# Eclipse Spire v13: steal Empowerment and ground the charge

Two tested approaches to late Nova, plus a complete theft substitution. Learn which counters stop aftershock and which defenses only soften the hit.

Official guide: https://www.spacezodiacs.com/guides/starter-eclipse-v13/
Source checked: 2026-10-08

## Answer both late-Nova jobs
Use this article for newly entered dungeon-balance-v13 runs. An already-paid run keeps its pinned rules; do not apply a new counter window to an older saved encounter. These optional full-team examples are transcribed from the committed editorial guide. They do not guarantee a clear for every account; keep experimenting with the heroes you own.

Mortex fights alone. On Very Hard and above, buff theft removes Empowerment and defense reduction grounds the stored charge for that battle. Attack reduction is useful mitigation, but it is not the grounding response. Read the status and preview: stopping one job does not silently complete the other.

The warning lasts at least ten allied actions and lets each living ally take a response turn. If theft or grounding is missing, the existing aftershock stays active. Protected phases stop HP damage; a large attack into that phase does not bypass the counter. Save the relevant skill for the warning rather than spending it just before the HP gate.

## Shields have a job and a limit
Renew protection and heal between charges. Barriers absorb at most 25% of each ally's maximum HP from the late protected pulse; leftover barrier can still absorb other attacks. Defense does not reduce that pulse, while attack reduction and damage prevention can help with it. A shield is useful, but it is not immunity to the complete Nova sequence.

An unanswered major Nova also adds an Eclipse Scar. After two complete living-party response cycles, each further eligible cycle adds 15% maximum-HP poison pressure per Scar. That Scar pressure ignores defense and attack reduction and has the same 25%-max-HP barrier absorption limit. Mitigation can buy a turn; answering the warning prevents accumulating the debt.

## Two tested team approaches
- Burst: Aquarius Male, Sagittarius Male, Ophiuchus Female, Phoenix Female and Leo Female. Theft, attack reduction, protection/recovery and a damage carrier work together.
- Recovery: Goblin, Sagittarius Male, Phoenix Female, Aquarius Female and Pisces Male. Theft and the late response jobs remain covered while repeated healing/protection supports the damage plan.

The complete Recovery-Aquarius alternative is Aquarius Male, Sagittarius Male, Phoenix Female, Aquarius Female and Pisces Male. That replaces Goblin in the stated full lineup. This does not prove every thief or healer is interchangeable. The two cores share Sagittarius Male and Phoenix Female; no test established either named hero as individually irreplaceable.

## Build and retained evidence scope
Both cores and the named alternative come from the retained frozen v12 completion bank for floors 6–8 and paired SSS+0, +10 and +50 equipment variants. The Forge-only v13 change preserves non-Forge outcomes in compatibility checks. These are retained v12 results, not fresh v13 fights; these documented finite fixture builds provide no clear-rate or speed guarantee.

Use ordinary non-Chaos Z200 heroes with three prior-floor Bastion items and six five-star Sigils each. Floor 6 uses floor-5 gear, two active affix lines and Heroic +12; floor 7 uses floor-6 gear, three lines and Legendary +15; floor 8 uses floor-7 gear, four lines and Legendary +15. Damage/hybrid slots use four Fury Sigils with legal mains; supports favor Bastion and HP. The full build-plan article describes the finite whole-item pool. No refinement, Overdrive, mastery or collection/account multipliers are assumed; unlimited perfect gear is outside this recipe.

## Read the failure before adding damage
If aftershock stays active, check landed theft and defense reduction. If the response succeeded but a hero dies, inspect its protection, recovery timing and whole loadout. The retained editorial controls warn against missing theft or grounding. They replace whole heroes, so these are warnings about missing jobs rather than pure single-skill causal proofs.

The older Burst-Pisces pilot is not promoted into a new recommendation. Likewise, a Forge team clearing an early Eclipse floor does not make it a tested late universal. The editorial screening did not establish one late team for all three bosses. Keep that bounded conclusion, and treat a new hybrid as an experiment.