Reverse: 1999 Guide | Isolde

Isolde is a remarkable character in Reverse: 1999 for her versatility and impressive offensive support capabilities. She is also renowned for her flexibility in various other roles, excelling in each. Due to the complexity of setting her up, you shouldn’t expect a simple buildout of her, but if you take your time to understand her, she is worth investing in.

Isolde, being designed with an operatic theme, makes you go through phases that are labeled as Prelude, Interlude, and Finale. Her performance intensifies as her Heat gauge builds up. So, if you haven’t figured it out, her playstyle mostly revolves around her burn mechanic, a debuff that reduces healing by 15% and inflicts periodic damage.

The more you accumulate burn stacks, the more Isolde is able to advance through each of her phases, and each level grants more potent effects. This whole process may sound intricate, but it’s worth it, as her passive ability lets her allies apply burn with each attack. A feature as impressive as this is what gives Isolde her edge in team synergy, and if you’re able to pair yourself with burn-centric allies, you’ll be able to maximize the burn effect. 

Skills

Getting into her skills breakdown, Twirling Melody is Isolde’s main attack skill. It is nothing but a mass attack that gains an increase in penetration as she progresses from the Interlude to the Finale. If used effectively, it becomes her primary source of damage, but it's only possible if you aim to build her as your main attack dealer.

Isolde’s Desired Freedom is a skill that provides critical debuff. It harshly reduces the enemy’s critical and reality defense. Desired Freedom is the most effective if you’re using Isolde as a supporting character, as keeping her debuff active will ensure some consistent team attacks, which can really be impactful.

Isolde’s next skill is her ultimate. It's called Choking on Blood, and it does 5 stacks of burn damage on all her enemies, along with an additional five stacks on the primary target, which is truly impressive. Moreover, your allies will be granted Rousing Morale, which provides an outstanding damage boost of 50%, marking her importance as a valuable offensive support.

Gear and Psychubes

To really maximize Isolde’s potential, you’ll be required to equip some specific Psychubes and enhancements. Starting with her best Psychube Knock on the Door, it is a must-get to amplify her ability, and it’s also accessible in the event shop. If you’re focused on making her support, lower levels of amplification will suffice, but full amplification will be required if you choose her to be your main damage dealer.

Blaze of Night or Balance Pea is also another suitable Psychube option, with Balance Pea boosting her passive burn-based damage by a significant amount. If you’re limited on resources, Yearning Desire is another reliable budget alternative that pairs really well with her skillset. 

Isolde is able to work with both attack and crit-focused builds. While using Knock on the Door, a crit-based build will prove to be more effective as her passive damage and burn potency both increase. Likewise, her attack-oriented build will better result in her passive damage boost if you choose to use other Psychubes.

Team Building

Being a spirit support character, Isolde is able to align her offensive and debuff-focused playstyle with many characters that do not conflict with most common team setups. If your goal focuses on dealing with reality damage, you should consider pairing with Getian. You’ll be able to stack up to 90% damage bonus for reality-based allies by reducing enemy critical defense and reality defense.

Mental damage characters can be supported by Isolde just as effectively, especially those with high crit rates. You can pick up characters like Cabona since she can amplify Isolde’s damage potential. If you can, a critical build with Ezra will further enhance the critical damage output by impressive amounts.

If you’re able to pair Isolde with characters that take advantage of her debuffs and damage bonuses, you’ll be able to unlock Isolde’s burst potential. Lilia, Centurion, and Melania are able to thrive with Isolde if you’re picking up burst damage strategies.

Also, check our Reverse: 1999 review and other guides below:

• Reverse: 1999 Guide | Mercuria
• Reverse: 1999 Guide | Kakania
• Reverse: 1999 Guide | Lucy
• Reverse: 1999 Guide | Windsong
• Reverse: 1999 Guide | Charlie