| Rarity | Base Stats | Price | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 950/1,050 | 220,000 | Challenge Mode, Challenge Booster Pack, Justice League Pack, Special Challenge Booster Packs, Phantom Zone reward (Veteran and Elite), Aquaman Celebration Pack, Shazam Celebration Pack, Joker Celebration Pack |
 Armies of Atlantis: Aquaman can summon a soldier of Atlantis by using Atlantean Hero.
|
Aquaman Prime seems like an underwhelming character in the game. However, when empowered by Tantu Totem and various DOT gears, he becomes one of the most broken characters ever released, and usually hailed as the ultimate fighter in Survivor Mode.
He can be unlocked through Challenge Mode. Otherwise, he can be randomly obtained in the Challenge Booster Pack and the new Special Challenge Booster Packs or as a guaranteed character from the Justice League Pack, but neither will unlock him for direct promotions.
Strategy[]
Basic Attacks[]
| Basic Combo | Damage Pattern (% of damage stat) | Total (including Combo Ender) |
|---|---|---|
| Light (Combo Ender) | 2% - 2% - 2% - 2% - (3%) | 11% |
| Heavy | 4% - 4% - 4% | 12% |
Aquaman has unique a light combo, it consists of 4 hits before the combo ender, opposed to the usual 3 hits, effectively gaining more power.
Passive[]
Aquaman Prime is an interesting character boasting the might of Atlantis. He introduces a new mechanic into the game which can summon an additional fighter to aid you in battle, allowing Aquaman to step out of the fray momentarily. The Atlantean Hero cannot gain any power or use any special attacks. Aquaman cannot gain any power while the Atlantean Hero is active. The act of summoning the Atlantean Hero will not do any damage by itself and will work in Dead Zone. The Atlantean Hero will be summoned at full health regardless of Aquaman's health. It is possible to tag out the Atlantean Hero, but he would simply leave the match and you have to re-summon him with two bars of power. After the duration of one tag-in cooldown elapses since Aquaman tagged in, the tag-in cooldown between Aquaman and his hero reduces to 0.
The soldier may count toward:
- Hawkgirl/Blackest Night's healing when he is KO'd (either ally or enemy soldiers)
- Superman/Blackest Night's healing when he is KO'd
- Doomsday/Prime's healing when Doomsday KO the soldier
- Lord Joker/Batman Ninja's life drain when he KO the soldier
- Catwoman/Batman Ninja's Cat Rage when she KO the soldier
- Trigger Reverse Flash's passive if he is suffering from DOT when Aquaman's SP2 is used
- Black Adam/New 52, Harley Quinn/Arkham Knight, Batman/Gaslight, Sinestro/Prime, Sinestro/Regime & Sinestro/Green Lantern may trigger their passives against the soldier, treating the summon as tag-in, as well as tagging in any character in place of the soldier
- Hal Jordan/Yellow Lantern will steal Aquaman's power when he summons the soldier
- Tantu Totem's power refund when he is KO'd by its users' specials
- Nekron's Scythe's resurrection when he is KO'd by its user
The soldier will not count toward:
- Reverse Flash will not regenerate from Aquaman's SP2 if he is not suffering from DOT, as this special attack doesn't deal damage
- The Joker Unhinged/Suicide Squad's passive
- Number of characters of both sides for Batman/Batman Ninja's damage reduction
- Zod/Prime's healing and damage boost when the soldier is KO'd (he used to count toward it)
- Static/Prime will not gain power by blocking Aquaman's SP2
Aquaman summoning his Atlantean Hero to battle!
The Atlantean Hero is seen on the right.
The stats of the Atlantean Hero in terms of % of Aquaman's stats with maxed SP2:
| Stated | Observed | |
|---|---|---|
| Damage | 66% of Aquaman's damage | 160% of Aquaman's damage |
| Health | 33% of Aquaman's damage* | 60% of Aquaman's health |
(*): The soldier's health stat displayed on SP2 tab wrongly calculates as % of Aquaman's damage instead of health. The actual health stat during battle is based on Aquaman's health.
Atlantean Hero's stats are not affected by teammate's passive boosts (e.g. Batman/Prime). He will be also unable to use any gear effect equipped on Aquaman, as well as Aquaman's crit chance and damage augmentations. Damage and health augments on Aquaman will boost the soldier's stats, however.
The summoned soldier of Atlantis has the same basic attack pattern as Aquaman. After testing, it is shown that, when maxed out, the summoned Atlantean soldier actually has higher damage than Aquaman himself. With maxed SP2, the solider is equal to a gold character whose base stats are 1520/630, while 1500 damage is already the highest among gold! However, the soldier can't use gear or benefit from teammates' passive, so he is practically weaker than them.
Gear[]
Aquaman has a very strong synergy with the Tantu Totem, to the point where it is practically mandatory for him to be used at all. Activating Atlantean Hero does not deal damage, causing the used power to be returned. The power will be returned even if you deal basic damage with the Atlantean Hero or the Atlantean Hero is knocked out. Aquaman can be tagged back in after the regular tag-in cooldown, and will return with 3 full bars of power. He can then cast Trident Toss, and Atlantean Hero right after. After Aquaman tags back in the first time, the normal tag-in cooldown will be removed, allowing this process to be repeated quickly and indefinitely. Since Trident Toss causes bleed damage-over-time, which increases damage and stacks on itself, Aquaman can quickly bleed out his opponent and deal more damage with every activation of Trident Toss. This strategy essentially allows Aquaman to use infinite specials and bleed out his opponent while using a meat shield to avoid any damage.
Gear that applies stun on tag-in such as the LexCorp Gauntlets V2, Cloak of Destiny, and Fourth World Godly Helmet may stun the opponent after Aquaman tags back in and allow for an unblocked Trident Toss. The Claw of Horus's tag damage can also be repeatedly applied to stagger the enemy back/interrupt the enemy's basics, but the damage done by the gear is reduced as the enemy's health depletes (since it deals a percentage of the enemy's health in damage). The Heart of Darkness is also a good option for this strategy as the damage-over-time from the Heart of Darkness applies on special activation regardless of whether or not damage was dealt, so it will apply on activation of both of Aquaman's specials. Since Aquaman can rapidly trigger stun and damage-over-time effects on tag-in as well as deal high amounts of DOT damage, with the proper gear and team composition he can quickly complete Phantom Zone objectives.
It is useful if you have healing gear to generate back your lost health, as heal on special 2 will be activated as normal. Other gear effects such as basic attack damage, basic attack crit chance, or stun on special 2 will have no effect for Atlantean Hero.
Summoning the Atlantean Hero does not apply gear DOT (whether on-hit like The Ibistick or after-special like Astro-Harness) except DOT from Heart of Darkness. Unlike other specials, using it while The Master's Death Cart is firing its tag-in attack does not convert some hits into special damage and thus the Death Cart cannot be used to apply special effects. This includes Quake Engine's power steal on SP2, which Aquaman cannot apply due to it requiring an actual hit from SP2.
Nekron's Scythe does not allow the Hero or Aquaman to Resurrect if the Hero deals a KO blow. Enchantress Companion Card EVOLVED will usually not activate upon summoning.
He has very poor synergy with his specific gear; stun and damage on special 2 has no effect, and area effect on his special 1 is ineffective as it is a bleed attack and only half of its damage is multiplied.
Recommended builds[]
- Tantu Totem, The Master's Death Cart, The Ibistick: This is an extremely powerful offensive DOT option. Right after summoning Atlantean Hero, tag in Aquaman again with 3 bars of power, then use Trident Toss. For his second tag in and thereafter, Death Cart will apply Ibistick's burn several times - and this can be done rapidly and infinitely for incredibly strong DOT damage, at the cost of having no sustain at all and completely countered by anti-DOT effects.
- Tantu Totem, Heart of Darkness, Quake Engine: Damage dealt is a lot lower, but this offers continuous power drain, and remains highly effective when special 1 is disabled. Tantu Totem and Heart of Darkness on Aquaman is one of the very few, if not the only, way to get through some very high level Survivor Mode matches, although this is more for the prestige than the reward. Elsewhere, Quake Engine can be exchanged with Cybernetic Exoskeleton or equivalent for heal on SP2.
Interactions[]
Please note that battles are highly situational: this section only mentions cards that have mechanics that, for any reason, are particularly effective with/against, or particularly ineffective against Aquaman. Having a card that "counters" Aquaman does not mean it is always a good choice.
Good With[]
- Batman/Gaslight: When Aquaman is combined with the Tantu Totem, the constant switching between himself and the hero can repeatedly apply Gaslight Batman's bat swarm when Aquaman tags in, rendering the enemy unable to land many basics and wearing the opponent down with DOT slowly.
- Cyborg/Teen Titans: Cyborg's passive is great for soaking up hits. Aquaman's Atlantean Hero can be used as a very effective stalling technique while Cyborg recovers as he's tagged out.
- Catwoman/Batman Returns: She increases the damage of Aquaman’s bleed on his easy to use SP1.
- Hawkgirl/Blackest Night: Since part of Hawkgirl's passive is to heal herself whenever an opponent and/or ally gets knocked out, Hawkgirl will keep gaining health from Aquaman's fallen soldiers. Zod/Prime's passive, while similar, does not work with Atlantean Heroes.
- The Batman Who Laughs/Metal: Although the Atlantean Hero himself does not trigger a Savage Robin upon being summoned by Aquaman, nevertheless, combined with the Tantu Totem, the constant switching between the two will keep summoning Savage Robins to deal damage and bleeding, wearing down the opponent slowly but surely.
- The Merciless/Metal: Aquaman can gain armor on tag in, including when he tags in after summoning his soldier.
- Green Lantern/John Stewart: His passive considers Atlantean Hero to be a separate character, granting them Invulnerability for 4 seconds when they fall below 20% health, and does not take away Aquaman's use of the Invulnerability. It can only apply once per match, not per Hero - however, if the Hero is tagged out and immediately resummoned, the Invulnerability may still linger briefly.
Good Against[]
- Killer Frost/Prime: Atlantean Hero can buy time for your teammates to gain power while he fights. Since the Atlantean doesn't generate power himself, he is immune to her dampening effects.
- Raven/Prime: His Atlantean Hero can take the effects of Raven's Demonic Rage passive for him.
- Lobo/Bounty Hunter, Hawkgirl/Prime: Atlantean Hero can be used even when Aquaman is snared by their passives.
- One-shot nuke characters such as Ares/Prime and Batman/Batman Ninja: Atlantean Hero can be used to absorb the hit, although this is less effective if they had Tantu Totem and/or Area Effect.
- Superman/Dawn of Justice: Shattering Blow has no effect on the Atlantean Hero.
- Batman/Dawn of Justice, The Flash/Wally West Rebirth: Summoning Atlantean Hero may trigger their passive, but Batman and Wally's retaliation will miss.
- Superman/Injustice 2: If Aquaman has Heart of Darkness, when an Atlantean Hero is summoned, Superman's passive will be wasted on blocking only the very first hit of the DOT (this does not work with other DOT), at no cost for Aquaman if he has Tantu Totem.
- Batgirl/Arkham Knight: Aquaman's DOTs won't trigger her rescue, and he can use an Atlantean Hero to attempt to KO Arkham teammates to absorb the deadly stun from her rescue.
- Reverse Flash: Aquaman's SP2 can use up all of Reverse Flash's passive when Reverse Flash is suffering from any DOT (Heart of Darkness can help his SP2 apply DOT, unlike other DOT gear such as The Ibistick), as it does not deal any damage, especially with Tantu Totem to restore power back. Atlantean Hero's damage is also not considered as special damage.
Countered By[]
- Doomsday/Prime, Superman/Blackest Night, Deathstroke/Prime, Deathstroke/Insurgency, and Doomsday/Regime: Their on-enemy KO passive will activate when Atlantean Heroes are KO'ed.
- However, Blackest Night Superman's necrotic damage on Aquaman does not affect Atlantean Hero, and any necrotic damage applied on Atlantean Hero does not apply to Aquaman and is removed every time a new Hero is summoned.
- Killer Frost/Prime: However, her power dampening will make it harder for Aquaman to summon the Atlantean Hero, unless Aquaman has Tantu Totem.
- Aquaman/Injustice 2: He can rinse DOTs on him and put them on his opponent, doubled and with secondary effects included, by using a special. This can turn Prime Aquaman's Trident Toss bleeds and Heart of Darkness DOTs back at him.
- The Flash/Blackest Night: He and his Blackest Night teammates heal and gain power from DOT.
- Batman/Gaslight, Black Adam/New 52, Harley Quinn/Arkham Knight, and Sinestro: Both Summoning the Atlantean Hero and tagging back Aquaman will count for enemy-tag effects (e.g. Gaslight Batman will toss a grenade for both occasions).
- Area Effect damage: Whether from passives (e.g. Deadshot/Arkham Origins), gear (e.g. League of Assassins Adept Knives), or inherent (Darkseid/Apokolips' special 2), if Atlantean Hero is active, Area Effect will damage Aquaman's team, including Aquaman himself.
- Sinestro/Green Lantern: He gains special damage boost when Aquaman or his summoned soldier tag in.
- Hal Jordan/Yellow Lantern: He can steal Aquaman's power when the soldier is summoned.
Abilities[]
Here are Aquaman's abilities.
| Ability | Classification | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trident Toss | First Special | Aquaman launches his Trident. BLEED: Deals DAMAGE-OVER-TIME. | Target |
| Atlantean Hero | Second Special | Aquaman summons one of his finest soldiers to assist him in battle. | Tap |
| Atlantean Rage | Super Move | Call forth the mightiest predator of the oceans. UNBLOCKABLE. | Tap |
His SP2 deals no damage, and just summons a soldier to fight in his place.
Support Cards and Gear[]
Here are Aquaman's support cards and gear.
| Card | Classification | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Throne of Atlantis | Health | 10% HEALTH BOOST. | 3,000 |
| Poseidon's Trident | Damage | 10% DAMAGE BOOST. | 4,000 |
| Armies of Atlantis | Energy | 10% ENERGY REGENERATION. | 5,000 |
| Atlantean Polearm (Trident Of Poseidon) | Gear |
8% - 18% Damage boost to Special 2 [Aquaman] 100% AREA EFFECT: opponent's team takes 15% - 25% damage from Special 1 [EVOLVED] 15% - 25% stun chance on Special 2 |
25,000 - 1,000,000 (upgrading) |
Stats[]
These stats are the final damage and health levels at level 50, per Elite rank, with ALL support cards, and without any augmentations. With the 2.13 update, Elite 8, 9, and 10 have been added. The Elite 10 damage and health levels are for level 60 characters. Numbers with a * after them may not be accurate, please allow for a discrepancy of '+1/-1' damage or health due to rounding inconsistencies in game code.
| Tier | Damage | Health |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 7438 | 15,309 |
| Elite I | 11,158 | 22,963 |
| Elite II | 14,877 | 30,618 |
| Elite III | 22,305 | 45,927 |
| Elite IV | 26,035 | 55,112 |
| Elite V | 29,754 | 61,236 |
| Elite VI | 33,473 | 68,891 |
| Elite VII | 37,192 | 76,545 |
| Elite VIII | 40,912 | 84,199 |
| Elite IX | 44,631 | 91,854 |
| Elite X | 52,518 | 117,936 |
Trivia[]
- Aquaman's Upgrades for his special 2 show the stats for his Atlantean hero instead of the minimum/maximum damage, although it is inaccurate and in-game it's higher than the shown.
- The stats displayed are also similar to the minimum/maximum damage of an SP2 (although they are lower than usual): the health represents the minimum damage, and the damage represents the maximum damage.
- He's always the "featured" character for when a Double Bonus XP comes in.
- Previously, his Atlantean Heroes count towards Zod/Prime's passive, where every single KO'ed soldier on Zod's team heals him by 20% and boost his damage by 20%. The damage boost can stack up to 30 times, capped at 600% bonus damage. This will reset back to normal if any of the main characters are knocked out.
- Before 3.2, the Atlantean Heroes were also immune to Radiation.
- Previously, if Atlantean Hero triggers Batman/Dawn of Justice's Evasion, Batman would vanish but would not return, even if the hero is tagged out. Hitting air this way will not grant any power to Batman or any of the other characters tagged in against him. Batman will only drop down after dodging another special. Using a Super Move will damage him as normal, but despite that Batman will visually drop down after being hit by the super, he will still take no damage from basics and the next special, while he can still attack as normal. LexCorp Set's 3-piece radiation effect will still damage him while he is not on the field.
- Previously, Aquaman is immune to Area Effect damage while Atlantean Hero is active.