You’re staring at the screen, your NP gauge is sealed, and Koyanskaya of Dark is basically laughing at your front line. If you’ve hit the Midwinter's Strongest Person quest in Fate/Grand Order’s Ordeal Call (the Russia area), you know exactly how frustrating this specific brand of "high difficulty" can be. It isn't just a boss fight. Honestly, it’s a middle finger to every standard "Double Castoria" loop build you’ve spent months perfecting.
The game calls it "The Powerful in the Frigid Cold" in some translations, but the community knows it by that haunting title: Midwinter's Strongest Person. It’s a gauntlet that forces you to rethink your entire roster.
Why Midwinter's Strongest Person is a Total Nightmare
Most challenge quests (CQs) let you bring your favorite Hominidae—basically, human-type Servants—and steamroll through with support. This one? It punishes you for being human. Literally.
The field effect, Permafrost Blizzard, is a permanent debuff. It guts your NP gain by 50% and slaps an NP Seal on any Servant that doesn't have the Demonic Beast Servant trait. If you brought your standard Artoria Caster or Oberon setup without a plan, you're basically sitting ducks. You can’t charge your Noble Phantasm, and even when you do get hit, the gain is so pathetic it feels like the game is broken.
Then there's the lineup. You aren't just fighting one big boss. You’re dealing with Dobrynya Nikitich and Koyanskaya of Dark, along with some obnoxious Slaughter Hunters.
The Break Bar Traps
Dobrynya Nikitich isn't just there to look cool on a dragon. When you pop her first break bar, she triggers "I'm ready to beat the crap out of you." This unremovable buff ramps up her success rates and increases skill cooldowns for any Demonic Beast Servants you actually managed to bring. It’s a catch-22. Bring beasts to avoid the NP seal, and she stalls your skills. Don't bring them, and you can't use your NP.
💡 You might also like: Hogwarts Legacy PS5: Why the Magic Still Holds Up in 2026
Koyanskaya of Dark is the real headache, though. Her passive gives her allies defense and debuff resistance. By the time you hit her second break bar, she uses "Here's a handsome gift for all of humanity."
This is the run-killer. If your Servants have the Hominidae trait, she:
- Removes all your buffs.
- Inflicts a 2-turn Skill Seal.
- Tanks your Critical Strength by 75% for five turns.
Basically, if you’re human, you’re done.
The Strategy: Who Actually Wins Here?
So, who is actually the Midwinter's Strongest Person when the player is the one struggling? To win, you have to lean into the traits the game is trying to use against you.
You need Servants that qualify as Demonic Beasts to bypass the initial NP seal. We're talking about characters like Tamamo Cat, Atalante (Alter), or even the Beast-class herself if you’ve got her.
📖 Related: Little Big Planet Still Feels Like a Fever Dream 18 Years Later
The "No-Human" Workaround
If you don't have a cracked roster of beasts, you have to play the buff-protection game. High-level players often use Calamity Jane or Summer Gareth for specific utility, but honestly, the MVP for most is usually someone like Taira-no-Kagekiyo. Taira thrives on being hit and has the right traits to ignore a lot of the incoming nonsense.
Another solid pick? Superhuman Orion. While he is Hominidae and gets hit by the NP seal, his raw face-card damage can sometimes ignore the need for an NP entirely if you time your buster chains right. But that’s risky.
Handling the Blizzard
You have to mitigate that 50% NP gain down. This is where your Craft Essences (CEs) matter more than your levels. Using a CE that provides Starting NP Charge (like Kaleidoscope or Crag-at-the-Top) is basically mandatory because you aren't going to "farm" your meter through attacks.
- Priority One: Kill the Slaughter Hunters. They have a 500% Special ATK against Demonic Beasts. If you brought beasts to bypass the NP seal, these guys will shred them in one turn.
- Priority Two: Focus Dobrynya. Her NP is a nuke. If you can't stun her or drain her charge, use a Servant with an "Invincible" or "Evasion" skill that isn't tied to a trait-based cooldown.
- The Koyanskaya Problem: Save your buff-removal resistance skills for her break bar. If you have Prince of Lan Ling or Queen Medb (Saber), you might have a chance, but it's better to just swap in a "sacrificial" frontline that eats the buff purge so your heavy hitters can come in fresh from the backline.
Common Misconceptions About High Difficulty Quests
A lot of people think "high difficulty" just means more HP. In the Midwinter's Strongest Person quest, the HP pools (roughly 100k to 220k per bar) are actually quite low for modern FGO standards.
The difficulty is entirely mechanical.
👉 See also: Why the 20 Questions Card Game Still Wins in a World of Screens
Most players fail because they try to "brute force" it with a Berserker. Unless that Berserker is Ibuki Douji (Summer) with massive support, you’re going to get NP sealed and chipped to death by the blizzard effect. You have to read the traits. Check the "Demonic Beast" tag in the spirit origin menu. It’s the difference between a 3-turn clear and a 40-turn headache.
Practical Steps for Your Next Attempt
If you're stuck on this Ordeal Call node, stop trying to use the same team. It won't work.
First, go to your collection and filter by the Demonic Beast trait. These are your new leads. If your best attackers are all human, you need to bring a support that can provide NP Gauge directly—think Waver (Zhuge Liang) or Reines—to bypass the gain debuff.
Second, equip CEs that offer Debuff Immunity or Buff Removal Resistance. You know that 5-turn Crit down from Koyanskaya? It doesn't matter if your Servant is immune to debuffs when the bar breaks.
Lastly, don't be afraid to use a Command Spell for a full NP charge if you get Koyanskaya down to her last bar. There’s no shame in it. This quest is designed to be a wall. Once you clear it, you’ll realize the "strongest person" wasn't the boss—it was your ability to actually read the fine print on the boss's skill list.
Check your backline, swap your CEs, and go back in. The Russia area doesn't get any easier, so getting a handle on these trait-based mechanics now is the only way you're going to survive the rest of the Ordeal Call.