🔓 How to Unlock Athena (Correct Sequence)
⚠️ Common Mistake Alert
Many guides have the unlock order BACKWARDS. Follow the exact sequence below to avoid confusion!
Athena requires a multi-stage unlock process. You cannot unlock her directly - you must first unlock the Aegis weapon, then the Thorns Tome, level it properly, and finally purchase Athena.
Block 500 damage with armor. Best done with Sir Oofie character due to his high defense and armor-focused abilities. Play defensively and let enemies hit you while your armor absorbs the damage.
After unlocking Aegis, equip it and block 250 enemy attacks with the Aegis shield. This weapon must be actively blocking hits (not just having it equipped).
This is the grind phase. Complete multiple successful runs with Thorns Tome equipped, focusing on survival and letting enemies make contact to deal thorns damage while the weapon gains experience.
Once Thorns Tome reaches Level 9, Athena becomes available for purchase in the character shop. Buy her to unlock!
💡 Pro Tip: Efficient Unlocking
Use Sir Oofie for stage 1 (armor damage blocking). Once you have Aegis, switch to a tanky character to survive the 250 blocks needed. For Thorns Tome leveling, prioritize defensive items and positioning - let enemies come to you!
📊 Athena Overview & Core Mechanics
Athena is a defensive specialist character who excels at damage reflection and retaliation. However, she's considered B-tier in most meta rankings because she requires specific builds and has a brutal early game.
🎯 Core Abilities
- Low HP Damage Boost: Deals significantly more damage when health is low (exact threshold varies)
- Thorns Scaling Per Level: Gains thorns damage every time you level up (reported as +1 or +2 per level in different sources)
- Aegis Shield Default Weapon: Blocks attacks, releases shockwaves, and deals retaliatory damage
- 150% Attack Speed When Shields Down: Massive attack speed buff when your shield breaks, allowing aggressive counterattacks
- Damage Reflection: Enemies take damage when they attack you
💪 Base Stats
Athena starts with triple-digit HP and 17 starting armor, making her one of the tankiest characters in the early game. However, her movement speed is low, requiring careful positioning.
⚠️ Why B-Tier?
Brutal early game: Athena struggles significantly in the first 10-15 minutes before her build comes online. She requires specific item combinations to shine.
Build-dependent viability: Unlike S-tier or A-tier characters who perform well with most builds, Athena NEEDS thorns multiplication, HP management items, and defensive synergies to be effective.
Final boss struggles: Her defensive playstyle can make late-game boss fights more challenging compared to high-damage characters.
🏗️ Athena Build Strategies
Strategy: Maximum survivability build focusing on health, armor, and thorns damage reflection. Excellent for AFK Gaming challenges.
🎯 Core Items:
- Aegis Shield (maxed priority)
- Health regeneration items
- Armor upgrades and defense multipliers
- Thorns damage boosters (essential!)
- Damage reduction items
- Area-of-effect thorns items
✅ Pros
- Nearly unkillable when built correctly
- Passive damage to attackers
- Can AFK Gaming challenge
- Great for beginners
- Low stress gameplay
❌ Cons
- Very slow kill times
- Requires extreme patience
- Weak vs ranged enemies
- Boring for some players
Strategy: Intentionally maintain low HP to maximize the damage bonus while using thorns and the 150% attack speed buff for aggressive play.
🎯 Core Items:
- Low HP damage amplifiers
- Critical hit chance items
- Attack speed multipliers (stacks with 150% buff!)
- Thorns multiplication items
- Life steal weapons for clutch heals
- Shield break recovery items
✅ Pros
- Extreme damage output
- Exciting high-risk gameplay
- Clears enemies very quickly
- Satisfying to master
- Makes use of attack speed buff
❌ Cons
- Extremely risky to play
- Requires advanced skill
- One mistake = instant death
- Very stressful gameplay
- Not recommended for beginners
Strategy: Balanced build maintaining moderate HP for damage bonus while keeping enough defense to survive. Adapts to different enemy types.
🎯 Core Items:
- Balanced damage/defense items
- HP cap management items
- Thorns enhancement and multiplication
- Multi-hit weapons for variety
- Crowd control abilities
- Movement speed items (compensates for low base speed)
✅ Pros
- Good damage and survivability
- Adaptable to different situations
- Safer than Berserker build
- Consistent performance
- Flexible item choices
❌ Cons
- Not specialized in any area
- Complex to optimize
- Requires deep game knowledge
- Can feel unfocused
🎯 Advanced Athena Strategies
💊 Health Management
The key to mastering Athena is understanding when to heal and when to stay low:
- High HP (75-100%): Normal damage output, maximum survivability
- Medium HP (40-75%): Moderate damage increase, still safe
- Low HP (below 40%): Significant damage bonus kicks in
- Critical HP (very low): Maximum damage but extreme danger
💡 Pro Health Management
Don't heal to full HP unless you're in immediate danger. Maintain low-to-medium HP for optimal damage while having a safety buffer. Learn enemy attack patterns to know when you can afford to stay low.
⚡ Attack Speed Buff Exploitation
The 150% attack speed buff when shields break is HUGE and often overlooked:
- Intentional Shield Breaking: In some situations, letting your shield break gives you a massive damage window
- Stack Attack Speed: This buff stacks multiplicatively with other attack speed items for insane DPS
- Weapon Choice: Fast-hitting weapons benefit more from this buff than slow heavy weapons
- Shield Management: Learn to time when you want shields up (defense) vs down (offense)
🔄 Thorns Scaling Strategy
Thorns damage scales with multiple factors:
- Character level: Gain thorns damage every level (exact amount varies between sources)
- Thorns multiplier items: These provide exponential scaling - prioritize them!
- Enemy contact frequency: More enemy hits = more reflected damage
- Area thorns items: Expand your thorns damage to nearby enemies
🎮 Positioning Techniques
Despite being tanky, positioning is CRITICAL for Athena:
- Corner Hugging: Force enemies to approach from limited angles, maximizing thorns efficiency
- Doorway Control: Use chokepoints to funnel enemies and guarantee thorns procs
- Kiting Circles: Despite low speed, maintain movement to control engagement range
- Boss Positioning: Stay close enough for thorns, but mobile enough to dodge specials
- Ranged Enemy Priority: They don't trigger thorns - eliminate them first!
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Over-healing: Don't negate your damage bonus unnecessarily - stay at strategic HP levels
- Ignoring ranged enemies: They don't trigger thorns and will chip you down - prioritize them!
- Standing completely still: Even as a tank, you need to move and position strategically
- Pure defense builds: Without damage, runs become impossibly slow - balance is key
- Neglecting attack speed items: Your 150% buff makes these extremely valuable
- Forgetting about bosses: Athena can struggle with final boss - plan your build accordingly
📈 Athena Progression Guide
⚠️ Surviving the Brutal Early Game
Athena's early game (first 10-15 minutes) is notoriously difficult. Your damage output is low, thorns haven't scaled yet, and you're slow. Focus purely on SURVIVAL during this phase. Pick up any defensive items you find, avoid risky situations, and be patient. The character becomes much stronger once your build comes online.
🏁 Early Game (Levels 1-20)
- Priority: SURVIVE. This is your weakest phase
- Grab any health, armor, or defensive items you find
- Focus on basic damage upgrades for Aegis just to clear enemies
- Learn enemy patterns and practice safe positioning
- Don't worry about optimal builds yet - just stay alive
- Avoid elites and bosses if possible until stronger
⚔️ Mid Game (Levels 21-40)
- Your thorns scaling is starting to matter now
- Begin managing health levels strategically for damage bonus
- Actively seek thorns multiplier items - these are ESSENTIAL
- Consider secondary weapons for ranged damage
- Master advanced positioning techniques
- Start experimenting with the shield break attack speed buff
👑 Late Game (Levels 40+)
- Perfect health management for maximum damage output
- Stack thorns multipliers for massive reflection damage
- Use area denial and crowd control to dominate
- Boss preparation: Athena can struggle with final boss - ensure you have offensive items, not just defense
- Consider life steal or burst damage items for boss phases
- Movement items become more valuable for dodging boss specials
🏆 Mastery Goal
True Athena mastery means comfortably maintaining strategic HP levels while maximizing thorns reflection damage, knowing exactly when to use your attack speed buff window, and having enough offensive capability to handle final bosses. When you can do this consistently, you've mastered the Shield Goddess!
💤 AFK Gaming Challenge Strategy
Athena is one of the BEST characters for the AFK Gaming challenge due to her passive damage and extreme survivability. Here's how to optimize for AFK:
🎯 AFK Build Requirements
- Maximum health regeneration: Stack HP regen items to sustain indefinitely
- Thorns multiplication: Your only damage source when AFK - maximize it
- Armor and defense: Reduce all incoming damage to negligible amounts
- Area thorns items: Deal damage to multiple enemies passively
- Damage reduction: Stack percentage-based damage reduction
- Avoid high HP damage builds: These require active play to maintain low HP
💡 AFK Pro Tip
Position yourself in a corner or against a wall before going AFK. This prevents enemies from surrounding you completely and makes thorns damage more effective. The Immortal Fortress build is specifically designed for this playstyle.
