Fate/Grand Order V - Salty Theoretical Phenomenon

[Hunter Noventa]

I've still got over 900SQ...and nothing of note to roll hard for until the Fairy Knights show up.

[Leon]

I rolled, got nothing new of note, looked at my friends list saw that one had the new avenger full maxed already and thought ok i will try her out and fairly typically the game decides that No you may not see that friend no matter how many times you refresh the list.

[Red Fel]

So, yesterday, I decided to limit myself. I had a bunch of SQ banked plus ten tickets. First, I did a 10-pull and got nothing of note. Then five tickets, likewise. Pondered my chances, and decided to allow myself one more 10-pull. Got Jane. Wasn't expecting her, but she is precious so I'm not furious. Still, I wasn't about to push my luck, so I stopped there.

Later in the day, I opened the game and realized that I had five tickets left, and was entitled to a bonus pull after four. So I figured, "Why not?" First ticket, bubkes. Second ticket, I clicked through, so I didn't even notice that the card was gold and

you guys I just

got Space Ishtar you guys

on a ticket.

So yeah, I'm honestly kinda happy about this. This is before chugging through a lot of the story - a lot of her facial expressions are legitimately cute and made me laugh. Specifically her expression on the ice planet. With the eyes. Y'all know what I'm talking about. So, yeah, I'm pretty happy about how that turned out.

Best of luck to the rest of you.

[NeoPhoenix0]

I got 1 copy of jane, i am satisfied. though i would have really liked np 2 jane. but instead got like 3 general pool 4 star copies.

[DaedalusMkV]

I had 33 rolls allocated to this banner. Wasn't really expecting much, after all the luck I've had recently. I mean, I've pulled more SSRs since June than in the entire 18 months I'd been playing up to that point. No way this kind of luck can hold.

I was incorrect. Spishtar showed up in the first four cards, and while I saw nothing else of substance for Servants, I did pull all the event CEs, plus two other SSR CEs. Not great ones, admittedly, but Ishtar alone is good luck as far as I'm concerned. I really don't have enough XP cards for all these new Servants. Even if I allocate all the cards from this event to her, it'll only put Spishtar in the level 65-70 region. Oh well, she can be a project. Unfortunately, this means that Sitonai and Bunny Girl are going to remain on hold for quite a while yet. Poor Summer Lion King just keeps sliding down the list...

[Velaryon]

So, what is the best arts team you can make wish Space Ishtar before Castoria appears? I've tried pairing her with double Tamamo-no-Mae and Prince of Lan Ling, and the results were frankly unimpressive. I can't build a quick team around her since I don't have Skadi, so is there a usable arts lineup for her or does she pretty much just have to wait 8-9 months before she becomes really good?

[NeoPhoenix0]

Keeping in mind that I don't think Ishtar arts can loop yet (could be wrong), the best teams are probably, tamamo Ishtar Merlin, or imo a better one would be tamamo Ishtar zhuge. This team is for a combination of long term survival, stall and arts no spam. Tamamo's np with zhuge's skills lead to some rapid no recovery. I also recommend the atlas academy mystic code for the additional skill cooldown and emergency survival button.

Alternatively, tamamo Ishtar and third arts damage np for more agro build. There are a veriety of single and air now available. And many with np drain on np or skill if you need to stall.

[Saambell]

My immediate thought is with Nero Bride, if you can do two of them, the better. Nero Bride with her 40% attack boost and 45% NP Gain+30% Battery does a very good job. I usually go 2 Nero Bride 1 Tamamo, as this gives 90% NP Gain and 80% attack boost along with 50% Arts Up and 30% NP Damage up, as well as filling the NP Bar by 60%, allowing you to use Damage Up CEs instead of counting on a Scope or whatnot. Have yet to try this with Space Ishtar myself, but its my first thought. Its how I get Jeanne Archer looping. It likely wont work against Assassins or Berserkers, but it might work as a place holder until Caster Artoria arrives with her 50% NP Gain and 50% Arts Up third skill.

EDIT: I do believe people never really tried to get her to Arts Loop until Caster Artoria came out, as at the time she was passed over as a poor Quick Looper, and it wasn't until Caster Artoria appeared that people realised they really wanted her. Its what makes the first few months of 2021JP such a drain on SQ, as it goes from hyped up High Power Arts Saber, to Space Ishtar rerun, to highly sought after Ruler. A whole chain of super hyped characters. Its one of the things that makes NA so nice, is that we can see that Space Ishtar WILL be good, where JP looked at her, went meh, then half a year later were kicking themselves for skipping.

[Leon]

So i didn't know that First Hassan has a 5% Auto kill chance on normal attacks till both Mine and a Allied one had it happen across two turns.

[NeoPhoenix0]

So i didn't know that First Hassan has a 5% Auto kill chance on normal attacks till both Mine and a Allied one had it happen across two turns.

It often doesn't come up. He isn't a traditional farming servant and servants and bosses have death resistance to make it much more unlikely.

[Leon]

I've been using mine a fair bit and this was the first time i'd seen it. Also used a allied one heavily before i got my own and hadnt. I know its not a great chance for the NP to do it, death effects are annoying because they don't work on most enemies but the enemies who have them will devastate the players forces. Working on Mathra's Rank ups so lots of Wyrverns to fight currently. First Hassanx 2 and Ruler Martha because i can and ALL the Buster

[Velaryon]

Yeah, death effects are hard to implement in games if you're going to try to balance them at all. Most games seem to err on the side of "it only works against stuff you'd be able to easily kill without it, and does absolutely nothing otherwise." It's what makes Stheno one of the most useless servants in the game outside of meme charm-lock teams. Her NP does literally nothing else except a defense down. At least Nitocris does damage when she fails to insta-kill enemies, making her a passable farmer.

My immediate thought is with Nero Bride, if you can do two of them, the better. Nero Bride with her 40% attack boost and 45% NP Gain+30% Battery does a very good job. I usually go 2 Nero Bride 1 Tamamo, as this gives 90% NP Gain and 80% attack boost along with 50% Arts Up and 30% NP Damage up, as well as filling the NP Bar by 60%, allowing you to use Damage Up CEs instead of counting on a Scope or whatnot. Have yet to try this with Space Ishtar myself, but its my first thought. Its how I get Jeanne Archer looping. It likely wont work against Assassins or Berserkers, but it might work as a place holder until Caster Artoria arrives with her 50% NP Gain and 50% Arts Up third skill.

EDIT: I do believe people never really tried to get her to Arts Loop until Caster Artoria came out, as at the time she was passed over as a poor Quick Looper, and it wasn't until Caster Artoria appeared that people realised they really wanted her. Its what makes the first few months of 2021JP such a drain on SQ, as it goes from hyped up High Power Arts Saber, to Space Ishtar rerun, to highly sought after Ruler. A whole chain of super hyped characters. Its one of the things that makes NA so nice, is that we can see that Space Ishtar WILL be good, where JP looked at her, went meh, then half a year later were kicking themselves for skipping.

Unfortunately I don't own Nero Bride. Or Waver, for that matter, who would also be helpful.

My options (outside of friend supports) consist of Merlin, Tamamo, Sima Yi, Prince of Lan Ling, and anyone 3* or below as long as they're in the general summon pool.

[Saambell]

Unfortunately I don't own Nero Bride. Or Waver, for that matter, who would also be helpful.

My options (outside of friend supports) consist of Merlin, Tamamo, Sima Yi, Prince of Lan Ling, and anyone 3* or below as long as they're in the general summon pool.

If you dont need the Battery, Paracelceus Van Hohenhiem can fill in for Nero Bride, maybe even slightly better. He has a targetable 50% NP Gain Up as well as a targetable Arts Up. And on a 3 Star's cost. Until Nero Bride got her first skill upgrade, Para was better then her for about a year after he got his upgrade.

But again, if looking for a proper looping team for Space Ishtar, you will need to wait for Caster Artoria.

[Hunter Noventa]

The Elly bounty was shockingly hard, ended up using seals on it. No idea how I'll even try the Dark Rounds when I do get them back later this week.

[chainer1216]

The Elly bounty was shockingly hard, ended up using seals on it. No idea how I'll even try the Dark Rounds when I do get them back later this week.

I also had to use seals on that one, I was not prepared for it, all the other bounties were so easy.

Honestly the Dark Rounds were easier for me just because I knew to look up the mechanics first.

[Red Fel]

I also had to use seals on that one, I was not prepared for it, all the other bounties were so easy.

Honestly the Dark Rounds were easier for me just because I knew to look up the mechanics first.

Yeah. The Elly fight is a slog, but the Dark Rounds are a gimmick fight - know the mechanics and all you really need to do is survive long enough to exploit them.

Here are some light spoilers and some heavy spoilers for how the fight works. Feel free to look at both, either, or neither, if you haven't tried the Dark Rounds yet.

Spoiler: Light Spoiler for Dark Rounds Fight

Show

You're going to want strong AoE damage. Bring your event CEs that add +100% damage on your main DPS, and your +50% for the party CEs for your supports. Consider bringing Waver if you can.

Make sure you have reliable sources of (1) all three colors of damage, (2) crit damage, and (3) NPs.

Make absolutely sure to look at the buffs on each enemy before attacking.

Spoiler: Actual Mechanics for Dark Rounds Fight

Show

As long as more than one enemy is still standing, they will have "Formation" buffs that significantly reduce damage taken. One enemy will receive Target Focus, and will have one or two indicators on him of what you need to hit him with - Arts, Quick, Buster, Crit, and/or NP damage. If you hit him with the correct type(s), on the next round the Formation buff will be disabled. If you do not, he will further buff the team. That's why you need reliable sources of each of the above. Keep in mind also that the NP damage requirement requires the use of a damaging NP - so Lord Camelot or Unreturning Formation won't count to remove the Formation buff.

Consider bringing strong AoEs of each color, rather than trying to burn down the enemies one at a time. If you have Space Ishtar, her neutral damage - when paired with the event buff - will make her extremely effective. Also, her versatile NP color change will help you in a pinch. Consider also bringing a strong AoE Berserker or two - Zerkalot is very helpful here, especially with the event buff.

And that's basically it. If you can reliably hit the target damage type one turn, and release your powerful AoEs on the next, you can cut through them pretty quickly. Things get a little hairier partway through the fight, when you may start seeing two damage requirements on an enemy instead of just one, or you may need to unload an NP while the enemy is still protected by Formation, but other than that it's in some ways easier than the Elly fight.

But yeah. I ended up needing seals for this fight anyway, even with mastery of the mechanics. Not because I was doing poorly, ironically, but because I was getting so close that it almost seemed a shame to waste my progress.

[Yael]

So, hey~

I managed to get Space best girl with a single 11-roll! So happy, which allows me to save SQ for certain caster coming up next year.

Also, the event is hilarious. I'm speaking for a lot of people when I say we need more MHX comedy, she's the best.

[Velaryon]

Also, the event is hilarious. I'm speaking for a lot of people when I say we need more MHX comedy, she's the best.

No thanks. There's already too much of her in this event. She wasn't as annoying this time as she usually is, but I'd still rather not see her again for a long time.

[NeoPhoenix0]

So, hey~

I managed to get Space best girl with a single 11-roll! So happy, which allows me to save SQ for certain caster coming up next year.

Also, the event is hilarious. I'm speaking for a lot of people when I say we need more MHX comedy, she's the best.

lucky, and yes, more mhx plox. though i would prefer more mhx alter in the mix than this event.

[DaedalusMkV]

lucky, and yes, more mhx plox. though i would prefer more mhx alter in the mix than this event.

Speaking of which... On a whim, I decided to put my weekly ticket into the event gacha. I already have Spishtar, but the 4* event CE is at 4 copies and I wouldn't mind pulling Jane. She's grown on me a lot this event. I didn't notice there was a second banner, though, and accidentally put it into that, but I didn't notice until I hit the button. Oops. Well, Jane's off the table but I can still pull another copy of the CE. See the Servant get animation pop up with a silver Berzerker card, go 'meh, skip'. It won't skip. Card starts sparkling. MHX Alter shows up.

... This is getting silly. Way too many SSRs on the backburner now. But I guess I have the 'What if Saber was Darth Vader' Zerker now too.


Regarding the event, it's pretty fun and silly all around. Not too much meat to it, but sometimes that's fine. I haven't gone after the challenge quests yet, but I am finished with the core story and about 80% through the missions, so I'm not actually that far behind the rest of you for once. This particular event shop was absolutely full of stuff I needed, so I'll definitely spend some time grinding out currency once the missions are done.

[Hunter Noventa]

Well that's incredibly rude, second try at the Dark Round fight opened up with an impossible to break formation, because you can't crit on turn 1. Gonna be here a while.

I also love how you effectively have two rounds to deal with 6 bars of health before your frontline is wiped out.

[Velaryon]

I managed the Elly fight on the first try, since I got advance warning from here that it was tough and looked up why. I may not be able to loop with Space Ishtar yet, but she was great for this quest. I just stacked every good support I could fit in my team behind her, and fed her all the NP charge I could to beat the Ellys down (which is satisfying in its own right).

The XX challenge quest was much tougher. I went with Jack as my damage dealer and just stacked all my supports behind her, which was going fine... until Jack got targeted and killed. I managed to limp over the finish line with just Reines left over, somehow.

I'm working on the Dark Rounds quest now, but haven't managed to do it yet.

[NeoPhoenix0]

the king elly fight was kinda tough but not tooo bad. but now i am on the dark rounds... i have no clue how i am going to complete this.

[Forum Explorer]

So elly I did end up using my Command Seals on. I got her down to one Elly left (Saber), and low on HP to boot, but I just don't think I have enough time to keep trying until I won. So CS and moved on.

XX was pretty easy. Sitonai, plus a friend's Kingprotea as a back up Alter Ego meant I had all the damage and tankiness I needed to take her down. Her NP spam at around 700K HP was a surprise, but I was still able to burn her down fast enough with a little luck (She attacked Cu who had Guts, and then attacked him again next turn. So Kingprotea got to go nuts and might've had enough HP to tank one NP. I never had to test it, but I was at about 24000 HP by the end of the fight.)

[NeoPhoenix0]

The final bounty was easier than I thought. Once I got the gimmick, I just needed to use my seals, and start on not needing a crit or np. Borrowed a space Ishtar buffed by my own Merlin and waver with an invaluable mash. Anchor 4 star Nero came in clutch. And Medusa rider was present and got off an 1 np that mattered so that's nice. And then I used the tickets to get to one last bonus draw on spish's banner... And she came home... After the event... After she would have been super useful in that last fight... At least she's here.

[Yael]

Yeah, Eli's quest was nuts. I actually got CEli to revive LEli, which I didn't know was a thing, but because all three Eli-es were without break bars, I just nuked them with SIshtar, and the remaining of the chain took care of CEli's guts. SEli was pretty annoying with her constantly spamming her invincibility buff, but in the end, they all three pElished....

I'll walk myself out.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Yeah, Eli's quest was nuts. I actually got CEli to revive LEli, which I didn't know was a thing, but because all three Eli-es were without break bars, I just nuked them with SIshtar, and the remaining of the chain took care of CEli's guts. SEli was pretty annoying with her constantly spamming her invincibility buff, but in the end, they all three pElished....

I'll walk myself out.

dElightful

[Saambell]

Heads up to some, Skadi has returned for a short while, if anyone is still interested in her with Castoria and Tamamo Vitch coming over the next two years. If most of your favourite characters are quick based, Skadi is very worth it. Her character is pretty bland though, and her skills take a lot of investment to be good. But if you find yourself using quick characters a lot, shes the best support you could ask for.

But be warned that after her we will very likely get a week of banners of a bunch of limited characters if the last few Thanksgivings have suggested. And soon after those we got Astolfo Saber along with a lotto event. So theres a lot to look forward to before we even get to december.

[Velaryon]

I tried so hard to get Skadi the first go around, and was majorly pissed off when I didn't get her. Even though I've got Spishtar and am planning to go all in on Castoria next year, it was really, really hard to resist rolling for Skadi.

So I didn't. I threw 5 tickets and 90 SQ at her banner, and I got her along with NP upgrades for Martha and Emiya, and I also picked up Tamamo Cat and Atalante Alter. Not a bad haul. But those berserkers are going into storage for now because it's going to be a while before I can work on them.

[Leon]

I picked her up whenever she was last out, i like her but not enough to level her up since i have a few friends with Maxed out ones. Same with Zhuge Liang (who was a recent spook), he's useful but oodles of people have him on hand. Keep them for a rainy day when i have spare enough resources to give them some interest.