Rabbit’s Reviews #335: Gareth (4* Saber)

Introduction

Gareth is really in an unfortunate position. She’s an AoE Buster Saber with slightly above-average steroids… and that’s literally it. No ramp, no real utility, not enough batteries for Koyan loop farming. She’s an extremely boring unit, to the point where she would be at home in a much earlier Summer event. There’s honestly not a lot to say here, given how plain she is. The dud of this event, barring a terrible Skadi kit.

Servant Data

Saber

QAABB (Saber)

Quick Card

Arts Card

Buster Card

3

2

4

5

4

Attribute	Earth
Alignment	Lawful Summer

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4

Max HP 13,783

HP Rank

Max ATK 8,119

ATK Rank

Base Atk	1,353	Base HP	2,205
Max Atk	8,119	Max HP	13,783
Grail Atk	9,830	Grail HP	16,712

Magic Resistance B+

Increase your Debuff Resist by 18%.

Riding B

Increase your Quick Card effectiveness by 8%.

Card Hits	3	2	4	5	4
Per Hit	0.82%	0.82%	0.82%	0.82%	0.82%

	NP per Hit (%)						0.82%
	NP when Attacked (%)						3%

	Star Absorption	98
	Star Generation per Hit	10.2%

Overview

Material Requirements

Stage	Cost	Materials
2	50,000	x4 Saber Piece
3	150,000	x10 Saber Piece x6 Shell of Reminiscence
4	500,000	x4 Saber Monument x8 Octuplet Crystals x8 Great Knight Medal
Max	1,500,000	x10 Saber Monument x16 Great Knight Medal x6 Primordial Lanugo

Level	Cost	Materials
1 → 2	100,000	x4 Gem of Saber
2 → 3	200,000	x10 Gem of Saber
3 → 4	600,000	x4 Magic Gem of Saber
4 → 5	800,000	x10 Magic Gem of Saber x4 Octuplet Crystals
5 → 6	2,000,000	x4 Secret Gem of Saber x8 Octuplet Crystals
6 → 7	2,500,000	x10 Secret Gem of Saber x4 Shell of Reminiscence
7 → 8	5,000,000	x8 Shell of Reminiscence x10 Great Knight Medal
8 → 9	6,000,000	x30 Great Knight Medal x20 Giant's Ring
9 → 10	10,000,000	x1 Crystallized Lore

Level	Cost	Materials
1 → 2	100000	x4 Gem of Saber
2 → 3	200000	x10 Gem of Saber
3 → 4	600000	x4 Magic Gem of Saber
4 → 5	800000	x10 Magic Gem of Saber x12 Proof of Hero
5 → 6	2000000	x4 Secret Gem of Saber x24 Proof of Hero
6 → 7	2500000	x10 Secret Gem of Saber x4 Eternal Ice
7 → 8	5000000	x8 Eternal Ice x2 Flaming Oni Lantern Plant
8 → 9	6000000	x6 Flaming Oni Lantern Plant x60 Twilit Ritual Sword
9 → 10	10000000	x1 Crystallized Lore

Servant Skills

None of Gareth’s skills is inherently bad, but none of them rises above the level of “fine,” which really holds her back. Recommended skill order is 3>1>2.

Arts/Buster Up

Quick Change EX

Increase own Arts Card effectiveness (3 turns).
Increase own Buster Card effectiveness (3 turns).
Gain Critical Stars.

Show Info

Lvl	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Arts +	10%	11%	12%	13%	14%	15%	16%	17%	18%	20%
Buster +	10%	11%	12%	13%	14%	15%	16%	17%	18%	20%
Stars +	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20
CD	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	5

Quick Change is a fairly standard damage buff. It’s a hybrid Buster/Arts buff, helping Gareth’s NP damage and her NP gain a little bit. Both values are low for a 3-turn card-type steroid, but Gareth has enough steroids elsewhere that she’s not really missing them here. This skill also gives a burst of stars. Sadly Gareth has no crit buffs and no star weight buffs, so she doesn’t actually have great ways to make use of this.

Guts

Gareth Like the Sun B+

Apply Guts to an ally (1 time, 3 turns).
Apply to self: Gain Critical Stars every turn (3 turns).
Apply [Sunlight] field status to self (3 turns).

Show Info

Lvl	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Revive HP	1000	1200	1400	1600	1800	2000	2200	2400	2600	3000
Star Regen +	5	6	6	7	7	8	8	9	9	10
CD	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	6

Sun-like Gareth is a weird targeted guts that also gives Gareth passive star gen and applies Sunlight field. The passive star gen is the same deal as above—Gareth doesn’t leverage the stars well. Sunlight field is kind of nice because Gareth’s NP makes use of it, but you could replace this with a small attack buff and achieve functionally the same result. That leaves the targeted guts as the most unique part of the skill. This could be nice for keeping a support alive through a dangerous turn in stall contexts, I guess? It’s not especially high-value as utility goes, especially since it’s also Gareth’s only defensive tool.

Buster Up

Robigus Ironside C

Increase own Buster Card effectiveness (3 turns).
Increase own NP Gauge.
Inflict Burn (3 turns, 500 damage per turn) when normal attacking (3 turns).

Show Info

Lvl	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Buster +	20%	21%	22%	23%	24%	25%	26%	27%	28%	30%
NP +	10%	11%	12%	13%	14%	15%	16%	17%	18%	20%
CD	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	6

Robigus Ironside is a standard 30% Buster buff, and it also comes with a 20% battery. The damage buff is fine—no complaints—but being locked to 20% charge means Gareth doesn’t get to loop farm with Koyan, and that sucks. I don’t know why, in a summer with Proto Merlin and Ibuki and Erice, Gareth couldn’t be allowed to loop. She wouldn’t even be all that impressive, since she has no ramp and no interlude… but it is what it is. The skill also lets Gareth inflict burns with normal cards for a bit, but this is negligible outside of very specific gimmick teams.

Noble Phantasm

	Rank	Classification	Hit-Count
C+++	Anti-Unit / Anti-Army	4

Effect	Deals damage to all enemies.

Level	1	2	3	4	5
Damage +	300%	400%	450%	475%	500%

Overcharge Effect	Increase own Attack (1 turn). Increase own Attack when field is [Sunlight] (1 turn). [Activates first]

Charge	100%	200%	300%	400%	500%
Atk +	10%	15%	20%	25%	30%
Atk +	20%	25%	30%	35%	40%

Usage Tips

If you want to farm with teams that feature Gareth, you have two main options: Arash, and Chen. Arash farming is the same as it’s always been: Arash starts with a 50% charge CE and wipes a wave, and then Gareth NPs twice. No complexity here. You’re likely to run into damage issues in harder nodes, and you’ll likely lose out on a drop CE or two, but it works. Chen, on the other hand, doesn’t actually need to clear a wave on his own, though Gareth needs at least 60% starting charge, and Chen needs Kaleid. You run Koyan/Gareth/Chen/Oberon/Koyan. On turn 1, Koyan uses a Buster buff, and Gareth uses her skills and NP. On turn 2, Koyan uses her battery and plugs out for the other Koyan, who uses all of her skills. Chen and Gareth both NP, which kills Koyan. On turn 3, Oberon uses his skills on Gareth, Gareth uses her battery again, and Chen uses his 10% battery as well. Gareth NPs again for the kill. This is almost certainly a 4-drop setup, which is not terribly appealing these days.

Honestly, even if you don’t have more premium options, Spartacus is a better farmer. If you’re farming with Gareth it’s for the fun of it. Which is valid! It’s just not optimal at all.

Gareth is marginally better in CQ contexts than when farming. She has pretty reasonably sustained damage, as well as a little bit of defensive utility. She also has a lot of stars and no good way to use them. All of this points in the direction of a Himiko/Castoria team. Himiko’s crit buffs let Gareth leverage her stars for solid crits, and Gareth can protect any member of the team if they happen to be exposed. This is a solid shell, and while Gareth doesn’t bring that much to it, she should work decently well in this setup. As an added bonus, Himiko’s overcharge buff substantially increases Gareth’s NP damage, which is nice.

If you’re farming with Gareth, you probably need Kaleid, or the nearest equivalent you have. For CQs, the Black Grail is best for damage, though in Himiko/Castoria stall, the demerit can be dangerous, and you might consider something with lower damage in order to lose it. Heaven’s Feel is a good option, as are old standbys like Limited/Zero Over and Aerial Drive.

Gareth has an obvious CC pick in crit damage CCs. Gareth makes lots of stars and has no in-kit crit damage buffs, so the impact of these CCs will be maximized.

Grail Potential

Conclusion

Gareth is such a boring Servant. I haven’t had a review come together this quickly in ages, but there’s really just—nothing to say here? She has slightly above-average steroids, paired with low attack, and that’s literally it.

Rabbit's Arbitrary Ratings

Overall: 2/10
Single-Target DPS: 4/10
AoE DPS: 6/10
Survivability: 3/10
Offensive Utility: N/A
Defensive Utility: 2/10
Farming Usefulness: 4/10
Lifeguard Dog!: 10/10