To date, Fate/Grand Order is one of the most popular Gacha games available on the market. Many love this game for its astounding visuals, impressive characters, and creative storylines. In this article, we’ll be giving you an overview of the game, what to expect, as well as a couple of tips and tricks should you want to start playing it.
If you’re unfamiliar with Gacha games, they are games that test your luck with rolls or drops. You will be able to get a character or some sort of prize when you roll for them. You might also want to check out other top Gacha games like Fate if you want to explore them a bit more.
What Is Fate/Grand Order?
Fate/Grand Order or simply FGO is a Japanese mobile role-playing game that’s based on the Fate/Stay Night franchise that’s well-loved for its anime and games. The game’s narrative is played out in a visual novel format, The players take the role of masters and command servants to battle enemies and restore the Foundation of Humanity by retrieving Holy Grails. You can download FGO from Google Play Store for Android devices and from the App Store for iOS.
To give you an idea of the game’s plot, it is set in 2015 where a secret organization called the Chaldea Security Organization calls upon experts of mundane and magical fields to help them prevent the human race’s impending extinction. Humanity’s survival seems to be set for the next century. But, that suddenly changed and humanity’s extinction is set to come at the end of 2016.
Because of this, Chaldea begins to experiment with Rayshift Technology — a system that allows users to time travel. With that, Ritsuka Fujimaru (default name of the main character; you may change the name and gender), a recruit, and a girl named Mash Kyrielight travel to 2004 and discover a way to save humanity.
With their discovery, a grand order to fight fate, change the past, and restore the future has been declared. Following their venture in 2004, Mash and Ritsuka must now restore the Foundation of Humanity by retrieving the Holy Grails that will sustain any flaw that threatens humanity’s existence.
Fate/Grand Order Gameplay
Summary
Here’s our handy infographic to help you get started on Fate/Grand Order! For detailed explanations on each segment, check out our comprehensive guide below.
Rolls & Rerolling
In FGO, summoning or rolling will allow players to receive servants, craft essences, experience cards, and other items. There are two ways to roll in the game, you can use Saint Quartz or Summon Tickets.
At the start of the game, players will have the chance to roll for their first batch of servants. In FGO, servants are heroic spirits that master command in battles, you will see familiar names as these servants are typically historical and literary figures such as Arthur Pendragon, Sherlock Holmes, and Jeanne D’ Arc. Each of the servants has their classes, skills, and a unique special attack called Noble Phantasms. For an in-depth discussion on servants, you might want to check out our guide to FGO servants to further help you.
When you begin the game, you will be given a free 10x Summon that will give you your servants and your craft essences. The servants that you get through summons will be the ones that you’ll be using throughout the game.
As it is a Gacha game, expect that you might have to trust your luck as the game summons servants randomly. If you are unhappy with your first roll, you might want to consider rerolling.
Put simply, rerolling is deleting your first account to create a new one to roll or summon again. This is done so that you can attempt to summon your desired servants in your initial roll.
Do keep in mind that since this is your first roll as a servant, you will not be able to summon a 5★ servant. The initial roll will only guarantee a player more than one 4★ servants. Consider this when you’re thinking of doing a reroll if you’re playing for the first time.
Team Formation
Now that you have your servants, another thing that you should consider is your team formation. In FGO, team composition and strategy are important aspects if you want to be successful in the game.
For the first few stages or singularities, you might have no problem at all when it comes to composition as you’ll only be needing decent level servants and good support to get through them. However, as the game progresses, you will need to think more about strategy.
By default, you can use up to six servants (including one support servant) to help you on your quests. At first, you’ll only be able to use three, which consists of two of your servants plus support. But as you level up, more slots will be available for you.
To build your team, there are a few things to consider:
- Your current servants,
- How well they will work and complement each other, and;
- What you need to do and use in battle to be able to fully utilize your servants.
Other factors that may affect and contribute to your formation will be base stats, combined card sets, skill sets, and their Noble Phantasms.
Players are, of course, free to explore different team combinations to find out which one is the most suitable for the quest that they are playing.
FGO Quest Types
FGO’s primary gameplay engine is quests. Quests require AP (Action Points) before you can play; these action points typically regenerate at a rating of 1 or 2 every five minutes.
The types of quests that you can play in Fate include Main Quests, Free Quests, Daily Quests, Interlude Quests, Rank Up Quests, and Event Quests.
Main Quests
Main Quests or Singularities are essentially the main stories of FGO. In the North American (NA) server of the game, players have access to its three Arcs: Observer on Timeless Temple, Epic of Remnant, and Cosmos in Lost Belt. Within these arcs are individual singularities that players must clear to move forward. As of writing, there are 20 available singularities on the NA server.
Free Quests
The next type of quest is repeatable, which is playable after completing a location in the main quest. They only become available once you’ve cleared that specific location of the map. You can find out how many free quests you have per location by looking at the numbers that will appear on the map after you’ve cleared the main quests.
Daily Quests
Daily Quests are quests that allow players to farm experience cards, ascension items, skill reinforcement items, and QP. As implied, these quests change daily and will be of great help in terms of leveling up your servants.
Interlude Quests
Interlude Quests are unlockable one-time quests that you can play once your servant reaches a certain ascension level or if you’ve reached a certain bond level with your servant. You can access these quests through the Chaldea Gate tab on the Main Screen. Take note that you can only play these quests once.
Rank Up Quests
Rank Up Quests, or Strengthening Quests, help upgrade or unlock new skills of a certain servant once completed. These quests do not expire and are only accessible if you have an associated servant at Max Ascension, otherwise, these quests will remain locked.
Event Quests
Event Quests are events that are only playable for a certain time, usually for special events and celebrations. Some event quests will require you to complete certain tasks before you can access them or to get rewards.
Fate/Grand Order Battles
Now that you’re familiar with the types of quests that you’ll be encountering, it’s time to move on to battles. FGO utilizes a turn-based style for its battles where players will need to wipe-out all of the enemies to progress.
There are three (3) types of battles: Normal, Fatal Battle, and Grand Battle. The strength of the enemy that you’ll face differentiates each type. Normal battles will have enemies that have an average difficulty while Fatal Battles will usually have one Servant boss who will be significantly more powerful than the usual enemy. Grand Battles are battles with a unique boss enemy that only usually shows up in the Main Quest.
It’s always the player’s turn first during battles, regardless of what stage you’re at. The player’s three servants will attack first before the enemy retaliates with their attacks. Player’s servants will attack using command cards – each card features an image of the servant to attack.
You will choose three attacks, but be careful. Choosing the third command card will execute the attack – choose your attacks wisely.
You’ll notice that apart from their HP gauge, servants will have another gauge below it. This is the NP Gauge that, when filled up, will allow your servants to use their Noble Phantasms or a special attack that is unique to the servant. There is no limit as to how many times you can use your servant’s Noble Phantasm as long as you can fill up the gauge within the battle.
Battles in FGO usually last three rounds. At the end of each battle, players will have rewards and experience points that will level them up.
Farming and Leveling Up
Much like any game, the Master Level reflects a player’s experience. The Master Level of a player determines their maximum AP, maximum cost, and the maximum of friends that they can add. You earn experience points after every battle and usually, the harder that the battles and quests get, the higher points you will earn. At present, the maximum Master Level is at 150.
The Master Level is of course different from the Mystic Code. A Mystic Code helps your servants during a battle and affects the player’s master skills. This also levels up after every quest or battle.
The Mystic Code that you have is reflected in what your character is wearing. By default, your character will be wearing Mystic Code: Chaldea but you can obtain other Mystic Codes by completing certain quests. Each Mystic Code has its properties and these will help you in battle.
For example, the default Mystic Code: Chaldea will give masters the skills to restore one servant’s HP, increase a servant’s attack, and grant one servant an evasion skill. The Mystic Code: Mage’s Association Uniform, on the other hand, will allow you to heal all the servant’s in your party, charge an NP Gauge by 20%, and randomly deal with new command cards.
Again, each Mystic Code is different, and you will have to level them up individually if you want to use all of your codes to its full potential.
As far as farming goes, FGO allows players to farm with Daily Quests. Here, you can farm for specific servant classes daily while leveling up your Master Level as well. With Daily Quests, you can farm for experience cards, ascension materials, and skill reinforcement materials among others that you can use to enhance your servants.
You can also farm for Saint Quartz by going through the Main Quests and the Free Quests.
Craft Essences and Other Materials
A big part of helping your servants enhance their abilities is Craft Essences or CEs. You can get them when you roll or in special events and campaigns. CEs, depending on which one you equip to a servant, can give them extra HP, Attack, or both – it can even increase their NP Gauge.
Different types of CEs will suit different types of servants. It’s best to mix and match them to figure out the best servant and CE match.
Other important materials that you should save or have when playing the game are as follows:
- Saint Quartz – This item is primarily used to summon servants and craft essences. They are a premium resource and can be difficult to come by. You don’t want to waste them.
- QP – This is the game’s basic currency. You can earn them by completing quests or burning cards. It’s used to level up servants and craft essences, reinforce skills, upgrading Noble Phantasms, and ascending servants.
- Mana Prisms – Prisms are considered as a rare currency in the game and can be obtained by playing the Daily Quests or by selling certain servants or items at the shop. You can also use this to other items or upgrade your storage.
- Summon Tickets – These are primarily used to summon servants and can be gained by purchasing them with Mana Prisms at the shop. You can also receive them during special events.
FGO Tips and Tricks for Beginners
Which FGO Servants to Use?
In general, players are free to use which servants they want in the game. However, when you’re on the main quest, you should follow the class affinity chart to give you an advantage against your enemies. Servants are grouped by classes and as such, some classes are weaker, stronger, and neutral towards certain classes.
Before battles, you’ll see the “Select Support” screen, which will allow you to pick another player’s servant you can use as a support servant. At the top of the screen, you will see “Enemy Tendency Class,” which shows you which servant classes you will be facing while on your quest.
Below it is a bar containing logos of the various servant classes. Click on “Class Affinity.” This pop-up screen will show you which classes to use against other classes. Consider using this chart to help you choose which servants to use while on your quests.
How to Level Up FGO Servants?
Leveling up servants are quite easy on FGO – especially if you’re the type of player who takes farming seriously.
With this game, you will have to farm for your materials to level up and ascend your servants. As such, you will need the following items to be able to level up your servants:
- Experience Up – Experience Up are cards that you can obtain by finishing main and free quests, rolling, and event rewards. These cards have a respective class that you can use them on and several stars. Servants earn more EXP the higher the number of cards is and if the card matches the servant’s card.
- Ascension Materials – You will need these items to level up your servants beyond their maximum level cap. These are obtainable through quests and special events.
Additionally, you can also use your spare servants or duplicates to level up your servants. However, if you have a duplicate of the same servant that you intend to level up, consider using the duplicate servant to enhance your servant’s Noble Phantasm instead.
Hacks and Cheats
Unfortunately, there are no hacks or cheats available for Fate/Grand Order. While there are hacks that allegedly work, you shouldn’t attempt to do them as they could get your account banned by the system.
Final Word
In all, Fate/Grand Order makes for a great game to play not just for fans of the franchise but also for those who are looking to get into Japanese role-playing games. Compared to other games of the same genre, it’s safe to say that FGO is one of the games with much simpler mechanics that is understandable even by the novice gamer.
The game also proves to be exciting and challenging. It has a good number of quests that you have to clear and the number of servants that you can get by rolling. An important thing to remember when rolling on the game is to not get discouraged by the results of your summon. Many players are often left disappointed with the result of their rolls. But, remember that there is no restriction on how many times you roll as long as you have enough resources to do it.
Ultimately, you should not waste your resources to get the servant that you want. Instead, try working with the servants that you have and build up a strong enough team that you can take until you finish the game. Explore your options and the game will be more exciting.
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