Leonidas

Buster Support

With three Buster cards including his NP, a Buster buff, and the ability to generate some critical stars, Leonidas’ capability to make his allies hit way harder is excellent for teams designed to end fights quickly. He is also able to provide solid short-term protection, which is something often needed by Buster Servants.

Good Short-Term Durability

Leonidas is unique in his potential to direct attacks to himself for four turns straight with his taunt skill and NP. He is assisted in this regard by his good short-term durability, provided by his NP’s defense buff as well as his Guts skill.

Reliance on Noble Phantasm

As Leonidas’ three-turn Taunt and defense buff are built-in to his NP, he is often unable to provide sufficient defensive assistance without it, especially for Berserker allies. This makes him trickier to use defensively compared to most other alternatives, as failure to manage his NP rotation well may result in him being unable to Taunt in crucial moments.

Inconsistent NP Gain

Because Leonidas only has one Arts card, he is often reliant on the opponents’ hitcount to gain NP quickly, while against other enemies with low hitcounts he may somewhat struggle to deploy his NP in rapid succession without good card chains, meaning that the timing of his NP gain buff skill is extremely crucial. As such, he is usually less desirable for sustained fight compositions without additional support from his allies.

Limited Offensive Ability

With a non-damaging NP and low stats, Leonidas has limited damage potential, although his third skill is able to mitigate this somewhat.

• Rear Guard's Pride A

This skill is Leonidas’ main means of charging his NP, which makes it a central part of his kit. However, due to its overall effectiveness being reliant on opponents and its long cooldown, it has slightly less leveling priority than his third skill.

• Battle Continuation A

A classic Battle Continuation skill, this skill would rarely be used more than once in a fight, especially given Leonidas’ usual short-term expectations. While the reduced cooldown can occasionally bring him victory, it is highly situational.

• Warrior's War Cry B

Available after Leonidas’ Rank Up Quest, Warrior's War Cry provides a three-turn Buster buff for the whole party. As a formidable buffing skill with a low cooldown, it unquestionably has the highest leveling priority among his skills.

• Iron-Willed Training/Shroud of Magdalene: Increase Leonidas’ overall survivability, which in turn, increases the possibility that he would survive long enough to pull off his NP. The defense up, when combined with his NP’s, allow Leonidas to tank a lot of hits, and also enables defense stacking strategies.

• Grand New Year/GUDAGUDA Poster Girl/Halloween Arrangement: The additional early-game Taunt allows Leonidas to gain more NP through defense, thereby speeding up his first NP. These are also useful for stages with a lot of early pressure, or when Leonidas is used as a backline Servant.

• Kaleidoscope/The Imaginary Element: Starting NP CEs allow Leonidas to use his first NP faster, ensuring more constant NP gain from defending. These CEs are especially good for faster-paced battles, where his Taunt would be needed early on.

• The Merciless One: As Leonidas is one of the primary choices for suicide-tanking strategies, CEs which grant benefits to the team when their user dies can be equipped to make the party’s run easier.