Rabbit's Reviews #293: Barghest (4* Saber)

Complementing “Fae Knight Tristan,” here we have “Fae Knight Gawain,” or Barghest. Barghest is a pretty nifty Servant, all-in-all. She has all the natural drawbacks you’d expect of an uninterluded AoE Buster Saber—and its not like we were hurting for those already—but she has some neat utility that lets her play nicely in slower Buster teams. She’s not good, exactly, but she’s very much usable, and she fits smoothly into the types of team comps Buster prefers to run in a post-Castoria world.

Barghest has a strongly defensive stat spread. Her attack is very low by Saber standards, and this functions as a significant disadvantage for her. Barghest has great in-kit steroids overall, and it would almost be enough to overcome her lack of an interlude, but Barghest’s low attack means she still has damage issues even with otherwise-strong buffs. Internals-wise, Barghest is something of a mixed bag. She has a pretty standard Arts card for her deck, and her Quick is very nice, but as a triple-Buster Servant, active NP gain and star gen are not going to be her strong suit. She has nice-if-standard passives, though, with Magic Resistance for staving off debuffs and Madness Enhancement as a permanent buff to Barghest’s most important card type.

Ascension Materials

Stage	Cost	Materials
2	50,000	x4 Saber Piece
3	150,000	x10 Saber Piece x18 Evil Bone
4	500,000	x4 Saber Monument x16 Great Knight Medal x12 Fool's Chain
Max	1,500,000	x10 Saber Monument x24 Fool's Chain x4 Cursed Beast Gallstone

Skill Enhancement Materials

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 x8 Great Knight Medal
5 → 6	2,000,000	x4 Secret Gem of Saber x16 Great Knight Medal
6 → 7	2,500,000	x10 Secret Gem of Saber x12 Evil Bone
7 → 8	5,000,000	x24 Evil Bone x3 Black Beast Grease
8 → 9	6,000,000	x9 Black Beast Grease x60 Bell of Amnesty
9 → 10	10,000,000	x1 Crystallized Lore

Barghest’s skillset isn’t amazing, but it works, especially in conjunction with the rest of her kit. Recommended skill order is 3>2>1.

Barghest wants to run in slowplay Buster CQ teams. Himiko/Castoria teams are a natural fit here, as Barghest’s passive battery stabilizes the team’s NP gain, and Barghest can leverage Himiko’s overcharge and crit tools. This is, I think, Barghest’s strongest team, and it’s what I would recommend running her in for CQs if you have either Himiko or Castoria.

More generally, Barghest’s most obvious flaw (beyond damage) is her lack of hard survival. Most NPs will down her even through her healing and high HP, so she really wants partners who can protect her in a pinch. Aside from Castoria, Merlin is another natural choice, and Reines can also be valuable. There are also lower-rarity alternatives who can help, such as Mash and Kotarou. Generally speaking, a Barghest team should lean heavily into defense, which makes Mash a strong low-rarity partner in general.

The Black Grail can sometimes be dangerous on slowplay teams that rely on Castoria, as the demerit adds up over a large number of turns. Barghest can easily outheal it, though, which means it’s almost all upside, especially if you’re prioritizing NP access rather than crits. If you aren’t running Castoria and therefore can’t afford to move quite as slowly, Barghest may prefer CEs that boost attack, crits, or especially Buster damage, as those CEs will help her cards as well.

Barghest is a natural pick for Command Codes that increase NP damage, as Barghest will sometimes want to use her cards before her NP anyway. Da Vinci-chan and Everyone’s Da Vinci-chan both increase NP damage for a turn when used and would be strong picks for Barghest’s Busters. CC’s that increase star weight can also be helpful, as Barghest will likely struggle to crit reliably otherwise.

AoE Buster Sabers are a dime a dozen, and while I rather like Barghest’s unique utility, she’s ultimately not cleanly better than her direct competition. She’s a Servant to grail if you find yourself using her often—some extra levels can help offset her low attack—but she’s definitely not a gameplay pick otherwise.

I have to give Barghest credit. Despite being an uninterluded SR in one of the weakest and most crowded fields we have, Barghest has enough unique value to carve out a distinct role for herself—she’s probably the best AoE Buster Saber at the SR level for Buster slowplay. That said, “relatively good at Buster slowplay” isn’t a super impressive role in the larger context of the game at the moment, so she’s a far cry from being a powergaming pick. She’s a Servant who will feel distinct and probably be fun to use for those who choose to invest in her, but she’s a definite pass if you just want powerful units.

Overall: 7/10
Single-Target DPS: 4/10
AoE DPS: 6/10
Survivability: 7/10
Offensive Utility: 3/10
Defensive Utility: 4/10
Farming Usefulness: 4/10
Announcing Death: 10/10