Beginners Guide to Drafting in IS3

Foreword

This document was written on February 14th, 2026, and is intended to give a general overview of common drafts in IS3. IS3’s meta is incredibly varied and unique. Moreover, meta changes occur relatively frequently due to the nature of how IS3 is designed. As such, while the operators listed here will likely still be effective, it will be up to the player to recognize how newly released operators impact the IS3 meta.

In general with IS3, there are two things we must balance. The first is a strong focus on en route performance. IS3 is a hope poor environment, and to get endings we need to sacrifice combats for encounters which greatly weakens our development. Some maps in IS3 are also notably challenging, which demands specific answers. The second is finding solutions to bosses. Often the best operators for solving a boss aren’t necessarily strong en route. Balancing the two objectives is critical to our survival. Due to the nature of IS3, the guide will be divided based on operator roles instead of classes. Some operators are also notably stronger at D15 than they are at D18, the meta of the two difficulties being notably different. In such cases, the description will make note of it.

The guide will have the following sections:

Starters

Operators who can carry you well are listed here. Note that all 3 operators here are strong operators in general and worth drafting.

Exusiai the New Covenant

Incredible damage and fast startup. Her barrier lets you bait hits and turn any ground operator into a temporary blocker. Her S3 has strong utility for DP generation in stages like Gravestone (Avoid Unsafe Roads) as well as being excellent for redeploying operators in Izumik (IS3 ED4). Being on the specialist ticket means that if you start with the Specialist/Caster class squad, you can start with her E2. Her main downside is being crippled by Statue of Breogan (-15sp on deploy) and being single target. Since IS3 often wants AOE damage, you will be forced to draft another operator to cover that weakness.

Wisadel

Good damage, pretty mediocre startup. Wisadel’s main advantage is actually that she covers your AOE damage needs and her revenants. Revenants are incredibly strong since they serve as bait for broodmothers to keep the Last Knight alive. They also grant her camo which is extremely notable for stages like Izumik and Out of Control. Being on the sniper ticket means you can start with her E2 on Sniper/Medic. Her main downside is being crippled by Statue of Breogan (-15sp on deploy) and having a terrible skill cycle on Skill 3. It is not uncommon to be forced to switch to Skill 2 on stages to compensate for this. She lacks the solo carry power of Exu Alter, but scales better into late game with an outstanding performance on floor 5 and 6.

Tragodia

Tragodia’s main claim to fame is his skill 2 here. It is incredibly strong for IS3 in particular because it shuts down Broodmothers which prevents Knight from dying. You may have noticed that all 3 starts listed have some way to protect Knight, this is not a coincidence. He also doesn’t care about Breogan at all. He is one of the picks as a starter for People Squad along with the other 2 above. He lacks the strong carry power of the other 2 starters, but makes up for it with his incredible control.

Honorary Mentions

These operators are notably worse than the big 3 as starters for one reason or another, but should be noted anyways.

Rosmontis

Stronger than Wisadel early game. Pillars provide incredible protection, stun and a body. Metastatic allows you to spam pillars even harder, especially if it lands on April. Rosmontis falls off extremely hard later in the run, notably having a very mediocre performance on F5 and doing close to nothing on F6.

Ela

A broken D15 E2 Specialist/Caster starter and one of the best operators in IS3. Because you cannot cleanse rejections on D15, your starter often should be an operator you’re fine with getting rejected. Ela performs excellently regardless of rejections thanks to mine utility. She is also just incredibly strong in general, demolishing enemies with ease. Mines are incredible utility in IS3, providing global slow and fragile where you need it. Ela also has very flexible positioning, being deployable on melee tiles. IS3 tends to be ranged operator dominated, Ela not competing for ranged tiles is often a huge plus.

Kroos The Keen Glint

She used to be the meta D15 E1 starter. Her damage was just good enough for every stage and she provides valuable stun utility. Stun utility is important for handling Skimming Sea Drifters (Manta rays). She’s far less popular on D18 because her damage is no longer sufficient and we have other methods of stunning now.

General Drafts

These operators play important roles en route. They often play important roles in solving bosses as well. In such cases, it will be noted in the description. Since this section is long, it will be divided according to classes.

Vanguards

Silverash Alter

A fairly strong operator. He provides a reliable source of Freeze by stacking two skill 2’s and then deploying any cheap operator to hit the targets you want to freeze. His effective DP generation is also excellent. He’s especially excellent with status extension relics like Flash Camera. His main downside is his large hope cost for what is basically a Freeze on demand. If you want to play into him, the cost of drafting a large amount of Fast redeploys also takes its toll. His damage in reality isn’t actually that high unless you specifically play into it.

Ines

A fairly weak operator, but sometimes exactly what you need. If you actually want dp generation you should use the lower rarity vanguards. However, her skill 3 is strong for Izumik. She has a bit of laning potential thanks to turning invisible on skill 2. As of this guide’s creation, Silverash Alter is not out, so she’s probably your best choice for now if you’re in desperate need of power.

Surfer/Cantabile/Elysium/Myrtle

They all exist to generate DP. Which one you should take depends on your rejection. If it’s Neurodegeneration (Freeze for 15s on Deploy) then take a flagbearer. If it’s any other rejection, then an agent is likely better. Try to take advantage of your relics as well to decide which vanguard you want. Note that if you have initial SP, you can activate an operator’s skill as they’re being deployed and they will not be frozen. Note also that dp pressure in IS3 is relatively low. You only really need DP generation on Gravestone and Izumik.

Guards

Mylnar

The King of D15. Unfortunately he’s not nearly as good on D18 thanks to the increased stats making it so that he crumples easily to Broodmothers. 0 Block, taunt, large AOE damage. Still a good operator if you need these traits, but not a priority draft on D18. He’s still one of the best operators on D15 however.

Degenbrecher

Good cycle and becomes invulnerable during skill 3 to dodge hits. Is fairly strong at E1 thanks to skill 2. Notably takes advantage of Bend Spears of Bloodbath well. Her total damage is quite lacking for D18, so you need at least one good damage relic for her to be useful. On Izumik, you can use her to pull Jellyfish into the hole.

Amiya

Amiya is a niche class squad option which allows you to have either a medic or guard as needed. Having a ground body is often useful, and Guard Amiya s2 can be used to clear trash mobs in a pinch.

Defenders

This class kinda stinks in IS3. Here are some cope options.

Jessica Alter

Invisibility reveal, good aerial stun on skill 3 with flexible range. Take her if you get nothing but defender vouchers and need a passable damage carry with stun utility.

Shu

Crowd control with skill 3. Strong healing in general. Take her if you get nothing but defender vouchers and are looking for a way to CC enemies or need to pass a heal check.

Blitz

Aerial stun for the truly desperate.

Snipers

Snipers are a bit strange. There are many that are passable but only a few that are truly meta.

Wisadel

Traits discussed in the starter section.

Lemuen

A fairly strong en route performance and an incredibly dominant boss performance. She provides strong AOE damage on skill 3 and can give good ST damage on skill 2. Has very good synergy with Exu Alter and Ela since they give a large damage boost and help clump up enemies.

Kroos the Keen Glint

Discussed in honorary mentions of the starter section.

April

Excellent with Rosmontis to enable more pillar spam. This is especially notable with metastatic/wavebreaker where her redeployment time is decreased even further. Don’t use this operator if you aren’t using Rosmontis.

Good but not meta Snipers:

Ch’en the Holungday
Rosmontis
Ray
Archetto

Casters

Pramanix Alter

One of the best operators in IS3. At E1 she has skill 2 which provides decent damage. At E2 she also has skill 3 which has good total damage and so is good for cycling with your other burst options. Her skill 1 is her main claim to fame however. Her skill 1 is incredibly broken for Izumik, almost singlehandedly permanently stalling two lanes of Jellyfish.

Logos

Primarily a Specialist/Caster pick. Logos provides good AOE clear on skill 3 which is very valuable for several stages. Got his job stolen partially by Pramanix who also provides good AOE clear.

Nymph

A strong E1 option to stall dangerous elites with skill 2. She’s fallen off dramatically in usage because of Pramanix Alter and Tragodia stealing her jobs. She’s still an excellent Knight and Izumik answer, but Tragodia is better at that too.

Eblana

This operator exists to sleep Manta Rays. She does an ok job of it. Her summons suck and should be retreated most of the time when Broodmothers are on the stage. Her S3 does a decent job of killing trash mobs, but suffers problems similar to Degenbrecher where it’s simply not enough damage to handle elites.

Medics

Kal’tsit

One of the best operators in IS3. She has very strong healing, provides ground presence, stun bomb utility, and True damage. F1 shop can only give Medic/Caster/Vanguard vouchers so she’s available pretty often. She doesn’t do especially much on Izumik, but that’s just about her only downside,

Nightingale

Nightingale is the answer to the question “how do I survive Water Fire Union”? This question as it turns out is quite important since on any given run, there is a 50% chance of running into the stage on floor 6. She ends up being a luxury draft that you take if you have no other solution to Water Fire Union. She also helps a bit on Izumik by helping to tank his skill (Acid).

Warfarin

Buff your Lemuen, Degenbrecher or Exusiai Alter and watch them kill stuff. For stages like Izumik and Gravestone, this can end up being quite relevant. A fairly niche draft who exists to supplement lacking damage.

Supporters

Tragodia

Covered in the starters section. He is a potent boss solution for Izumik and The Last Knight as well.

Angelina

Incredibly strong en route performance. Her skill 3 has an excellent 25/25 cycle and almost nothing in IS3 is immune to levitate. She kills or nearly kills most elites and is one of the best waveclearers in general. She also serves as part of the easiest solution to Izumik when paired with Weedy.

Gnosis

With his IS module, Gnosis is a fairly strong en route operator especially when paired with Silverash Alter. However, he falls short of what Angelina and Tragodia provide in general. He also performs poorly in Izumik, though his performance at The Last Knight is excellent. He notably works extremely well with status extension relics like Flash Camera.

Civilight Eterna/Skadi Alter

These two aren’t viable drafts at D18 usually. But at D15 on top of the utility they usually provide (bind and attack buffing for Civilight, attack and defence buffing for Skadi alter and global range), they also serve the important role of helping keep Knight alive when we’re escorting him.

Mayer

Aerial stun for the truly desperate.

Specialists

The most important class in IS3.

Exusiai Alter

Covered in the starter section.

Ela

Covered in the starter section.

Ascalon

A fairly strong en route performance and an excellent boss performance. She mainly clicks skill 2 and stalls elites and kills trash mobs. Her main downside is that you often don’t want operators on the ground, and negative taunt doesn’t mean much if she’s the only operator on the ground.

Phantom

Fairly ok en route performance and an amazing boss performance. All 3 skills have strong utility. S1 can be used to tank enemies such as in Guns and Order and Hunting Group. Skill 2 is used to kill dangerous threats. Skill 3 is used to push and crowd control. His main downside is his incredible fragility which must be played around.

Kirin R Yato

Incredibly strong on D15 because her stats are barely enough to delete waves of trash mobs with skill 3 or 1 round elites with skill 2. She’s also immune/resistant to almost every rejection except Metastatic. She’s fallen off a lot at D18 because her stats are no longer enough. However she is still good at killing trash mobs with skill 2. This is quite relevant still on stages like Water Fire Union, Out of Control and Fates Favored Child (The Last Knight). She’s not a priority pick, but an important mention nonetheless.

Texas Alter

An expensive Mr. Boom. At D15 she kills trash mobs well and thus is still ok. At D18 she can’t even kill trash mobs. A stun bomb for the moderately desperate. Pretty good with Metastatic.

Cliffheart

She has a long range controllable aerial stun on skill 2. She also serves to acid cancel on Izumik if needed.

Boss Solutions/Crowd Control

These two categories are paired together because the roles often overlap. Note that plenty of operators who are good at crowd control are also serviceable en route. Also note that not all options are created equal. For the sake of brevity they will be shown in a table.

Operator	Notes
Weedy	One of the most important operators in IS3. Her mediocre en route performance is made up for by her dominance in specific stages. She’s one of the best solutions for bottom lane in Out of Control with Angelina using skill 2. She’s an excellent solution to one lane of Spiders in Water Fire Union. Most importantly, she solves Knight and Izumik. In Knight she can permastall Knight when paired with Angelina (she pushes him all the way across the map). In Izumik she pushes the boss into the hole, and then is one of the strongest stallers for Jellyfish. Note that she also pushes ED1 and ED3 bosses into holes as well.
Wildmane	S2 pushes Jellyfish in Izumik.
Mountain	S3 pushes Jellyfish and stalls Enraged Possessed Leader in Out of Control. Expensive solution.
Heavyrain	Camouflage to dodge Izumik’s skill (Acid). Terrible cycle means she can only do it once.
Erato	Sleep’s Manta Rays and Knight. Outdated solution.
Mostima	S2 for Manta Rays, S3 for stalling and pushing in general. Notably strong performance in Izumik. Good but expensive.
Harmonie	Budget Mostima.
Mint	S2 pulls Jellyfish in Izumik.
Ebenholz	S2 solves Knight with Glory Pack. A bit outdated since Tragodia exists.
Nowell	S2 lets you live Izumik’s skill (acid). Note that this only works in a no feed strategy assuming no relics.
Whisperian	S2 is good for the tank strategy on D15. Largely worse than Nowell otherwise.
Ptilopsis	Used for her talent which lets Weedy use her skill twice in one cannon deployment. Largely pointless unless you don’t have Angelina.
Titi	Used to put one operator to sleep with S2 which lets you save one operator from Izumik’s skill.
Magallan	One of the strongest sources of crowd control on S1. It also makes her invisible which is very strong for Izumik.
Lucilla	S2 gives MVSPD down and fragile on Jellyfish in Izumik.
Shamare	S2 debuff’s Izumik and Jellyfish to make them easier to kill and tank.
Earthspirit	Budget Lucilla.
Lee	A relicless solve to the Last Knight. Very strong on Izumik for pushing away Jellyfish, in particular for the no feed strategy.
Gladiia	A strong puller for Jellyfish.
Enforcer/FEater/Shaow	Cheap pusher.
Ethan	With good ASPD he binds incredibly well, notably strong on Izumik for Jellyfish.
Mr. Nothing	Relicless the Last Knight solve. Outdated now because Tragodia exists.

Rejection Transfer Operators

On D16+, if you transfer a rejection from an operator to another operator twice in a stage, they will be cured. As such the meta has become to draft cheap operators to make the cost of transferring cheap. Common operators for this include:

CONFESS-47, Castle-3, Friston-3, Justice Knight, Terra Research Commission, Rangers, Durin, Lancet, U-Official, PhonoR-0, THRM-EX, Charger Vanguards, Reserve Operators

Miscellaneous Drafts

Operators that are hard to place into other sections go here.

Operator Name	Role
Mitm	Hunting Group solution.
Blacknight	General sleep stall.
Quercus	Cope Medic.
Stainless	Strong attack buffer on skill 1, sp generation on skill 2, Knight solution on skill 2. Too bad he’s a 6* supporter so he’s competing with Tragodia and Angelina.