Minamoto-no-Raikou

“If it is thy will... then I, Raikou, shall become a demon.”

Befitting her name, the famed Mystic Slayer of the Heian era manifests in Fate / Grand Order with resounding thunder. There are very few Servants in the game that can boast potency in both farming and boss slaying, but Minamoto-no-Raikou can accomplish both with her overloaded Buster skill set, AoE Noble Phantasm, and fantastic firepower.

Raikou’s skill set is excellent with her Buster buff Mana Burst (Lightning) and Critical Star Gathering buff Eternal Arms Mastery firmly entrenching her as a reliable Buster Critical Damage Dealer Berserker. After completing her second Interlude, Raikou even gains a significant upgrade to her Eternal Arms Mastery, granting her a 60% boost to her Critical Damage for up to three Critical Hits, further empowering her damage output. What separates Raikou from her peers is her third skill: Mystic Slayer, which boasts immense coverage over a large roster of possible enemies and lasts for 3 turns. When combined with her Berserker class and AoE Noble Phantasm, it allows her to serve as an effective farmer against a wide array of enemies, as well as a boss slayer for many Challenge Quests featuring Earth or Sky Servants. In addition, the hit count on her NP is excellent, which allows her to generate a significant sum of Critical Stars via Overkill and its in-built Star Generation buff.

That being said, Raikou is definitely not without weaknesses. Being a Berserker, her survivability remains a problem in the face of high incoming damage. While her Mana Burst (Lightning) does offer her a one-turn dodge, it is also tied to her main card performance buff, meaning Masters often have to prioritize one aspect over the other. Furthermore, prior to her second Interlude, Raikou lacks a strong Critical Damage buff to make user of her massive Star Gathering buff, often relying on teammates and Craft Essences to provide this for her. Lastly, without the strong bonus trait damage from Mystic Slayer, her Noble Phantasm’s damage is rather lackluster, making her Noble Phantasm deal similar damage to Berserkers who are far cheaper to field.

All in all, while her prowess may vary depending on the enemies, Raikou is a highly versatile and effective damage dealer whose flaws can be perfectly adapted for with Buster supports. Indeed, few can match the Mystic Slayer in her prime.

Strong Anti-Trait Farming Potential

Raikou’s base Noble Phantasm damage is not particularly astounding, but once boosted by her Mystic Slayer, it can plows through Earth and Sky Servants with ease. In addition, as many common enemies possess the Demonic trait, such as the Undead, Raikou is a great choice to bring against them.

Extremely Reliable Critical Potential

Eternal Arms Mastery grants Raikou a stupendous increase to her Star Gathering for 3 turns and will easily let her gather most generated Critical Stars. Furthermore, after her Interlude, this skill also provides a significant 60% Critical Damage buff for three hits. Considering Raikou can also generate Critical Stars from her Noble Phantasm, has strong basic card damage, wide anti-trait coverage, Berserker class advantage, and Buster Brave Chain potential, Raikou can unleash some of the most devastating critical damage available.

High Basic Damage Output

Even when she is not doing Critical Damage, Raikou’s basic Command Cards deal a high amount of damage. Next to her skills, Raikou has access to a large amount of passives in the form of Divinity, Madness Enhancement and Riding, in addition to any active buffs from Mana Burst (Lightning) or Mystic Slayer.

High Star Generation on Noble Phantasm

Prior to dealing damage, Vengeful Lightning of the Ox-King grants a significant personal Star Generation buff based on Overcharge for 1 turn. As this Noble Phantasm has a high hit count (7 hits per enemy), Raikou will generate a large amount of Critical Stars upon using it against multiple enemies especially if Overkill is triggered. While this can make Raikou fairly self-sufficient, Masters still need to supplement her with additional critical stars to eliminate any random element in her critical potential.

No Long-term Survival

At the end of the day, Raikou is still a Berserker. Even with an on-demand dodge tied into her Mana Burst (Lightning), her survivability is still quite sub-par. During challenging content Masters will often need to supply her with additional defenses, as without protection it is not rare to see her drop at a moment’s notice.

Limited Critical Damage Buffs

Until her second Interlude, Raikou does not have a strong Critical Damage buff to combine with Eternal Arms Mastery. This can be solved somewhat with support from teammates such as Andersen or Merlin, or via Craft Essences. Even after her second Interlude, the Critical Damage remains limited to 3 hits, which is often not enough given her Star Gathering lasts for 3 turns.

Mediocre Non-Trait Noble Phantasm Damage

Against enemies unaffected by Mystic Slayer, Raikou’s Noble Phantasm damage is rather lackluster. Without an upgrade to her Noble Phantasm, and only a single steroid and Madness Enhancement EX, she is out-damaged at NP1 by many of the core cast of AoE Berserkers at NP5 such Eric or Kiyohime especially after factoring in addititional Attack from Craft Essences.

All of Raikou skills are strong and central to her identity as a versatile damage dealer. It is highly recommended that all Masters raise the skill level of all her skills to not only boost her potency, but also increase the frequency of her signature combo - a Noble Phantasm into a Critical Brave Chain.

• Prior to her second Interlude, Eternal Arms Mastery is usually leveled mainly for the cooldown reduction, as its value at level 1 is already strong enough for Raikou to reliably gather Critical Stars. However, after Raikou’s second Interlude, it becomes significantly more worthwhile to level as it is a great additional boost to her damage output.

• Mana Burst (Lightning) is both her steroid for her Noble Phantasm as well as her sole survivability tool. While the value of the buff isn’t as strong as other Mana Burst skills, it is still an amazingly useful skill thanks to its dual purpose and versatility. Lowering the cooldown of this skill can make Raikou last much longer on the battlefield, and improve her damage output by quite a bit. Level this second.

• Of her skills, Mystic Slayer is her most important skill, as it scales extremely well with levels. Against the right targets, it is one of the more powerful steroids in the game and one that lasts for 3 turns. Do note that Mystic Slayer and any Critical Damage buffs stack additively. Level this first.

Raikou’s flexibility allows her to run as either a farmer or a dedicated Buster Critical Damage Dealer. Generally it is best to leave her defenses for her teammates to cover and instead improve her offenses further. For farming, Starting NP Gauge is extremely desirable, as Raikou does not have an NP battery skill to immediately access her Noble Phantasm. Attack Up is her strongest offensive stat, as it scales multiplicatively with all of her steroids. Buster Performance Up and NP Damage Up are decent alternatives, but not as highly recommended as they stack additively with her Mana Burst (Lightning) and Mystic Slayer respectively. Critical Damage Up is the best stat to go for when Raikou acts mainly as a Critical Damage Dealer before her second Interlude, as she already has fantastic Critical Star Gathering in her kit.

• Golden Sumo: The best general choice for Raikou, providing pure Attack and two amazing effects for Raikou’s general performance.

• Kaleidoscope / Imaginary Element: For farming in general, these Craft Essences are best to help Raikou quickly access her Noble Phantasm.

• Aerial Drive / Holy Night Supper: Alternative hybrid CE options that dip into either of her aspects, further boosting both her AoE and single target damage output at the same time.

• Victor of the Moon / Joint Recital: Both are pure Attack Craft Essences that provide significant Critical Damage and Buster Performance buff for Raikou to fulfill her Critical Damage Dealer duty.

• Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: Even if they stack additively with Mystic Slayer, the sheer high modifiers on these CEs make them quite powerful for blasting multiple strong waves of enemies. It is recommended to bring Servants with strong NP battery skills to aid her with her NP generation.

• Limited/Zero Over / Verdant Sound of Destruction: Basic Buster Performance Craft Essences are still decent options for her.