Interlude Campaign Part Three + [JP] MHX Rank Up

Official News post can be found here.

Some Interlude Campaigns introduce a batch of hotly anticipated upgrades. Upgrades that for some turn a middling Servant into an amazing one. 

Sadly, this Interlude Campaign isn't one of those (at least gameplay-wise). While it does help to make the affected Servants keep up with the competition somewhat, none of the upgrades allow them to escape their relative position compared to their peers. 

In fact, the more interesting one is a surprise Rank Up (yet another one, in fact!) on the JP server for MHX. For visibility, and for what it means for her (Masters can roll for her this upcoming Winter on NA), we've added a breakdown for her as well. 

Apart from that, a 1/2 AP Campaign for Interludes is also available. Once Masters have wrapped up their Babylonia Campaign Quartz Missions and Halloween Event Farming, now is a good time to finish any Interludes that have yet to be completed.

Note: The Christmas 2018 Rerun appears set to be launched on the 12 November at 0:00 PST based on the Babylonia Summoning Campaign dates. 

Masters who have cleared the Final Singularity, ascended Cleopatra once, and raised her bond level to 3, can expect to receive an additional Saint Quartz. 

Chronos Rose B+: EMIYA (Assassin)’s Noble Phantasm has always been a good one. Despite an altered NP Gain just for his NP, the crazy amount of hits it unleashes offers plenty of refund potential. Meanwhilewhile the NP Gauge reduction is one of the more powerful possible NP side-effects. Considering the Assassin class’s otherwise low damage output and his own single turn Arts buff, having a more sustained damage increase is a very welcome addition.

Furthermore, Chronos Rose gains an Ignore Defense effect, rounding off his means to completely ignore any defensive buff types on the enemy. 

However, in the grand scheme EMIYA (Assassin)’s problem is that his Arts Command Cards are utterly dreadful (often forcing less than ideal card chains), and that Shiki (Assassin) largely does what he does. With every single Master gaining an opportunity to get Shiki (at NP5 of course) this end of January/early February, and that she gains an NP Upgrade as well (and a better kit aimed for sustained offense), EMIYA (Assassin) struggles to compete even at equal NP levels. 

In the end, what remains is a solid kit with a fun to abuse targetable Taunt. As such, he remains in Tier 3.

Immortal Chaos Brigade B+: During Agartha’s release back in June, Fuuma Kotarou was moved from Tier 3 to Tier 4. Naturally, at the time, we took his NP Upgrade already into account. The main issue is that Fuuma lacks any (pre-NP) steroid at all, with only a Defense Down on his NP added now. As such, along with his Assassin-modifiers, his NP Damage remains pitiful, even with an NP5 from his 3* Status. 

While he gains another Defense Down and some very valuable AoE Buff Block on his Skill Upgrade nearly 2 years from now, along with Skadi’s Quick support next year, his Evasion and star generation capability don’t offer enough use right now. Furthermore, we’re not in agreement as to whether his upgrade is enough to guarantee a movement upwards even in the future. As such, he remains in Tier 4.

Zabaniya (Hundred Personas) B++: Hassan of the Serenity permanently joins Archer of Inferno in the amplification of Damage Over Time (DoT) gimmick camp. With Throw being upgraded into providing slightly more Critical Stars, adding a Poison and a 100% Poison Damage increase, all on a 4 turn cooldown, Hassan of the Serenity can provide 2 Poison effects all on her own, and rather substantial ones at that considering her NP ticks for 2000. 

But DoT effects are about as niche as it gets and it is generally much easier to simply unleash damage directly. Furthermore, unlike Archer of Inferno, Hassan of the Serenity’s base kit provides some very weak NP Damage numbers, being in a similar situation as Fuuma Kotarou when it comes to steroids. Therefore, she remains in Tier 4.

Masters who have cleared the Final Singularity, ascended Ozymandias three times, and raised his bond level to 5, can expect to receive an additional Saint Quartz. 

Hachiman Prayer B+: Had Tawara Touta found himself in any other class, Masters would revel in his actually rather powerful kit. Not only does he have access to everyone’s favorite Protection from Arrows, but he is Buster compatible with some additional healing-based sustain. Yet, the Archer class is littered with excellent Servants, whether from Friend Points, the gacha or their welfares. 

To compete, Tawara Touta needed some extra damage options, but this NP Upgrade only adds some (welcome) extra damage while further boosting the strength of his anti-Demonic niche by extending the duration of its Overcharge buff to 3 turns. This trait is one of the most common traits to exploit (as any Mission Event will attest to) fortunately, but his overall output and sustain isn’t quite as useful as his higher placed peers. Thus, Tawara Touta remains in Tier 3. 

Masters who have cleared the Final Singularity, ascended Xuanzang Sanzang twice, and raised her bond level to 5, can expect to receive an additional Saint Quartz.