Operation guide: Gardener

Operation

Guide

The Dreadful Foe of the 6th floor in Expeditioner's Joklumarkar, Gardener pits the player against the eldritch Collapsal christened Crazelyseon, the Ascendant of Cosmoi as the final boss. At first glance, Crazelyseon appears to be unbeatable as it is completely impervious to attacks and warps around the map to create Seedbeds: a patch of rootless eldritch flowers that reduces the ASPD of friendly units in it as well as causing them to take Arts damage over time and making them more vulnerable to Crazelyseon's attacks; once the operation went on long enough, it will warp to several different places in succession, making it more difficult to be anticipated. The key to beating Crazelyseon is the Dimensional Anchoring Pylon at the center of the map — true to the name, this device stabilizes the dimensional rift caused by Crazelyseon's presence, rendering it vulnerable to attacks for a short time when the Pylon's skill is activated, which can be Overcharged to render Crazelyseon vulnerable for a longer duration in addition to removing Seedbeds within the Pylon's area-of-effect, but keep in mind that even with the Pylon, Crazelyseon still cannot be attacked while warping. The player is not out of the woods yet when Crazelyseon's HP drops to 0 for the first time however, as it will revive itself over a short time during which it is invulnerable (even with the Pylon) and has its ATK increased. To further complicate things, if the player takes too long to defeat Crazelyseon, it will cause a dimensional shockwave that destroys itself and the Pylon in the process but turns every single deployable tile on the map into Seedbeds, deals heavy Arts damage to all friendlies, and deducts 30 Life Points, costing the player their run if one has less than 31 at the moment.

Crazelyseon is backed up by tough enemies from Arc Screenguard Captains and Elite Imperial Strikers to Redmark Elite Infiltrators, which can cause some problem if the Operators' DPS or defenses are lacking. Unlike the previous 6th floor Dreadful Foes but like Destiny of We Many in Mizuki & Caerula Arbor, there are no handicaps at all, but Gardener is still a difficult operation due to the roguelike nature of I.S.. A solid team, a good set of Collectibles, and a significant amount of luck when building the squad is required to stand a chance against Gardener, with the preparations starting from the beginning of the Joklumarkar run as it is imperative to build up a solid defensive lineup and coherent strategy over the course of the entire run before taking on Crazelyseon, notably as the player needs to clear Lofty Silverfrost or Sami's Entropy first before one can enter the 6th floor.

Strategies

• Because Crazelyseon is only vulnerable for very brief periods of time, the most valuable damage dealers are those who can unload a massive amount of burst damage in a very short time frame, and not sources of sustained damage (although the latter can help against the other enemies).
• Due to Crazelyseon's predictable movement pattern and the time idling between teleportation, the player is given ample time to pick a spot and ambush it when it arrives. Building a "killbox" around one of Crazelyseon's fixed teleportation points with heavy Arts damage and sources of damage amplification (Fragile, Arts Fragility, RES reductions, etc.) is one of the most reliable ways to defeat it despite its fairly good RES. Some notable ones include:
  • Eyjafjalla's Volcano has a short duration but massive damage, letting it take full advantage of Crazelyseon's vulnerability window. With the CCR-X Operator Module, she can also partially ignore its RES to do more damage.
  • Ceobe's "Really Hot Knives" deals very rapid damage and can take advantage of Crazelyseon's high DEF, while also having access to the CCR-X Module's flat 10 RES piercing.
  • Reed the Flame Shadow's Wither and Thrive can deal tremendous damage if Crazelyseon is sandwiched between two operators that receive the orbiting fireballs, while her Cinder debuff is also a significant source of Arts Fragility.
  • Surtr's Twilight can deal heavy damage that pierces RES, while the massive HP buff and immortality from Remnant Ash can help her survive even if Crazelyseon attacks her or if she's forced to deploy on a Seedbed.
  • Saria's Calcification and Suzuran's Foxfire Haze are excellent sources of damage amplification in addition to healing.
  • Ifrit is more difficult to use due to her restrictive range, but can severely debuff Crazelyseon's above-average RES and deal heavy damage in turn, while Texas the Omertosa's Unrelenting Downpour is also an easily-applied source of RES reduction.
  • Ebenholz's Sound of Silence can deal potentially fatal damage in a single blow with enough buffs or support, but his damage output will be much lower if Crazelyseon survives the initial hit.
• Physical damage dealers that are useful include Mlynar, Typhon (with "Eternal Hunt"), and Ch'en the Holungday. Due to the aforementioned setup time, the player can set up buffers like Warfarin and Aak to support them, or even a buffed Exusiai if one can time her skill.
• Make sure that the bulk of the damage dealers are able to survive and recover for a second round, as they'll need to outlast at least one more teleportation cycle before they can finish off Crazelyseon.
• It is recommended to wait for the Dimensional Anchoring Pylon to become Overcharged before using it. Although this leads to a longer cooldown, most Operators are more reasonably able to do their full damage in 10 seconds rather than 5, and it also clears out Seedbeds, which can spell disaster if they build up enough.
• Crazelyseon's range is too long to feasibly avoid its attacks and its double-targeting makes drawing its aggro harder, so healing support is imperative. Nightingale is particularly helpful due to her RES buffs, which can mitigate Crazelyseon's high Arts damage output.
• It is not advised to spread defenses too thin despite the tempting prospect of engaging Crazelyseon at all four teleportation points. It is generally better to heavily fortify one side of the map, and then deploy a smaller defense to handle the other lane's enemies while surviving Crazelyseon's damage. Executor Specialists can help relieve pressure on the side of the map that isn't as fortified.