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i baal am writing reviews for servants come see the reviews
Nero Claudius (Bride)
Saber
5*/Limited Servant obtainable during the Valentine's 2016/18 and Nero Festival reduxes
Debuts in Fate/Extra (This outfit is from CCC, specifically)
Originates from 1st Century Rome and fetishizing of bridal gowns
Cards: Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster/Buster
ATK: 1793/11607
HP: 2089/14284
Skills
1. Stars in Heaven A: Buff NP ally generation by 35/45% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 9/7 Turns)
2. Flowers on Earth A: Buffs one servant's attack by 30/40% and their stargen rate by 30/50% for 3 Turns (Cooldown: 8/6 Turns) (Unlocked after 1st Ascension)
3. Love to the People A: Heal an ally's hp by 1000/3000 and buff their defense by 10/20% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocked after 3rd Ascension)
Passive Skills
1. Magic Resistance C: Increases own debuff resistance by 15%
2. Riding B: Increases own Quick card potency by 8%
Noble Phantasm
Fax Caelestis B+ (Arts): Deals damage to one enemy, inflicts burn damage of 500/900hp per turn, reduces defense by 20/40%, and reduces crit attack chance by 20%/40% for 5 turns. (Overcharge: Increases the damage of the burn damage and potency of the debuffs) (NP gets upgraded damage on NP damage and burn damage after Bride's second interlude)
PROS
+Arts-based means solid NP gain and combined with the first skill I can already hear the cycling Golden Theaters
+Solid attack buff on second skill and can influence stargen rate
+Third skill is a good sustain skill healing a character and giving them extra defense
+Single-Target NP makes her a good dps choice on an arts team especially against lancer or berserker bosses
+Good max health allows her to take some punishment before things get dire especially when third skill is factored in
+Is versatile in what she can do due to her self buffs, healing, and potential to inflict enemies with debuffs
+Tamamo exists and can support her well, making this the canon team up
CONS
-Burst damage potential is the worst of the three 5* ST NP Sabers. She has no way of influence star absorption or attack which combined with her already middling star absorb make it so you probably won't be seeing her do a ton on regular attacks. If you do get the stars on her though then her two buster cards can actually do a pretty decent amount of damage.
-Skills have somewhat lengthy cooldowns requiring a heavy investment to get them to 10 and bring them down to a more reasonable amount.
-While multifaceted, she does not do any sole thing better than anyone else does. Even her spot as an arts ST saber is usurped by characters like Lancelot and Yagyu who can do better as focused dps than her.
-The Bride outfit sucked six years ago and time has not sweetened it
Overall Opinion: Bride Nero is a good 5* saber. She has a multitude of functions and if you focused her as DPS you can get a decent amount done. That being said, she basically needs Tamamo to be at her most effective (Which is beyond ironic) and other arts sabers a whole rank lower than her are better DPS in most cases. Use her if you want a saber that does a decent amount of stuff or if Nero is your waifu.
Score: 7/10
Jeanne D'Arc (Alter)
Avenger
5*/Limited servant obtainable from the Counterfeit Heroic Spirits event and 7m Downloads Campaign
Debuts in Fate/Apocrypha
Originates from 15th Century France and the fantasies of a perverted French serial killer
Cards: Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster/Buster
ATK: 2046/13244
HP: 1724/11761
Skills
1. Self-Modification EX: Buffs own crit damage by 20/50% and star absorption by 400/800% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns)
2. Dragon Witch EX: Buffs party's attack by 10/20% and further buffs dragon allies by 10/20% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocks after 1st Ascension)
3. Ephemeral Dream A: Buffs own buster damage by 30/50% and grants self invincibility for 1 turn. (Demerit: Deals 1000hp of damage to self) (Cooldown: 8/6 Turns) (Unlocks after 3rd Ascension)
Passive Skills
1. Avenger B: Reduces party debuff resistance by 8% except self and increases own np gen rate from damage taken by 18%.
2. Oblivion Correction A: Buffs own crit damage by 10%
3. Self-Replenishment (Magic) A+: Charges 4% NP per turn
Noble Phantasm
La Grondement Du Haine (Buster): Deals damage to one enemy, inflicts curse for 500/2500hp for 5 turns, and applies a 1-time block to any buffs they apply on themselves. (Overcharge: More curse damage)
PROS
+Holy shit where do you even begin?
+Buster-based servant means high damage ceiling especially when you factor in her skills, her attack stat, and potential support
+Highest attack stat in the game
+Her NP gain is nuts for a buster servant. She has passives that buff her NP gain and give it to her automatically, two arts cards, and decent gain off of getting hit combined with her passives gets her a decent bit for getting hit
+Defense capability in invincibility
+Unlike Edmond has to sit with his shitty star absorb, she has a skill that lets her suck up stars and shit out more crit damage making her a terrifying burst damage enabler
+Skills are on relatively short cooldowns meaning that when you're done bursting with her and the skills run out, you've only got two-three more turns until you do it all over again!
+Can outright stop a buff
+Being avenger means her damage is only resisted by one class making her good burst damage even generally
+Guess which shithead wizard she goes perfectly with? Go on... guess.
+Amazing Shinjuku outfit
+Tsundere Maaya Sakamoto
CONS
-Health stat is somewhat low making her kind of a glass cannon
-Is limited
-Star gen is not great, I guess
-You can tell I am reaching for things to say are negatives about her
-I can't pull her
Overall Opinion: What was a glorified palette swap planned to be free 4* ruler initially, became one of the flagship characters for this series. Whether it be due to her absurdly high damage output, her character moments, or just being ho- I mean an attractive lady, Jalter has a lot that appeals to a lot of people out there hence the ridiculous amount of money they've made off of her. However, I ask you: Do you have enough quartz in stock?
Score: 10/10
Angra Mainyu
Avenger
0*/Only obtainable from the Friendship Gacha
Debuts in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
Originates from Zoroastrianism
Cards: Quick/Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster
ATK: 1008/5683
HP: 1502/7981
Skills
1. Tawrich: Left Fang Grinder C: Reduces one enemy's crit attack chance by 30/50% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 8/6)
2. Zarich: Right Fang Grinder C: Reduces an enemy's NP gauge by 1 and reduces attack by 10/30% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 8/6 Turn) (Unlocks after 1st Ascension)
3. Murderous Intent A/The End of the Four Nights EX: Buffs quick performance by 40% every turn for 5 turns maxing at 200% on the fifth turn. After interlude, the skill now applies a guts statue on a one-time use for 6 turns that revives at 50% and can stack with other guts. (Demerit: After the fifth turn, Angra dies) (Cooldown: 8/6) (Unlocks after 3rd Ascension)
Passive Skills
1. Avenger A: Reduces party debuff resistance by 10% except self and increase own NP gen when taking damage by 20%
2. Oblivion Correction A: Buffs own crit damage by 10%
3. Self-Replenishment (Magic) E: Charges NP gauge by 2% per turn
Noble Phantasm
Verg Avesta (Arts): Enters a waiting state for 1-turn, at the end of the turning any damage done to Angra within the turn is flung back at the opponents for a flat amount and recovers his hp by 1000/5000. (Overcharge: Increases amount of HP received)
PROS
+Is Angra
+NP gain is alright
+Quick buff on skill 3 is genuinely pretty damn significant as it keeps going
+Guts can be applied on him a second time through his third skill after his interlude
+NP does a set amount of damage that is applied through the health you had after activating the NP and the health you have when the turn ends. This damage is always flat and impossible to influence any further. It cannot be lowered by defense buffs or stopped by dodges and invincibility.
+The above statement makes him a good grail target to get him more HP to go off with.
+Has a lot of cool flavor things to pay homage to the character and FHA
CONS
-Holy shit, where do you even begin?
-No damage, his attack stat sucks and he has one buster card.
-No way to influence crit of any sort outside of quick card buffing.
-Second skill kills himself
-NP only procs if Angra survives the damage, if he is reduced to 0 while in the post NP activation state, he just dies
-Only obtainable in the FP gacha, a hell more savage than 1% 5* servant drops.
-No defensive capabilities
-First skill is kinda worthless and second skill is okay at best.
-His rate is so small in the FP gacha you will be spending millions upon millions of FP to try and get him unless you are just that lucky
-Interlude is only unlocked after you get him to bond 10, which requires a massive investment on using him a lot
Overall Opinion: Angra's awesome, crappy but awesome. His damage is bad, his skills are mostly mediocre, and crit stars are nonexistent. However his NP's flat damage can be a huge benefit for some challenge quests and now with the interlude he is able to sustain better on top of that. He's not particularly remarkable as a servant, but you use because you like him, not for his viability in high end content.
Score: Do it for him/10
Iskander
Rider
5*/Limited servant obtainable during Fate/Accel Zero Order event and 2017 New Years Summoning
Debuts in Fate/Zero
Originates from 4th Century BC Greece
Cards: Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster/Buster
ATK: 1786/11560
HP: 1938/13219
Skills
1. Charisma A: Buffs party attack by 10/20% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns)
2. Military Tactics B: Buffs party np damage by 9/18% for 1 turn (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocks after 1st Ascension)
3. Lightning Conqueror EX: Buffs own buster card potency by 30/50% and stargen by 50% for 1 turn (Cooldown: 8/6 Turns) (Unlocks after 3rd Ascension
Passive Skills
1. Magic Resistance D: Increases own debuff resistance by 12.5%
2. Riding A+: Increases own quick cards potency by 11%
3. Divinity C Increases own damage by 150
Noble Phantasm
Ionioi Hetairoi (Buster): Big damage to all enemies, reduces defense by 10/30% for 3 turns, and interlude adds more damage and a crit attack debuff by 10/50% for 3 turns (Overcharge: Makes debuffs more potent)
PROS
+Buster-based waveclear
+Healthy HP stat allowing him to take a good amount of punishmentr
+All skills can be used to self buff for higher damage on NP
+Akio Ohtsuka
CONS
-NP gain is mediocre. He only has his two arts cards for gaining NP and while some servants have worse, like say Zerkerlot, there are other riders with much better even ones who are buster based. They later buffed his Np gain on his attacks, but it is now mostly just average as opposed to edging on bad.
-Crit star gen is terrible. He has one quick card and even with his third skill's extra gen you won't be looking at a lot of stars from him. You basically need a servant dedicated to getting him stars to get him to do crit damage.
-Ridiculously overspecialized on skills. Drake's first skill does what Iskander's first two do together with about the same level of effect. His third skill is the only one that's a genuinely good buff and that's because of the buster buff more than anything else.
-No defensive capabilities whatsoever
-Is not good in long fights due to his one and done NP nature. If the wave you are fighting isn't dead after his NP or close to dead, he will be dead weight until he dies.
-Will possibly crash the game
Overall Opinion: People ask me sometimes, "Hey Baal, isn't *insert 5* rider here* terrible?" And I usually say, there are no bad 5* riders. Iskandar makes me doubt saying that sometimes, but I still do genuinely think the guy isn't bad so much as ridiculously mediocre. You can use him to tear down waves of enemies, grind, and to just beat over things with a really big stick, but that's it. His application outside of those things is absurdly limited and he's ultimately kind of just a worse version of Drake and she's not even limited like he is. I would only really recommend him if he's your husbando or something.
Score: 5/10
Emiya (Kiritsugu Emiya)
Assassin
4*
Debuts in Fate/Zero
Originates from Japan
Cards: Quick/Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster
ATK: 1493/8958
HP: 1786/11168
Skills
1. Magecraft B: Buffs own arts cards by 24/40% for 1 turn (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns)
2. Affection of the Holy Grail A+: Ignores invincibility and buffs own crit damage by 30/50% for 3 turns (Demerit: Reduces party debuff resistance by 20% except self for 3 turns) (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocks after 1st Ascension
3. Scapegoat C: 1-turn taunt on any servant on team and gains 5/15 stars (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocks after 3rd Ascension)
Passive Skills
1. Presence Concealment A+: Increases own stargen by 10.5%
2. Independent Action A: Increases own crit damage by 10%
Noble Phantasm
Chronos Rose (Arts): Big damage to single target, reduce enemy NP gauge by 1, and reduce crit chance by 10/50% for 3 turns. Interlude added later gives the NP defense pierce and a damage buff. (Overcharge: Increases effect of the crit attack chance debuff)
PROS
+Incredibly good stargen, especially for a servant with arts focus
+Selectable taunt on third skills allow him to take the heat off of himself or others
+NP having enemy charge reduction allows for potential stall
+NP in general is pretty strong after interlude
+Invincibility ignore lasts 3 turns, which is an incredibly long time for a defense ignore. It basically gives Kiritsugu three turns of nonstop ass kicking time against any enemies who like to spam damage negation. The crit damage buff being paired with it makes it even stronger as it means he can go whole hog on any enemy when he's ready
+Actually has a pretty cool outfit
CONS
-NP gain is really bad outside of arts chains and crits on arts cards. The general goal with the character is to get to his np where he'll do the majority of his damage then follow up with potential crit star chains, but it's difficult to even get him to the NP let alone the rest of it. When paired on arts team he performs a bit better there, but you're gonna be relying a lot on arts chains to get him there.
-Star absorb is also bad. He has no real way of absorbing stars outside of other servants having worse star absorb rates than him and he has no way to influence them.
-Selectable taunt can be double-edged sword depending on the situation. Kiritsugu himself is not a particular sturdy servant and on teams that optimize his setup, the other potential servants you could have are probably not ones who should be taking random hits either.
-No defensive capabilities
-Attack stat is somewhat average and combined with assassin tax he won't be doing a lot on normal hits. He is pretty strictly DPS through crits and NP.
-Looks really fucking stupid once that hood comes off and they wasted Rikiya Koyama on this dude who barely says anything and grunts because Kiritsugu is the worst
Overall Opinion: Though I hate the the identity of the man behind the mask, the actual toolkit is pretty solid. If he had some way to influence his star absorb rate he'd be damn strong, but as it is he's a good arts DPS with some glaring negatives that could lead to bad times. Though as it stands it's hardly got ZERO negatives, huh? Huh? HUH!!!!!!!!!!??????????????
Score: 7/10
Hundred-Faced Hassan
Assassin
3*
Debuts in Fate/Zero
Originates from 11th Century Persia
Cards: Quick/Quick/Arts/Arts/Buster
ATK: 1241/6686
HP: 1675/9310
Skills
1. Library of Stored Information C: Buffs own np gen rate by 10/20% and crit star gen by 20/40% for 3 turns (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns)
2. Expert of Many Specializations A+: Grants self a 1-turn evason, and an individual 60/80% chance to proc a 30% 3-turn buff per each of their card types (Cooldown: 7/5 Turns) (Unlocks after 1st ascension)
3. Battle Retreat B: Heals self for 2000/4000hp (Demerit: Removes own buffs) (Cooldown: 8/6 Turns) (Unlocks after 3rd Ascension)
Passive Skills
1. Presence Concealment A: Buffs own crit gen by 10%
Noble Phantasm
Zabaniya (Arts): Big damage to one enemy and reduces crit chance by 10/50% for 3 turns. Interlude buffs damage and adds an arts resistance debuff by 20% for 3 turns. (Overcharge: Increases effect of crit chance reduction)
PROS
+Stargen is really good with first skill active..
+Has a dodge
+Can buff own cards
+NP damage is pretty strong and sets up for more damage on arts cards after interlude also making them a pretty solid arts team inclusion
+Heal can activate without any buffs on meaning you can potentially dodge the entire negative of the skill
+Asako is p shredded
CONS
-Without first skill stargen tends to be p average
-NP gain is pretty mediocre even with first skill active. They need to be getting arts chains to actively get NP.
-DW wasn't satisfied with just fucking you on the gacha you got this character on so they made their second skill RNG just to throw salt in the wound
-Third skill is a significant heal, but the problem is depending on where you are in the fight reducing your character to a weaker state just to heal them is not a great tradeoff.
-Attack stat isn't amazing limiting their potential as DPS
-Is basically a 3* Kiritsugu toolkit wise
Overall Opinion: Hundred-Faced Hassan is an okay 3* assassin, but their big problem is they're basically just Kiritsugu again, but with worse attack. You can use them in similar ways and still be effective with them, but there are better characters to build an arts team around. So unless you just love that Hassan that would randomly snark from Fate/Zero being the leader now to the point where you must use this character, you should probably seek alternatives.
Score: 6/10