Should You Build? (TLDR)
Semmelweis is a powerful support who grants damage buffs in exchange for HP loss. Her [Blood Domain] provides up to +40% DMG Bonus that, by virtue of being an Array effect, can stack with other DMG Bonus buffs. If you enjoy high risk, high reward gameplay or lack a strong damage buffer, you should consider building Semmelweis. Just make sure to bring ample sustain because Semmelweis’ HP drain will make your team squishier.
Lore
A young woman from Szeged, Semmelweis was originally a mixed-blood arcanist whose arcane lineage was so faint she couldn’t cast arcane skills. This allowed her to blend in as a human when she joined the St. Pavlov Foundation. During Semmelweis’ time as a Foundation investigator, a doctor at the Laplace Rehabilitation Center informed her that she was afflicted with an extremely rare condition. With only three to six months left to live, Semmelweis refused to stop working and instead transferred to the History Maintenance Team—a notoriously dangerous job.
Version 1.6’s Echoes in the Mountain details Semmelweis’ time investigating a branch of Manus devotees in the mountains as her health began to fail. At the end of her investigation, she received a letter from the mysterious “Lorelei of the Rhine,” who promised a cure for her condition in Vienna.
Review
Semmelweis is a 6-star Mineral Reality character who functions as an damage-buffing Support. She provides powerful buffs at the cost of HP—a kit befitting of a vampire.
Semmelweis’ buff incantation “Proper Means” grants everyone a DMG Dealt buff and allows her to designate one ally as [Fresh Blood]: before actively casting an incantation, this ally loses some HP and gains +15% Critical Rate for this action. Semmelweis drains her own HP, too—her basic attack “Iron Nameplate” has very high multipliers at the cost of 10% of her Current HP.
All of these instances of HP drain allow Semmelweis’ teammates to take full advantage of her [Blood Domain] Array. Under [Blood Domain], allied characters gain DMG Taken Reduction and +5% DMG Bonus for each 10% of their HP they are missing. Semmelweis creates this Array through her Ultimate, “As the Moon Rises,” which drains 20% of all allies’ Current HP and causes her to enter the [Feral] status for 3 rounds—the same duration as her Array. During these 3 rounds, [Feral] causes Semmelweis to cast a mass attack [Truth Revealed] at the end of each round. [Truth Revealed] scales by +30% Reality DMG per instance of HP loss when characters take action, stacking up to a whopping +600% for a total multiplier of 680% at 20 stacks (which is admittedly very difficult to achieve).
A powerful support whose DMG Bonus and Critical Rate buffs can aid the vast majority of DPS characters, Semmelweis is a universally applicable teammate for players looking to increase their team’s damage in exchange for survivability. Semmelweis also enables the new self-damage team archetype by providing a potent payoff for HP drain through [Blood Domain]’s strong DMG Bonus scaling. Although primarily an offensive support, Semmelweis certainly doesn’t lack in the damage department herself. On top of that, Semmelweis has plenty of Moxie to set up her Array. Her Insight I continues the trend of Ultimate-Array casters gaining +3 Moxie when entering battle first seen in Getian’s kit. However, unlike her predecessor, she gains +1 Moxie upon casting her Ultimate, allowing her to comfortably recast her Array every 3 turns without needing to move incantations or refresh her 2-turn buff prematurely.
By casting her buff and attack incantations on Round 1, Semmelweis can cast her Ultimate as early as Round 2. After that, she can achieve 100% uptime on [Blood Domain] by reapplying [Fresh Blood] every other turn and attacking 2–3 times between each Ultimate to replenish Moxie.
In conclusion, Semmelweis is a formidable Support character who is relatively simple to play. If you have some extra Stamina, like playing self-damaging characters, or are in need of some extra damage, consider building your free copy of Semmelweis.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Universal support with powerful DMG Bonus and Crit Rate buffs.
- Array effect stacks with other status effects.
- High personal damage multipliers and access to both AoE and single-target attacks. Can apply [Fresh Blood] to herself for a more DPS playstyle.
- Synergizes well with self-damaging characters, giving new life to old characters like Eternity.
- Simple rotation and easy-to-maintain Array.
- Free in 1.9!
Cons
- High HP tax that requires a substantial amount of sustain; makes your team more vulnerable to burst damage.
- Not that many self-damaging characters available as of 1.9, so stacking up [Truth Revealed] takes time.
- Not the most AP-positive—casts around 2 incantations per round for 100% uptime. HP drain may mean your Survival unit also needs to use more AP to keep team alive.
Portrays
Semmelweis works fine at P0.
P1 increases her Array’s DMG Bonus.
“As the Moon Rises: Deployed [Blood Domain]'s effect is now: Whenever an ally attacks, for every 10% of their missing HP, gain DMG Bonus +7.5% (up to 60%).”
Her first Portray allows you to get 1.5 times more DMG Bonus in exchange for Lost HP. You get more DMG Bonus at 40% HP (+45%) than you would get at 20% HP with P0 (+40%, the maximum).
Great Synergies
Any DPS who likes DMG Bonus and Crit Rate.
Self-damaging characters like Eternity, Ezra Theodore, Kakania, and upcoming J can capitalize upon Semmelweis’ [Blood Domain] well. Balloon Party’s Lost HP%-based healing works nicely.
Notable synergies include:
Future notable synergies:
Notable Anti-Synergies
Array Characters: You can only have 1 Array active at a time, so Getian, Tuesday (2.1), and Lopera (2.2) will not work with Semmelweis.
+DMG Bonus% Buffers: While it may be tempting to run a DMG Bonus buffer to stack with [Blood Array]’s effect, Semmelweis’ “Proper Means” grants a generic +DMG Bonus% [Stats Up] that will compete with other buffs of the same name—like the ones from An-an Lee, Necrologist, Pickles, and Argus (2.1), for example.
HP-Balancing: Characters like Charlie and Pavia who want to remain at a specific health threshold will have a hard time with Semmelweis’ HP drain.
Psychubes
Here are the best Psychubes you can use on her:
Obtainable from the 2.0 roguelike mode, “From the Depths” is Semmelweis’ signature psychube. Because her Ultimate damages all allies, it can activate this psychube’s passive and grant Semmelweis the [Echoes of Life] status, which sets her to 33% HP after taking lethal damage. Each instance of self-damage on the team increases the carrier’s Incantation Might; at maximum stacks, the psychube offers a truly enormous +39% Incantation Might. This psychube also offers excellent Reality DEF and Mental DEF, making Semmelweis more resistant to damage.
“Long Night Talk” is a decent option for Semmelweis, especially if you already have it built. While she cannot activate the “2+ [Pos Status]” passive on her own ([Feral] counts, but [Fresh Blood] is Special), she does cast a lot of buffs and benefits from the ATK% increase. Semmelweis also makes good use of its base 18% Incantation Might.
As always, “Blasphemer of Night” is a good damage option if you can activate its conditions. Semmelweis doesn’t inflict any [Neg Status] on her own, but she benefits from the Incantation Might, though the extra DMG Dealt might reach diminishing returns.
Available in 1.9 from her Anecdote, “In the Shadow” is a tailored 5-star option for Semmelweis. At full stacks, it offers a very solid 12% DMG Reduction, +10% ATK, and 15% Incantation Might. Be warned, however: this is a hyper-specific psychube that can only be fully utilized by Semmelweis (and Bette, weirdly enough).
Resonance
Level 7
Level 9
Level 10
Teams
Standard Teams
Double Vampire[GLB]
Damage Dealer
Support
Sustain
TEAM EXPLANATION
- 4th slot options: Bkornblume, Isolde, Ezra Theodore, Kakania, Any Other Healer.
- An affordable mono-Mineral Reality team for people who want to play Eternity again, just like the old days. Eternity’s self-damaging mechanics synergize very well with those of her fellow vampire Semmelweis. Balloon Party’s healing scales off of Lost HP%, making her a great sustain for this team. In 4-P content, you can add Bkornblume for extra nostalgia.
Healing? What Healing?[GLB]
Damage Dealer
Support
Sustain
TEAM EXPLANATION
- 4th slot options: Any Healer, Isolde
- While Semmelweis’ self-damaging effects do not count toward Kakania’s [Empathy] stacks, Kakania’s tankiness and damage redirection helps to make Semmelweis less squishy. Kakania’s “Association” buff and both of Ezra’s incantations have self-damaging effects that help Semmelweis increase the damage of [Truth Revealed]. Ezra’s Shields also help to keep the team healthy. In 4-P, you can do the responsible thing and add a healer or go in guns blazing with Isolde. Isolde’s buffs and debuffs notably have no overlap with Semmelweis’, making her a great supplementary support.
The 1.9 Special [GLB]
Damage Dealer
Support
Sustain
TEAM EXPLANATION
- 4th slot options: Kakania, Isolde, A Knight, 6
- Realistically, you can switch out Lucy for any DPS and Vila for any Sustain and you’ll get a functional team because Semmelweis is so universal. Lucy has really high skill multipliers, making Semmelweis’ DMG Bonus a welcome addition. Additionally, Lucy’s psychube gives +18% Incantation Might if the user is under 2+ [Special] statuses; Lucy can grant herself [Dynamo] easily, but her other [Special] conditions require defeating an enemy or casting her Ultimate. As a [Special] status, [Fresh Blood] allows Lucy to access that Incantation Might immediately. In 4-P content, add Kakania for the full 1.9 experience.