Takeda Shingen (Takeda Harunobu)

“If you say you're going to use me, then you'd better be prepared to fight. If you fight with half-hearted resolve, then I'll tear up our contract and leave, so be prepared.”

The Tiger of Kai - Takeda Shingen is one of the most iconic warlords in Japanese history, and the fated rival of Uesugi Kenshin. Despite being famed for his intimidating war prowess and strategic mind, Takeda Shingen has a far more simplistic kit as a Buster-centric AoE Rider.

Takeda Shingen’s deck is BBBAQ, a very rare, offensive deck for a Rider, and is a representation of his straightforward skillset. His first titular skill - Tiger of Kai A is a teamwide Attack buff that also doubles as a targetable cooldown reduction for an ally. Crimson Flame A - his second skill is a massive 50% NP Gauge Charger, 30% Buster boost, and 20 Critical Star bomb all in one. Last but not least, Shieldless B is his primary defensive skill, granting him a 3-time Invincibility buff for 3 turns, a 3-turn Damage Cut buff, and a 3-turn NP Generation buff. Takeda’s Noble Phantasm is Fuurinkazan B - an AoE Noble Phantasm that decreases enemies' resistance to all card types before dealing damage, and inflicts NP Seal afterward.

Compared to most modern units, Takeda’s skills look like something that was designed a few years prior. His three skills and Noble Phantasm don’t really have any synergy together and just look like four independent pieces. At his core, with a 50% NP Gauge buff, Takeda can definitely work as an AoE Buster looper, but even this basic identity has issues. Takeda does not have any anti-trait bonus in his kit, which already puts him behind AoE Rider with better steroids, such as Francis Drake or Iskandar. Furthermore, in a very competitive niche that is Buster AoE Damage Dealers, filled to the brim with monstrous competition, like Morgan, Kukulkan, or Aesc, who provide both damage and very powerful utility and teamwide support, Takeda’s kit leaves a lot to be desired. He provides little beyond a small targetable cooldown reduction buff and an Attack buff, further putting him behind in multi-core value.

Takeda definitely has some good things going for him, such as his innate bulkiness and great base stats, including both NP and Critical Stars Generation, and targetable cooldown reduction being valuable with Append Skill 5. Nonetheless, they are not enough to drag him into a top-tier placement. If players are looking for either a strong AoE Buster Rider or an AoE neutral farmer, they can sadly do better than Takeda.

Capable AoE Farmer

As an AoE Buster Rider with good base stats, solid self-buff, and 50% NP Gauge built in his skill, Takeda can definitely serve as a good Buster looper. His lack of anti-trait bonus prevents him from being as effective in 90++ level nodes without Event bonus Craft Essence, but for most other things, he should be sufficient.

Good Bulk

Takeda’s third skill provides him with massive survivability with both a strong Invincibility and Damage Cut buff. While this is not relevant for farming, which is his primary usage, this can help a lot in tougher contents.

Lack of Specialty and Identity

Without any anti-trait bonus and specializations, Takeda struggles to carve out a niche for himself. Even amongst AoE Riders, he faces very strong competition from Servants like Taigong Wang, who offer better multi-core support and anti-trait bonus, or Habetrot, who is essentially free and enables easy farming setup for all accounts.

Takeda’s skills are not bad, but they lack a clear direction and cohesiveness. His best skill is clearly his second skill, and in general, he only needs this skill maxed to do his job. The Master can raise his first skill for a bit more firepower, but both his first and third skills can be left at a lower level.

• Tiger of Kai A - The primary value of raising this skill is from the teamwide Attack buff that scales with level. The increase is fairly marginal per level, so it can be left at around level 6 if the Masters want to save resources.

• Crimson Flame A – This skill should definitely be maxed since both the NP Gauge charge as well as the Buster buff scale with level, and both effects are vital to his operation.

• Shieldless B – The only effect that scales with level is the NP Generation, which does not come up as often due to him having a BBBAQ deck. Masters can leave this at level 6 for the lowered cooldown to help with his survivability, if needed.

Similar to most Buster loopers, Takeda loves Craft Essences with Starting NP Gauge that also pack multiple offensive stats such as Attack, NP Damage, Card Effectiveness, and Super Effective Modifier. Super Effective Modifiers are quite valuable for him due to his complete lack of them.

• First Day of Filming / Aerial Drive / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament: These Craft Essences are top-tier Event Craft Essences that any Master can get from the Rare Prism shop / Event that would be useful in any circumstances. In general, Craft Essence with 50% NP Gauge and similar offensive stats should always be considered optimal for him.

• The Black Grail / Inverted Rain of Mud / Heaven’s Feel: In raw damage output with an Oberon in the team, nothing will beat the high NP damage boost that these Craft Essences provide, although Takeda is not as potent at utilizing this since his NP Charge is only 50% and require a lot of facilitation to Buster loop with it.