Sen-no-Rikyu

Rikyu’s best skill is definitely her second skill, but all of her skills are very good and integral to her performance. For looping, her first and second skills should be maxed as soon as possible. Her third skill can be delayed until after the two other skills as getting enough refund is tantamount to most of the contents Masters would use Rikyu in.

• Apex of Refinement A-  – All three effects of this skill scale with level making it a very cost efficient investment.
• Flower Ring B – The only effect that scales with level is the NP Gauge Charge, but it is such a pivotal effect for Rikyu that it is still worth maxing it. It is also extremely valuable in Multi-core farming as well since it is a targetable skill
• Profoundly and Gracefully Black A – This skill scales exceptionally well with level, but it mainly aids her Single Target Damage, so it should be leveled last after getting her looping specs fully operational.

“Regardless of my summoning circumstances, or a connection we may share, I am still humbled to be in your service.”

Possibly the most famous progenitor of Sado - or The Way of Tea, Sen no Rikyu does not give an impression of a Berserker, let alone a powerful offensive Quick Berserker. A proper modern Quick looper, Sen no Rikyu strikes a great balance between firepower, team support, utility and farming capacity.

Rikyu does not have an overly complicated skillset, packing a set of simple, strong and effective effects in her kit. Apex of Refinement A- is a teamwide Quick Card effectiveness and NP Gain buff, and a Critical Star bomb on top. Flower Ring B is a targeted NP Gauge Charger, with two rarer buffs in Invincibility and NP Overcharge to an ally. Profoundly and Gracefully Black A is a powerful self-buff that bolsters her Critical niche, increasing her Critical Damage and Quick card Critical Damage, while also giving her an unique on-hit buff that reduces enemy’s Defense when she attacks with her Quick cards. Ichi-go Ichi-e C - Rikyu’s Noble Phantasm is an AoE Noble Phantasm with three effects. It deals super effective damage against [Human] attribute enemies, scaling with Overcharge. Furthermore, it inflicts NP Seal and Curse on all enemies as well. 

To understand Rikyu’s strength, one must look at her hidden stats - NP Generation Rate and the amount of hits on her NP. Ichi-go Ichi-E hits 5 times, with a base NP Generation Rate of 0.7%. With her first two skills in a double Skadi system, Sen no Rikyu is a very effective Quick looper. Her damage is no slouch either, thanks to the Berserker’s bonus damage and a super effective damage modifier against the very common [Human] attribute that is ever present in farming. But Rikyu is far from an one-dimensional Quick looper. Her third skill and high hit counts make her a powerful Critical Damage Dealer with great Critical Star Generation, while her defensive buff and debuffs on her Noble Phantasm let her stay relevant for Challenging Content. Rikyu can also function as a supportive Servant as her first skill is teamwide while her second skill is targetable. She can work in both multi-core farming as well as a Plugsuit Support for another Quick looper. 

Unfortunately for Rikyu, being a Quick looper in Fate Grand / Order means you face extremely stiff competition, not just from her fellow Quick loopers but also from Arts and Busters loopers who have better Support Servants for both farming and challenge quests. Furthermore, while Sen no Rikyu is quite well-rounded, she does require a fair amount of investment to reach the damage threshold needed for a lot of difficult farming nodes in the game. 

All in all, Rikyu is definitely amongst the top tier Quick loopers in the game. She is an excellent generalist for any Master who is still lacking a Damage Dealer suited for both farming and Challenge Quests, or still looking for a dedicated Quick looper to make use of their Skadi system. While she is far from a must-have Servant, Rikyu will certainly not disappoint any Master lucky enough to have her service.

Strong Waveclear and Looping Performance

Rikyu is a top tier Quick Looper. She has enough NP refund to run in both normal Skadi setups and more demanding setups like Black Grail and Oberon, making her a very low maintenance looper. Her damage is also among the upper end of Quick loopers, packing good personal self buffs and a bonus modifier against a very common array of enemies. 

High Critical Damage Output

With high Critical Damage boost in her kit and good Critical Star Generation thanks to her high hit count and 4 Quick cards (including NP), Rikyu is a very competent Critical Damage Dealer. This is not just relevant for boss fights but also fantastic for irregular farming nodes where strong Single Target Damage is appreciated.

Great Utility For A Damage Dealer

Versatility is one of Rikyu’s biggest strengths as she can work in many different set ups and roles. For a Damage Dealer, Rikyu has some handy tools that many Supports would be envious of. Targetable NP Gauge and Invincibility is a very versatile effect that makes her work as both a Damage Dealer and emergency Support. AoE NP Seal on NP is also a very powerful and rare effect which can save a run in many challenge quests, especially with her high NP frequency. Critical Star Bomb, Teamwide NP Generation buff and NP Overcharge are also all highly appreciated in any team.

May Require High Investment For More Difficult Farming Nodes

While Double Skadi setup should suffice for most farming situations, Rikyu may struggle to farm high HP nodes when her anti-Human bonus does not come into play, especially compared to Servants with actual Class Advantage.

While Rikyu does not struggle often with NP Refund, Starting NP Gauge is still very helpful for any looper, especially against nodes with low enemy count that could hamper her refund. Quick Card Effectiveness, NP Damage, Attack and NP Generation Rate are all good stats to improve her NP Looping, with NP Damage and Attack giving the best damage boost due to her lacking these stats in her skill set as well as in a standard Skadi team. Critical Damage is very nice to improve her Single Target Damage, especially for quickly clearing challenge stages.

• Traces of Christmas / Imaginary Number Attribute / Cherry Icicle / One Summer / Golden Sumo: These Craft Essences are very easy to get and max limit break (either through event or from the standard summoning pool) with Starting NP Gauge and good secondary stats that Rikyu can utilize.
• The Black Grail / Heaven’s Feel: Grants the biggest damage buff out of all Craft Essences for farming, but will need the team to be built around it (i.e with Plugsuit and Oberon or with other Multi-core loopers).
• Fist of Hail / Midsummer Moment / Dangerous Beast / The Dantès Files: The Case of the True Mastermind / The Princesses' Pilgrimage: These are all good generic Critical-centric Craft Essences that Rikyu can use to bolster her performance as a Critical Damage Dealer.