Fate/Grand Order - Are you my Master?

[NeoPhoenix0]

Actually, a surprising number of Berserkers have AoE NPs. Let me rattle off a few.

• Spartacus: Buster AoE NP that deals damage and self-heals.
• Eric Bloodaxe: Buster AoE NP that deals damage and boosts own ATK. 1000 HP penalty.
• Darius III: Buster AoE NP that deals damage and reduces enemy ATK and DEF.
• Kiyohime: Buster AoE NP that deals damage, inflicts Burn, and may Stun.
• Tamamo Cat: Quick AoE NP that deals damage and grants Regeneration. Self Stun penalty.
• Frankenstein: Quick AoE NP that deals damage and reduces enemy crit. Self Stun penalty.
• Lancelot: Quick AoE NP that deals damage and boosts own ATK.

While, yes, Tamamo Cat can help farm anything, thanks to her AoE NP and universal offensive type advantage, that Stun penalty really hurts. Contrast her with Kiyohime, whose farming potential is known and appreciated, or Lancelot, who can pretty much do what Tamamo does without penalty.

So, yeah. Tamamo Cat is technically better than Heracles for sweeping, due to her AoE NP, but she is hardly the best at that, either.

kiyohime is pretty solid at it though her stats are a bit lower the buster nature of her NP helps make up for it. lancelot on the other hand is lacking any inherent ability to boost his np's damage. and for the stun, a lot of farming won't need her to act immediately.

Edit: besides would you really deny tamamo cat the calling that lets her hunt all the delicious beef?

[Hunter Noventa]

Carmilla doesn't just have a high ATK, she has the highest ATK of 4 star Assassins, even in Japan. Her third skill also boosts her ability to survive and her damage by lowering the enemy's crit chance and being a better Revelation than Jeanne's (which is Jeanne's best skill and the only one really worth leveling up). In other words, very worth leveling up considering Carmilla's three quick cards once it comes out. And aside from Stheno, Carmilla has the highest NP generation on attack of currently available 4 stars with Kiritsugu slightly better at star generation than her (or close to it).

Carmilla is very effective as a discount Jack and, weirdly, is more team friendly than Jack in some ways since there are more ways to buff Buster attacks than Quick ones so Carmilla has slightly better team support in that regard alone. Jack's self-buff is crazy after all so she doesn't need help in that specific regard, it just makes her..well..win more.

Shiki's advantage is...well...for one you get her for free, that's actually pretty huge. She also has better star weight even before popping her skill than other four star assassins and you'll have her NP at above level one which is also rather important. But being an Arts NP kind hurts when it comes to dealing out damage and Arts teams aren't well known for their innate star generation (not counting CEs). That said, Shiki makes plenty of stars on her own and her QQAAB deck is pretty versatile.

If you have Shiki? Great! You want a buster NP Assassin or want a discount Jack? Consider getting Carmilla anyway. She might have generic caster orbs right now and low hit counts, which hurt, but she gets an animation update later that helps with at least part of that.

I think I have every Assassin...*checks*...yep, every Assassin except MHX and Shuten Doji, so I'm wonderfully spoiled for choice there.

But all of the above is correct. Carmilla was my first 4* servant (since I started again after not getting into it at launch, and thus missed out on Saber Lily back then) and she's pretty dang solid. Though she's outshined by Jack and Shiki now.

[NeoPhoenix0]

I am rediculously spoiled on assassins. I only have 3 SR+ but they are Jack, who is Jack, shiki for my artspam, and shuten for arts stall/farming. Still never got the fox dream CE that I was looking for but I'll take shuten for just tickets.

Also been looking at the sabers I have and there aren't a ton of boss fight ready sabers are there.

[Resileaf]

For boss fights without AoE, I find d'Eon to be pretty useful. They can taunt, and with Mash and the original mystic code, can be invincible for three whole turns. Rare are the fights where you have to worry about sure shot or remove invincibility, so you can generally eat a single-target NP without a scratch.

[NeoPhoenix0]

oddly enough i find that nero does a ton of work if you have her NP to lv 2 or higher despite being AoE. Then again i have the perfect team mates and CEs to maximise her damage if i need. even though the game gives me other powerful servants occasionally it really does want me to be a dedicated arts user. I have pretty much every arts stall servant in the game minus Medea lily.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I think I have every Assassin...*checks*...yep, every Assassin except MHX and Shuten Doji, so I'm wonderfully spoiled for choice there.

But all of the above is correct. Carmilla was my first 4* servant (since I started again after not getting into it at launch, and thus missed out on Saber Lily back then) and she's pretty dang solid. Though she's outshined by Jack and Shiki now.

Yeah, Jack is far and away the best assassin right now but by all accounts I've heard is if you NP5 Carmilla she'll outshine Shiki. Welfares don't have the best stats for their rarity sadly.

EDIT: Siegfried actually will put in some serious work in the next story chapter considering the main villain (Who I will not spoil) has the Dragon trait and is a lancer.

In other words, his ideal prey.

[Hunter Noventa]

I went ahead and grabbed the free Martha, durable healing is not something I have much access to after all.

[Resileaf]

I strongly considered getting Heracles, as he is said to be the absolute best berserker in the game. I really did, and I probably should have, but I already have two high-ranked berserkers in Beowulf (ora ora boy) and Nightingale (She will heal me even if she kills me). In the end, I decided to plug up a hole I had and choose a servant type I did not have a good one of. As far as assassins go, I only had Jekyll and Hassan of the hundred personas, so I decided to pick up Carmilla.

[Hunter Noventa]

I strongly considered getting Heracles, as he is said to be the absolute best berserker in the game. I really did, and I probably should have, but I already have two high-ranked berserkers in Beowulf (ora ora boy) and Nightingale (She will heal me even if she kills me). In the end, I decided to plug up a hole I had and choose a servant type I did not have a good one of. As far as assassins go, I only had Jekyll and Hassan of the hundred personas, so I decided to pick up Carmilla.

Solid choice, Carmilla is pretty good, NP drain is useful when it does hit and her NP is nothing to sneeze at.

[Anarion]

I went with Elizabeth Bathory. Because I didn't have her already and I like her. Don't judge me. >_>

[Red Fel]

At this point, I'm on the fence between Siegfried and Roy d'Eon. On the one hand, as Callos mentions, Siegfried is good against Dragons and Servants with the Dragon trait. On the other, aside from that, he's pretty ineffectual, and for me, France is over and done with. And while d'Eon is also pretty ineffectual, d'Eon is a tank; you don't need power, you need effectiveness. And there's the added bonus of being immune to anything that targets Male or Female.

Then there's even the question of whether to even bother with another Saber. Fact is, Lily is terrible stat-wise; d'Eon or Siegfried would be a strict upgrade. But in terms of utility, Lily's NP does decent damage, especially when paired with her Mana Burst. It's worth noting that her NP is level 5, which gives it a base modifier of 700%; Siegfried's base modifier at NP1 is 300%. Even after Strengthening, and against Dragons, it's 550%. Moreover, Lily's Journey of the Flowers skill is useful to the entire party.

I feel like, she may not be great, but she's consistently applicable in her role, you know?

[Resileaf]

At this point, I'm on the fence between Siegfried and Roy d'Eon. On the one hand, as Callos mentions, Siegfried is good against Dragons and Servants with the Dragon trait. On the other, aside from that, he's pretty ineffectual, and for me, France is over and done with. And while d'Eon is also pretty ineffectual, d'Eon is a tank; you don't need power, you need effectiveness. And there's the added bonus of being immune to anything that targets Male or Female.

Then there's even the question of whether to even bother with another Saber. Fact is, Lily is terrible stat-wise; d'Eon or Siegfried would be a strict upgrade. But in terms of utility, Lily's NP does decent damage, especially when paired with her Mana Burst. It's worth noting that her NP is level 5, which gives it a base modifier of 700%; Siegfried's base modifier at NP1 is 300%. Even after Strengthening, and against Dragons, it's 550%. Moreover, Lily's Journey of the Flowers skill is useful to the entire party.

I feel like, she may not be great, but she's consistently applicable in her role, you know?

As d'Eon was my first 4 stars (on my first free roll too to boot), I'm biased towards them. They've accompanied me as my main servant, even more than Mash did, by tanking like a boss (as I said earlier, three turns of invincibility kicks ass). But that was when I started playing about two months ago, and I was doing the campaigns at a fairly low level. For a high level player with lots of high level servants, they may not be that useful of an addition to an existing team.
Objectively, if you have no need for a main tank, you should choose a more universally useful servant, I think.

[Red Fel]

As d'Eon was my first 4 stars (on my first free roll too to boot), I'm biased towards them. They've accompanied me as my main servant, even more than Mash did, by tanking like a boss (as I said earlier, three turns of invincibility kicks ass). But that was when I started playing about two months ago, and I was doing the campaigns at a fairly low level. For a high level player with lots of high level servants, they may not be that useful of an addition to an existing team.
Objectively, if you have no need for a main tank, you should choose a more universally useful servant, I think.

I mean, my usual strategy involves using Mash as main tank, frankly. Combining her on-command Invincibility with her Taunt got me through the worst of Ibaraki. And Mash has additional party buffs, and is free, to boot. Sure, having her and another tank to take the heat off of Heracles might be nice, but it would also dramatically reduce my damage output. Or increase my party cost.

When it comes to "universally useful," though, there's the rub. Because out of all of these freebies, the only ones I don't have are Sumanai and d'Eon, Marie, Tamamog, and Liz. Tamamog is the closest thing to "universal," because Berserker, but I have Heracles for that, and he can go offroad. I don't know that I'd classify any of them as "universally useful."

I suppose I could just grab one to fill out the roster. Or grab one for the Interlude SQ - Marie and Siegfried both get two Interludes that drop SQ, everyone else only gets one SQ from Interludes. Or I could check which ones get bonuses in upcoming events... Hmm...

EDIT: So I decided to do some research. Here are several upcoming events, and which Servants from this freebie batch get bonuses:

• Onigashima: EMIYA
• Prisma Causeway: d'Eon, Elizabeth, Marie, Martha, Carmilla, Stheno, Tamamog
• Christmas Re-Run: Marie, Martha
• Christmas: EMIYA

So, not a lot of events that I could see for the rest of the year involving Servant-based bonuses. EMIYA is always a safe choice, as apparently are Marie and Martha.

I might end up going with Marie, then, just for the SQ and bonuses. Huh.

[Resileaf]

For the first couple of campaigns, I actually used D'Eon and Mash together. I very much took a defensive playstyle, especially with Jeanne as my campaign support. It made for a very defensive team, thanks to d'Eon's evade (didn't have their taunt yet), Mash's invincibility and Jeanne's NP. It was actually really thrilling to fight the dragon or Jalter with that kind of team, as it was a race to get Jeanne's NP up before the enemy did.

I was not the best player ever, obviously.

[Yael]

Chevalier d'Eon: I have a ton of Sabers (including Void Shiki), so he/she was out of the question.
Siegfried: He silver-to-gold card shift-spooked me during Guda Guda (as Emiya below), TWICE. So, well, I won't be needing him anyway. I have most sabers. But I like his design, so he won't become gold blocks.
Marie Antoniette/Martha: I already have Marie Antoniette, so I'd not pick her again nor DON'T SAY THAT NAME Martha.
Heracles: I proudly own a NP2 Heracles, so I'm not in need of the overcharge effect.
Stheno: Nope.
Emiya: He spooked me twice during the Okita banner last year, I won't be needing to buff his NP, and as much as I like him, Nobu does a better job as a damage dealer than him. Even so, I'll use him for most events where he's featured (most japanese-themed events do so).
Elizabeth Bathory: She was one of my first 4*s from gacha, but I have LAlter, so I have little use for her, at least up until her strengthening quest, where she becomes a fairly decent waifu-support.
Tamamo Cat: I don't like her. Uh... That's it.

I decided to go for Carmilla, as she'll get outstanding bonuses vs women, when her interlude hits. I do have MHX, but I already had most freebies. Also, have you seen her animations she'll get?! Those are awesome!

Edit: By the way, is anyone saving quartz for upcoming banners? I'm at 200+ waiting for that Ruler Martha~

[Hunter Noventa]

Edit: By the way, is anyone saving quartz for upcoming banners? I'm at 200+ waiting for that Ruler Martha~

I've got about 120 quartz saved up for whatever comes out that's interesting. Preferably some kind of summer banner.

[Blackhawk748]

Im broke, i caved and pulled for Sanzang.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Edit: By the way, is anyone saving quartz for upcoming banners? I'm at 200+ waiting for that Ruler Martha~

I'm at 200+ for lancer No Mae

[nightwyrm]

~260 for Ruler Martha and Archer Artoria.

[Rusty Spoon]

By the way, is anyone saving quartz for upcoming banners? I'm at 200+ waiting for that Ruler Martha~

I'm saving for... Camelot banner, maybe? Or a banner with Astolfo, whenever that'll be Husbando~
Did anybody get anything fun with the bulk Friend Point buy? I got a Saber!... Gilles. Who has an NP that... I might never use, ever. Wow. But at least I finally had Lotuses to buy Crystals to ascend Feargus! Woooooo. So now I have to wait a week until I have AP to farm for XP. *sigh*
Also got a couple of Hassans so now have Cursed Arm Zabaniya at level 3, which is nice. And some CEs, so I'm closer to MLBing my Parted Sea. Love me some Evasion.

Honestly though, pretty happy right now. Got me an Emiya, probably won't be able to max out the ascension mats from event store unless I eat an orchardful of golden apples, but I'll get enough to keep me going for a while.

Edit:

~260 for Ruler Martha and Archer Artoria.

There's an Archer Artoria? Mind blown!

[Yael]

There's an Archer Artoria? Mind blown!

Spoiler: Yes, there is.

Show

She's comming in about 2 months or so.

[NeoPhoenix0]

I want archer artoria, since my rare archer collection consists of Nobu, who is great and mighty, but i would like some variety. Also it is artoria... wait are we getting artoria this summer?

Edit: ah, someone seems to have change the layout for the database i use for this event to be laid out stupid. anyway i will unfortunatly be spending all my saint quartz failing to get beach tamamo and won't get a chance at archer artoria. at least i will get inverse beach Anne and Mary probably, and i certainly won't say no to beach Mo boy, and kiyo. honestly the only one in the other banner i really really want is archer Artoria and she is a 5 star and Tamamo no Mae takes precedent.

[nightwyrm]

There's an Archer Artoria? Mind blown!

Artorias are everywhere!

[Yael]

I hope this is a good enough catalyst



Although I'm not rolling specifically for her, as Martha's on the same banner, getting her would be pretty good, too.

[Hunter Noventa]

Ah, two months or so, excellent, that's time to save some more SQ...and maybe clear out some free quests if these events ever stop between now and then.

[Resileaf]

"Alright, I didn't manage to deal all 300 million damage to the boss, but I got a whole lot of things and I've emptied the shop, so I'm pretty happy about it. Time to relax and grind some XP dailies before... What do you mean, the next event is directly after this one?"

[Yael]

"Alright, I didn't manage to deal all 300 million damage to the boss, but I got a whole lot of things and I've emptied the shop, so I'm pretty happy about it. Time to relax and grind some XP dailies before... What do you mean, the next event is directly after this one?"

The Onigashima event is righ after this one, so yeah... Unless they do release the next Singularity before.

[Resileaf]

The Onigashima event is righ after this one, so yeah... Unless they do release the next Singularity before.

Oh my god, three events in a row without even a moments' rest between them? All aboard the event grind train, direction farming town!

[Callos_DeTerran]

Oh my god, three events in a row without even a moments' rest between them? All aboard the event grind train, direction farming town!

Welcome to Fate/Grand Order.

A 'down' week when you can do free quests is usually whenever a new chapter comes out (they usually give us a week or so of no events when a new Singularity comes out) and events where you don't actually do anything, its just putting out Strengthening quests or some such. Otherwise they try to do back to back events to keep players...well...playing! Next year though, once we start getting re-run events, you can start to take things a bit easy though.

[NeoPhoenix0]

take things easy? but the events are the best source of mats