Leonardo da Vinci (Ruler)

“Da Vinci-chan, here I go!”

After many years of receiving quests from Da Vinci in her many forms, at long last she has agreed to come to our Chaldea without having to spend a single Saint Quartz. As the first free Welfare Single Target Damage Dealing and Support Ruler, Da Vinci truly shines as a benefit for newer masters and perhaps a budget option for older ones.

Da Vinci’s main strengths lie in being a jack of all trades. First, she’s an excellent support Servant, capable of giving damage boosts to a single ally through Dreaming Machine, NP damage boosts to the entire party through Shining at Twilight, and help with looping with Treasure Checker. She also has a fairly decent Noble Phantasm, doing significant damage. Furthermore, she’s rather bulky and tough to bring down.

Unfortunately, none of her skills particularly stand out. They are all at rather low modifiers, so for experienced Masters there are often better options to support the team in each role. She also lacks a hard defense, having to rely entirely on her HP pool to keep her alive. Furthermore, her Noble Phantasm’s bonus effects are entirely random so cannot be relied upon or built around.

For a new Master, Da Vinci Ruler is an excellent Servant to build a team around, especially due to her access to coins through the event to unlock her Append skills and perhaps extra damage. But, as she does not have the super-cute ice skates of her Rider counterpart, she’s nowhere near as appealing. 

Excellent Support

Da Vinci Ruler was made for support. For one, she has a nice triple-card boost for a single ally which lasts for three turns, supporting any type of Servant. To add to that, her Noble Phantasm damage up is a rare but powerful steroid for the entire team, typically with multiplicative effects to those on the field when cast. Add to that a targeted charge with NP gain rate up to aid with looping and we have a Servant capable of every offensive-related support. 

Decent Damage

Da Vinci Ruler has easy access to NP5 as well as a full 480 coins from her event. This gives Masters the potential to unlock her Append 2 skill, and if they wish, grail her all the way to level 120. Even without that, she does a fairly large chuck on damage which can easily be boosted with other supports, even at neutral Ruler levels. 

Bulky

Da Vinci Ruler is exactly that: a Ruler. Taking half damage from every main class, she will be able to take a couple of hits without issue.

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

Most strong support Servants have something special about them such as a 50% card type up or a 50% charge. Da Vinci Ruler has mediocre numbers on everything, allowing her to support all types of other units, but never turn them into superstars. 

No Hard Defense

Nothing in Da Vinci Ruler’s kit allows her to avoid damage in any way. Further, she is typically run with supports who don’t provide a hard invulnerability or an evasion either, meaning she is going to take damage from Noble Phantasms. 

Random Noble Phantasm 

Da Vinci Ruler’s Noble Phantasm gives excellent buffs, be it a powerful 3-turn attack up, a boatload of stars, or a charge for the party. Unfortunately, which one is chosen at random and cannot be relied upon. This further complicates things as the attack up is best at the start of the chain, which a charge is best at the end. 

All of Da Vinci’s skills are designed around support. Whether using her as the main damage dealer or a support, she will want to cast all her skills on the first turn on whoever is doing the damage. They all benefit from max level, but Treasure Checker is the only one which has to be maxed.

• Dreaming Machine A gives a 20% boost to every type of card to a single ally for 3-turns. It’s a rather vanilla skill, but far better than an attack up as these also boost the benefits from these cards such as NP gain on Arts cards. This should be leveled last as it only applies to a single target, and can be left at level 6 or 9 safely as it only provides small boosts per level. 
• Treasure Checker B gives both a 20% charge and a NP gain rate boost to a single ally. This skill is crucial to aid Masters trying to loop other Servants with Da Vinci Ruler, and is used to get their refunds going. As charges can make or break setups, this should be leveled first and to max.
• Shining at Twilight EX gives a team-wide NP damage boost while also increasing overcharge for that given turn. For some Servants, this overcharge boost can be incredibly damaging such as with supereffective damage situations. The NP damage boost is further a benefit if Oberon is in the mix as it will be doubled turn three by him. This skill also gives a critical rate down on enemies, but this likely will not come into play. Level this second, but it can be safely left at level 9 if missing materials.

If a Master is planning to use Da Vinci as a DPS, her Craft Essence selections are the traditional Noble Phantasm Damage Up and Mixed Starting Gauge / Damage CEs. However, as a support she benefits significantly for the team with Star Generation CEs and Bond / Event CEs, or potentially Starting NP Gauge CEs to get an initial support burst out with her Noble Phantasm.

• The Black Grail: Like all damage dealers, a Black Grail boosts her damage the most possible. Note that the demerit is not halved by her Ruler classing.
• Aerial Drive / Holy Night Supper / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament / Partake with the King / Starry Nights: Giving Da Vinci a strong starting charge can allow her to access her Noble Phantasm earlier for both damage and support.
• Fragment of 2030 / Golden Catches the Carp: Da Vinci’s only major problem with support is no guaranteed way to drop stars, so this allows her to do so.
• Chaldea Lunchtime / Chaldea Teatime: As a support, Da Vinci doesn’t really need a CE to function, so she may become a CE holder for bond EXP or events.
• Kaleidoscope: Alternatively, Masters may want to use her Noble Phantasm early for whatever random beneficial effect it can give. With a 20% starting charge from her Append 2, this will allow instant access even without a MLB.