MrSmokestack SSR ST Tier List (June 2019)

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SSR ST Tier List
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Total SSRs: 33

EX (2)
Kama
Qin Shi Huang

S (8)
Altria Pendragon (Archer)
Cu Chulainn (Alter)
Jack the Ripper
Jeanne d'Arc (Alter)
Meltryllis
Mysterious Heroine X (Alter)
Ozymandias
Sitonai

A (13)
Abigail Williams
Benienma
Brynhild
Illyasviel von Einzbern
Miyamoto Musashi
Mysterious Heroine X
Nero Claudius (Bride)
Okita Souji
Orion
Quetzalcoatl
Scathach
Sigurd
Tamamo-no-Mae (Lancer)

B (8)
Altria Pendragon (Rider Alter)
Enkidu
Hijikata Toshizou
First Hassan
Li Shuwen (Assassin)
Sakata Kintoki
Vlad III
Xuanzang Sanzang

C (1)
Queen Medb


D (1)
James Moriarty

E (0)

--EX--
Kama- Currently the best Assassin in the game, and an excellent point servant with Skadi. Thanks to the damage ramp-up on her NP, Kama has high neutral damage across multiple turns. She even outdamages Jack against females. As if that weren't enough, her NP reliably Charms enemies too. CE flexibility with her 50% battery is another boon. Exceptionally well-rounded with no clear weaknesses.

Qin Shi Huang- While his Attack stat is atrocious, Qin Shi Huang's steroids and team support more than make up for it. His taunt is the only one tied to NP among gold servants, and thanks to its invulnerability he can completely shut down a turn of card damage and ST NPs. Qin Shi Huang is Stall's answer to aggressive enemy facecarding in recent CQs.

--S--
Altria Pendragon (Archer)- With exceptional NP gain both from both Excalibur Vivian and her deck, Artoria Archer remains one of Arts best loopers in ST fights. To this end, she sports an impressive buff value and a charge drain effect on a highly spammable NP. While Orion is bulkier and has a more stable stall game, Artoria Archer fares better on the offensive. One of the best Arts Archers in the game.

Cu Chulainn (Alter)- His stats are excellent--he packs the 2nd highest ATK of any servant and his HP doesn't suffer for it, and he can generate a fair sum of stars and NP despite his deck. It also allows him to leverage his defensive kit extremely well, having multiple sources of damage mitigation and hard survivability. Finally, Berserker class gives him universal coverage, making him an excellent anchor for any team, in any situation.

Jack the Ripper- Ignoring the obvious Skadi synergy, Jack packs a crazy 5% Quick card and steroids that let her hit hard against any Rider--not just female ones. Buff removal on an NP that ignores Def makes her more reliable at dealing damage. Not as good as Kama, but still very strong.

Jeanne d'Arc (Alter)- Class advantage is a thing! ...Unless you're Jeanne Alter. Triple crit damage to go alongside two powerful damage amps means Jeanne doesn't care about what she's hitting; just give her some stars and she'll go to town. Not the best damage dealer in most situations, but you can use her in almost any situation equally well.

Meltryllis- Alter Egos are normally at a disadvantage in the damage department, but Melt separates herself from the rest with a strong combination of NP gain, buff removal, starburst, and damage. Despite her class she is one of Quick's best damage-dealers against single enemies.

Mysterious Heroine X (Alter)- MHXA is a bit more high maintenance compared to Meltlilith, but she can be used on any enemy while being especially effective versus Sabers.

Ozymandias- Still the best Rider DPS even two years after his release. This is in large part due to Protection of Ra making him an excellent team player. In addition, it also gives him reliable access to a fantastic self buff in Imperial Privilege. Topping off his offense is an NP that inflicts a considerable Defense Down and the rare NP Seal debuff. Overall, a reliable, hard-hitting damage dealer.

Sitonai- Her internals are excellent and her class makes her a good all-purpose cavalry slayer. 30% NP charge gives her a turn 1 NP with Waver and any 20% battery, making her a potent Black Grail user.

--A--
Abigail Williams- Abigail is yet another odd servant that graces A. Buff removal before NP damage is very, very deadly against single enemies, and her Arts deck + Buster NP gives her strong synergy with Merlin teams. She even has a net 90% team battery to offset her mediocre NP gain and enable her supports' NPs more easily. Her Foreigner bases and skills also serve to make her a reliable, if slow, damage dealer. Her greatest issue is her long cooldowns, but without them she would make a strong argument for S.

Benienma- The newest in a flurry of Arts Sabers, Beni stands out as the best of them. She not only sports a range of rare, valuable support abilities, they don’t come at the expense of her damage. She packs a massive 80% total powermod versus Chaotic Evil enemies; even when only one trait applies she’ll still hit very hard. Excellent servant on the whole, with no definite weakness and a variety of strengths.

Brynhild- Post-buff, Hero's Sidekick is arguably one of the best skills in the game. It's a targetable Self-Modification. Aside from Poster Girl synergy to help enable servants with low crit weight like Berserkers or Avengers, Bryn can also use it on herself to become an offensive powerhouse. She is arguably the best SSR Lancer in the game, but neither her damage or support are quite strong enough to hit S.

Illyasviel von Einzbern- Much like Nero Caster, Illya is a dedicated Assassin nuker. She does a good job filling this role with an interluded NP backed by a 70% steroid. Her NP gain matches Sanzou before factoring in the former's passive, while hitting much harder. While her NP's demerit is minor, it still discourages her somewhat from doing what she does best. In short: a selfish, high-powered ST Assassin nuker.

Miyamoto Musashi- As far as self-sufficient servants go, Musashi is among the most popular. She can pierce defenses, remove them, and keep herself alive in a pinch. She even circumvents having limited gains on her Buster deck because of 5th Form. Doubling the hitcounts on all of her cards, she can generate twice the amount of stars and NP than usual; a single 3rd Arts crit with overkill refunds her entire NP. Her damage "floor" is very high due to having permanent access to Buster brave chains, but her ceiling is unfortunately quite low. She offers no support to the team outside of buff removal and has 0 crit access. She will fulfill her role regardless of what team you use her in, but she isn't as strong of a pointman as the other servants on this list.

Mysterious Heroine X- Before Skadi, MHX was solidly the worst SSR in the game. While her skillset isn't very good, it's backed up by excellent internals and a post-interlude NP. After Skadi, MHX has improved greatly. She is now one of the top DPS Quick servants for dealing with Sabers and male Riders, outstripping the Quick Archers due to their bad internals. In general, MHX isn't as strong as Kama or Jack, but her days of being the worst SSR are but a distant memory.

Nero Claudius (Bride)- Nero is a solid combo piece in Arts teams, often used for NP refund farming or for buffing an NP-looping servant like Hokusai. Her offense is also serviceable thanks to her NP interlude, but her cooldowns hold her back somewhat.

Okita Souji- While I find Okita to be overrated at times, she's nonetheless one of Quick's strongest damage dealers. Sporting a 5% Quick card backed up by Mana Burst and Mind's Eye, she'll not only hit hard but will do it again the next turn. Her kit is severely dated compared to more recent Quick servants, but she packs exactly what Skadi asks for to be a great DPS.

Orion- Gil is to Tesla as Archuria is to Orion. His kit is more selfish than Archuria's, but he packs a guaranteed charge drain and a stackable Attack Down on NP. He also packs much more hard survivability compared to Archuria thanks to having access to crit down and an Evade. This makes him a stronger option for slower teams, especially versus Male enemies, while Archuria plays more aggressively due to her high NP refill and lack of hard defense.

Quetzalcoatl- Quetz is generally seen as being overshadowed by Ozy, but she's a solid DPS on her own merits. Like Ozy, she has an NP that inflicts the ever-useful NP Seal debuff and is more than capable of hitting hard with just her own skills--more so in her ideal situation. However, she loses out on the support and survivability that makes Ozy reliable in CQs, so her rating suffers for that.

Scathach- There's no shortage of Divine servants faced as enemies. Even without hitting niche, Scathach is excellent against single enemies because of her NP's stun. Her crit skill can miss, but 80% is reliable enough for the duration and CD.

Sigurd- With the highest Atk stat of all Sabers in the game and a buff value reminiscent of Merlin, damage is Sigurd's forte. Because Primeval Rune is hit-based, Sigurd has a flexible burst window. In addition, his NP has a SE modifier that is abusable with a common taunt support, giving him nuke capability against any enemy. The lack of star absorption or NP charge is a letdown, but Sigurd is a capable DPS nonetheless.

Tamamo-no-Mae (Lancer)- As a Lancer, Tamamo has an insane Quick card and her NP gets a SE modifier versus an extremely wide enemy type--men. Her stun's drawback is actually not significant in practice when used with appropriate timing, and it works regardless of the enemy's gender. Overall, a solid frontline servant that needs no babying.

--B--
Altria Pendragon (Rider Alter)- At a glance, Maid Alter is in a rough spot. She has similar internals to Archuria while having a worse Quick card and NP. Fortunately, the steroids on her skills help push up her middling Attack, and Coaching is very useful either on herself or the main Caster supports. She's a passable Quick DPS but nothing amazing.

Enkidu- Enkidu is another odd duck. His deck lends himself to being an anchor servant--he does not play well in most teams. Damagewise he suffers compared to Musashi and Hassan due to lacking a Buster deck. However, he still packs a good deal of survivability through Prescence Detection and Perfect Form.

Hijikata Toshizou- Hijikata is a powerful albeit gimmicky crit Berserker. He attempts to take advantage of his Berserker class by having a double damage NP and quadrupled crit damage if he hits 1 HP. This gives him an enormous ceiling that he can leverage against almost any class. However, he has a hard time getting everything lined up for that ideal burst, and he is usually done after pulling off his gimmick once anyway.

First Hassan- Gramps is the sole Assassin with a Buster deck. He also has ample survivability through Protection of the Faith and a 5k HP Guts. Better still is his 3% Arts and 5% Quick. However, his damage ceiling, like Musashi, is rather low. In addition, his NP is among the worst in the game--a Buster card that hits once and has increased IK chance with overcharge. On top of being addled with the usual DPS issues (no crit access or NP battery), his anchor role is flimsier than ever. He also lacks utility, and for the anchor slot there are better options. Overall Gramps has fallen off quite a bit in usefulness.

Li Shuwen (Assassin)- There's a problem when your former self can Ignore Defense but you can't. Inconsistencies aside...Li is a very simple point servant to run, just like his Lancer self. He bursts every few turns, hitting very hard in the process. Li is one of the few competent Arts Assassins, but unfortunately he doesn't stand out.

Sakata Kintoki- Kintoki is one of three ST Berserker nukes to get a bump on the list. His 50% NP battery makes his CE choice more flexible. In addition, single-turn burst damage, especially against large break bars, has been more in demand recently. Kintoki works well in this environment. Kintoki's farming usefulness, however, is his most important feature.

Vlad III- Despite having an NP battery, good damage, and a high base refill on NP, Vlad has fallen off significantly. His ideal team comp (Waver Tamamo) doesn't work well in recent hard content--and Vlad isn't very usable outside of it. As a Berserker he suffers from serious durability issues too.

Xuanzang Sanzang- Sanzou packs the highest Attack of all Casters in the game. However, if you need to nuke Assassins, don't use Sanzou. Use Illya or a Berserker instead. She offsets her lack of damage with her utility and ability to battery loop.

--C--
Queen Medb- The Queen of Connacht has the lowest Attack of all SSR Riders. While her damage is pretty good due to interlude and a 50% steroid on standard duration, she has nothing to offer defensively.

--D--
James Moriarty- Sherlock's nemesis is an interesting if niche Arts Archer. He provides a solid damage amp for Evil servants [excluding himself] on a short cooldown, and he pierces invulnerability. His buff value is also above average among STs—60%. However, his cards are poor and his individual skills are really weak. His second skill makes critting harder for...virtually no reason. Why?

--E--
There is no such thing as a useless ST SSR. Not a one.