Takasugi Shinsaku

“I’m a pretty reliable guy, if i say so myself. Though, spare me any boring battles.”

Takasugi Shinsaku may have been an unfamiliar face to many people over the world, but to the Japanese, this charismatic individual was instrumental in a turbulent period that propelled Japan into a fearsome global force. In Fate Grand/Order, Takasugi is a rather unassuming AoE Quick-centric Archer with explosive Critical Damage output.

Takasugi Shinsaku’s skills are quite straightforward. Extraordinary Prodigy A is a standard dual-card booster for his two main card types for 3 turns, with a 1 time, 3 turn NP Overcharge buff as well. Innovation B is a targeted Critical Damage buff with a rare Cooldown Reduction effect. Last but not least, The Yamato Spirit Lives On A is both a defensive and offensive skill. It gives Takasugi a Guts, a small NP Battery and an Attack buff. Takasugi’s real strength lies in his Noble Phantasm - Super Restoration, Kiheitai B+. This is an AoE Quick Noble Phantasm that increases all of Takasugi’s cards' performance for 1 turn before dealing damage, while also granting a very sizable 3 turn Critical Damage boost to himself.

Takasugi’s notable sources of damage output are certainly his Critical Hits. With two 3 turn Critical Damage buffs in his kit and an abundance of Critical Stars generated from his NP, Takasugi can dish out quite a lot of damage when set up properly. However, Takasugi can definitely serve as a wave clearer and looper as well in a typical Double Skadi set up thanks to his good refund base and NP Charging skill, and even Black Grail farming some scenarios with a third NP Gauge Charging Support coming from the back row.

However, Takasugi has many notable flaws. For one, as a looper, Takasugi is firmly middle of the pack. While he has decent offensive buffs, he lacks any anti-trait bonus which makes his coverage limited compared to his peers. This lack of damage and the inherent reliance of Quick NP loopers on refund means he is quite poor for 90++ level farming quests which is what the best Damage Dealers are measured on. Furthermore, Takasugi has next to no utility beyond his Cooldown Reduction, which while useful does not turn him into a Challenge Quest monster.

Overall, Takasugi is quite simplistic as a Servant but does not have the firepower warranted to justify such simplicity this late into the game. While he is not really a bad Servant, he just is not worth the pulling cost gameplay-wise, especially if Masters have other alternatives available.

Strong Critical Damage Output

Takasugi has a pretty respectable Critical Damage output. This is due to his high innate Critical Damage boost from his second skill and Noble Phantasm. Also, because his NP being an AoE Quick attack, it also generates a lot of Critical Stars for him to use as well, and in the right team, he can stack the Critical Damage boost from his Noble Phantasm to further fuel his Critical hits.

Decent Looping Spec

With a solid NP refund rate from his Noble Phantasm thanks to its high hit counts, Takasugi can definitely work as a looper in the Double Skadi system. While it may not be enough to let him overcome many irregular farming nodes like Level 90++ event ones, for normal 3-3-x enemies layout he will have no trouble getting enough NP Charge back with various setups.

Lackluster Damage Output When Looping

One of the biggest problems that Takasugi has is the lack of anti-trait damage that most modern Damage Dealers have. For looping, this is extremely relevant as overkilling nodes also contribute to more NP refund. For Challenge Quest, this further limits his applications over his peers who do.

Lack of Specific Niche and Utility

Takasugi does not possess any unique utility nor niche beyond a targeted Cooldown Reduction effect and Critical Damage, but this is rather lackluster when compared to many new Servants who have powerful teamwide buffs and utilities, further devaluing Takasugi in any developed roster.

Takasugi is one of the rare Servants with all three skills being offensive buffs so they are all worth leveling. His third skill is definitely the most important one as it includes NP Charge to function as a looper. His first skill is more useful than his second skill in general as it boosts both his cards and Noble Phantasm, but his second skill is more impactful when it is in effect, especially considering a lot of Takasugi’s damage comes from his Critical hits.

• Extraordinary Prodigy A - The main value from this skill is from the Quick buff that helps with his looping damage and refund. The value scaling is rather mediocre so it can be maxed last after his first two skills.

• Innovation B – This skill is highly important to Takasugi’s Critical Damage Output and has great scaling with level, thus should be maxed after Takasugi’s third skill.

• The Yamato Spirit Lives On A – This is Takasugi’s most important skill as it serves as his main NP Battery and also provides a highly relevant Attack buff and Guts. This skill also has extremely high base cooldown at 9 so it should be maxed as soon as possible.

Takasugi can work as both a NP looper and Critical Damage Dealer. In either case, he will want Starting NP Gauge as one of his Critical Damage boosts is from his Noble Phantasm. For looping, Quick Cards Effectiveness / NP Damage / Attack / NP Gain / Anti-Trait Damage are good stats to look for. To work as a Critical Damage Dealer, Takasugi will appreciate Critical Damage and Critical Star Gather Rate.

• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel / Inverted Rain of Mud: Takasugi does not have any innate NP Damage boost in his kit, which is coincidentally also similar to most of his potential teammates or supports. Thus, his damage scales extremely well with NP Damage boost from these Craft Essences and they will alleviate part of his. It is worth noting that since these do not have Starting NP Gauge, Takasugi will need a lot of external support in terms of NP Charge and / NP Regeneration boost.

• Desert Maiden / Hot Springs Table Tennis / Dancing Like A Flower / Fondant au Chocolat: These are Craft Essences with 50% NP Gauge and a bonus anti-trait damage effect which Takasugi lacks and can help with his coverage.

• Traces of Christmas Past / One Summer / Cherry Icicle / Golden Sumo: Starting NP Gauge Essences with some other offensive stats that benefit Takasugi

• Empty Garden / Pioneering Oni / Holy Night Supper / Summertime Mistress / A Tale of Love and Hope: Great options to bolster Takasugi’s Critical niche.