Low Rarity Recommendations

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Below is a curated list of low-rarity operators that perform exceptionally well in IS5 for D18 ED2+4+5 runs.

Before upgrading any operator:

• Make sure to click on the operator to check the recommended investment level (as some may have bigger advantages at E0)
• Check their utility and how they fit into the squad
• Remember that the operators selected when starting a run can be borrowed

Note that when referring to priorities in here, it refers to upgrading the operator to said elite level, masteries, or module, this does not necessarily imply a priority to draft or promote within a run.

The highlighted operators are high-priority units that you should consider upgrading first.

Soul Escort Squad

This list of operators focuses on Lamp-Yato drafts. This squad generally plays on a really low hope economy as it doesn’t have the reduced hope costs class squads have, or the frequency of hope relics from visiting multiple shops, as such, this squad generally relies on only drafting 2-3 6★ operators while complementing with lower rarity solutions. Compared to other squads, soul escort could arguably be the one that relies the most on low rarity operators and the one that should worry about investing on them the most.

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Vanguard

Surfer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Primary source of DP. E2 + module provides a significant increase in max HP, which is important for opening ED5. The module's -taunt effect is also useful for allowing her to be safely deployed after tanks.

Cantabile

Recommended Level: E1 max
Surfer replacement in case she is not avaliable. A second agent can be useful for ED5, in which case E1 is enough. Only the first agent is a high priority to E2 S1M3.

Myrtle

Recommended Level: E1 max
Default vanguard pick when there is not enough hope avaliable to draft Surfer. Good DP source when relying more on Kafka.

Beanstalk

Recommended Level: E1 max
Standard starter vanguard for the squad. Her summon usually provides sufficient ground presence until a real blocker is drafted, in addition to serving as a bait for cadence when opening stages.

Guard

Quartz

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Decent blocker that can be drafted early when no defender vouchers have showed up. While her skills aren't that great, S2 can stun, which is useful on low damage shop robs to stall cannot after all chests have spawned.

Humus

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Similar to Quartz, he's just a placeholder blocker until Gummy is drafted, with the advantage of being able to self-sustain scaling with ASPD.

Amiya (Guard)

Recommended Level: E2
Amiya is mainly drafted for her medic/caster forms. However, her Guard form can be useful early as an additional ground presence. In particular, she solves Kaz Falls in combination with another blocker/healer such as gummy if Yato is unavailable.

Sniper

May

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 S2M3
Standard starter sniper for the squad. She scales incredibly well with ASPD and enables stall strats for Theresis. S2 stuns low-hovering enemies in Motorized Squad and Frequent Dispute.

Greyy the Lightningbearer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Greyy alter is a cheap and solid option to slow enemies down, as well as to hold the slugs on ED2 and left side of ED4 with high ASPD relics. While his masteries aren't that great, any extra damage is always good and with the number of times he is drafted they will most likely pay off.

Meteor

Recommended Level E1 max
Her main purpose is shreding DEF at ED4 2nd map, as Yato can significantly benefit from it on low ATK runs.

Defender

Gummy

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3
Best cheap ground presence avaliable on the most useless voucher. She has good self-sustain and can help open stages by tanking cadence. E2 often makes the difference between her simply dying and losing the run or being able to open stages and heal other operators with sufferings while also tanking cadence. The HP and sustain increase also help her tanking Amiya on ED5 more easily or baiting aggro on left side of ED4 while healing the flames that spawn next to her.

Ashlock

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3
Low priority upgrade. Given that there are runs in which we can get spammed by defender vouchers, this makes Ashlock a decent draft option when there is still need for AOE, mainly for stages like Heavenly Paradise and ED4.

Medic

Amiya (Medic)

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Spines are the most important economy resource found in IS5. Having true damage on her kit allows her to take spines more easily than most operators on early floors given their high DEF and RES stats. Her module allows her to fully heal chests without even having to be in range just from a full S2 activation. Her S2 provides a decent amount of burst healing, self-sustain and multihitting to survive when opening stages.

Purestream

Recommended Level: E2 Mod3
Given that Mon3tr exists, she is a low priority pick as Mon3tr is the only medic needed. Without Mon3tr avaliable or without the hope to draft her she heavily rises in priority. At E2 she provides a decent amount of healing for ED4 and ED5 but generally not enough to sustain multiple operators in Chaos on her own.

Rose Salt

Recommended Level: S2M3 Mod1
Low priority upgrade. Similarly to Purestream, without Mon3tr being avaliable to be drafted, her priority rises as the 2nd medic to be drafted for ED4. Her S2 additionally provides survability against the Envy, while her module gives her the extra range to heal the flame on the opposite side she is deployed on.

Silence

Recommended Level: S2M3 Mod1
Low priority upgrade. In case Mon3tr isn't avaliable to be drafted, a combination of 2 medics is ideal for ED4, when both ranged tiles next to the blue box are ocuppied by a DPS to hold both lanes then Silence works better by being deployed on the tile above the blue box, having her drones to heal flames across the entire map, on both maps.

Supporter

Roberta

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Similarly to the other blockers, she is the go to when given a support voucher. Her summon can provide some utility by giving a shield to operators.

Quercus

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Low priority upgrade. Similar to Rose Salt's S2, Quercus provides damage reduction via her talent 2 granting Sanctuary. Has significantly higher single target healing compared to Rose Salt, at the cost of a weaker damage reduction effect and an inability to heal the flame on the opposite side she is deployed on at ED4.

Caster

Amiya (Caster)

Recommended Level: E2 S3M3 Mod2
She is a good option to take spines during catastrophes epoch compared to her medic version that falls short on damage. Her S3 being true damage also allows her to bypass high damage reductions and bloated defensive stats that Theresis and Amiya (ED5) have, being a solid DPS in these stages.

Indigo

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Besides a not significant amount of arts damage, she can provide some CC.

Click

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Worse than Indigo for CC, slightly better for damage.

Specialist

Gravel

Recommended Level: E2 Mod1
Although Yato can fulfil the role of a FRD in ED2/5 that other squads would draft Gravel for, Gravel is still a high priority pick as she allows Yato to be fully committed to a damage role. In ED4, she is deployed with Yato to bait attacks from Envys so that Yato can safely kill them. Although her DP refund module on E2 is useful, she will sometimes go unpromoted as E2 Ethan first is more important for ED4. Lastly, Mod3 has the niche utility of reducing Mlynar's (a common soul escort draft) redeployment time which is useful on ED5.

Ethan

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
While his main strength is in the endings, he still has some value on other stages by stalling enemies even if the stall doesn't last long. Given that lamp runs can almost guarantee high amounts of ASPD, it is almost always guaranteed to have a reliable stalling solution on all 3 endings, even on ED2 where he isn't the stall solution for Theresis, being able to stall the devourers is of huge value. On ED4, unless a high HP blocker with high sustain is drafted, Quilon will have to be stalled and Ethan is the cheapest option for this. Lastly for ED5, he can stall the bosses on all 3 maps, as well as Amiya when there isn't enough damage to burst all of them.

Kafka

Recommended Level: E0 (DO NOT E1)
At P4, Kafka has a 4s redeployment time and is able to sleep enemies for 5s with her S1. This allows her to perma-sleep enemies, stalling them infinitely provided there is enough DP to sustain it. As Yato S3 deals its damage in a very short window, it is used to kill the enemies in between sleep intervals. This strategy can be very powerful and enables doing stages while behind the power curve. However, drafting Kafka requires 3 hope, and in most scenarios Gravel performs the role of a second FRD while costing no hope.
Note that E0 Kafka is ideal as E1 does not affect the sleep duration of S1, but does increase her DP cost by 2, which makes sustaining the perma-stall much harder.

Sniper Medic Squad

While there are different variations to play this squad, this list of operators focuses on the Lamp-Rosmontis start variant. More details about this strategy can be found in the Sniper/Medic Rosmontis Guide.

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Vanguard

Surfer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Primary source of DP. E2 + module provides a significant increase in max HP, which is important for opening ED5. The module's -taunt effect is also useful for allowing her to be safely deployed after tanks.

Cantabile

Recommended Level: E1 max
Surfer replacement in case she is not avaliable. A second agent can be useful for ED5, in which case E1 is enough. Only the first agent is a high priority to E2 S1M3.

Myrtle

Recommended Level: E1 max
Default vanguard pick when there is not enough hope avaliable to draft Surfer.

Guard

Amiya (Guard)

Recommended Level: E2
She's E2 by default mainly from her medic and caster forms utility. Her Guard form can help take spines while Rosmontis stalls with pillars.

Sniper

Greyy the Lightningbearer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
With Rosmontis guaranteeing rumble hand, Greyy alter ends up greatly benefting from it and turnning him from the decent operator it already was off-class to a good DPS.

Kroos the Keen Glint

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Best anti-air operator with good utility for shop rob.

April

Recommended Level: E1 max
Her lowered redeployment time allows her to throw Rosmontis' pillars more often, which ultimately work as bait and the ground presence of the squad.

May

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. While her ASPD scaling slow can be very useful, Sniper/Med has other important sniper vouchers to be prioritized before she can be drafted.

Meteor

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. She can shred DEF on ED4 2nd map which helps low ATK runs.

Defender

Gummy

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3
Standard starter defender for the squad. She has good self-sustain and can help open stages by tanking cadence. E2 often makes the difference between her simply dying and losing the run or being able to open stages and heal other operators with sufferings while also tanking cadence. The HP and sustain increase also help her tanking Amiya on ED5 more easily or baiting aggro on left side of ED4 while healing the flames that spawn next to her.

Cuora

Recommended Level: E1 max
Her main utility is on shop rob, as E1 is enough to hold the boxers on bottom lane. While promoting Gummy to E2 is generally the better alternative when your hope curve won't be affected by it, drafting Cuora serves as a 0 hope option mainly to solve this issue during shop rob.

Medic

Amiya (Medic)

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Spines are the most important economy resource found in IS5. Having true damage on her kit allows her to take spines more easily than most operators on early floors given their high DEF and RES stats. Her module allows her to fully heal chests without even having to be in range just from a full S2 activation. Her S2 provides a decent amount of burst healing, self-sustain and multihitting to survive when opening stages.

Purestream

Recommended Level: E2 Mod3
Able to heal a large range of flames on ED4 map 1 when placed in the middle. Heals top and bottom lane operators on ED5 P1. High HP/s on S2, especially at E2. Slightly weaker en route than Sussurro but stronger in endings, so typically Purestream is 1st draft in case of voucher deficiency. Not as necessary when using Mon3tr because she solo heals ED4 map 1 and map 2 and both lanes in ED5 map 1.

Sussurro

Recommended Level: E1 max
Stronger than Purestream en route because Sussurro S2 has a faster startup, faster cycle, and higher HP/s when relicless. Much weaker than Purestream in endings because Sus has less survival, can't reach many flames on ED4, and can't heal top and bottom lanes on ED5 map 1. Typically 2nd draft after Purestream in case of voucher deficiency but 1st draft if upcoming en route stages are dangerous.

Silence

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod1
Gold standard for low cost medic. Drones have a flexible cycle and position and has good healing. Very strong en route performance on all stages that require healing. Solves ED4 healing requirements. Good on ED5 but relies heavily on her drones.

Supporter

Shamare

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3
Provides DEF shred mainly for Quilon and Amiya, in addition to reducing the ATK from the Envy and Amiya to help with survability.

Deepcolor

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Tentacles are useful for baiting on a variety of stages as well as Theresis orbs on ED2 and caster binds, Amiya's autos or Amiya explosions on ED5. While E1 is usually enough, E2 can be useful as Mod 1 increases her tentacles count from 3 to 7.

Roberta

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Supporter vouchers aren't very valuable which leaves us with more 4 stars to draft, Roberta has some utility with her devices that grant a shield to operators to negate one instance of damage.

Caster

Indigo

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Standard starter caster for the squad. Binds the boats in Face-Off/ED2. Another operator to throw Rosmontis' pillars. ED4 2nd map binder.

Amiya (Caster)

Recommended Level: E2 S3M3 Mod2
She is a good option to take spines during catastrophes epoch compared to her medic version that falls short on damage. Her S3 being true damage also allows her to bypass high damage reductions and bloated defensive stats that Theresis and Amiya (ED5) have, being a solid DPS in these stages.

Durin

Rosmontis pillar spammer.

Specialist

Gravel

Recommended Level: E2 Mod1
An FRD is essentially a must have for consistency, Gravel is the best option for this. Her main uses are on ED5 and ED2, to bounce/block balls, but it is not limited to that as she can work to block/bait enemies, reveal invisible enemies among other things. The main reason to E2 her is for her module to save DP, so while masteries aren't the main priority, S2M3 means she could survive to be retreated on certain scenarios which would result on saving DP.

Ethan

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
While his main strength is in the endings, he still has some value on other stages by stalling enemies even if the stall doesn't last long. Given that lamp runs can almost guarantee high amounts of ASPD, it is almost always guaranteed to have a reliable stalling solution on all 3 endings, being able to stall both Theresis and the devourers is of huge value. On ED4, unless a high HP blocker with high sustain is drafted, Quilon will have to be stalled and Ethan is the cheapest option for this. Lastly for ED5, he can stall the bosses on all 3 maps, as well as Amiya when there isn't enough damage to burst all of them.

FEater

Recommended Level: E1 max
Can significantly slow down the boats spawn rate and reduce Theresis DR on ED2 with just 1 push.

Guard Vanguard Squad

The list of operators focuses Lamp-SilverAsh start runs.

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Vanguard

Surfer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Primary source of DP. E2 + module provides a significant increase in max HP, which is important for opening ED5. The module's -taunt effect is also useful for allowing her to be safely deployed after tanks.

Cantabile

Recommended Level: E1 max
E1 max (as a secondary draft to Surfer) or E2 S1M3 (as a Surfer replacement). VGG drafts Canta more readily because she's 1 hope. Surfer is usually sufficient for DP but double agent greatly increases leeway and helps open hard stages. Secondary FRD for executing shop rob middle lane or assisting top lane. Replaces Gravel as a fast redeploy as a backup option, especially for blocking ED2 orbs and bounching ED5 orbs.

Beanstalk

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. 0 hope option when drafting a 2nd agent ruins the hope curve. Her summon can provide some utility to bait but she's not particularly great in general.

Guard

Tachanka

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod1
F1 shop guard draft if no triple combat. Assists SilverAsh en route when there's no Ulpianus. Greatly increases 2 Kings' shop rob top lane stability alongside Silverash. ED4 P3 Quilon finisher. ED5 p1 Cadence and P2 Theresis finisher.

Sniper

Greyy the Lightningbearer

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 Mod3
Good source of slow and utility even at E1. Helps on both ED2 and ED4.

May

Recommended Level: E2 S1M3 S2M3
Scales incredibly well with ASPD and enables stall strats for Theresis. S2 stuns low-hovering enemies in Motorized Squad and Frequent Dispute.

Meteor

Recommended Level: E1 max
Used exclusively for shredding DEF on Quilon p3 and occasionally Amiya P2. VGG doesn't really need more survival, so Meteor can replace Shamare. Preferred over May in late- and end-game, especially if shop rob top lane and ed2 boats are already solved. Preferred over Greyy2 if you need hope, otherwise Greyy2 is the superior late game draft.

Defender

Cuora

Recommended Level: E1 max
Used in shop rob, E1 is enough to hold the boxers on the middle. While promoting Gummy to E2 is generally the better alternative when your hope curve won't be affected by it, drafting Cuora serves as a 0 hope option mainly to solve this issue during shop rob. E2 Cuora can facetank many threads, mainly in stages like Bloodline Debates, Motorized Squad or Epochal Gaps but often affects the hope curve with minimal returns.

Ashlock

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3
Low priority upgrade. Given that there are runs in which we can get spammed by defender vouchers, this makes Ashlock a decent draft option when there is still need for AOE, mainly for stages like Heavenly Paradise and ED4.

Medic

Amiya (Medic)

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Spines are the most important economy resource found in IS5. Having true damage on her kit allows her to take spines more easily than most operators on early floors given their high DEF and RES stats. Her module allows her to fully heal chests without even having to be in range just from a full S2 activation. Her S2 provides a decent amount of burst healing, self-sustain and multihitting to survive when opening stages.

Silence

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod1
Gold standard for low cost medic. Drones have a flexible cycle and position and has good healing. Very strong en route performance on all stages that require healing. Solves ED4 healing requirements. Good on ED5 but relies heavily on her drones.

Sussurro

Recommended Level: E1 max
Stronger than Purestream en route because Sussurro S2 has a faster startup, faster cycle, and higher HP/s when relicless. Much weaker than Purestream in endings because Sus has less survival, can't reach many flames on ED4, and can't heal top and bottom lanes on ED5 map 1. Typically 2nd draft after Purestream in case of voucher deficiency but 1st draft if upcoming en route stages are dangerous.

Purestream

Recommended Level: E2 Mod3
Able to heal a large range of flames on ED4 map 1 when placed in the middle. Heals top and bottom lane operators on ED5 P1. High HP/s on S2, especially at E2. Slightly weaker en route than Sussurro but stronger in endings, so typically Purestream is 1st draft in case of voucher deficiency. Not as necessary when using Mon3tr because she solo heals ED4 map 1 and map 2 and both lanes in ED5 map 1.

Supporter

Deepcolor

Recommended Level: E1 max
Default opener draft when opening with a Guard. Questionable performance past F1 (it's just Ice Age), but has decent stalling with Medicine Sticks or Glory Pack. Tentacles useful for baiting Theresis orbs on ED2 and caster binds or Amiya explosions on ED5. While E1 is usually enough, E2 can be useful as Mod 1 increases her tentacles count from 3 to 7.

Caster

Amiya (Caster)

Recommended Level: E2 S3M3 Mod2
She is a good option to take spines during catastrophes epoch compared to her medic version that falls short on damage. Her S3 being true damage also allows her to bypass high damage reductions and bloated defensive stats that Theresis and Amiya (ED5) have, being a solid DPS in these stages.

Indigo

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
Binds the boats in Face-Off/ED2. Another operator to throw Rosmontis' pillars. ED4 2nd map binder.

Specialist

Ethan

Recommended Level: E2 S2M3 Mod3
While his main strength is in the endings, he still has some value on other stages by stalling enemies even if the stall doesn't last long. Given that lamp runs can almost guarantee high amounts of ASPD, it is almost always guaranteed to have a reliable stalling solution on all 3 endings, being able to stall both Theresis and the devourers is of huge value. On ED4 he can stall Quilon on the 2nd map, buying more time to meet the DPS check. Lastly for ED5, he can stall the bosses on all 3 maps, as well as Amiya when there isn't enough damage to burst all of them.

Gravel

Recommended Level: E2 Mod1
An FRD is essentially a must have for consistency, Gravel is the best option for this. Her main uses are on ED5 and ED2, to bounce/block balls, but it is not limited to that as she can work to block/bait enemies, reveal invisible enemies among other things. The main reason to E2 her is for her module to save DP, so while masteries aren't the main priority, S2M3 means she could survive to be retreated on certain scenarios which would result on saving DP.

Contrail

Recommended Level: E1 max
Low priority upgrade. Exclusively used as a shop rob opener for Lamp. Typically not drafted because Specialist vouchers are high value. Most Lamp comps can roll a shop rob solution from other means such as damage, Civil War, stun bomb, etc, but Contrail works well enough if all else fails. Google the "Swiss cheese model", Contrail is the last piece of Swiss cheese.

FEater

Recommended Level: E1 max
Can significantly slow down the boats spawn rate and reduce Theresis DR on ED2 with just 1 push.