Nero Fest 2019 - Exhibition II: Cursing Ootakemaru (Suzuka Gozen)

• A fight with Suzuka Gozen that seems very complicated on first look, but is rather straightforward in practice. It's only the final phase that requires a good amount of forethought as to what alignments to bring along.

• While it is a step up from Spartacus, this Challenge Quest is still fairly easy, especially given the solo options listed below. 

Boss Mechanics

• A single wave of weak Oni enemies is all Masters have to charge NPs before fighting Suzuka. Do note that the Oni are Berserkers, so they can deal a fair chunk of damage if one lets them.
• In this fight Suzuka has a permanent and non-removable buff that reduces all  defensive NP Gain if she attacks a Servant.
• In addition, Suzuka has extra non-removable buffs that provide her with extra defenses tied to which HP bar she is on, and her defenses all follow a set pattern that repeats itself.
• In addition, every time Suzuka acts 1 Servant will be afflicted with a 1-turn Taunt debuff. As this Taunt is not active during a Master's turn, Masters can always redirect Suzuka's Taunts with a Taunt of their own.
• The Taunt can cause Suzuka to focus fire the same Servant multiple turns and Servants will die much easier as Suzuka's damage usually isn't spread out very well.
• Beware of the combination of Suzuka's Sure Hit buff, and Evasion-based protection against her AoE NP, teamwide Evasion is much less reliable.
• Naturally, Suzuka has access to all of her normal skills, which she can use in place of 1 of her 3 actions.

Suzuka's Rotating Defenses

• Suzuka's 1st HP bar gives her a rotating weakness to 1 Card Type and resistance to the other 2 Card Types, following the order of:

  1. Quick Weakness

  2. Arts Weakness

  3. Buster Weakness.

• Her 2nd HP bar's buff effectively changes Suzuka's class from Saber(although she still counts as a Saber to MHX(A)) to something different, following the order of:

  1. Lancer

  2. Rider

  3. Caster

• The class change is applied at the start of a Master's turn, so she will not be a Lancer on the turn her first HP bar breaks, and likewise she will still be in the same class she was when her 2nd HP bar is broken for that turn.

• For Suzuka's 3rd HP bar, she will gain a massive Damage Resistance buff that can only be reduced temporarily by hitting her with a Servant of the appropriate alignment. This rotation is a little more complicated than the 1st and 2nd HP bars, going in order of:

  1. Balanced

  2. Good

  3. Balanced

  4. Evil

• The reductions appear as a debuff, with 1 debuff per card of the appropriate alignment, and each debuff lasting 3 turns from application. Masters need multiple debuffs to unleash high damage.

• Masters are highly advised to field at least 1 Balanced Servant during the course of Suzuka’s 3rd HP bar, as this will make it easier to keep multiple stacks of Damage Resistance Down on Suzuka.
• Naturally, fielding the Divine Three-Legged Race CE is essential on the Main (Balanced) DPS - there are very few Balanced Servants that can fill the support role.
• In general, Archers are the best class to bring against Suzuka as the main damage dealers, even considering the rotating classes after the first Break.
• Berserkers are very vulnerable to Suzuka's Taunts, as such, while they are definitely viable, Masters would do well to use Taunt Servants of their own to prevent Suzuka from taking them out. 
• Extra Class Servants are also not a bad choice here, as they can easily deal with Suzuka's 2nd HP bar, yet keep in mind that HP Bar is the least dangerous. 
• Lastly, Suzuka has both the Riding and the Divine trait, which Masters can make full use of. 

Specific examples of good offensive Servants include:

• Balanced Archers such as Oda Nobunaga (full trait bonus), Anne & Mary (Summer), EMIYA, Orion, Arjuna, Billy and David. 
• Okita Souji is remarkably good here, with the right alignment, the capability to immediately break her first HP bar due to her Quick focus, and class advantage against the first class Suzuka changes to - Lancer.
• Other strong Archers with a different alignment such as Chloe von Einzbern, Gilgamesh and Altria Pendragon (Archer) still perform well.

• Berserkers such as Cu Chulainn (Alter) (can survive if Suzuka doesn't cast her Sure Hit) and especially Mysterious Heroine X (Alter) (her trait-bonus and Quick nature can immediately push Suzuka into her third HP Bar in 2 turns - although she struggles there). 

• Do not discount other Trait Bonus Servants such as Saint Martha (Ruler) and Oda Nobunaga (Berserker) they can deal fairly good damage. Although Martha's bonus is additive to the Event CE.

For defensive purposes:

• Jeanne d’Arc is an especially strong Servant to bring for several reasons:

  • Her NP cannot be bypassed by the Sure Hit portion of Suzuka’s Blessings of Wisdom, and provides a small amount of healing and Defense Up to make surviving against Suzuka less of a hassle.

  • Divine Judgement is a very powerful stun option as Suzuka cannot resist it at level 10.

  • Multiple Arts cards to enable Arts chains for NP preparation.

  • Ruler means she takes reduced damage from Suzuka. Coupled with her high HP, it’s very hard for Suzuka to beat Jeanne, even if Jeanne is forced to taunt for multiple turns in a row.

• Mash is a powerful option that anyone has, although she is not nearly as sturdy as Jeanne.

• Tamamo works great with Arts-based Archers, and her skills and NP are designed for long-lasting fights against 1 enemy.

• Merlin is good for Buster-based Archers, though his defensive capabilities might be found lacking once Illusion is on cooldown. The focus fire nature of Suzuka makes Merlin's healing much less effective.

• Waver is largely a NP battery for others in this fight, especially after his skills end. Works great if paired with Tamamo and Jeanne, but not everyone can field multiple SSR supportive Servants.

• Andersen, despite being widely available like Mash, will definitely feel his low rarity’s lack of stats, making him very susceptible should Suzuka force a taunt on him, even if Andersen gets the Defense Up buff from his NP beforehand.

• Georgios and Leonidas are excellent low-cost Servants that can function as sacrificial taunts, if necessary.

Certainly! Although with access to Sure Hit and high damage, Masters need to move quickly.

• 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. 
• They key to soloing this fight is to be able to make it through the final Special Defense phase quickly - which means Balanced Servants are the best option. 
• Okita is the most safe option, as she can NP Suzuka on turn 1 by charging on the Oni, simply critical the Lancer-class on turn 2, and then use her Balanced alignment to clear the final wave before she dies. 
• However, other Balanced Servants, such as Anne & Mary (Summer), or even an upgraded/grailed EMIYA can pull this off. 
• There may be some RNG involved (does she use her Sure Hit buff?) and whether one can land their criticals. Since the Challenge Quest is short, a reset isn't too troubling.

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.

• Okita Souji Solo (90, NP1) with the Chaldea Mystic Code - Replicable by anyone, although a higher level Mystic Code truly helps.
• Oda Nobunaga/Merlin/Jeanne d'Arc Set Up that is very slow and steady - very useful to observe the entirety of the fight and get to know the mechanics.
• Anne & Mary (Archer) Solo (80, NP1) with Anniversary Blonde.
• (Amusing) Full Bronze Set Up with a bunch of expensive (Taunt) CEs.
• EMIYA Solo (80, NP4) with the Atlas Academy Uniform - not recommended as Suzuka didn't cast her Sure Hit here, but he can do it!