Operation guide: Twisted Every Way

Operation

Guide

Story

Trivia

One of the two possible final nodes of Chapter VI in Phantom & Crimson Solitaire, Twisted Every Way pits the player against the Troupe Mouthpiece as the final boss who is invulnerable at all times and has high ATK on top of inflicting Nervous Impairment in each attack which can hit up to two targets simultaneously. The key to beating the Mouthpiece is the Host's Assistants he periodically deploys, which lowers the ATK of friendlies around it and constantly deals Pure damage to them, and causes the Mouthpiece to lose 10% of his maximum HP whenever one is destroyed – this being the only way to attack him. Good luck on doing so, though, as the Assistants have respectable HP and defenses, on top of Negative Taunt. The player is not out of the woods yet when the Mouthpiece's HP is depleted for the first time, as he will revive himself with all Host's Assistants deployed (that are also invulnerable for a short time after deployment) and no longer periodically deploying them, thus at this point the Assistants must be destroyed ASAP before the Mouthpiece starts moving, since he will deduct 30 Life Points upon entering a Protection Objective, resulting in an instant failure if the player have less than 31 LP at the moment.

The Mouthpiece is also supported by a host of challenging enemies ranging from Derisive Audiences, Scarlet Singers, and Theater Golems, as well as Leithanian Rebel Leaders and Mudrock Matterllurgist Leaders. To make things more complicated, Twisted Every Way has a handicap that halves the DP generation rate, preventing friendly units from being rapidly deployed. All these makes Twisted Every Way an exceedingly difficult Operation, particularly 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 player's squad is required to stand a chance against this Dreadful Foe, with the preparations starting from the beginning of the Crimson Solitaire 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 the Mouthpiece, notably as the player needs to clear The Point of No Return or All I Ask of You first before they can enter Chapter VI.

General strategies

• Keep in mind that the player has 470 seconds (close to 8 minutes) to defeat the Mouthpiece before he moves, which is usually enough.
• Have at least one Standard Bearer Vanguard, preferably Myrtle, to counteract the halved DP generation rate. Otherwise at least two Pioneer Vanguards are needed.
• Most of the enemies can inflict Nervous Impairment, so at least one Wandering Medic is a must to counteract them. If the player doesn't have them, Multi-target Medics work well.
• Executor Specialists are useful to block enemies in emergency, as are Summoner Supporters' summons.
• Since the enemies spawn in groups, Operators with AoE capability will make things easier.
• Operators who can attack enemies anywhere on the map (Ambriel, Goldenglow) are highly recommended to pick distant Assistants and some stragglers.

Recommended setup

• Required:
  • Elite 2 (promoted) Myrtle
  • 1 Pioneer Vanguard (preferably Fang or Vanilla)
  • 1 Medical Medic and 1 Multi-target Medic
  • 1 DPS-focused Executor Specialist (Projekt Red, Phantom) or Jaye)
  • Elite 2 (promoted) SilverAsh
  • 1-2 lane holders (Thorns, Mountain, Blaze)
    • Be careful to deploy them out of the range of the Assistants so they don't get debuffed.
  • 1-2 Ranged Operators to assist in holding lanes (Eyjafjalla, Carnelian, Passenger)
• 2-3 of the following Operators to clear the centre Assistants:
  • DPS Guards (Surtr, Nearl the Radiant Knight)
  • Ling using her Summons
  • Ranged Operators (Ch'en the Holungday, Schwarz)