Christmas 2019 Challenge Quest Guide: Dance of the Fairies (Lancer Alter, Merlin)

• Medium Difficulty: This quest is rather difficult to solo, due to multiple break bars and the hard-hitting nature of Altria Lancer Alter's NP, and their tendency to charge their NP quickly due to break effects.
• Merlin starts by casting Critical Rate Up: Automatically before the battle begins, Merlin will increase both Lancer Alter and his own Critical Rate, which is unremovable and permanent.
• Merlin's Break causes him to cast Hero Creation on Lancer Alter: Increased Buster, Critical Strength (which combined with the Critical Rate buff, is bad news), and Max HP +100,000 for all of Lancer Alter's remaining HP bars.
• Lancer Alter's Break will charge her NP: During both break bars, she will her NP Gauge by 1 (1st break) and then by 2 (2nd break). It is more than likely that she will be able to get at least one NP out without measures to stop her from doing so.
• Lancer Alter's Break applies Curse Damage Up: Both break bars will apply a flat boost to curse damage of +1500 (1st break) and +1000 (2nd break), which last 5 turns each. The only source of curse is Lancer Alter's NP. Curse can be cleared, but the Curse Damage Up debuff is unremovable.

Encounter Tips:

• Focus on Altria (Lancer Alter) First: Avoid breaking Merlin first, as this will cause him to buff Lancer Alter's Buster, Max HP +100,000, and Critical Strength (all unremovable), which will make her much more difficult to deal with.
• When breaking Lancer Alter, be ready for her to charge her NP Gauge: Have defensive measures ready (such as Evade or Invincibility) beforehand if needed!

• A strong Single-Target Saber-class Servant can help take out Lancer Alter quickly without the threat of popping Merlin's first HP bar.
• Bringing Merlin is just as strong an option as usual--his full party Invincibility can help the party survive through an NP from Lancer Alter, and he assists a great deal in enhancing damage output to burst down the enemy. The enemy brought their Merlin, so Masters should not feel any shame in bringing their own!
• Bringing very strong AoE to burst down both enemies is viable, but can be risky if the battle is prolonged (due to the buffs provided to Lancer Alter by Merlin after break). Usage of an AoE is seen in the three-turn setup video example shown below.
• NP Gauge support is useful in making sure the party's NP can fire quickly and bring down Lancer Alter before she fires off her NP multiple times. Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II), Merlin, Helena Blavatsky, Ozymandias, and Shakespeare are some good choices.
• Invincibility / Evade skills are useful given that none of the bosses in this encounter can penetrate either of these defensive skills. A DPS with an Evade/Invincibility skill, or bringing Support that can grant either of these buffs to the party will help mitigate damage.

• 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.
  • Three-turn Setup: Raikou (Kaleidoscope) + Merlin + Paul Bunyan (Golden Catches the Carp), Backline Support Merlin + Waver (3 turns)
  • KoTR Setup: Bedivere + Altria Alter + Mash, Backline Support Mordred + Tristan + Lancelot (Saber) (11 turns)
  • Bikini Girls Setup: Frankenstein (Saber) + Helena (Archer) + Elisabeth Brave, Backline Mash + Raikou Lancer + Support Maid Alter (13 turns)
  • Low Rarity Setup: Bedivere + Caligula + Mozart, Backline Support David + Mash + Georgios (18 turns)