JP Release Date: 07/31/2022
NA Release Date: 07/06/2024
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While not quite at the same level of popularity as Arc, Xu Fu is yet another much-requested Servant who arrives at long last as part of FGO’s seventh anniversary. Xu Fu is a non-limited 3*, which means she’s effectively free for everyone. She’s a very nice free unit, too, with a bunch of great support tools, including a targeted 30% battery! Until now, free Servants with party charge were capped at 20% at most, so Xu Fu is breaking new ground in that respect. Low-cost support Servants with unique combinations of tools are always welcome, both to help new players and to provide options for older players when team cost is an issue.
Overall, Xu Fu is sort of an alternative to Asclepius and Paracelsus. This is high praise, as both are among the best of the silvers, and Xu Fu has enough unique stuff in her kit to differentiate herself from both. You can’t really ask for much more as free silver Servants go.
Base Atk | 1,359 | Base HP | 1,675 |
---|---|---|---|
Max Atk | 7,318 | Max HP | 9,310 |
Grail Atk | 9,904 | Grail HP | 12,623 |
Increase your Arts Card effectiveness by 8%.
Increase your NP Gain when taking damage by 8%.
Increase your Debuff Chance Rate by 9%.
No Effect
Decrease own ATK against [Yu Mei-ren] enemies by 20%. [Demerit]
Card Hits | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Per Hit | 0.59% | 0.59% | 0.59% | 0.59% | 0.59% |
NP per Hit (%) | 0.59% | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NP when Attacked (%) | 4% |
Star Absorption | 100 | |
---|---|---|
Star Generation per Hit | 9.8% |
Xu Fu is our first silver Alter Ego, so we don’t have anyone to directly compare her to. Her stat spread is pretty average relative to 3*s as a whole, though. This is… somewhat fitting, as you could argue that she’d be better served with a lean in either direction. An offense-leaning Xu Fu would have less HP and therefore would be easier to sacrifice, while a defense-leaning Xu Fu would be better at sticking around long-term in budget teams. Xu Fu splits the difference between the two, which is honestly fair. Her NP gain, meanwhile, is slightly above-average for her deck, with good Arts cards and low-middling Quicks. She also has pretty high hit-counts, which can be nice if you have a star gen buff in play (such as from Lanling). Xu Fu doesn’t actually need active star gen, in really any sense, but it’s there if your team is conducive to it.
At first glance, Xu Fu appears to benefit from the usual plethora of extra class passives, with four passives skills, three of which are unique to her. Unfortunately, one of those unique passives is a flavor demerit, and the other is High Servant (which does nothing), so it’s mostly a wash. The demerit passive is Weak Constitution (Yu Mei-ren), which reduces Xu Fu’s attack damage against Yu Mei-ren specifically. Xu Fu isn’t here for damage, and she has class disadvantage against one of the Yus anyway, so this matters approximately not at all. Xu Fu then gets Item Construction, which is sorta nice, except Xu Fu only has one debuff and it’s not especially important. The only passive here that really matters is Village Creation, which gives an Arts buff and a defensive NP gain buff, both of which are genuinely great for Xu Fu.
Xu Fu is free, so you can safely unlock all of her appends, though it may take some time to pull enough copies to do so. Mana Loading is the best as always—Xu Fu’s NP isn’t great, but if you do want to use it, Mana Loading helps. The Extra Attack buff is the second most useful, for the marginal boost to effective NP gain it provides. Anti-Assassin Damage is normally great on an Alter Ego, but Xu Fu isn’t here for damage, so… eh.
Ascension Materials
Stage | Cost | Materials |
---|---|---|
2 |
30,000
|
|
3 |
100,000
|
|
4 |
300,000
|
|
Max |
900,000
|
Skill Enhancement Materials
Level | Cost | Materials |
---|---|---|
1 → 2 | 50,000 | |
2 → 3 | 100,000 | |
3 → 4 | 300,000 | |
4 → 5 | 400,000 | |
5 → 6 | 1,000,000 | |
6 → 7 | 1,250,000 | |
7 → 8 | 2,500,000 | |
8 → 9 | 3,000,000 | |
9 → 10 | 5,000,000 |
Append Skill Materials
Level | Cost | Materials |
---|---|---|
1 → 2 | 50000 | |
2 → 3 | 100000 | |
3 → 4 | 300000 | |
4 → 5 | 400000 | |
5 → 6 | 1000000 | |
6 → 7 | 1250000 | |
7 → 8 | 2500000 | |
8 → 9 | 3000000 | |
9 → 10 | 5000000 |
All three of Xu Fu’s skills are useful supportive tools, which isn’t especially common on low-rarity Servants. Xu Fu is really a very nice addition to the game. Recommended skill order is 3>2>1.
Restore HP for all allies.
Clear 1 debuff for all allies.
Increase NP Gain for all allies (3 turns).
Lvl | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heal + | 1000 | 1100 | 1200 | 1300 | 1400 | 1500 | 1600 | 1700 | 1800 | 2000 |
NP Gain + | 20% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 30% |
CD | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Farming Veneration is probably Xu Fu’s least useful skill, and it’s still great. It provides a small heal, removes a single debuff, and gives NP gain up to the whole party. If this sounds familiar, that’s probably because it begs a comparison to Asclepius, who does a lot of the same things. While removing one debuff is less powerful than the total buff removal Asclepius brings, it can still be enough if you know what to expect from a fight, and Xu Fu covers a lot of the same utility Asclepius otherwise brings. There are other reasons to bring Asclepius, of course, but Xu Fu gives an alternative who covers some of those cases while bringing more loopage, and also some damage buffs. All-in-all, this is a really nice skill. The NP gain buff is generically great, and the other effects can be situationally handy as well.
Increase Arts Card effectiveness for all allies (3 turns).
Increase Critical Strength for all allies (3 turns).
Apply Special ATK [Undead] for all allies (3 turns).
Decrease Critical Rate for all enemies (3 turns).
Lvl | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arts + | 10% | 11% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 17% | 18% | 20% |
Crit Damage + | 20% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 30% |
Special ATK + | 20% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 30% |
Crit Rate - | 10% | 11% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 17% | 18% | 20% |
CD | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
Taoist Technique is an all-in-one package of miscellaneous useful things. Partywide Arts up? Check. Crit damage up? Check. Niche power mod? Check. Crit chance reduction? Also check. The AoE Arts buff is nice not only for pushing damage, but also for boosting effective NP gain for supports. Xu Fu’s crit damage buff is capped at 30%, which is… not a lot for a crit buff, and Arts teams generally struggle with crit access anyway, but it’s still some extra damage for certain teams. Similarly, the power mod versus Undead enemies is low and does not apply to any Servants, limiting its usefulness. Crit chance down is a bit better, especially for CQs, and even though 20% is not a lot, it’s enough to protect against most crits without enemy crit rate buffs in play. Mostly this is “just” an AoE Arts buff, but the other things could occasionally be handy, and even a standard Arts buff is nice to have.
Increase NP Gauge for an ally.
Increase Buff Removal Resist for an ally (1 turn).
Increase NP Strength for a [Yu Mei-ren] ally (3 turns).
Increase NP Gauge by an additional 20% for a [Yu Mei-ren] ally.
Lvl | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NP + | 20% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 30% |
Buff Removal Res + | 50% | 55% | 60% | 65% | 70% | 75% | 80% | 85% | 90% | 100% |
NP Damage (Yu Mei-ren) + | 20% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 30% |
CD | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
The Legend of Xu Fu is Xu Fu’s most unique skill. It’s a targeted 30% battery, which is extremely useful in its own right and is especially noteworthy on a free Servant. Xu Fu and Waver can push any Mana Loading Servant to an instant NP, which is potentially valuable for new players, and support batteries are just great to have in general. The skill also gives buff removal resistance to the target, making Xu Fu the only free Servant not tied to an event who can provide that. Fittingly, Xu Fu also gives bonus buffs to Yu Mei-ren specifically: another 20% charge, and a 3-turn, 30% NP damage buff. This makes Xu Fu a 50% charger for Yu specifically, which is… probably great if you really love Yu. Unfortunately, the two Yus are story-locked and an event welfare, respectively, so new players aren’t likely to be able to benefit from this. There’s also the fact that neither Yu has an Arts NP, so it's a little weird that Xu Fu is an Arts support. The Yus still benefit from Xu Fu’s NP damage buff, of course, and the buff removal resistance could theoretically help Assassin Yu if her second skill isn’t available for some reason. Xu Fu is no Nobukatsu, but being a slightly cheaper 50% charger for the Yus is decently interesting at least. Ultimately, this is a generically good skill that happens to have some extra synergy with the Yus, rather than a skill designed for Yu and only Yu. It’s better for that, too.
Restore own HP.
Apply Gain 20 Critical Stars each turn to self (5 turns).
<Overcharge>
Restore own HP each turn (3 turns).
This Is The Elixir Of Eternal Life (that's a lie)
Kore naru wa Furoufushi no Reiyaku nari, uso desu kedo
Rank | Classification | Hit-Count | |
---|---|---|---|
C++ | Anti-Personnel |
Effect | Restore own HP. |
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Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3000 | 4000 | 4500 | 4750 | 5000 | |
20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
Overcharge Effect | Restore own HP each turn (3 turns). |
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Charge | 100% | 200% | 300% | 400% | 500% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1000 | 1250 | 1500 | 1750 | 2000 |
Xu Fu’s NP is quite bad. It’s a self heal that provides some more self healing over time. Yay? If you’re running Xu Fu in truly budget contexts, there’s some value to this, I guess, but generally speaking there’s not much point in Xu Fu healing herself. The only really good part of this NP is the fact that it gives Xu Fu 20 stars per turn for 5 turns. Arts teams generally struggle to crit, and even when they can crit, they aren’t the best at capitalizing on crit damage. If Xu Fu can stack this NP, though, she’s nearly flooding the field with stars on her own. There’s some potential value in that. Not a ton, but some.
Xu Fu is mostly a CQ unit, but she does have some farming value. She actually brings more loopage than Tamamo does, while also providing a 30% battery. For farming, she’s sort of like a budget Bride—much less damage, but roughly the same level of loop enabling. Especially for anyone without multiple meta supports, Xu Fu is an option for enabling Arts loops in standard nodes.
If you don’t have Castoria natively but you do have an AoE Arts DPS with Mana loading, you can run Xu Fu/DPS/Friend Castoria as your front line. Xu Fu provides less loopage than Castoria does, but depending on the DPS, you may still be able to loop standard nodes. You’ll have the best luck at this with a DPS who has 50% charge, and a backline charger (such as Waver) you can plug in. Even better if you have Oberon, but I suspect there are more players who have Waver and not Castoria than who have Oberon and not Castoria, since Waver is available for free if you choose him.
Generally, though, Xu Fu is most valuable as an alternative support in CQ contexts. While she doesn’t bring a lot of damage, she does offer loopage and batteries, plus a fair bit of utility. There are three main cases in which you’d want her:
1) You don’t have many native support options.
2) You’re running low on cost and you want a cheap support to slot in to your back line.
3) You want a good sacrificial support.
Let’s tackle these one by one.
If you don’t have a lot of meta support options to choose from, Xu Fu is probably the best Arts-oriented free option outside of maybe Mash. The other free support options come with caveats that can make them unappealing in certain situations. Paracelsus has very long cooldowns and is heavily focused on looping specifically. Asclepius has no damage push whatsoever. Hans is somewhat inconsistent and not the best for Arts, Barti is fairly burst-oriented and, again, not really oriented towards Arts, Mozart is bursty and fragile, etc etc. Xu Fu brings lots of generically useful Arts tools and isn’t really missing anything you’d want in a budget support. Her damage push is fairly low, but her direct competition isn’t better, and she brings so much of value that she’s worth bringing anyway.
I mentioned this above, but Xu Fu/Mana Loading DPS/Waver enables an instant NP with any CE, and with batteries, starting charge CEs, and cards, budget Xu Fu teams can probably loop reasonably effectively. Even better if you can grab a support Castoria off your support list. There’s not a lot of complexity here, really—you just pair Xu Fu with a good Arts DPS and whatever other supports you have and you’re off to the races. There are plenty of great free Arts units you can use, too—the likes of Euryale and Mandricardo will love what Xu Fu brings—so anyone should be able to use Xu Fu to good effect, regardless of how developed their box is.
For the second case, Xu Fu is a solid backline support option who can be slotted into a team at relatively low cost. Xu Fu’s battery makes her a better emergency support than Paracelsus, as she can slot in late in a fight and help push a DPS towards a fight-closing NP. If you don’t have enough team cost left for another proper support but don’t want to leave a team slot blank, Xu Fu is a good option.
Finally, Xu Fu is fragile enough that she can potentially give her buffs and then die off if she’s equipped with a taunt CE. If you plan to do this, it might be worth keeping a level 50 Xu Fu handy, as she’s slightly more likely to die to enemy fire than a maxed-out Xu Fu is. A sacrificial Xu Fu doesn’t give much extra damage, but she does provide NP charge and a fair bit of NP gain, making her a nice consistency option for bursty Arts setups that have enough damage but are struggling to secure loops. I don’t know how common of a situation that is—I suspect it will be pretty rare in practice—but it’s there if you need it.
One thing to consider if you’re keeping a level 50 Xu Fu for sacrificial reasons is that you probably want to leave her at NP1. NP levels only increase Xu Fu’s healing, and you want your sacrificial Xu Fu to, well, die. In most cases this won’t matter, but if Xu Fu is taunting on a turn after she’s already taken some damage (say, because of Kriemhild’s taunt or the GudaGuda Poster Girl CE), she may want to use her NP for the stars without healing herself as much. This is a niche case, but there’s basically no reason to give NP levels to your level 50 Xu Fu and there’s some small potential value to not doing so, so… might as well leave her at NP1.
As a budget support, Xu Fu has a few CE options. 2030 is a nice one if you plan to let her NP, as Xu Fu generates a whopping 28 stars per turn with 2030 and one stack of her NP. That’s not enough for reliable crits without other tools in play, but it is enough to complement Arts Servants who have their own in-kit crit tools. You can also give Xu Fu defensive CEs. If you happen to have a good healing up CE, that can make Xu Fu surprisingly durable. With Maid in Halloween, NP5 Xu Fu heals herself nearly to full with each NP. Speaking of her NP, Kaleid is also an option for getting Xu Fu’s star gen rolling asap, though that’s probably not worth it for most teams.
When you’re bringing Xu Fu for cost reasons, you’re probably running her without a CE—if you have the cost capacity to put a good CE on Xu Fu, you also have the cost capacity to bring a higher-rarity support. A sacrificial Xu Fu, meanwhile, wants a taunt CE, which means Outrage or Poster Girl. Poster Girl has sadly not been available for a long time, but Outrage is in the rare prism shop, so you can snag it there if you haven’t already bought its CE exchange.
Xu Fu is not here for damage, so instead she’s better off with utility CCs. CCs that remove buffs are a nice complement to Xu Fu’s in-kit utility, and CCs that boost party damage are also a good pick. Healing CCs and star gen CCs are also options if you plan to actually leverage Xu Fu’s NP, as those CCs will play into the defense- and star-gen-focused playstyle her NP implies.
Alter Ego class Servants have no particular affinity for grails, and support Servants are usually bad grail picks. This Servant is strong but is not a good grail pick. A unique consideration for this particular character is that you may sometimes want Xu Fu to die, so if you do grail her, it’s doubly worth keeping a level 50 version handy. Grail your favorites.
Xu Fu is a really nice addition to the game. She doesn’t have any hard survival, and her damage buffs are quite low, but aside from that she’s a great budget support. 30% targeted charge on a free unit is hard to argue with, and Xu Fu brings a range of useful things to pair with that. She’s the kind of budget support who’s useful both for new players and for established players dealing with cost restrictions, which is more or less perfect.
Great addition. No complaints. It really was about time
Overall: 9/10
Single-Target DPS: 1/10
AoE DPS: N/A
Survivability: 6/10
Offensive Utility: 7/10
Defensive Utility: 3/10
Farming Usefulness: 8/10
Having the Elixir of Eternal Life: 10/10 (not)