Murasaki Shikibu

“Ufufu~”

Murasaki Shikibu was once a great author, but now all her pages are blank due to a writer’s block, and it’s up to you to find the source why, Time Pilot! Nevermind, this is FGO, not Carmen Sandiego’s Great Chase Through Time. As an AoE Arts Caster with a strong anti-Demonic niche, Murasaki is a great addition to anyone needing to kill one of the many Assassin waves of ghosts, skeletons, or likewise.

If there is one thing which sticks out about Murasaki, it is her strong anti-Demonic abilities. By combining her Great Poet’s Poem skill’s anti-Demonic trait with her Noble Phantasm’s anti-Demonic overcharge, she can wipe nearly all demonic waves. Thanks to Curse (Poem)’s charge skill and her 6-hit Arts Noble Phantasm, she also has great refund potential with proper supports. There are also the many intangibles she brings to the team such as buff removal resist for the full party on The Diary of Lady Murasaki, as well as being capable of blocking an enemy’s buffs (via her Noble Phantasm) and seal their Noble Phantasm (via Curse (Poem)).

For all of this, Murasaki is still a Caster, which means her damage tends to pale in comparison to Berserkers, especially when she isn’t fighting Demonic enemies. She also has a suboptimal card distribution for a Caster, making it harder to get Arts chains for refunds. Her defenses aren’t the best either.

If a Master is lacking in an AoE Caster or needs an anti-Demonic force, Murasaki is their goto Servant. She’ll be certain to write the Master into her story next time~

Anti-Demonic Niche

What’s nice about Murasaki’s anti-Demonic skills is that they come as both a skill and a Noble Phantasm. If she is used to attack she gets a multiplicative boost from these skills. If not, her Great Poet’s Poem gives the super-effective buff to all party members who can attack the Demonic enemies for her (for instance, if they are a different class). As this is a 3-turn skill, using it does not prevent her from benefiting on her Noble Phantasm turn.

Good NP Generation

While her cards alone provide mediocre generation, she has a rare 6-hit Arts Noble Phantasm. As Arts cards produce higher generation to begin with, this allows her to refund much of her bar every time she uses it. With proper supports such as Tamamo no Mae, Nero Bride, or eventually Altria Caster, she can oftentimes unleash two Noble Phantasms. Her charge on Curse (Poem) compensates for anything missing.

Utility

When it comes to Utility, Murasaki has it all. Be it an NP seal against enemies in Curse (Poem), a Buff Removal Resist or Debuff Immune for the party on Murasaki Shikibu’s Diary, or a Defense down on Great Poet’s Poem; she has a toolkit worthy of her imagination. Of particular note is her Noble Phantasm’s Buff Block on enemies. This is much stronger than a skill seal, as skill seals often just delay a buff until the next turn. A buff block (for a full turn) means the enemy will still use the buff and not benefit from its effects, essentially wasting one of their actions. This can be crucial in a challenge quest.

Low Damage

With low modifiers on her buffs and Caster classing, Murasaki struggles to keep up in the damage department unless she’s facing Demonic enemies. Against non-Demonic enemies, Berserkers eclipse her along with several free AoE Caster Servants who can also provide more to the team than her. 

Niche

While Murasaki is great against Demonic enemies, there are very few waves in the game which benefit from her supereffective modifier which would not otherwise be destroyed by other Casters or Berserkers. To make matters worse, there are only a couple of Assassin or Berserker Demonic Servants, who frequently populate the final waves, meaning her usage is mostly for the first two waves. 

Poor Defenses

While Murasaki boasts the all-important damage cut modifier, she has no way of raising her defense stat to make better usage of this without support. She also lacks any hard invincibility skills, subjecting her to Noble Phantasms when she cannot seal them.

Murasaki’s kit provides her with an array of possibilities in both utility, damage, and charging potential. Masters would want to boost up her charging to help her Noble Phantasm activate earlier first, and then worry about her damage and utility.

• Great Poet’s Poem A is the skill-side Demonic Damage boost from Murasaki, as well as providing a powerful Defense Down debuff on the wave. The Demonic Damage boost lasts for a full three turns for the entire party making it easy to use if multiple team Noble Phantasms are used, but it comes at the cost of losing the Defense Down for the final turn. Level this second to either level 9 or 10 depending on whether there is a lore to spare. 
• Curse (Poem) D+ gives stalling potential against enemies by sealing their Noble Phantasms, while simultaneously boosting Murasaki’s NP Gauge and NP Damage for three turns. Unfortunately, this skill has a 6-turn cooldown meaning against waves with an Assassin final boss it will not quite be off cooldown when it is an Assassin’s turn to NP (assuming the first 2 waves are cleared in 2 turns), so Masters will need to decide whether to save it for a NP seal, or use it early for charge. As the charge level increases with level, level this to max first. 
• The Diary of Lady Murasaki B is a powerful utility tool for the team, both by providing a debuff immunity and a rare buff removal resist for the entire party one time across three turns. Most notably it provides a 3-attack 1000 damage cut. When combined with defense ups from other supports, this can lower damage taken to zero by most enemy attacks. Level this skill last. Masters can leave this skill at level 6 if they are short on materials.

Masters primarily will be using Murasaki’s Noble Phantasm in earlier waves, so CEs which boost her output there are best, most notably Starting NP Gauge CEs. If she cannot get access to those, a Mixed Starting NP Gauge/NP gain/Arts CE serves her best to boost her refund. She also could benefit from NP Gain per Turn CEs as in ideal situations she might come just short from a full refund.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian: With a 30% self-charge, any CE which provides a starting gauge is a huge boon for Murasaki. A MLB Imaginary Element or better can provide a full charge on demand. 
• Magical Girl of Sapphire / Painting Summer: With extra support in Arts or NP Gain, Murasaki needs even less to fully charge her Noble Phantasm after firing it one time. Boosting refund makes it even easier. 
• Prisma Cosmos: Should Murasaki fall short on the refund she might need, this CE can provide it for her.