Sanzang Coming to the West: Reincarnation Quest Guide

Complete the final main quest of Sanzang Coming to the West to unlock access to the Six Path of Reincarnation Quests. 

These quests are only accessible after 06-06 21:00 PDT, which is a week after the event launched. For these quests:

• Complete bonus and free quests to accumulate Orbs of Merits
• Spend Orbs of Merits to enter Six Paths of Reincarnation Quests
• These Six Paths of Reincarnation Quests are the best source of Grand Lotus.
• Six Paths of Reincarnation Quests are high level quests of escalating difficulty.

• Orb of Merits only drop from Free Quests.
• Grand Lotus can drop from Journey of Enlightenment (Green) Free Quests in low quantities, but drop in vast quantities from Reincarnation Quests.

• Buy the Divine Princess of The Storm CEs as soon as enough Grand Lotus have been farmed.
• Equip Divine Princess of The Storm for Journey of Enlightenment free quests to gather more Orbs of Merits. Going past 100% has no effect however.
• During Reincarnation Quests equip as many Ox-Demon King CEs as possible.
• Gacha CEs will streamline the initial Grand Lotus farm, but should be replaced with Ox-Demon King CEs when possible.

• In order to optimise the amount of Grand Lotus drops, use as many of the event bonus Servants as possible during these Challenge Quests. However, the more event bonus Servants are used, the more difficult clearing a node becomes.
• Slot the bonus Servants in the backline if they are not good fits for the enemies in the quest.
• The amount of extra Grand Lotus per event Servant is relatively low.

Luckily for all of us NA Masters, Delightworks has been merciful and updated the initial event to include changes from the updated rerun. The updated rerun reduced the sheer grind of this event significantly by improving the event CEs.These changes have the following effect:

• Masters can buy the Divine Princess of the Storm CE much faster and increase their Orb of Merits intake. This CE should be the first thing bought from the Shop with Grand Lotus.
• Vastly improved Grand Lotus increase from CEs. Always include as many Ox-Demon King CE in the line-up as possible. This Craft Essence should be the last thing to be changed in a line-up.
• Every Master has the potential to field at least a Grand Lotus bonus of +26 without gacha Servants. Event Servants help to accumulate more Grand Lotus, but it may simply be faster and easier to borrow a non-event Servant. Going from +27 to +26 is not a problem at all.
• The price of failure is extremely steep in these quests. Masters will lose their Orbs of Merits and the AP spent trying to get them. If success is uncertain, err on the side of caution and forego some bonus Grand Lotus.

General Advice:

• Fielding an entire team with the Ox-Demon King CE(+20 Grand Lotus) will take up 60 cost. For an additional 2 Grand Lotus, a backline with Euryale and Medusa will bring that up to 74 cost. Mash and low rarity Servants can help reduce the total team cost and facilitate a strong frontline.
• This is a rather grindy event and the price of failure is high. Do not pay too much attention to Event Bonus Servants. This guide does include them for the enthusiasts.
• AoE Noble Phantasms are more effective than usual as each of the repeatable Reincarnation Quests have multiple opponents in wave 3.
• If the content is challenging, try to stick to a set-up that includes at least one (Semi-)support in the frontline. Waver, Hans, Mash, David, Jeanne, Georgios, etc. can make a quest significantly safer.
• If Nightingale is recommended as a friend support, only actually borrow one if there is a buster Servant for her to buff. 

• A shadow Servant extravaganza of various classes frustrate any attempt to rely on class advantage alone. The Servants in wave 2 can do a deceptive amount of damage, so do not linger there too long to charge any NP.
• Fielding Berserkers or Jeanne Alter will significantly speed up the encounter. Bringing a Rider Servant for Edison is also recommended.
• A strong Noble Phantasm + Extra chain will make short work of the final wave. Try and save up at least one NP for the final Wave.  

• The Assassins in this quest are the true danger. With their short charge bar they can unleash their Noble Phantasm very quickly. 
• Casters synergize really well with one another, yet generally do less damage than Berserkers to Assassins. Casters are much safer however, consider trading speed for safety or vice versa.
• Naturally, Waver can steamroll through this quest. If in doubt, Waver.
• Medea is perfect for reliably defeating the Soul Eater before it gets to NP with Rule-Breaker.

• The Bicorn has a considerable amount of HP and killing both the Centaur and Bicorn in time can be challenging. Bringing a Saber and using their NP on the Bicorn is a reliable way to deal with wave 2.
• Bring an Assassin of your own or borrow one for Astolfo. An Astolfo NP can be catastrophic - not only is it AoE, it also buffs Astolfo with Evasion for 3 hits.
• Bringing a Caster support like Waver, Helena or Hans is highly effective to buff damage output as well as be able to quickly dispose of the filler Assassin mobs. Still, remember to keep them safe from the initial Rider enemies in this stage.

• Everyone loves a Chimera - especially those lovely critical attacks. An entire Berserker node does mean every single class can be used and the strongest Servants in a roster can be fielded.
• There are two main ways to clear high level Berserker Nodes. Either blast through the quest quickly with overpowering offense (high level skills) or bring some form of defensive buffs.
• Mash, Hans and Waver are very effective at preventing freak criticals from killing a Servant. Use defense up effects during the 2nd wave, charge Noble Phantasms on DPS Servants and then blast the last wave with NPs.
• Avengers are great at destroying Berserkers. Because the Ox-Demon King CE prevents any starting NP gauge CEs from being deployed, Servants who can charge their NP quickly are also great support picks.

• This Quest has the best rate of Grand Lotus if the entire team is equipped an Ox-Demon King CE.
• The Dragon in this node's true threat. At level 66, it can destroy a frontline within a few turns. The best and safest way to dispose of it is to chuck one NP at it right away.
• Assassin and Berserkers, either with the help of Waver, a non-event CE, abusing the first wave for NP charging or a combination of these, are the best solution for removing the Dragon. A Kintoki with high level skills is a gift here.
• Stuns, Charms and party-wide defense buffs can stall for time against the Dragon.
• The Chaldea Combat Uniform is great for stunning the Dragon, but the Mage Association Uniform can help charge an NP in time.
• An Assassin will need some extra buffs to take out the dragon, but Lu Bu post-strengthening can demolish the dragon with his own buffs.
• Scathach is still a threat however, make sure to bring a Saber or Berserker to deal with her. An AoE NP will also help take out the Wyverns. Jack will do decent damage against Scathach as well thanks to her anti-female NP buff.
• Waver can be used to help charge NPs and give buffs once, but the Rider enemies will take him out very quickly.

Notable skills:

• David can cast Harp of Healing and Divine Armor, both of which can delay the time of David’s death. Harp of Healing’s one time Evasion is especially annoying as it affects Li Shuwen as well.
• Li Shuwen’s Chinese Martial Arts skill can pierce Evasion while Sphere Boundary grants him Evasion. The Evasion is particularly frustrating as it can buy Li Shuwen time to do more damage and perhaps unleash his NP. Li Shuwen’s ST NP ignores defense up buffs and has a chance of instant death. Try to kill him before it happens.
• Xuanzang’s High Speed Sutra Chanting will shorten the time it takes for Xuanzang to charge her ST NP while also making it unpredictable when exactly it will arrive. Xuanzang’s NP ignores defense up buffs, so don’t try and tank it without an Evasion, Guts or Invulnerability.

General notes on this fight:

• This fight can only be completed once.
• Opponent levels are high, basic attacks from enemies can do between 2000-4000 damage.
• The enemies do drop Grand Lotus, but completing it is more important for the Crystal Lore. Only veteran Masters should consider running with the Ox-Demon King CE.
• Lu Bu can be disposed of quickly, but David is surprisingly durable if you let him use one of his skills. In order to avoid David’s Sure Hit-infused ST NP, kill him first. Li Shuwen by himself does hit hard and will cast Evasion if he reaches low HP. Lancers (and Berserkers) will help clean up wave 2 quickly.
• Xuanzang will fall really quickly against Riders like Ushiwakamaru, Saber Alter, Drake or an SR/SSR Berserker. However, an extended fight against Xuanzang is unpredictable (NP gauge boost skill) and at level 80 she does significant damage. Yet, Riders are not optimal to field versus wave 1 and wave 2.

Specific Strategy:

• Include at least one DPS to combat Xuanzang in the line-up.
• Include at least one support in the line-up to keep the team healthy and buffed.
• The last slot can be filled based on your roster. A Lancer can quickly clean up David, access to a strong Saber (especially one with hybrid buff skills) can delete Li Shuwen quickly, or perhaps a straight offensive hybrid like Helena is available. Finally, a full support like Hans can easily be slotted in as well.
• The backline should be geared towards Xuanzang, but consider also which one among your frontline will fall first. If you expect a support to die first, slot in a replacement support, otherwise a more offensive option can be used.
• David’s 3 charge bar is a big threat and he should generally be the first to fall in wave 2.
• Often, the AI only casts Evasion skills after being heavily damaged, an NP can prevent an Evasion from being cast entirely by virtue of deleting the entire HP bar. Can’t be low HP if you’re dead.
• Both a buffed Ushiwakamaru and a buffed NPBB from Santa Alter can easily remove half of Xuanzang’s HP in a single turn. Do not underestimate full class advantage.
• A Berserker will have a consistent performance throughout the fight. For newer masters, running two supports that protect one Berserker is a very reliable way to clear the quest.
• Use any defense buffs right away against Lu Bu. After Ibaraki a Master should be familiar with high level Berserker damage.

For any more specific information about Challenge Quests in particular, how to form good teams and what to do during a fight, please visit the dedicated Challenge Quest guide.