EMIYA

EMIYA is a Servant notable for his somewhat rare deck combination, which allows him to gain NP more easily, at the cost of having less Buster cards. He boasts a diverse skillset, which allows him to perform rather self-sufficiently. He is also rather tanky due to his NP’s attack reduction and his Evasion’s defense up.

At the same time, however, such a set may feel rather mediocre due to lack of specialization, and this is exactly the case for early-game EMIYA. His third skill’s Arts buff does not affect his Buster NP, meaning that it generally deals worse damage compared to other, similar NPs even when upgraded. Additionally, Clairvoyance is one of the less useful skills in the game,with its percentages not being enough to make a significant performance difference, especially given that EMIYA’s deck is Arts-heavy - though it does benefit his NP, which has quite the high hit count.

[ JP ]
After his upgrades, EMIYA boasts one of the highest critical damage potentials among his peers, and his star generation becomes notably high - thereby making him one of the most solid *4 Archers. Notably, however, he still lacks a critical absorption skill, which may cause some consistency issues.

• Good NP gain
• Fairly survivable
• Flexible role due to deck and skillset

• Weak NP damage
• Clairvoyance is a subpar skill for his deck [removed after Update in JP]
• No specialty [removed after Update in JP]
• Lack of critical absorption skill [added after Update in JP]

Before his Strengthening Quests, EMIYA is usually used as a damage dealer in Saber-heavy stages. His lack of damage would be felt as the game progresses, and he will gradually shift towards a secondary damage dealer role. After his upgrades, however, he is a solid pick as a critical damage dealer, and should be used in critical-oriented compositions.

Unlimited Blade Works deals damage to all enemies, and applies an attack debuff on them. As the attack debuff is rather minuscule, this NP can generally be considered vanilla, though it does make defense stacking strategies somewhat easier. Before his Strengthening Quests, UBW’s damage suffers from EMIYA’s lack of buff, making its damage mediocre.

Especially useful for the early-game EMIYA, these CEs increase the effectiveness of his NP, indirectly increasing the benefit of his Arts-heavy deck.

Emphasizes on EMIYA’s normal Arts cards’ damage and his overall NP gain. While his NP gets no direct benefit, he’s able to perform it more reliably, and his higher normal card damage increases his overall flexibility.

Lacking a critical absorption skill of his own, EMIYA’s criticals are usually less reliable compared to his competitors. With a critical absorption CE, he’s able to gather most critical stars to himself at all times, which complements his Hawkeye’s 3-turn duration nicely.

Deal DEF-ignoring damage to all enemies
[Overcharge]Decrease ATK for all enemies (3 turns)

Deal DEF-ignoring damage to all enemies
[Overcharge]Decrease ATK for all enemies (3 turns)

Priority (Basic) : 3/1/2
Priority (Post-Upgrade, General Usage): 3/2/1
Priority (Post-Upgrade, Critical Teams): 2/3/1

• Eye of the Mind (True) B

  EMIYA’s main source of survival, Eye of the Mind gives him an Evade and a defense buff. While the defense increase gained from leveling this skill is always nice, it is the cooldown reduction that is valued highly.

• Clairvoyance C [Hawkeye B+]

  Clairvoyance increases EMIYA’s critical star gain; however, as he has three Arts cards and few hitrates, it is overall a rather useless skill. [Post-Upgrade] Hawkeye greatly increases EMIYA’s critical star gain and critical damage for three turns, making him one of the most potent critical damage dealers in the Archer class.

• Magecraft C- [Projection Magecraft A]

  Increases Arts cards’ performance for one turn. While it doesn’t affect his NP, this is the only offense-oriented skill EMIYA possesses before his upgrades. It also helps his NP gain somewhat, making this skill rather important for him. [Post-Upgrade] Projection Magecraft increases all three card types’ performance for one turn, making it EMIYA’s most reliable damage increasing skill. To be noted, however, Hawkeye grants more benefit damage-wise when used in the correct compositions.

Available from the start
Apply Evade for yourself (1 turn)
Increase your DEF (3 turns)

Unlocks after 1st Ascension
Increase your C. Star Drop Rate (3 turns)

Upgrades after Strengthening Quest 2, Replaces Clairvoyance
Increase your C. Star Gather Rate & Critical Strength (3 turns)

Unlocks after 3rd Ascension
Increase your Arts Card effectiveness (1 turn)

Upgrades after Strengthening Quest, Replaces Magecraft
Increase your Arts/Quick/Buster Card effectiveness (1 turn)

EMIYA’s QAAAB deck allows him to gain NP more easily, at the cost of not having access to Buster Brave chains. While it makes for a more interesting gameplay, it does reduce his damage potential, which is especially noticeable after his upgrades.

Rashoumon event (Ibaraki Douji event)

Murder at the Kogetsukan

Inheritance of Glory