Caenis (Rider)

“C'mon, let's freakin' gooo!”

What is the best way to act as a security guard for Chaldea? Donning a bikini and riding a sea dragon, of course. With what is clearly a security uniform from Baywatch, Rider Caenis serves primarily as a Crit-Oriented Single Target Buster Damage Dealer, with some added bonuses for waterside fields.

Basically everything about Caenis has to do with their Crits. With their high critical damage bonus from Sea Serpent Storm Blues’s overcharge effect, combined with their natural star generation from Sea King Style B and Summertime Combat B+, they will dish out major damage on bosses with Cards. In addition, their Noble Phantasm can do some of the best 4-star Rider damage in the game thanks to damage bonuses from Beach Crisis (Poseidon) EX, as well as Sea King Style EX and their Noble Phantasm’s effect. They also can gain more on waterside fields with bonus effects on Summertime Combat and their Noble Phantasm.

Caenis, however, is a bit too late to be a truly remarkable Servant. They lack any sort of charging ability, and with average Cards at best they will struggle to refund their gauge properly. Further, they have only a 1-time 3-turn Guts available, so they will be lacking in durability. They’re also very support and card-draw reliant to become truly exceptional.

Caenis requires a lot of investment to truly work, but if a Master has the support and CEs to help them, they will really shine with their Crits. Just don’t mention Poseidon around them!

Critical Damage

Caenis has the potential to dish out some major Critical hits due to their kit. While the 30% Critical damage on their first skill is a nice bonus, most of this comes from the overcharge effect on their Noble Phantasm, giving a massive 50% bonus to Crit damage for 3-turns. This can stack with multiple uses of their noble phantasm to create some crazy numbers. With a small star-bomb on their 2nd skill, and star regen per turn on their third, they won’t be lacking in stars either. Caenis also has the perfect Rider typing for this, with a high natural absorb rate of Stars. 

Noble Phantasm Damage

Despite lacking a useful passive, Caenis does have one of the better Noble Phantasm numbers for their rarity. With bonuses to attack and card damage on their skills, and a stacking Noble Phantasm Damage bonus on their Noble Phantasm, they manage to deal large amounts of damage to their enemies in a massive hit. 

Field Bonuses

Caenis is decent enough to not be reliant on a Waterside Field to function, making their field bonuses a true bonus. Primarily, if they’re near the water they get a further bonus of attack on their Noble Phantasm, putting them at 5-star damage levels, along with generating so many stars per turn that they will never be short.

No Charge

In the modern era, almost every new Servant has some sort of way to fill up their gauge. Caenis lacks it, having mediocre hit counts and no battery to increase their gauge. For a Servant so reliant on their Noble Phantasm to function, this flaw can become detrimental. 

Lacking Survivability

True to Caenis, they put most of their effort into their Attack, so they don’t have much in the way of Defense. They have a relatively small health pool, and only a single 1-time Guts which they can only keep up about half the time. As a Single Target oriented Servant they will likely take some hits in the process, so may be prone to a bad Critical hit or Noble Phantasm ruining their day. 

Support and Card Reliant

Caenis needs to use both their Noble Phantasm to boost their Critical potential, and their Criticals on their Arts cards to boost their Noble Phantasm gauge. This cyclical pattern means they are reliant on specific supports to aid them, specifically Koyanskaya of Light to give them their missing gauge and Buster boosts. They also have to have the right cards on the right turn, aiming for an Arts card wave 2 and Buster cards wave 3 to perform optimally. There is just too much which needs to go right to function the best possible.

All of Caenis’s skills are oriented around sustained damage and Critical hits. All three of them should be used on their first turn. Their first and second skills boost their damage, and their third boosts their stars per turn for future Star usage, so it is always best to get them going. As their first skill boosts their damage in two ways and their second one, it’s suggested to level that first, while their third skill does not boost any damage at all. No skill is crucial to level to max, but Masters truly invested in Caenis should in order to maximize their utility.

• Beach Crisis (Poseidon) EX is Caenis’s only skill which affects the entire party, boosting both Attack and Critical damage. In reality, Caenis only uses this as a buff for themselves from the start to keep numbers high. Level this first, but it can be left at lower levels if lacking materials. 
• Sea King Style B gives Caenis boosts to both Arts and Buster cards as well as a decent 15-star drop. This skill helps Caenis both in dealing out the major Buster criticals, as well as improving refund on Arts cards throughout the fight. It is best used on turn 1 as an initial source of stars as their third skill won’t produce usable stars until the 2nd wave. Level it second, but again it can be left at lower levels if lacking materials. 
• Summertime Combat B+ gives Caenis a star regeneration and their only survivability, a 1-time 3-turn Guts. The regen is decent given Caenis’s Rider absorption nature, but is even better if on a waterside field where it doubles the amount of stars generated each turn. This also does give them some better absorption on waterside fields, but Rider classing and supports typically make this a redundant trait. Level this last to as high as materials allow to get the most stars per turn.

Caenis wants access to their Noble Phantasm and fast to get their Critical Damage going. Starting NP Gauge Craft Essences are the way to go. Lacking that, certain Overcharge CEs can give them extra Critical damage stacking, equivalent to what they’d get out of 1 and a half Noble Phantasms. Otherwise, they benefit most from Mixed Starting Gauge / Critical Absorb CEs.

• Kaleidoscope: While other starting gauge CEs can be effective, Caenis is begging to start the battle with a 100% Starting Gauge. Getting their Critical Damage buffs going is crucial for their kit. With a double Koyanskaya of Light, this can guarantee two Noble Phantasms in the first two turns, allowing for potentially a 260% boost to Buster Crits the final turn, a 260% boost to Buster in general, and a 40% Attack bonus. A swapsuit, Oberon, and some luck could even make these numbers higher. 
• Flower Sunshine / Love's Curse / Devilish Bodhisattva / One Who Wishes for Salvation: Caenis’s Overcharge effect is their crit damage bonus. This scales quite well, with a 2-time Overcharge giving 75% bonus instead of 50%. If unable to cast multiple Noble Phantasms, any 2-time Overcharge CE will still give a respectable boost. While Charm of Love and DB have starting Charge, The One Who Desires Salvation will grant this over multiple turns, giving the potential for Caenis to get the effect of 3 Noble Phantasms in 2 if they can get enough charge off their cards. 
• A Walk in the Park / A Tale of Love and Hope / Teacher and I: Nothing is quite as bad as Caenis not having the right luck and failing to absorb the stars they need. So by giving a star absorb CE, this can guarantee the ability to grab them. It’s best to give a starting gauge too in order to guarantee one or two Noble Phantasms during the three-turn burst period.