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Salem Boss Guide Section 8 - 4

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Enemy Layout

Battle 1/2
34,388
Shantak
33,466
Shantak
Fatal Battle 2/2
254,745
Abigail Williams

Boss Statistics

Abigail Williams
Abigail HP
254,745
LVL
90
Class
Foreigner
NP Bar

NP Type
ST
Actions
Up to 3 per turn.
Traits
Female, Humanoid, Servant, Divine, Heaven or Earth, Threat to Humanity
Effect Revives with full HP upon death (3 times). This is not a visible buff, so it cannot be removed. Battle ends when 4th HP bar reaches 0.
Upon Entry Mass Hysteria B: Inflict Terror status to all enemies (3 turns) - chance to stun every turn, dispels once stun occurs. Decrease DEF for all enemies (3 turns).
Skill 1 Faithful Prayer C: Chance to increase NP Gauge for all allies by 1. Increase NP Strength for all allies (3 turns).
Skill 2 Mass Hysteria B: Inflict Terror status to all enemies (3 turns) - chance to stun every turn, dispels once stun occurs. Decrease DEF for all enemies (3 turns).
Skill 3 Witch Trial A+: Decrease NP Gauge for a single enemy by 20%. Decrease ATK for a single enemy (3 turns).
NP Qliphoth Rhizome: Removes buffs for a single enemy (Activates first). Deals damage to a single enemy. Decrease Critical Star Drop Rate for a single enemy (1 turn).

Overview

  • Medium to high Difficulty: The boss now can unleash her NP (single target), and must be defeated 4 times total (3 hidden full-HP Guts stacks).
  • Victory will depend on a Master's access (and willingness) to use a powerful Alter Ego/Foreigner (support) Servant, as well as their ability to handle buff removal Abigail's NP.
  • NP Removes Buffs before Damage: Qliphoth Rhizome hits a single target, removing buffs before applying damage, so Invincibility, Evade, and Guts will not work as damage mitigation options. Debuffs on the enemy, Craft Essences Essence effects, and Taunt can still help redirect damage.
  • Without countermeasures, Abigail's NP is lethal even against Alter Ego Servants!
  • Guts x3: The boss will revive with full HP (254,745) three times. The buff is hidden and cannot be removed, so she will need to be defeated a total of four times. The revival behaves identically to Guts, which means switching Servant Cards upon depleting a health bar can potentially deplete multiple HP bars in one turn.
  • Boss Wave Starting Debuff: The boss will start by inflicting Terror on the entire frontline party, which will decrease defense and have a chance to Stun at the end of every turn (3 turns).
  • Beware that Abigail can both charge her NP, and stun a key defensive Servant via Terror at random. Random NPs can happen at the most inopportune time.
  • Party's level is normal: Unlike prior encounters, the party's level will now be normalized.
  • Class advantage rules:
    • Gold Alter Ego Alter Ego Deals 2x Damage and Receives 0.5x Damage.
    • Gold Berserker Berserker Deals 0.5x Damage and Receives 2x Damage.
    • Gold Foreigner Foreigner Deals 2x Damage and Receives 2x Damage.
    • All other classes are neutral.

Dealing with Buff Removal NPs

  • The key element in this fight is dealing with (multiple) Single Target buff removal NPs, much like previous fights against Amakusa. 
  • The ideal solution is actually to clear the encounter in a short turn span so as to deal with as little random elements as possible, however a sustainable approach is certainly viable.
  • The most sustainable way to survive Abigail's NP is to Debuff her Attack or NP Damage. However, this is made much more difficult by Abigail's own access to Defense Down debuffs and NP Damage buffs.
  • In addition, Masters need to debuff her by a lot (at least 70%+ after calculations) to be able to survive her NP and recover in time.
  • Despite class disadvantage, even bringing in a Berserker can be rather useful to reach the right benchmarks. Good heavy debuffing Servants are: Meltryllis, Saber of Empireo, Nightingale, Asterios or Kid Gilgamesh's NP. Masters can stack multiple weaker debuffs, but it is very difficult to hit the required benchmark that way (and results in a lack of damage).
  • A key element of randomness is Abigail's ability to charge her NP or stun your Servants. NP Seals, NP Drains, Stuns, Debuff Cleansing, Debuff Immunity, high passive Resistance and Skill Seals will help to reduce any random element.
  • NP Drains/Seals are especially effective as Masters can simply stall Abigail long enough to face too few NPs to wipe on.
  • Craft Essences with Invincibility or Defense Up cannot be removed by Abigail's NP. They can provide additional protection to go along with any debuff stacking.
  • Lastly, Masters can use Order Change to bring a key Servant to the backline before Abigail uses her NP.

Team Recommendations

  • Alter Ego-class Servants are highly suggested due to their class advantage in this encounter against all enemies. On the other hand, avoid Berserkers if possible.
  • Trait Bonus Damage (Divine, Heaven or Earth, Female) can help make the battle run smoothly if Alter Egos are in short supply. Some notable single-target NP Servants that fit this role include Jack the Ripper and Scathach, among others (listed in the table below).
  • Masters following the Caster class bonus objective can grind Abigail down, but will generally instead have to rely on heavy stalling measures from Tamamo no Mae and Waver or an extremely heavy no-holds-barred all-out offense with one of the top (ST) Casters.
  • Masters still needs defense support inbetween NPs though, with some measure of Healing  (Merlin, Hans, etc.) being especially effective
  • Due to the stun debuff, bringing debuff clear support or setting up debuff immunity before the boss wave can also help make the battle run smoothly. Candidates include Passionlip, Saint Martha, Xuanzang Sanzang, and David/Tristan due to Terror being a mental debuff.
  • High passive magic Resistance is actually super useful here, as there will be 2 checks on whether a Stun will land; first the Terror application, and then if the subsequent stun trigger hits. Meltryllis and Passionlip both have impressive passive Magic Resistance for example.
  • Taunt / Target Focus is extremely useful to redirect damage from her NP, which will remove all buffs before damage is dealt. Keeping a Taunt Servant handy can protect the damage dealer from harm, especially with Order Change. 
    Tip: Craft Essences such as Volumen Hydrogen are not removed by Abigail's NP. A Taunt Servant can thus even last 2 NPs, should a Master wish to take a gradual approach.
  • Can be solo'd: Meltryllis can solo this quest with a bit of help clearing the first wave and some Taunt support for insurance against the boss. (Check video - but there is a fair bit of randomness involved via stun, NP Charging and crits).

Quick Servant Suggestions

- Recommended
Alter Ego/Class Advantaged DPS
Abigail Williams
Caster DPS
Xuanzang SanzangIllyasviel von EinzbernQueen of ShebaNero Claudius (Caster)Leonardo da VinciMerlinMedeaGilgamesh (Caster)
Trait Bonus DPS
Divine
Female
Heaven/Earth
Enuma Elish
Healing Support
Defensive Support
Debuff Clear / Immunity
Circe Medea
Xuanzang SanzangIllyasviel von Einzbern Leonardo da Vinci
Taunt Support
PassionlipChevalier d'Eon
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About the Author(s)

Twitter: @NorseFTX

Content Director at GamePress. Passionate about fighting games, virtual/augmented reality technology, neuroengineering, and video games in general. Classical Piano Performance, Sprite Art, and Under Night In-Birth enthusiast.