Boss: Saber of Empireo Ch15-2 (Shimousa)

• Old Man Sitting EX's Fight gimmicks are like his kit: Simple yet effective.  
• Unprepared Masters may find Saber Empireo frustrating and difficult since his fight requires playing a bit differently, but with the right strategy or plenty of Archers he is very manageable and straightforward.  
• Empireo's primary gimmick is Buff Removal on every attack and Mental Debuff Immunity (Charm will not work).
• The Buff removal on every attack makes each buff a one-turn/hit buff in practice, as such stacking offense/defense buffs is highly ineffective. Spreading out defensive buffs offers greater returns in survivability. 
• Empireo's next major gimmick kicks in after the second Break Bar (when his red HP bar appears), which provides 100% damage reduction against normal attacks but increases enemies' NP gain.  
• The damage reduction on third break is very manageable since Saber Empireo has roughly half the HP of his other break bars at this point (<200k HP). Noble Phantasms will easily overpower the damage reduction, requiring Masters to NP around once or twice to teach this Old Man a lesson.
• Empireo's evade and attack down can be problematic, but the most dangerous skill is his NP charge, which can mess up hard survivability timings.  
• Debuffing Saber of Empireo is very effective, as he can only remove your buffs. Avoid casting debuffs while his Debuff Resistance buff is active though.Using NP Seals, NP Drains, Skill Seals and/or Stuns will help to alleviate the pressure somewhat.
• Saber of Empireo does not remove buffs with his NP.
• Saber of Empireo's difficulty depends highly on how many Archers one has. His difficulty is not very high if Masters have a stable of ST (3*) Archers to throw at him in addition to any gacha Archers.
• Masters who lack a large roster of Archers will struggle much more as his buff removal greatly counters standard support-heavy compositions.

• Due to Empireo's Buff Removal countering most support options, most team compositions devolve into a damage race.
• Strong Single Target Archers are highly recommended for both their survivabilty from class advantage and their sheer damage.
• NP Charging is also very powerful and greatly aid in overall damage, especially for the final HP Bar where Masters need to rely on their Noble Phantasms to finish the fight. Fortunately, more than 40% of the Archer roster (On Shimousa release) have some form of NP Charge.
• Supports with immediate NP Charging also remain effective even if their primary buffs are removed.
• Masters can also employ Anti-Trait Bonuses in the form of Male, Riding, and Weakness to Enuma Elish. Euryale and Orion remain very effective options. 
• Masters can also employ teamwide Evasion from David and Tristan, in fact, the 1-hit duration of their Harp of Healing is a perfect match to Empireo's Buff Removal.
• Since Evasions are removed after 1 hit and Empireo's NP does not remove buffs, save Evasions/Invincibilities for his NP.
• Likewise, other forms of survivability that do not count as buffs are valuable here, such as Healing, NP Drains and Debuffs.
• Taunts are only effective for redirecting his NP. His Buff Removal will remove normal Taunts from Skills/NPs.
• Musashi is not very effective here. Masters with a composition that support one Archer may want to Order Change her to the back rather than let her die eventually to Empireo.
• Altria Archer and EMIYA (Alter) can not only spam their NP, they also help to drain Empireo's NP Gauge and prevent deaths from his NP. 
• Craft Essences are extra valuable since their buffs cannot be removed.  This makes Taunts (i.e. Poster Girl), Hit-based Invincibility (Volumen) and Defense (Shroud of Magdalene) extra valuable.
• Likewise, hybrid 50% Starting NP Gauge Craft Essences are the premier offensive choice for the ST Archers to deploy their NP even faster.  

• After a long journey lacking class advantage, Masters can once more rejoice at the prospect of fielding their Archers without being restricted by the Bond Point Bonus condition. 
• The only drawback is that Masters with few Archers cannot rely on their non-Knight Supports.

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.

• Low Rarity Archer Run, showcasing how throwing Archers at Empireo with good CEs 50% Starting NP Gauge CE works very well
• Another low rarity run with a weaker CE selection in which Euryale lives for longer
• Euryale/Tamamo/Mash composition featuring excessive Shroud of Magdalene usage
• (3-turn) There can be only one gramps here (Moriarty, Waver, Moriarty (Poster Girl), Merlin composition)
• Altria Archer NP spamming (albeit with excessive support that still manage to die)

Knight Support Options (for Bond Bonus)

Umu Tier
	(Best General Support in Knight Class) (Teamwide Evasion)
Strong Offensive Support (skills)
	(60% Attack Up Female) (50% Attack Up, etc.) (40% Buster + 20% Attack Up) (16% Attack, 18% NP and 40% Critical Up) (18% Attack UP + 20% Defense Up) (40% Attack Up Evil) (20% Attack/Critical Up)
Critical Star Generation
	(Instant + Passive) (Passive + Taunt)
Taunt Servants
	(3-turn Taunt) (Taunt + 25% Buster Buff) (Taunt + Passive) (Taunt + Seals)
NP Chargers
	(20% Teamwide) (20% Target/10%+Teamwide on NP)