tank attacks with ease, and her Speed being fixed to 4 helps a ton when bursting Tremor after you have Tremor Entanglement set up. Lastly, her Power Guard can roll really high, denying most attacks from the enemy by winning Clashes.