Blue Archive guide – Goz April 2023

Goz has finally hit global Blue Archive servers and this fat cat dials the mechanics up to 11.

Another Blue/Mystic raid, Goz is full of weird mechanics and is weak to a damage type that a lot of newer Senseis aren’t heavily invested in. This makes Goz one of the more fun, but also one of the most student reliant raids in the game.

Core Mechanics

Goz raids require three things: Repositioning, Focus Fire, and Barriers.

If you don’t have at least two students that can do one (or in some cases two) of these things, then don’t even bother scrambling to level up your other Mystic students in the hopes you can just out-damage his mechanics. Once you hit Hardcore difficulty you probably won’t be able to.

Phase One

The first phase of the Goz fight has Goz standing in the rear-center of the stage, throughout this phase he’ll shoot trains down the tracks at the students. Use repositioning to get away from the trains themselves.

Don’t worry if you’re still near the edge of the hit telegraph. The hitbox of the train has two parts and the outer part simply knocks students away.

Barriers are also important here because Goz will throw a bomb at a student he singles out (indicated by a red laser). Goz has a unique mechanic where healing is reduced, but his attacks do 75% less damage to students with a barrier. This can turn his bombs (and sometimes the trains) from an OHKO to a tickle.

Everytime Goz summons a train, adds will spawn once it passes. These can be taken out with good AoE or just mowed down by high single target attackers. If you’re confident in your tankiness or nearing the phase change, you can use Focus Fire to ignore them and just lay into Goz himself.

Phase Two

This phase is frustrating and mostly RNG. The big mechanic here is that Goz creates three copies of himself and only one takes damage.

Unfortunately you’re going to have to feel out which is which. Our advice is to let your students begin attacking one and seeing if he takes damage. If not, use your reposition to get close to another clone and check that one. If neither work, you know the third is real.

Once you’ve identified the real one, use your Focus Fire student to mark that Goz copy.

Focus Fire is a debuff that causes your students to attack a single marked target. This overwrites the AI of normal attacks and abilities which normally target the closest enemy.

His other big attacks require repositioning, a bit of luck, and strong barriers. One attack has Goz shuffle hats with coins under them, the hat without a coin shoots a laser that does moderate damage but also stuns for a solid 5 seconds. This can cut into your DPS for faster clears.

His other large attack is Goz creates three circles of damage with different colors. Each clone will have a color under them, the circle zone matching the real one is a safe spot.

When it comes to the laser you either want to slow down the game speed to watch the hats, or just rely on luck and barriers in case your students are in the wrong spot.

Our Team Suggestion

Strikers

Hayase Yuuka (Track): Yuuka (Track) is a two-in-one for Goz. Her EX-ability is a teamwide reposition and barrier and has a cheap cost to boot. She also does Mystic damage which helps her lay some damage on Goz despite being a tank.

Hanekawa Hasumi (Track): Unless you’re reading this guide way later, you should have Hasumi (track). She was given out for free during the April 25 in-game event. Due to a mistake during her JP release and to provide parity on Global servers, players were also given enough Eleph to max out her stars and weapon. She’s a powerful single target damage dealer.

Kuda Izuna (Swimsuit): Here’s your Focus Fire. Izuna (Swimsuit) has a cheap ability that does moderate damage and applies the Focus Fire effect on a target. This can help you ignore adds in Phase One, but is absolutely critical in Phase Two once you’ve singled out the real one from the copies.

Kosaka Wakamo: Another damage dealer that synergizes well with Izuna. Izuna is a fast attacker and Wakamo’s ability does more damage the more a target is hit shortly after she uses it.

Support

Amau Ako: We’ve said it before that she’s the queen of raids so get used to seeing her on just about every team suggestion. Pump up Wakamo or Hasumi with Ako’s buff just before using their ability (make sure you have enough EX saved to rapid fire). She also passively gives some healing in case your barriers are less than on point.

Kawawa Shizuko (Swimsuit): A back up barrier/reposition. If you have Yuuka (Track) you don’t need her, this is just for comfort. We’ll suggest some more damage-oriented replacements for either Yuuka or Shizuko (Swimsuit) below.

Substitutions

Asagi Mutsuki (New Year) (Replaces Wakamo or Hasumi): Mutsuki is a great unit for a cleaner Phase One. Her EX ability is cheap and good at clearing adds. the tradeoff is its awkward shape but unlike in Perorodzilla it’s able to hit everything more often than not.

Ushio Noa (Replaces Izuna (Swimsuit)): Another Focus Fire unit from a recent banner. Noa synergizes well with high damage output comps since instead of damage, her Focus Fire ability applies a long lasting Defense debuff.

Toyomi Kotori (Replaces Yuuka (Track)): Her damage type isn’t great, but she’s a 1-star unit that will at least get you in the game if you lack any other barrier-reposition students.

Natsume Iroha (Replaces Shizuko(Swimsuit)): This replaces Shizuko (Swimsuit) only if you have another barrier-reposition user. Iroha puts down a fat tank to lay out some mystic damage in case your team comp is lacking dps.