Athena is one of the best tank characters in Megabonk, starting with triple-digit HP and double-digit Armor. She’s also one of the few characters with an active and passive attack (on-hit activation). You’ll find three highly effective Athena builds in this guide that will help, whether you struggle with survivability or scaling her damage.
Best Athena Megabonk Builds
Build 1 doubles down on Athena’s survivability and thorns scaling, making it her best build. The second build is for players who’re struggling to clear the AFK Challenge, and build 3 is for players looking to go big with Athena.
Build 1 - The Thorns Tank
Athena gains +2 Thorns every time you level her up, and this is the best build to cash in on that passive and let the enemies kill themselves.
| Weapons | Tomes | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Aegis Aura Sword Revolver | Thorns Tome Armor Tome Quantity Tome Damage Tome | Quin’s Mask Cactus Spiky Shield Kevin Mirror Battery Medkit |
Why It Works: This build relies on Athena’s starter weapon and Thorns passive. Aegis will absorb incoming enemy attacks and trigger Thorn-hits on enemies. The Thorns Tome will improve the Thorns damage per upgrade, and Items like the Cactus and the Spiky Shield will add multiplicative stacks to turn this passive into a hyperactive offense.
The Armor Tome is also an important part of this build, as it’ll help protect Athena when Aegis is down. However, this won’t be a problem if you can get 8 to 10 projectiles of the Aegis using the Quantity Tome and Aegis level-ups.
Sword and Revolver will be the main DPS weapons of this build, scaling with Quantity and Damage. Also, prioritize attack speed stats from Charge Shrines and Thorns items from chests, vendors, and Moai. The Kevin and Mirror combo will massively improve your survivability and increase Thorns trigger too.
Build 2 - The AFK Gamer
This build is designed for the AFK Gaming Challenge in Megabonk. Athena is one of the best characters for completing this challenge, but only if you build her right.
| Weapons | Tomes | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Aegis Aura Revovler Bananarang/Bone | Quantity Tome Cooldown Tome Damage Tome Bloody Tome/Attraction Tome | Idle Juice Gym Sauce Time Bracelet Any other damage and HP boosting items that you can get. |
Why It Works: For the AFK Gaming challenge, you have to turn Athena into a damage-dealing machine and let her innate survivability do the rest. The Aegis and Aura combo will be enough defense. After that, move to ranged weapons as soon as you can. Revolver and Bone will be a good combo because of their high damage and bounce (hit multiple enemies). But, if you can’t get Bone, Bananarang is a good alternative too.
All weapons will scale with the Tomes, so you can skip the weak weapon upgrades early on and go all in on improving Damage and Attack Speed. Items will be very hard to get in the AFK Gaming challenge, but if the bosses bump you into a Moai and a vendor, choose damage and HP boosting items.
Once you’ve got the Tomes and Weapons to Level 4, you’ll complete the challenge easily.
Build 3 - The Last Stand
This is a high-risk, high-reward build for Athena as it tries to exploit her low HP = higher damage output passive and trigger her 150% attack speed buff.
| Weapons | Tomes | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Aegis Aura Bananarang Firestaff | Cooldown Tome Armor Tome Quantity Tome Damage Tome | Beefy Ring Gamer Goggles Kevin Mirror Cactus Spiky Shield Demonic Blood Demonic Soul Quin's Mask Speed Boi |
Why It Works: If you can manage HP and positioning, you’ll love this Athena build. The low-HP bonus and attack speed buff when all shields are down transform her from a defensive to a highly aggressive character. Cooldown Tome will further amplify the attack speed, and the Damage Tome will multiply the damage boost you get from her low HP. All four weapons will scale directly with both of these buffs.
Armor Tome will still keep her tanky enough without affecting any of the on-hit effects this build aims to trigger. Getting the right items early is crucial if you want to go for this Athena build. If you do get Quin's Mask early, take it. You can always pivot to Build 1 if you don’t get the required weapons and tomes.
Athena Starter Weapon and Passive
Athena’s signature weapon is the Aegis, a shield that blocks incoming attacks and releases shockwaves to kill enemies. It can also knockback enemies after blocking their attack. Aegis synergizes with Damage, Projectile Count, and Size. You can unlock Aegis by taking 500 damage with Armor on Sir Oofie.
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Defense & Offense: Her weapon and passive are good for both defensive and offensive playstyles. Thorns: Thorns add an extra passive attack. Armor: Athena starts with 17 Armor, making her one of the strongest characters in the game. | Slow: Early-run progress is very slow. Low Mobility: Athena’s movement speed is very low. Burst Damage: When Aegis is down, burst damage can get you killed. | Gains +2 Thorns per level up. Deals more damage at lower HP. Attack speed increases by 150 when shields are down. |
Athena is a strong contender for leaderboard runs, but only if you can survive the slow start and hit the right synergies well before the final swarm hits.
While you’re here, also check out the Best Builds for Mr Fox, Best Builds for Megachad, and Best Megabonk Builds for Every Character.
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