Richard I

“I sense the presence of heroes right and left! Don't tell me... Are the Knights of the Round Table here too? If they are, I must raise my spirits to match! I am Richard the Lionheart! I vow that I will join this alliance as my Master's blade!”

Arriving in the NA server nearly a year head of the expected time with the advent of the Fate/strange Fake anime campaign, Richard I was the New Year’s Servant in the JP server for 2025. He is an AoE Buster Saber Servant with both the ability to loop and decent Buster Crit performance.

Richard’s Noble Phantasm, Utopie Purgatoire, deals damage to all enemies and then applies Burn and Quick/Arts/Buster Resist down debuffs to all enemies, while buffing his own Critical Damage for 3 turns. The lengthier Crit Damage buff duration allows him to stack buffs across multiple turns, which is very much possible due to having a 30% NP Gauge charger in his kit in a double Koyanskaya Oberon team composition. The other debuffs, although applying after damage, help further bolster damage on any targets that manage to survive his NP.

His skill set also supports both his offensive looping and Crit performance. Lionheart (Swift) A provides party-wide ATK, NP Gain, and Star Drop Rate buffs for 3 turns, while also giving himself further Star Drop Rate buffs with every normal attack. His second skill, Talented in All A, is his primary damage steroid, providing all of Quick/Arts/Buster/NP Damage buffs for himself for 3 turns. Additionally, the skill allows him to target an ally and reduce their skill cooldowns by a turn. Finally, the centerpiece of his kit comes with his third skill, Excalibur D~A+, his NP charger of up to 30%, along with a sizable Buster Star Gather and Buster Crit Damage buff. To help bolster his Crits, the skill also generates a healthy sum of up to 20 Stars immediately. Taken together, Richard has all offensive buff types available to him in his own kit, and everything needed for a powerful Buster Crit Servant who can also farm competently.

Overall, Richard I is a robust and solid entry into the AoE Buster Saber roster, whose performance is particularly enabled by premiere Buster Supports who can allow him to loop his NP and further stack his Crit Damage buffs. Masters who are in need of a Saber who can Buster loop will find Richard I to be more than competent, and his endless enthusiasm charming.

Buster Looping

By merit of having a 30% NP charge skill, Richard I can competently Buster loop with two Koyanskaya and Oberon with an Order Change Mystic Code. This makes him a great option for farming any Lancer nodes if Masters are in need of a Buster Saber option.

Crit Performance

Richard has a powerful array of Crit-related buffs, including Buster Star Gather +500%, Buster Crit Damage +50%, 20 Stars on demand, and an additional Crit Damage +50% for every time he uses his NP. By the third wave, which often has the chunkiest enemies, he will have accumulated a total of 150% Crit Damage and 50% Buster Crit Damage buffs, which he can utilize to unleash pain upon any enemy that still remains standing after his NP in the third wave.

No Hard Defense

Richard I’s one-track minded focus on offense in his skill kit leaves him somewhat vulnerable if his onslaught does not finish off the enemy quickly enough. Throughout his entire skill kit, he has absolutely zero damage mitigation or hard defensive options available, so he will need to rely on Supports for defenses.

If using Richard I for Buster loop farming, the most important skill to level would be his third skill. His second skill provides the largest boost to his NP damage overall, followed by his first skill. The recommended leveling order is 3 > 2 > 1.

• Lionheart (Swift) A – This is a party-centric skill, where all of the party-wide effects of ATK, NP Gain, and Star Drop Rate buffs scale with level. This skill is very much worth leveling to increase his value in the party, even if it is the lowest priority.

• Talented in All A – This skill is where most of his damage buffs come from. The Quick/Arts/Buster/NP Damage buffs all scale with level, and since his NP benefits from both the Buster and NP Damage buff, it is very much worth leveling. This skill can be leveled after his third.

• Excalibur D~A+ – The NP charge effect is the most important part of this skill when it comes to him hitting the thresholds required for 3-turn Buster looping. This skill should be maxed so that he can reach 30% NP charge. The additional Buster Star Gather, Buster Crit Damage, and Stars generated also benefit from levels to this skill. This skill should be prioritized first.