Jeanne d'Arc (Archer)

“I'm shooting those dolphins, and therefore am an Archer. There's nothing weird about that you know?”

The Maiden of Orleans, a saint who has found herself enamored with the spirit of summer . . . which somehow comes with the ability to command dolphins. As if to symbolize the endless blue waves of the ocean she so loves, Jeanne d’Arc (Archer) is an AoE Arts Servant who’s most known for her NP spam potential, washing all enemies away with the joy and excitement of summertime!

Jeanne possesses extremely high base NP refund among AoE Arts Servants, and she compliments this with a 3-turn Arts Performance buff from Enjoying Endless Summer! as well as an instant NP Charge, courtesy of Saint of the Shore (Dolphin). Jeanne’s NP’s secondary effect grants her a passive amount of critical stars every turn, which when combined with its spammable nature and Jeanne’s high Star Weight, makes her a fairly effective critical damage dealer. Unlike many other damage dealers, Jeanne also possesses a powerful defensive option in the form of her first skill’s 2-hit Invincibility, and as the cherry on top, she gains considerable bonuses when fighting in Waterside Battlefields. Finally, Servant Cheer offers a standard 3-turn charisma to the team with an additional attack bonus for Good alignment Servants, making her a particularly powerful attack support in the right lineups.

Jeanne’s primary weaknesses lie in the damage department, especially the fact that she lacks an NP upgrade. While her NP damage still ends up being passable thanks to various 3-turn buffs from her three skills, getting enough Overkill hits to fully recharge her NP gauge may be a problem against higher HP mob waves. Similarly, this also means she may need higher skill levels (and the aid of some specific supports) before her NP refund would be enough to loop.

All things considered, however, Jeanne’s strengths far outweigh her weaknesses, and any Master with an interest towards Arts farming should find her a very valuable addition to their roster. Accompany her with Arts supports such as Paracelsus and Tamamo-no-Mae, equip a proper CE, and watch as Jeanne and her army of dolphins take care of waves of enemy Sabers!

High NP Refund and NP Damage Consistency

Jeanne d’Arc (Archer)’s high base NP refund means that it scales really well with Arts and NP Gain buffs, external or otherwise; Jeanne is one of the best candidates for Arts NP looping, and under the right situations is capable of consistently refunding her NP Gauge to full. Furthermore, her offensive self-buffs all last for 3 turns, allowing Jeanne to secure Overkills in earlier waves without having her damage fall off in the final wave.

Instant NP Charge

In addition to the ever-valuable Craft Essence flexibility, her instant 40% NP Charge provides Jeanne with a way to play around waves with only two mobs, eliminating a problem which greatly hampers other looping Servants.

Critical Affinity

Despite her QAABB deck and Arts NP, Jeanne has a natural affinity towards critical hits thanks to her Archer class bonuses as well as her NP’s critical star generation. On top of these things, her critical damage ends up being quite powerful thanks to her self-buffs, particularly on her Arts cards. This critical aspect of Jeanne’s kit allows her to effectively deal with high HP mobs, provided her cards do appear.

Support for Good-trait Allies

Her third skill provides a base of 20% bonus attack to all allies, and another 20% additional attack for [Good] alignment enemies aside from herself, bringing the bonus to 40% total. This makes her also a great choice to bring as a source of additional attack buffs when bringing Good-aligned Servants in the party.

Unimpressive NP Damage

While Jeanne’s many offensive buffs bring her NP damage to an acceptable level, this can only go so far due to the NP’s unupgraded nature. With external buffs and leveled skills, Jeanne is able to take care of most Saber and Berserker mobs in the game, but the real question is whether she is able to get enough Overkill hits to fully recharge her NP gauge. Additionally, her second skill’s NP Strength buff is also tied to her 40% NP charge, and at times Masters may opt to hold off on using the skill until the NP charge is needed, which can also effectively decrease her damage in the meantime.

NP Looping Requires Investment

Without the aid of NP Charging Servants such as Zhuge Liang, Arts NP looping requires a full, 100% NP refund with little to no wiggle room. This generally means having multiple Arts supports with leveled skills, high skill levels on Jeanne herself, as well as a suitable Craft Essence (thankfully, she is more flexible on the latter thanks to her instant NP Charge). Nevertheless, it is a testament to Jeanne’s capabilities that she would still be able to perform at least two NPs within the duration of her buffs rather reliably even under minimal support.

Battlefield Limited Effects

Her critical damage potential is greatly boosted by her second skill, although this only takes effect in a field that is [near water]. This makes her critical performance not quite as universal as others in the roster, requiring the proper battlefield elements to reach her full potential.

All three of Jeanne (Archer)’s skills contribute to the stability of her farming runs, which means that they all should eventually be maxed. Should resources such as Crystallized Lore be an issue, it is recommended to max either her first skill or the second, depending on whether the composition needs the latter’s full 40% NP Charge for a first turn NP.

• Enjoying Endless Summer! provides the most important of Jeanne (Archer)’s three offensive buffs, which is a 3-turn Arts Performance Up buff. Providing not only damage increase but also NP gain on Jeanne’s Arts cards including her NP, this skill applies a 2-hit Invincibility buff on her as well, all at a low cooldown of 5 turns at max level. Nevertheless, the Arts buff does not scale amazingly with additional levels, and it is therefore recommended to level this skill second.
• Despite Jeanne’s seeming focus on refund consistency, the importance of Saint of the Shore (Dolphin)’s instant NP Charge cannot be underestimated. Aside from acting as an emergency button to top Jeanne’s NP gauge off when her refund comes short (though at the expense of slightly reduced damage), it also enables Jeanne to equip hybrid CEs more easily… CEs which would most likely come with further Arts Performance Up or NP Gain Up effects. As a bonus, this skill also situationally increases Jeanne’s critical damage in Waterside Battlefields. In general, this skill should be leveled first until she (with the aid of supports) is capable of performing a first turn NP with the planned composition, after which her first skill may be focused on if so desired.
• While considered the least important of Jeanne’s tools, Servant Cheer! is still a formidable skill which, aside from the standard, Charisma-like party-wide attack buff, further increases the attack of Good Alignment Servants. It should be noted that Jeanne (Archer) herself is unaffected by the latter, as her normal version’s Good alignment has been replaced by the newfound Summer alignment. As a result, this skill contributes the least to her NP Spam capability, and should ideally be leveled last.

As with most farming Servants, Jeanne d’Arc (Archer) favors Craft Essences with Starting NP Gauge, though her instant NP Charge means that she will also be able to utilize hybrid CEs quite effectively. In particular, hybrid CEs that provide Arts Performance or NP Gain are desirable, although NP Damage and Attack Up are also welcome.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element: These CEs allow Jeanne (Archer) to perform a first turn NP without external aid, with an MLB Kaleidoscope even allowing her to save her second skill’s NP Charge for later on in the stage. In general, this category is the best choice at lower skill levels, and is still highly valuable at high skill levels.
• Painting Summer / Magical Girl of Sapphire / Little Halloween Devil / Distant Pilgrimage / New Beginnings / Grand Puppeteer : With a high-leveled second skill and the aid of external NP Charge skills, Jeanne is able to unleash her NP on the first turn even with the reduced Starting NP provided by these CEs. In exchange, she gains increased damage and/or NP Gain from their secondary effects, which can increase the consistency of her NP loop. Of note, an MLB Little Halloween Devil or MLB Grand Puppeteer provide 60% starting NP charge, enabling Jeanne to immediately use her NP with a 40% charge from her skill.
• Holy Night Supper / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament: Hybrid CE options which emphasize damage increase but do not provide direct bonuses to Jeanne’s NP refund.
• The Black Grail / Formal Craft / Another Ending / Cute Orangette / Kaleid Sapphire/ Projection: While the above CE categories are vastly preferred in terms of farming, these CEs have a place in more casual runs less concerned with low turn count, providing various bonuses to Jeanne’s overall performance.