[FGO] Servant Analysis : Saint Martha

Saint Martha - The Dragon Rider 

One of the first free Servants, the popular and beloved bare-fisted monk. She's the only Servant who was bestowed a Ruler version (albeit 4*). Now let's see what's up with her. 

Martha is a 4* Rider who essentially works as a support, although one could use her for farming purposes. While Francis Drake is undoubtedly the farming queen, Martha isn't that bad for this role because of her Buster AoE NP. Before I start, I would like to state that this review deals with JP Martha and not her NA version - the latter, alas, did not benefit from a valuable Rank Up Quest. 

As a support, she has low attack (8,014 on level 80) but high HP (13,068 on level 80). Being a Rider, she naturally has a good star absorption compared to other Servants. She mostly fits in stall teams along Jeanne d'Arc. 

LORE

A holy maiden best known for taming the fearsome Tarasque (thus her being the patron saint of Tarascon) and witnessing the Christ's resurrection along her siblings, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany. She also offered hospitality. Back in the Middle Age, she was a very popular saint - due to hospitality being a meaningful virtue. It seems that Fate interpreted her as a woman not to be trifled with and a switch girl (ON and OFF mode). I do not know where this comes from though, maybe they just wanted a bit tropey character. 

KIT

Deck

This deck is a bit odd. Riders' deck go typically QAABB, however, Martha is built like a Caster (her animations also hint this). Good news : although she has low attack, she does not suffer from the malus Caster attack modifier. This triple Arts command lets her spam her NP pretty easily, and makes her work well with Tamamo-no-Mae or Jeanne d'Arc. In order to maximize her Buster NP damage, some help from the party can possibly be needed. 

 Active Skills 

Protection of Faith A 

This skill increases Debuff Resistance by 50% (100% at max level) and recovers her HP by 1000 (2500 at max level). This one isn't too shallow, it makes her last a bit more. However, it's also the least important, so I recommend leveling it last. 

Cooldown ranges from 7 to 5. 

Miracle D->D+

This skill absolutely needs the Rank Up Quest on JP. The numbers are self explanatory : at D-rank, it recovers 300 HP for the party, whereas at D+ rank it heals 1000 HP, at the exact same level. It also works as a party-wide debuff cleansing spell, which is useful for high difficulty battles where boss looooove to spam debuffs. 

This skill should be prioritized along the third skill, depending on what you intend to use her for. Cooldown ranges from 8 to 6. I'll let you compare the D and D+ rank below:

Miracle D+

Miracle D

Oath of the Holy Maiden C 

This skill reduces the enemy's defense for 3 turns and removes debuffs. It's pretty useful for extra damage or against bosses' who stack a large number of buffs (hello Goetia). The defense is lowered by 10% to 30% at max level. This skill should be leveled first, as it is very efficient utility-wise. She can get it in a Quest on JP. 

Cooldown ranges from 7 to 5. 

I recommend leveling in this order: 2>3>1 or 3>2>1. The heal-debuff party-wide spell is pretty useful in my opinion, it can remove annoying debuffs like Ignite, Charm or Stun. I would even say that it is on par with Nightingale's NP - while her NP scales and could be used in less than 7-5 turns, it's still a good support skill. The third skill is also useful if you are going for a more offensive strategy. TLDR, 2>party supportive skill, 3>offensive skill. 

Passive Skills

Magic Resistance A

This passive increases her debuff resistance by 20%. Along her first skill, you will have a 70% to 120% debuff resistance, 100% at level 7. It's a nice add-on, useful for late game bosses and Casters who love to spam debuffs. 

Riding A++

This passive increases her Quick performance by 11,5%. While I understand that it is a lore-based skill, I question its relevancy due to her being an Arts/Buster Servant. Anyways, it's better than nothing. 

Divinity C 

This passive increases her damage by 150. Won't change her low attack but meh, why not, a bit more damage is more than welcome. 

NOBLE PHANTASM

Tarasque

Martha's NP is a Buster AoE NP, dealing 300% to 500% damage at rank A, and 400% to 600% at rank EX (Rank Up Quest again). The overcharge effect is pretty good: it lowers enemy's defense by 20% to 40%. Meaning that it's a good effect to stack with her third skill - this will significantly make your party hit harder. 

This NP has generally two purposes. The first one would be to clean off mobs, and thus use it for farming The second one involves a NP chain - namely, to start with Martha's NP for lowering defense and extra damage, and to finish with others' NPs.

CRAFT ESSENCE RECOMMENDATION

You probably want Martha to do two things: spam and power up her Buster NP, and support her party. I recommend these CEs:

•NP Generation: Our Conquest on the Ocean of Stars, Storms and Waves, Divine Banquet

•NP Power: The Black Grail (her self-heal skill helps), Pharaoh Chocolatl, Heaven's Feel

•Support: Poster Girl (if you use her as bait), Gentle Affection (to increase healing spells power), Staff He Gave Me 

Overall, Martha is a pretty solid support Servant. she mostly shines in stall teams with Mash, Tamamo-no-Mae or Andersen. Her debuff-based kit is favored late game, if you use her for that purpose she will excel without doubt. If you had to choose between Marie-Antoinette and her, she is a better choice support-wise - the former works as a Quick tank.