Lancer Of Black's powers and abilities
Vlad III is known for both being a great hero who fought against the invasion of the Ottoman Turks tooth and nail using guerrilla tactics. While famous for being the model for Count Dracula, within Romania, his heroic aspects are emphasized.[6] In fact, no Heroic Spirit possesses greater fame in Romania than Vlad. Being the greatest hero of Transylvania, as long as he is within his territory, he receives a boost in the rank of all his parameters, and his Noble Phantasm becomes usable. As such, as long as he is in Romania, he has possibly the greatest fame of all, a match for Heracles in Greece or King Arthur in Britain.[5] While the boost in power due to fame is not usually that great, his own is on the level of devoted piety within his country, bringing his current form extremely close to his prime in life.[7] Being the strongest trump card of the Black Faction during the Great Holy Grail War, he gives off an overwhelming pressure.[5] Despite possessing superb parameters which tower above most of the other Servants in the Black Faction, and Kairi Sisigou referring to him as an "absurdly overpowered Lancer", Shirou Kotomine confirms that Karna and Achilles possess the strength necessary to oppose Vlad, likely thanks to possessing great fame themselves or power which exceeds even said fame. When Mordred learned that, she considered the possibility of her father being either Lancer or Rider of Red.[6] Vlad III was naturally able to evade, block and repell the countless arrows shot by Atalanta's Phoebus Catastrophe without much difficulty.[7]
Having been summoned with the characteristics of a hero, outside of Romania where he is mostly known for the legends of Dracula, his fame wouldn't give him any power. Rather, it would inhibit his ability to display his original specs, as seen when he entered the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, where the fame of all other servants besides Semiramis is reduced to zero. He likens the drop in power from going to ten at his peak down to six. While able to fight with Karna evenly previously, he is greatly inferior to him in that state. Even without covering his body in flames, Karna was able to repel all of the stakes produced by Vlad's body with just his spear and armor.[8]
When considering viable classes under which he can be summoned, Saber and Archer are discounted due to him having no known legends of using swords or bows, Assassin and Berserker are generally considered out of the question, and the possibility of Caster is considered almost zero. Rider and Lancer both seem viable due to his feats.[6] Surprisingly, Vlad can also be summoned as a Berserker. In this case, perhaps due to the effects of Mad Enhancement, he would easily accept the fact that he is a Vampire and fight as a monster instead of a king.[4]
Skills
Class Skills
Magic Resistance (B Rank): Magecraft Invocations in regards to three bars or less are completely nullified. It it is difficult to be harmed by greater magecraft, Ritual Spells, etc.[1]
Personal Skills
Demonic Defender of the State (EX Rank): Capacity of the Servant to mark a region as his personal dominion by securing the surrounding leylines prior to an engagement, permitting reinforcement of his combat capabilities when fighting in defense.[1][3] He is able to transform Trifas and the surrounding areas into the land he rules over as Lord over a period of two months. Inside this domain, Vlad III acquires a combat bonus comparable to a Berserker's A rank in Mad Enhancement.[1] This allows Vlad III to display some degree of advantage even against top rank Heroic Spirits such as Achilles, who boast of worldwide-class fame.[7] Kazikli Bey is a usable Noble Phantasm only where this skill forms its domain.[1][3]
Noble Phantasms
Kazikli Bey
Vlad III's main Noble Phantasm is Kazikli Bey. Within a range of 1 kilometer, a maximum of 20 thousand pikes can gradually manifest over time, bursting from the ground to impale opponents.[1][3] Manifested pikes remain as a physical barrier that eliminates free ground, and evasion thus becomes less likely with passage of time.[3] The sight of the pikes impose a curse-like psychological effect, destabilizing an opponent's mental condition with oppressive anxiety or fear.[1][3] Although each stake doesn't possess much destructive power, and their speed is also low, there are very few Anti-Army and Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasms capable of killing over ten thousand people.[7]
This Noble Phantasm allowed Vlad to calmly hold his own against Karna and Atalanta. In truth, their odds of overwhelming Vlad were fifty-fifty, since fighting a force of twenty thousand was beyond the capacities of even a mighty Heroic Spirit. Even then, there would have been no problems if they were alive, but unfortunately, they were facing him as Servants.[7] Although Vlad had a certain advantage, Karna was able to break one thousand stakes with his spear, burn eight hundred with the flames covering his body, and stop two thousand with his golden armor in a single assault.[8] In truth, Vlad's repeated attacks weren't half-hearted at all, and any other Lancer besides Karna wouldn't have been able to withstand it.[12]
Legend of Dracula
Vlad's second Noble Phantasm is Legend of Dracula. In Romania, Vlad is treated as a hero, but this Noble Phantasm releases his abilities as the “Vampire Dracula”, who possesses great fame worldwide outside of his home country.[13] In this form, Vlad gains an extreme amplification of his body's overall power and ability and regeneration.[1] As shown when Karna pierced his heart where his Spiritual Core was located, the boost in strength Vlad receives in this form is so great that even attacks on that level were reduced to having no effect. When Achilles threw his spear fast enough to surpass the sound barrier, the spear that should have been close to impossible to evade was stopped by one of Vlad's hands. A feat as outrageous as grabbing a flying missile bare-handed. Naturally, his hand's flesh was torn to shreds, his nerves were snapped apart, and his bones were smashed loudly. However, he regenerated his hand faster than the speed at which he had been wounded.[8] Though his thought processes are weakened equivalent to the effect of Mad Enhancement, if you look at his overall abilities, his strength is greater in this form than Vlad III as a sovereign.[13] His superhuman strength is enough to punch Karna and send him flying into a wall. Although the damage of his punch was insignificant to Karna, he was surprised at how he had managed to overpower him with just his overwhelming physical strength alone. Darnic believes that had Vlad used this Noble Phantasm during his first encounter with Karna, Vlad would have easily torn him apart.[8]
In exchange for this great power, Vlad's skills and other Noble Phantasms are sealed.[1] In this form, Vlad's weapons include stakes that he can create from within his body to stab his enemies.[13] Thanks to his superhuman strength, he can throw these stakes so fast that they break the sound barrier as if it were extremely natural. Their power is equal to that of a Noble Phantasm, being able to pierce through the top of Karna's foot. Even Karna, Achilles, Atalanta, Chiron, Avicebron empowered by Command Spells and commanded by Jeanne d'Arc, who kept knocking down with her flag his arms as he tried to extend them were forced to fight him without showing the slightest bit of relaxation in their faces. Even these six servants who were all worthy of being called the strongest didn't allow themselves to hesitate for a moment. It wasn't in order to stop themselves from being negligent, but rather, that they were desperate. By continuously changing his form, his attacks tore not only through golems but even occasionally the two Archers, approaching them with speed that resembled teleportation. However, with all 6 servants attacking him together, the situation was advantageous for them. They simply kept buying time. When dawn came, his powers would drop sharply.[8]
