FGO Tier List (October 2025)

The ultimate FGO tier list ranking all servants based on their current effectiveness in farming, challenge quests, and team compositions. This comprehensive guide analyzes servant performance across all game modes, providing detailed rankings, strategic insights, and optimization tips for both free-to-play and paying players.

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Quick Reference: Top Tier Servants October 2025

Tier	Servants	Primary Role	Key Strength
EX	Altria Caster, Koyanskaya of Light, Oberon	Support	Game-changing team utility
EX-	Arash, Arjuna (Alter), Merlin	Support/AoE	Specialized dominance
A+	Morgan, Space Ishtar, Super Orion	AoE DPS	High damage output
A	Gilgamesh, Ishtar, Okita Souji	AoE/ST DPS	Reliable performance

Understanding FGO Tier List Methodology

Our FGO tier list evaluates servants based on multiple criteria to provide the most accurate rankings possible. Unlike simpler lists that focus solely on damage output, our comprehensive analysis considers:

Core Evaluation Criteria:

• Farming Efficiency: Ability to clear 3-turn farming nodes consistently
• Challenge Quest Viability: Performance in difficult story and event content
• Team Synergy: How well servants work with popular support compositions
• NP Accessibility: Ease of charging Noble Phantasm without external support
• Survivability: Built-in defense mechanisms and sustainability
• Utility Value: Additional benefits beyond damage (support, debuffs, etc.)

Rarity Assumptions:

• 5★ Servants: Evaluated at NP1, 10/10/10 skills
• 4★ Servants: Non-welfare at NP1, welfare at NP5, all 10/10/10 skills
• 1-3★ Servants: Non-story locked at NP5, story locked at NP1, all 10/10/10 skills

Tier Definitions:

• EX: Game-changing servants that define the current meta
• EX-: Extremely powerful but more specialized than EX tier
• A+: Top-tier performers in their specific roles
• A: Strong servants with consistent performance
• B+: Solid choices with clear strengths and some limitations
• B: Good servants that require proper team support
• C+: Niche specialists with situational value
• C: Reliable workhorses for specific content
• D+: Limited utility but viable with proper support
• D-: Requires significant support to perform adequately
• E: Outclassed or requires future upgrades to compete

Complete FGO Tier List Rankings 2025

EX Tier: Meta-Defining Servants

These servants represent the pinnacle of FGO's current meta, capable of dramatically improving team performance across virtually all content types.

Altria Caster (Support)

• Strengths: Unparalleled Arts support with NP charge, damage buffs, and team survival
• Best For: Arts teams, challenge quests, sustained damage compositions
• Why EX: Her ability to provide 50% NP charge, 30% NP damage, and critical hit buffs makes her the premier Arts support in the game

Koyanskaya of Light (Support)

• Strengths: Buster support with NP charge, attack buffs, and healing
• Best For: Buster farming teams, burst damage compositions
• Why EX: Combines offensive support with survivability, enabling consistent high-performance farming

Oberon (Support)

• Strengths: Sleep utility, NP charge, and powerful offensive buffs
• Best For: Challenge quests, burst damage setups, stall compositions
• Why EX: Unique sleep mechanic combined with 50% NP charge and damage buffs creates unparalleled versatility

EX- Tier: Specialized Powerhouses

These servants excel in specific areas but may have limitations that prevent them from reaching EX tier status.

Arash (AoE)

• Strengths: Instant NP access, self-sacrifice for wave clearing
• Best For: Farming first waves, quick clear strategies
• Why EX-: Unmatched farming utility despite being a 1★ servant

Arjuna (Alter) (AoE)

• Strengths: Highest damage potential, ignores defense, removes buffs
• Best For: High-difficulty content, boss battles
• Why EX-: Devastating damage output but requires specific team support

Merlin (Support)

• Strengths: Buster crit support, healing, invincibility
• Best For: Buster crit teams, survival-focused compositions
• Why EX-: Still extremely powerful but slightly less versatile than newer supports

A+ Tier: Elite Performers

These servants represent the best options for their specific roles and are highly valued in most team compositions.

Morgan (AoE)

• Strengths: High Arts damage, self-sufficiency, anti-special trait damage
• Best For: Arts farming, challenge quests
• Why A+: Consistent high damage with excellent NP generation

Space Ishtar (AoE)

• Strengths: Quick damage, critical stars, NP charge
• Best For: Quick teams, farming, challenge quests
• Why A+: Excellent damage output with built-in sustainability

Super Orion (Support)

• Strengths: Buster support, critical stars, defense buffs
• Best For: Buster crit teams, balanced compositions
• Why A+: Well-rounded support capabilities with offensive focus

A Tier: Reliable Powerhouses

These servants consistently perform well across various content types and are solid additions to most player rosters.

Gilgamesh (AoE)

• Strengths: High damage, self-buffs, utility
• Best For: General purpose content, farming
• Why A: Versatile with good damage output and team utility

Ishtar (AoE)

• Strengths: Balanced damage, NP charge, critical stars
• Best For: Quick teams, farming compositions
• Why A: Reliable performance with good sustainability

Okita Souji (AoE)

• Strengths: Quick damage, critical focus, evasion
• Best For: Quick crit teams, challenge quests
• Why A: Excellent damage potential with built-in survival tools

Team Composition Strategies

Understanding servant tiers is only part of the equation. Effective team building requires knowledge of how different servants work together in various compositions.

Arts Teams

Core Philosophy: Focus on NP generation and sustainability for consistent Noble Phantasm usage.

Key Components:

• Arts Attackers: Vlad III (Berserker), Robin Hood, Nero Claudius
• Arts Supports: Tamamo no Mae, Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II), Altria Caster
• Craft Essences: Kaleidoscope, Projection/Starting NP Gauge CEs

Strengths: Sustained damage, hard to kill, flexible team building Weaknesses: Lower burst damage, requires high skill levels, mistakes can be costly

Optimal Arts Team Example:

• Altria Caster (Support) + Vlad III (Arts Berserker) + Tamamo no Mae (Support)

Buster Teams

Core Philosophy: Maximize burst damage to eliminate threats before they can attack.

Key Components:

• Buster Attackers: Cu Chulainn (Alter), Altria Pendragon, Kiyohime
• Buster Supports: Merlin, Koyanskaya of Light, Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II)
• Craft Essences: Limited/Zero Over, Buster Up CEs

Strengths: High damage output, easy to play, flexible team building Weaknesses: Limited utility, fragile, requires class advantage for optimal performance

Optimal Buster Team Example:

• Koyanskaya of Light (Support) + Cu Chulainn (Alter) + Merlin (Support)

Quick Teams

Core Philosophy: Generate critical stars for amplified damage and NP gain.

Key Components:

• Quick Attackers: Okita Souji, Scathach, Edmond Dantes
• Quick Supports: Skadi, Osakabehime, Hans Christian Andersen
• Craft Essences: Quick Up, Critical Star Generation CEs

Strengths: High average damage, excellent NP gain, strong burst potential Weaknesses: Fragile, requires specific servants, complicated to build optimally

Optimal Quick Team Example:

• Scathach-Skadi (Support) + Okita Souji (Quick Saber) + Scathach-Skadi (Support)

Farming Efficiency Analysis

Farming efficiency is crucial for progression in FGO. Different servants excel at different types of farming nodes, and understanding these specializations is key to optimal resource management.

Best Farming Servants by Category

Wave 1 Specialists:

• Arash: The undisputed king of wave 1 clearing with his instant NP access
• Chloe von Einzbern: Excellent wave 1 option with Quick card synergy
• Spartacus: Budget-friendly wave 1 specialist with good damage

Full 3-Turn Loopers:

• Morgan: Premier Arts looper with excellent consistency
• Space Ishtar: Quick looper with built-in NP charge
• Arjuna (Alter): Buster looper with highest damage potential

Budget-Friendly Options:

• Robin Hood: Excellent Arts damage with utility
• Euryale: Specialized male boss killer with high damage
• David: Versatile support with utility and survivability

NP Battery Requirements

Successful farming often depends on a servant's ability to generate NP charge without external support:

Self-Sufficient Servants (50%+ NP charge):

• Altria Caster: 50% NP charge on demand
• Koyanskaya of Light: 50% NP charge with offensive support
• Oberon: 50% NP charge with sleep utility

Team-Dependent Servants (20-30% NP charge):

• Most 4★ and 5★ damage dealers: Require support for full NP charge
• Welfare servants: Often come with built-in NP charge capabilities

Challenge Quest Viability

Challenge quests represent the pinnacle of FGO's difficulty, requiring specific servant capabilities and team compositions to overcome.

Essential Challenge Quest Servants

Support Essentials:

• Altria Caster: Arts support with survival tools
• Merlin: Buster support with invincibility
• Oberon: Sleep utility with offensive support

Damage Dealers:

• Arjuna (Alter): Highest damage output with defense ignore
• Space Ishtar: Quick damage with built-in survivability
• Morgan: Arts damage with self-sufficiency

Utility Specialists:

• Scathach-Skadi: Quick support with critical focus
• Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II): Versatile support with NP charge
• Tamamo no Mae: Arts support with healing

Key Challenge Quest Strategies

Survival Focus:

• Prioritize servants with built-in evasion, invincibility, or healing
• Use support servants that provide team-wide protection
• Consider stall compositions that gradually wear down bosses

Burst Damage:

• Focus on servants with high damage modifiers and critical potential
• Use supports that maximize damage output in short windows
• Plan NP chains for maximum effectiveness

Debuff and Control:

• Utilize servants with sleep, stun, or charm capabilities
• Focus on defense down and attack up combinations
• Consider servants that remove enemy buffs

Recent Meta Changes and Updates October 2025

The FGO meta constantly evolves with new servant releases, rank-up campaigns, and balance adjustments. Here are the most significant changes affecting the current tier list:

Major Servant Updates

Savior Aesc (8th Anniversary Servant)

• New Placement: A+ Tier
• Strengths: Powerful Buster support with 50% NP charge and unique scaling buffs
• Impact: Provides new options for Buster teams with delayed but powerful payoff

Minamoto-no-Raikou Rank Up

• Previous Tier: B → New Tier: A
• Changes: Extended Mana Burst duration to 3 turns, added 30% NP charge
• Impact: Now capable of 3-turn Buster looping with double Koyanskaya/Oberon setups

Karna Rank Up

• Previous Tier: B → New Tier: B+
• Changes: Increased NP charge from 25% to 30%, improved critical effects
• Impact: Improved viability in Buster crit compositions and farming

Emerging Meta Trends

Arts Renaissance: With the release of Altria Caster and other powerful Arts supports, Arts teams have seen a significant resurgence in viability.

Quick Optimization: Quick teams now have more consistent looping potential with improved support options and better NP battery capabilities.

Hybrid Compositions: Players are increasingly mixing different card types to create more versatile teams that can handle diverse content types.

Free-to-Play (F2P) Friendly Options

Not all players have access to high-rarity servants. Here are the best F2P-friendly options that perform exceptionally well:

Top F2P Servants

4★ Must-Haves:

• Spartacus: Excellent wave 1 clearer with NP charge
• Euryale: Specialized male boss killer with high damage
• David: Versatile support with utility and survivability

3★ Powerhouses:

• Arash: Essential farming servant despite 1★ rarity
• Robin Hood: Excellent Arts damage with utility
• Cu Chulainn: Versatile lancer with survival tools

Welfare Servants:

• Most event welfare servants: Come with NP5 and good kits
• Seasonal event servants: Often have unique utility or damage capabilities

F2P Team Building Strategies

Focus on Supports: Invest in support servants that benefit multiple team compositions

Prioritize Utility: Servants with multiple useful skills provide more value

Consider NP Levels: Lower rarity servants at NP5 can outperform higher rarity at NP1

Servant Investment Priorities

Knowing which servants to invest in is crucial for efficient resource management. Here's our recommended investment priority list:

Highest Priority Investments

Support Servants:

• Altria Caster: Game-changing Arts support
• Koyanskaya of Light: Essential Buster support
• Oberon: Versatile support with unique utility

Premium Damage Dealers:

• Morgan: Top-tier Arts damage dealer
• Arjuna (Alter): Highest damage potential
• Space Ishtar: Excellent Quick damage with utility

Mid-Tier Investments

Specialized Damage Dealers:

• Okita Souji: Premier Quick damage dealer
• Gilgamesh: Versatile AoE with utility
• Super Orion: Buster support with damage potential

Utility Servants:

• Scathach-Skadi: Quick support specialist
• Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II): Versatile support with NP charge
• Tamamo no Mae: Arts support with healing

Budget Considerations

Skill Priority: Focus on skills that provide NP charge first, then damage buffs, then utility

Append Skills: Prioritize NP charge append skills for damage dealers

Grail Usage: Save grails for servants that provide significant stat improvements or unique capabilities

Community Resources and Official Channels

Staying connected with the FGO community and official channels is essential for staying updated on the latest meta developments and servant releases.

Official Resources

Official Website: Fate/Grand Order USA

• Latest news, events, and announcements
• Official servant information and updates
• Maintenance schedules and patch notes

Official Social Media:

• Twitter: @FateGO_USA - NA server updates
• Twitter: @fgoproject - JP server updates
• Facebook: FateGO USA - Community events and news

Community Resources

Discord Communities:

• Official /r/grandorder Discord - Largest FGO community with 90k+ members
• Server features: Theorycrafting channels, servant discussion, event planning, and friend code sharing

Reddit Communities:

• r/grandorder - Main FGO subreddit for serious discussion
• r/FGO - Casual FGO community for servant showcases and memes

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a servant S-tier in FGO?

S-tier servants typically excel in multiple areas: high damage output, team utility, farming efficiency, and challenge quest viability. They often have unique mechanics or capabilities that significantly impact team performance across various content types. Servants like Altria Caster and Koyanskaya of Light are considered S-tier due to their game-changing support capabilities that enable entirely new team compositions and strategies.

How often does the FGO meta change?

The FGO meta evolves with major updates, typically:

• New Servant Releases: Every 2-4 weeks with new banners
• Rank-Up Campaigns: Quarterly events that upgrade existing servants
• Anniversary Events: Major updates with new mechanics and servants
• Balance Adjustments: Rare but significant when they occur

The most significant meta shifts usually occur during anniversary events and major rank-up campaigns that dramatically improve existing servants.

Are 5★ servants always better than lower rarity servants?

Not necessarily. While 5★ servants generally have higher base stats and more powerful kits, many 3★ and 4★ servants outperform them in specific situations. For example:

• Arash (1★) is essential for farming despite his rarity
• Euryale (4★) excels against male bosses better than many 5★ options
• Robin Hood (3★) provides excellent Arts damage with utility

The key is understanding each servant's strengths and using them in appropriate situations.

What's the best team composition for beginners?

For beginners, we recommend: Buster Team: Koyanskaya of Light (Support) + Any Buster damage dealer + Merlin/Waver (Support) This composition is forgiving, deals high damage, and doesn't require perfect skill timing.

Alternative Budget Option: Double support servants (Waver, Mash) + any strong damage dealer you have. This focuses on survivability while you learn game mechanics.

How important are NP levels for tier list placement?

NP levels are crucial for damage dealers but less critical for supports:

• 5★ Damage Dealers: Evaluated at NP1 (realistic for most players)
• 4★ Damage Dealers: Welfare servants at NP5, others at NP1
• Support Servants: NP levels matter less as their primary value comes from skills

A servant at NP5 can perform 1-2 tiers higher than the same servant at NP1, which is why welfare servants often punch above their weight class.

What's the difference between NA and JP tier lists?

NA (North American) and JP (Japanese) servers have different content timelines, typically 1-2 years apart. This means:

• JP Tier Lists: Include newer servants and future content
• NA Tier Lists: Focus on currently available servants and content
• Meta Differences: JP has access to more recent power creep and balance changes

Our tier list focuses on the current NA server meta with consideration for upcoming JP content that will eventually reach NA.

How should I prioritize servant investments?

Priority Order:

• Support Servants first (they benefit multiple teams)
• Premium Damage Dealers you use frequently
• Utility Servants for specific content types
• Favorite Servants for personal enjoyment

Skill Investment: Focus on NP charge skills first, then damage buffs, then utility skills.

Are tier lists the final word on servant value?

No, tier lists are guidelines, not absolute rules. Consider:

• Personal Preference: Play servants you enjoy
• Account Specifics: Your servant collection affects optimal choices
• Content Focus: Different servants excel at different content types
• Future Proofing: Some servants gain value with future content

Use tier lists as reference points, but adapt them to your specific playstyle and account needs.

Conclusion and Next Steps

This comprehensive FGO tier list provides a detailed analysis of servant effectiveness in the current meta. Remember that tier lists are tools to guide your decisions, not absolute rules. The best approach is to:

• Understand the Meta: Use this tier list to understand current servant strengths and weaknesses
• Assess Your Account: Consider your specific servant collection and playstyle
• Plan Investments: Focus on servants that provide the most value for your needs
• Stay Updated: Follow official channels and community resources for the latest developments
• Enjoy the Game: Ultimately, play with servants you enjoy and have fun with

The FGO meta will continue to evolve with new servant releases and updates, so bookmark this guide and check back regularly for the most current rankings and analysis. Join the official Discord community to discuss strategies with other players and stay connected with the latest FGO developments.

Remember: The best servant is the one that works for your specific account, playstyle, and content goals. Use this tier list as a foundation, but don't be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you!