Mandricardo

“Wow, you’re really doing all this for a third-rate Servant like me?”

The breakout star of Atlantis, our friend Mandricardo is a relatively straightforward ST Arts Servant. Mandricardo makes up for his 3* status with strong general-purpose damage buffs, letting him compete effectively with his higher-rarity competition. He also brings a little bit of utility to protect the team and can remove himself from the field when his job is done. While Mandricardo may not be a flashy Servant, he’s still a strong option every Master gets access to, and for that, his service is appreciated.

Mandricardo’s kit is filled with ways to increase his damage. Armor of the Nine Worthies and Brigliadoro’s Neigh both provide sustained damage boosts for Mandricardo, helping him to hit harder over multiple turns, especially if he can loop his Noble Phantasm. Speaking of his Noble Phantasm, Serment de Durandal also provides a damage boost before dealing damage, further increasing Mandricardo’s damage output. Especially with the help of strong Arts supports, Mandricardo has good enough NP gain to use his NP multiple times in a row, letting him take advantage of these sustained damage buffs.

While Mandricardo is good at outputting damage, he doesn’t do much else well. Brigliadoro’s Neigh lets Mandricardo draw enemy fire for a turn, but, outside of a small defense buff, Mandricardo does not have good ways to survive the focused attacks. Additionally, Brink Shot causes Mandricardo to sacrifice himself, which, while it’s occasionally still a useful skill, means for general use purposes Mandricardo effectively only has two skills available. Mandricardo is also highly dependent on NP damage for his damage output, as between his low attack, his lack of critical attack damage buffs, and the attack demerit on his NP, Mandricardo’s normal attack damage will be quite low.

There are many powerful ST Arts Servants, and Masters with more established boxes may not have much use for Mandricardo, but he at least ensures every Master has a good option for dealing with Casters. Mandricardo’s skillset may not be the most dramatic, but it pairs good, sustained damage buffs with strong NP gain. He has everything he needs to take down Caster bosses with proper support, and that’s a great place for a silver Servant to be.

Strong NP Damage Buffs

Mandricardo has 20% Attack up and 20% Arts up for 3 turns from his skills, and he gains another 20% Arts up any time he uses his NP. As a result, Mandricardo has remarkably consistent damage output, and his NP will reach its damage potential almost every time he uses it.

Powerful Noble Phantasm

Thanks in part to Mandricardo’s sustained damage buffs, Mandricardo’s NP deals good damage, especially when used repeatedly over three turns. This means Mandricardo works well with Arts support Servants and can clear single-target Caster fights quickly.

Strong NP Gain

Between Mandricardo’s Arts Noble Phantasm, his Arts and Quick buffs, and his good cards, Mandricardo can build to his Noble Phantasm fairly easily. With the help of supports, Mandricardo can reliably loop his Noble Phantasm, making him a good pick for hard fights.

Low Durability

Mandricardo’s only defensive tool is a small defense buff, and his other two skills actually make him less durable, rather than more. Brigliadoro’s Neigh draws enemy attacks to Mandricardo, which, given his 3* HP, can easily result in Mandricardo’s death. Furthermore, Brink Shot kills Mandricardo outright, which means he cannot reach his maximum damage and also remain on the field without the help of Guts.

Situational Second Skill

Brink Shot provides a strong damage buff, but it also kills Mandricardo, which makes it a skill that Mandricardo will only want to use in special cases. Furthermore, Mandricardo must be below half health in order to use the skill at all, making it completely inaccessible in a well-protected team. This means Mandricardo functionally only has two skills most of the time, which is never a good feeling.

Low Normal Attack Damage

Mandricardo has no critical damage buffs outside of Brink Shot. He also has low attack, and his Noble Phantasm reduces his attack on the turn it’s used. Taken together, this means Mandricardo will struggle to deal good damage with his cards. He is heavily reliant on his Noble Phantasm for his damage output.

Brigliadoro’s Neigh is Mandricardo’s most important skill, as it boosts both his NP damage and his NP gain via Card buffs. It should be leveled first. Armor of the Nine Worthies boosts damage and survivability and should be leveled second. Brink Shot will only rarely be used, so it can be leveled last. While Mandricardo needs Armor of the Nine Worthies and Brigliadoro’s Neigh at max level in order to function at his full potential, Brink Shot can be safely left at lower levels, as it will often go completely unused, and reducing its cooldown does nothing in practice.

• Armor of the Nine Worthies is a general performance increase, letting Mandricardo hit harder and survive longer for the duration. It also increases the party’s damage output, which can occasionally be useful for specialized farming nodes where ST Servants are needed.
• Brink Shot is only useful in specific cases. It lets Mandricardo spike his damage and remove defensive buffs, at the cost of his own life. This is a good skill to keep in mind while using Mandricardo, as it can provide a little extra damage push to finish a fight in an emergency, or it can get rid of annoying defensive buffs and force Mandricardo to make way for a second damage-dealer. Unfortunately, this skill requires Mandricardo to already be below half health, which further limits its flexibility. This skill will rarely see use, but at the right moments it can be helpful.
• Brigliadoro’s Neigh boosts Mandricardo’s NP damage and NP gain, by way of Arts and Quick buffs. This is another general performance increase, but it is more important to how Mandricardo functions than Armor of the Nine Worthies is. This skill also applies target focus to Mandricardo, letting him protect his supports for a turn, so long as he does not die in the process.

NP Damage Up Craft Essences work especially well with Mandricardo, as Mandricardo has no innate buffs in the NP Damage bracket, and his damage is concentrated on his NP anyway. Starting NP Gauge Craft Essences also have value in that they make it easier for Mandricardo to use his NP quickly and repeatedly. Arts Performance Up and NP Gain Up Craft Essences can also help to increase Mandricardo’s damage output and stabilize his NP loops.

• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel / Holy Night Supper: These CEs will maximize Mandricardo’s damage output. Holy Night Supper provides a lesser damage increase, but in exchange it provides starting NP gauge, and as a free CE, any Master can in theory take it to level 100 for extra attack stats, which Mandricardo appreciates.
• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Painting Summer / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament: These CEs provide starting NP gauge in order to make it easier for Mandricardo to use his NP early and often. Painting Summer and Golden Sumo provide less starting charge in exchange for other buffs that help Mandricardo.
• Mark on a Smiling Face / Formal Craft / Divine Banquet: These CEs boost Mandricardo’s Arts performance, his NP gain, or both. Mark on a Smiling Face is generally the strongest option of these, and Divine Banquet is generally the weakest.