NTE 1.2: the Iroi build guide — Arcs, Cartridges, teams and awakenings before the banner ends on August 19

Arriving on July 29 with the second phase of version 1.2 "999 Nights," Iroi established herself within about ten days as the go-to healer of NTE: Neverness to Everness. An exclusive S-class Anima character, she brings together what no other support in the game combines: massive party-wide healing, a permanent attack buff, defense penetration for the whole team, and, above all, the ability to bring an ally back into combat from a Regression state.

Time is running out to pick her up: her limited banner "The Thread of Life" (featuring Haniel, Aurelia, and Skia as A-class) closes at the same time as version 1.2, on August 19 at 5:59 AM (UTC+8), i.e. August 18 at 11:59 PM Paris time. Same deadline for her signature Arc "The Wrong Door," to be pulled with Tri-Keys or Dream Gate Keys.

The quick summary for those in a hurry: ATK % everywhere, the four-piece Swift Hedgehog set, "The Wrong Door" if your key stock allows it — and a near-guaranteed spot in all your teams, from Shinku to Nanally. The detailed breakdown, slot by slot, is below.

What Iroi actually does

Iroi is a so-called "universal" support: the game classifies her under the Survival, Healing, and DMG Boost roles (labels kept in English in the French client, like all roles in NTE). Her whole kit revolves around an exclusive resource, Imagination, which she builds up by hitting with her basic attack "Collaboration" and her skills.

• "Future Self Continuity" (redirect skill): heals the whole team, groups up enemies, and grants an ATK bonus equal to 20% of Iroi's base ATK for 20 seconds. This is the spell you'll cast the most often.
• "3.8 Billion Years Mirage" (ultimate): two modes depending on your Imagination reserve. Below the threshold, continuous healing; at the threshold, the ultimate heals, strikes the area, and can revive an ally from Regression — a safety net currently unique in the game.
• "Bang!" (QTE skill): upon entering the field, Iroi deals Anima damage, heals the team, and generates Imagination.
• "Reverie" and "Lucid Dream": the charged variants of her basic attack, which consume Imagination for extra damage.
• "Sympathetic Nerves" (passive): each heal allows the whole team to ignore 5% of the opponent's DEF for 20 seconds. Since Iroi heals constantly, this bonus is in practice always active.

A crucial point going forward: both her heals and her buffs scale off her ATK, not her HP. Her entire build revolves around this.

The best Arcs for Iroi

"The Wrong Door" (limited S-class Arc) is her signature piece and it changes the very nature of the character: +16% ATK, and each of Iroi's heals increases her Anima damage by 30% as well as the whole team's damage by 15% for 20 seconds. In other words, it converts the healing she provides anyway into an almost permanent offensive buff. If you pull Iroi and have keys left over, this is one of the most cost-effective support Arcs in the game.

Without it, several fallback options exist:

• Clear Sky (epic): +20% Anima damage on the redirect skill and ultimate. The best accessibility-to-effectiveness ratio, and the recommended F2P option.
• Juvenile Fantasy, The Last Rose, and Down of Swiftness (legendaries): decent substitute weapons if they're already sitting in your inventory — don't invest dedicated resources into them.
• Sunny Days (epic): a solid stopgap early in the game.

Cartridge and stats: ATK, still ATK

The Swift Hedgehog cartridge is the default choice: its four-piece bonus "increases ATK of all allies by 15% for 20s after the wearer casts their ultimate." On an Iroi who recharges her "3.8 Billion Year Mirage" quickly, the buff runs almost continuously.

If another team member is already wearing Swift Hedgehog, switch to Fireflies and Forest (two pieces: anima damage +10%) for a more offensive Iroi who benefits from her own multipliers on "Bang!" and her ultimate.

As for stats, the hierarchy is clear:

• ATK % as the main stat wherever possible, then flat ATK as a substat: healing, the "Continuity of the Future Self" buff, and damage all depend on it.
• Next, anything that speeds up the ultimate's cooldown, the pivot of the kit and the trigger for Swift Hedgehog.
• Crit rate and crit damage are only worthwhile on an offensive variant with Fireflies and Forest. On a classic support Iroi, they come after ATK.

Game-changing awakenings

Iroi is perfectly functional without any dupes, but four tiers stand out if you're planning to pull for her:

• Awakening 1 "Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma": 3 Imagination points per second when Iroi is off the field. The number one quality-of-life gain — her ultimate at threshold becomes routine instead of an event.
• Awakening 3 "Trait: Cooperative": +36% on her healing.
• Awakening 5 "Trait: Transparent": an additional ATK buff equal to 15% of her base ATK for the team.
• Awakening 6 "Trait: Forgiving": the ally revived by her ultimate comes back at full HP, with 50 points of cycle energy and 50 points of ultimate energy. Negligible in exploration, decisive in high-stakes content.

Which teams to run her in

NTE teams consist of four characters, and Iroi fits into nearly every current composition:

• Hypercarry Shinku (the premium 1.2 team): Shinku (Cosmos, Main DPS), Hathor (Lakshana, Burst DPS), Esper Zero (Cosmos), and Iroi. Her permanent healing lets Shinku chain her damage windows without ever having to fall back, while "The Wrong Door" and Quick Hedgehog buff everyone.
• Nanally team: Nanally (Anima, Main DPS), Jiuyuan (Anima), Esper Zero, and Iroi. In this Anima composition, Iroi advantageously replaces Sakiri with a comparable support profile plus revival on top.
• Alongside Chaos, she can fill Haniel's usual slot: her ATK amplification pairs well with the character's power ramp-ups.

The standard rotation

The loop is simple and repeats throughout the fight:

• Open with Iroi: "Continuity of Future Self" for healing, the ATK buff, and grouping enemies, then a few basic attacks to build up Imagination.
• Cast "Mirage of 3.8 Billion Years" once the gauge reaches the threshold, to stack healing, AoE damage, and trigger Quick Hedgehog.
• Switch to your main DPS and make the most of the 20-second buff window.
• Bring Iroi back in with a QTE using "Bang!" when the team needs a top-up of healing, then start over.

Should you cave in before August 19?

If you play regularly, yes, and without too much hesitation: healers age better than DPS in this type of game, and Iroi is both the best in her category and a team buff in disguise. The "The Wrong Door" Arc remains a luxury — get the character first, "Clear Sky" works perfectly well in the meantime.

One last date to keep in mind: the "Thread of Life" board and the Arc disappear on August 18 at 11:59 PM Paris time, along with the end of version 1.2. What comes next will be revealed as early as August 8 at 1:30 PM (Paris time) with the special program for version 1.3, "Rising from the Moonlit Fog", announced so far only on English-language channels: Zankou and Linko are expected to appear there, but no banner date is official yet. So don't count on a quick rerun of Iroi to put off your decision.