Nemo

“Are you used to the Nautilus yet?”

The captain of the Nautilus finally makes himself summonable with the arrival of the Imaginary Scramble event. As a single-target Arts Rider, Nemo specializes in taking down certain specific targets. Fitting his role as captain of a ship, his power varies substantially depending on where and what he’s fighting. He won’t always shine, but in his favored terrain, he can be very powerful indeed.

Nemo gets a number of damage bonuses from field and enemy types, meaning Great Ram Nautilus, his Noble Phantasm, can potentially deal a lot of damage to a single enemy. The buffs on Voyager of the Storm and Guide for Travel also apply to Nemo’s allies, letting him increase the whole party’s damage output. Furthermore, Nemo has strong NP gain, along with multiple NP charge effects on Indefatigable, making him good at repeatedly using his Noble Phantasm.

Unfortunately, many of Nemo’s buffs are dependent on being on a Near Water or Imaginary Space field, meaning his damage and his support drop significantly outside of those situations. Nemo also has no defensive tools other than a single Guts effect, so he often needs protection to stay alive in hard fights. Additionally, despite being a Rider with relatively easy critical attack access, Nemo has few buffs that apply to critical hits and other normal attacks, leaving his normal attack damage fairly low.

Nemo is very situational. In fights where Nemo benefits from all of his specialty buffs, he is a very powerful single-target Servant. He also has value in cases where having two damage-dealers is useful, as Nemo can share his buffs with his allies. When Nemo does not get to use his field-based buffs, though, his performance is rather lackluster.

High Damage Potential

On Near Water and Imaginary Space fields, Nemo gets an extra 20% attack, Arts Card effectiveness, and NP damage up, letting him deal substantially increased damage with his Noble Phantasm. He also deals supereffective damage to Super Giant enemies. When Nemo gets both of these benefits, he is an excellent single-target damage-dealer.

Party Damage Support

Many of Nemo’s buffs apply to the entire party. Especially on Near Water or Imaginary Space fields, Nemo provides an unusual amount of damage support for a damage-dealer. This makes him a good choice for teams that need two damage-dealers, provided the fight is on one of Nemo’s favored fields.

Strong NP Gain

Nemo has very good Arts card NP gain, and Indefatigable provides a flat NP charge. Together, these make it easy for Nemo to use his NP repeatedly. Indefatigable also gives an additional 50% NP charge when its Guts effect activates, letting Nemo use his NP more easily in fights where he takes a lot of damage.

Highly Situational Power Levels

While Nemo’s NP damage is very high in his favored situations, it is also very low when those situations do not apply. Similarly, Nemo’s support value is substantially reduced outside of his favored terrain. This means Nemo is unlikely to be a good choice as a damage-dealer unless the fight allows him to benefit from his niche bonuses.

Limited Defensive Tools

Indefatigable is Nemo’s only defensive tool, and it is on a long cooldown. As such, Nemo typically needs the help of defensive support Servants in order to stay alive in difficult or long fights.

Weak Normal Attacks

Nemo has few critical attack damage buffs, and especially outside of his favored fields types, he also has few buffs that apply to his normal attacks in general. Most of his damage is concentrated on his Noble Phantasm, which may make it difficult for him to deal damage to enemies other than his primary target, or to output good damage when not looping his Noble Phantasm.

Indefatigable is an NP charge skill, and leveling it (along with Load Magical Energy) allows Nemo to use his NP immediately with a 50% starting NP charge CE or a 50% charge support Servant. As such, it should be leveled first. Voyager of the Storm and Guide for Travel are both party-wide damage boosts that behave similarly and are roughly equal priority. Nemo needs Indefatigable at max level in order to work effectively, but the other two skills can be safely left at lower levels if masters do not need to maximize Nemo’s damage. Levels for Voyager of the Storm and Guide for Travel will make Nemo more effective, but they will not fundamentally change how he operates.

• Voyager of the Storm increases the entire party’s damage output for a single turn, making it a useful skill for when Nemo or an ally needs to quickly take down a strong enemy. On Nemo’s favored fields, it also provides a 3-turn Attack buff, meaning Nemo may want to use this on the first turn, rather than saving it, when that buff applies.
• Indefatigable charges Nemo’s NP gauge and protects him from damage. This skill helps Nemo function more reliably as a damage-dealer, both using his NP more frequently and being less likely to die. Furthermore, if the Guts is used, Nemo gains an immediate 50% NP charge, likely allowing him to immediately use his NP again if he was not already able to do so.
• Guide for Travel is a partywide Arts buff, increasing both Arts damage and Arts card NP gain. This is useful for Nemo’s own damage output, as well as for letting support Servants generate more NP gauge on their Arts cards. The skill also provides a handful of critical stars, which, in conjunction with Nemo’s high Rider star absorption, may allow Nemo to execute critical hits for further damage and NP gain.

NP Damage Up craft essences provide the largest damage increase for Nemo, making them a good pick for fights where Nemo needs to win quickly. Starting NP Charge craft essences can also be a good pick for short fights, as they let Nemo loop his Noble Phantasm more reliably.. Arts Card Performance Up and NP Gain Up craft essences help Nemo move faster on an ongoing basis, making them good choices for longer fights. Critical Damage Up craft essence, meanwhile, help offset Nemo’s weak normal attacks and allow him to leverage his Rider star absorption more effectively.

• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel / Holy Night Supper: The Black Grail provides the largest NP damage increase of any CE, making it a great choice for Nemo. Heaven’s Feel provides an alternative for Masters who do not have The Black Grail, or for fights that are long enough that The Black Grail’s demerit causes problems. Holy Night Supper pairs NP damage with starting NP charge, which can be useful if Nemo is having trouble looping his Noble Phantasm.
• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian:  These craft essences provide Nemo with starting NP charge, letting him use his NP immediately. Dragon’s Meridian is notable for being a silver CE that, when max limit broken, provides 50% charge, which is enough for Nemo to use his Noble Phantasm immediately with Load Magical Energy and Indefatigable both at max level.
• Formal Craft / Mark on a Smiling Face / Meeting of the Heirs / Painting Summer: Formal Craft provides a strong flat bonus to Arts Card performance, while Mark on a Smiling Face also gives NP gain and NP damage up for stronger overall performance. Meeting of the Heirs increases Arts performance and NP gain while also giving critical stars each turn, synergizing well with Nemo’s Rider star absorption. Painting Summer also gives Arts and NP gain up, but it gives starting NP charge, letting Nemo get moving quickly.
• Another Ending / The Sailor in White /  Knight’s Dignity: These CEs all increase Nemo’s critical attack damage, making his normal attacks more powerful. Another Ending and The Sailor in White both also increase Arts card performance, helping Nemo’s NP damage and NP gain in the process.