Arknights Integrated Strategies #3 Mizuki & Caerula Arbor

 Integrated Strategies have to be one of the best game mode in Arknights for endgame and veteran players alike, as this Roguelike mode offers an opportunity for players to put their fully raised units into the test. In this opportunity I would like to discuss the 3rd Scenario of Integrated Strategies given I have almost completed my journey in this mode that spanned over 3 weeks. IS#3 is a bit special for me because this scenario apparently involves Abyssal Hunters as main cast especially my all-time favorite in Arknights series, Skadi who supposed to be the main actress of the show.

 IS#3 Mizuki and Caerula Arbor presents a possible future scenario in Arknights settings where everything went horribly wrong in quick succession as the threats of Seaborn getting out of control for unknown reason. This scenario gets the player to pit their Rhodes Island Operators against Seaborn themed dungeons complete with their Lovecraftian Insanity flavor. In order to thwart this doomsday scenario, Doktah and Mizuki will have to team up together to prevent the worst scenario which will involve Mizuki tracing back his Seaborn roots. Compared to IS#2, Mizuki & Caerula Arbor no doubt trying to put even more depressing mood all over its premise as you get to see some of the Rhodes Island operators succumbed to the Seaborn threats whether from the encounters throughout the exploration or stories unlocked from clearing particular challenges.

Compared to IS#2, IS#3 comes with new dungeon mechanics which revolves around resources called Light. Just like Darkest Dungeon, the Light resources will negatively affect your adventure as the value got decreased whether from Encounters or letting enemies broke through from battle mainly through Debuffs randomly falling upon operators which can be trivial or downright ending the current run. For IS#3 Ending 3&4, the player will require to get artifact that cripples the Light Value early in the run which can be game ending without much recourse depending on luck. 

All in all after reaching level 156/170 in IS#3, I would say this particular gimmick of the third iteration of Integrated Strategies are badly designed to complement properly with Integrated Strategies core mechanics. While there are artifacts that allow players to Recover Light value to prevent too much debuffs or negate them, they are just way too rare and players won't even encounter them on some of their runs because it is just that random. The artifact to start the 4th Ending are also plain evil as it will reduce the Light Value completely upon receiving and depending on RNG you won't even get the artifacts to recover the Light value.

 Until the end of my journey with this mode, I feel IS#3 still have plenty of restrictions that makes lower rarity units way overshadowed compared to Top Operators and doesn't really help to alleviate the inherent flaw of this particular Roguelike mode. In terms of difficulty, IS#3 doesn't differ much compared to IS#2 and in fact the Midboss are actually slightly more easier. But the Floor 4&5 stages can get quite brutal if you don't have the proper counters as some of the Elite enemies have very annoying gimmick like Skimming Sea Drifter, Ocean Stonecutter & Retching Broodmother. Overall Stun Debuff operators play a key role to have easy run in IS#3 and here are list of my recommended operators to recruit in this mode:

• Texas Alter - Uncontested MVP in IS#3. Top Tier Operator with S3 AOE Skill that inflict stun debuff and easily wipes out low tier mobs and some elite alike
• Typhon - Top Tier new Sniper Operator that will control half of the Map once her S2 activated and can stun upon hit too
• Goldenglow - Best Caster Pick in IS due to versatility whether from her S2 Zone control or Sniping Bosses with S3
• Mlynar - Overall Top DPS Burst that deals consistent damage whenever his S3 is activated
• Lumens - Must have Medic Operator if you are going to face Ending 2 Boss as his S3 is essential to have operator recover quickly from frozen state
• Kroos Alter - Best Pick for 5* Operator as she is the best choice for Stunning those pesky flying Mantas Seadrifter if you haven't got the Top Tier operators
• Gummy
  

 One of the main reason for me to play IS#3 would be the Final Showdown with Skadi Alter who is pretty much overtaken by Ishar'Mla  personality by this time. I was curious if there will be more story about Skadi who still remains my favorite despite some stupid cults kept spamming stupid stuff on any posts related to her. In the end, all we get are some short stories which tells the fate of Skadi after Ending 3 which she ended up in wrecked mental state overwhelmed by her guilt unable to face Doktah despite her love towards him still linger. Given how IS#3 is still lackluster on expanding Skadi's story line, I am hoping there will be more Abyssal Hunters events to cover on Skadi's storyline and I don't even mind her second alter.

 As for Final Showdown battle with Ishar'mla itself, I used to hate this boss fight with passion but after realizing what must be done in this map and the Leviathan boss gimmick it is a relatively easy fight. When Ishar'Mla is in its Leviathan form, you are not supposed to fight a long protracted fight with it due to High DPS that will outdamage your healers eventually. Thus the go-to strategy would be to consolidate your DPS operators and finish Ishar'Mla with Burst Damage from them. 

 Some people tried to Gank Skadi with low Cost operators but the most stable strat would be letting Ishar'Mla in its Leviathan form to travel to the Right side of map for one lap while Sniper operators whittle her down. and then gather all the DPs to deploy your Top DPS. Once Ishar'Mla revert to human form let the Top DPS of Choice to finish her quickly, Chen & Irene are popular choice with their S3, But Guard Skadi is surprisingly very good at finishing the Job with her S2 especially if you get right Artifacts. So it takes Skadi to take down a Skadi which is quite an Irony.

Overall I have achieved most of the things I wanted from IS#3 whether it is obtaining all 4 Endings along with their extra story which have some absurd Unlock condition at times. But the reason why I put my effort to reach Lv 156 in IS#3 is the unlockable IS#3 lobby theme that just have bittersweet note that fits best for Skadi Alter who still remain as my assistant to this day as she replaced Skadi and will look forward to buying her new skin. The only thing that I missed from IS#3 would be the last unlockable scene from "Paean" encounter which Doctor encounter the petrified remains of Abyssal Hunters which are supposed to appear in Ending 3 Route, but I kept failing at unlocking it to the extent I have become really good at defeating Ishar'Mla. 

Overall I end up not having much attachment toward IS#3 since Mizuki is the one end up becoming the main focus in this story instead of Skadi and the storyline of the alternate scenario are not exactly the most well written one from Arknights as it makes Mizuki literally become a Mary-Sue most likely due to the Illustrator's influence on Hypergryph. Regardless on the lackluster story, I still continue my grind of IS#3 to give best Lobby theme for Skadi which will always be my all-time favorite in Arknights.