Athena Guide KOFXIV

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	Athena
	TEAM Psycho Soldier

General

Summary:

Best Position: Point Mid Anchor

Best Tools:

Many of her normals are 4frames!!!!

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Moves

Normals

LP “Light Punch”

Crouch : chains into crouching LK and vice versa, cancels
Stand : easily links into stand HP, chains into stand LK
Far : 4f of nasty face painting
Hop : has quite a big hitbox, good diving angle, cancels and super cancels
Jump : same

LK “Light Kick”

Crouch : 4f chains into LP, cancels
Stand : cancels, chains into LP, hits low
Far : anti hop
Hop : good angle, doesn’t cancel at all
Jump : same

HP “Heavy Punch”

Crouch : 4f great, super/ cancels
Stand : cancels
Far : doesn’t cancel, still good poke, super cancels
Hop : good, super/cancels
Jump : same

Notes: if Far HP could cancel, she’d be a hyper abusive zoner

HK “Heavy Kick”

Crouch : meh
Stand : ok anti air
Far : VERY good poke
Hop : good angle, no cancel
Jump : same

HPHK “CD Blowback”

Stand: good hit box!
Air: ok

Notes:

Athena can also triangle jump

Athena has an air throw with P

Command Normals

?LK “Phoenix Bomb”

Chained from the cancellable normals
air ok
hop LP into fLK into grab or teleport then grab…. *shudder*

Specials

P “Psycho Sword” [EX]

Poke
Causes juggle
EX has more hits
super cancels

air K “Phoenix Arrow” [EX]

Poke
Causes juggle
EX has more hits
super cancels

K “Psycho Reflector” [EX]

Anti
Returns projectiles
Causes juggle
Seems to have a big hitbox that moves forward…?

P “Super Psychic Throw” [EX]

Quite a slow grab, 8f!
EX is invincible and 3f

????????????????????????#kof14 #PS4share pic.twitter.com/wp21gsd4m6

— ???? (@EibonCykranosh) August 31, 2016

P “Psycho Ball Attack” [EX]

Projectile
Hoppable
Super cancels
EX is bigger and slower but eats normal projectiles and causes juggles on hit.

K “Psychic Teleport” [EX]

invincible but vulnerable at the end
EX can be cancelled at no extra cost into a special

Supers & Climax

HCB x2 P “Shining Crystal Bit” [Max]

Air ok
Can cause huge damage if all the bits hit
Cancel with LP+LK
Great anti air and reversal

x2 P “Crystal Shoot”

Can be charged by holding down the button
air ok – can be cancelled from normals
LP version goes horizontal
HP version goes upwards
There is a little mixup here as you can use HP version to hit opponents who like to jump over everything

x2 KK “Athena Explosion” Climax

Athena’s anti air becomes a devastating attack but don’t forget it must be used as an anti air or cancelled
If blocked or doesn’t fully connect, will act like normal psycho sword

Best Combos

Basic Combos (note the reflector was nerfed so some combos will not work anymore)

Advanced

Also includes some setups

???????????2????????????????? #KOF14 #PS4share https://t.co/GZYYAZDoQq pic.twitter.com/J0WAN20OK0

— ???@SNK???????????? (@fair_loves_luka) August 29, 2016

Strategy

You’ll know there is an Athena player in the house due to the unmistakable sound of the “Psycho Ball!” With a good player, expect to hear it a lot, as her game revolves around it.

Using the backdash and Phoenix Bomb, put Athena as far away from the opponent as possible and then you can start the barrage. At full screen, there’s not much the opponent can do, so they will approach slowly. Don’t throw a ball when they are in range to punish with a jump, instead just get closer and attack with crouching HP string or roll and backdash away till you are at full screen again.

Players often use crouching HP because it lowers her profile and is an anti air in itself!

On the offensive, send a slow fireball and follow it. If the opponent jumps, they’ll eat the anti air (dp or even hcbx2 P). When the opponent blocks, Athena has time to launch another attack which will hit while the opponent doesn’t have enough time to counter, and so she can cancel into another ball or try other mixups:

…> cr HP > f LK > cr LP > cr HP > hcb P / f LK…
…> cr HP > f LK > qcb LK > hcf P

If anyone tries to punish her Phoenix Bomb, Athena can punish with Phoenix Arrow at any time before hitting the floor. If opponent is too scared to attack, that’s great! Continue…

Don’t forget Athena can reflect any projectiles and send one afterwards. She has the advantage. After sending a ball, she can run after it and attack while the opponent is trying to nullify the ball with their own projectile.

Things get nasty when Athena has stock to spare. Maxing up, she can send an EX ball, and mixup the opponent with teleports to appear in front or behind. While normally the teleport is vulnerable at the end, the opponent has to worry about blocking the EX ball. On top of this, if Athena does an EX teleport, she can cancel it and destroy any attempt to punish her.

Ball > follow > cr HP xx ball
Max > EX ball > teleport > grab
Max > EX ball > teleport > teleport to make opponent turn around and get hit by EX ball

In combos, Phoenix Arrow into Climax does tasty damage.

Strategy Guide by TrulyaMiracle

The singing idol that makes the whole room echo PHSYCO BALLLLLL and with a new look every game is back again and she might be better than ever before.

Athena is an all-rounder that has tools for every range, but she excells from far away.
She has a lot of different tools. Fireball, dragon punch, reflect, teleport, command grab, dive attack, an overhead, and even some solid normals.

While she can work anywhere I believe she’s best second or anchor, having meter greatly enhances Athena’s zoning and her options.
She’s also one of the best at utilizing MAX mode in neutral, she can also use it well in combos and in mixups and pressure.

Athena’s gameplan is simplistic but hard to apply. She uses her zoning and relies on captalizing on the opponent’s mistakes to get her big damage.
She is considered one of the top characters in XIV but she one of the harder ones to utilize. While she has a lot of strengths she also has a few cons, mainly her lack of hit confirms, her floaty jump and lack of a strong mixup game and that a mistake can cost her a lot of life, if not the round.

While close combat isn’t her best area she has a couple of decent normals and pokes so she can hold her own pretty well.
Crouch C, far D, CD, and far C are her main pokes.
Crouch C (6f/-4) is the go-to usually, goes pretty far and is cancellable as well. It is her main normal to convert to MAX mode from.
Far D (10f/-5) is similar Kyo’s, a spinning kick that goes over lows. Goes further than cr C by a bit.
CD (12f/-1) is an advancing shoulder attack, on the slow side and doesn’t go forward that much, but it has a big hitbox and can combo into C phsyco ball from anywhere (can also follow with fireball super after)
Far C (6f/-5) has less range than all the above, but it’s the quickest option. It can also stop hops.

Athena’s anti-airs are mainly far B, her Physco Sword and her supers.
Far B (5f/-1) is mainly for hops, it’s angle is perfect for those. Far A (4f/+1) and far C can also be used to check hops.
For higher jumps Phsyco Sword is the best anti-air as her normals don’t cover that hieght. She has close D but it’s not worth the risk when you have a better option.
All her supers can anti-air as well.

Her air to airs are j.A (5f) and j.C (8f), not a lot of range on them though.
Her main jump-in in j.D (6f), and she also has j.B for a cross-up.
J.CD (10f) covers a similar angle to j.D, can work as both air to air and a jump-in.

Athena’s core is her specials, she has all sorts of different specials that can be used in a lot of ways, she’s a character that can shine depending on how creative her user is.

Her main special is the Phsyco Ballllllll. A projectile that goes fullscreen and Athena’s main zoning tool.
A version (16f/-1) has slower startup and travel speed, but recovers quick.
C version (13f/-8) has faster startup and travel speed, but has slower recovery.
This is your bread and butter. Using C ball to zone fullscreen and A ball’s slower speed to make avoiding them harder on the opponent.
A ball is slow enough that you can run behind it for cover and bait mistakes.
Generally the idea is to bait a roll or jump from the opponent when the fireball is close to them. If they block it that’s fine too.
If they roll and you’re close you can punish with cr.C, from far away it’s harder but you can use fireball super to catch their recovery.
As for jumps there are a few things you can do especially if you ran after an A ball. You can meet them air to air with f.B, you can Dp+C or use Crystal bit super if they jump forward.
From far away her fireball super is the best option as you can delay it and time it when they’re about to land. You also have the upwards version if they go for a full jump.
EX version (33f/+19) has slow startup but it’s much bigger, does 4 hits and travels slow. This move can cover your offense and basically force your opponent to react. This move alone is generally worth popping raw MAX mode but most Athena’s EX moves are good so it’s almost always worth it.

Phsyco Sword is her dragon punch, a rising attack for ending combos, anti-airing and her reversal.
A version (4f/-43) is quicker with 3 hits but not invincible.
C version (8f/-60) is a bit slower and has 4 hits, goes higher in the air and invincible.
Both versions are cancellable into her Crystal bit super for damage but C is the better one for cancelling.
This special is essential in covering the air space when people try to jump over Athena’s fireballs.
EX version (6f/-44) does more hits and damage, generally not worth it unless you don’t want to spend any meter at the end of a combo.

Reflect, qcb+K is a sheild that can reflect projectiles (10f/0).
It has few active frames so it needs to be timed. On block or hit it recovers quicker, but it has a lot of recovery on whiff.
It can reflect any moving projectiles (so stuff like Beni’s fireball or Sylvie’s can’t be reflected), including EX versions and even supers.
EX version (10f/+4) is quicker and can be used in corner juggles. Can reflect Climax projectiles as well.

Hcf+P is her command grab (8f). Eventhough she is a zoner she has imo the best grab in the game, as she can combo off of it into big damage or get a hard knockdown for setups.
It is not the quickest grab but it’s a bit invincible. It launches the opponent upwards and Athena can combo into whatever she wants. If Athena doesn’t hit them they slam onto the ground for damage (the launching part does almost no damage) and causes a hard knockdown.
EX grab (3f) is the money maker, invincible and much quicker. it also has more range so it can combo off close C or crouch C. Her main EX move in MAX combos.

Hcf+K is a teleport, Athena spins in places before teleporting and she is vulnerable during that time. The teleport itself is a bit invincible but not reliable.
B version goes around 3 character’s length.
D version is a bit longer duration and goes a bit over halfscreen.
Both have a bit of recovery at the end so don’t just throw it out.
This gives Athena a rare mobility option to move around and to confuse the opponent. It can be used in some mixups
EX version is invincible and goes almost fullscreen. EX can also be cancelled during the teleport itself into specials and normals so you can do stuff like EX teleport into EX command grab or cr.B to catch the opponent off guard. Very useful especially with an EX Phsyco ball on the screen.

Pheonix arrow, air qcb+K is an aerial dive attack.
B version (8f/-3) is quicker and safer. Leaves the opponent standing.
D version (10f/-23) is slower and very unsafe, Athena does an ending kick once she lands which knocks back and cancellable into her supers.
This move is for aerial mobility, ending blockstrings after f+B, and as a combo ender.
EX version (9f/+1) is plus on block, and it knocks back which allows for followups in the corner.

Athena’s supers are unique in that she do both of them on the ground and in the air.

Crystal bit, hcb x2 +P (6f), is an energy field super, Athena floats and has 2 orbs rotating around her the whole time. Fully Invincible and active the whole time. It’s main use is for damage at the end of combos, but it’s also a great anti-air. Cancelling phsyco ball into Crytal bit shuts down early jump attempts over her fireball.
It stays active till Athena presses A+B to land, she can do it immediately or wait.
EX (4f) is a bit bigger and does way more damage.

Her other super, qcf x2 +P is a fireball super (14f/-21). Athena shoots a fast projectile across the screen.
A version is horizontal and C version is an upwards angle.
In the air A version is a 45 degree angle and C version is angled but very close to Athena’s spot.
Can be delayed by holding the button.
Mainly for covering fireball zoning from far away, and to punish opponent’s projectiles. Can also end some combos.
EX (11f/-14) is a bigger and bit faster version.

Her Climax, qcf x2 +K (6f/-57) starts similar to her Phsyco Sword. Can be used to end combos, reversal or anti-air.

Athena’s combos are simplistic and limited midscreen, she can do varied stuff in the corner though.
In all Dp+C enders, you can cancel into Crystal bit for more damage. You can also replace Dp+C with Climax

-cr.B cr.B Dp+A
-hcf+P run Dp+C
-cl.C/cr.C f.B Qcb+D
-cr.B cr.A cl.C MAX …
-cr.B cr.B MAX …
-cr.C MAX …
•MAX followups
-cr.C EX Hcf+P qcb+A EX qcf+K Crystal Bit
-Cr.C f.B EX qcb+K Dp+C
•Corner:
-Hcf+P qcb+A qcb+C Dp+C
•Corner MAX followups
-Cr.C EX Hcf+P EX Qcb+K Qcb+A Dp+C
-Cr.C f.B EX Qcb+K EX Qcb+K Dp+C
-Cr.C EX Hcf+P EX qcb+K EX Qcb+K Dp+C
-Cr.C EX Hcf+P EX Qcb+P EX Qcb+P Dp+C

Extra:
-f.B (20f/-25) is a slow butt smack that bounces Athena backwards if it connects. It’s an overhead if done raw, you can cancel it any point during the bounce back into Qcb+B. Needs to be immediately to combo for low risk/low damage.
It can also be done in the air, has a lot of active frames so it can work as an air to air.
-You can also cancel backdash into f.B, this makes her cover more distance and back away better.
-You can cancel backdash into qcb+B as well for meter building and to bait someone that might try to chase your backdash.
-Athena’s crystal bit generally can only hit with 1 of the orbs, but there is a method to make both orbs connect for big damage by doing it off of CD wallstick. This way both orbs connect for big damage, which you can also climax cancel for almost death.
-Off of EX hcf+P you can immediately do EX Qcb+P and it’ll be meaty. You can do EX teleport right before the fireball connects to make it hit cross-up.
-Athena has an air throw with f.P in the air.
-You can reset after EX phoenix arrow on hit, cr.C into teleport where light will stay front and heavy with go behind. You can also do cr.C f.B to end up front.
-j.C can crossup on crouchers, but j.B is overall a more consistent crossup.
-Athena can do fireball xx fireball super, if done right the fireball will juggle after the super hits, you can followup with another fireball super for lots of damage from fullscreen.
-neutral hop j.D is an instant overhead. Useful for ending rounds.
-Athena’s cl.A (4f/+2), far A (4f/+1) and cr.A (5f/+3) are all plus on block, use them in your press and frametraps. Cl.B (5f/+1) is also plus and it hits low. Can chain into lights.

Resets

Playlist including mixups and crossunders

Tech

Athena backdash j.4b fuzzy #PS4share https://t.co/2liUK28oWB pic.twitter.com/P0agXvsVM0

— TA | wauhti ?? KP6/EVO2019 (@SpiidiOnNoita) September 3, 2016

Frame Data