Altria Pendragon (Alter)

[JP]
Arturia isn’t by any means amazing--- she has a standard kit that’s made for clearing waves, and it does what it’s supposed to do. The reason that she’s still considered good however, is that for her cost she performs decently well. Her NP hits within the levels of ST damage, and ranks as the 2nd strongest AoE NP among the Sabers. Her NP damage at NP1 is only a few three digits away from the 1st spot as well, which makes her somewhat valuable at her rarity.

[NA]
Alter doesn’t really rely on an upgrade to perform well. Although, one could say that her value is a little higher in NA than in JP, as there is still a lack of strong and easily obtainable AoE Sabers within the gacha pool.

• Has the 2nd most NP damage among AoE Sabers
• Fairly strong Buster chains even without crits, because of her stats and buffs
• Receives a 10% refund upon every use of her NP

• Lacks any sort of survival capabilities
• Does not have any means to counter gimmicks
• 3rd skill is rather unreliable if one wants to make her crit
• Can be considered outdated in terms of the game’s design
• Charisma skill doesn’t scale well

As an AoE Servant who lacks any sort of means to counter hard fights, Arturia is usually relegated to clearing waves. Most of the game’s hard content now is cleared by either by strong units who hit very hard, or by those who can effectively counter the numerous gimmicks with every new quest.

Alter, in all honesty, is the same as Arturia. Her kit is standard and considerably bland. Her NP hits fairly hard but outside of clearing waves her kit doesn’t really do much overall. Even with the consideration of the Buster meta, there isn’t really much to Alter at all.

If one would be blunt, the only reason Alter is thought of to be good is because she’s compared to her SSR counterpart. Arturia does almost exactly the same thing, with only one difference that prevents most from seeing Alter in the same light they do the former.

And that is, the fact that Alter is an SR.

By being an SR, she acts as a cheaper alternative that does the same job, which grants her some sort of value in a game where raising SSRs can be quite costly. The fact is, although she isn’t terrible er se, most people are disappointed with Arturia’s performance ingame, especially with the cost that she comes with. As such, someone like Alter becomes good in most people’s eyes, as by being able to do the same thing, she comes to act as the cheaper and therefore better, alternative.

Still, it also means that Alter isn’t exactly bad either--- the element of cost and efficiency is a big part in every player’s personal playstyle and pool, and is still a factor in Servant quality. As such, it gives Alter value in being able to deliver what is expected of from an SR.

Excalibur Morgan hits for a very good amount of damage at 29k to all enemies. It is also a Buster NP, which allows Alter to use NPBB chains for damage. It’s a nice feature, as it allows her to get more out of her huge Buster up skill. It also refunds her gauge for 10%, which honestly rather off-putting as it’s not exactly a number that’s very relevant when considering how quick she would be able to charge her gauge. What’s really worth considering from Alter’s NP however, is the fact that her NP multiplier at NP1 is set at 450%, as opposed to the average 300% multiplier. This means that her NP multiplier is actually just 50% lower than the usual NP5 multiplier for AoE Buster NPs, which is 500%. This is what allows her to deal so much damage even at NP1.

NP damage up CEs scale quickly with her damage, multiplying with both her available buffs immediately.

Alter’s Buster up buffs up her Buster cards considerably. Her instinct skill would be more of use if one increases her star absorb, allowing her to deal even more damage through crits.

Deal damage to all enemies
[Overcharge] Increase your NP Gauge

Mana Burst A / Cooldown: 7-5
Increase in Buster Performance (1 turn)

A fairly effective skill for boosting Alter’s own NP damage and Buster cards. It scales for a great 50% at max, which can make her NP Buster Brave chains hit very well. Although, it’s 1 turn duration and lack of any other effects also means that aside from being straightforward, it’s very vanilla--- it doesn’t offer that many options to her gameplay.

Instinct B / Cooldown: 7-5
Receive critical stars

This skill is perhaps one of the most controversial skills ingame. Instantly gaining stars is no way a bad bonus to have, but it’s not really anything great when you take Alter’s entire kit into consideration. She doesn’t generate stars particularly well nor does she absorb them, which means that a meager amount of 14 stars won’t really go anywhere when it comes to making her crit. It’s lack of use is a waste of a skill slot, and most would probably forego leveling the skill as it doesn’t offer much.

Charisma E / Cooldown: 7-5
Increase all allies’ ATK (3 turns)

Charisma is pretty standard but it’s still a good bonus that can be useful in fights… or it usually is. With Alter’s low Charisma rank, it barely really does anything, as it maxes out for a meager 12% increase in ATK. It’s somewhat disappointing considering that it takes an entire skill slot and costs for quite an amount, being an SR’s skill.

Skill Priority: 1/2/3

Mana Burst A / Cooldown: 7-5
Increase in Buster Performance (1 turn)

A fairly effective skill for boosting Alter’s own NP damage and Buster cards. It scales for a great 50% at max, which can make her NP Buster Brave chains hit very well. Although, it’s 1 turn duration and lack of any other effects also means that aside from being straightforward, it’s very vanilla--- it doesn’t offer that many options to her gameplay.

Instinct B / Cooldown: 7-5
Receive critical stars

This skill is perhaps one of the most controversial skills ingame. Instantly gaining stars is no way a bad bonus to have, but it’s not really anything great when you take Alter’s entire kit into consideration. She doesn’t generate stars particularly well nor does she absorb them, which means that a meager amount of 14 stars won’t really go anywhere when it comes to making her crit. It’s lack of use is a waste of a skill slot, and most would probably forego leveling the skill as it doesn’t offer much.

Charisma E / Cooldown: 7-5
Increase all allies’ ATK (3 turns)

Charisma is pretty standard but it’s still a good bonus that can be useful in fights… or it usually is. With Alter’s low Charisma rank, it barely really does anything, as it maxes out for a meager 12% increase in ATK. It’s somewhat disappointing considering that it takes an entire skill slot and costs for quite an amount, being an SR’s skill.

Skill Priority: 1/2/3

Available from the start
Increase your Buster Card effectiveness (1 turn)

Unlocks after 1st Ascension
Gain C. Stars for yourself

Unlocks after 3rd Ascension
Increase ATK for all allies (3 turns)

A QAABB deck is great on Alter. Having 2 Arts cards allows her to charge her gauge decently enough, and having 2 Busters allow her to do heavy damage on Buster chains with her NP. Although her NP gain and star generation isn’t amazing, the deck fits with her overall use.

Saber Wars The Caliburn Awakens

Rashoumon event (Ibaraki Douji event)

Murder at the Kogetsukan

Inheritance of Glory