Fate/Grand Order might advertise itself as a free application, but is actually very expensive to play. Freebies are rare and far between, while summons are costly and hardly ever guarantee a 4-star, let alone a 5-star Servant. As a P2W player, you’ll find yourself dumping a fortune into this mobile Gacha, while those who choose not to pay for progression will have to invest tremendous amounts of time into it to keep up the pace.

Still, there are a few ways to gain the most important resources in the game for free – not that the tutorial will tell you much about them. Given that they are so scarce, you’ll want to know exactly what these methods are, which is why we’ve compiled a list of precious resources and how you might be able to get them as an F2P player.

Quantum Pieces (Basic Currency)

QP is the soft currency in Fate/Grand Order; in other words, an equivalent of Gold in most other mobile RPGs. In FGO, you use QP for pretty much everything you can think of. Most importantly, you need it to complete all kinds of Servant upgrades, including leveling, reinforcing skills, improving their Noble Phantasms, and ascending them. You also need QP to boost Craft Essences, so even though you might think you have enough of this resource as you start the game, you’ll soon discover otherwise.

The primary way to farm QP is the Chaldea quest “Into the Treasure Vault”, which is active on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. To make the most of it, you need a decent Rider-class Servant equipped with the Mona Lisa Craft Essence, which adds 10% QP gain when limit-broken. If you do not have access to such a character, you can always try to find a friend who does, add them to your list, and use their Rider when needed.

Saint Quartz (and Fragments)

SQ is the premium currency in Fate/Grand Order. It’s fairly expensive if you choose to buy it with real currency and it can be a pain to farm in the game as an F2P player. Still, you need SQ in order to summon new Servants and Craft Essences, which is the main way to progress in the game. You can use 3 SQ for one pull or 30 SQ for 10 pulls. The latter makes more sense – at least in theory – because it guarantees higher drop rates for 4- and 5-star characters.

You can also use SQ for two other advantages, although you really shouldn’t do so as an F2P player. One SQ can refill your AP bar, similarly to a Golden Apple, as well as resurrect your entire team with full NP during a lost battle, as opposed to using three different Command Spells. Both of these perks are great value, but when your reserve of SQ is limited, you’re better off saving all your quartz for summons.

Play Fate/Grand Order on PC

There are a few different ways to obtain SQ for free in Fate/Grand Order. First, you can earn up to 4 SQ by logging in daily. This works on a per-week basis and implies that you log in without skipping any day (which would otherwise reset the chain). You get 1 SQ on your second consecutive login, 1 on your fourth, and another 2 on your sixth. Because the game keeps track of your total number of consecutive logins as well, you can increase the number of SQ you earn per week if you never skip a day in over 10 weeks.

In addition, you earn 1 SQ for every quest (main or free) you complete in the Singularity, as well as 1-3 SQ for every bond level over 6 you achieve on a Servant. Certain events offer Saint Quartz for logins and other activities and you can also obtain 1 SQ by combining 7 Saint Quartz Fragments, which are usually obtained from events or from Master Missions.

When you draw the line, you can earn a base of 6 SQ per week – 4 for logging in and 2 for completing all Master Missions. To this, you can add any SQ you might get for completing new quests that week or for improving the bond on one or several of your characters. If, at first, you can get a free 10x summon every 1-2 weeks (with no events), this number will eventually grow to up to 5 weeks per pull.

Given that pulls are relatively rare, you might want to make the most of your initial post-tutorial 10x summon and reroll your account  until you find at least 2 4-star heroes.

Friend Points

This currency is another way for F2P players to obtain new characters and Craft Essences, although pulls made with Friend Points can never generate Servants or items that are higher than 3-stars. Still, these summons are a good way to obtain fodder heroes, as well as Experience and Star Up Cards that can then be used to improve your core Servants.

To earn FP, you must choose a support Servant during any quest or have your support Servant get chosen by other players. You get 10 FP when you select the Servant of a person who is not on your friends list, 25 FP when you choose a friend’s support Servant, and 200 FP when you use the NPC support Servant on certain quests. A 10x summon uses 2000 Friend Points.

Mana and Rare Prisms

Mana Prisms and Rare Prisms are both a type of currency that can be used in Da Vinci’s Workshop, where you can buy anything from upgrade Cards to Craft Essences, Mystic Codes, summon tickets, and other miscellanea.

Mana Prisms can be obtained from Daily Event Quests, but are most commonly generated by burning 3-star cards, including Servants, Craft Essences, and various upgrade Cards. Most players farm MP by completing the daily quest for Experience Cards on the 30 AP difficulty. They then burn these cards to obtain relatively cheap Mana Prisms.

Rare Prisms, on the other hand, are far more difficult to come by. While they can be obtained from a few events, the main source of RPs is burning 4- and 5-star Servants, which, as you can imagine, is a rather painful process. With these resources, you can buy very rare upgrade materials, such as Chaldean Visionary Flames, Crystallized Lore, Code Remover, and powerful Skill Up Cards.

Even at a glance, one thing is certain: playing Fate/Grand Order is a long-term investment, regardless of whether you choose to pay for progress or you commit to an F2P playstyle. Knowing just how rare all of these resources are, however, will likely make you think twice about whether that 4-star Servants you have in your squad is worth the effort. Still, the game does reward active players, as well as those who choose to check in on daily basis for very long periods of time. Although it might take forever, it is possible to eventually break into the top 100 players on the server without paying for your spot.

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