Nero Fest 2019 - Exhibition VII: Grand Finale: The Crimson Olympian

• The finale of Nero Fest 2019 is upon us! Surely a massive team fight with even more complex mechanics than last year awaits us!.... But no, this Challenge Quest is straightforward with low enemy HP Pools and rather predictable behaviour.

• The Set Up is similar to last year: A 7 Servant Boss rush that ends with Nero Claudius in her new Bloomers Costume, each with a teamwide personal buff that is active while they are alive, and some additional Servant buffs if they are on the field with another particular Servant in the rush.

• The fight is quite soloable, with options opening up especially if a (borrowed) Servant has NP2+ or grails invested.

Boss Mechanics

• With the exception of Nero and Fuuma, each enemy Servant possesses a personal 3-turn duration, unremovable Damage Resistance buff that makes them immune to damage of a specific type. Fuuma achieves a similar deal thanks to having a 3-hit Evasion that lasts up to 3 turns.

• In addition, all enemy Servants possess a permanent, unremovable buff that’s active for all enemy Servants while that Servant is on the field and deactives the moment they perish.

• Each enemy Servant is able to confer additional buffs to a particular ally of theirs if both compatible enemy Servants are on the field at the same time. All but Nero can grant this to a specific single enemy Servant, with Nero able to buff every enemy Servant. These buffs have unlimited turn duration, though they can be removed.

• Nero is the only enemy Servant who does not receive a specific buff from another enemy Servant.

• A key decision early on is whether to slow down the fight and leave Medea (Lily) alive with her Defense Up buff, or whether to kill her but instead have more pressure on your own defenses. A slowed offense can be very problematic in the face of enemy NPs.

• No matter what order is used to beat the finale, at least 1 enemy Servant will benefit from an additional buff granted by another enemy Servant.

Notes per Servant

• Kid Gilgamesh enters the field with a powerful Buster Defense Resistance buff for 3 turns that prevents him from dying quickly to Buster compositions. Since he has Golden Rule, odds are that he will launch his NP first. Often dies 1st or 3rd.
• Saint Martha has some nasty allied buffs, increasing their Critical Damage output especially, and she can remove your buffs if unlucky. Still, with her long charge bar and lack of truly nasty mechanics, she is often kept alive for a while. Often dies 5th or 6th.
• Medea (Lily) has one of the worst teamwide buffs: Teamwide Defense Up, yet she is also fairly harmless herself and the buffs she otherwise grants are not very debilitating. Cu Chulainn (Alter) does buff her with hit-based Evasion, slowing down a later kill. Thus, She either dies 1st, just before Nero, or last. 
• Cu Chulainn (Alter) can cast his annoying Protection from Arrows (and will grant it to Medea (Lily) if alive), plus boosts teamwide Attack. While his Quick Resist is problematic for Quick-based Servants, he dies very quickly on the turn he appears due to his Berserker class, which also prevents the NP Gain buff Kid Gil grants from being a problem. Given his high damage output, he generally dies 2nd as soon as he appears.
• Fuuma Kotarou enters the field with a 3-turn 3-hit Evasion buff and increases the team's Critical Rate. Masters could wait out his Evasion, as his Assassin damage output isn't too high versus support Casters (although beware that Martha buffs him). Try to avoid having him and Kid Gil on the same field (as he grants MAX HP/other stuff) by killing Kidgil on the same turn as Cu Chulainn (Alter). He generally dies 5th or later.
• Brynhild is a problem as she grants Pierce Invincibility to the whole team in addition to her own personal Arts Resistance. Ideally, be prepared to slug her the moment she appears. As such, She generally dies 4th.
• Nero Claudius herself is not a problem whatsoever. It's her immediate NP Charge on entry effect that is very dangerous. The 1-time Guts status she grants can be deactived (it's a full HP restore) if she is killed (although she will always have 1 Guts herself). Ideally, either clear the field entirely before she appears, or be prepared to receive incoming NPs/have only weak NPs on the field like Medea (Lily)'s. Brynhild is of course very problematic to have alive if Nero appears for this reason. Either kill her last, or 5th.

• The fight is much more straightforward if Masters can blast through it quickly by bringing strong damage. Enemy HP is quite low, and a buffed ST NP with the Event CE will rapidly Overkill. 
• Both AoE Servants and ST Servants are thus viable, but AoE Servants are very useful to clear the field before Nero Claudius arrives to charge enemy NPs or to kill all enemies before NPs are charged. 
• With so many different classes, Berserker Servants and Extra-Class Servants do shine, and a mention must go out to Gilgamesh for his Anti-Servant shenanigans.
• Archers are strong picks in general here, especially if their NP/buffs are saved to deal with Brynhild. Nero Claudius does have the largest HP pool by far after all.
• Pierce Invincibility/Sure Hit and Ignore Defense are also very useful to shake up the kill order. The various Evasion buffs can then be bypassed, while Ignore Defense can speed up the initial kills while Medea (Lily) is alive (or keep her alive until Nero).
• Of course Buff Removal can dispose of the various additional buffs as well, with Amakusa putting in exceptional work.
• Naturally, the usual high-profile Supports are recommendeded. Considering the low enemy HP, the best defense is a good offense, thus make sure to bring Servants like Merlin, Waver, Tamamo or any of their more "budget" variants such as Gilgamesh (Caster),  Helena, Shakespeare, Hans, Mozart and so on.

Certainly! The main key is to be able to deal enough damage to close out the fight in time and be able to deal with Brynhild/Nero smoothly.

•  Having an NP2 or grailed borrowed Servant makes this process a lot easier, especially as an (ST) NP can be used during, say, an BBNP chain and clear the entire field.
• When soloing, Masters field lvl 1+ Servants with a Taunt (Georgios and Leonidas) to draw fire for 2 turns (one at a time) and then leave the borrowed maxed Servant on their own. 
• The most smooth solo Servant is once more Cu Chulainn (Alter), but with enough firepower, plenty more Servants are possible, such as (Grailed/NP Upgraded): Heracles, Vlad, Nero Claudius, Emiya, and so on. 
• In addition, Masters can extend the solo operation by fielding more Taunting Servants if more time is required, albeit at the cost of doing lower damage and risking more enemy NPs/RNG.

Cu Alter Solo notes

• Medea (Lily)’s party-wide 50% Defense Up must be removed first, as solo Servants live and die by their potential to deal damage. Also, it is ill-advised to let the enemy Cu Chulainn (Alter) give Medea (Lily) 3-hit Evasion and permanent Defense Up, especially if lacking a method to remove enemy buffs or increase Attack Up.

• Cu Chulainn (Alter) is the second enemy to defeat, as he can potentially stall a fight longer than need be due to Protection From Arrows and Battle Continuation. In addition, the buffs he can receive from Brynhild and Nero are too dangerous to let him stay on the field for long.

• Kid Gilgamesh is the third enemy to defeat, and it’s best to defeat him the same turn as Cu Chulainn (Alter), if possible, as this prevents him from receiving the large Max HP increase and other buffs that Fuuma Kotarou can grant him.

• While Brynhild is the next enemy that needs to be defeated due to her party-wide Ignore Invincible, it is best to spend a turn attacking Fuuma to remove Fuuma’s 3-hit Evasion.

• Also, at this point, it is best to be able to eliminate Brynhild, St. Martha, and Fuuma in the same turn, so as to prevent Nero from buffing any of those 3 with Nero’s special buffs and party-wide Battle Continuation. This can be accomplished by taking advantage of how targets change as a Servant switches from their regular cards to NP card, and vice versa.

• Once Nero is by herself, she should only take 2 turns to defeat with a Buster Brave Chain each turn.

Note that these videos are not affiliated with GamePress, but showcase some lineups that are effective in clearing the final challenge. These can serve as a good reference for how to rotate skills during this quest or simply to have a look at the encounter before diving in.

• Karna Set-Up that showcases the fight well - No Event CE is used so mechanics are visible!
• Standard Merlin/Waver Set up with Gilgamesh (NP1, 90) - showcases how AoE damage with supports trivializes the encounter
• Cu Chulainn (Alter) Solo (90, NP1, 10/10/10) with Atlas Academy Uniform
• Cu Chulainn (Alter) Solo (90, NP2, 8/10/6) with Atlas Academy Uniform
• Full Bronze Clear (with expensive CEs) - Arash as last man standing
• (People die when they are killed) - EMIYA Solo (100, NP5, 10/10/10) with Chaldea Mystic Code
• Vlad Solo (90, NP2, 10/10/x + Georgios Bond CE) with Chaldea Mystic Code
• (Mongrels) Gilgamesh Solo (100, NP1, 10/10/10) with Chaldea Mystic Code