Hope your purse is stuffed
If you’re one of the poor bastards still playing Fate/Grand Order (Hi there!), you may know that one of the odder things about the game’s launch was the decision to duplicate the original Japanese content rollout, putting the NA game years behind the original in terms of new additions. While odd, one beneficial side effect has been that players know pretty much everything that’s going to happen long in advance. That kind of forward planning helps when dealing with microtransactions and FGO’s notoriously stingy random draw system.
That period just got disrupted, though, because FGO’s English version has just gone off-script. A special, North America-only Thanksgiving promotion officially kicks off on November 22nd, running through December 1st. Unlike the current “Guda Guda Honnoji” event, this one’s mainly focused on giveaways and a new premium summon promo, but it’ll be a doozy for folks aiming to get their hands on some rare Servants, or maybe just display some Irish pride.
The Thanksgiving special will add several Servants from Ireland’s Ulster cycle. Leading the pack is Scáthach, the game’s first 5-Star Lancer, teacher of Fate/Stay Night‘s original Lancer, Cú Chulainn, and wearer of history’s tightest leotard. Also repping the Emerald Isle 3-Star Lancer Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (aka the Fate/Zero Lancer) and 3-Star Saber Fergus mac Róich (who was nicknamed “Brock” after his resemblance to the eponymous Pokemon trainer).
The real money shot, though, is for folks willing to shoot some money Aniplex’s way. A one-time, paid premium summon promises a guaranteed 5-Star Servant from a pre-selected pool. The pool includes some classic characters like Fate/Stay night’s original Saber, but also a number of best-in-class units like Francis Drake and Zhuge Liang, and even Okita “Sakura Saber” Souji, an otherwise limited-run character. For players deep into the game (read: beyond saving), it’s a good deal, considering that the standard drop rate for a 5-Star Servant is 1% (going even lower if you’re targeting a specific 5-Star. Whatever the case, it looks like FGO is looking to get its gravy train sauced.
