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Epiphany Bonus
When entering Chaos, obtain 1 random Rare Card with an activated Epiphany.
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Best Build Guide
Passion
VanguardLast updated: 15/March/2026
Check all the starting cards & the EGO Card available for Maribell
Shelter Kick
Attack
Shelter Defense
Skill
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Shelter Hold
Skill
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Resolute Blitz
Attack
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Unbreakable
Ego Skill
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Check all the epiphany cards available for Maribell
Maribell Shelter MK.II
Attack
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Wolves' Dome
Upgrade
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Oh... I see.
Skill
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Shelter Strike
Attack
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Epiphany cards are special evolutions for the cards you can obtain while playing the roguelike mode. Only some cards in the character's deck can get Epiphany effects. Since there's quite a lot of them, we don't display them by default — press the button below to show them.
Good shielding capabilities.
Flexible enough to fit into most team compositions in the shielder slot.
Can apply the Weaken debuff to lower enemy damage output.
Counterattacks (and damage) are far less effective in fights where enemies are hit minimal times.
shielding can be quite slow in endgame content with turn limits.
While less AP greedy than some other Vanguards, she still requires a fair bit to shield properly.
Maribell is a 4-Star Passion Attribute Vanguard whose playstyle is focused on the Counterattack mechanic and turning defense into offense.
Maribell offers multiple cards that generate shield and Counterattack, allowing her to protect her team whilst also dishing some back. Maribell's "Shelter Strike" card deals Fixed-Damage equal to the amount of shield owned, allowing her to dish out some damage after putting up their wall. Maribell also offers the Weaken debuff from her "Oh... I See" card to further enhance her team's survivability.
Maribell doesn't offer any built-in draw or AP management, but it doesn't require much to be effective. Maribell can be slotted into almost any team if needing survivability. She can also move into a more DPS-focused role when paired with other Vanguards due to her shield-based damage scaling found on some of her cards.
If you’re looking for a character to keep your team alive whilst still providing some damage and not demanding resources you need for your other characters, Maribell has you covered.
Defense Scaling: Like other Vanguards, all of Maribell’s damage-dealing abilities scale off of her DEF stat instead of ATK. This allows her to improve her damage and shielding capabilities all at once, on top of improving the team's general tankiness.
Counterattack: Maribell can stack up Counterattacks, which allows her to deal Defense-based damage when hit by the enemy. If the hit is completely blocked by a shield, the Counterattack deals more damage. This is great against enemies with Consecutive Attacks, but the backloaded damage output can make clearing stages very slow if enemies barely attack.
Pulverize: Does more damage to enemies with a shield. It’s not a huge part of Maribell’s kit, but a few cards have the tag.
Maribell Shelter MK.II V
Attack
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Oh... I see. IV
Upgrade
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Shelter Strike
Attack
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Iron Wall
Skill
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Passion
Passion
OrderEishlenE4EishlenE0
CRIT Rate > CRIT DMG
Passion DMG%
DEF% = HP%
CRIT Rate% > CRIT DMG% > DEF = HP > DEF% = HP%
Maribell’s first Signature Potential is a priority early pickup, as it adds more Counterattack to her kit, increasing her utility and offense on the team. You can invest in her other signatures if you want more shields or damage and can meet the stat requirements to get their full benefit.
3-1: Adds Counterattack to her basic shield cards: Shelter Defense and Shelter Hold. This is a great upgrade to her kit, allowing her to expand on her offensive capability while still maintaining the shield you’re bringing her to the party for.
5-1: Continues to improve her basic shield cards by adding an extra 5% shield to them. Additionally, if Maribell’s HP is greater than 600, an additional 5% is added, for 10% total. More shield is always nice, but this doesn’t feel as impactful as her 3-1.
7: Similar to 5-1, but adds 5% to her Defense-based Attack Damage for cards such as Shelter Kick. If her HP is greater than 800, it adds an additional 5% for 10% total. In most cases, if Maribell is on your team, it’s for shield. Some strategies for Maribell lean into Defense-based attacking as shield generation, which can make them easier to execute.
Maribell's Main Method of increasing damage is just increasing crit/cdmg, so the recommended equipment options is much more limited than most units.
Maribell's Main Method of increasing damage is just increasing crit/cdmg, so the recommended equipment options is much more limited than most units.
Introduces Desire Cards. Desire Cards are cards that primarily exist to give a strong passive buff from meeting certain Desire Thresholds (3/5/7) which can only be done by having multiple ally decks also made in Season-4.
For Desire Threshold, it’s common to run 1 Claim / 1 Survival / 1 Inquiry for use in a variety of builds; however, it's also common to just do 3 ‘X’ to meet effect easier or do 2 'X' / 1 Inquiry (to keep Sample Collection as Card Effect). This is extremely dependent on ally desire cards and individual team building goal.
’X’ refers to a ‘Placeholder for Specific Desire Threshold Goal’, i.e. if you are building your team for 7 Claim then you might do 2 Claim / 1 Inquiry.
Introduces Persona Cards and Engravings. Persona Cards are powerful cards that introduce new playstyles or ways of buffing/debuffing. Engravings are effects that can be applied to both the Persona Cards and Equipment, functioning near identically to Refinements of Season-2 but with new effects.
There is no recommended Card Engraving, often times it will be specific to the team or skipped entirely (focusing just on Equipment Engravings).
The most common Equipment Engraving to optimize for is [When 15 or more cards are in Graveyard, +15% Critical Damage to Attack Cards of this unit], but this effect does not stack, so other equipment Engravings that increase damage can also be used.
Introduces Refinements, effects on Equipment that allow one to get additional Equipment effects for no Faint-Cost (post-S2), and God’s Hammer, a powerful effect that gives a random copy of any other Equipment effect on-top of current Equipment but costs 10 Faint Memory and is only gained from the Boss.
When an Attack Card is activated on a target in a Vulnerable state, +15% Critical Chance.
Because God’s Hammer is completely RNG at the end of the run, we do not have a specific recommendation since the player has very little control over the decision but for ATK-based Attackers usually ATK% gear is considered best and DEF-based Attackers DEF% gear is considered best.
Introduces Forbidden Cards, powerful cards that create new synergies and can only be acquired once per run (can be duped at one event or via save data editing).
Forbidden: Gesture of Freedom. Permanent Cost-Reduction to one card, can be manipulated.
Forbidden: Portrait of Fury. ++Draw, +Damage
Forbidden: Ecstasy of Violence. +Damage
Forbidden: Eternal Hunger. +Draw, ++AP (Ally Reliant)
Resolute Blitz
Attack
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Resolute Blitz I
Attack
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Resolute Blitz II
Attack
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Resolute Blitz III
Attack
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Resolute Blitz IV
Attack
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Resolute Blitz V
Upgrade
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Maribell Shelter MK.II
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II I
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II II
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II III
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II IV
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II V
Attack
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Maribell Shelter MK.II I: The card now does damage in AOE. The increase in damage, when conditions are met, can make it easier to hit the necessary damage to get full value off of your damage-based shield; however, decent Maribell builds will generally have no problem meeting the necessary damage (typically around 400-500 damage) without needing this, so Epiphany V or Neutral Epiphany’s quality of life will generally be preferred.
Maribell Shelter MK.II II: The card now does slightly higher damage. The increase in damage can make it easier to hit the necessary damage to get full value off of your damage-based shield; however, decent Maribell builds will generally have no problem meeting the necessary damage (typically around 400-500 damage) without needing this, so Epiphany V or Neutral Epiphany’s quality of life will generally be preferred.
Maribell Shelter MK.II III: Changes to a 2-cost with a significantly higher damage amount. The increase in damage can make it easier to hit the necessary damage to get full value off of your damage-based shield; however, decent Maribell builds will generally have no problem meeting the necessary damage (typically around 400-500 damage) without needing this, so Epiphany V or Neutral Epiphany’s quality of life will generally be preferred. While the damage itself on this card can also be useful, the cost and the fact that the shield-based part of the card is capped at the same 20% maxhp value regardless of Epiphany, make it generally not recommended unless the cost is affordable for the team.
Maribell Shelter MK.II IV: Now does additional damage based on Maribell’s Counterattack. This takes away one of Maribell’s premier ways of generating necessary shield for herself, for her Shelter Strike, or other shield-based damage. Moreover, it requires a very specific setup where enemies essentially cannot attack you, lest your Counterattack be consumed and the attack weakens. Because of how conditional its effects are and the loss of its utility, it is not recommended for most Maribell builds.
Maribell Shelter MK.II V: Changes to a 0-cost. The go-to Epiphany as it introduces a QoL element in the Cost Reduction. While the damage of the card itself will be lower than alternative options, since the VAST majority of damage on Maribell comes from her shield-based damage effects like Shelter Strike, she will generally prefer QoL improvements on her Supportive cards, like this, over small increases in damage.
Neutral: Target Neutral Epiphany: N/A.
Vanguards don't get particularly good Neutral epiphany access.
Divine: Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: -1 Cost Reduction, 1 AP (Maribell Shelter MK.II V).
Wolves' Dome
Upgrade
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Wolves' Dome I
Upgrade
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Wolves' Dome II
Upgrade
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Wolves' Dome III
Upgrade
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Wolves' Dome IV
Skill
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Wolves' Dome V
Upgrade
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Wolves' Dome I: The card gains [Initiation] and keeps the 2 crystallization (all other epis lose it). This can be great for getting rid of the card quicker, but the counter-attack based playstyle isn’t especially strong nor recommended to base your Maribell build around (compared to alternative options with Shelter Strike or shield-based damage). The passive shielding can also help hit the needed shielding amount for Shelter Strike damage.
Wolves' Dome II: Now gives an additional shield at the start of turn. Any free shielding is extremely welcome on Maribell, as much of her damage in her best setups is based on how much shielding you can output–anything pushing that amount upwards is a welcome increase in her damage. Slightly better than the 2 crystallization of Wolves’ I and neutral in many set-ups.
Wolves' Dome III: The start-of-turn effect is increased from 1 Counterattack per turn to 2. While this can be a nice increase in Counterattack for a Counterattack-based build, the Counterattack-based playstyle isn’t especially strong nor recommended to base your Maribell build around (compared to alternative options with Shelter Strike or shield-based damage).
Wolves' Dome IV: When played alongside shielders like Tiphera, who do a lot of small shields, the resolve stacks on this can effectively double their shielding efficacy, making it a strong option to increase shielding. However, it can be hard to play *before* all other shield cards for its full value, every turn.
Wolves' Dome V: Increases the Counterattack damage of both Maribell and allies, making it a rather strong buff in Counterattack-based teams and the strongest for that set-up; however, the Counterattack-based playstyle isn’t especially strong nor recommended to base your Maribell build around (compared to alternative options with Shelter Strike or shield-based damage).
Neutral: The passive shielding from the 2 crystallization can help hit the needed shielding amount for Shelter Strike damage, but the effect itself isn’t particularly noteworthy.
Divine: Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: -1 Cost Reduction, Draw 1 (Wolves’ Dome II).
Oh... I see.
Skill
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Oh... I see. I
Skill
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Oh... I see. II
Skill
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Oh... I see. III
Skill
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Oh... I see. IV
Upgrade
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Oh... I see. V
Upgrade
Show Effects
Oh... I see. I: A bit more shielding and 1 more Weaken debuff. This can be useful if you need to reduce damage a bit to keep your shielding high and if you need more sources of shielding for Maribell; however, the shield ratio is still relatively low and ally options (or options from Maribell herself) for shielding will generally be preferred.
Oh... I see. II: Shielding increases slightly and Counterattack is changed to 2 (previously 1) with the Weaken debuff being removed. If optimizing for the highest amount of Counterattack, this option can be considered. However, the Counterattack-based playstyle isn’t especially strong nor recommended to base your Maribell build around (compared to alternative options with Shelter Strike or shield-based damage).
Oh... I see. III: Removes shielding completely but gains both 2 Counterattack and 2 Weaken debuff. If optimizing for the highest amount of Counterattack, this option can be considered. However, the Counterattack-based playstyle isn’t especially strong nor recommended to base your Maribell build around (compared to alternative options with Shelter Strike or shield-based damage).
Oh... I see. IV: Changes to an Upgrade that does fixed damage based on 50% shield amount. The go-to Epiphany for any shield-based Maribell build, as it is just free damage that scales the same as the rest of her build. Basically, ⅓ of a Shelter Strike (E1) hit, for no cost at all. Even in other build types, Maribell will generally have high shielding, so this Epiphany will still get strong value.
Oh... I see. V: Now, it’s an Upgrade that gives a shield based on owned Counterattack. This is not exclusive to Counterattack-based builds, as Maribell will often passively get Counterattack through effects like Wolves’ Den Upgrades, even if not in a Counterattack-based build, making it a passive shield option that gets rid of this card (not requiring it to be drawn or played, which lowers AP and draw concerns regarding it).
Neutral: Neutral Epiphanies are not recommended on this card, as the base Epiphany itself is rather lackluster.
Divine: Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: -1 Cost Reduction.
Resolute Blitz I: Now gives an additional 1 Counterattack on damage dealt. This is effectively +1 Counterattack, so it isn’t especially strong, and Counterattack tends to be a less popular playstyle for optimised Maribell set-ups.
Resolute Blitz II: The card now gives 2 Counterattack with no conditions, basically the same as Resolute Blitz I. This can be nice for Counterattack-based builds, but Counterattack tends to be a less popular playstyle for optimised Maribell set-ups.
Resolute Blitz III: Now is AOE and gains Counterattack for each enemy damaged by it. This is very conditional to get more value out of than other Epiphanies (need at least 3 targets) and Counterattack tends to be a less popular playstyle for optimised Maribell set-ups.
Resolute Blitz IV: Changes to a 2-cost attack that gains a damage bonus based on 30% of your held shield. This synergizes well with her Shelter Strike damage and can be an alternative shield-based damage build to Shelter Strike itself. The go-to Epiphany because it is strong damage and has great synergy with most of her popular builds, if you want the extra damage.
Resolute Blitz V: Now a 2-cost upgrade that does defense-based damage to a random enemy. The effect on this is rather costly and weak, but since this is a Starter card you might want to get rid of (costs more save data points to get rid of) it is recommended as an option for eliminating the card from your deck, as upgrades will leave the deck after being played.
Neutral: Target Neutral Epiphany: N/A There’s no particular target neutral epiphany, but the card can be worth keeping simply because (after her buffs in S3) she now gives dmg-based shield at-base with the card and it can help generate more shield for her Shelter Strikes.
Divine: Which Divine Epiphany to go for will depend on what your team needs and which Epiphany you chose, but here are the main ones to look out for if you have spare Save Data: -1 Cost Reduction, 30% Damage Increase, Weakness Attack.