Leonardo da Vinci (Rider)

“Kids can’t reach the top shelf, right? That’s the difference.”

Vanilla Da Vinci had one glaring problem as a Servant: She did not have ice skates. So, Da Vinci-chan was born, skating around as an AoE Arts Damage Dealer who can charge her Noble Phantasm gauge in a hurry.

As a damage dealer, the main key is getting a Noble Phantasm gauge up as quickly as possible. Da Vinci-chan does that in 3 different ways: with a 20% per turn gain on Golden Rule (Body) EX, a 10% gain on Dream Upon the Star D, and a 20% refund on her Noble Phantasm, Beautiful Journey B. Notably, her NP also provides 20% NP gauge to all allies as well, which can help the party’s damage output or supportive capacity as a whole. She’s stocked up for durability too with Golden Rule’s heal and an evasion on Accel Turn B which doesn’t expire until she’s hit. Speaking of Accel Turn, she’s quite decent with critical attacks with its boost to damage.

Da Vinci-chan is a powerful Servant, but she has two glaring weaknesses. First, her burst damage is a little low with only small buffs on her Noble Phantasm’s overcharge and Dream Upon the Star’s NP strength buff. She also lacks sustain beyond the initial three turns of skill uptime.

Without a doubt, Da Vinci-chan is among the premiere Riders of the game and would make an excellent addition to any Master’s Chaldea. Seeing her dressed up as the queen of the rink is simply icing on the cake. 

Fast Charging Noble Phantasm

With a combination of Golden Rule Body and her Noble Phantasm’s overcharge, a Master using a Noble Phantasm with her Golden Rule (Body) active will get a 40% recharge, plus the recharge she gets from her Noble Phantasm’s hits (a minimum of 14% on a 3-mob wave), she’ll easily fire off multiple Noble Phantasms in a short time. With proper supports, this allows for a rapid-fire start to any battle.

Sturdy

Da Vinci-chan has a powerful evasion skill which, although being for only one hit, does not expire until that hit occurs. Add that to her decent HP pool and a heal per turn on Golden Rule (Body), and it’ll be hard to bring her down. Furthermore, she’ll be immune to debuffs the entire time Golden Rule (Body) is active, which is an impressive three turns.

Critical Power

Da Vinci-chan’s Accel Turn grants her a turn of Critical Damage up, and what makes it even better is that it won’t burn any other effects as it is tied to her 1-time non-expiring evasion. She’ll have no trouble gathering Critical Stars as a Rider, so a Master who gives her the Stars will receive the damage. 

Low Damage

While Da Vinci-chan can gather Noble Phantasm gauge easily, it doesn’t pack quite the punch of her competition - at least not until a certain Saber decides to become a magical girl. If properly supported she can deal decent damage at the cost of losing some gauge supporters, but for now her damage is on the lower end of the spectrum.

Lack of Sustain

Da Vinci-chan has three turns of Noble Phantasm Power with Golden Rule (Body)’s charges and Dream of Stars D’s Noble Phantasm Damage up. But besides that, she has only a one turn Critical bonus to help her output, making her a dead weight when she’s not on her burst turns. 

Not a Magical Girl

Da Vinci-chan is 1) a girl, 2) wields a staff, and 3) has a Caster variant. This was a perfect opportunity for DW to make her a magical girl, but instead they decided to be DW and do otherwise! Now, don’t get me wrong, Ice Skating Da Vinci-chan is glorious in all of its facets, but could you imagine Da Vinci-chan flying around with sparkles and casting spells like “Pura Pura, Purarin!” and winning the hearts of friends and enemies alike? She’d be a top pick to befriend all of the Lostbelt Kings and Crypters! Such a wasted opportunity, sheesh! [Disclaimer: Your Mileage May Vary - maybe riding a cross dimensional tank counts for you as the qualities of a Magical Girl]

As a fast charger, Da Vinci’s skills revolve around getting her gauge up as quickly as possible. The skills in general are not particularly support-oriented, and more about what she can get out of them.

• Golden Rule (Body) EX is the most powerful skill Da Vinci-chan possesses, giving her up to 20% gauge charge per turn, a moderate heal per turn, and Debuff immune - all for 3 turns. Masters will want to pop this immediately for farming situations to get the most out of her. This charge increases by level, so it is imperative to level it first all the way to level 10.
• Accel Turn B gives Da Vinci-chan a 1-turn Critical Damage boost, potentially useful for Turn 4 when the refund party has ended, or for earlier to pair with a Noble Phantasm against a boss. This skill also gives her a 1-hit evasion which never expires. As her Criticals are less important than her NP charging, this skill can be left for last, but it should still be leveled to max to take advantage of its low 4-turn cooldown.
• Dream Upon the Star D is Da Vinci-chan’s most supportive skill, giving the party a 10% charge, a boost to Noble Phantasm damage, and a boost to overcharge. Masters may want to hold off on using this skill until later in an encounter, however, as the boost to her Overcharge enables a stronger Noble Phantasm with more Arts up. Level this second. If a Master is short on materials, they can leave it at level 9. 

Da Vinci-chan is a damage dealer, which means she gets the standard damage dealer’s CE recommendations. Her best options are Starting NP Gauge CEs to unleash a free Noble Phantasm early before relying on her regeneration. Barring that, a Master may opt for a Mixed Starting Gauge / Damage CE. Or, if a Master can get her gauge up with supports, they may opt for a Noble Phantasm Damage CE.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian: Standards of all damage dealers, these CEs help Da Vinci-chan unleash her Noble Phantasm earlier and begin charging up for another.
• Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament / Painting Summer / Holy Night Supper: Da Vinci-chan has boosts to both Arts (via NP overcharge) and NP Strength (via skill 3), so a CE which supports attack and gives a starting gauge is her best bet. 
• The Black Grail: Da Vinci-chan benefits surprisingly well with a Black Grail as with Golden Rule (Body) and Dream Upon the Star D she can passively have a minimum of 50% charge turn 3. With a little support, she can fire off a powerful Noble Phantasm against the enemy without a problem. In fact, its demerit is entirely counteracted by Golden Rule (Body) making this quite a nice CE for her.