Atalante (Alter)

“I want to be a beast. I do not feel anything, I just want to become a beast that only kills her.”

Infused with the strength of the Pelt of Calydon, Atalante (Alter) adopts a far more beast-like mindset compared to her Archer counterpart, a phenomenon which in practice is similar to the skill Mad Enhancement. Even as a Berserker, she retains a Quick and critical-oriented kit reminiscent of her normal form, though it is much more offensive in nature with a single target Quick NP. 

Atalante (Alter)’s primary steroid is her trademark skill Beyond Arcadia, which buffs the Quick Effectiveness of both herself as well as her whole party, but she further complements this with the Critical Damage Up provided by Feral Logic as well as Independent Action. These buffs result in her having a very strong damage potential, especially when her Berserker class’s 1.5x advantage is factored in. As an added utility bonus, her NP Tauropolos Skia Thermokrasia applies an NP Seal on the target, which helps stall the enemy’s NP during difficult encounters.

Unfortunately, transforming into a Berserker has its disadvantages as well, and for Atalante (Alter), this primarily comes in the form of the class’s notoriously low Star Weight. While she is to some extent able to bypass this weakness through Self Evolution, the skill’s (rather extreme) Star Gather Rate up only lasts for one turn, making her critical potential on other turns unreliable at best unless a large supply of stars is available. As with most other Berserkers, Atalante (Alter) also suffers from low long-term survivability. While her third skill’s Evasion helps somewhat, it is not enough to keep her alive for longer or more intense fights, especially as Masters might want to buff her Critical Damage early in the fight.

All in all, Atalante (Alter) thus fits comfortably into the glass cannon archetype. Furthermore, as an offensive Quick Servant, she also benefits from the existence of Scathach=Skadi, whose help further increases Atalante’s damage and even improves her already decent NP Gain. As such, the biggest concern when using her is generally the availability of critical stars, which can be solved via CE choices, her own Quick chains with her NP, or certain star generating supports.

High Damage Potential

With a Quick Effectiveness Up as well as a three-turn Critical Damage Up, Atalante (Alter) is capable of dealing a lot of damage through her NP and her critical Hits. Even her basic Therianthropy and Independent Action boosted attacks allow her to take out chunks of an enemy’s health bar. Given Self Evolution grants an absurd Critical Star Gather Rate and a healthy dose of 10 Critical Stars, Atalante is also very responsive if Masters do want to force that critical turn.

Note that with the support of Scathach=Skadi, this high damage potential is increased to unprecedented levels, enabling her to deplete the HP bars of most enemy bosses. Naturally, this is very useful if Masters lack an appropriate Class Advantaged Servant.

Decent NP Gain

While Atalante (Alter)’s base NP Gain stats are not that different compared to other Berserkers, the fact that she has an extra Quick card as well as a Quick NP (which is capable of providing some NP refund) greatly increases her average NP Gain, especially as she can buff her Quick Effectiveness through Beyond Arcadia. Her occasional critical hits and her high defensive NP Gain further improve on this aspect of her gameplay, as do any Quick buffs a Master can support her with.

NP Seal and Party-Wide Quick Performance Up

Despite being an offensive Servant, Atalante (Alter) is not without some utility of her own, as her NP also applies an NP Seal on its target, preventing them from charging or using their NP for one turn (though it should be used with caution as to not interfere with the use of defensive skills). On the support side, while Beyond Arcadia would most of the time be used to boost Atalante’s own damage, the buff’s party-wide nature may prove useful during NP Chain turns, or when she is not the party’s sole damage dealer.

Critical Inconsistency

The Berserker class’s low Star Weight is something that plagues most critical-oriented Berserkers, and Atalante (Alter) is no exception. While Self-Evolution’s Star Gather Rate Up provides a welcome remedy, it only lasts for only one turn, which means that she is at the mercy of RNG (and the sheer amount of stars the party is capable of producing) most of the time. Fortunately, it is entirely possible to bypass this weakness for the most important of turns, through the utilization of instant star-generating measures (such as Golden Catches the Carp).

Weak Long-term Survivability

In the short term, Atalante (Alter) is capable of surviving well enough thanks to her third skill’s Evasion. As it is her only direct defensive measure, though, the increased damage she takes due to her Berserker class will start to rear its ugly head in longer fights, and even with the aid of supports, she can still be wiped out by a stray critical hit. As such, it is recommended to end fights as early as possible

All three of Atalante (Alter)’s skills provide different benefits to her offensive capability, and should ideally be maxed if she is to be used intensively. Still, for Masters who are strapped for resources, focusing on her second skill is generally the best course of action, while her Star Gather skill already starts out strong and can be left at 6 for a while.

• Self Evolution EX is very crucial for Atalante (Alter), as it is the one skill which enables her to perform her critical hits reliably, even if its buff lasts for just one turn. Still, with a proper external supply of critical stars, the small addition of instant stars, as well as the Star Gather Rate Up this skill is usually fine even at level 1, though having it at max level does increase its reliability and uptime. This skill should generally be leveled last.
• As Atalante (Alter)’s primary damage buff, not only does Beyond Arcadia A grant a significant boost to her Quick cards’ damage, but it also increases their NP Gain and star generation capabilities. Maxing this skill increases her damage ceiling and allows it to be used more often. Level this first. 
• Aside from being a hard defensive skill, Feral Logic B also contains a considerable Critical Damage Up buff, and as such, it also acts as Atalante (Alter)’s second damage steroid. Its conflicting nature can cause a dilemma as to when to activate the skill, but it is rather flexible in practice thanks to the Critical Damage Up’s 3-turn duration. To improve on its overall uptime and increase Atalante’s damage, it is recommended to level this skill right after Beyond Arcadia.

As Atalante (Alter) lacks any sort of NP Charge skill, it is highly recommended to equip Starting NP Gauge CEs on her over anything else to ensure her NP is ready in time. With the help of NP Charging supports, hybrid options featuring offensive effects such as Attack Up, NP Damage Up and Quick Performance Up may also be used.

• Kaleidoscope / The Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian: These CEs are Atalante (Alter)’s best options in most situations, allowing her to unleash a very early NP (and perhaps a much earlier second NP with the aid of NP Charge supports). 
• Holy Night Supper / Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament  / Knights of Marines / One Summer: These CEs act as decent alternatives to the above category, sacrificing some amount of Starting NP Gauge in exchange for offensive buffs. They can be used when damage supports are not available or when a very early NP is not required.
• Imaginary Around / Gandr / The Verdant Black Keys: Despite these CEs’ Quick Effectiveness being calculated additively with Beyond Arcadia’s buff, Beyond Arcadia’s one turn duration means that these will have a much more visible effect on other turns, increasing the effectiveness of Atalante (Alter)’s Quick cards.
• Glory Is With Me / Dangerous Beast / Midsummer Moment: The extra stars provided by these CEs, while relatively minor, may help Atalante (Alter) secure more critical hits in combination with Self Evolution while still providing her with general damage increase.
• The Black Grail: Against extremely high HP bosses, the Black Grail’s multiplicative scaling against the more commonly found Quick Effectiveness and Attack buffs turns Atalante (Alter)’s NP into a powerful nuke, allowing her to quickly deplete their health bars. 
• Cute Orangette: In heavily Scathach=Skadi stacked teams, adding a pinch of NP Gain can be highly effective for recharging Atalante’s NP slightly faster.