There is no mistaking that Fate: Grand Order has a notorious gacha. Getting any Servants you might want could be an impossible task, all thanks to the criminally low drop-rates for higher-ranked Servants. Rank Five Characters might come to you every so often, or during every blue moon. I personally have gone months without getting a Rank Five.
And they are all worth it. All Rank Fives are worth it, and this list covers the Top Ten of them as of April 2024 in the USA Version of the game. There are some personal opinions here and there, but are backed up with professional and community insight. A lot of familiar faces are here as well, such as:
10. Senji Muramasa (Saber)
Blacksmith Hero of Accursed Swords
- Strong Arts AOE NP
- Capable of looping his NP on his own
- Pierces through defenses of enemies
A big part of FGO is farming, and characters that can easily farm in minimum turns are always going to be seen as top-tier. And a powerful contender is that of Senji Muramasa, the Pseudo-Servant of the series' first male protagonist. And he’s not just built for farming either!
Built around using his Noble Phantasm more often and having it pierce any defenses, Senji Murasamsa is also capable of dealing with bosses and even certain challenge quests. He even does more damage to targets that have defense buffs! His third skill not only fills up his NP halfway, it also allows him to build NP off any card. That means he can fill up his NP with his Buster Cards!
A big thing in the community is relying more on AOE Noble Phantasms. Given that support can really take the generally smaller-damage AOE to great heights and Arts cards refund NP, it gives Muramasa a strong showing as being capable of looping his NP.But there is someone that can do Single-Target and do even more damage…
9. Melusine/Fairy Knight Lancelot (Lancer)
The Last Dragon and the Greatest Knight
- High critical damage
- Capable of having both single-target and AOE
- Good survivability
Want both ST and AOE? Get Melusine! She’s currently the only Servant with both an AOE and a ST Noble Phantasm. It’s dependent on her current form; ST in Ascension Forms 1 and 2, and AOE in her 3rd form…and she has a skill that transforms her into the 3rd form!
She’s built for two things: being a Critical Hit Machine and using her Noble Phantasms more often. And because Critical Hits build more NP, it means that she can do both at the same time. Her third skill when used in her first two forms can give her a full 100% NP!
And a big surprise for her is her defensive options. Usually high damage characters lack options for being defensive; glass-cannons. But with access to Damage Reduction, Max HP Buff, and an Invincibility, Melusine can go a bit further. Her biggest downsides realistically are her relying on two different supports; one for Arts and one for Buster, and her inability to revert back to her first form.
As someone who has a lot of Lancers, I often just end up using her. She can solve farming and challenge quests. The only reason she’s not higher up is because she’s not a support unit and the other attackers don’t have the same Class Disadvantage pitfall that can keep Melusine in her corner.
8. Tamamo No Mae (Caster)
- Arts Support
- Amazing support, rare cooldown reduction
- Great healer
In the early days of FGO, there wasn’t any real support save for this Servant and one later down on the list. And she supported something that will always be great no matter how much the game changes or what Servants are introduced. The power of improving the always amazing Art Cards.
She’s also an amazing healer in a game that doesn’t really support healers. After her upgrades, she could heal with her Arts buff and her Noble Phantasm heals a good amount and provides a rare ability: reducing cooldowns on skills.
Tamamo is considered to be the key figure of a stall team; a team designed to win battles by making them last as long as possible. Healing, decreasing Charge, and keeping herself alive makes a powerful combination. And she’s not Limited, meaning you can get her at any time.
7. Space Ishtar (Avenger)
Threefold Devil Goddess
- Best Arts AOE NP attacker
- Capable of looping NP
- Insane damage
You will spend a lot of time in FGO farming and clearing out waves. As a result, the community flocks to and holds those really good at winning battles as fast as possible; single-turn or three-turns. And wearing the crown of easy farming is…the queen of the tsunderes.
All of her skills relate to buffing her damage and allowing her to use her Noble Phantasm at a moment’s notice. Containing a unique benefit of changing her Noble Phantasm’s card type, Space Ishtar can work with any Support Team. But in particular, she really shines with Arts teams.
Combined with the number one entry on this list, I was able to clear out all of the Free Quests with minimum issues. And while she’s ideal for farming, her raw damage output and repeated access to her Noble Phantasm makes her good for challenges!
There is someone who can out damage her though…
6. Arjuna Alter (Berserker)
The Final Dark God
- Best Buster AOE NP in the game
- Can crit with Buster cards for some insane damage
- Capable of quickly clearing out any waves of enemies
Despite being in the Berserker class, one that takes and deals more damage, and not having the same level of skills as Space Ishtar should make this Servant less powerful, right? Well, if you want someone capable of doing some stupid high damage, you try your hand at getting Arjuna Alter.
His first skill provides a unique buff: it allows him more damage against debuffed enemies. While he personally lacks a debuff skill himself, he does have one in the form of his Noble Phantasm; it debuffs the enemies’ resistance to Buster attacks. And seeing how he has a Berserker’s deck of three Buster Cards and he can draw Critical Stars to his Buster Cards…
With the proper support; Arjuna Alter can output way higher damage than anyone else in the cast. In fact, he’s the last person on this list built outright for damage. The rest are going to be of the Support category. Those are the ones that can take even the worst Servants to unimaginable heights.
5. Scathach-Skadi (Caster)
- Best Quick support
- 50% NP to any Servant
- Allows for Looping of NPs
And first off for the support Servants is the Savior of the Quick meta herself. Within a few exceptions, Quick characters fell out of favor when Merlin got released as they lacked the incredible support that the likes of Merlin and Tamamo-no-Mae had. Scathach-Skadi was the support they needed…and then some more.
With the release of Scathach-Skadi also came the start of the looping meta. With your Skadi, a friend’s Skadi, some specific CEs and Mystic Codes, it was possible for Quick characters to start looping their Noble Phantasms. As Quick cards provide Critical Stars, Critical Stars allow for Critical Hits, and Critical Hits don't just do more damage but also builds a lot more NP and generate more Critical Stars…
Yeah, it allows for Skadi’s team to spam Noble Phantasms. Or just output some insane damage. Her only real downside is her own lackluster Noble Phantasm, which is why she’s placed lower than the next four. And the next one up is:
4. Zhuge Liang/El-Melloi II (Caster)
The Legendary Tactician and Detective Professor
- NP Generator
- Fits into any party
- Amazing NP
The first real support unit, although his big claim to fame had to be added in after he was originally released. But once his skills were given the ability to generate NP, he was considered to be the best unit in the game. And he was my second Rank Five to get!
All of his skills can build NP: his first skill builds a good 30% to one person and the other two build a combined total of 20% to the entire party, meaning he can give 50% to one team member. A good majority of Craft Essences can give 50% at the start of a match, meaning that Wave here can get a Servant to use their Noble Phantasms on Turn 1. And he’s also really good for just allowing Servants that have a hard time in building up their Noble Phantasm in the first place.
His own Noble Phantasm is no slouch either. Stuns, lowers enemies’ Charge, lowers their Defense, and throw in some poison-based Curse damage and you got someone that fits into any party. While he does fall behind those that can provide more NP or greater buffs, he’s the last one on this list here who isn’t Limited.
3. Merlin
Shifty Magus of Flowers
- Great Buster Support
- Can keep the party alive for a long time
- Best pick for challenges
The man who shifted the Meta. Upon his arrival, people knew that he would completely shift how people would approach the game. Everyone was running Merlin or picking one from their friend’s list. And that was done within good reason.
His big two claims to fame were that of his third skill and his Noble Phantasm. His third skill is where buffs for card types really deserved the nickname of ‘steroid’; a massive buff for Buster cards while buffing Max HP and Critical Damage at the same time. The game’s meta changed because of that third skill.
And his Noble Phantasm is fantastic. Party-wide HP and NP regen while granting Critical Star Regen on Merlin himself. Coupled with his on-demand Invincibility buff, and he can keep the party going on and on even during the most difficult of missions. But in the end, he did get ‘replaced’ with someone with even greater buffs.
2. Koyanskaya of Light
- Best Buster Support
- High damage support
- Useful NP
FGO is a game with some ‘decent’ balancing. Power creep does exist but it’s not as bad as say, for instance, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. So when I say that this foxy lady replaced Merlin, I meant more in the general sense that she did Buster Support better. Koyanskaya lacks the defensive moves of Merlin but when it comes down to doing damage, she wins out.
Her own Buster steroid does do one thing better than Merlin’s, it allows the affected Servant to have Critical Stars go to their Buster Cards. That can effectively triple if not quadruple the damage output of that Servant. Not only that, but her second skill also grants Buster Cards the ability to gain NP. That is something they couldn’t do before.
Her first skill can provide a whopping 50% NP and reduces all cooldowns by two turns on the targeted Servant, but it comes with the cost of taking 1,000 HP off all party members. A small price to pay for the benefits she provides. Her Noble Phantasm does a good amount of damage, lowers the enemies’ charge, and gives a little bit of NP back to the party.
Sounds like a deal, but there is one more person that outpaces Koyanskaya in terms of overall use:
1. Altria Caster
Staff of Selection’s Child of Light
- Best Arts Support
- Ideal for challenges/raid bosses
- Special form of invincibility
Being a combination of being an Anniversary Servant, an Arts Support and a Saber Face greatly benefited the release of the Caster version of the King of England. Almost like the development team wanted to make her the most powerful character possible. It would take someone like a Koyanskaya focused on Arts to replace Altria Caster, and even then that might be impossible.
Buffing Arts Cards already pushes her to the top. Being able to provide a form of Invincibility that prevents Ignore Invincibility from working (It ‘ignores’ Ignore) in her Noble Phantasm helps her out so much more. Because Art Cards already provide a good refund on using Noble Phantasms, with two Altria Casters in your party, it’s possible for someone to regain ALL of their NP upon using their Noble Phantasms!
Even when she’s not in Arts-focused teams, she really shines. Because Arts cards build the most NP out of the cards, it means she can help those with only one Arts card in their decks to use their Noble Phantasms more often. And that is why she’s number one; because she’s the most universally useful.
If you liked this article, please check out the others I've done:
- [Top 10] Fate: Grand Order Best Assassins (Ranked)
- [Top 10] Fate: Grand Order Best Berserkers (Ranked)
- [Top 10] Fate: Grand Order Best Archers (Ranked)
All images sourced from Fate/Grand Order Wiki (https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Fate/Grand_Order_Wikia)
