Athena Exclamation Surplice

ControlDPS

Base Stats

HP 18201

P.ATK 0

C.ATK 3183

P.DEF 507

C.DEF 507

Speed 317

Review

Athena Exclamation Surplice is a great unit, but also a complex one to pilot correctly. It can cover multiple roles at the same time: control, sustained pressure, and burst windows. Surplice - Trinity gives access to different combat profiles, while Light Speed Fist - Underworld and Surplice - Shadow Tactic let you rotate between Spatial Rift pressure, Sword Mark execution, and Ice Seal freeze setups depending on the turn state.

The issue is that this versatility is conditional and requires sequencing to get full value. In real matches you often need to chain the Camus, Shura, and Saga branches in the correct order before Surplice Athena’s Exclamation reaches peak impact, so the unit feels demanding compared to more direct control picks. For pure control in this meta, Seraphina EX is usually the cleaner option.

Even so, Athena Exclamation Surplice can generate extra actions and still performs well in combo lineups. It is already a good character, but a future Awakened Cloth could push its damage and consistency to a much stronger level.

Pros

Very versatile saint.
Can execute AoE Control.
Does good damage.
Can get immunity to basic control.

Cons

Tricky to build in cosmos, needs DMG, Speed, Status Hit.
There are better control units.

Skill Build

Priority: Skill 3 = Skill 4 > Skill 2 > Skill 1

Skill 1

Skill 2

Skill 3

Skill 4

Min

Med

Best

Athena Exclamation Surplice skill level table assumes the character is at level 80, with the 8th sense unlocked and, if available, the Awakened Cloth activated.

Skill Descriptions

Skill 1

Light Speed Fist - Underworld

Lv1Lv2Lv3Lv4Lv5

Unlocks different skills based on the Saint selected in [Surplice - Trinity] at the beginning of the turn. Surplice Gemini Saga: Unlocks [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Star] Surplice Capricorn Shura: Unlocks [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Blade] Surplice Aquarius Camus: Unlocks [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Frost]. [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Star] Deals C.DMG equal to 60% of C.ATK to the target. [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Blade] Deals true damage equal to 7% of the target's maximum HP (not exceeding 120% of Surplice AE's C.ATK). [Surplice - Lightspeed Fist - Frost] Releases an Ice Crystal dealing C.DMG equal to 50% of C.ATK and inflicting a stack of [Ice Seal].

Skill 2

Surplice - Shadow Tactic

Lv1Lv2Lv3Lv4Lv5

Unlocks different skills based on the Saint selected in [Surplice - Trinity] at the beginning of the turn. Surplice Gemini Saga: Unlocks [Surplice - Galaxy Explosion] Surplice Capricorn Shura: Unlocks [Surplice - Sacred Blade] Surplice Aquarius - Camus: Unlocks [Surplice - Aurora's Forgiveness]. [Galaxy Explosion - Underworld] Deals C.DMG equal to 140% of C.ATK to the selected enemy and inflicts a stack of [Spatial Rift], then unfolds Another Dimension for one round. While this is active, targets that take extra actions or pursuits will be inflicted with a stack of [Spatial Rift]. Another Dimension can be triggered up to 2 times per round. [Underworld Sacred Blade] Launches a blade shockwave that deals C.DMG equal to 140% of C.ATK to an enemy Saint, then the blade shockwave explodes, dealing true damage equal to 7% of maximum HP (not exceeding 120% of C.ATK) to all enemies. [Surplice - Aurora's Forgiveness] Deals C.DMG equal to 100% C.ATK to an enemy Saint with a 30% (+Status HIT) chance of freezing them for one turn.

Skill 3

Surplice Athena's Exclamation

Lv1Lv2Lv3Lv4Lv5

Purifies self and gains a shield equal to 10% of maximum HP, then charges for one turn. Upon the next action, bursts to deal C.DMG equal to 300% of C.ATK to all enemies and takes one extra action.

Skill 4

Surplice - Trinity

Lv1Lv2Lv3Lv4Lv5

At the start of a turn, selects a Saint of Athena's Exclamation - Surplice as the control target. With every 5 actions of Athena's Exclamation - Surplice, triggers [Surplice - Athena's Exclamation]. Unlocks additional effects for each of Saints upon entry (Sword Mark can only activate half effects when triggered by indirect damage) At the beginning of a round, based on the number of allies being controlled, gains up to 1 extra action. If no allies are controlled, receives 6% damage reduction for one round. Surplice Camus: When attacking an enemy marked with Ice Seal, there is a chance to freeze them, with each stack of Ice Seal increasing the chance by 8%. Surplice Saga: Gains Basic Control Immunity and inflicts Spatial Rift. When a target is inflicted with Spatial Rift again, deals C.DMG equal to 20% of the target's lost HP (up to 300% C.ATK) to them and inflicts a Black Hole effect on them. Black Hole: The target has a 35% (+Status HIT) chance to be sucked into the black hole upon its next action. Surplice Shura: Each instance of damage from Surplice AE deals additional damage equal to 20% C.ATK per Sword Mark stack on the target (up to 5 stacks). Other allies deal half of this effect's damage (C.DMG is determined by Surplice AE).