After compulsively spending everything I had for Jalter and Cleopatra without doing any actual savings (and getting neither), I've decided to exercise restraint and save all possible tickets and quartz from now until Gilgamesh returns. I am led to assume that being a 'new year' banner, it's probably going to come in early/mid January or late December, would that be correct? What servants other than Gilga are getting rate-ups? Are there any other limited edition servants?
On a side note, would you say it's worth saving for that banner? I am aware that there is Merlin, Ishtar, King Hassan and maybe more good servants coming soon, but Gilga is undeniably one of the best archers in the game, if not the best one so far (in NA at least). My only Archers above 3* are Emiya and Chloe, but the latter is stuck on a certain level since I couldn't get all her mats, so another Archer would be great.
I am not that concerned with the other servants I mentioned since I know a lot of people will be rolling for them, which means I can enjoy them from my friends list without spending my resources. But should I be? I see a lot of people freaking out over them, but I have no idea what they can do.
Sadly , I have the same case but what I can tell you is what is your criteria for rolling ? Do you roll for Wifu/ Husbandu/Cool historical chracters or you just care about the gameplay and team-bulding... for me since I already have golden servant ST/AOE in each class form now on I'll roll for who I like .
I suppose that the new years' banner will also have Ishtar/Iskander/shiki/Illya/Musashi/Kintoki .
I personally try to think about both criteria, but I tend to prioritize servants that I like. Gilga fits both these spots, so it's a win-win for me if I get to summon him even once. What you said is somewhat troubling though, since that many servants on rate-up could lower my chances of getting him. I'd better farm some quartz through interludes and free quests for a few more tries.
The main reason people freak out over Merlin is that he is the ultimate support character. He can literally make any team better and if it's a buster team it becomes nearly unstoppable. King Hassan is useful because he pairs well with Merlin besides being the one of the best assasins. Whether you want to save for Merlin/Hassan or just try to get Gilgamesh is up to you. It really depends on whether you want to be able to use two merlins at the same time or just rely on a friends.
I did hear Merlin is basically a cheat engine, and I wouldn't really mind summoning one for myself. But from what I've seen, the hype for him is so great that I know a lot of people will be whaling for him (I've seen people saving over $1000) and getting him to max level/max skills on the very first day he's released. That's why I'm not really concerned about summoning him, specially since I have low chances being a f2p anyway. I just know that if I allow myself to spend some of my savings for him, then I'll spend a little for Hassan, Ishtar, and so on as well, and by the time Gil returns I'll barely have anything to roll for him. I'll have to think hard about this.
If you are only speaking in terms of their value to your gameplay, Merlin > Gil > Everything else (unless you already have Waver, in which case I'd say you should prioritise getting a better archer, especially if your Chloe is stuck at a lower level).
Good supports are pretty much always gonna be the best option, and Merlin is one of the best. Gil, on the other hand, is not only one of the best archers but one of the best buster crit servants in general and pairs beautifully with Merlin. It's also important to note that while there is no real value to using 2 Gils in the same team, 2 Merlins will make a team stupidly overpowered. As for the other servants, people could just be freaking out because they want them all and know they don't have enough resources to roll. December/January is just a constant stream of great servants, and after King Hassan we'll get Okita too. Really hard decisions.
The thing with Merlin, like Waver, is once he's on rate up a shit ton of people are going to whale for him, to the point where you'll likely have a good handful of friends who will have him leveled and maxed right away.
Now, also similar to Waver, just because everyone has one doesn't mean your life won't become infinitely easier by having your own, thus freeing you up to choose other, perhaps more DPS focused supports.
I'd consider myself a dolphin and Merlin is probably my top priority over the holiday banners as I don't have my own Waver and I don't want to miss out on his incredible buster utility. That said, I also missed the Gilgamesh banner a while back and he's in my top 5 favorite servants in the game, not to mention immensely powerful. So I want to roll for him as well. King Hassan is kind of a monster which is why everyone is also raving about him. His banner, however, runs very close to Merlin so likely you won't have enough for both without having a ton saved up, luck, and/or you fork over some real cash. I can't say I care about Ishtar myself, but she's a bit of waifu bait coupled with the fact that she takes on the form of a FSN fan favorite, Rin Tohsaka.
