FGO Complete Beginner’s Guide: What To Do First + Tips

Fate/Grand Order is one of the most popular and highly-acclaimed gacha games of all time — developed by Lasengle and published by Aniplex.

With years of content, FGO stands toe-to-toe amongst the best gachas in the market.

And in this guide I’m going to explain every mechanic and feature that you need to know as a beginner – including some tips on how to get the best start possible for newcomers diving into FGO.

Starting Out (Rerolling)

Here are a few things that you should consider if you want to reroll in Fate/Grand Order.

Is Rerolling Necessary?

While getting the best Servants will indeed help you get through the early game faster, rerolling for them is still largely optional.

You can get through a surprising amount of content with any random 4★ Servant – not to mention some 3★ Servants and lower are also pretty useful.

Rather than spending a long time rerolling for high-tier units, I recommend that you just reroll for your favorite units. FGO is mostly a single-player and non-competitive experience, after all.

How To Reroll (Step-by-Step)

If you want to reroll for your favorite units, high-tier units, or both (if you’re lucky), the first thing you need to do is clear Unknown Coordinates X-C during the tutorial.

After clearing it, you will finally be able to do your first Summons:

The first banner that you’ll be able to roll from is the Saint Quartz Summon (Tutorial), where you can only summon 4★ Servants at most:

After doing your Tutorial Summons, you can either reroll further by summoning in a different banner or restart the reroll process by opening FGO’s app info.

Once FGO’s app info is displayed, you can proceed by clicking “Clear Data” if you’re playing on an Android device:

In most devices, additional options will be shown. To reset the progress of your FGO account, select “Clear All Data”:

For the last step, all you need to do is re-open the FGO app, and voila – your account is reset and you can now reroll as many times as you want.

FGO has one of the most unforgiving gacha systems in the genre. So remember not to burn yourself out by rerolling too much.

Who To Reroll For

Here are the best 4★ units worth rerolling for in the Beginner’s Gacha:

Beginner 4★ Unit	Role/Class	Remarks
Emiya	Archer	Great self-buff skills and AoE Noble Phantasm
Heracles	Berserker	Has one of the best single-target Noble Phantasms
Elizabeth Bathory	Lancer	Has an AoE Noble Phantasm and Attack boosts for all allies
Carmilla	Assassin	Excellent against female mobs & bosses

Any of these four Servants will carry you far into the early-game and mid-game when paired with 3★ Mash Kyrielight (Shielder) and other 3★ Servants, so feel free to invest in them early on.

Team Building Guide

Building a decent party in FGO as a beginner is very easy, since all you need to do is pick five units from each Class – but only invest in two of them at most.

In the early game where your choice of units is limited, I highly recommend using Mash Kyrielight (Shielder) in your party.

As for the other units, you can use whomever you like as long as you leave one slot for the Support Unit in your Starting Member positions, which is anywhere within the first three party slots.

You’ll be able to use a much stronger and more experienced player’s Support Servant this way, and it will make your stage runs much easier in the early game!

All Classes (Strengths & Weaknesses)

There are a total of 13 Classes in FGO – each with their own strengths and weaknesses:

Servant Classes	Effective Against	Weak Against
Saber	Lancer	Archer
Archer	Saber	Lancer
Lancer	Archer	Saber
Rider	Caster	Assassin
Assassin	Rider	Caster
Caster	Assassin	Rider
Ruler	Avenger	Moon Cancer
Moon Cancer	Ruler	Avenger
Avenger	Moon Cancer	Ruler
Alter Ego	Foreigner & Assassin	Foreigner
Foreigner	Foreigner	Foreigner & Alter Ego
Berserker	All Classes	All Classes
Shielder	None	None

Besides Class Affinities, there is a feature called Attributes that can also determine the amount of damage your Servant deals or receives. Here’s a list of all Attributes in FGO:

Attributes	Effective Against	Weak Against
Human	Heaven	Earth
Heaven	Earth	Human
Earth	Human	Heaven
Beast	Star	Star
Star	Beast	Beast

Tip: Remember to always take advantage of Class Affinities and Attributes. Your units can tank more punishment and even deal up to double the damage against favorable matchups.

Combat Guide (How Battles Work)

FGO has a basic turn-based combat system that is very easy to grasp – even for players who don’t have any experience with traditional turn-based RPGs.

Here’s everything you need to know about it, as well as some tips you can use to make your battles proceed much smoother.

Command Cards

Using Command Cards is the primary method of dealing damage to your opponents during battle.

There are three types of Command Cards:

Command Card Types	Effects
Buster Cards (Red)	Increases Attack Damage
Quick Cards (Green)	Increases Critical Star Drops
Arts Cards (Blue)	Fills up NP Gauge

The following effects are only applied to the specific Servant that executed the Command Card.

How Chaining Works

Chaining allows you to increase both the effectiveness and damage of your Command Cards during battle.

You can use the Chain feature by simply choosing three Command Cards of the same type or color:

Chain Types	Execution Requirements	Effects
Buster Chain	x3 Buster Command Cards	Attack Up on the current turn (Boosted)
Quick Chain	x3 Quick Command Cards	Critical Rate Up on the next turn (Boosted)
Arts Chain	x3 Arts Command Cards	Fills up the NP Gauge (Boosted)
Brave Chain	x3 Command Cards (Same Servant)	The Servant executes an additional attack
NP Chain	x3 Noble Phantasm Command Cards	Increases the effectiveness of all Noble Phantasms

Tip: Doing a Quick Chain allows your attacks to generate more Critical Stars.

Critical Stars increase the crit chance of your Command Cards in the next turn, which makes Quick Chain the best type of Chain to use in most scenarios.

Noble Phantasm

Noble Phantasm (NP) is a Servant’s most useful and devastating move, and it can be executed by using NP Cards.

NP Cards become available as soon as a unit’s NP Gauge hits 100%. They are also considered Command Cards because they can either be Buster-type, Quick-type, or Arts-type.

This means you can still do a Chain if you decide to use an NP Card during an attack sequence.

How Skills Work in F/GO

All Servants have three Skills that they can use during battle.

You can unlock Skills by Ascending the Servants, which also increases their level cap.

Using a Skill requires no resources, but they instead have a set cooldown. You’ll need to wait for a specific number of turns before you can use them again.

Skills are located above each of the Servants’ Health and NP gauges. Make sure to use them wisely to maximize the damage output and survivability of your units!

FGO Stats Explained

All Servants have two separate stats that indicate how well they perform during battle:

Stats/Parameters	Effects
ATK	The higher it is, the more damage the Servant can deal with their Command Card and Noble Phantasm attacks
HP	The higher it is, the more damage the Servant can take before fainting.

Unlike most turn-based RPGs, the only stats you should pay close attention to in Fate/Grand Order are a Servant’s HP and ATK.

They can be increased via several power-up methods like Level Ups or Crafting Essences.

Powering Up Units (How To Get Stronger)

There are a total of ten methods that you can use to power up your units in Fate/Grand Order. Here’s a quick table of each method and how they each work:

Best Ways to Farm EXP & Level Up Fast

There are three different types of levels that you need to increase in the game.

• Master Level
• Mystic Code Level
• Servant Level

The first one is your Master Level, which determines the maximum amount of AP, Friends, and Total Cost your account has.

Your Mystic Code Level determines how effective your Command Spells are. The best way to increase your Master Level and Mystic Code Level early on is to simply clear as many stages as you can. The harder they are, the better.

Master Level Up (59 > 60)

Next is your Servant Level, which determines the amount of ATK and HP your unit has.

The higher this is, the better that unit performs during battle.

The only way to level up your units is to feed them either Blaze of Wisdom or other fodder units. Naturally, using Blaze of Wisdom as the material is preferable.

Tip: Some Servants can be leveled up quickly during Double EXP Events. These are time-limited instances that occur whenever an Event related to that unit is ongoing.

For example, Temporary Servants that are given away for free during Events gain more EXP as long as their event is currently running, so make sure to take advantage of it!

Important Items to Farm

Listed below are the most notable items that you should farm immediately as a beginner – especially if you want the most efficient start to your account.

Important Items For Beginners	Best Sources
Saint Quartz & Saint Quartz Fragments	Singularities Events Weekly Missions
QP	Events Chaldea Gate – Daily Quest – Enter the Treasure Vault
Blaze & Hellfire of Wisdom	Events Chaldea Gate – Daily Quest – Ember Gathering Mana Prism Shop
Ascension Materials	Events Chaldea Gate – Daily Quest – Training Grounds Mana Prism Shop Pure Prism Shop
Mana Prisms	Daily Missions Chaldea Gate – Daily Quest (First time clear rewards per day)

How Bond Levels Work

A Servant’s Bond Level shows how often they’re used in battle. It also signifies the Master’s relationship with the Servant.

Increasing a Servant’s Bond Level is very important, as it provides you with the following rewards:

Bond Level Range	Rewards
Level 1-5	Bio Updates Interlude Quests Servant Coins
Level 6-10	Golden Apples Saint Quartz Bond Craft Essence (Level 10) Servant Coins
Level 11-15 (Bond Level Limit Release)	Saint Quartz Servant Coins

Bond Craft Essences are excellent items that are unlocked and given to you once a Servant reaches Level 10 Bond.

When equipped by the appropriate Servant, Bond Craft Essences can increase the overall effectiveness of a party via team-wide buffs.

How To Level Up Servant Bonds

The only way to level up a Servant’s Bond is to put them in your party and take them as often into battle as you can.

Make sure that you only focus on five Servants at most when farming Bond Levels in the early game to maximize efficiency.

TIP: 3★ Mash Kyrielight’s Bond Level is limited to Level 5 until you reach a certain point in the story (Singularity: Camelot), so replace her with another unit as soon as she hits that level.

Primary Tasks for Beginners

If you’re a noob jumping into FGO with nothing but a starter account to your name, here are four tasks that are definitely worth prioritizing!

Task #1: Clear As Many Singularities As Possible Early On

Singularities are FGO’s version of single-player story chapters or campaigns, and clearing them allows you to progress further into the Main Story.

There are three major reasons why you should prioritize clearing Singularities:

• You can farm a lot of Saint Quartz and Holy Grails here
• You can increase your Master Level and Mystic Code Level early on
• Some Events or Event Stages require you to clear up to a certain Singularity to access

Another minor reason why you should clear Singularities first is that some other story-related content can only be understood more clearly once you’ve gained full access to the Main Storyline.

Task #2: Farm Resources via Chaldea Gate

On your first day, you should already be trying to clear the Chaldea Gate stages – especially the ones that give you materials that can power up your Servants:

• Ember Gathering Stages
• Training Grounds Stages

You can get Mana Prisms by clearing each Chaldea Gate stage for the first time each day.

As a beginner, you’ll need as many of these Mana Prisms as you can get, so don’t slack off!

Task #3: Collect As Many Friends As You Can

Two in-game features allow you to socialize with other players and use their Servants for your own battles:

Social Features	What They Offer
Follow	Allows you to use the player’s Support Servants You cannot use the Support Servant’s NP You gain 20 Friend Points per use
Friend	Allows you to use the player’s Support Servants You can use the Support Servant’s NP You gain 50 Friend Points per use

Adding other players as Friends instead of just following them is much better, since the use of NP is limited only to the Support Servants of players you’ve already befriended.

Tip: To make your account more appealing for other Players to add as a Friend or to Follow, set your most powerful Servants as your Support Servants.

Task #4: Get Your Mystic Codes ASAP

Mystic Codes are the gear that is worn by your Master, but they’re not just for aesthetic purposes.

Each Mystic Code has a unique set of Master Skills that you can use during combat – most of which you can use to get your Servants out of tricky situations or make them deal more damage.

There are several excellent Mystic Codes in the game. But for beginners, the one I recommend the most is the Mystic Code: Chaldea Combat Uniform.

You can get this Mystic Code by clearing the Mystic Code Quest: Chaldea Combat Uniform stages located in the Chaldea Gate.

Fate/Grand Order General Tips

To help you play more like a veteran Master from day one, here are several helpful tips that you should keep in mind while playing F/GO.

Tip #1: Choose Two Units To Focus Your Resources On In The Early Game

The best way to progress in the early game smoothly is to focus your resources on two units at most and get them to at least Level 80 ASAP.

If you aren’t able to get high-rarity units, I recommend investing in Mash Kyrielight (Shielder) and the 4★ Servant you get from the Beginner Summons.

This setup is enough to carry you far in the Main Story – especially if you use Support Servants and continuously add Friends along the way.

Tip #2: Save Your AP Fruits For Events

In the beginning, you will receive so many of the following AP Fruits that you wouldn’t even know what to do with them:

AP Fruit Types	AP Restored
Golden Fruit	100% AP
Silver Fruit	50% AP
Bronze Fruit	10 AP

My advice?

Keep these AP Fruits saved up for Events and nothing else!

Events consume more AP, but they provide you with significantly more resources and materials than other game modes.

Tip: Whenever you increase your Master Level, not only does your AP limit increase, but your AP is also restored.

Take advantage of this in the early game when it’s incredibly easy to increase your Master Level.

Tip #3: Don’t Leave the Game with your AP Full or Over The Limit

While you do get tons of free AP whenever you level up, you might encounter an issue where you can’t spend them all in one log-in session.

If you are a min-maxer who’d like to get the most out of your first few days playing FGO, then I highly advise you not to leave the game with full or excess AP.

Make sure that your AP is always depleted before you leave the game – that way you’re not wasting any additional AP you would’ve recovered during your downtime.

Tip #4: Equip Units Or CEs That Boost Drop Rate/Effectiveness in Events

Since Events give you lots of rewards and materials, I highly recommend that you participate in them as soon as you can – preferably after you’ve already invested in two Servants.

In most story-driven Events, you can purchase various rewards in the Event Shop by using the Event Currencies you farm from Story Event stages.

If you want to farm more of these Event Currencies and buy more rewards from the Event Shop, you’re going to want to equip Craft Essences or Servants that boost their drop rate.

Tip: Event Currency Drop Rate bonuses are also applicable for Support Servants, so make sure to pick the one that has them before clearing each Event Stage.

Tip #5: Clear Free Quests For Extra Saint Quartz

Free Quests (Green Stages) are unlocked every time you clear the Main Story Quests (Blue Stages) for each Singularity.

They serve no purpose other than for farming Spirit Quartz, so don’t forget to clear them whenever you need more Saint Quartz for your Summons.

Free Quests usually have three stages you need to clear before you acquire the Saint Quartz, but some (like the one in the image above) only have one. Happy grinding!

Tip #6: Certain Items Are Worth Getting in the Mana Prism Shop

Mana Prisms can be obtained from the following sources:

• Daily Missions
• Chaldea Gate – Daily Quests

And you can use Mana Prisms to purchase items from the Mana Prism Shop, located in Da Vinci’s Workshop.

There are tons of very useful items there, but here’s a list of the best stuff worth getting:

Recommended Items	Cost (Mana Prisms)
Code Openers	300 Mana Prisms
EXP Card Sets	40 Mana Prisms
Summon Tickets	20 Mana Prisms
Fou (Hero Crystals)	15 Mana Prisms

Tip: Sometimes during Events, there are Special Items available in the Mana Prism Shop which you can purchase only for a limited time.

Make sure you’re always checking the Mana Prism Shop to purchase these Special Items, as they are often very precious and rare like Holy Grails or Lanterns of Chaldea.

Tip #7: Use Your Holy Grails & Special Ascension Wisely

Holy Grails are among the rarest materials in the game. They are used in Palingenesis, which can increase the max level of your Servant up to 120.

You don’t really need to do a Palingenesis as a beginner, and I don’t recommend using it right away on any Servant, since you might get a better Servant down the line to use it on.

The same applies to your Special Ascension, which is a feature that allows beginner players to Ascend any Servant to their max level without spending any materials or QP.

Try not to use this feature too early.

But do note that Special Ascension is only available for 90 days after your account is created!

Fate/Grand Order Do’s & Don’ts

Here’s a list of things that you absolutely should and shouldn’t do in a new F/GO account as a complete beginner.

Do’s

• Do clear as many Singularities as you can early on
• Do clear Chaldea Gate Quests every day
• Do clear your Daily and Weekly Missions every day
• Do Chain your attacks to maximize DPS or NP gain
• Do use your Holy Grails and Special Ascension wisely
• Do save your AP Fruits for Events only
• Do save up Mana Prisms for high-priority early-game items
• Do choose only two units to focus all of your resources on at the start of the game
• Do add as many Friends as you can (or at least Follow them)
• Do clear Free Quests for extra Saint Quartz
• Do bring Servants and Craft Essences that boost your Currency Drop Rate in Events
• Do clear as many Event Missions as you can in every Event

Don’ts

• Don’t leave the game with your AP bar full or over the limit
• Don’t pull on every Summon Banner
• Don’t waste your Saint Quartz on AP if you have AP Fruits available
• Don’t invest in two Servants of the same Class in the early game
• Don’t ignore Class Affinities and Attributes when picking Servants
• Don’t forget to use Support Servants to make stage runs easier
• Don’t forget to set your best Servants as your Support Servants
• Don’t forget to farm the Mystic Code: Chaldea Combat Uniform ASAP
• Don’t forget to issue a Transfer Code and save it as soon as you’re done rerolling
• Don’t waste your daily-limited Master Skills on easy battles
• Don’t bring Servants who are at max Bond Level to battle
• Don’t forget to use your free daily Friend Point Summons