Sinking in Limbus Company is a status effect that deals 1 gloom damage on enemies without SP and takes away SP via potency on count. It's a very powerful status effect, via many good sinking IDs being released in season 2 and having a few very powerful EGO. So, how do you play Sinking?

First, I'll have to cover Sinking IDs and EGO. After that, I'll describe how to use the status effect in game with those IDs and EGO. The final section will be a compendium of Sinking E.G.O. Gifts, placed last because most modes don't have EGO Gifts.

(Quick P.S. before you continue: this was my first ever steam guide so the formatting isn't that good and some of it may be outdated. feel free to leave a comment if you need clarification. also, while im here, 'good supports' means 'good in field supports for sinking' and not support passives LOL)

I'll cover three types of IDs:
- what I consider to be cores of sinking teams
- units that are very good for sinking teams and support the cores
- units that inflict sinking, but I feel should not be on a genuine sinking team




Solemn Lament Yi Sang's main draw is Butterfly, a status effect that can inflict both Potency and Count. It also has a mini version of non-SP sinking on units with SP, which is a massive improvement. Shockingly, Butterfly works way better than you think it would, solely because his skills inflict so much of it. His main problem is probably just reloading, which may or may not waste a S3, but you can control rerolls via resonance. Overall, he's Spicebush if he was cool and you won gambling.


He is not a core because of his Sinking application.

He is a core because he is broken.


Molar Ishmael is also a great unit on her own. She doesn't have any special statuses like Yi Sang, but makes up for it by being completely broken in inflicting Sinking. Her sins are pride, sloth, and gloom, which is nothing notable. First of all, her passive inflicts 1 Sinking count if an enemy has tremor. She will usually be the only person inflicting tremor on pure Sinking, and the only problem (i will go over this later) is Rodya's Rime Shank EGO bursting Tremor. However, it's still active enough for Ishmael to almost always have an extra Sinking count infliction. Her S1 inflicts 2 Sinking count, her S2 inflicts 6 Sinking, and her S3 deals more damage if the target has 6+ Sinking, inflicts 5 Sinking count, and inflicts 6 regular Sinking. All of these are without conditionals, so she is insane at keeping up Sinking and inflicting it, making her a core of the team.


This ID, like the other cores, is also absolutely insane on its own. Dieci Rodya gains special points due to Discard, but we aren't covering Discard and doing a full kit analysis of every skill. Her sins are gloom, envy, and sloth, which will help us later. Dieci's S1 inflicts no Sinking, but it's made to be discarded and usually will be, so you don't have to use it. Her S2 inflicts 5 Sinking, and her S3 inflicts 6 Sinking count in total. Her Sinking infliction on her own isn't a lot, but she inflicts a lot of count. What the real reason to use her is is Rime Shank.

Rime Shank is Rodya's Season 1 TETH EGO. On its awakening at Uptie 4, it inflicts 5 Sinking potency and count and bursts Tremor. What you are here for is not to use the awakening; its to use the corrosion. The corroded version inflicts 10 Sinking and 8 Count, completely solving any sinking problem in one turn, making it insanely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cracked at keeping up Sinking. Its only problem is costing 8 gloom and 5 envy on corrosion...which Dieci Rodya has as her S1 and S2. Needless to say, she is an SS tier Sinking unit.

Her main problem? Newer Sinking IDs are so good with count she can't keep up. However, until she gets completely supplanted, I'm still calling her a core.



"50% chance to gain +1 Sinking Count when gaining Sinking Potency or Count from Skill or Coin effects
- Units with SP: Change Panic Type to Echoes of the Manor. When this unit Panics, inflict 2 Echoes of the Manor to 2 random other allies of this unit
- Units without SP: -10% chance to flip Heads
- Reduce by 1 at Turn End. This effect is not cumulative; inflicting it will replace the current value with the inflicted value.
※ Apply the "Units without SP" conditional to certain enemies that have SP but can''t change their Panic Types."
She's always count negative, with -2 count on S1 and -1 on S2 and S3. But at the same time she has Echoes of the Manor. And her S3 is also a mini deluge (If the target has Echoes of the Manor, inflict Gloom Affinity damage equal to Sinking Potency on target (max 30)), so it's never a bad option to use her.


Faust is, at the same time, a great support and an easily shaftable one. She inflicts 2 Potency on S1, her S2 gives 3 coin on the second coin, and her S3 is only 1 count negative. She's like the Liu Ryoshu of Sinking; when the enemy has a high amount of Sinking, she has insane rolls and is a good support, but without it shes just kind of there. Her passive inflicts Sinking on the target on clash win, and she also gives Echoes. The fact that this is Faust is also insanely good, because it gives the Sinking team access to Fluid Sac. Overall, if you want to use her or not depends on player choice, especially with her insane support passive that gives allies SP on hit, but she is never a bad option. Her use cases are mostly just the passive, though.


Dieci Hong Lu is...a bit broken on his own with 3 Insight, rolling a 26 on his S3 and 22 on his S2. His S1, his main damage dealer, is also a Wrath skill, adding more sin variety to the Sinking team. In terms of application, he applies 1 Count on his S1 (keep in mind this can reuse up to 2 times so its basically, like, 3 count), 4 Potency on his S2, and 4 Count on his S3; it's not Molar Ishmael tier, but hes great at adding count and not wasting it immediately. He's mostly here if you want another DPS ID.

Keep in mind he also has a ton of Clash Power and Coin Power conditionals on every skill. He can and will be rolling insanely high.
His S1 inflicts 3 Sinking, his S2 inflicts FIVE COUNT, and his S3 is an AOE count giver on kill and inflicts 3 count on stagger. He is absolutely insane, and I would usually say he is a core, but there are 2 problems:
- He absorbs 10 Sinking from the enemy at a 50% chance on S3, which in my opinion, is a bit too high for me in both factors.
- If you want to use him on a team, you MUST, because his support passive is an active detriment to every ID but N Corp. Sinclair and Sunshower Heathcliff.
Despite this, he is still insanely good, and if you can slot him onto a team you should.
The main reason I'm not saying he is a core is solely because having 4-5 cores is a bit much.


As stated before, these IDs are...complicated to rank. On their own, they are solid units that can inflict Sinking. The problem is that they are Yi Sang, Hong Lu, and Ishmael IDs, which are inherently outclassed by either cores or supports of the Sinking team on the same Sinner, and as such I can't recommend them.



Got outclassed heavily by Solemn Lament. Still has a niche in nukes against non-SP enemies, but why not just use Solemn Lament instead since he has better clashing and Count?


Sadly, Yi Sang's base ID is one of the less good of the complicated IDs. Being a base ID, LCB Yi Sang can be slotted onto any team, and it has 2 Sinking on S1, 2 Sinking and 1 Count on S2, and 3 on S3. He isn't a bad applier, but is brought back by his weak rolls and the fact Spicebush Yi Sang exists.


Dieci Yi Sang, as in accordance with his base ID...isn't the best. His S1 inflicts no Sinking, his S2 inflicts Sinking potency in according to Insight (so, like, 6 at max, but theres no count and it has 3 coins), and is also a rare lust skill. His S3 inflicts 3 Sinking Count, which isn't bad by any means, but the skill has a very low roll of 4+2, meaning it won't be winning any clashes. His passive inflicts 1 Sinking on the attacker when he gets hit (and more via shield), maxing out at 4. I wouldn't say he's a bad Sinking applier, but the lack of Count and his large amount of coins means hes prone to using a lot of Sinking up. Also, Solemn Lament exists.


Hong Lu's base ID is lucky because its one of two actually good base IDs. He has pride, sloth, and lust; lust is especially rare on Sinking teams, so he's a good pick. He also has high coin power conditions on no damage last turn, so he keeps up with the rest of the team well enough. On every one of his skills, he inflicts 2 Sinking, making him a solid potency applier...but the problem is he also has a 000 dedicated to Sinking, which kind of outclasses the base ID in every single way.
What's to note is that his base EGO is also Sinking, healing him by 15 SP, afflicting 5 Sinking, and makes allies lose less SP from SP loss conditions. It's also an AoE, basically being a worse Rep Emitter and a cheap AoE Sinking applier.


Now, let's pretend for a second that Molar Ishmael doesn't exist, because Molar is one of the best Sinking count givers in the game, and there is no reason to use this ID on a Sinking team. She inflicts 2 Sinking on S1, 4 on S2, and 3 Count + 4 Potency on S3. She isn't count positive at all, and I'm pretty sure she's in the game for other, non-Sinking niches.


The best of them. R Corp. Ishmael has a very rare sin for the Sinking team, being wrath on her S3. She's a great clasher, too. She inflicts 2 Sinking on S1, 3 Sinking Count on S2, and 4 on S3, making her above average...but Molar Boatworks Ishmael is literally required to run a proper Sinking team, so you shouldn't use her.



He literally rolls a 9 on S1 and S2. He has 2-3 speed. He's a half-decent applier, putting on 4 Sinking on S1 and 4 Sinking + 1 Count on S2, but he will never be hitting this anyways, and it will all be absorbed on the next hit due to the lack of count. Don't even try to use him on a Poise team, his second affinity. None of his sin affinities are unusual for a Sinking team, so he doesn't bring anything to the table other than being a tank that can't get targeted due to having 2-3 speed. While technically adding Sinking, the fact hes this bad makes him a massive liability to the team. Do not take him.


[Author's Note: Sunshower Heathcliff is also in a very weird spot right now, because of Canto VI. With Sinking being so good there, there is a genuinely good reason to use him, but for most content he is very mediocre, and I found that Oufi Heathcliff performed better than him on my own Sinking team for the Canto. Overall, I'd say give him a shot for Canto VI if you want to. Just put Edgar Family Heir on the bench.]
[This ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ guy. I swear.]

When I wrote this guide, Sunshower Heathcliff was in a spot while where he wasn't that good (hes a negative sanity ID who barely gets low sanity due to his gimmick and has to be micromanaged constantly to stay decent), he had rare sins and there weren't that many Sinking IDs. However, with the advent of Oufi Heathcliff (who is nowhere near a sinking unit but is quite literally just a better version of him being positive sanity with literally 2 of the same sins!), and the fact the Sinking team has way more Wrath in it, there isn't a reason to use him these days.


Wuthering Heights Outis if she was single coin locked and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucked.

The weird thing about Sinking EGO is that I'd say theres only 3~4 Sinking EGO that both focus on Sinking and are worth the use specifically for Sinking. Most of the time, Sinking is just added on as a side bonus, for some reason. While I will make a full write-up for Sinking based EGO (that isn't Rime Shank, as I covered that in Dieci Rodion's section, and vice versa for Hong Lu's Land of Illusion), I'll just briefly list these Sinking-but-not EGO below.

- Sunshower Outis
- Fluid Sac Don Quixote
- Soda Ryoshu

These EGO inflict based on random chance and aren't worth considering:

- Suddenly, One Day Gregor
- Holiday Heathcliff
- Holiday Outis

And finally, this category below is what I'm going to call "WAY TOO GOOD." These EGOs barely inflict Sinking, but in general they are just absurdly good EGO and don't conflict with Sinking EGOs risk levels at all, so there is no reason to not have these on a team if you have their Sinner on it.

So far, this niche includes
- Binds Heathcliff
- Blind Obsession Ishmael

This leaves only both Bygone Days EGO, and Solemn Lament for a write up.


BYGONE DAYS (YI)
The first mainly-Sinking focused EGO we haven't covered, and it is insane. It inflicts AOE Sinking via Gloom Resonance on 3 targets, inflicts Bind on targets with higher Sinking, and has the same effect but slightly better and without Gloom Resonance on the Corrosion. It also gives clash power based on Sinking on the enemy, but solely for Yi Sang, which really helps Spicebush. The only problem is the relatively high cost...which is also perfectly fueled by Spicebush, with the only problem being gloom, which this team is very heavy on. Use it if you're using Spicebush on a Sinking team, which isn't even all that niche!



[Author's sidenote: Why is the page for Bygone Days on Kusoge just Garden of Thorns approximately 4 times?]

So it's an EGO that heals 15 SP to allies struggling on SP, and if the target survives it'll use 3 Sinking count to and heal more SP on those allies up to 20 more, for a solid 35 SP heal. It also inflicts Curse on target defeat, which is probably more crazy because we haven't seen it since Season 1.
This is on awakening.

The Corrosion just inflicts Curse, does more damage based on Curse, and inflicts Gloom Fragility. The passive is also insane, because it's free EGO resources on every target defeated by Gregor, with more EGO resources based on Sinking. It's also least owned resource, just in case you're struggling. Use this EGO.


This EGO, ignoring damage, is absurd. With just a Butler Faust support, it's almost always getting to 8 reues, inflicting a ton of Butterfly, and heals SP. Just ignore that the Awakening rolls, like, an 11. Keep it unopposed. What the Corrosion does is just add a ton of Sinking count for literally no reason. It isn't critical to a Sinking team, but there's no reason not to use it if you've rolled it.

I forgot. With damage, he kills everything.

There are two ways to play Sinking: with Sinking Deluge, and without Sinking Deluge.

Without Sinking Deluge, the goal is to inflict count and potency in a consistent way as much as possible throughout the entire fight, as Sinking will go away on hit. For this, I'd recommend putting Molar Boatworks Ishmael as your first slot, Dieci Rodion as your second slot, Wuthering Heights Outis as a third slot, and Spicebush Yi Sang as your fourth.

Molar Boatworks needs more turns due to how good she is at maintaining count, and also to get Tremor on enemies for her passive. Dieci Rodion is there to fuel and spam Rime Shank while inflicting large amounts of sinking with her skills, and should be used *after* Molar Boatworks Ishmael because of Rime Shank's Tremor burst. Sunshower Heathcliff needs more slots to counter on to inflict more Sinking, and Spicebush's solid count S1 is at it's best when not clashing; unopposed Sinking AoE is also very good. Sinking count should be at least attempted to be maintained until Rodya gets 45 SP and Rime Shank. Wuthering Heights Outis isn't count positive, but she inflicts a decent amount of potency and also has Echoes of the Manor, which is nice to get off as early as possible. Then, use it and you're pretty much good. This strategy is best used in regular encounters.

With Deluge, Sinking focuses on getting a very high Potency and a decent Count very fast to get Deluged. The main concern is just getting absurd stacks as fast as possible. The turn order difference I'd make for this is to put Spicebush Yi Sang before Molar, because more slots means more chances for Spicebush's S3. I'd also put Edgar Family Heir as the 3rd slot, because of how Count positive he is. Again, getting Rime Shank as fast as possible is critical here, and using it as many times as possible before Deluge is the best way to do it. Then, use an EGO that gives speed and/or Rime Shank when Yi Sang has a S3, inflict as much as possible, and use it on the next turn. Repeat until the enemy is killed. This strategy is best used in focused encounters.

Here are some general team comps I've made as an example.

THE BUDGET TEAM - Sinking is an expensive team, and while this is heavily sub-optimal, it works if you can't afford or spark too many IDs.
A 6th member is purposefully excluded so Molar gets more slots on Focused Encounters.


THE IDEAL TEAM - The most optimal team possible for Sinking play. Very resource heavy and optimised.
You can replace Dieci Hong Lu with Faust, but Dieci Hong Lu adds a lot of DPS, so it's opinion dependent.


DELUGE TEAM - Focused on getting as much Sinking as quick as possible for a low turn count deluge, up to and including giving both Yi Sang and Dieci extra slots.


CANTO VI - As Sinking is very relevant in the meta as of writing for Canto VI, this team is made specifically for what I see is the best Sinking team for Canto VI. Not the best for general use outside of Canto VI because of how many liberties it takes with the team.
Mostly based on Sinking and SP gain.

EGO gifts for Sinking are basically just free buffs for Sinking. Not just the status effect itself; the units also get a buff depending on EGO gift, usually. I'll list them in order of rarity, then rate how good they are based on three factors:

- How much does it help maintain Sinking?
- How much Sinking does it inflict?
- What buffs does it offer to teams supporting Sinking?

Upgrades for gifts are listed like/this for numbers, and (in these) for non-number effects.


"Combat Start: Inflict 2/3/4 Sinking and +1 Sinking count on all enemies with less than 0 SP. (for Abnormalities, one random part). For each Envy Affinity Skill used, randomly inflict 1/2/3 Sinking between all enemies next turn. (for Abnormalities, one random part)"

This gift is great at generating potency, but the problem is that for Abnormalities, there is almost always no SP. While Theme Packs have technically alleviated this issue, more bosses of Focused Encounters are Abnormalities than not, from my limited experience. Good in regular encounters, though. I probably wouldn't upgrade it unless you really need a Sinking gift. While not being the best gift on it's own, I recommend it solely for the fusion.


"When hitting and dealing HP damage to an enemy with a Skill that inflicts Sinking, inflict 3/4 Sinking and +2/3 Sinking Count at Turn End. (Once per enemy per turn)
When activating Lust Absolute Resonance (remove Abs. requirement), inflict 2/3 Sinking and +3 Sinking Count on all enemies (For Abnormalities, one random part) at Combat Start."

There is one major problem with this gift: It requires lust. In a Sinking team. It pretty much needs its upgrade, since the only Sinking IDs with Lust are the two Wuthering 000s and Wuthering Faust. Overall, I'd only upgrade it if you have at least 3 Wuthering Sinking IDs and have a lot of extra cost.


"Turn Start: enemies with Sinking lose 3 Offense Level and Defense Level for the turn."

Free -1 clash power. Forgettable compared to the rest, but this effect always helps. Take unless a higher tier gift is an option.


"Whenever an ally inflicts Sinking on enemies with Skill Effects, the ally gains 1/2 Offense Level Up next turn. (Max 3/4)
Allies with Wrath Affinity Attack Skills gain 2/3 Offense Level Up instead. (Max 4/5/6)"

I don't know if its every ally or one ally, but it's pretty good. I wouldn't upgrade it, but if it's an option I would grab it. It's pretty much a free buff but specifically only to Dieci Hong Lu and Wuthering Faust.


"Deal +12.5% damage and take -12.5% damage against enemies that had Sinking at the start of the combat phase.
Allies with Gloom skills deal +20% damage and take -20% damage instead."

Why would you not take this? I think this is self explanatory. It's weirdly good for a tier 2 gift, especially since every Sinking ID has gloom. Would get.


"When hitting and dealing HP damage to an enemy with a Skill, inflict 3 Sinking.
If the Skill's Affinity was Gluttony, inflict 5 Sinking instead."

What the ♥♥♥♥. The main problem is gluttony, but 3 Sinking on every single hit. Take this every single time when available. It even contributes to the fusion!


"First Turn Start of a wave: randomly inflict (5/10 + (# of enemies x3/4)) Sinking Count between all enemies (or all Abnormality parts). (For Abnormalities, only the Core counts as an enemy)"

This gift really Curses the Relationship Between You and the enemies. When It Snaps and activates, it inflicts an ungodly amount of count, completely fixing any count problem. Again, I'd encourage your Curiousity on the math and get this gift when possible; I would prioritize it over Midwinter (Unless you're Holding Tight onto Headless Portrait due to the fusion gift) due to the sheer amount of count when Setting Sail towards the Abnormalities' core. This is truly a Bon Voyage between High Tide and Low Tide.


"Deal +35/40/50% damage against enemies [suffering negative effects (Low Morale, Panic) from SP loss]/with 0 or less SP or without Sanity.
When Sinking's effect applies to enemies without Sanity, the Affinity of the damage inflicted changes to whatever is the most effective."

Yeah, this is the tier 4 gift, so it's cracked and a must-grab. I think the description speaks for itself, as it completely alleviates the gloom damage only problem and also boosts damage on an easy to get conditional. If you have spare Cost, upgrade it.


"Encounter Start: This Gift activates when 5 or more Identities have Attack Skills that apply Sinking. (Not counting E.G.O Skills)
When hitting an enemy with a Skill, inflict 5 Sinking.
Turn Start: All enemies (or all Abnormality parts) regain Sinking Count equal to (Sinking consumed from getting hit last turn)/2"

This is the fusion gift. You win the game. Get this. Especially powerful with Artistic.

[NOTE: I'm writing this below segment at 10:20 PM, tired, with a dream. I'll update the lack of images soon, but keep in mind we're so early in the MD4 section as of writing I'm going off of what my friends E.G.O. Gift guide says. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

Hoarfrost Footprint ~ Fusion

Haunted Shoes + Frozen Cries

First Turn Start of a wave: all allies gain +3 Sinking Count, and inflict all enemies (or all Abnormality parts) 4 Sinking Potency and +8 Sinking Count.

Enemies with Sinking lose 2 Clash Power; when an allied Identity wins a Clash against an affected enemy, inflict 2 Sinking Potency; when an allied Identity is hit by an affected enemy, inflict 3 Sinking Potency.

In a first, this Fusion Gift has an intentional drawback...but not a big one. This practically just makes you have 3 less SP if you get hit, which is nearly nothing, and also is basically just a free Rime Shank each wave. It improves Clash Power and gives you benefits if you aren't able to win a clash. Pretty much always fuse this.

Eldtree Snare ~ Tier 1

Attack Skills(Except E.G.O Skills) that inflict Sinking Potency or Count deal +5% more damage.

For Skills with 2- Coins, gain Clash Power +1 and deal +10% more damage instead.

Pretty much never a drawback, and free Clash Power will never not be good. It just deals more DPS on upgrade, so I'd upgrade it if you want to melt through enemies. It's a Tier 1, so it's very cheap.


Rags ~ Tier 1

Allies with Attack Skills that inflict Sinking Potency or Count heal 5 additional SP (once per turn) upon Clash Win; if at max SP, deal +7.5% more damage.

When using Minus Coin Skills: at -15 or higher SP, reduce SP to -15 and deal + (amount of lost SP)% more damage; if already at less than -15 SP, deal +15% more damage.

(6-48 spoilers) He did it.

Grandeur - Tier 2

[Effects apply only to #1, #2 Deployed Identities]

When dealing damage with an Attack Skill that inflicts Sinking Potency or Count against targets with 10+ (Sinking Potency + Count), inflict 2 Sinking Potency and +2 Sinking Count After Attack (2 times per turn per Identity).

In Focused Encounters: inflict 4 Sinking Potency and +2 Sinking Count instead (once per turn per Identity).

You put this one on Molar Ishmael and her efficiency is somehow doubled. Doesn't even need an upgrade to be comically good, from my limited experience. Always a take.

Frozen Cries ~ Tier 2

Applies only to 1 Identity with the slowest Speed at Turn Start.

If the said ally wins a Clash or is hit by an enemy, inflict 3 Sinking against the enemy.

You only take this one for the Fusion. However, it's a very good Fusion. Take it.

Haunted Shoes ~ Tier 2

[Effects apply only to #2 Deployed Identity]

Encounter Start: gain +3 Sinking Count.

Turn Start: gain 1 Protection, 1 Damage Up, and 1 Attack Power Up.

Pretty much the exact same as Frozen Cries, up to and including the Fusion part.

Distant Star ~ Tier 3

Effects apply only to #1, #2 Deployed Identities]

For this Encounter, Ally that used Attack Skills that inflict Sinking Potency or Count 3 times or more during this Encounter inflicts 1 additional Sinking Potency. (this effect applies from the 4th used Sinking-applying Skill onward)

In Focused Encounters: inflicts 2 additional Sinking Potency instead.

It's solid on it's own, and never a bad choice. But with Grandeur? You put Molar Ishmael in the first slot and you have insane uptime. Almost always a take if you have Grandeur.

Fragment of Decay ~ Tier 4

Activates when using E.G.O Awakening Skills that inflict Sinking Potency or Count. (NOT Corrosion Skills)

Gain Final Power equal to (Gloom E.G.O resource + sum of other E.G.O resources / 3) consumed.

Gloom E.G.O Awakening Skills: Inflict additional Sinking Count Before Attack(ZAYIN inflicts +2 Count, TETH inflicts +3 Count, HE inflicts +4 Count, and so on), and deal + (SP consumed x 2.5)% more damage.

NO!!! NO!!!!! YOU CANT DO THAT!!!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO OBEY ME!!![imgur.com]

Always take unless Artistic is there.

Overall, due to its insane damage potential and heavy support, Sinking is a status that should be heavily considered (especially in enemies weak to gloom). However, Sinking having a low number of IDs means it isn't as supported as well as Rupture; it makes up for this in the sheer power of the available EGO and IDs.

Most of this guide is heavily subjective. Based on my experience of a player from launch who's played around 300 hours, I think my opinions hold some sort of weight. Suggestions are very encouraged in the comments and I'll ask for permission to use the idea.

That's it for the guide. Get Sinking!