Vritra

“Seriously, what does a human want a serpent like me to do? I’m a demon who only moves as I desire. Do not expect to be able to tame me, okay ?”

The legendary dragon asura of Indian Mythology and embodiment of obstacle - Vritra is an offensive AoE Arts-centric Lancer that sweeps away her enemies with repeated assaults. Despite being in a class niche that is spoiled for choices, Vritra still manages to carve out a spot of her own with a well-balanced skill set for a wide spectrum of content. 

Vritra’s gameplay identity starts with her Noble Phantasm - Asurasreshta. At first glance, it is a rather unassuming AoE Arts Noble Phantasm with three utility-based debuffs and middle of the road hit counts. However, when combined with other components from her skills, it becomes a highly loopable Noble Phantasm with good damage.  Piercing Vajra  - Vritra’s first skill is the first piece of that puzzle, granting her a must needed three turn Arts cards effectiveness booster, with an Arts Card Star Gather Rate as an icing on the cake. Further amplifying her NP looping capacity, Sworn Enemy of Gods provides her a sizable NP Gauge and a bonus damage against Divine enemies - a faithful representation of her rivalry with Indra. Finally, Indestructible Demon functions as both her additional NP Battery in the form of Gauge charge per turn and her main survivability in the form of Guts. 

When assessed as a whole, it is obvious what Vritra can do - consistent NP looping. With two batteries and great baseline stats boosted by her skills, Vritra fits seamlessly in most Arts-centric teams. And this dangerous dragon lady does not just perform for farming, but she is quite capable of leading the line in tougher battles thanks to a combination of utility effects, an anti-Divine niche, and survivability. 

On the other hand, it does not come without drawbacks. While Vritra does not have any crippling weaknesses, her flaws are notable. First, Vritra’s damage is only on a passable level for farming. While she will not have trouble clearing standard waves when in the company of prominent Arts support like Altria Caster, she will find it exceedingly difficult to get through high HP benchmarks that will get increasingly common in future events. Furthermore, AoE Arts Lancers have been a traditionally crowded niche, with powerhouses like Mysterious Alter Ego Lambda or Fionn competing in terms of better availability and ease of getting high NP levels. 

Overall, Vritra is a welcome addition to the permanent SSR roster and can hold her own in a myriad of content. While she will not blow anything away like her mythical status entails, she will not disappoint any Chaldea Masters when called upon and played to her strength.

Fantastic NP Refund 

While her Noble Phantasm only possesses a moderate 3 hits with a middling 0.55x base NP Generation, Vritra is more than capable of firing Asurasreshta multiple times in quick succession in Arts-centric setup, thanks to her abundance of NP Batteries and Arts buff. This high level of consistency makes her a reliable choice for wave-clearing. 

Decent Amount of Utilities for Difficult Content

Vritra possesses several notable effects in her Noble Phantasm that while might not come up as often would be very valuable in challenging missions, which are Skill Seal, Critical Rate Reduction and Arts Resistance Down. Thanks to her easy time accessing her Noble Phantasm and a Guts to bolster her survivability, these will be applied frequently over the course of long battles. 

Anti-Divine Niche

The Archer and Berserker roster possess many notable Divine heroes, which are perfect prey for Vritra to showcase her might and rebellious nature against heaven. While the damage bonus amount may be lesser compared to other Anti-Divine specialists such as Scathach or Karna, it is still a notable 3 turn boost that applies to the entire party, making her a premium pick for any mission that involves beating up Demigods.

Struggle To Reach High Damage Threshold

Most of Vritra’s steroids don't have particularly outstanding value, plus the lack of NP Interlude to raise the base of her Noble Phantasm damage means she might have trouble punching through waves with any high HP enemies. 

Abundance of Alternatives

Unfortunately for Vritra, she does not occupy a very rare niche. Fionn mac Cumhaill, Mysterious Alter-Ego Lambda, Utsumi Erice and Sakamoto Ryouma (Lancer) are all very viable Servants who can also serve as the designated AoE Arts Lancer for most roster. Being a 5 star, Vritra also has trouble getting a higher NP level compared to Fionn or Lambda, so she might not even be the best option damage wise when Master gets her.

All of Vritra’s skills are all necessary for her NP looping shenanigan, but none of them are overwhelmingly better than the other, making her a rather peculiar case in terms of Skill Leveling. In general, it is best to get all of her skills to a reasonable level at first (6) to get her gameplan going reasonably, and slowly maxing them over time. 

• Piercing Vajra A – This skill is the standard card booster for 3 turns with a 1 turn Arts card Star Gathering buff which rarely comes up due to the short duration. As with most steroid skills, it is never wrong to invest some materials into this skill to sufficient level.
• Sworn Enemy of Gods A – The main appeal of this skill is the NP Battery, but the partywide anti-Divine buff can be quite valuable in certain setups. If there is a skill within the 3 that should be maxed first, it’s probably this skill as flat NP Battery is the most flexible effect to utilize. 
• Indestructible Demon EX – All three effects of this skill are great, but its main problem is the high cooldown. The values that matter most from leveling are both the lowered cooldown and the NP battery per turn which helps immensely in looping. 

Vritra is quite simple in terms of choosing Craft Essences. Starting NP Gauge is easily the most flexible option she can run as it gives more room for Support Servant customization. The other CEs she enjoys either boost her Damage or NP Refund, namely Arts Card Effectiveness, NP Generation, NP Damage or Attack. For stats, she will almost always prefer a Craft Essence that gives flat Attack as it may help her reach a certain damage number to loop harder nodes. 

• Ocean Flyer / Dive To Blue: These Craft Essences are tailor-made for Vritra. All three of the stats they give are absolutely essential and massively improve Vritra’s consistency and damage. Their availability as farmable Craft Essences from past Events also make them easy choices for most Masters. 
• Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: For boosting any waveclearer’s damage, there is no other Craft Essence better than Black Grail. As Masters may find Vritra’s Damage lacking occasionally, Black Grail is the best solution. Heaven’s Feel works as a decent alternative.
• Royal Icing / Spring Chord / Mark on a Smiling Face  / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament: These are great Craft Essences that provide several relevant stats to Vritra that boost both her NP looping capacity as well as general purpose.