Okada Izo

All of Izo’s skills tie in to his critical playstyle in one way or another, and should ideally be leveled as much as possible. Generally, it is recommended to max his first skill as soon as possible to make the most of its damage increase.

• Man-Slayer A is an exemplary skill, and Izo’s bread and butter. The damage increase it provides against Humanoids is double of most other damage boosting skills, and it also provides a Critical Damage Up as the cherry on top, all with a low 5-turn cooldown at max level. This skill should definitely be leveled first.
• As a hard defensive skill, Mind’s Eye (Fake) provides a measure of survivability for Izo, and is also the reason as to why he performs decently in solo situations. It also provides a 3-turn Critical Damage Up when used. This skill can be leveled second if Izo is to be brought into the aforementioned solo scenarios.
• Swift and Powerful as a Falcon A has the role of ensuring Izo’s criticals when they are needed. With a 3-turn cooldown at max level, it allows him to be less reliant on his teammates, and increases his consistency. With enough resources, it may be a good idea to rush this skill to max level after Man-Slayer, but the impact of leveling it isn’t really felt until then, in which case Mind’s Eye (Fake) should be prioritized.

“Today is a good day for cutting down a man.”

A dangerous killer from the Edo period, Man-Slayer Okada Izo’s swordsmanship is said to rival those of the Saber class despite his Assassin class. As a Servant, Izo’s fighting style combines his Arts NP with the trademark critical aspect of Assassin Servants. Specializing in single turn bursts, he is an excellent boss killer most defined by his anti-Humanoid niche.

Okada Izo’s primary source of damage boost comes from his first skill Man-Slayer, which grants a significant damage increase against Humanoid enemies, a trait possessed by nearly all Servants. The skill also increases his critical damage alongside his second skill Mind’s Eye (Fake), further amping Izo’s damage potential. Despite his seeming Arts leanings, Izo has little problems securing his own critical hits, thanks to his NP Shimatsuken’s massive Star Gain Up, which allows him to generate good amounts of stars even from Arts cards. As a final layer of security is Swift and Powerful as a Falcon’s low-cooldown Star Absorption Up, ensuring that his critical hits will happen when needed.

Naturally, Izo’s lack of NP Charge and his single-target nature make him rather unsuited for anything outside of boss-killing (aka farming). Meanwhile, in the context of his niche, Izo’s primary issue is that he is almost wholly reliant on critical hits to gain NP and deal damage. While his kit generally covers most of this need, improper management on the Master’s part may cause him to lose steam, especially when his NP’s buff is not up, which translates to less critical consistency and in turn reduced overall performance.

A final, more minor weakness is that his damage buffs stack additively with damage-boosting event CEs, which somewhat reduces his scaling in such scenarios.

All in all, Izo’s high burst damage is a highly valuable tool for fighting bosses, though he is far less useful on the farming side. While his critical reliant nature does require the rest of his team to play into it, this is an overall easy task with the help of supports and passive Star Generation Craft Essences.

High Anti-Humanoid Burst Damage 

Izo’s anti-Humanoid buff alone beats that of most other Servants on its own, but he also complements it with his critical buffs, maxing out at 162% damage increase on critical hits against Humanoid enemies. Coupled with his relatively easy NP5 access, these bring his bursting capability to insane levels, allowing him to compete even against higher rarity options.

Arts-Critical Synergy

Despite his Arts cards being on the mediocre side of things, Izo’s Arts leanings bring in many benefits, such as easier access to Arts chains and access to more support options. Arts’ NP gain niche also pairs well with his critical-oriented kit, the combination of which (for the most part) makes up for his lack of any NP gain or charge skill.

Excels Only Against Humanoid Bosses

Although the anti-Humanoid niche is so wide it sometimes doesn’t feel like one, it is still a niche at the end of the day, which means that Izo’s performance drops significantly when fighting an enemy without the trait. This non-universal nature, coupled with his other restrictions and single-target nature, in turn means that he will find limited use in many farming situations.

Reliant on Critical Hits

Having neither a NP gain nor a NP Charge skill, Izo’s criticals essentially dictate his NP gain, and indirectly, the burst damage provided by Shimatsuken as well as its Star Gain buff… the latter of which is his primary source of critical stars. In short, a significant part of Izo’s strength comes from his criticals, and failing to perform them in a consistent manner gimps both his damage and NP gain, which can leave him as somewhat of a sitting duck. While Izo’s own cards provide a decent amount of stars, the sheer RNG of the command card system means that they are not always available. Therefore, an external, consistent supply of stars is needed to ensure Izo’s top performance, or a solo scenario where his cards are guaranteed to show up.

Damage Buffs Stack Additively with Event Damage CEs

Both of Izo’s buffs stack additively with the bonus provided by Event Damage CEs, which can cause his damage to fall off in comparison to higher-rarity single-target Assassins. Even in these situations, however, the burst damage he deals is by no means lackluster, and he still gets the job done for the most part.

Due to how impactful Izo’s NP can be to his playstyle, Starting NP Gauge CEs are his best choice, as well as hybrid variants featuring Arts Performance Up, Attack Up, and NP Gain Up. Pure variants of these effects can also be used, though they are less versatile in practice.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element (LB): These CEs allow Izo access to his NP’s burst damage and buff much earlier, allowing his kit to get going. Especially good for single-wave and boss stages.
• Painting Summer / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament / New Beginnings / Dive to Blue: These CEs can be used in lieu of the above category in stages with more than one wave, or when NP Charge supports are available.
• Formal Craft / Projection: The Arts Performance Up provided by these CEs boosts not only Izo’s Arts cards’ damage and NP gain, but they also work with his NP’s Star Gain Up, further boosting the amount of star he produces.
• A Moment of Tranquility / Chocolatier / Sign of Smiling Face: These hybrid CEs provide a boost to Izo’s Arts cards alongside other beneficial effects. They can be used interchangeably with pure Arts Performance Up CEs.