Archer (アーチャー, Āchā?), Knight of the Bow and Heroic Spirit of the Bow, is one of the Three Knight classes among the seven standard Servant classes summoned for the Holy Grail War. Servants placed within this class excel in possessing powerful Noble Phantasms, are able to act as highly effective scouts, and are frequently Heroic Spirits from the Age of Gods when magecraft was still commonplace. The qualifying condition for the Heroic Spirits is not attributes, but instead the possession of powerful projectile weapons or special abilities related to projectile weapons. They possess high Magic Resistance as a Class Skill, so most modern magi are unable to inflict damage to them. They also possess Independent Action, allowing them the ability to act independently for a length of time without an active supply of magical energy from their Master.[1]
Due to excelling in powerful Noble Phantasms, Tokiomi Tohsaka considers it inevitable that Gilgamesh, with his EX ranked Ea, came to be of the class. For Archers with high ranked Independent Action and a disposition opposite the Master, the only guaranteed way to control them is through the use of Command Spells.[2] Servants will generally assume that the Noble Phantasm of an Archer class Servant is their bow, but any projectile weapons, even firearms, can be indicative of an Archer.[3][4]
Known Archers
Servants marked with ‡ are also able to be summoned by the Protagonist in the Grand Orders.
Nonstandard Archers
Servants possessing the class of Archer for special reasons unrelated to a proper summoning.
Heroic Spirit | War | Master |
---|---|---|
Anne Bonny and Mary Read (Swimsuit) | Grand Order | Protagonist |
King Arthur (Swimsuit) | Grand Order | Protagonist |
Siegfried (Fake) | Grand Order | Joan Alter |
Other qualifying heroes
Heroic Spirit | Current class | Notes |
---|---|---|
Edward, the Black Prince | None | |
Lu Bu | Berserker | |
Karna | Lancer | |
Medusa | Rider | Fate/Ace Royal only |
References
- ↑
[] Fate/complete material III: World material - Records of Heavens Feel - Servant System: Class, p.015 Class
A "Servant Class" is a container prepared for materialising a Heroic Spirit that is summoned into the current era as a Servant.
There are seven Servant Classes: Sabre, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker. Since there cannot be repeats of any one class, the seven Servants participating in a Holy Grail War will be of different classes.
Heroic Spirits determine their classes on the basis of their characteristics, and then summoned as the Servant of the corresponding class. For instance, the only class appropriate for Artoria is Sabre, but Hercules, who was said in legends to be proficient with all weapons, can be summoned into all classes but Caster. The affinity between the Master and the Heroic Spirit will determine which class the Heroic Spirit will be summoned into. However, the Einzberns, as one of the "Three Founding Families" and well-informed of the rules of the Servant system, was able to preemptively interfere with the system and summon Hercules as Berserker.
Among all the classes, Sabre, Lancer and Archer are also called the "Three Knights". They are frequently Heroic Spirits from the Age of Gods when sorceries were common. Due to high magic resistance, modern magi are unable to inflict damage to them.
The Assassin class is special, as the only qualifying Heroic Spirits are the Hassan al-Sabbah's.
Saber
Knight of the Sword. The compatible Heroic Spirit naturally needs to possess legends as a knight of sword, as well as the highest levels of attributes in all but MGI. Class Abilities include Magic Resistance and Riding. Also, compatible Heroic Spirits usually excel in delivering powerful burst attacks.
Lancer
Knight of the Lance. Its high qualifying conditions are second only to Sabre. Attributes are excellent overall, in addition, AGI must be high. Of course, Servants of this class are proficient in hit-and-run tactics that capitalise on range and speed. This class includes many Heroic Spirits who were knights.
Archer
Knight of the Bow. A class that excels in possessing powerful Noble Phantasms. The qualifying condition is not attributes, but the possession of powerful projectile weapons or special abilities related to projectile weapons. Highly effective as scouts. They have not only the Magic Resistance ability of the Knight Classes, but also the class ability of Independent Action.
Rider
Mounted soldier. Heroic Spirits who rode mounts (not limited to living creatures) qualify for this class. Although attributes tend to be lower compared to the Three Knight Classes, this is compensated by the abilities of the mount described in legend. Besides Magic Resistance, class abilities also include high Riding.
Caster
Magus. Qualifying conditions only include mastery of sorceries of the highest calibre. Due to this trait, the qualifying Heroic Spirits tend to have low combat abilities. In addition, since the majority of Servants have Magic Resistance, this class is thought to be the weakest of all.
Assassin
Assassin. The only qualifying Heroic Spirits are the generations of Hassan al-Sabbah's, and one of them would be summoned. All of them do not have glorious legends as heroes, thus possess low attributes. Class ability is Presence Concealment, and the use of this ability during battle is the lifeline of Assassin.
Berserker
Mad Warrior. Heroes who have gone berserker during battle qualify for this class. Normally it is considered ideal if a Servant can wield power at the level of the original Heroic Spirit, but "Mad Enhancement" allows for the attribute enhancement of the Servant beyond the ability of the original at the cost of sanity. A class originally used to enhance weak Heroic Spirits. - ↑ Fate/Zero - Volume 1
- ↑ Unlimited Blade Works - Day 4 - Saber's compromise
- ↑ Fate/Extra - Week 1