Meta Naito
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13 Min read Archer is a Quantum Hunt unit from the Fate Collab. Archer consumes a lot of SP in return for insane single target damage. He has no AoE so don’t expect him to perform amazing against multi-target enemies, but will absolutely pulverize elites.
Archer is available for Free for all players starting 3.4! Archer’s Signature can also be acquired if you collectively pull 200 times on limited banners during Patch 3.4
Archer’’s banner will run in the first half of Version 3.4 releasing on July 11st, and will run until the end of Version 3.7. After her debut banner, it is unknown if she will be available later down the line, as collaborations between different franchises depend on their contract.
Archer is a no gimmick Hunt unit. He has no form of AoE/Blast. He can tunnel on one enemy, but hits them really hard, at the cost of your team’s SP.
Archer enters the “Circuit Connection” state. In this state, Archer can use his Skill up to 5 times or until he runs out of SP, without ending his turn. His Skill consumes 2 SP per use, and deals Quantum DMG equal to 360% of his ATK. Archer’s Skill also gains a DMG boost of 100% per cast, stacking twice. Thus Archer’s Skill will be fully powered by his third shot. This is a very high multiplier, so it’s no surprise his ST damage is so high.
Archer will exit the state after 5 shots, or when he runs out of SP. He can also prematurely exit the state for damage control manually.
Archer’s Ultimate does Quantum DMG equal to 1000% of his ATK and gets 2 Charge. Charge can stack up to 4. This is a huge nuke but has a heavy energy cost.
An Easter Egg: Archer has a long monologue for Fate enjoyers if you wait in his Ultimate preparation screen.
Archer’s Charge is used to launch Follow-ups, which is his Talent. Whenever allies attack an enemy, Archer launches a Follow-up, doing 200% of his ATK, and recovers 1 Skill Point. This consumes his Charge. Having teammates that attack the enemy is therefore important, so that they can trigger his Follow-up.
Technique: Does 200% Quantum DMG when entering battle and gains 1 Charge. Archer will by default start with 2 Charges for his Follow-ups. Sadly has no gimmick for the overworld.
Archer is a very SP intensive DPS, but in return outputs very high ST damage. His teammates should be able to hoard all the SP for him, as in theory he can use up to 10 SP in one turn for all 5 of his Skills. Of course there are ways to refund SP, most notably Sparkle that can refund 4 Skill Points with her Ultimate. Proper SP management with his teammates and his follow-ups is important so that Archer can dish out as many Skills as he can on his own turn.
Basic Attack – Kanshou and Bakuya: Deals Quantum DMG equal to 100% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy.
Skill – Caladbolg II: Fake Spiral Sword: Enters the “Circuit Connection” state. Deals Quantum DMG equal to 360% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy. When using his Skill in the “Circuit Connection” state, the current turn does not end, and the DMG dealt by Archer’s Skill increases by 100%.
This effect can be stacked up to 2 times, lasting until he exits the “Circuit Connection” state. After actively using his Skill 5 time(s) or when there are insufficient Skill Points, using his Skill again causes him to exit the “Circuit Connection” state. Exits the “Circuit Connection” state after all enemy targets have been defeated in each wave.
Ultimate – Unlimited Blade Works: Deals Quantum DMG equal to 1000% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy and gains 2 Charge(s), up to a maximum of 4 Charge(s).
Talent – Mind’s Eye (True): When Archer’s teammate attacks an enemy target, Archer consumes 1 Charge and immediately launches Follow-up ATK on the primary target, dealing Quantum DMG equal to 200% of Archer’s ATK and recovering 1 Skill Point. If the target is defeated before this Follow-up ATK is launched, the Follow-up ATK will be directed at one random enemy instead.
Technique – Clairvoyance: Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering combat, deals Quantum DMG equal to 200% of Archer’s ATK to all enemies and gains 1 Charge(s).
Projection Magecraft: When Archer is on the field, increases the maximum Skill Point limit by 2.
Hero of Justice: When Archer enters battle, he gains 1 Charge.
Guardian: After allies gain a Skill Point, if there are 4 Skill Points or more, increases Archer’s CRIT DMG by 120% for 1 turn(s).
Archer is already a great unit at E0S1, but all his Eidolons provide great damage boost. The most notable one is his E1, which makes his gameplay smoother and easier to manage his SP guzzling playstyle, since he will get 2 SP refunded after Skilling 3 times in a turn, which translates to a free Skill cast.
His E2 implants Quantum weak and reduces Quantum RES by 20% when Ulting, an expected 15-20% DMG increase depending on how much RES they had in the first place.
E4 increases his Ultimate DMG, but he doesn’t Ult that frequently and it’s not his main damage form.
E6 gives more DMG on his Skill stacks and 20% DEF reduction, a sizable increase to his damage, which is expected from an E6.
The Hell Where Ideals Burn: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 16% / 20% / 24% / 28% / 32%. When entering battle and if the allies’ Skill Points max limit is 6 or higher, increases the wearer’s ATK by 40% / 50% / 60% / 70% / 80%. After the wearer uses a Skill, increases their ATK by 10% / 12.5% / 15% / 17.5% / 20%, stacking up to 4 time(s).
This Light Cone is good for Archer to nobody’s surprise, as only he can effectively stack the ATK buff since Archer can spam his Skill up to 5 times or until he runs out of SP. Archer teams SP limit is also already 6 since when he’s in the team he increases it by 2. The only downside of this Light Cone is that it’s incompatible for other Hunt characters, but nevertheless great for Archer.
Baptism of Pure Thought: Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 20% / 23% / 26% / 29% / 32%. For every debuff on the enemy target, the wearer’s CRIT DMG dealt against this target additionally increases by 8% / 9% / 10% / 11% / 12%, stacking up to 3 times. When using Ultimate to attack the enemy target, the wearer receives the Disputation effect, which increases DMG dealt by 36% / 42% / 48% / 54% / 60% and enables their Follow-up ATKs to ignore 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% / 40% of the target’s DEF. This effect lasts for 2 turns.
Ratio’s Light Cone was always excellent in the Hunt department, as long as you have the debuffs, so playing with Silver Wolf or Cipher is recommended when using this Cone along with Archer. Ratio’s Light Cone also gives an extra boost when he launches his follow-up attack thanks to the DEF drop.
Worrisome Blissful: Increase the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 18% / 21% / 24% / 27% / 30% and increases DMG dealt by Follow-up ATK by 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50%. After the wearer uses a Follow-up ATK, inflicts the target with the Tame state, stacking up to 2 time(s). When allies hit enemy targets under the Tame state, each Tame stack increases the CRIT DMG dealt by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20%.
Decent Cone for Archer, when considering the debuff. When enemies are inflicted by Tame they will take more damage, but Archer needs to land his follow-up first on the main target and not kill it, which leads to downtime.
See you at the End: Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% / 40%. The Skill DMG and Follow-up ATK DMG dealt by the wearer increase by 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% / 40%.
The Battlepass Cone is a good choice for Archer since it buffs his main forms of damage, his Skill and Follow-up. However, it is a 4-star cone, so its base stats are lower than its 5-star counterpart.
Cruising in the Stellar Sea: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 8% / 10% / 12% / 14% / 16%, and increases their CRIT Rate against enemies with HP percentage 50% or less by an extra 8% / 10% / 12% / 14% / 16%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, their ATK is increased by 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40% for 2 turn(s).
The Herta Cone is the best option for Archer other than his Signature and Ratio’s Light Cone, and it is also free. Gives a bunch of CRIT Rate and a healthy 40% ATK boost as long as he kills one enemy. Can’t go wrong with this.
Archer is a ATK CRIT scaling DPS, so there’s not much variance for his build. CRIT Rate body is the preferred choice since for Hunt Units, every hit matters so you want to be as close to 100% CRIT Rate as possible. Archer’s turns should depend on the Action Advancer (Sparkle, RMC/Sunday) which is why he should be played at default Speed and use Attack boots. If he uses Speed boots, he will be too fast for his teammates to raise SP for his Skill anyways. HIs Orb and planar are Quantum DMG% and Attack% respectively.
Goals and Speedtuning: Archer should be played at Base Speed, and in any case playing a -1 setup does not make sense anyways since Archer dumps all his Skill Points on his turn, so even if you Advance him back up he’ll just be left to dry since there is no SP, that is if there even is SP left for the support to Advance him.
Since he is a traditional DPS, his substats should prioritize getting his CRIT Rate up to 100% and as much CRIT DMG and Attack as he can muster.
The Quantum relic makes a return, and sadly it is his best option, despite how bad the domain is to run. With Silver Wolf, Archer can guarantee himself Quantum Weak and Silver Wolf also gives large amounts of DEF reduction, making this relic even more powerful.
Archer’s damage distribution is largely from his Skill, then his Ultimate. Scholar is a decent alternative, and the 8% CRIT Rate makes building him easier. It will still be outmatched by Quantum, as DEF reduction is just that strong.
Rutilant buffs Skill DMG by 20%, which is Archer’s main form of damage as long as he reaches 70% Crit Rate. Thus a CRIT Rate body is recommended for Archer.
Archer’s other forms of damage other than his Skill is his Ultimate and Follow-up. His Ultimate does hit hard, but Rutilant’s buffs are still more potent.
Sparkle: Sparkle has found new light as being one of Archer’s best teammates. Archer can use his Skill up to 5 times, permitted he has enough SP. Sparkle and Archer together make the SP limit up to 9, making his onslaught possible in one turn the easiest. Sparkle also perfectly supports Archer’s low Speed playstyle, being able to wheelchair him with her 50% AA.
Sparkle’s A6 trace also benefits Quantum DPS, giving a 45% Attack boost with 3 or more Quantum members in the team. This makes Silver Wolf, Cipher, and Tribbie ideal pairings to satisfy this requirement. When played with Archer, Sparkle with Sunday’s LC can regenerate an extra SP, which is something to consider.
Silver Wolf: Reworked Silver Wolf revived into a very capable debuffer. Silver Wolf can now guarantee enemies to be Quantum weak, and her DEF reduction from her Ultimate synergizes well with Genius of the Brilliant Stars, totalling to 77% DEF shred including her bugs.
Cipher: Cipher is SP positive, has DEF reduction on her Signature, and her Talent will be tallied up well by Archer’s constant barraging on one target with Patron, being able to decimate one enemy combined with her own Ultimate. Cipher also can attack the enemy, being able to trigger Archer’s follow-up.
Tribbie: Tribbie is most potent in AoE, but that doesn’t mean her buffs are bad either. She is SP positive, requires low maintenance, and also attacks the enemies to trigger Archer’s follow-ups, unlike say Robin.
Sunday and RMC: Sunday and RMC can both fill the role as Action Advancers for Archer, but are weaker versions for Archer compared to what Sparkle provides.
Hanya: Hanya has been largely forgotten, but she also refunds SP when allies hit the marked target. Only problem is her buffs are quite disappointing compared to the limited counterparts.
Gallagher: Gallagher’s BA-Ult-EBA can generate 2 SP for the team, which is massive as that’s another potential Skill cast for Archer. Only weakness is that his healing nowadays leaves much to be desired, as enemies have started hitting back harder since the HP DPS meta.
Aventurine: Aventurine is just another example of an SP positive sustain. Not to the extent of Gallagher, but far more durable in terms of sustaining and can also do some chip damage.
Archer’s teammates have to be for the most part SP positive, in order to maximize the number of Skills he can get off on his turn. Sparkle is a core component, as she can refund 4 Energy with her Ultimate, increases SP limit by 2, totalling to 9 SP limit. Beyond that, any other Quantum unit will suffice, with Cipher edging the others as she can finish off enemies with her own tallied damage.
3 Quantum units will give Archer a 45% Attack buff, again thanks to Sparkle’s trace. Importantly, all three supports other than Sparkle can attack the enemy, letting Archer be able to launch his follow-up. The sustain’s role should be an SP battery, where Gallagher excels in, but Aventurine is a much safer option for team survivability.
Should you pull Archer? Well he’s free so there’s no need to ponder that. Archer is an amazing unit, having one of the highest ST damage in the game. He is only usable in Pure Fiction if there’s an SP refund blessing, but is great in Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow, often able to just brute force the enemies since his damage is so high.
Archer’s convenience is greatly improved by having Sparkle, and at least one of the other Quantum supports, but in terms of his power, players may be surprised by his strong damage for being a free unit.
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