Fate/Grand Order 3rd Anniversary Celebration Begins, Adds Skadi

The English edition of Fate/Grand Order as been running for three whole years now, and Aniplex is commemorating the milestone by breaking the game. The official Fate/Grand Order 3rd Anniversary celebration has begun, and the headline update of the event is the debut of a new playable 5-Star Caster Servant: Scáthach-Skadi.

An amalgam of the Scottish warrior-queen of Irish Myth and the ancient Norse goddess of the winter, Scáthach-Skadi is arguably the most useful playable character added to Fate/Grand Order since the fateful addition of the wizard Merlin. Scáthach-Skadi’s skills allow her to reduce the defense of the whole enemy party, boost the performance of her allies’ Quick-element attacks, and charge their Noble Phantasm by a whopping 50%. Her utility ushered in a new “meta” around repeatedly casting Noble Phantasms from Quick-specialty Servants and put her on par with other top-tier support units like Merlin, Zhuge Liang, and Tamamo-no-Mae.

In addition, “Memorial Quests” with a variety of rewards have gone live, allowing players to relive key battles from the main campaign, along with a special “Damage Measurement” quest designed to let players see just how well they can make their favorite party setups perform. Completing Memorial Quests will also award two tickets that can be redeemed for a “Travel Portrait”, a special Craft Essence containing bespoke artwork showing various Servants dressed for a trip abroad. Good news for anyone that wanted to see Carmilla, Scáthach, or Hokusai wear something other than their regular over-the-top Servant costume.

Aniplex is also doing what it can to give players as many chances as possible to roll Scáthach-Skadi over the course of the celebration. First, a login-streak campaign will award, among other things, 10 free Summon Tickets to any player who logs in for 9 consecutive days during the campaign.

Further, players who’ve caught up with Fate/Grand Order Epic of Remnant (a.k.a. Part 1.5)  main scenario will also be gifted with 10 Saint Quartz premium currency per scenario completed, for a total of 40 Saint Quartz. These new goals are permanent, so even new players will have a chance to gain the rewards later on.

The most valuable reward, though, is aimed at players stick it out with Fate/Grand Order through thick and thin. Aniplex has increased the Saint Quartz rewards given to every player that logs in a total of 100 days (then every 50 days thereafter) to 30 Saint Quartz. The increased rewards are also being given retroactively based on each player’s total days. For example, a player with 1050 days logged in (Fate/Grand Order has been running for 1108 days as of July 7, 2020) will be awarded 200 free Saint Quartz.

Players willing to shell out a bit of money for Saint Quartz will also get the chance to roll on a “Guaranteed Summon”, a one-time set of summoning banners that guarantees the reward of at least one 5-Star Rarity Servant in the results. The banners cost 15 paid Saint Quartz and are organized by class, so players have a better chance of getting a Servant they’re targeting.

Aniplex is also taking the opportunity to shore up Fate/Grand Order mechanics by debuting a new system: Command Codes. Command Codes are consumable items that can be attached to a Servant’s Command Cards, adding special effects, such as healing HP or doing additional damage whenever the cards are used in a turn.

Fate/Grand Order is available on iOS and Android, and the 3rd Anniversary Event will last until July 22, 2020. The rerun of its Paul Bunyan-themed Independence Day event is ongoing until July 17, 2020.