FGO Review : Lancelot (Saber)

FGO Review : Lancelot (Saber)

“DADDY CRIT HITS”

• ·         Default Biography

Lancelot is one of the Knights of the Round Table and a hero extolled as the greatest knight. Despite serving King Arthur, he ended up breaking with the king upon falling into an immoral love with Guinevere

• ·         General Impressions

This guy initially makes the good impression by having multi hits on all his command cards along with a unique set of active skills that no one has except for his Eternal Arms Mastership. For those who wants (and probably needs) a single target and non-limited gold Saber class that can be used on multiple setups and occasions Lancelot is the go-to guy. Hands down. Period. To be honest I got this guy on a “pick a free SR” event on JP server (I forgot the occasion so let’s call it that) after a lot of consideration between this guy and Rama but after trying him out myself with support Lancelot I am convinced of his strength and versatility, although to be honest to draw out his best and proper damage a proper setup is needed (no, not the Merlin Tamamo Waver buffs).

• ·         Stats Overview

ID: 121		Cost: 12
ATK: 1658/9949		HP: 1854/11589
Grail ATK: 12046		Grail HP: 14051
Attribute: Earth	Growth Curve: S
Star Absorption: 100	Star Generation: 10%
NP Charge ATK: 0.83%	NP Charge DEF: 3%
Death Rate: 28%	Alignments: Lawful・Neutral
Gender: Male

Traits: Brynhildr's Beloved, Humanoid, Male, Riding, Servant, Weak to Enuma Elish

Now you might be thinking, why the hell am I calling Lancelot “DADDY CRIT HITS” with the star absorption rate of the Saber class? The answer is in his skills but for arguments sake i’ll just say his star generation rate is decent along with his hit counts that helped a lot. His health and attack stat can be considered normal and quite balanced for attack and defense although looking at his skillset he is better off with attack stat on 10K than 9.9K but then again it can be taken care of with CE so might as well call it balanced. Since he is an SR his cost is quite good if you want to use him on a 6 man team (provided if you can equip them all with appropriate CE one way or another) and since he is a Saber class his damage multiplier is 1.0x so he can dish out damage on his own without his skills. Alignments are pretty good since no one can specifically counter a neutral alignment servant at the time of writing. However his traits list are quite dangerous and there is a specific counter to him trait-wise such as Oda Nobunaga who can deal massive damage on her NP to Riding trait and Euryale with her NP that can charm Lancelot with 100% certainty unless equipped with status ailment immunity CE. But overall he is still solid on his own despite his weaknesses.

• ·         Command Cards

      Quick : 3 Hits           Arts : 2 Hits                     Buster : 4 Hits

      Extra : 5 Hits

For an Arts oriented servant his Arts card hit count may make you say meh and I can understand that but Holy Shit that Buster hit count though, 4 Hits! Usually I must say this is the best hand of command cards but for Arts oriented servant specifically, it depends on how you want to use him and there are mainly two ways of using him according to me namely the “NP Spammer” or “Buster Blader”. For “NP spammer” his downside is his hit counts on the Arts card and especially without the proper crit star amount this will be a mild annoyance at best though to be honest this can be taken care of with Waver or Tamamo since their hand eases Lancelot’s NP fill gauge without using his skills at all or just simply use a CE that increases NP gain (bonus points if it also boosts the Arts card power but I highly doubt such convenient CE exists) but it doesn’t mean this approach can’t do critical damage, it can and easier to do than “Buster Blader”. My preferred setup however is the “Buster Blader” since I have Merlin thus can abuse his Heroic Creation with Lancelot’s 4 hit Buster card after his NP and straight wrecks the enemy in one turn with the proper setup (again, not the merlin buffs) which is necessary due to his skillset, simple as that.

• ·         Skills : Active and Passive

o   Active Skills

·         Available from the start

	Knight of the Lake A
Charges own NP gauge by 30%. Gain Critical Stars.
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Stars +	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20
Cooldown	8					7				6

Along with the starting amount of crit stars on level 1 this is one of the great skills that can contribute to the setup I mentioned about which is simply the critical setup. For those who prefer the “NP spammer” path I recommend you to max this skill first since the cooldown on level 10 is 6 turns not to mention if you are using Tamamo no Mae then the cooldown will be a lot faster and you can get more crit stars on the side. 20 crit stars are basically the minimum amount to maximize Lancelot’s damage output along with Tamamo’s NP to hasten the cooldown all you need for the best “NP spammer” is one Arts command card at minimum since the critical damage pretty much covered the NP gain for Lancelot.

Unlocks after 1st Ascension

	Eternal Arms Mastership A+
Increases own critical star absorption for 3 turns.
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Absorption +	3000%	3300%	3600%	3900%	4200%	4500%	4800%	5100%	5400%	6000%
Cooldown	7					6				5

For a crit star absorption skill this is pretty much overkill especially if you look at his base star absorption rate. 3000% for 3 turns on level 1 guarantees no crit star will go anywhere but Lancelot himself and this is essential for his setup whether you choose the “NP spammer” path or the “Buster Blader” path (100*3000% = 3000 star absorption rate). Unless you are planning to abuse the 5 turns cooldown haste using the “NP spammer” path with Tamamo (or double Tamamo for maximum Arts cancer power) I highly advise you to level this skill last since what this skill do is simply increase own crit star absorption with no other effect. Even with double Tamamo setup to hasten the cooldown I still highly recommend you to level this skill last since level 1 is already overkill for Lancelot (Saber, not Berserker). Other servant who have this skill is Lancelot (Berserker), and Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Berserker) but all of them have the same rank so no need to compare to each other.

Unlocks after 3rd Ascension

	Knight of Owner : A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands A++
Gain Critical Stars for 3 turns. Increase Critical Damage for 3 turns.
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Stars +	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	15
Crit Damage +	30%	32%	34%	36%	38%	40%	42%	44%	46%	50%
Cooldown	8					7				6

Along with his 1^st skill this initially presents a dilemma for me as to what to max first but since I prefer the “Buster Blader” setup this is pretty much my first priority. At level 10 15 crit stars every turns is basically half of Lancelot’s first skill since I guarantee you have at least 5 crit stars every turn (especially if you use Merlin’s NP) thus getting 20 crit stars like his 1^st skill is not a problem unless you Buster spam the enemy on every turn if able (why though?). The 50% critical damage boost is very good since the boost is on par with most 4* servants with the exception of Rama, Li Shuwen, Anne Bonnie and Marie Read (Rider), Emiya, and Queen of Sheba with their 100% critical damage boost along with other effects. What makes the difference is that Lancelot’s skill complements his other skills thus having a synergised skillset that focused on one specific advantages that is constant stream of critical hits.

Looking on all his skills I can personally vouch that Lancelot can be self sufficient in dealing critical damage be it solo or in a team. Along the fact that he has no skills that target specific trait makes him a non-niche and a great servant to boot. My recommendation to level up this skill came in two paths if you are going to use him along the way and not keeping him off the party until 10/10/10 :

1.      “NP Spammer” :

Knight of the Lake > Knight of Owner : A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands > Eternal Arms Mastership (1^st skill > 3^rd skill > 2^nd skill)

2.      “Buster Blader” :

Knight of Owner : A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands > Knight of the Lake > Eternal Arms Mastership (1^st skill > 3^rd skill > 2^nd skill)

o   Passive skills

	Magic Resistance B
Increases unit's resistance to debuffs by 17.5%.

Same with Ozymandias, not that reliable but a good thing to have, shame he doesn’t have more damage boost passives.

	Riding B
Increases own Quick card performance by 8%.

Nice boost since more damage is always better and not target specified.

• ·         Noble Phantasm

To be honest I was a bit confused on how his overcharge worked and just straight off dismissed it as a defense down debuff but after careful testing Shimosa I am convinced that his overcharge is quite good since it gives straight bonus damage when hit again. Though on 100% the damage increase is quite small but there are times when  the smallest of damage can make a difference in a life-or-death gamble. For “NP Spammer” this is straight blessing since spamming NP means stacking the debuff and can help other members to deal significant damage in the fight (I mean 5 turns? Stack them up and the damage can be holy moly without critical hits). For “Buster Blader” though the overcharge is a bit meh since I usually  brute force enemies in less than 5 turns. Arts up albeit only 30% for 1 turn but for “NP Spammer” this is only a mild annoyance especially if you are using Tamamo. For “Buster Blader” though this is a loss we have to simply say “oh well” since he is mainly Arts oriented servant, at least the buster critical damage after NP can basically cover the missing damage. Sad that this NP doesn’t ignore defense but it matters little in the long run unless faced with the kinds of Siegfried from Nerofest 2016.

• ·         Bond CE

Bond 10 Reward

Lady of the Lake When equipped on Lancelot (Saber), Increase Party's NP gain by 10% and Increase Critical Damage by 10% while he's on the field.

No, unless you are a collector it’s better to ignore this and use other damage boosting CE.

• ·         Best to combo with…

Waver : So obvious that he deserves a spot in every “Best to combo with…”. But seriously, aside from his skillset his command cards hand helps Lancelot a lot (get it?). His skill and command cards combined and he can help Lancelot whether you use the “NP Spammer” or “Buster Blader”.

Merlin : For “Buster Blader” his Hero Creation helps a lot along with the 100% critical damage boost alongside the Buster card boost, the flip side is the requirement to use Merlin Lancelot combo to full effect is quite strict (at least in my opinion) that is either do NP-B-B (abuse that NP overcharge debuff) or B-A/Q-B not to mention if for some reason all of Lancelot’s cards go up yet you have not enough crit stars to at least get the Buster card to 100% critical. But otherwise he can help in both playstyles tremendously with his NP.

Tamamo no Mae : Her NP straight allows Lancelot to abuse his skills often especially if you use two Tamamos then skill spamming is pretty much inevitable. The only downside is that you have no NP damage prevention should the enemy rush fills his/her/its NP gauge with skills so you might need to swap one Tamamo for survival, but then again one Tamamo is already great. 10/10 for “NP Spammer”.

Hans Christian Andersen : His skillset adds for more critical opportunities and also damage and his NP helps both attack and crit star generation. Along with his command cards hand he can help lancelot on both “NP Spammer” and “Buster Blader”.

Gilgamesh (Caster) : Crit star generation, Charisma A+, and Arts boost and all of his skills are not selfish and lasts for 3 turns? What’s not to love? In addition his NP can generate lots of crit stars should it be used on more than 1 enemy, combine this with Hans and you pretty much have the budget Arts booster team (Mozart can help too BTW). Use both his NP on the battle before the last with assurance that the enemy will die after he use his NP so that Lancelot has the proper setup he needs in the first turn of the final battle so the crit stars are not wasted in anticipation if all of Lancelot’s cards pop up. Swapping him or not depends on your playstyle just make sure he uses all his skills before swapping.

EMIYA (Archer) : While his skill is totally selfish his command cards hand and his NP can help to set Lancelot for the first critical damage chain (provided it hits more than one enemy), just make sure to swap him out with a  support servant after he use his NP.

Edison : Along with Tamamo no Mae you can abuse her NP to hasten the cooldown for Edison’s Concept Improvement to use on Lancelot, meaning more overcharge levels equals more damage received. His Mass Production is also useful since it helps gather crit stars for 5 turns which is long enough for Tamamo to hasten this skill cooldown with her NP. His command cards helps the whole party too. Best used for “NP Spammer” party with Tamamo.

Critical star generators (I have only tried with these three so if there are others please leave it in the comments) : While their command card hand helps little in NP gain for Lancelot they are quite good when gathering crit stars from the enemy without using NP, Yan Qing in particular can reduce his crit star absorption rate with Skillful Star (3^rd skill) which helps Lancelot to gather the crit stars while his Eternal Arms Mastership is off and on cooldown.

• ·         Best CE to use

o   Limited event CE (Free CE priority)

Starting NP Gauge with other effects : if you want simply Arts damage use Dive to Blue (Mash diving Icon) but for better use of his skillset it’s best to use either Castle of the Sun (Lady Chacha icon) for extra critical damage or The Three Great Heroes (Gudako Icon) for extra star generation. Holy Night Dinner (Alter Jeanne icon) is also great since it boosts both critical damage and NP damage aside from the starting NP gauge.

Critical boost (damage and/or crit star generation) : they simply synergize with Lancelot’s skills although my best recommendation for this kind of CE is Moonlight Festival (Artemis eating mochi icon) since they boost both critical damage and crit star generation.

o   Non-limited CE (Get them anytime, anywhere)

Starting NP gauge : On short battle this helps Lancelot to get his NP faster, simple as that. Best recommendation is Demonic Bodhisatva (Kiara or lady hugging the earth  icon) since better overcharge can help boost the party’s damage with Lancelot’s NP debuff.

Command card boosters (Arts card priority) : my best recommendation is Another Ending (girl with bread icon) since it boosts both critical damage and Arts card. For “Buster Blader” user who can get the setup right then Victor From the Moon is the go-to CE since it boosts both Buster and critical damage.

Critical damage boosters : they give decent critical damage boost but watch out for Knight’s Pride (old man icon) because it comes with a risk of defense down 20% even though it can boost your critical Damage by 50% if limit break. Unless you love taking risks I suggest you use the other two and avoid Knight’s Pride.

Fragments of 2030 : this CE is the best in my opinion when it comes to crit star generated per turn and it help boost your damage and NP gain with critical hits but using only one if this is hard to do unless you have a limit break version of this. I usually use this CE on all my frontline servants for a better chance at maximizing this CE potential but two is enough in my opinion regardless of limit break or no.

• ·         Conclusion

Every time I use Lancelot I rarely see white numbers once the setup hits home, it feels so good just to see them gold numbers flying every time I hit the enemy. Lancelot can fit on a crit based party or “NP spammer” party or simply on his own (if all members died somehow) though he lacks survivability, which is the biggest con I have to give to him he simply makes it up with attacking power and for me it’s all good since I prefer brute force than calculated things that can go wrong without a  moments notice. Solid DPS, the absolute go-to guy for single target Saber class (if you have none at the moment.

Final score and verdict : 8.5/10 Should he be a 5* then I’ll call him “BIG DADDY CRIT HITS”

I took the data on skills, NP, and stats along with the icons from the Wiki. Thanks for reading and if I miss anything or if you have any setups on your own or advise for future writing then leave it in the comments!