As an experienced Master branching into the intricacies of Arts looping teams, few debates get theorycrafters more fired up than Space Ishtar versus Summer Kama. Both are widely considered top tier AOE Arts servants for their incredible damage potential. But who truly comes out on top?
I‘m here to settle this debate once and for all with an in-depth numerical comparison across all the critical criteria. By the end, there should be no question on which goddess of destruction deserves her place on your support list!
Wave Obliterating Kits – A Side by Side Analysis
Before judging their looping capabilities, we need to break down their kits piece by piece. Let‘s scrutinize just how much overwhelming firepower they‘re truly packing:
Space Ishtar
- ATK: 12,635 (NP5, 2K Fou)
- Skills:
- Galaxy Drive A – 50% Battery
- Universe-Splitting Ashtart – 50% Buster Up + 20% NP Damage Up (1T)
- Cosmic Crown – 20% Quick Up + 30% Arts Up + 30% Crit Damage Up (3T)
- Passives:
- Independent Manifestation A – 20% Damage against [Saber]
- Avenger – Class Advantage against [Ruler]
With an Avenger‘s class properties combined with great base ATK, Ishtar hits the ground running with superb offensive ability. Her 50% battery immediately enables Black Grail strats while her hefty Arts steroid rounds out her kit nicely.
The real prize here though is her Quick focused deck combined with solid Quick/Arts buffs. Having 5 Quick cards with strong star weight gives Ishtar unparalleled NP refund potential. Combined with her battery, this almost guarantees 100% overkill gauge across all wave counts.
This extreme consistency in looping forms the crux of Space Ishtar‘s playstyle. By focusing on steadfast NP cycling rather than single turn damage, she excels in prolonged battles where survival takes priority.
Summer Kama
- ATK: 13,047 (NP5, 2K Fou)
- Skills:
- Scapegoat A+ – 50% Battery (1 Ally)
- Sadistic Constitution EX – 60% Arts Up + 50% NP Damage Up (1T)
- Papiyas, The Demon King‘s Third Eye – 20% Quick Up + 20% Arts Up + 30% Crit Damage Up (3T)
- Passives:
- Divine Core of the Goddess C – 10% Arts Buff Success Rate Up
- Riding A – 10% Quick Buff & Extra Damage Up
Summer Kama trades some of Ishtar‘s utility for even more overwhelming power. As an Alter Ego she loses out on class advantage but makes up for it with the highest ATK stat amongst ST servants.
Her skill set further elevates her damage to ridiculous levels. A 60% Arts buff combined with 50% NP damage essentially DOUBLES her already fantastic NP output. And unlike Ishtar who spaces out her damage, Kama centralizes it into single turn nukes.
In terms of refund, Kama sadly lacks any inherent synergy in her kit. Her mixed deck means inconsistent NP gen, while having only a single Arts buff limits her overkill potential. She must therefore utilize external supports and CEs to enable her looping.
But for raw damage? Few can compete with an Angry Kama – she far eclipses most ST units even without class advantage. This insane burst potential is what defines her blistering fast playstyle.
Sustained VS Burst: Playstyle Comparison
Now that we understand their kits, we can properly assess how Space Ishtar and Summer Kama function in battle:
Space Ishtar – The Consistent Looper
Ishtar‘s entire gameplay revolves around repeatedly firing off her NP. With a 50% battery on a low 5 turn cooldown, she can easily chain NPs every other turn.
Her excellent quick deck, solid quick/arts buffs and 20% overkill from her S2 enable reliable refunds even at neutral damage. And thanks to Independent Manifestation, she receives a passive 20% damage bonus against Sabers which appear very often.
This means that with starting charge CEs like Painting Summer or Traces of Christmas, Ishtar reaches 100% consistency across node types. Whether facing waves of 30K Saber mobs or 90K mixed cavalry, she easily sustains looping while dealing steady AOE damage.
Occasionally, her lower skill cooldowns do limit Ishtar‘s maximum burst potential. But in exchange, she has fantastic uptime on her buffs over longer battles. This allows much more flexibility for players to use her skills reactively as needed.
Overall, Space Ishtar fulfills the steadfast AOE looper role wonderfully. While she won‘t instantly gib enemies like some attackers, her reliable looping outclasses most Arts servants in terms of consistency.
Summer Kama – The Devastating Nuker
If Ishtar is the relentless machine gun, Kama is a tactical nuke ready to delete bosses. Her gameplay centers completely around unleashing her S2+S3 powered NP chains.
With a Black Grail equipped, Kama‘s rods easily hit for 200K+ neutral damage on her S3 turn. Factor in class advantage and she can one-shot multiple health bars off most challenge quest enemies.
The only catch is that Kama‘s kits lacks any internal refund potential. Without a strong overkill gain skill, she often struggles to sustain her NP across waves. This relegates her to a burst attacker rather than a looper in most comps.
Fortunately there are ways to offset this. Supports like Castoria provide hefty refund and NP gain through their skills and NPs. Some CEs like Painting Summer also grant starting charge for turn 1 NPs.
And honestly, most of the time Kama‘s absurd damage eliminates the need to loop constantly anyhow. She simply nukes down waves so fast that marginal refund rarely matters. What matters is deleting that 200K+ HP enemy before it becomes a threat.
So while Space Ishtar focuses on relentless consistency, Summer Kama personifies overwhelming firepower concentrated into periodic savage strikes. Both achieve fantastic AOE damage, just through different specializations across their kits.
Ideal Support Compositions
No SSR servant truly unleashes their potential alone. The best attackers shine when paired with supports that propel them into godhood. Let‘s explore tailored team comps that enable Space Ishtar and Summer Kama to obliterate quests with ease:
The Ishtar Engine – Castoria Plus Supports
As the premier Arts support, Castoria turbocharges Space Ishtar‘s looping to crazy levels:
- Provides 20% NP refund after NP to smooth overkill gauges
- Mana Loading for big burst heal + debuff clear
- Zero mana cost means more Ishtar quick chains
- Defence skill reduces incoming damage during loops
Plus Castoria‘s own Arts AOE NP gives the team even more sustain in longer fights. No wonder she‘s considered absolutely core for min-turning with Arts servants!
Additional supports like Paracelsus make stacking Ishtar‘s NP gain and Arts buffs easy. Mozart and Casgil are great for crit stars to capitalize on Ishtar‘s solid star weight.
Tamamo is also formidable for reducing Ishtar‘s cooldown – allowing her to fire S2 and S3 much more often. Combined with Castoria they enable some fantastically resilient Arts teams that just keep spamming NPs!
Unleashing the Summer Beast – Black Grail Kama
As a ferocious nuker, Summer Kama has one goal: obliterating waves before they can retaliate. Equipping her with a Black Grail (ideally MLB) boosts her already formidable NP damage even further.
And what better enabler of Black Grail strats than Castoria? Between battery, healing and rainbow invinc cover, Castoria patches Kama‘s sustainability brilliantly:
- 20% NP refund helps offset Kama‘s weaker overkill returns
- Powerful party invincibility for surviving enemy NPs after Kama‘s burst
- Mana loading to fuel Kama‘s mana hungry Black Grail nukes
Plus Castoria‘s NP gain skill basically nullifies Kama‘s subpar arts cards for setting up her T3 nuke. Honestly she covers nearly all of Kama‘s weaknesses wonderfully while turbocharging her strengths to insane levels!
Alternate arts supports work well too for enhancing Kama‘s firepower. Nero Bride provides a hefty attack buff while Mozart and Casgil lend crit power to her brave chains. Tamamo further augments Kama‘s skill damage to overdrive levels.
Regardless of support, Kama‘s playstyle remains simple: charge her NP while keeping her skills ready for the decimating S3 > NP tsunami!
Matchup Analysis Across Farming and Challenge Quests
Now for the fun part – seeing these servants‘ kits in action across different quest types! We‘ll compare Space Ishtar and Summer Kama‘s performance when farming daily nodes versus battling high level challenge quests.
Min Turn Farming – Varying Advantages
For straightforward missions like ember or mat farming, both Kama and Ishtar make the tasks trivial with proper supports. Thanks to 50% batteries and strong AOE damage, clearing waves in 3 turns is child‘s play.
However, their unique specializations become more apparent across different node features:
- Saber/Berserker Waves: Ishtar‘s dedicated anti-Saber damage gives her a notable advantage here.
- Mixed Cavalry Nodes: Ishtar‘s stronger and more consistent refund helps her loop smoothly.
- 90K+ HP Final Waves: Kama‘s concentrated damage often one shots them regardless of class.
- Card RNG Screwage: Ishtar‘s 5 quick deck provides more leniency in brave chains.
So while both handle standard loops well, Ishtar‘s consistency gives her an edge on harder refund nodes. Meanwhile, Kama‘s unrivaled NP damage demolishes tankier wave 3 enemies.
Challenge Quests – Surprising Winner?
For single boss fights, Summer Kama‘s overwhelming burst would seemingly have the clear advantage. And indeed, during her S3 turn Kama can outright assassinate bosses even through defensive skills or invincibility.
However, longer battles often favor Space Ishtar‘s reliability instead. With strong sustain from Castoria, Ishtar easily cycles multiple NPs to gradually whittle down break bars. Her higher durability also handles stray crits or NPs better than the glass cannon Kama.
Additionally, Kama‘s playstyle has more pivotal decision points. Using S2+S3‘s burst at the wrong time can massively jeopardize damage output if mistimed. Meanwhile Ishtar simply loops steadily regardless of enemy actions.
Thus despite having lower paper DPS, Space Ishtar‘s consistency actually enables superior performance in many challenge quests. Her forgiveness for mistakes also reduces mental fatigue compared to nailing Kama‘s tight skill timings.
So for most content, both destroy quests without issues. But Ishtar‘s stability and better card RNG gives her an edge for unreliably long or difficult fights.
Closing Thoughts
After this exhaustive comparison, I hope you agree that pitting Space Ishtar against Summer Kama leads to little meaningful conclusion. Both stand at the pinnacle of AOE Arts loopers with outstanding performance. They simply optimize differently across the consistency vs burst spectrum.
Ishtar provides unmatched smoothness in looping by having strong quick oriented deck and self sufficient buffs. Her high uptime on skills combined with sturdy survivability also handles volatile challenge fights wonderfully.
Meanwhile Kama compensates for refund issues with utterly devastating NP damage potential. An angry deity of destruction, she effortlessly disintegrates any enemy with tremendous magic power when her skills align. Even tanky rulers melt before her.
So rather than competing with each other, both Kama and Ishtar raise Arts teams to incredible heights. Having options to pick between stable loops or overwhelming skill-timed nukes is a luxury for Masters. Each shines brighter under different quest conditions and supports.
Whichever goddess of annihilation you choose, just be ready to watch enemy waves disappear before they can even blink. Our duo of destroyers stand ready to dish out divine punishments with unmatched speed and firepower! No challenge quest can ever withstand their might!!!