Space Ishtar

“It’s not like combat is the only thing I enjoy. I just don’t know what else I should do. ...I’m bored.”

Space Ishtar is, in some respects, a highly straightforward Servant. She does damage, and a lot of it, repeatedly. Ishtar has two primary features that set her apart from the competition: first, that she does so much damage she can reliably farm almost anything at higher NP levels, and second, that she can change her own NP type. Together, these turn what is otherwise a fairly standard kit into something truly remarkable, leaving Ishtar as a standout damage-dealer and a highly valuable Servant.

Space Ishtar’s most unique skill is Venus Driver, which lets Ishtar set her Noble Phantasm, Edin Shugurra Quasar, to Quick, Arts, or Buster. This lets Ishtar work well with whichever powerful supports a Master happens to have, and it ensures she’ll be at the very least useful regardless of what new and powerful Support Servants are added to the game. Additionally, Multiple Starling is a 50% NP charge skill, which, combined with Space Ishtar’s Arts AoE Noble Phantasm, gives Ishtar a lot of flexibility to loop her Noble Phantasm. As her Noble Phantasm and all three of her skills boost her damage, Ishtar deals a lot of damage with each Noble Phantasm, making her a powerful damage-dealer and a flexible farmer.

While Space Ishtar is overall a very strong Servant, she does have a handful of disadvantages within her kit. For one, the damage buffs tied to Multiple Starling have only an 80% chance of success, which means they are unreliable, especially in farming contexts where reduced damage can lead to a missed 3-turn clear. Space Ishtar also focuses fully on dealing damage, which means she has limited utility for challenge quests and difficult story fights. Space Ishtar is also an Avenger, and while Avenger is a good class in general, it does mean she almost never has Class Advantage, which means she needs high enough NP levels to defeat neutral targets in order to be useful for farming.

Space Ishtar is a uniquely valuable long-term investment. She has abilities that are generally useful to the playstyles of all three card types, and she can switch her Noble Phantasm type to fit a given situation. This means she is likely to be useful to all Masters regardless of what other Servants they have, and she will continue to be useful as the game grows and changes. Even setting aside her value as a farmer or as a damage-dealer for hard quests, Space Ishtar’s generalist skillset ensures she will have a place in the game for a long time to come.

Works With Any Support Servants

Space Ishtar’s generally strong skillset and ability to change her NP type means she works well with support Servants regardless of their card-type preference. This is advantageous in two ways: first, it means most Masters are likely to have good ways to enable her, and second, it ensures she will remain relevant and useful even as the game changes and develops.

Easy NP Looping

With access to a 50% NP charge skill and an AoE Arts Noble Phantasm, Space Ishtar can easily and flexibly loop her Noble Phantasm. This makes her a good choice for short AoE challenge quests, and it makes her an excellent farming Servant. It is important to note that due to NP gain mechanics, Space Ishtar’s Noble Phantasm only has substantial NP refund while set to Arts, but with the help of supports she can still loop her Noble Phantasm in many Quick and Buster teams.

High AoE Damage Output

With damage buffs on all three of her skills, as well as a 3-turn NP damage buff on her Noble Phantasm, Space Ishtar has remarkably high damage output for a Servant who usually does not get class advantage or disadvantage. With NP levels, Space Ishtar’s damage output is high enough to reliably clear even the most difficult farming nodes.

Unreliable Damage Boost

The damage buff on Multiple Starling can fail, which limits the amount of damage Space Ishtar can reliably output. In farming situations, Masters should assume this buff will miss, in order to ensure Space Ishtar does not fall short of her expected damage and fail to kill a wave of enemies.

Limited Utility

Space Ishtar’s skillset prioritizes 3-turn damage output above all else. While this is great for farming and for short, simple challenge quests, Space Ishtar can fall short in hard fights that require stall-oriented strategies or that have annoying gimmicks. Space Ishtar has no way to, for example, pierce defensive buffs. While Masters can account for these weaknesses with supports or Craft Essences, it may be better to bring a damage-dealer with more utility value instead.

Rare Class Advantage Access

The Avenger class container is very powerful, but it also hits most enemies for neutral damage. Non-extra-class Servants can sometimes compensate for lower damage with offensive class advantage. As Space Ishtar does not have that ability, she needs high enough NP levels to reliably kill neutral targets in order to be especially valuable as a farmer. An NP2 or NP3 Space Ishtar can kill almost everything, but an NP1 Space Ishtar may struggle at times.

Long Noble Phantasm Animations

This may seem like a minor point, but Space Ishtar’s Noble Phantasm animation is unusually long, especially relative to other top farming Servants. In most situations, this is relatively unimportant, but when farming the same node many times (such as in lottery events), the longer animation time results in noticeably slower farming than other alternatives.

Multiple Starling is Space Ishtar’s NP charge skill, and it needs to be max level in order to maximize her NP loop potential. As such, it should be leveled first. Devil’s Sugar is a 3-turn damage boost and should be leveled second. Venus Driver gains the least from levels and can be saved for last. All three skills are important to Space Ishtar’s usefulness, though, and ideally should all be taken to max level.

• Devil’s Sugar is functionally a variant on Charisma. While boosting allies’ attack can occasionally be useful for tricky farming nodes, and nullifying charm debuffs can be useful for certain hard fights, this skill is mostly valuable for boosting Space Ishtar’s own damage. In practice, this skill works as a modest sustained damage buff, which, while unexciting on its own, contributes to Space Ishtar’s overall high damage output.
• Venus Driver is mostly notable for letting Space Ishtar change her NP type. It also has a one-time NP damage buff, which sadly does not help for subsequent turns, but it can help Space Ishtar break an enemy’s first bar in a hard fight, or can help break through an early farming wave with higher than usual HP. The skill also provides a single hit of invincibility, which is mostly incidental to the skill’s value but can help keep Space Ishtar alive a bit longer.
• Multiple Starling lets Space Ishtar charge her own NP gauge. This skill guarantees Space Ishtar can loop with 50% charge support Servants and a Max Limit Break Kaleidoscope, and it lets her cover for a wave with fewer enemies when looping more traditionally. If she gets lucky, Ishtar also gets a small damage buff from this skill. Overall, this skill is a large part of why Space Ishtar works well in all three card types, as 50% NP charge skills are highly valuable regardless of team.

Starting NP Gauge Craft Essences are particularly useful for Space Ishtar, especially before Altria Caster becomes available, as they let her loop her Noble Phantasm more easily. NP Damage Up Craft Essences maximize Space Ishtar’s damage output, letting her clear challenge quests and farming nodes when she would otherwise not deal enough damage. Card Type Performance Up Craft Essences and Attack Up Craft Essences provide less overall damage but can benefit Space Ishtar’s normal attacks, which may be nice for fights with one more threatening enemy and several secondary targets.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element: These CEs let Space Ishtar get going more quickly and are typically key to looping with Space Ishtar before Altria Caster releases. A Max Limit Break Kaleidoscope, in particular, is valuable for guaranteeing Space Ishtar can loop with proper supports, no matter which enemies are on the field.
• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: These CEs provide the largest increase to Space Ishtar’s damage output, which can help compensate for her usual lack of class advantage.
• Formal Craft / Imaginary Around / Limited/Zero Over: These CEs increase both NP damage and card performance for Space Ishtar’s chosen card type. Formal Craft and Imaginary Around are particularly good, as they also increase Space Ishtar’s effective NP gain.
• Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament: This CE can be particularly valuable for longer fights, or in cases where Space Ishtar may not want to use just one type of NP. This provides some starting NP charge and also an attack boost, which benefits Space Ishtar regardless of which NP type she chooses and also helps all of her normal attacks.