Rabbit's Reviews #245: Katsushika Hokusai (4* Saber)

Following Kenshin, we get yet another excellent ST Arts welfare. Hokusai and Kenshin are actually pretty similar in function—both are designed around crit access and exceptionally powerful NPs—but Hokusai benefits from better uptime on her NP steroids, in exchange for having somewhat more awkward crit tools.

Hokusai has low-middling attack for her class and rarity, and her HP isn’t particularly high either. She has two Quicks and high hit-counts, which can let her generate a large number of stars with CasGil or Lanling. Her Arts cards are above-average for her deck—more in-line with QAABB servants—but in exchange, her Quicks are quite bad, so her overall NP gain is a bit underwhelming. For passives she has a fairly low level of Magic Resistance, as well as the lowest level of Divinity.

Ascension Materials

Stage	Cost	Materials
2	50,000	x1 Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji Open Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji configuration options
3	150,000	x1 Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji Open Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji configuration options
4	500,000	x1 Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji Open Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji configuration options
Max	1,500,000	x1 Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji Open Thirty-six Ice of Mount Fuji configuration options

Skill Enhancement Materials

Level	Cost	Materials
1 → 2	100,000	x4 Gem of Saber Open Gem of Saber configuration options
2 → 3	200,000	x10 Gem of Saber Open Gem of Saber configuration options
3 → 4	600,000	x4 Magic Gem of Saber Open Magic Gem of Saber configuration options
4 → 5	800,000	x10 Magic Gem of Saber Open Magic Gem of Saber configuration options x5 Seed of Yggdrasil Open Seed of Yggdrasil configuration options
5 → 6	2,000,000	x4 Secret Gem of Saber Open Secret Gem of Saber configuration options x10 Seed of Yggdrasil Open Seed of Yggdrasil configuration options
6 → 7	2,500,000	x10 Secret Gem of Saber Open Secret Gem of Saber configuration options x4 Shell of Reminiscence Open Shell of Reminiscence configuration options
7 → 8	5,000,000	x8 Shell of Reminiscence Open Shell of Reminiscence configuration options x5 Kotan Magatama Open Kotan Magatama configuration options
8 → 9	6,000,000	x15 Kotan Magatama Open Kotan Magatama configuration options x20 Ancient Bell Open Ancient Bell configuration options
9 → 10	10,000,000	x1 Crystallized Lore Open Crystallized Lore configuration options

As a welfare, Hokusai is super easy to ascend. Her skill mats aren’t that bad either, although the magatama and bell requirements will make it difficult for newer players to invest in her.

It’ll take a bit of work to get the most out of Hokusai’s skillset, but her skills are quite powerful as a whole. Recommended skill order is 3>1>2.

Hokusai’s NP damage is so high she’ll do quite well in standard Arts setups even if you largely ignore her crit gimmick. A Merlin/Tamamo or Waver/Tamamo setup will let her blow things up easily. She also has potential, though, in more fastburn-oriented Arts teams. She has great synergy with CasGil and Lanling, and she pairs brilliantly with Summer BB if you’re able to lock-in a brave chain.

Painting Summer is (as always) great here, as it speeds access to Hokusai’s NP and helps her leverage her biggest strength more easily. The Black Grail is also a strong pick for longer fights, as it amplifies Hokusai’s already-great NP damage. Golden Sumo can be valuable as well, especially if you plan to push Hokusai’s card damage.

Hokusai is an excellent welfare Saber, and as an SR she’s an efficient grail target. She’s a great choice for a pair of grails.

While her crit damage gimmick leaves room for some creative or unusual setups, Hokusai is ultimately a pretty straightforward servant. She has ridiculously high sustained NP damage, and that’s really all you need from her. She’s a strong pick even at neutral, and she’ll eviscerate Lancers.

Overall: 9/10
Single-Target DPS: 10/10
AoE DPS: N/A
Survivability: 4/10
Offensive Utility: N/A
Defensive Utility: N/A
Farming Usefulness: 2/10
Painting Waterfalls: 10/10