Assassin of Paraiso

“Shinobi are like shadows.”

Any good ninja, especially a founder of a kunoichi clan like Assassin of Paraiso, knows best how to silence an enemy’s lips through persuasion or death. As a high utility Assassin specializing in the art of seals and curses, and with her proficiency in spamming her single target Arts Noble Phantasm, Assassin of Paraiso does exactly that.

Assassin of Paraiso’s primary asset comes from her ability to spam her Noble Phantasm. Thanks to her 3-turn Arts buff on Curse of the Orochi, her high base NP gain rate, and her Arts NP with a decent hit count, Assassin of Paraiso can refund her Kuchiyose・Ibuki Daimyōjin Engi pretty well especially with additional Arts cards. As one of the few ST assassin servants possessing an NP charge in Kougaryu, she can even quickly top off any potential NP gauge remaining. In addition, she possesses very high utility. With a skill seal on her Noble Phantasm, an enemy critical rate Down on Overcharge, as well as a valuable NP skill seal on her Curse (Shrine Maiden) skill, she has the ability to fit in well with stalling-based Arts compositions.

That said, she’s a rather tricky servant to field in practice. For one, she only has a single mid-sized steroid in her Arts buff and thus remains hamstrung by her 0.9x Assassin modifier. As such, her damage is noticeably low, relying on multiple NPs to match the higher damage of others. She also suffers in durability, as her one-turn Evasion is tied to her NP charge on Kougaryu, meaning Masters may be forced to delay its usage in the name of survival. Furthermore, as an Arts Assassin with no Star Generation buff to compensate, her Star Generation amounts to very little for her important chains, even with Presence Concealment A+.

Between the ease with which she can use her NP and her stalling potential, Assassin of Paraiso’s kit is perfectly functional and fits in neatly with most Arts-based compositions. Unfortunately though, Assassin of Paraiso lacks the sheer damage to back up her otherwise very solid set of skills.

NP Seals are powerful debuffs that in practice are a variation of the more standard NP Drain. NP Seals both prevent an enemy from using their NP and stops the normal end-of-turn NP charging every enemy has. Depending on the enemy, Masters thus should not wait for an enemy to have a full NP bar before applying NP Seal.

In that sense, NP Seals are an upgraded version of NP Drains as Masters can still be surprised by enemy NP battery skills after they drain an NP bar. In addition, NP Seals can be applied to full effect even when an enemy has an empty NP bar.

But there is one major drawback to NP Seals: They can be resisted or cleansed. NP Drains bypass normal resistances, and at 100% success chance, will always “stick” to the target.

Good NP Gain

Thanks to a pair of Arts cards, high base NP Gain, and a good Extra card, Assassin of Paraiso has the potential to charge her NP gauge in a hurry via chains that begin with her Arts card. This is not only boosted by her Curse of the Orochi’s 30% Arts Performance buff for 3 turns on a 5 turn cooldown, but also her 30% NP Gauge boost from Kougaryu.

Spammable NP

Between her own Arts Performance buff, her 5-hit Arts Noble Phantasm, and how much she benefits from chains that start with an Arts card, Assassin of Paraiso can quickly recharge her Noble Phantasm. Masters who have saved up her NP Charge can unleash her NP twice in the span of 3 turns fairly easily, even more so if they drew her impressive NPAA-chain.

Strong Stalling Utility

With the ability to Skill seal, NP Seal, inflict a minor Critical Chance Down, and the potential to inflict Curse with each of her Arts Cards, Assassin of Paraiso has plenty of tools to harass enemy bosses and potentially delay certain key mechanics. Furthermore, her spammable NP and low cooldowns work especially well in stalling compositions, especially as her NP Seal can be used to prevent surprise NPs on Break.

Low Damage

Assassins work on stealth for quick and precise hits, not overpowering their enemy. With a 0.9x damage modifier and only a single mid-sized Arts steroid, Assassin of Paraiso will struggle to match the damage output of her single target competition.

Mediocre Durability

While Assassin of Paraiso has an Evasion, Masters should not be fooled into thinking she’s a durable Servant. In practice, Masters will often prefer to use this skill to charge her Noble Phantasm, leaving her defenseless against enemy attacks. 

Poor Star Generation

Assassin of Paraiso’s passive, Presence Concealment, is geared towards Star Generation like most Assassins. However, she has only middling hit counts on to make use of it and ideally prefers to rely on her Arts cards. She can make stars if forced into non-Arts cards usage, but it’s typically weaker than her competition. 

Assassin of Paraiso’s main strength comes from her ability to quickly recharge her NP, which is boosted by an increase in Arts Performance and her NP Charge. Therefore, Masters should level her Curse of the Orochi and her Kougaryu concurrently, ideally hitting rank 6 on both before deciding whether to commit fully. In addition, Kougaryu hits a key benchmark in NP Charging performance at max rank in combination with 50% Starting NP Gauge for turn 1 NPs with supports. Lastly, while Curse (Shrine Maiden) is the least important, it’s still essential for stalling compositions to max it for the increased hit rate and short cooldown.

• Curse (Shrine Maiden) C is Assassin of Paraiso’s Noble Phantasm sealing skill. While leveling it will only increase its chance to hit, actually missing the NP Seal can spell disaster in the face of an enemy NP. See the Gameplay Tip below for advice on NP Seals. This should be leveled last, but a 5-turn cooldown on it is rather powerful.

• Curse of the Orochi is a nice 3-turn Arts boost with a 5-turn cooldown. This skill not only will help Assassin of Paraiso’s Noble Phantasm damage, but also boosts her NP Gain and NP Refund. The curse damage is a small bonus in most situations, but can stack up pretty quickly and have its use in high Defense Challenge Quests. This should be leveled concurrently with Kougaryu.

• Kougaryu A serves as Assassin of Paraiso’s NP Charge, as well as her Evasion. The main draw during normal quests will be the NP Charge, and the NP Charge hits key CE benchmarks at rank 6 and 10. The Evasion can be considered a bonus, except during more difficult quests. Level this concurrently with Curse of the Orochi.

Considering Assassin of Paraiso’s Noble Phantasm damage is lackluster but fairly easy to charge, Masters will want to use focus on CEs that improve her damage or allow for easier NP Spam potential. As such, most hybrid Starting NP Gauge CEs are excellent options. Given her own Arts buff and those of any Arts supports, NP Gain scales rather well with an NP Spamming strategy. For more pure damage, both Attack Up and NP Damage Up scale well. If in doubt, Arts Performance Up strikes a nice balance between either facets.

• Golden Sumo / Holy Night Supper / Dive to Blue: While both Golden Sumo and Holy Night Supper serve to boost Assassin of Paraiso’s general damage, Dive to Blue sacrifices a bit of damage due to its mixed ATK/HP nature to boost her natural NP gain and allow for more frequent NPs.

• Magical Girl of Sapphire / Little Halloween Devil / Cute Orangette: These NP Gain CEs work excellently in dedicated Arts compositions. 

• Formalcraft / Kaleid Sapphire / Projection: Striking a balance between damage and NP Gain, these Arts Performance CEs are always safe options

• Black Grail: Desperate times call for desperate measures. Provides Masters can keep Assassin of Paraiso alive, the Black Grail provides the strongest sustained source of damage.