Really terrible with Isaac, how to get better?

[tempests_herald]

Title - I am terrible with Isaac. It didn't take TOO many runs to get through the first 3 characters to unlock Isaac but I can't seem to find a combination with Isaac that can even get me half way through the second zone.

If I just want to brute force my way through this playthrough to keep unlocking characters, what should I be looking for in terms of crew, cards and artifacts?

TIA

[KingOfCharge]

Dizzy + Riggs + whoever is a generally reliable combo. Dizzy and Riggs create a solid defensive core and are also generally very good. Riggs offers evasion which is important and Dizzy has so many self-combos and generally high-value cards that you could win a run with just Dizzy and a crosslink.
Without Peri, fights will be slower because of your lower damage so you have to prepare for that. As long as you have enough block and evade to take 0 damage from most enemies you don’t need tons of damage output to win (make sure to get some early for big crystal though).
Isaac’s drones have 2 purposes: whatever their effect is and blockers. Droneshift isn’t necessary to win like evade but if you have a bit then it can help you preserve your drones or block powerful attacks with them. It can also send enemy missiles away from you, and act 2 enemies use a lot of them.

[XBX]

I used dizzy + peri + any. Dizzy to build up defense and peri's inverter to gain a lot of overdrive. Then use several multishots to triple the overdrive damage.

[KingOfCharge]

Works. Any team in this game has the potential to win on hardest. You don't always get inverter though, and you need a plan B. Make sure to get lunge A early to fix the mobility issues any time you run Peri without Riggs (not just this setup)

[tempests_herald]

Originally posted by KingOfCharge:

Dizzy + Riggs + whoever is a generally reliable combo. Dizzy and Riggs create a solid defensive core and are also generally very good. Riggs offers evasion which is important and Dizzy has so many self-combos and generally high-value cards that you could win a run with just Dizzy and a crosslink.
Without Peri, fights will be slower because of your lower damage so you have to prepare for that. As long as you have enough block and evade to take 0 damage from most enemies you don’t need tons of damage output to win (make sure to get some early for big crystal though).
Isaac’s drones have 2 purposes: whatever their effect is and blockers. Droneshift isn’t necessary to win like evade but if you have a bit then it can help you preserve your drones or block powerful attacks with them. It can also send enemy missiles away from you, and act 2 enemies use a lot of them.

Sweet, thank you - I was able to pass on the second try tonight after your post. Much appreciated! I ended up in my run with the Jupiter missile, the artifact to turn missiles back and the artifact that gave me temp shield whenever I gained shield. It worked out quite well.

[KingOfCharge]

Yeah, shield burst is great.

[Tim]

I like using Isaac cards with exhaust (and bring out multiple constructs) and only a couple non-exhaust construct cards in the deck. Since you need movement or drone shift to set up multiple, and you only need so many to protect your ship, you don't need your deck to go all-in. But if you have those big, splashy, multi-construct exhaust cards, it gives you a great "out" to a wave of enemy attacks.

Oh, and make sure to check the upgrades on his cards. Lotta big changes there.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by Tim:

I like using Isaac cards with exhaust (and bring out multiple constructs) and only a couple non-exhaust construct cards in the deck. Since you need movement or drone shift to set up multiple, and you only need so many to protect your ship, you don't need your deck to go all-in. But if you have those big, splashy, multi-construct exhaust cards, it gives you a great "out" to a wave of enemy attacks.

Oh, and make sure to check the upgrades on his cards. Lotta big changes there.

For instance, he's the only character other than Dizzy with access to acid.

[Ixzine]

Isaac shines most easily in the Ares and Gemini.

For the Ares, he provides solid expensive cards, which have higher relative value cuz the Ares draws less cards per turn. It's also easier to defensively cover the Ares with objects cuz it's small.

The Gemini's missile bays being so far apart is mostly an advantage. It works real well for spamming the heck out of his drones and covering cheeky attacks.

[Frogge]

use the droneship with issac

[Tim]

Originally posted by HeraldOfOpera:

Originally posted by Tim:

I like using Isaac cards with exhaust (and bring out multiple constructs) and only a couple non-exhaust construct cards in the deck. Since you need movement or drone shift to set up multiple, and you only need so many to protect your ship, you don't need your deck to go all-in. But if you have those big, splashy, multi-construct exhaust cards, it gives you a great "out" to a wave of enemy attacks.

Oh, and make sure to check the upgrades on his cards. Lotta big changes there.

For instance, he's the only character other than Dizzy with access to acid.

Running Isaac and Dizzy and focusing on corrosion is one of my favorite builds. Works especially well with small ships so you can focus on evasion and let passive damage do all the work.