Archer (Fate/stay Night) - Abilities

Abilities

I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to death. Nor known to life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, "Unlimited Blade Works."

Though Archer himself does not seem to have any special mastery of magecraft beyond his specialty, he possesses extensive knowledge of a conventional, if unusual, branch of sorcery. He is a Faker, an individual skilled at creating imitations of objects through the use of tracing and projection of mental images to form tangible objects. Though Projection is normally ineffective at creating durable or powerful artifacts, Archer’s unique approach to this craft enables him to materialize enormously powerful and accurate copies of the images recorded in his mind.

By drawing upon the nature of his Reality Marble without the need to deploy it, Archer is capable of recording all information regarding physical constitution, supernatural properties and even history of any manner of ancient weapon merely by glancing upon them, and then materialize an astonishingly precise copy. The copies not only possess the same magical and conceptual traits as the originals, but they also retain the memories of the weapons, enabling Archer to read into these records and download any skills or techniques these armaments might have been employed for. His method is not without limitations though, as weapons traced are lowered in power by one rank, and it is not possible to replicate artifacts composed of substances not existent in this world.

In addition, through the use of Alteration, Archer can modify the traced copies to infuse them with new special properties. The most effective use of this skill is the crafting of Broken Phantasms, Noble Phantasms overloaded with magical energy which, at the cost of being destroyed after use, exponentially increase their attack power. Whereas most Servants would be reluctant to sacrifice their weapons in such a manner, Archer’s unlimited arsenal allows him to employ this method at will, his particular style consisting of modifying swords to be fired as arrows.

He is also skilled in the basis of both Alteration and Tracing: Reinforcement; the art of temporarily strengthening the construction of objects through the understanding of their nature and perfection of defects in their structure through projection, enhancing the fundamental properties of the target, such as an armor’s resistance or the sharpness of a blade. One of the most difficult employments of this craft is the reinforcement of living beings, as insertion of magic energy in other live organisms is a complex process and any mistake in the procedure is perceived as an invasion and subsequently rejected. Archer employs this method on himself to enhance his physical performance, particularly in his eyesight, granting him such precise vision that it approaches a limited form of clairvoyance.

Archer is also in possession of a sleek black longbow, which is constructed from a synthetic, metallic yet flexible compound that does not exist in the modern time period. This bow has been designed to withstand the strain of mounting weapons, such as Noble Phantasms, and propel them as if they were mere arrows. Similarly, Archer's breastplate and boots are crafted from the same material, while the red cloak he wears is a holy burial cloth that shields Archer from spiritual interference in his surroundings.

As a Counter Guardian, a spirit that serves the planet and protects it from disaster, Archer is weaker than heroic spirits in terms of strength, stamina, speed, etc. However, he uses his projection ability to make up for the difference. For example, during his fight with Lancer, his falchions kept getting destroyed but he just projected new ones immediately. Also, by using different projected Noble Phantasms, he was able to kill Berserker six times (five in the anime version with his Master killing him a sixth).