Dobrynya Nikitich (Lancer)

“Now that I've changed, everything's fine. I'll beat up the enemies, of course… And have as much fun as I can, right? ”

In a summer full of complicated and gimmicky Servants comes Dobrynya, a Servant who is just plain simple. As a Single Target Arts Lancer damage dealer, she does her job, washes her hands, and then moves on. Plus… dragons.

Dobrynya in general functions as a Single Target Arts damage dealer with the potential to loop. With an on-demand charge in My Summer Steed B, and a per-turn charge and NP gain up in Summertime Nikitich! B++, she gains quite a bit of NP gauge refund just naturally. Add to that decent star generation on the aforementioned skills and a bit of a Crit Damage up buff on Anti-Dragon Combat (Near Water) EX, and she also has decent non-NP potential in battles. She also does quite well in her niche, gaining bonus damage against Earth types, Dragon types (who more often than not are Earth types), and on Waterside battlefields through her 2nd skill’s extra buffs.

Sadly, her defenses are shoddy at best, relying on a single heal per turn with no hard defense options. She also tends to be selfish, meaning if a loop fails with her then the team could be in trouble. And in the age of complex Servants, being plain sometimes just means never being the best option.

Dobrynya could be a good option if a Master needs a single target Arts Lancer, and could feature as a Servant in a single target party. But we all know Masters will mainly summon her because dragon girls are cute.

NP Regen

Dobrynya has a host of abilities to regenerate her NP gauge, from her 3rd skill recharge per turn, her first skill’s flat charge, her NP gain on her 3rd skill, and her decent-hit count Arts Noble Phantasm. As a Single Target Arts damage dealer she will need support to consistently refill her gauge, but Masters should be able to get 2-3 Noble Phantasms off per three turns.

Critical Consistency

Dobrynya’s Critical damage may not be too impressive, but she generates stars in theory every turn to make them far more likely. Add to that a multi-turn Critical buff and her face cards tend to hit for more than they would have otherwise.

Niches

If a Master can get a fight against Altria Summer on a waterside battlefield, they will destroy her! But all jokes aside, Dobrynya has a number of niches, with her second skill giving bonus damage, defense, and Critical damage on Waterside fields, along with bonus damage against dragons, and her Noble Phantasm’s overcharge gives extra damage against Earth enemies. These are common features giving her a wide range of coverage.

Survival

Dobrynya has no hard defense options at all. She gets a small heal on her 3rd skill, and her 2nd skill offers a small defense up only if she is on a waterside battlefield. With a 4-star’s healthpool, and the nature of a Single Target damage dealer to often get hit more often, she will have issues surviving for long.

Selfish

All of Dobrynya’s skills are focused on her. While in some cases this may be a good thing, many 90++ nodes are geared towards multiple attackers dealing damage. She may benefit from the other attackers, but her own lack of party buffs makes her a liability.

Vanilla

There honestly is very little special about Dobrynya. She simply works in the right situations. Masters who love her can do well by her, but for the most part she will get outclassed by other Servants in most scenarios.

Dobrynya’s skills are focused around two main themes: Critical Star generation and NP regeneration. While she has a few other bells and whistles, she’s primarily going to be used for refund in one of two ways. Masters generally are going to look to use all three skills on the first turn, giving an immediate star bomb in her first turn for usage, getting the NP gauge charging per turn and Critical Stars dropping per turn, and pushing up her attack for her three on-turns. Suggested skill order 3, then 1, then 2.

• My Summer Steed B gives Dobrynya a good chunk of Stars, a chuck on NP gauge, and an Arts boost for three turns. This primarily is her battery to use on turn 1 to unleash immediate damage. This skill’s refund scales, so it is best to max it. I only have this as the 2nd skill to level as sometimes she might have enough to start a battle to already be at max, but it is close to equal with the third skill in importance.

• Anti-Dragon Combat (Near Water) EX can be a weak or powerful skill depending on which field Dobrynya is deployed on. On a normal field, it’s a decent sustained Crit damage buff, attack buff, and gives her a trait bonus against dragons. On a Waterside field it gives her even more Crit damage, attack, and defense, turning into powerful multipliers. That said, none of these effects are particularly crucial for effectiveness, so it can be leveled max and to whatever level a Master is comfortable at. It should be noted that if she has her append 5 and a 2-turn cooldown reduction from a mystic code or support Servant, she can cast this skill twice which makes it quite effective on turn 3.

• Summertime Nikitich! B++ gives Dobrynya her NP gauge per turn, NP gain up, and Critical Stars per turn, acting as her primary battery. It also is her sole true defense, giving a small heal. This battery is the primary source of her looping, so should be the primary focus. Level this first to max.

Dobrynya is overall a damage dealer. Noble Phantasm Damage Up cards always are the best option, especially for Arts focused Servants. Mixed Starting Gauge / Damage CEs are great choices for if a Master is going to struggle a bit with the loops or the node setup isn’t optimal. NP Gain Per Turn CEs could also help with this, giving more gain every turn she is out.

• The Black Grail: A staple for Arts damage dealers, it serves its purpose well here.

• Ocean Flier / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament / Holy Night Supper: By giving a good starting gauge, Dobrynya can loop easier and smoother.

• Prisma Cosmos: With Dobrynya’s native 10% charge per turn, another 10% could give her a massive 20% refund on top of her Noble Phantasm’s refund and external support charges. This could make future waves quite accessible.