Revival: Summer 2019 Part 1 - Challenge Guide: Dead Heat Atalante

Atalante's security force consists of multiple waves of multi-class enemies, notably Sabers, Lancers, and Casters.  Not only do Masters need to clear 5 enemies on wave 3(for a total of 11 enemies) before Atalante herself shows up as her own Archer class, but Atalante gains sure hit and then Invincibility Pierce with each break bar. While dealing with her nearly unavoidable NP seems tricky, Masters have a few ways to approach this. 

Survival Strategy:

• Bring a strong wave clearer for the early waves, there'll be a lot of mobs to chew through and those mobs do actually hurt.

• Watch out for Atalante's Evasion; not only is it annoying, but it will also charge her NP gauge. As with all enemies, she is more likely to cast it in a (highly) damaged state. 

• Atalante's NP has a lot of hits. Especially on Avengers/Berserkers, her NP will charge their NP bars massively, opening her up for a counter attack or refreshing support NPs.

• Stunning Atalante will merely delay her skill use, not prevent it. Nonetheless it greatly aids in timing her Break effects.

• Atalante always acts in this order on Break: Removes own Sure Hit if applicable --> Cast NP if full charge --> Cast Evasion/NP charge --> Cast NP if full charge --> And only then apply Sure Hit/Pierce Invincibility. UPDATE 7/23/2020: It seems this is no longer the case. Atalante will grant herself the Evade/Invincible ignoring skills BEFORE her NP upon break. Be ready for pain on her NP turns after second break. If you have a full party Invincibility skill, consider allowing her to NP first to block it before breaking her second HP bar.

• Lastly, class neutral Servants are very effective here, as are Berserkers (provided one can keep them alive). Lancers are of course ideal for taking out Atalante, but the Helter Skelters in the early waves can make life difficult for any Lancer. 

• Note: Atalante is not a divine Servant.

• Defense up is very effective for surviving Phoebus Catastrophe as its damage isn't so high as to be a complete wipe especially as Atalante tends to never boosts its damage before launching it.  Most high rarity lancers should be able to tank an NP from full HP, and 30-50% defense up should be enough to survive an NP for neutral classes. 

• By timing when her HP bars are broken, Masters can also use Evasion/Invincibility to tank Phoebus Catastrophe. 

• Healing/turn: Remains highly useful especially in combination with Defense Up. There are a lot of enemies to take out, and healing keeps the team healthy while they do so. 

• Spammable AoE: Having some measure of AoE on the early waves will speed up the encounter. Berserker or class neutral Servants are quite effective at cleaning up the relatively low to medium HP enemies. Do note that the Bicorns do hit fairly hard if they crit. 

• ST Lancer: Highly recommended to burst down Atalante.  Vlad III (Lancer) is especially valuable due to his Anti-Evil (effective vs Atalanta), Pierce Invincibility on NP, survivability, and taunt.

• NP Gauge Up: Highly effective for speeding up the early waves, but also for timing Break Bars so that her NP can be tanked. 

• Stuns/NP Drains/NP Seals: In order to buy more time, or to help with timing her Break Bar effects, Masters can stun Atalante or drain her NP. Stunning is especially effective to force her to have a full NP bar so she casts Phoebus Catastrophe before applying her Break Bar effects.

• Pierce Invulnerability/Sure Hit CEs are amazing for punching through her constant Evasion usage. Follow the hyperlinks for a list of all available CEs.

• Lastly, a fully stall-oriented team with plenty of Healing/Defense Up can stall the encounter and clear it slowly. 

Note that these videos are not affiliated with GamePress, but showcase some lineups that are effective in clearing the final challenge. These can serve as a good reference for how to rotate skills during this quest or simply to have a look at the encounter before diving in.

• Straightforward Vlad (Extra) clear that also demonstrates the effectiveness of Arash and Nitocris
• Low Rarity Run featuring Fergus, Tawara Touta, Mash, Romulus, Cu, and Scathach