Party Setup and Class Affinities
The first thing you want to get down is how to set up your party, and what should should look for when deciding. You can set a total of 5 Servants in your party: 2 starting members and 3 sub members. The 3rd starting slot is for a temporary support Servant you choose each battle.
Each servant costs a certain number of points to put in your party, and there is a cap on how many you can have. The higher the quality, the higher the cost.
The 2 starting members and support member will begin battle first. The sub members will only join once a starting member loses all their health. Each time a member in combat dies, it will be replaced by a Sub member until nobody is left.
There are a variety of Servants you obtain, and you should level each Class type so you can bring in one that is strong against a current enemy, or take out those that are weak to them.
Class Affinities
There are at least 9 class affinities in the game. You can view 8 of them by clicking on the “See Info” tab when you are setting up your party. You can also view during battle by selecting “Battle Info”. The Ruler affinity is not shown in that section.
When an Affinity is strong against another type, it means it will deal more damage to them and take less damage from them. If they are weak, they will take more damage from them and deal less damage to them.
Affinities are as follows:
Archer: Strong against Saber, weak to Lancer Saber: Strong against Lancer, weak to Archer Lancer: Strong against Archer, weak to Saber Assassin: Strong against Rider, weak to Caster Rider: Strong against Caster, weak to Assassin Caster: Strong against Assassin, weak to Rider Berserker: Strong against All types, weak to All types Shielder: Neutral to All types Ruler: Resists all types except Berserker, Shielder, and Ruler.
Before battles, you can look at the top of the screen during party setup to see the types of enemies you will face. This can help you decide who to bring for that battle.
Servants Skills and Noble Phantasm
Each Servant also has 1 or more skills they can use during battle. Before you select cards to attack, you can use these skills.
There is no limit to how many skills you can use at once, but they all have cooldowns. This means you must wait a certain number of turns before you can use them again.
Each class also has their own passive abilities that are always active when you use them in battle.
Noble Phantasm is your Servant’s special attack. You can only perform this attack when your NP gauge is at 100%. You can raise your gauge by attacking with that Servant, or getting attacked.
Card Types
When you fight, you must choose a card type along with the character. There are 3 total card types and they each give a specific bonus.
Buster: Increases overall damage Arts: Increases NP Gauge fill speed Quick: Increases Crit Rate next turn
When you use one of these as the first card you attack with, you will get the above bonus. If you use all 3 cards of the same type, you will get an increased Chain bonus.
If you use all 3 cards of the same Servant, you will perform an extra attack at the end. They don’t have to be the same type to get this, only the same Servant.
Master Equipment and Skills
As a Master, you control your servants in battle, but it goes beyond that. There are 3 assigned skills you can use during battle, and 3 command spells. You can use these before you attack, just like Servant skills.
Master Skills
First Aid: Greatly restore one ally’s HP. Cooldown: 9 turns Instant Enhancement: Significantly increase one ally’s ATK for 1 turn. Cooldown: 15 turns Emergency Evade: Apply Evade to 1 ally for 1 turn. Cooldown: 15 turns
As your Master level increases, so does your skills.
Command Spells
These are spells that you can only do once or twice a day, depending on which you use. You start with 3 spells, and every time you use one of the abilities below, it takes away 1 or more. You only restore 1 every day.
Release Noble Phantasm: Increase 1 servant’s NP by 100%. Costs 1 spell. Repair Spirit Origin: Fully restore 1 servant’s HP. Costs 1 spell. Restore Spirit Origin: Revive all party members when everyone’s incapacitated. Costs 3 spells.
Since you only recover 1 a day, if you use Restore Spirit Origin, you will have to wait a few days before you can do it again.
Enhancement and Customization
You can increase the strength of your servants by enhancing, evolving, fusing, and equipping them.
Servant Enhance
You can enhance a Servant by selecting Enhance from the menu, then Servant. Here you can choose a Servant, then select other servants or EXP materials to increase their level.
Skill and Craft Essence
If you get enough skill materials for a class affinity, you can increase the skill level of 1 of your servant’s skills.
Craft Essences are equips you can give your Servants. These will increase their HP, Strength, or both. They also will give an extra effect, such an increased Quick Card effectiveness.
Ascension
When you reached the max level on a Servant, and gathered enough Ascension materials, you can evolve them. This increases their max level and unlocks other skills and character icons.
Noble Phantasm
If you have more than 2 of the same Servant, you can fuse them together to increase the level of their Noble Phantasm. This will make their special attack much stronger.
Extra Tips
Now that you know how all the systems work, here are some tips to help you go further in the game.
Switch Servants Between Attacks Sometimes
If you use the same servant to attack more 2 or 3 times in a row, it will continue to attack the same enemy even if the first attack or 2 killed it.
You can fix this by switching to another Servant for your second or 3rd attack. If one servant defeats an enemy and a new servant attacks, it will automatically switch to a new enemy.
This is useful if you want to use the same servant twice in an attack, but still want to hit more than 1 enemy.
Each Attack Counts as a Turn
Skills that say they last for a certain number of turns means each time that Servant attacks or gets attacked. Keep this in mind when deciding on when to use a skill.
Craft Essences increase the Cost of your party
These give great benefits to your Servants, but they will also make them cost more. If you only have enough to put in your Servants, equipping them will make you go over.
If you don’t think you will need your sub members for a battle, you can take them out to give you enough points to equip craft essences.
That’s it for my beginner tips and tricks for Fate Grand Order. Let me know if you have any questions!
