Galatea

“Stone, wood, bronze ─ The materials don’t matter. I just want Master to show me your most favorite statue. How you cherish such treasure will tell me the kind of man you are.”

An automaton, a blessed vessel by the goddess of beauty, and an embodiment of human obsession; Galatea, the combination of all such oddities, manifests just as peculiarly in Fate / Grand Order. An Arts-centric Single Target Berserker, Galatea is a powerhouse in Challenge Quests or irregular farming quests thanks to her strong damage output, tenacity, and unusually great utility for a Berserker. 

Galatea’s primary weapon is the chisel of her creator - the king Pygmalion. This is represented in-game as her Noble Phantasm - Pygmalion Chisel Out, a single target Arts Noble Phantasm with 9 hits that increases her NP Damage for 3 turns before damage calculation and drains her enemy’s NP Bar after. With her class, natural generation stats and these effects alone, this Noble Phantasm already hits hard and has a very respectable refund. But when combined together with her skills, Galatea becomes a lot more unique as a boss slayer in high difficulty environments. 

Her first skill, Pygmalion Love EX, is a standard moderate card booster for 3 turns for both her Buster and Arts cards, her two primary card types. However, this also increases her NP Gauge which is a major help for any looping setup, and a very rare Buff Removal Resistance buff for one time over 3 turns. Sculpture Maiden A is Galatea’s primary form of survival. On an 8-turn base cooldown (6 at max), this skill provides a 3turn, one time stackable Guts, and a whopping 100% Defense buff for two times over three turns. Both of these effects are excellent at reducing any chance of Galatea falling early, especially considering her class. Last but not least, Aphrodite’s Blessing EX provides a much coveted teamwide Debuff Removal effect for three consecutive turns and a great HP recovery effect for the same duration on top of that. 

Galatea is a very well-rounded Servant. Despite her skillset’s focus on defensive tools and utility, with relatively few offensive buffs, her damage is quite potent. She shines the most as a damage dealer in Arts-centric teams where she can continuously fire off her Noble Phantasm with safety while countering bosses’ gimmicks with her various tools. Not only does Galatea shine in tough and difficult content, her progressively stronger and easily loopable Noble Phantasm can be a powerful asset in irregular event farming quests, particularly when supported with strong support Servants like Altria Caster or Nero Claudius (Bride).

If there are some major flaws Galatea would have, it would be her dependency on Support Servants to reach her full potential. While this is a problem most Arts centric DPS have, and Galatea can certainly function by herself, the difference in performance is quite stark. Furthermore, while she is certainly durable compared to most Berserkers, Galatea is still quite vulnerable and fragile when her defensive skills are not in effect, and thus can fall easily to any stray critical hits or hard-hitting boss. Last but not least, Galatea has to compete with a plethora of powerful single target Arts-centric Damage Dealers, including powerful Servants like Vlad III or Astraea. If Master already has several other options with better NP level, Galatea would be surplus to requirement.

All in all, Galatea has many strong points to her game with very few weaknesses. While she is by no means a must have due to the vast amount of competent Arts Damage Dealers, Galatea is still a fantastic option for any Master looking for a competent, all-purpose damage dealer. 

Strong NP Looping Potential

Thanks to her multi-hit Noble Phantasm, Arts Performance buff, and NP battery in her kit, Galatea has a fantastic base to start with. Put her in the company of powerful Arts Supports, and this ivory lady has no trouble using her Noble Phantasm repeatedly.

Fantastic Survivability And Challenge Quest Utility

With her massive Defensive buffs, Guts and Healing every turn, Galatea can be quite durable even as a Berserker. As an Arts Servant, Galatea also benefits from the increased synergy from a multitude of powerful defensive support Servants like Tamamo-no-Mae or Jeanne d’Arc, along with pretty much any Arts centric Supports. Furthermore, Galatea has some rare and coveted effects that are highly suited for taking on high difficulty contents, such as Anti Buff Removal and teamwide Debuff Removal. 

High Noble Phantasm Damage Potential

Being a Berserker, Galatea’s base damage output is already above average. However, once she gets going, her damage potential can be scary. Thanks to her Noble Phantasm giving three turn NP Damage buff, Galatea can easily deal progressively stronger damage if she is allowed to spam her Noble Phantasm. 

Reliant On Supports

On her own, Galatea is merely an above average Damage Dealer with some nice utilities on somewhat high cooldown. Her true potential is realized when put into the company of Arts Supports, as they can magnify her performance many fold, both in terms of firepower and defense. 

Strong Competition

Within her class and niche, Galatea already has a powerful competitor in Vlad III and in the future Kriemhild. Outside of her class, there are various powerful Arts Single Target Servants of other classes, such as Dioscuri or Euryale. While being a Berserker has its perk of being ubiquitously useful, it is generally more beneficial to take advantage of class advantage in challenging content for both the higher damage boost and resistance. Thus, it can be hard to justify rolling for Galatea. 

Galatea’s skills’ values lie in their utility rather than explosive numbers. Furthermore, as her gameplay revolves around both endurance and repeated assault, she benefits the most from the reduced cooldown from her skills. Generally, it is recommended to prioritize the skill levels of the Support Servants that goes with her before raising her skill levels. 

• Pygmalion’s Love EX  – While the effects are rather straightforward, they are all very beneficial and instrumental to Galatea’s performance. While the NP Gauge charge does not increase with level, it is still highly recommended to be maxed early since this is also her sole damage buff. 
• Sculpture Maiden A – At base, the Defensive buff is only 50%, thus there is value in leveling this skill beyond reducing its cooldown. It is quite functional even at lower levels, so the priority should be lower than her first skill. 
• Aphrodite's Blessing EX – A very powerful skill that is extremely valuable against various gimmicks. However, the main value from leveling this skill is for the cooldown reduction, as only the healing value scales with level. It is best to raise this to level 6 first, before committing further resources on it. 

Galatea’s preference for stats from Craft Essences is fairly standard. For ease of use, Starting NP Gauge is easily the most versatile, as it makes her Support options less limited. For boosting damage, NP Damage, Attack Up or Arts Performance Up are all valid options, while NP Generation will improve her looping capability. As her Guts is stackable, a Craft Essence which grants Guts can be an interesting choice to bolster her survivability. Generally, a combination of these stats are all acceptable for Galatea. 

• Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: Black Grail is the best-in-class choice for most Damage Dealers, particularly loopers as they can get such a quick return from it. Heaven’s Feel serves as a slightly weaker option without the HP reduction demerit. 
• Ocean Flyer / Dive to Blue / Painting Summer / New Beginnings: Hybrid Starting NP Gauge and Arts Performance are the best Craft Essences for general purposes. They help Galatea kickstart her NP Looping while also providing a generous boost to her damage output. 
• Necromancy / Princess of the White Rose / Chaldea Lifesavers: Craft Essences that grant Guts are quite rare, and these are potentially the most fitting to Galatea out of the small selection of them.