Jeanne d'Arc (Berserker Alter)

"I’ll get the German Dictionary!”

Upset that her counterpart got a swimsuit version, Jeanne D’Arc Alter decided to change her Saint Graph so that she could strip down too and unleash her Chuuni powers. However, something must have snapped in her mind, turning her into a Berserker with only one aim in mind: Raw Single Target Buster Noble Phantasm Damage. Which for some reason is now in German instead of French…

Everything about Jeanne revolves around her Noble Phantasm, Völkermord Feuerdrache. This Noble Phantasm, thanks to the ease of her reaching NP5 as a welfare servant, Madness Enhancement EX, an attack buff from Fallen Witch, and a Buster buff from Meurs Où Tu Dois, dishes out so much damage against a single target that very few SSRs can match it at NP1 even with type advantage. Thanks to her gorilla deck (BBBAQ), she has a decent chance of forming a devastating NPBB chain to obliterate her enemies, as well as inflicting painful burns from her Noble Phantasm and Witch of Downfall skill. In addition, her Schwarzwald Falke skill gives her a much needed evasion, dodging one hit every turn for three turns.

True to her role as a glass cannon, Jeanne breaks upon contact. Her low HP pool combined with Berserker type disadvantage leaves her vulnerable to losing massive chunks of life if she is attacked twice in a turn and is susceptible to getting oneshot by a poorly timed critical hit. Losing 1000 health to Meurs Où tu Dois’s demerit doesn’t help either. Most unfortunately, Jeanne doesn’t have the greatest NP Gain, having a much lower generation rate than most gorilla style decks, so she will have to rely on her own 20% charge and CEs/Support.

Overall, Jeanne Berserker Alter does not fare well in sustained fights due to her fragility. However, in fights where a pure blast of damage is required, very few Servants can top the intensity of the twin dark flaming dragons hidden within her left arm.

Explosive Noble Phantasm

Against a single target, Jeanne possesses one of the strongest Noble Phantasms in the game. Everything she does is centered around damage, and it boosts her damage to levels which permit her to strike almost any non-Earth enemy for over 100k damage without any external buffs factored in.

Charge Skill

Meurs Où tu Dois provides Jeanne with a much needed 20% charge to cap off starting gauge CEs and supports. This helps compensate for her otherwise poor NP Gain, and allows her to slot in much more comfortably in a composition centered around fast farming.

Burn it all!

Jeanne is capable of providing major burn damage to opponents via a 2000 or more damage per turn burn on her Noble Phantasm, and another 500 damage per attack when attacking with normal attacks. When combined with such effects like Spread of Fire from other Servants such as Archer of Inferno, this can result in devastating damage every turn to survivors.

Hard Survival

Jeanne has access to a 3-turn evasion, for one hit per turn, and is a valuable boost to her durability provided that the enemy does not hit her more than once in any turn. This has the potential to be three turns of immunity from damage if luck falls favorably, which could be crucial in a fight.

Extremely Low Durability

Despite Jeanne’s hard survival in the form of Evasion, when a hit connects on her it hurts. She takes double damage from all classes except for other Berserkers, and her low HP pool only makes matters worse. One or two critical hits could easily put her out of commission.

Poor NP Gain

Most Servants with a gorilla deck have a high base NP gain modifier to make their (single) Arts card more effective at filling their gauge. Jeanne has a paltry 0.52%. While she does have good hit counts on her Arts and Extra card, and a 30% NP gain boost on Scharzwald Falke, her low crit gather rate prevents her from taking full advantage of this.

Jeanne exists for one reason and one reason only: damage. Masters should prioritize raising her damage skills, Witch of Downfall and Meurs Où tu Dois first. Scharzwald Falke should be saved for last as it only minimally improves her NP gain with levels.

• Schwarzwald Falke B serves as Jeanne Alter’s primary hard survival, providing a crucial 3-turn 1-hit-per-turn evasion, while also providing a boost to her NP gain. While the skill is vitally important on first use, it is unlikely Jeanne Alter will survive longer than 6 turns to make use of its cooldown, and its NP Gain is mostly negligible. This skill could effectively remain at level 1 with little noticeable difference.
• Fallen Witch A+ is one of Jeanne’s two damage boost skills, and the more powerful of the two as it lasts for three turns and also provides a burn effect on her normal attacks. In practice, Masters will pop this skill at the same time as Meurs Où tu Dois to boost Noble Phantasm damage. As a Master is primarily using Jeanne for damage, Masters should max out this skill.
• Meurs Où Tu Dois EX is the other of Jeanne’s two damage skills, buffing her Buster as well as providing a 20% charge. The Buster buff scales with level, while the NP charge does not. Unlike Witch of Downfall, this skill lasts one turn only. Again, as a Master is primarily using Jeanne for damage, they should max out this skill, although if a priority had to be made, this could be maxed second.

As Jeanne exists for her Noble Phantasm, all focus should be placed on CEs which either boost her damage or give her earlier/easier access to use it – or both. Noble Phantasm Damage Up CEs provide her the best bang for her buck with multiplicative stacking, but require extensive support to fill her gauge. Mixed Damage / Starting Gauge CEs are also effective, lowering the support she needs in exchange for some damage. Starting Gauge CEs work if support is unavailable or best used elsewhere.

• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel – The most powerful damage increase in the game comes with a tradeoff of having to rely on Jeanne’s low NP gain to fill her gauge, or external supports. But if a Master can do this, Jeanne can easily hit for multiple hundreds of thousands of damage per Noble Phantasm.
• Aerial Drive / Holy Night Supper / Golden Sumo / Partake with the King: Getting Jeanne kickstarted with 50%+ starting gauge and providing a damage boost may be the best option for Masters. As Jeanne has a Buster Noble Phantasm, Aerial Drive is preferred over the others.
• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian: For fast damage, Masters may want to use a pure starting gauge CE for minimal to no support requirements. With a Kaleidoscope, Jeanne is able to fill her gauge on the first turn by herself with her own skills.