Eternal Return Black Survival: Sissela Guide (How to Build)

Passive – Agony

This passive has two parts. You gain bonus HP regen and Skill Amp the more missing health you have. Additionally, when Wilson returns to you (whether it’s by pulling yourself to him with E, you pick him up after using Q, etc.), Your next auto attack deals bonus damage.

You hurt more the more you’re hurting. This makes Sissela very strong in prolonged fights, but it also lets you keep moving in the early/mid-game when item building is important. Just have a snack and walk it off. Note the reduction in movement speed for later on.

Q – Go Get ‘Em Wilson!

You throw Wilson in a direction, and he explodes for extra AOE damage when he lands.

I’m sure someone will point out this is Ori’s Q+W combo from League, minus the slow. It is, and much like the Ball, Wilson will sit tight wherever you put him. Walk out of his range, and he’ll pop back to you. This is your engage tool and, potentially, your disengage tool. Can be thrown through walls.

W – Girl in a Bubble

You put yourself into a bubble, gaining 2 seconds of invulnerability, then the bubble pops, dealing damage and pushing enemies away from you.

The OH SH*T button of Sissela’s kit. Note the 2 seconds of invulnerability. Isol’s firing a cone of bullets at you? Bubble. Melee characters jump up to you? Bubble. You’re ulting and need to keep yourself safe in the team fight? Bubble.

E – Play with Me!

Wilson throws out a tether. If the tether hits an enemy, it pulls them to Wilson’s location, dealing damage and stunning them. If the tether hits an ally, they’re pulled to Wilson and granted a shield.

This is Sissela’s most important and useful ability. You can do your best Scorpion impression and keep enemies from running. You can send Wilson over a wall, then pull yourself to him to escape. You can send Wilson behind the enemy you’re running from, then stun them and make your escape. Note that if Wilson is with you, enemies/allies are pulled to you, I’ll bring this up again later.

R – Finally Free

The big bad Karthus ultimate that hits everyone on the map, including yourself. Channel for 1 second. Then, 3 seconds after you channel, deal damage to ALL players on the map. Deals more damage the lower your HP is, but can’t reduce your own hp below 1.

Combine with W for best results. Note the ultimate can’t kill you, but that doesn’t make you invulnerable. Good for finishing off someone you can’t catch up to. In teams, this ultimate can easily turn fights in your favour when used at the right time.

D – Caltrops

Sissela’s weapon is Shuriken and only Shuriken. You throw a circle of caltrops on the ground, enemies walking on them are slowed and take damage. In my opinion, Sissela synergizes with Caltrops better than any other Shuriken user in the game. I’ll explain this more in the Tricks section.

“Okay, What do I Max?”

You can do this one of 2 ways.

 >> 

 >> 

Q > E > W
(apply points to Passive and R when available)

Better in solo play since throwing Wilson often will ensure during damage on both the throw and subsequent explosion. While your hard cc won’t be available as often, this is good for learning Sissela since you can change Wilson’s position more often, making some bad throws more forgiving.

 >>  >> 

E > Q > W
(apply points to Passive and R when available)

More situational, I’d recommend this every now and then for Duo/Squad. More pulls are more shields and stun power that your team can capitalize on. Get some experience with Sissela before trying this; Wilson’s position becomes less forgiving if you go this route.

(If you would like to see the numbers for all of these abilities, check out AaronStone’s Sissela Guide!)

Sissela has the benefit of being able to build either Skill Amp or HP and still be effective thanks to her passive, Agony. I’ll go over some items you’ll be considering, the pros and cons between them, and give examples as to when you take them.

Azure Dagger vs Wind and Fire Wheels

+20 Attack Power
+33 Normal Attack Damage
+27 Skill Amp

+Gives you extra Auto Attack Damage
+Fewer item requirements
+Synergizes with Sissela’s passive
+Covers up her early frailty with great auto damage against animals and players alike
+Great with Healing Reduction items

-Doesn’t offer late-game scaling
-Lower burst potential against squishy targets with more range (ex. Sniper Aya)

+55 Attack Power
+17% Skill Amp

+Great Scaling Skill Amp for late game
+More Burst damage potential against squishy targets, especially with CDR
+Good Attack Power

-Hefty cost, your limited inventory slots will be eaten up with its components early
-Hunts will be harder to kill without the bonus AA damage
-Lower DPS potential

Which is better?

I recommend Azure Daggers, especially for Solo play. Sissela is frail early game, and these will cover up some of her weaknesses. Killing animals will be much easier, +33 auto damage is nothing to laugh at. Combined with her passive, you can easily out trade other players in low-level skirmishes. You still pack a good punch with Wilson while having good auto attacks for consistent DPS. Better against enemies with Lifesteal.

However, Wind and Fire Wheels, despite its hefty cost earlier on, is better for late game and Squads. You’re a strong team fight character. Your partners can protect you while you pummel the enemy into the floor with Wilson. In solo play, it’s still solid, but you’ll still have a weaker early game to worry about, but high burst potential in the late game will make squishy players fear you. Build this with CDR for best results.

PETAL TORRENT
I’ll make a small note on Petal Torrent. You can absolutely build it as the ultimate burst side-arm. However, the recipe is very expensive in terms of resources. You can get Toxic Needles quickly, but the other half of the recipe might be hard to get as areas become restricted. If you manage to build them, go wild!

Let’s Talk Shoes

 >>>>

Skill Amp shoes are few. You have Glacial Shoes and Straitjacket Sneakers to work with. Glacial Shoes are great…until you need to fight someone. They offer superior Skill Amp compared to Straitjacket Sneakers, but I’d argue dodging enemy skills is better than +10 Skill Amp. White Rhinos are another option to consider, especially if you’re building Azure Daggers. You’ll get some attack speed and healing reduction, which is a solid pick against Life Steal characters.

Accessories

>>  >>  >> 

If you don’t have any Healing Reduction, take White Crane Fan.

I personally like Veritus since it gives 8% Skill Amp, +12 Normal Attack Damage, and some CDR to boot. It works well with either Shuriken since you can grab 2 Crosses and a Grail or Piano Wire, Cross, and Grail at Church.

Schroedinger’s Box gives a lot of HP, with a small amount of flat Skill Amp. I would take this if you have some extra Poison. Great for a tank support build.

Uchiwa is here for some great Skill Amp. The Life Steal doesn’t help your passive, but it’s not bad to take if you find this early in a Blue Supply Box and have nothing else.

Wanna see my build?

This build is my recommendation for Solo play. Since you can grab Azure Daggers and Veritus quickly, your early skirmishing will be much stronger. Of course, any items I mentioned above can be swapped out depending on your preferences.

(I have no notes on pathing just yet, I’ll try to add this in later)

Alright, now that I’ve dumped all the build and ability information, it’s time to discuss some extra tricks you can do with Sissela to make your team fights and duelling a bit spicier.
(I will apologize for the lack of any video or gifs, I don’t have recording software on this thing.)

Caltrop Drag

Sissela works amazingly with Caltrops thanks to Play with Me! (E). Throwing Caltrops at your feet when a Jackie’s running at you is fine, but let’s take it a step further with the Caltrop Drag.
As the name suggests, you’ll lay Caltrops on the ground to start, then using your E to drag your foes across them, shredding squishies and making melee characters reconsider fighting you. You can drag them directly into you, then fire off a Q into their face. Wilson can also be positioned across from the enemy and dragged into him while you throw shurikens from a safe distance.

Tips for E

Practice, Practice, Practice those E mechanics!

Note that Wilson will fire out the tether from his position. So, if you want to go over a wall, fire Wilson into the room then hover the mouse over yourself, then press E. When an enemy if chasing you, throw Wilson at them, then point your mouse to the enemy for your E.
Sounds like common sense? I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve missed Es because I’ll try to have Wilson grab me while clicking to move away from someone at the same time, comedically missing my lifesaver. This is something you’ll need to practice. That hitbox is really thin.

Speaking of going over walls, you can literally defy solid walls and send Wilson into rooms and drag yourself inside or use him as a scout. Facechecking can kill you, after all. (This applies to all characters, by the way. I’ve sent Zahir’s Tornadoes from outside to inside because walls don’t block projectiles.)

I hope you guess enjoyed this guide to Sissela. I’ll keep adding info as I experiment more with builds and tricks. You’re more than welcome to leave me feedback, it’s always appreciated. Thanks for reading this filthy casual’s essay on their favourite character.