7M Downloads Campaign - Free 4* Servant Ticket Guide

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Benefits from NP Upgrades as it is her main niche
• Very high base attack salvages some of her weak skills
• Surely they must release her Shinjuku costume eventually?

Cons:

• Kit does age poorly as her main competition all get upgraded
• Base Intuition for at least another 2 years
• Can currently be rolled on the Summoning Banner

Commentary: A very solid pick for the main SR ticket, given how popular she is and her story-lock status. Yet, it seems much more ...efficient, to try and roll for her on the current banner and spend the ticket on someone else. But, the gacha can be a cruel mistress of course. Since her main use is to blast something with her amazing NP modifiers, an NP2 is an option, yet not recommended except for those who grailed/want to grail her.

Pros:

• Story-locked
• Eventually receives Rank Up that fixes his kit
• Buster Compatible
• 20% NP Charge with AoE NP

Cons:

• Rank Up is almost 2 years away
• Kit feels incomplete without Sun Field Status
• Low NP Damage

Commentary: The gorilla of Camelot has finally received the buff he’s been waiting for on the JP server, but his Rank Up is sadly still quite far away. Nonetheless, Gawain does offer a triple Buster deck which makes him exceedingly compatible with Merlin. Besides, Gawain was pretty great during the CCC Event Story, and who wouldn’t want a baller like him in Chaldea?

Sizzle's Comments: Considering we will get another free 4* Ticket next year (Note: Assumption), those who want to own Gawain could simply wait for next year as well.

Pros:

• Very strong Anti-Dragon Niche
• Good all-purpose Saber after all his upgrades
• Summer Costume (2 years)
• Animation Updates (6-7 months)

Cons:

• Can spook on any banner/Starter Servant
• Plenty of banners to roll him on (Da Vinci Event, Apocrypha, etc.)
• Often overshadowed outside Dragon niche

Commentary: Siegfried is a pretty strong Servant these days, but Masters tend to give him a lot of flak due to his initial release state. While he no longer hits like a piece of cardboard, he is still one of the common Servants that will eventually spook most Masters (especially those who roll more often by employing their wallet). He also tends to share some important banners such as with Jeanne d’Arc (Alter) and Merlin.

Pros:

• Excellent Taunting capability
• Just got an Animation Update
• Evasion/Debuff cleansing sometimes makes them the best Taunt Tank
• Does not nick your Critical Stars

Cons:

• General pool/Current Starter Servant
• Weak NP
• Often Georgios performs just as well or better

Commentary: Given Chevalier d’Eon’s proclivity to spook, and how their role often overlaps with Georgios a tad too much, Chevalier simply isn’t a very sought after pick for this ticket. At higher NP Upgrades, Chevalier does provide a decent NP, and having extra Taunts on hand is always great to make Challenge Quests more predictable.

Pros:

• Recent Addition to the roster
• NP Charging
• Great all-purpose Saber, covering both ST and AoE performance

Cons:

• Can spook on any banner
• NP Damage fairly weak
• NP Charge over time
• Demands loads of Evil Bones

Commentary: Suzuka performs quite well at whatever she needs to do, neatly filling the gap for any Master who is desperately in need of a strong JK Saber for both AoE and ST purposes. Plus, even though she is a new-ish Servant in the general pool, its ever-widening roster will make it less and less likely she will randomly spook. You wouldn’t dare swipe left, would you?

Pros:

• Story-locked
• Refuses to die via Thrice Setting Sun/loads of healing
• Gains 30% NP Charge after Rank Up (1.5 years)
• Fits neatly in Arts comps
• Recently gained new costume
• Umu

Cons:

• Low Attack Stat
• Damage potential relies heavily on Imperial Privilege
• Imperial Privilege’s 60% Chance often frustrating
• Septem

Commentary: With her Story-locked status, Nero makes for a fine pick for any Master looking to broaden their Saber roster. The amount of Arts AoE Sabers are rather limited as well, with only Shiki (Saber) as an alternative, or eventually, Jason. Plus, she makes for an excellent Last Stand Servant, as she utterly refuses to perish, much like her presence during the Septem Singularity.

Pros:

• Anti-Demonic niche has fairly wide coverage
• Very Merlin Compatible
• Animation Updates in ~2 years

Cons:

• General Pool/Can spook at any time
• Crit steroid only a single turn
• Pretty Vanilla kit

Commentary: Rama’s single turn burst is a very impressive sight to behold, mainly by virtue of a very awesome Critical steroid. Still, against non-Demonic opponents, Rama has got some really crazy competition to contend with, especially with Saber of Empireo coming up in Shimosa as well (who, by the way, should be available with next year’s ticket). Plus, he may spook you eventually.

Pros:

• An absolute unit who needs no support to absolutely slaughter anything in his path
• NP Charge
• Very fun play style that weaves Criticals and Arts NPs together seamlessly
• Makes his own Critical Stars
• Functions very well at NP1

Cons:

• General Pool
• The enemy better be dead in 3-ish turns
• With no skills up, he’s just...there
• Made of paper, especially with a Black Grail (which he synergizes with incredibly well)

Commentary: At the end of the day, Lancelot (Saber) is simply a great self-sustained and fun to play Servant. The problem, when it comes to this ticket, is that he is in the general pool, and could potentially spook a Master. He is also included in various Knight of the Round Table banners, but those banner seem to be mainly JP-only for now (as they were tied in with the Camelot stage play).

Sizzle's Comments: I could never not recommend Lancelot (Saber), given how fun and responsive his kit is. That said, Sitting EX (Saber of Empireo) is a month away and they do compete for the spot of ST Arts Saber either through Lancelot's Critical aspect, or Saber of Empireo's steady approach.

Pros:

• Teamwide 1-turn 50% Quick Support
• If you thought EMIYA made a lot of Critical Stars with his NP….
• Excellent Quick NP refund
• Scathach=Skadi NP Looping Potential
• Animation Updates (6-7 months!)
• Benefits from NP Upgrades to help with farming
• Saori Hayami

Cons:

• General Pool
• Available as only 4* on rate-up during Apocrypha Event
• Glued to a Kaleidoscope/etc.
• Horrible base NP Gain
• Weak Attack Stat and general performance

Commentary: With very few opportunities to directly roll her, Atalante is quite a rare Servant especially considering she has been available since the very beginning. Atalante really comes into her own next year, when she not only receives her animation updates, but Scathach=Skadi makes her a farming powerhouse very few can match. Highly recommended, but she is available in the general pool.

GamePress Author Comments: After Skadi comes out, she is quite good for neutral mob farming as well and not just Saber targets.

Pros:

• Excellent mix between AoE Damage and Critical Capability
• NP produces a great amount of Critical Stars
• Absolutely amazing Critical Damage steroids (100%!)
• Unlimited Blade Works

Cons:

• General Pool/Common Starter Servant
• Shares banner with Ishtar for Christmas 2 Rerun
• Outmatched by specialists

Commentary: With EMIYA being one of the more common Servants in the game especially given just how often he shows up on banners, and many Masters owning a copy, EMIYA isn’t a very tempting pick by default.Yet, he’s still an amazing Archer (..but there are no bad Archers, right?), and a fan-favorite. If he hasn’t spooked you, and you like him, he will not disappoint.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Fun skill set with flexible skill activation
• NP Upgrade next year (~10 months)
• Very Arts compatible, with NP Spam capability
• At the time of writing, has the highest Archer ST NP damage on the Japanese server

Cons:

• Immense competition, especially for Masters who own Chloe
• Random Chance to NP Drain can be very frustrating during enemy NP turns
• Need allied Support to survive most enemy NPs

Commentary: EMIYA (Alter) is mainly a Servant who suffers from having to compete with some very insane competition. This problem is reduced quite a bit once he comes into his own a lot more next year upon receiving his NP Upgrade. As a story-locked Servant, now is a great opportunity to pick him if one needs an (Arts) Archer.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Teamwide 1-hit Evasion is amazing.
• Enemy Buff removal and loads of utility (Def Pierce soon, Sure Hit, etc.)
• 50% NP Charge
• NP Upgrade next month
• Excellent Generation Performance
• Benefits from Scathach=Skadi support

Cons:

• No Steroids of his own, low damage
• Quite Fragile
• NP Charge seals his NP

Commentary: Tristan is often overlooked, but he has a skill set that is just perfect for so many Challenge Quests. Coming fresh off the hardships of Nero Fest, I am sure many of you can appreciate the wonders of all the utility this flying harp...man can provide. He is story-locked, hard to get otherwise, so if you want him, now is the time!

Rath's Comments: Tristan deserves a mention for all F2P Masters who also have no Merlin Friends for having an AoE Evasion and actual good Challenge Quest utility. Tristan just has a very concise and effective skill set.

Note: Multiple GamePress writers chose Tristan as their 4* Servant on next year’s ticket on the JP server, and some will pick him now.

Pros:

• Story-Locked 
• Excellent AoE Damage with NP Upgrade
• Amazing ST Critical burst damage
• NP Seal & Ignore Defense on NP
• Very high attack stat

Cons:

• Fairly Burst-oriented, although it can be split across 2 turns
• Very Weak NP Gain performance 
• Can currently be rolled on the Summoning Banner

Commentary: Altria (Lancer Alter) is a great example of a focused skill set that aged very nicely. It helps that her Intuition-like skill actually carries some great synergy with our favorite fluffy Buster support. And, uh, isn’t Intuition. Much like the commentary on her Saber Alter counterpart, she can be rolled on the current gacha, so ideally, roll her there. But in the case of (of course) bad luck, she is an excellent, hard to otherwise get, pick.

Pros:

• Anti-Evil trait has wide coverage
• Great all-around performance
• Plenty of utility (Taunt/Pierce Invincibility)

Cons:

• General Pool
• Upcoming Summon Banner
• Quite low Attack
• Outside of Anti-trait, often outdone offensively by pure damage Lancer

Commentary: Much of what makes Vlad III (Extra) great, is a bit hidden under his base stats and his Anti-Evil coverage. With excellent Quick and Extra cards, and high base NP Gain, he can charge his NP quite rapidly, especially under an AQQ chain and defensive NP Gain under a Taunt against high hit count enemies. Still, he’s not entirely recommended, mainly due to his upcoming Halloween 2 banner.

Pros:

• Excellent female support skill set (+60% effective attack)
• Her selection of traits (Dragon, Evil, etc.) makes her easily insertable in many female compositions
• Ignore Defense on NP
• AOU CAST-OFF

Cons:

• General Pool/Starter Servant
• Upcoming Summon Banner (Halloween 3)
• Fairly weak personal kit
• Only Guts for Survival

Commentary: Elisabeth Bathory has been solid performer ever since her Rank Up Quest last year. With an animation update from the CCC event under her belt as well, she makes for a great Servant to destroy a wave 1 or 2 enemy while buffing her female allies with some immense Attack Up support. Still, she is in the general pool, so she might well spook any unsuspecting Master with her cacophony.

Pros:

• Recipient of 3 upgrades in total
• Really comes into his own once he unlocks his NP Charge (~1.5 years from now)
• AoE Arts NP-looping potential after upgrade, though not easy
• Benefits from NP Upgrades
• Powerful teamwide NP Gain/Stargen buff
• Same colour as Rare Prism

Cons:

• General Pool/Will spook you on this banner
• Fairly low base attack and single turn steroid
• Needs maxed skills to avoid RNG on Evasion
• Limited use until final upgrade
• Poor Diarmuid
• Fionn

Commentary: With a writeup that has long been very unkind to Fionn, Fionn’s potential to spook banners is legendary. Luckily (for him), the addition of an NP Charge has given him much more to do and makes him a decent Servant for Arts farming, if Masters can set him up properly/have enough NP Upgrades. While Arts Lancers are thin on the ground, the recent addition of Mysterious Alter Ego Λ has stolen a bit of his AoE Arts farming thunder. Still, don’t count out Fionn as a pick for this ticket, some Masters think very long term!

Note: Rabbit's second pick, if he would have owned Tristan.

Pros:

• Will receive 2 upgrades in the next 2 years
• After both upgrades, deals decent NP Damage and can salvage her Quick cards
• Has access to both a Charm and a Stun disable
• Also quite durable
• Performance improves with access to Scathach (Skadi)

Cons:

• General Pool
• Part of the upcoming popular Ereshkigal banner
• Why did they murder her basic Quick Card?
• Low base attack

Commentary: While her current performance is sadly not very strong, Masters who look towards the future will find her a bit more useful. Masters who are interested in her should not be deterred by her current state, but do note that she can spook at any time and that her shared banner with Ereshkigal is quite a hotly anticipated banner.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• One of the few (competent) Arts Lancers even now
• Gains a solid NP Upgrade (~1.5 years), making him deal the highest 4* ST NP Damage among the Lancers
• High burst damage
• Undeterred by any and all normal Defensive buffs
• Is an Event Servant quite often in the upcoming 2 years

Cons:

• Shares a banner with Okita Souji (Alter) next year
• Burst heavy, though one can spread his damage buffs over multiple turns
• Sometimes utility is redundant (Putting Sure Hit and Pierce Invincibility on at once)
• Single turn duration on damage buffs

Commentary: With his presence firmly in the story-locked category, Li Shuwen isn’t a very common sight on the global server. Being one of the few Arts Lancers in the game right now, Masters who prefer to unleash their stable Arts (Critical) composition on anything that moves will find Li Shuwen a perfect match to their play style. Whether that is worth the effort is something that opinions are a bit divided about among the writing team.

Rabbit's Comments: Li and Fionn can be valuable picks on Arts-leaning accounts due to the general lack of Arts Lancers for the next two-ish year. (And Li has the added advantage of being story-locked).

Pros:

• Access to the almighty 50% NP Charge
• AoE NP with decent base damage
• Benefits from NP Upgrades
• Gain new costume (very soon)
• Scathach=Skadi compatible
• Cannot refund, but 2 successive NPs not hard to pull of via Supports/CEs
• QP Farmer extraordinaire

Cons:

• General pool
• Must have expensive CE/Supports to 3-turn farm with Astolfo alone
• Non-farming performance still as bad as ever

Commentary: NP Charging options for AoE Servants, especially very strong ones such as Astolfo’s, are exceedingly rare. Given Astolfo also does decent AoE Damage (especially once Skadi is available), his farming potential is downright superb for a 4* Servant. Still, he is available in the general pool, and there are quite a few Rider farming alternatives.

Pros:

• High burst damage, especially if set up just right
• Scathach=Skadi compatible
• 2 Servants for the price of 1

Cons:

• General Pool
• Heavy competition especially from Ushiwakamaru
• Their (low HP) niche is not very accessible and risky

Commentary: The potential burst damage these two pirates can supply is pretty impressive for Servants that were released rather close to launch, especially under the influence of additional (Quick) support buffs. That said, it begs the question when that damage is actually necessary especially given other, more quickly charging alternatives are available. Considering they are available in the general pool, this is not an option we really advise, but gameplay is not the most important factor.

Pros:

• Indestructible
• Provides some healing and cleansing support via NP
• Gains NP Upgrade in 6 months with new team crit buff
• Scathach=Skadi compatible
• Can somewhat NP Refund with Skadi at higher NP level
• Kira Kira

Cons:

• General Pool/Starter Servant
• Low NP Damage even after NP Upgrade
• Better Rider alternatives available for 3-turn farming
• Lacks damage and steroids in general
• As a Rider, absorbs Critical Stars while not very capable of using them well

Commentary: While Marie’s caster balls don’t quite pack the punch all of us would like it to, her performance with Scathach=Skadi is at least worth a mention. There are plenty of Riders who can supply 3-turn NP looping, but Marie’s capability to do the same (although it generally requires some additional copies) is quite a nice perk. Despite an NP Upgrade on the way, it’s hard to recommend except to the most devoted fans/Sanson/Mozart.

Pros:

• Instant team debuff cleanse on skill
• Targetable Buff removal with 30% Defense Down
• High NP Gain with 3-turn AoE Defense Down on NP
• NP Upgrade in 6 months with a new pre-NP Buster buff
• Animation Update in 15 months
• Saori Hayami

Cons:

• General Pool/Starter Servant
• Shares banner with Ishtar for Christmas 2 Rerun
• Even after her NP Upgrade, it deals only average damage
• Overall deals fairly low damage
• Her main use is during Challenge Quests to bypass mechanics - and the next big event for them is in a year from now
• Generally, many of the special buffs and debuffs will not be cleansable/removable in the future

Commentary: Saint Martha is a blessing to own during Challenge Quests, especially for content that could still have key buffs or debuffs removed such as last Nero Fest. This utility does take a beating, but instead Saint Martha will gain the punching visuals and upgrade she needs to pull her weight. As a Servant in the general pool, and a Servant with a full Martha banner (both versions!) during Christmas next year, she is not a bad choice at all to broaden one's roster.

Pros:

• Very rare teamwide 20% NP Gauge Boost
• Additional triple Card Performance buff
• Immense value to any Master without a teamwide NP Gauge boost of their own
• Very compatible with NP looping strategies
• Can be used with the Chaldea Combat Uniform to supply both 20% NP Gauge, triple Card Performance and an Attack buff as a direct farming upgrade over the Mage’s Association Uniform
• Very high AoE upgraded NP Damage
• Can charge NPs and use an offensive NP herself

Cons:

• General Pool
• Much less valuable to Masters with access to a teamwide NP Gauge Boost from top supports
• Extremely high skill cooldowns
• 20% Chance to fail her NP Damage buff
• Weak NP Gain (good Quick card though)

Commentary: Helena Blavatsky stands out as one of our top recommended options, especially for any Master that hasn’t been lucky enough to get Waver, Merlin or other Servants with a teamwide NP Gauge. The quality of life improvement that Helena provides to new (F2P) Masters by helping Masters launch their NPs immediately is incredibly high. In addition, her compatibility with Arts team, to further their refund and supply NP Charging, is also worth a mention, even for Masters with better NP Charging supports. All that aside, Helena herself is no slouch either for farming, given her high NP Damage. Still, for Masters who do have someone that can charge the team’s NP Gauge, she is not as heavily recommended (and she is still in the general pool).

Meliran's Comments: Helena is best girl.

Note: Norse’s Servant of choice on the JP server, and will naturally be selected by Meliran for NP4.

Pros:

• Powerful Arts Critical Support
• Great compatibility with the Chaldea Combat Uniform
• Good NP Damage due to his high steroids
• Very high Star Generation buff can make any high hit attack generate immense sums of Critical Stars
• Great replacement for Masters without Tamamo
• Is an Event Servant for both the upcoming Christmas Event, and both Summer 3 & 4
• Gains a new Costume next Summer Event
• Rare Debuff Success Rate buff

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares a Summon Banner with Ereshkigal and later Dantes
• Has a large downtime between skill activations
• NP Gain lower than normal during NP (low refund)
• If used for offensive, lacks raw burst damage

Commentary: A powerful Servant with all-around great Arts support, Gilgamesh(Caster) is a staple for many Arts Critical teams. But Gilgamesh does not need to support other per se, as his steady damage output is rather good while constantly buffing his team. In addition, he has some fun unique uses in buffing debuff success rate, such as with Medb (Saber)’s NP, or the various low-chance Stuns on NP from Servants like Waver. Still, he is in the general pool, and a presence in many popular banners.

Note: Rabbit used the ticket on him on the JP Server only to get spooked by 2 more copies soon after.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Stalling Arts Team Powerhouse
• Packs heavy utility on NP with NP/Skill Seal
• Spammable NP with strong Overcharge
• Unique Overcharge boost
• NP Charge over time
• Very, very sturdy after Skill Upgrade (~1.5 years)
• Also gains targetable cooldown reduction
• ‘Merica

Cons:

• He is not exactly a...fast clearing Servant
• Low NP Damage
• No steroids
• Low usefulness during general farming/clearing

Commentary: Edison is often mocked as one of the weaker Servants in the game. On release, that was certainly true. But Edison has a brand of stalling on the JP server now that few can match. While the cost of success is high (it takes so long!) the constant debuffs and sealing will in a proper Arts team eventually lead to success. Fun to mess around with, and as a story-locked Servant, he is not so easy to get.

Pros:

• Upgraded AoE Arts NP Spamming with AoE NP Drain
• NP Charge
• Decent Critical Capability (to spam more NPs with)
• Quite sturdy

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares banner with Ishtar for Christmas 2 Rerun
• No direct damage steroids except after NP
• Low NP Damage
• Chance-based NP Drain can be frustrating

Commentary: The little girl whose NP Spam can demolish even the toughest of enemies in a full Arts team. She’s a decent AoE farmer too, but her low damage does make her refunding and clearing a tad more difficult (less Overkill to trigger refund with). She has some big competition when it comes to AoE Casters Servants though.

Pros:

• Excellent farming Servant
• Full NP Charge skill
• Immense CE flexibility to make up for shortcomings
• Can unleash NP instantly with all Event CEs
• Or Unleash NP twice with Kscope and Supports
• Reliable Instant Death capability vs susceptible (bronze, undead, etc.) mobs
• Fairly sturdy with decent base Attack stat (for a Caster)
• Benefits from NP Upgrades

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares Upcoming Halloween 2 Banner
• Mediocre NP Damage
• No direct steroids
• Needs grails, MLB CEs or NP2+ to reliably farm certain nodes without Instant Death
• Instant Death Chance often not reliable
• Instant Death not effective at all versus strong enemies
• Weak performance outside of farming

Commentary: Nitocris stands among our top recommended Servants as her ability to speed up farming is an amazing quality of life improvement. As the only AoE NP Servant with a full NP Gauge boost, Nitocris is a staple among many 3-turn farming teams, even against certain non-Assassin nodes. To truly get rid of her reliability issues does require some additional investments, but even her performance at NP1 is special.

Sizzle's Comments: I used my JP ticket to acquire a copy of Nitocris to speed up farming. She did not disappoint.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Full NP Charge skill
• Massive Healing capabilty
• Full Team Cleanse on NP
• New Animations (2 years from now)
• Gain unique targetable anti-buff removal skill upgrade in ~2 years
• Delicious Pancakes

Cons:

• Death cannot be healed; high NP/Crit Damage can kill before it can be healed
• Little use outside of Stalling and Challenge Quests
• No offensive support
• Overshadowed by more powerful defensive supports that can also supply offensive buffs

Commentary: Few Servants can even compete with the sheer healing output that Medea (Lily) can provide. The problem is, healing is generally not a very strong defensive mechanic as the elements that lead to a Servant’s death cannot be healed afterwards. An NP or Critical Hit may well spell death for the undefended after all. Her team cleanse, as Nero Fest attested, is certainly still useful, but there’s little else to recommend about Medea (Lily) except as a target for those who like Medea a lot given her Story-Locked status.

Sizzle's Comments: There was some debate in the writing team whether her value was high enough (and her story-lock) to justify a minor recommendation. Ultimately, I consider her healing niche to provide so little value (especially during general use) that I cannot justify a recommendation for her in the face of so many alternative Servants to consider.

Pros:

• Gains an NP Upgrade in 2 months
• Acquires Ignore Defense on NP and already has access to a 3-turn Invincibility Pierce
• Decent NP Damage (and refund) after Upgrade
• Guaranteed NP Drain on NP
• Targetable Taunt fun to abuse
• Great Buster, Extra and Quick Card Hit Counts (Start with an Arts card)
• Good Star Generation

Cons:

• General Pool
• Atrocious basic Arts cards
• Fragile
• Heavy competition from welfare Shiki (Assassin) who will be accessible in 5 months
• NP1 performance quite weak versus NP5 3* Servants such as post-upgraded Jing Ke and Hassan of the Hundred Faces

Commentary: With an NP Upgrade on the horizon, Emiya (Assassin) is going to receive a large upgrade to his overall performance, given how often he can use his NP. His kit fits quite well together, were it not for the very weak Arts cards (try to avoid them except to infuse other cards with NP Gain). The main trade-off to make on whether to pick him is arguably that other Servants can do what he does, and they are going to be accessible very soon.

Pros:

• Gains an NP Upgrade in 6 months
• Anti-Female NP Modifier massively upgraded to where it should be (50% bonus from 20%)
• Very High NP Gain
• Vampirism is also a 27% NP Charge
• Animation Update next month

Cons:

• General Pool / Starter Servant
• Shares a banner in the upcoming Halloween 3 Event
• Unwieldy card QQQAB deck
• Mediocre NP Damage against non-females

Commentary: Carmilla’s upcoming banner and her status as a starter Servant make her a generally less appealing option to use the free ticket on. That said, while her current performance isn’t very strong, her upcoming NP Upgrade and new animations provide plenty of incentive to snag a copy of her whether this week, or during the Halloween 3 Event (re)run.

Pros:

• Great Star Generation
• Skill Upgrade a year from now
• Critical Star Manipulation skills
• Scathach=Skadi Compatible

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares a banner in the upcoming Halloween 3 Event
• Very low damage output
• Weak NP at low NP levels even after Skill Upgrade 

Commentary: Selecting Assassin of Shinjuku this year is a bold move, especially with an upcoming Summon Banner and his ability to spook Masters at any time. His kit doesn’t fully come together until his Skill Upgrade next year, especially given active Star Generation is not that strong compared to passive star generation from various supports. Still, some Masters always like to ice skate uphill.

Pros:

• NP Upgrade a year from now
• NP Defense Down will scale with NP Upgrades and will remove buffs
• Charm Lock capability
• Divine Team Support
• Vampirism is also a 27% NP Charge
• Very high NP Gain
• Smug Gawain bullying

Cons:

• General Pool / Starter Servant
• No Damaging NP
• Weak Offensive Performance
• Support Buster NP with QQQAB deck
• Overall Support weaker than most dedicated Supports

Commentary: With her limited offensive presence and being one of the more common Servants thanks to her starter status, Stheno is generally not a very popular pick for this ticket. The added scaling next year on her NP is nice, but the NP Upgrade is still minor at best.

Sizzle's Comments: Surely Stheno will not be picked this year as one of the free Servant options?

Hakurai’s Comments: I actually picked her last year on the NA server.

Sizzle's Comments: Well, with only the starter Servants to choose from, that is at least understandable.

Hakurai's Comments: I am a big invester in the meme economy.

Pros:

• One of the stronger current Quick Supports
• High NP Damage even now
• NP Upgrade in ~2 years from now
• Incredibly high NP Damage for a 4* after NP Upgrade
• Also gains buff removal on NP
• Scathach=Skadi Compatible

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares a banner in the upcoming Halloween 3 Event
• Imperial Privilege’s 60% Chance often frustrating
• Mediocre NP Gain
• Fragile without Imperial Privilege Defense proc

Commentary: Assassin of the Nightless City’s performance always walks a fine line between her Quick Support and her own rather decent damage performance (given all her steroids). Still, she is reliant on getting that Imperial Privilege to activate to truly unleash those damage numbers. She’s a very solid pick (and the best Quick-based Assassin pick for 4*'s), especially given her recent addition to the roster, but Masters will have the chance to roll for her soon (or be spooked by her at any time).

Pros:

• Strong all-around performance especially in Challenge Quests
• Buff Removal on NP
• Teamwide Charisma
• Good NP Damage
• Sturdy especially with additional support
• Bananas are a source of potassium and a healthy part of any diet

Cons:

• General pool
• Shares a banner in the upcoming Halloween 2 Event Rerun
• Lack of hard survival

Commentary: Surely after all the bullying the Banana Oni received, she is worthy of being selected with the free 4* ticket? Well, sort of. She is a very strong and capable alternative to Heracles, actually being quite similar in performance, yet exchanges his last stand and hard survival for better performance in a full team setting. Given just how common Heracles is (and how often heracles is advised to start any Master’s journey with), she is a great alternative pick for an all-purpose Berserker Servant.

Pros:

• 60% NP Charge over 3 turns
• High (NP) Damage output
• Strong teamwide Buster steroids
• 3-turn Debuff Immunity
• Good Berserker farming performance
• Scales well with MLB CEs, NP2+ and grails
• Hilarious damage output against Greek Male Mythology enemies

Cons:

• General Pool
• Shares a banner in the upcoming Halloween 3 Event
• No survival skills at all; will die super easily against strong enemies
• Sadly, very few Greek Male Mythology enemies

Commentary: -
Sizzle's Comments: With multiple grailed copies across servers, any attempt at being unbiased is a bit futile. Berserker of El Dorado’s largest strength is that she can provide her mixture of fast-charging offense and strong team buffs on any (farming) node. Especially for more seasoned Masters, this makes her a superior Berserker option for many quests where safety is not a concern. Even in more difficult quests, her kill-or-be-killed approach is quite viable, as a dead enemy can’t hurt her. This is also why an NP Upgrade works wonders for her overall performance as unlike many of her Berserker peers, she can use her NP quite often.

Still, with an upcoming banner and her ability to spook at any time, Masters could elect to go for a more difficult to acquire Servant or an even stronger farming Servant

Note:I will be selecting Berserker of El Dorado (as I have done on the JP server), because with grails, her expected performance should be higher than what she is showing at NP1.

Pros:

• Will receive 2 Skill Upgrades in the next 15 months
• Gains a 1-time Debuff Immunity in 10 months from now
• Very sturdy after all her Skill Upgrades
• Decent upgraded Berserker AoE NP
• Scathach=Skadi compatible
• Animation Update in 15 months

Cons:

• General Pool / Starter Servant
• Low base Attack with short steroid
• At NP1, 1-3* Berserkers have similar AoE Damage
• What were they thinking with that NP Drain? 40-60% scaling!?

Commentary: Tamamo Cat is a fine Servant given how often AoE Berserkers prove useful for farming, especially if equipped with a strong Starting NP Gauge CE. With no self-stun to worry about next year (except if another NP is launched too quickly), performing a full Brave Chain is also much easier. Thing is, she is a rather common Servant and she has some strong competition not only from Frankenstein, but also the 1-3* roster. However, that should not stop any Tamamo fan.

Pros:

• Great farming Servant
• Very high AoE NP Damage
• Scathach=Skadi compatible
• Can 3-turn NP Loop with Debuff Immunity/Cleansing (BB/Nightingale/Asclepius)
• Scales well with NP2/NP3 for farming

Cons:

• General Pool
• Self-Stun after NP
• Quick NP with triple Buster Deck
• Limited use outside of farming

Commentary: Frankenstein is tailor-made for farming a final wave, yet once Skadi becomes available there are a few specific compositions with which she can also engage in 3-turn NP farming via NP Looping. She is a potent farming alternative for Masters without Lancelot, especially if Masters have the Debuff Immunity Servants required or if their Lancelot is only NP1. Not bad for team Electric Steam (and Papa).

Pros:

• Very high upgraded ST NP Damage
• Skill Upgrade in 1.5 years
• Single turn Critical Burst damage impressive after Rank Up
• Strong Critical Chance Down on NP

Cons:

• General Pool
• All steroids last for a single turn
• Only guts for survival
• Only 1% Madness Enhancement reduces overall damage output

Commentary: Beowulf is often forgotten about with only his raw NP Damage to rely on compared to his competition. After his Rank Up his new Critical steroid is an enhanced version of Altria (Lancer Alter)’s Protection of World End, and will allow him to unleash some nasty burst damage. Yet, his competition is immense, and with his Skill Upgrade quite a while away, he does not make for a tempting target right now. Except if someone likes Fight Club or Jojo's.

Pros:

• Easy to use all-purpose Berserker
• Evasion and Guts, very hard to kill
• Excellent Last Stand Servant
• Very newbie friendly
• Amazing Bond CE
• Allegedly can’t lose to anyone and is the strongest in the world

Cons:

• General Pool / Starter Servant
• Lacks the raw damage output of his peers in team settings
• Early crutch character, but does typically see less use as a Master’s roster develops
• Cannot be trusted to bring back the right kind of batteries

Commentary: It cannot be denied that for any new Master that did not reroll for a Heracles copy, Heracles is a tempting gameplay target to lean on while a Master widens their roster. Yet, given how he might well be the most common 4* Servant in the game, the 4* ticket is an excellent opportunity to get an otherwise hard to acquire or personal favorite Servant instead. Even his Berserker competition here make for great alternate choices. That said, Heracles is a (naturally!) a popular character in his own right, and no Master should feel deterred from getting him for that reason.

Pros:

• Amazing Scathach=Skadi NP Looping potential
• Great NP Refund
• Needs NP Upgrades to fully unlock farming capability
• As a Berserker, can farm almost all quests
• NP creates large sum of Critical Stars
• Massive 3-turn Critical Steroid
• Animation Update a year from now
• On duo rate-up next year (2 months after Skadi banner) to acquire additional copies

Cons:

• General Pool
• Extremely poor non-NP Base NP Gain
• Glued to Starting NP Gauge CEs
• Needs double Skadi
• Weak NP Damage (needs NP Upgrades to reliably Overkill and refund enough)
• NP1 Farming limited
• NP4/5 generally unnecessary

Commentary: If there is one Servant on this list that profits the most from access to Scathach=Skadi, it would be Lancelot. The sheer farming powerhouse team that is double Skadi with Lancelot is undeniable and a Master looking at the long term can start acquiring the required Lancelot copies early. Much like Nitocris and Helena, Lancelot’s potential farming capability (*If Masters acquire Skadi!) amounts to such a quality of life improvement that we can’t help but give him a top recommendation.

Yet, even without Skadi, his performance with a Kaleidoscope is alright, especially as he can Critical extremely hard the turn after he launched his NP against a wave of enemies. In addition, Masters can look forward to his new animations next year as well.

Note: A fair number of GamePress staff have huge plans for Lancelot in the age of Skadi and will be acquiring a copy here.

Pros:

• Story-Locked
• Rare Avenger Class Servant
• Gains NP Upgrade in 2 months
• Decent AoE NP Damage after upgrade
• Teamwide NP Gauge boost on NP
• Receives Skill Upgrade Rank Up 2 years from now
• After Skill Upgrade, no longer as dependent on Star Gathering CEs for crits
• Large snek

Cons:

• Avengers are often a second-best solution, especially without an overload of steroids
• Usually lacks class advantage, limiting damage output
• Masters have to plan ahead to use her Critical Damage steroids
• Only has guts and a stun for survival with very low base HP

Commentary: The key question from a gameplay perspective is: Does one really need an Avenger? While many Masters would like a class advantaged option for any situation, the value of an Avenger is rather limited unless that Avenger has an extremely strong base kit (much like Rulers and Moon Cancers). It is not uncommon for Masters with a wide roster to never really use their Avengers very often.

But, Gorgon is story-locked and otherwise hard to get. If a Master wants her for personal reasons, now really is the time one should get her. Thus, we can’t help but give her a minor recommendation for that reason alone. Plus, with a nice Skill Upgrade to look forward to as well, her base performance is always at least acceptable.

Pros:

• Scathach=Skadi Compatible
• NP Upgrade in 1.5 years
• Gains a 20% Critical Damage Up buff for 3 turns on NP after NP Upgrade
• Targetable enemy Buff Removal
• Valentine’s CE story

Cons:

• General Pool
• Avengers are often a second-best solution, especially without an overload of steroids
• Usually lacks class advantage, limiting damage output
• Poor Skill duration
• Weak durability, low base HP with single turn Defense Up/Attack Down

Commentary: With Ruler enemies usually showing up alone, Avenger of Shinjuku’s ST nature is quite nice. After his NP Upgrade and Skadi’s release, his overall damage output is really rather good with decent Quick Cards to match. Still, very much like Gorgon, Avengers are not actually needed very often and even then alternate options are available (such as Berserkers). Considering Avenger of Shinjuku is in the general pool, and his usefulness is especially limited until next year, a Master can always elect to pick him next year.