Fate/Grand Order V - Salty Theoretical Phenomenon

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler: Gudaguda Challenge Quest

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I'm 28 turns in, and the grind is going strong. Sadly my Sitonai with Atlas went down early, so I'm depending on Illya's NP to actually do any damage. Oh, my other team members are Mash and Merlin.

EDIT: 38 turns in, third bar, and Illya goes down. Kegetora is up next. I've got 1.2 Million HP to go.

EDIT: 50 turns, Victory!

Geeze Kegetora's damage is insane with the 300% booster. Still, she almost died a couple of times in that final stretch. But she basically did as much damage as Illya and Sitonai did combined in only 12 turns to their 38.

[chainer1216]

At this point I need to do a bunch of math to figure if grinding the 30ap gold drop node gives enough returns between dropped resources and post event supplies trade ins for QP to outweigh just simply running the QP daily. Its a lot of math, that someone smarter then me has probably already done. And it might only be worth it if you have a certain number of gold drop CEs. Guess its off to google/reddit.

So before gold event currency drops you get a combined 490k QP per run from resources. Assuming you get 10 stacks of gold currency, which has been the (eye balled) average for me, and +4 per stack from CEs I'm getting about 820k QP per run.

[Velaryon]

That's me but with bones.

Meanwhile I have over 200 of those. Shame we can't arrange some kind of trade.

[Saambell]

So before gold event currency drops you get a combined 490k QP per run from resources. Assuming you get 10 stacks of gold currency, which has been the (eye balled) average for me, and +4 per stack from CEs I'm getting about 820k QP per run.

Is that 820k total or not accounting for the 490k? If its total, its not really worth it. If its not including then it barely edges out a low yield run of the QP Daily. And at 10ap less its actually tempting. But it sounds more like the former, so I guess its back to the doors for me.

Next up in events is FES, the anniversary event. GSSR banner split in 2. Knights, Rulers, Avengers, and Foreigners in one. Cavalry and Alter Egos in the other. All Limited so no real chance for them elsewhere and you always get at least one of them. Paid Saint Quartz only though, so if you have a zero money spent rule its skippable.

Speaking of skippable, the special anniversary servant is Rider D'Vinci, based on the young D'Vinci from the Lostbelts. She is not good mechanically. There's far better AoE Riders out there, several general pool. So its an easy skip to save your Saint Quartz for Summer or after. Unless of course you really like Young D'Vinci's character or like the idea of her running over enemies with the Shadow Border. But Summer CARmilla is soon who does that with more style.

[DaedalusMkV]

Meanwhile I have over 200 of those. Shame we can't arrange some kind of trade.

Only a bit more than 200? Why, for Bones that's barely anything at all. Let's say you pulled a BerzerCu and wanted to max him out. That's 152 Bones total. You now have less than 100, and most Bone-lovers take more than 100 to fully level their skills. Pull Jack after BerzerCu? That's another 132. Feeling like investing in Nitocris? 180. Tamamo? 161.

The problem with Bones is that there is no such thing as enough. It's not like the gold mats, where having 100 gives you a stockpile for 3 Servants being pretty much finished. With Bones, any two Servants can deplete your entire stock instantly. And I have 3 Servants waiting on Bones to level their skills. Fran might never get there, considering she keeps getting pushed back in line. Same with Stakes and Void Dust. You can feel like you've got an unlimited supply right up until you get a gold Servant that's really heavy on it, and then bam it's all gone and you're wondering how you're supposed to scrounge up another 200 of the damned things.

Next up in events is FES, the anniversary event. GSSR banner split in 2. Knights, Rulers, Avengers, and Foreigners in one. Cavalry and Alter Egos in the other. All Limited so no real chance for them elsewhere and you always get at least one of them. Paid Saint Quartz only though, so if you have a zero money spent rule its skippable.

It's an easy pick for the Cavalry classes for me. I have four Servants out of the list on the Knight class lineup (Saber Shiki, Nobbu, Holmes and Amakusa) and zero on the Cavalry side. While some of those would be fine to duplicate (and by some, I mean Holmes), mostly I'd prefer to pick up a new one. More, I'd really, really love to pull Skadi or Merlin to have a busted Support of my own, and they certainly aren't on the Knight side.

Also of note coming up: 14 Strengthening quests (including Altera, of particular note to me, who upgrades Tactics to something that isn't pathetic), tons of free SQ for long-time users (and a decent chunk for even people like me) thanks to new Extra quests for finishing the Lostbelts and Free Quests (potentially as much as 210, I believe) and a permanent increase to the efficiency of SQ summoning (For every 10 rolls, get one roll free!).

There's more, but it's pretty unimportant so meh.

[Hunter Noventa]

I've got 6 dupes on the Knight side, and 5 on the Cavalry side, so I'm going Cavalry. I'll be happy to get a non-Berserker, and preferably not Iskander or Ivan.

I also want to give a roll or two to Rider-Vinci because cute, just not sure what other day's rate-up to wait for.

I do want to try a little for Summer BB in the rerun, but otherwise its trying for Summer Okita before saving for Space Ishtar.

[Saambell]

I'm a little torn on the GSSR myself. Between all my rolling, I have 14 on the Knight banner and 13 on the Cavalry banner. But between wanting NP ups or new ones, I want 18 of the ones on the Knight banner and 17 on the Cavalry banner. Meanwhile of the ones I don't want at all, the Knight banner has 7 and the Cavalry banner has 8. So the numbers definitely lean to rolling on the Knight banner. But the chance for Merlin or NP2 Kama is very tempting.

This year's summer is going to be the death of me, as between Merlin, Bunny King, and Musashi, I want all three. And I can't even pick an order to them as I want them for differing reasons. Musashi is mostly for next year, when Castoria turns her into the new Dantes, Merlin cause he will never not be good, and Bunny for pure fan service reasons as well as Lancer Artoria being one of my favourite characters. But yeah, this summer is going to empty my SQ stockpile. But if I can get all of them it will be a very happy summer.

[Velaryon]

I had a hard time deciding which GSSR banner is more appealing. The Knights banner has slightly more servants I really want and slightly fewer that I don't, but it's close enough I could still go either way.

I actually had to sort them into 4 categories ranging from most wanted to not wanted in order to parse this decision. I ended up organizing it using a site called TierMaker.

Spoiler: My most wanted tier list from this banner

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[Red Fel]

Spoiler: Gudaguda Challenge Quest

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I'm 28 turns in, and the grind is going strong. Sadly my Sitonai with Atlas went down early, so I'm depending on Illya's NP to actually do any damage. Oh, my other team members are Mash and Merlin.

EDIT: 38 turns in, third bar, and Illya goes down. Kegetora is up next. I've got 1.2 Million HP to go.

EDIT: 50 turns, Victory!

Geeze Kegetora's damage is insane with the 300% booster. Still, she almost died a couple of times in that final stretch. But she basically did as much damage as Illya and Sitonai did combined in only 12 turns to their 38.

CQ was actually kind of straightforward for me. I just brought Mash, Abby, and Hokusai, plus guest Hokusai. Abby had the damage booster CE, and the rest of the party didn't really matter. I used three command seals to revive, but only after I got him to his last health bar.

Because his NP was ST, Mash was able to tank it - really, anyone with a taunt can. Or just bring Assassin Emiya and his targeted taunt and use it on somebody with a dodge. And although no Foreigners have an event damage bonus, the CE takes care of that, which resulted in Abby outright murdering him. Basically, just build NP gauge, blow NP, build again.

I had a hard time deciding which GSSR banner is more appealing. The Knights banner has slightly more servants I really want and slightly fewer that I don't, but it's close enough I could still go either way.

As a filthy casual F2P, the GSSR isn't really an issue for me. That said, I'd probably have to go with the Knights banner, because I still don't have a single 5-star Saber to my name.

But yeah, the rest of this year is going to be a bit cruel. There's a thread on the subreddit listing the remaining new Servants - not counting repeats - we expect for the year. Keep in mind some of these names may be spoilery, so if that bothers you don't click. If it doesn't, more in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

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Okay, so the good news is that a whole bunch of stuff gets added to permanent and FP pools. Also, there are a couple of nifty welfares in the form of Summer Hokusai and Santa Nightingale. So that's something we don't have to worry about.

So let's move on to the stuff to worry about. First, there's Da Vinci Lily. For those of you who want, say goodbye to wallet-kun.

Next, there are the Summer Servants - six of them, including two 5-stars, as is usually the case. So if you want Berserker Musashi, Bunny Artoria, or Casual Carmilla, that's going to hurt.

After that, we'll get the whole Space Ishtar thing, so those of you who want another Rinface or have a conceptual weakness for Calamity Jane are going to have a bad time.

Finally, late in the year, we get proof that Riyo's gags are the deepest lore in the form of Saber Astolfo. We also get Super Orion, an absolute chad.

And mind you, this list is only new stuff. So Merlin, MHX, all the ones you may have missed last time? They'll be there too, to spoil your savings.

So, yeah. Long story short, there are a number of wallet-drains ahead of us this year. Hope you're prepared.

[Leon]

Fairly bland then for the rest of the year in new stuff.

[Forum Explorer]

The only new Servant I'm interested in is Super Orion. But with First Hassan, Merlin, and Scatharch (in November I think), I'm going to be pretty depleted anyways.

Merlin is probably the best Caster for utility. He seems to be a core component of making an actual grind team. No one seems to be as good as him in making that work.

Scatharch is just for my theme Cu team. So a bit lower priority.

First Hassan is because I think he's awesome. So he has highest priority obviously.

[Red Fel]

Merlin is probably the best Caster for utility. He seems to be a core component of making an actual grind team. No one seems to be as good as him in making that work.

I don't think I agree. Oh, he's useful, with poppable party invulnerability, and he's a must-have for the Buster meta, but in terms of pure utility, Waver is still most likely to die of overwork. He fits any composition, his skills help everyone, he's the ultimate support.

Merlin is great, don't get me wrong, but Waver is universal.

First Hassan is because I think he's awesome. So he has highest priority obviously.

He is easily one of my all-time favorites, and not just because of a certain comic. That said, I have Jack. So Gramps, while awesome, is not a priority.

And now to contradict myself, I do really want Super Orion, despite having both Orion and Napoleon as 5-star Archers. So go figure.

[Forum Explorer]

I don't think I agree. Oh, he's useful, with poppable party invulnerability, and he's a must-have for the Buster meta, but in terms of pure utility, Waver is still most likely to die of overwork. He fits any composition, his skills help everyone, he's the ultimate support.

Merlin is great, don't get me wrong, but Waver is universal.



He is easily one of my all-time favorites, and not just because of a certain comic. That said, I have Jack. So Gramps, while awesome, is not a priority.

And now to contradict myself, I do really want Super Orion, despite having both Orion and Napoleon as 5-star Archers. So go figure.

I disagree, because Waver is universal sure, but he isn't always needed. Always useful yeah, but sometimes being useful isn't enough. Merlin gives the party wide invunerability, a party wide boost to NP, and his NP heals, and charges up your NP faster.

Or to put it another way, I have a Waver. I could've taken a support Waver. Neither or both would've gotten me through the Gudaguda challenge quest. I needed Merlin to beat that. Waver doesn't really cover Merlin's role of buffing defenses, but Merlin kinda covers Waver's of NP generation between his skills and his NP.


Sadly, it isn't looking good for my chances of getting him. I got two Medusas and two Tomoe Gozens but no First Hassan. I can get another ten draw before the banner is over, but that'll be my last chance.

[Red Fel]

I disagree, because Waver is universal sure, but he isn't always needed. Always useful yeah, but sometimes being useful isn't enough. Merlin gives the party wide invunerability, a party wide boost to NP, and his NP heals, and charges up your NP faster.

Or to put it another way, I have a Waver. I could've taken a support Waver. Neither or both would've gotten me through the Gudaguda challenge quest. I needed Merlin to beat that. Waver doesn't really cover Merlin's role of buffing defenses, but Merlin kinda covers Waver's of NP generation between his skills and his NP.

That's a fair point. Merlin's NP is better for a stall team, as is his party invulnerability. That said, you could say the same for Jeanne. (In fact, I'm pretty sure I made a stall team once out of Jeanne, Tamamo, and a guest Merlin, but that's beside the point.) I think a big part of it is play style. A few comparisons.

First, NP gauge. Between his skill and his NP, Merlin can boost party NP gauge by 45% - 20% from skills, 25% (over five turns) from NP. Waver boosts party gauge by 20%, and one party member's gauge by an additional 30%. In other words, if I need to boost party NP, Merlin is overall a better option by the numbers. However, because Waver's boosts come from different skills, you can avoid the problem of overcharging - say, if my main DPS is at 90% and I don't want to waste charge, I can use Tactician's Command now, and Tactician's Advice after the NP. Moreover, unlike Merlin, Waver can shoot a charge up by 50% right now - say I bring someone in with an MLB Golden Sumo, I can pop all three of Waver's skills and have them immediately ready to NP. So that's a question of what you want to do and when.

Next, stalling power. I agree, Merlin's skill and NP make for great stalling. NP charging, healing, invulnerability, all good. That said, with the exception of Hero Creation EX, Merlin's offensive function is limited. Dreamlike Charisma offers a 20% ATK boost, which is nice. And Illusion increases your star drop rate for one turn, although when you're using it you're less focused on star drops and more focused on tanking a big hit. But while Waver lacks Merlin's defensive values, he has superior offensive ones - Tactician's Command offers +30% ATK, as well as Damage Boost. And while Hero Creation offers a higher crit strength boost, it's a one-turn boost, as opposed to Waver's three-turn boost. Finally, Waver's NP reduces DEF - functionally another party damage boost - and inflicts Curse, ensuring enemies die sooner. So, in short, while Merlin is a more defensive Servant - and better at handling Buster meta - Waver is slightly more offensively-oriented, at least by support Caster standards.

Also, if we're being honest, if you bring Mash and Waver and pop both of their defensive skills, you're almost invulnerable anyway, but that's an issue of mathematics.

It boils significantly down to context. If I am maining Heracles or Abby against a tough boss? Merlin all the way. But what if I'm bringing, say, Chloe? And I want to open with her NP? Waver is going to build on all her strengths, cover all her weaknesses, and allow me flexibility in my CE choice, since - between her skills and his - I can get from 0 to 100% NP gauge in a single turn.

I think the bottom line is that I disagree with your terminology. "Best Caster for utility" tells me "broad application, always useful." I will readily admit that Merlin is the best Caster in his niche, which is a pretty broad niche, and if you play almost exclusively in that niche, Merlin is best for you, no question. But "best for utility" says to me "useful almost all of the time," and for me that's Waver, who is definitely going to die of overwork.

Also, I don't have Merlin. While that doesn't play a part in my analysis, it's probably relevant somewhere.

[Hunter Noventa]

The GSSR has arrived! Anniversary dumped a ton of quartz into my lap, and who came home?

Spoiler: Who's that servant?

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GAOOOOOOOOOOOO~!
It's Kingprotea!

[Saambell]

Did the GSSR, got Amakusa Shirou. Who was one of the ones I didn't want. Meanwhile one of my friends got really messed over by the GSSR, he wanted ANY of the sabers, and got the worst SSR in the game mechanically; Avenger Nobbu. He was so upset to the point he burned her. Which, I don't really blame him. I got her, and I doubt I will ever make the effort to level her. While one of my other friends got Holmes, making the two of us who got mediocre/bad characters quite jealous.

Turns out I have completed 126 free quests, so that's a very nice chunk of SQ, with more to come later if I make an effort to finish them. Thinking of saving the Free Full Ascension Max thing for Musashi Summer if I get lucky pulling her. Or Bunny King. One or the other. Its good for 3 months, I got time to pick.

[Leon]

41mins before the event ended i managed to get the rare CE to drop and then had to grind a lil more to buy the last one for which i had already used its currency up. First Hassan also came along so im very happy that i know have the Assassins i like of my own.

[Resileaf]

The GSSR was a bit disappointing on my side, got Semiramis again, same servant as last GSSR. She's not a bad servant to have at NP2, but I'd have certainly wished for someone else. Like Skadi or Merlin.

[Hunter Noventa]

And the GSSR and new FP Servants seem to have overwhelmed the servers. At least I got all the memorial quests done.

[Forum Explorer]

And the GSSR and new FP Servants seem to have overwhelmed the servers. At least I got all the memorial quests done.

Aren't those good for ten days?

[DaedalusMkV]

I did the cavalry class GSSR as planned. Pulled Red Hare and Asclepius first, both of which are new to me so I was already feeling pretty good, when I see the golden card pop up. It's an Assassin. Okay, I was hoping for a Caster or Alter Ego, my Assassin game is pretty strong already, but this is fine. First Hassan. Great! That's one of the cooler Assassins, and between him, Osakabehime and Shiki I can pretty much solve Rider bosses forever. It could have been better, but I am not displeased at this result.

Then a golden Caster card pops up. Sweet. I've already gotten my GSSR, but I can't complain about getting some 4*s too, right? Uh, no. Hello, Merlin. I was not expecting to see you as well at this party.

Another golden Caster card. If I pull Skadi too I think I need to buy a lottery ticket or something. This time it's NP2 for Sheba. Hey, she's already levelled, Fou'd and 6/6/6, she's still my only ST Caster that actually does damage (sorry Medea) and her NP does benefit a lot from NP2 (she is a rare Servant that might conceivably get to 200% charge naturally going through waves 1-2 in a 3 wave boss fight, her NP gets decent value out of increased charge and she gets a hefty 33% damage boost from NP2).

You know, I was planning to wait to use my Special Ascension, at least until after my summer event pulls to see if I pulled Summer Musashi or something by accident. That's... No longer the case. While Merlin's actually a pretty cheap Servant to ascend, I don't really care about that. I can save 200 XP cards and have a fully functional broken Support Caster right now. I have the mats and QP to get him to 10/10/6 immediately, and 10/10/10 if I can grind up about 10 gold caster gems.

Only 10 SQ from free quests, but 90 from Lostbelts and the anniversary bonus gives me a bit over 300. Should have about 120-150 rolls ready to go for summer events between everything. Life is good. More than makes up for the 6 months of nothing I got from October to February last year.

[NeoPhoenix0]

Pulled on the GSSR last night. I really really can't complain at all and I hate that I can't cause I am not a fan of the character as a character but he's literally a god tier support. I got Merlin and immediately used the special ascension thing on him.

Never pulled on his banners. But hey with the waver stalking me in the first few months and actually going hard for tamamo and skadi, I now should be able to deal be with pretty much anything. though that was probably true before.

[Leon]

Used Special Ascension on First Hassan, rolled on the Cav banner and got Scathach Skadi, not terrible but not really useful for me as i have a number of friends who have her when i feel the need for her. Was hoping for more copies First Hassan or Merlin, but anyone on that banner was welcome. Was a few i'd have loved from the other one but there was also high chances of getting absolute suck from it.

[chainer1216]

My GSSR pull was Cleopatra, which feels pretty bad, but I atleast like her first bond bio, it clarifies that although history remembers her as a conniving seductress, in reality that was roman propaganda and that she was actually a great leader and economist.

[Red Fel]

Keep in mind they gave us a bunch of FP for a reason. There are seven new Servants available in the FP gacha - Worst Saber, This Apollo Is Fluffy, Best Pup of the Round Table, Bangs Fetishist, Explode Forever, New Mata Hari, and Yet Another Yandere Berserker. So far I've managed to nab four of them. They're permanently added, but if you have more FP than you know what to do with, it might not hurt to grind a little - it's a cheap way to get MPs, too.

Actually, let me take a step back, because there was a whole lot to this update, and it's worth discussing in detail. For an infographic on the subject, this thread on the subreddit has you covered. If you don't care for links, check the spoiler below.

Spoiler

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• Login Bonuses: There will be a lot, including a Rare Prism and ten Summon Tickets. So don't miss a day.
• Lostbelts 1-3: Main Quests now permanently cost 1/2 AP. Moreover, you receive 10 bonus SQ for clearing each Lostbelt. So if you're still a bit behind, this will make it that much easier to burn through them. And more profitable.
• Free Quests: For the next week or so, Free Quests cost 1/4 AP until you have cleared them. And again, you get an SQ for clearing a Free Quest. So if there are any you haven't cleared, definitely go back and do that. And again, there is a bonus - 10 SQ for every 10 Free Quests you clear.
• Daily Quests: For the next two weeks, all Daily Quests are available - all of them, every day - at 1/2 AP.
• Enhancement: For the next week or so, the chance of bonus EXP in enhancement is increased.
• Inventory: Inventory caps have been increased. Remember, you can blow MPs to expand space if you want/need to.
• Rank-Up Quests: A bunch of new Rank-Ups are out, and more are coming.
• Command Card Enhancement: As if boosting your Servants wasn't complicated enough. You can now use Fou Pawprints to enhance your individual Command Cards. Unlike Command Codes, which add special effects, each Fou Pawprint adds +20 ATK to a Command Card. So that's a micromanagement thing. You'll receive one during the Memorial Quests, and one will now be added to the login reward for every seventh day (along with the Summon Ticket).
• Memorial Quests: Speaking of. These will be around for just over a week, and offer multiple Summon Tickets, a Fou Pawprint, and two Festival Portrait CE tickets as rewards. Be sure to pick your Festival Portraits before they go away - they all give the same bonus, so there's no advantage of one over another, just choose for love.
• Gacha Update: From these gacha forward, you will receive a free bonus summon for every ten summons you make on an SQ gacha. You'll notice that the new gachas have this, while the gacha still lingering from before the update does not. Note that this also applies to individual or ticket summons - as long as you make a cumulative 10 summons on a specific gacha, you get an 11th for free.
• Instant Ascension: As some have mentioned, this feature is in your Enhancement menu, and lets you instantly enhance one Servant to max ascension. It's good for only one Servant per account and expires in about three months. I'd recommend saving it for a 5-star.
• Subtitles: Subtitles have been added to enhancement lines. So that's a nice little QoL thing.

So, yeah. A lot to unpack here.

Keep in mind also that for the next week or so, the MP shop has an updated stock with discounted items, including half-price Summon Tickets. So if you have some MP to spare, definitely grab those.

[Velaryon]

GSSR gave me Sigurd, who I didn't particularly want since he's not that good and I have a friend that has him at NP5 if I want to use him. Oh well.
Between the quartz I had to buy for this GSSR and all the other stuff they're giving us right now, I have about 300 more SQ now which I'm not in any hurry to spend on any of the currently available banners.

Burned all those new FP's and I got most of the new bronze servants: Jason at NP5, Gareth at NP5, Paris at NP1, Charlotte Corday at NP5, Bartholomew Roberts at NP3, Chen Going at NP2, Salome at NP2, and even my first copy of William Tell.

[Hunter Noventa]

Aren't those good for ten days?

I wasn't worried, certainly beat being interrupted in the middle of them though.

And yeah, tons of good stuff for the anniversary as Red pointed out, and right after that we dive head-first into double summer madness.

[spectralphoenix]

GSSR got me Semiramas. Who isn't bad per se, but there were a lot of servants (a lot of assassins for that matter) I wanted more. Also got Mini Da Vinci after significant outlay of SQ. It's so easy to feel confident after getting 180 Sq for free quests, plus assorted other bonuses. Also got Mary/Anne, Circe, Lakshmi, and Tama Cat in the process, so my energy is going into exp farming for the foreseeable future. Still have about 250 SQ left, but fortunately my primary target for the summer event is the 4* summer Okita.

[Velaryon]

I should probably use this time to dig in on Lostbelt 4, which I started but haven't done much with yet because I focused on grinding MPs for Bella Lisa when the chapter first dropped. But I'm digging all the new bronze servants and want to level them all right away.

Sigurd can wait. I used the special ascend thing to get him up to 80, but I'm in no hurry to finish him, especially since I've still been giving most of my Saber embers to Prince of Lan Ling.

[Forum Explorer]

Random statement, but I'm kinda offended that they made Heracles a 4-star. He's like the ur-example of a Berserker, and is ridiculously OP in the fluff.

And on that note, why is Xiang Yu a Berserker at all?