Fate/Grand Order - The Clock Tower: Irish Legends Rise!

Welcome to the first episode of The Clock Tower, a brand-new column dedicated to Fate/Grand Order the Mobile Game! In this episode we'll be talking about the latest Gatcha update to hit the game which features Scathach and other Irish Heroes. The new Gatcha has been highly anticipated since Scathach's appearance in the animated trailer, and will be available for a limited time from now until the 15th of December at 8:59 PST. It has been confirmed that Scathach will not be added to the Story Grand Summon but may make an appearance in the future.

Scathach is our first 5★ Lancer—and as the teacher of Irish Legend Cu Chulainn she wields a much more powerful version of the Noble Phantasm: Gáe Bolg.

• Quick Reference
  • Loadout: Quick, Quick, Arts, Buster, Buster
  • Skills:
    • Wisdom of the Abyss A+:  High chance to buff self with Critical Damage Up (3 turns), increases Critical Star Absorption (3 turns) and Evades attacks (1 turn)
    • Primeval Rune: Increases a target's Quick damage for 1 turn.
    • God Slayer B: Increases Scathach's damage against Divine and Undead keyworded targets by a high amount for 1 turn.

"Mommy Lancer" weighs in at 11375 Max Attack and 14825 Max HP which puts her on the slightly offensive end of well-rounded. As one of the Three Knight Classes she has the privilege of the Magic Resistance Class Skill which she holds at Rank A to increase her Debuff Resistance by 20%. Her command loadout is Quick, Quick, Arts, Buster, Buster.

Her first two active abilities are very well rounded with Wisdom of the Abyss A+ for an offensive/defensive option, Primeval Rune for using her NP or buffing an ally. Her third ability is a bit more niche as God Slayer B only works against targets with the Divine or Undead keyword, however the damage increase against these targets is massive with 50% at level 1 increasing up to 100% at level 10.

Scathach's Noble Phantasm has the always welcome "chance to stun" and deals high damage to a single target with a chance of instant death. Instant Death mechanics are always a bit niche as Servants and shadow Servants generally have a very high resistance against this (to this day I've never seen it hit against a Servant).

She seems like she would do best in a critical setup team and she pairs very well with critical quick characters such as Okita Souji who can take advantage of her Quick Damage buff. In return, Okita Souji can built up critical stars for a Wisdom of the Abyss A+ attack which should deal a high amount of damage if you can land them on Buster Cards. Wisdom of the Abyss A+ is very versatile and can be used to dodge enemy Noble Phantasms and can be great for boosting damage during farming runs.

Artistically she has amazing and unique animations which vary depending on how they're chained, and her Noble Phantasm truly shows why she's the teacher.

EDIT: Apparently Scathach's Noble Phantasm always stuns. It's not a 100% chance to stun (which can be lowered by Magic Resistance) its a guaranteed stun. This is awesome! (Thanks Imppala for the clarification)

• Quick Reference
  • Loadout: Quick, Arts, Buster, Buster, Buster
  • Skills:
    • Bravery A: Increases Fergus' attack and debuff resist for 3 turns.
    • Restless Soul B: Increases Fergus' defense but reduces the success rate of attack buffs by 50% for 3 turns.
    • Eye of the Mind (True) A: Evades attacks for 1 turn and increases defense for 3 turns.

Next up we have Fergus mac Róich the former king of Ulster who carries The Rainbow Sword Caladbolg (which somehow looks like a Spear/Lance... thats Irish Legend for you). Fergus was a much welcome addition to the 3★ Saber lineup which currently only houses Faber and Emo Gilles De Rais. Despite being a 3★ Fergus brings three personal skills to the table with Bravery A, Restless Soul B and Eye of the Mind (True) A. His Class Skills are Magic Resistance B and Riding B with the latter being a bit hard to take advantage of due to the fact that his command loadout is Quick, Arts, Buster, Buster Buster.

Bravery A increases Fergus' attack power by 10% (30% at max rank) and increases his resistance to debuffs. This has synergy with his Magic Resistance B as well as attack boosters always being a welcome sight. Restless soul B increases his defense by 15% but also reduces his chance to receive attack increase buffs by 50% and seems to be an attempt by the developers at some sort of "Stance Switching". You're going to want to make sure you do not use Bravery A or Charisma buffs while Restless Soul B is active. Eye of the Mind (True) A is a great defensive tool for when needed as well.

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Caladbolg is an anti-army Noble Phantasm that applies defense down and debuff resist down, which makes it a great setup NP that blankets the enemy team. It has a fairly decent damage and is Buster type which makes it a great first round setup for other Noble Phantasms or a high crit combo.

I see Fergus as being a great character for players lacking a strong frontline Saber. He will do great in a team that can make use of his quadruple Buster and can place very well with Berserkers. Due to the fact that he only has 1 Arts Card however, I feel like he will be lacking in utility when compared to Saber Lily who is relatively easy to get. All in all Fergus is a highly offensive character that truly shines in a damage-based team.

• Quick Reference
  • Loadout: Quick, Quick, Arts, Arts, Buster
  • Skills:
    • Eye of the Mind (True) B: Diarmuid evades attacks for 1 turn and increases his defense for 3 turns.
    • Love Spot C: Decreases the attack of Female enemies for 1 turn.
    • Knightly Tactics B: Increases critical star gathering for 3 turns.

Last but not least is Diarmuid Ua "Sexy Man" Duibhne, our Fate/Zero representative of the Lancer class and is a Legendary Knight of Fianna. Although he is quite the salty dog, he has been a highly anticipated Lancer. Diarmuid brings an interesting double Arts loadout which is a rarity for a Lancer, only being shared by 2★ Musashibou Benkei. His only Passive Skill is Magic Resistance B, but he makes up for this by having three Active Skills.

Eye of the Mind is an Irish Lancer staple which can be used to evade incoming hard hitting Noble Phantasms, as well as increase his defense for a few turns after. Love Spot C is great due to the fact that there are a lot of female Servants in the game—the decrease is also quite large at 30% base (50% maxed). Knightly Tactics B brings some utility to the table by building Critical Stars for your team for 3 turns. Unfortunately without a critical pulling ability himself, he will need to rely on a Bazett Card or another allied Servant that can take advantage of this.

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His twin spear Noble Phantasm deals a high amount of damage to one target, dispels any buffs on them and curses them for 5 turns. The dispelling aspect is a niche currently held by Medea's Rule Breaker, which should give Diarmuid quite a bit of consideration against heavy dodging Servants such as Marie "Forever Vive La France" Antoinette and defense up stackers. Do note however, that the buff removal takes place after the damage so the Noble Phantasm will still deal reduced damage based on this.

As I've said before Diarmuid deserves quite a bit of consideration due to his "alternate Rule Breaker" and being the only 3★+ Lancer with double Arts cards. He would place well on a Noble Phantasm-centered team that is in need of a Lancer due to his loadout and exceptional defensive utility—and can be a great alternative for players who do not have Medea.

This covers all three of the new Servants in the latest update! I've picked up all three new Servants myself and I cant wait to see Scathach in action. If you have any questions or comments please let me know in the notes below and of course special thanks goes out once again to the FGO Reddit and Wikia communities.