SSR AOE List (January 2020)

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SSR AOE Tier List
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Total SSRs: 42

EX (3)
Arjuna (Alter)
Edmond Dantes
Gilgamesh

S (5)
Achilles
Leonardo Da Vinci (Rider)
Minamoto no Raikou
Miyamoto Musashi (Berserker)
Space Ishtar

A (14)
Amakusa Shirou
Ereshkigal
Francis Drake
Ishtar
Ivan the Thunder Emperor
Jeanne d'Arc (Archer)
Katsushika Hokusai
Kingprotea
Napoleon
Nero Claudius (Caster)
Nikola Tesla
Ryougi Shiki (Saber)
Sessyoin Kiara
Xiang Yu

B (12)
Altria Pendragon (Lancer)
Altria Pendragon
Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova
Bradamante
Cleopatra
Europa
Karna
Leonardo Da Vinci
Mordred
Murasaki Shikibu
Scheherazade
Shuten-Douji

C (7)
Altera
Altria Pendragon (Ruler)
Arjuna
Arthur Pendragon (Prototype)
Iskandar
Okita Souji (Alter)
Semiramis

D (0)

E (1)
Demon King Nobunaga

--EX--
Arjuna (Alter)- The Lostbelt King of Yuga Kshetra is the best AOE Berserker we've gotten since Raikou. Specializing in massive, sustained damage, his NP damage is best described as "Jeanne Alter but AOE". He even has a 30% battery to make him a viable Black Grail user for even more damage. Compared to Gilgamesh, Arjuna's durability and NP gain aren't as good, but as a nuke he is unmatched. If nothing else, he's the only gold Berserker with an NP charge, making him invaluable for farming.

Edmond Dantes- Currently the best DPS servant overall. Thanks to NP interlude and Golden Rule, Dantes has massive neutral damage (that increases with consecutive NPs) and a high refill rate. There isn't much more to him than that; he hits things hard and is really damn good at it.

Gilgamesh- Still the poster child of Buster DPS even after three years. Similar to Dantes, Gil has excellent neutral damage and NP refill, albeit slighly worse than the former. However, due to Merlin synergy Gil is better when not blitzing. Because of his NP battery, Gil also has more flexible CE options.

--S--
Achilles- Achilles is essentially Quick's "ideal" pointman, packing damage, survivability, and utility all in one kit. Pride of the Rearguard that trades scaling for battery is an interesting sidegrade that helps enable NP spam. While his buffs overlap with Skadi, he's still a strong waveclearer that can reliably make stars and crit with them. Strong, well-roundes servant overall.

Leonardo Da Vinci (Rider)- If BB was even better at critting and had an AOE NP, this is probably what she would look like. Da Vinci's NP refill is useful whether you're farming or keeping a CQ team stable. Her damage is her "weakest" point, relatively speaking, but she's excellent overall.

Minamoto no Raikou- Raikou is still FGO's resident mom. She NPs hard, crits harder, and can farm just about anything. Arjuna Alter gives her some stiff competition though.

Miyamoto Musashi (Berserker)- Arts' best AOE farmer in the game. Though she has issues with critting and durability, Musashi is unmatched by other Arts pointmen in the sheer muscle she brings to a team. Pair with taunts and big damage boosters like Tamamo for best results.

Space Ishtar- What she lacks in utility and CQ potential, Ishtar more than makes up for in sheer farming versatility. She triloops trivially against almost every node, and can slot into a variety of teams due to Venus Driver. She doesn't sacrifice damage for that consistency either; she packs over 100% steroids in her kit and hits everything for neutral. Her animation speed could stand to be a tad faster though.

--A--
Amakusa Shirou- Despite being infamous for his atrocious cooldowns and low NP damage, Amakusa remains a valuable servant due to his niche. He is currently the only source of AOE buff removal on NP (Ivan has it on a skill), and with it he can break many otherwise difficult fights with ease. His Ruler class enhances his survivability and makes him a strong candidate for any AOE quest with obnoxious buffs.

Ereshkigal- Despite her low Atk stat, Ereshkigal is a capable AOE point servant for Buster teams. Her buff value is above average (1.92 after NP), and her 50% battery gives her clear synergy with Black Grail. Her Arts card is absolutely disgusting as well, refunding up to 85% of her gauge for easy card looping. Lastly, Protection of the Underworld is also an excellent defensive skill, providing numerous beneficial effects on a reasonable CD.

Francis Drake- Drake is more than just a door farmer. She has excellent NP consistency between her NP charge, Golden Rule, and Pierce Invuln. Her damage isn't too bad either, with a post-Interlude NP that constantly drops crit stars. Great point servant overall.

Ishtar- With an interlude, 100% buff value, and the 3rd highest Attack of all SSR Archer, Ishtar hits like a truck. She even drops a star burst on each NP, giving a steady supply of crits a la Drake. For farming, she is one of your best choices among the Archers after Arash.

Ivan the Thunder Emperor- Ivan does a little bit of everything. Post-interlude, his damage is much better, and consistent across the 3-turn window. He can generate his own stars and crit with them, and account for CQ gimmicks between his debuff clear and buff removal. An excellent generalist Rider that can put in work in any content, even if he's not the best.

Jeanne d'Arc (Archer)- The premier Arts refund farmer, Jeanne suffers from a horrible Attack stat in exchange for her consistency. Assuming she gets the requisite damage her refill rate is very good. She can also put in work for CQs, NP'ing repeatedly to effortlessly flood the board with stars.

Katsushika Hokusai- Hokusai made some waves (pun intended) shortly after her release, though Da Vinci and Musashi give her compeition now. She's still an effective Arts point for CQs though, stacking defense downs for good damage against Man enemies. However, her blitzing game leaves a lot to be desired.

Kingprotea- Despite her class, Kingprotea's formidable buff value of 96% and a gargantuan Atk stat that falls just short of Cu and Jeanne Alter let her hit incredibly hard. Her durability is also very impressive, as she gives herself 3,000 HP every turn for 10 turns, and extends her HP cap. With Infantile Regression and her Territory Creation EX, setting up repeat NPs is easy too. She relies on netting long-term value with Huge Scale, but for slower Buster teams Kingprotea works well as a point servant.

Napoleon- Post-buff, Napoleon is much more competitive with the other SSR AOE Archers. Packing bonus damage versus Divine, some self-sufficiency, and anti-CQ utility, Napoleon just needs some damage boosting to be an effective pointman.

Nero Claudius (Caster)- With a buff value of over 100%, a crazy 2.64 Arts in a QAABB deck (nearly 4% when below half HP!), and a massive NP battery, Caster Nero is incredibly stacked. For CQs, she's a solid point servant despite her class. On top of that, she's invaluable for farming thanks to her steroids and NP battery. Overall, Nero hits hard, is fairly bulky, and has strong recursion.

Nikola Tesla- Tesla is essentially a worse Gil, and I mean that in a positive way. The majority of their SE targets overlap, but Tesla trades some stats for a bigger battery, an AOE stun, and some survivability. His buffs being chance-based hurts him somewhat, but overall he works similarly enough to Gil that his rating should reflect it.

Ryougi Shiki (Saber)- Post-interlude, Shiki is one of Art's best AOE damage dealers. Her neutral damage is now very respectable, and the team NP charge is icing. It's a huge reversal from the first list, but that can be blamed on Art's general lack of strong, class-agnostic AOE DPS servants.

Sessyoin Kiara- Kiara is the most unique of the Alter Egos. She packs onesided class advantage vs Rulers and gets a passive defense boost against nearly every servant. Although she has damage issues due to her class and lack of steroids, Heaven's Hole ignores all forms of defense. A niche but powerful choice versus long, mixed cavalry nodes.

Xiang Yu- My previous evaluation of Yu as "worse Lancelot" was probably too harsh. His card damage is massive, and a support Bryn lets him go places. Pair that with a dodge and Invuln Pierce for stability, and you get a serviceable if not stellar point Berserker.

--B--
Altria Pendragon- Another AOE Saber with interlude. Like Mordred, she has an NP charge, but she also has charisma to go alongside it. That extra bit of team support arguably pushes her ahead of her son, but the two function about the same in practice.

Altria Pendragon (Lancer)- The Lion King is a decent if bland farming Lancer. She has a massive 50% battery backed by decent base stats and steroids. Aside from invuln pierce on NP, she doesn't have much to offer in difficult content.

Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova- Nastya is both a solid farmer--packing a hefty battery--and a solid team support. Her Charisma is a considerable Attack and Defense boost for your entire team on a short cooldown, and her stun success rate caps out at a whopping 170%. Closing out her kit is an NP that ignores invulnerability, making her a reliable damage dealer for Assassin-heavy nodes.

Bradamante- Good if basic AOE DPS. Her potential to loop is weaker than the likes of Parvati and Lancelot, but she sports respectable base stats and damage amps. Similar to Parvati, she provides some utility of her own—a targetable battery and stun on an AOE NP. Brada doesn’t do anything new, but she’s easy to use and a reliable pointman for Quick teams.

Cleopatra- Cleo has good NP consistency and durability at the cost of low damage output. She has a rare yet effective CC in Nullify Buff as well. Supports that make her DPS consistent are a must when using her, though the stability she offers is worth the trouble.

Europa- Very straightforward Buster AOE; Europa brings survivability, CC, and NP consistency. Not much else to say other than she should have had an interlude pre-packaged.

Karna- With the highest Attack of all Lancers in the game, Karna is no slouch in the damage department. His NP after interlude demolishes Divine Archers and inflicts Buster Resistance Down, a rare but deadly debuff that lets the rest of his NPBB chain hit even harder. He has issues gathering stars, but as far as farming Lancers go you will be hard pressed to find better options.

Leonardo Da Vinci- Sporting a short cooldown Guts, passive healing and NP charge, and a massive battery, Da Vinci is bulky and can easily fire off repeat NPs. Defense Ignore gives some CQ utility as well.

Mordred- Mordred is a straightforward AOE Saber; charge NP, nuke. She won't have much trouble keeping herself alive thanks to her defense buff and debuff clear, but she doesn't offer much besides damage.

Murasaki Shikibu- Much like Benienma and Semiramis, Murasaki is most valued for her AoE Cleanse Resistance. As a point servant however, her class is not ideal. Fortunately, Demonic enemies are not uncommon when it comes to farming, so she might see some use there.

Scheherazade- Schez is another stall-oriented damage dealer. However, don't let her low Attack and steroids fool you; One Thousand and One Nights is her secret weapon. Its SE modifier is much higher than usual, heaping 100% extra damage instead of the usual 50% from servants like Gilgamesh. This essentially grants her class advantage against King servants--who are surprisingly common in CQs--and the list of Kings that are already Assassin or Berserker is not insignificant. She's certainly more niche than Nero and Nastya, but Schez has the potential to hit much harder while being just as survivable.

Shuten-Douji- Shuten is saved by having high base stats, an awesome damage amp in Demonic Magic, and an AOE charm that works regardless of gender. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end. The debuffs on her NP are miniscule even when stacked, and the charm chance is a static 60%. Overall, she's an interesting if unreliable pointman for Arts teams.

--C--
Altera- Altera fares worse compared to the other AOE Sabers because she lacks an NP battery, even if everything else is equal. Her facecard damage is quite good, but exchanging a harder-hitting NP for that is not a good trade.

Arjuna- After going through so many strong Archers, Arjuna seems incredibly disappointing. His skills don't help matters either; his best one is on an obnoxiously long cooldown, and the other two are either niche (5 turn debuff immunity) or vanilla (Mana Burst). Furthermore, his NP is by far the worst out of all of them; it would be downright terrible if it lacked an interlude. On the whole, Arjuna isn't bad, but he is definitely the worst SSR Archer by a long shot.

Altria Pendragon (Ruler)- Ruler Quetz outpunches Playboy Artoria by a big margin. Let that sink in. Her damage is poor and she doesn't have utility to show for it either. You're not outright punished for using Artoria though, which is why she's not even lower than she is already.

Arthur Pendragon (Prototype)- He has the highest Atk stat of all Sabers in the game...and that's it? Not many servants have massive starburst skills, and Arthur is one of the few lucky ones with it. He's still not as good as Artoria, Mordred, and Shiki, but he's more comparable to Altera. I consider him better by virtue of his passive NP generation.

Iskandar- While Iskandar has ridiculously high AOE NP damage among the gold Riders, he's not very effective outside of farming. He lacks tools the Riders above him have, such as CQ utility or NP charge. Post-buff you're certainly punished less for using him though.

Okita Souji (Alter)- First, the positives: Okita is tied with Arthur for the 5th highest Attack of any servant in the game. In addition, her cards are excellent and her skills are focused. Unfortunately, it's wasted on a farming servant at best. Alter Egos are not famous for their damage, and having a non-interluded NP on top of that puts a severe cap on her potential.

Semiramis- In a lot of ways, Semiramis is a highly experimental servant; she's an Assassin with a Caster deck whose primary damage amp is an enemy debuff. In this case, unfortunately, "experimental" doesn't equate to being very good. Double Summon's bonus effect is generally not relevant unless you're bringing her vs mixed nodes. Arrogant King's Alcohol is hampered by two very pointless and debilitating downsides for what is essentially a Mana Burst. At the very least, NP battery and interlude gives her a niche in farming. She isn't terrible or anything, just mediocre.

--D--
See below.

--E--
Demon King Nobunaga- Absolute meme tier AOE servant, and not in a good way. She hits like a noodle, can't crit, and has no utility. Nobu is far and away the worst SSR in the game.