As Camp Vengeance gets ready to celebrate Grand Revel, a lone Templar approaches the Champions. Her merchant friend's caravan is missing.

The investigation found only scattered supplies and wreckage along the trail. If there are any survivors, they seem to have been taken into the jungles of Chult...

Grand Revel 5 introduces Vi, the planes-walking, gun-toting, gnome artificer played by Jeremy Crawford on Acquisitions Incorporated. Grand Revel also brings back Hew Maan, a definitely human Champion and not three kobolds in a trench coat, and Havilar, the Tiefling Fighter (Battlemaster) and twin sister to Farideh. Players have until Monday, February 14th at 12 PM Pacific to complete their Grand Revel 5 unlocks and objectives.

I. Vi

Artificer, entrepreneur, and planeswalker, the gnome Vi hails from the world of Eberron. Seeking to atone for her part in creating devastating weapons for the Last War, she established the Fixers, a business dedicated to fixing problems others deem unfixable. Born with an aberrant dragonmark that allows her to travel from one plane of existence to another, she's brought her genius, warm heart, and love for a stiff drink to many worlds. The Fixers are headquartered in Sigil, the City of Doors, but Vi has established offices throughout the multiverse.

Vi is a Support, Speed and Gold Find Champion who wants to surround herself with good people, while encouraging those morally gray folks to use their resources for good causes. When you want to add her to your formation you can swap her with Arkhan in slot 12.

II. Vi's Stats

Race: Gnome	Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Artificer	Gender: Female	Pronouns: She/Her
Age: 500
Affiliation: Acquisitions Incorporated

STR: 8	DEX: 12	CON: 16
INT: 18	WIS: 13	CHA: 12

Role: Support, Speed, Gold Find
Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra, Strahd
Slot: 12 (Arkhan)

III. Vi's Design

As the Principal Rules Designer for Dungeons & Dragons, Jeremy Crawford has helped craft much of the D&D content fans know and love, and as the Dungeon Master for Acquisitions Incorporated he's lead the liveplay games in moments that range from hilarious to touching. So it's no surprise that he has used his plethora of knowledge and experience to draw upon when creating characters filled with warmth, intelligence, and sass! He's played Vi in a variety of livestreamed games, and she's appeared offering information in Eberron: Rising From The Last War.

Vi does her best to assist people on various worlds learn to help themselves, and believes she can encourage others to use their talents and skills to fix problems throughout the multiverse. So she tries to set A Good Example by surrounding herself with other good Champions to help Neutral ones do more damage. If there are only a few enemies left, Vi will gain some Sass and decide I'm Too Old For This #*&!, impatiently waiting for her friends to finish the final creatures off. In a flourish of brilliant artificer engineering, Vi's Ultimate Attack is an Arcane Cannon in the shape of a massive metal Cockatrice!

For more information on Vi and her abilities, check out her Champion Spotlight!

Year Five Variants

• Adventure Variant 1: Timing is Everything — Vi starts in the formation. She can be moved to other slots, but she can't be removed from the formation. Vi's Arcane Cannon ultimate starts out unlocked. All Champion Base Attack cooldown speeds are increased by 8 seconds. If you activate Vi's second use of her Arcane Cannon ultimate in the last 5 seconds of the ultimate's duration, its cooldown is immediately reset.
  Complete Area 75.
Getting to know Vi: Vi's ultimate has a second stage that you might lose if you forget to activate it. Learn how to get the most out of it!


• Adventure Variant 2: Time For a Good Hug — Vi starts in the formation. She can't be moved or removed from the formation. You can only use Neutral (on the Good/Evil axis) and Evil Champions that have the DPS role, and you can only use Good Champions that have the Support role.
  Complete Area 125.
Getting to know Vi: Vi likes formations where you surround a neutral Champion with good ones. Figure out how to use it to your advantage!


• Adventure Variant 3: Double Our Efforts — Two Explorers join the formation. They deal no damage and can't be moved. Good Champions deal no damage with their base attacks. All non-boss area quest requirements are doubled, twice as many monsters spawn with each wave, and monsters drop half the amount of gold.
  Complete Area 175.

For information on previous years' variants, check out the Grand Revel 4 blog. And if you have feedback, let us know in a Community Q&A or Champion feedback post on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

As Camp Vengeance gets ready to celebrate Grand Revel, a lone Templar approaches the Champions. Her merchant friend's caravan is missing.

The investigation found only scattered supplies and wreckage along the trail. If there are any survivors, they seem to have been taken into the jungles of Chult...

Grand Revel 4 introduces Hew Maan, a definitely human Champion and not three kobolds in a trench coat, and brings back Havilar, the Tiefling Fighter (Battlemaster) and twin sister to Farideh, and Paultin Seppa, the Vistani Bard. Players have until Monday, February 15th at 12PM Pacific to complete their Grand Revel unlocks and objectives.

For more information about Year 4 Events and how they work, please check out our Year 4 Events Dev Blog.

New Champion: Hew Maan

Zrang, his twin brother Kleeb, and their brood-sister Yassa began their Icewind Dale existence stealing gems and dreaming of being respected by the locals. Inspired by their mentor, Jarlaxle, they stand tall to form Hew Maan - who is totally a human and not on a nefarious mission to steal all the Champions' stuff.

Zrang, Kleeb, and Yassa team up and stack up to form Hew Maan, providing different buffs based on who's on top of the stack. Hew Maan is a Support champion, when you want to add them to your formation, you can swap them with Delina (Slot 8).

II. Hew Maan's Stats

Race: Kobold & "Human"	Alignment: Lawful Evil
Class: Rogue/Bard	Gender: Male & Female
Age: 67	Affiliation: none

STR: 11	DEX: 12	CON: 16
INT: 12	WIS: 8	CHA: 16

Role: Support
Eligible for Patrons: Mirt the Moneylender, Vajra Safahr
Slot: 8, (Delina)

Hew Maan's Abilities

Zrang and his siblings hide inside a trench coat and masquerade as a human, and their teamwork makes their dream work! Their buffs change based on where they are located in the formation. With Teamwork, they provide three different buffs that are useful in different situations. Place them near the front of the formation and they increase your rate of progression, place them in the center of the formation and they assist with killing bosses. Place them near the back of the formation and they greatly increase your damage against non-boss monsters. Hello, Fellow Humans, allows them to buff their fellow human Champions, but they can masquerade and buff another race through their specialization ability Did We Say Humans? We Meant....

For more information on Hew Maan and their abilities, check out their Champion Spotlight!

Year Four Variants

• Kobolds in Trench Coats! — Hew Maan starts in the front of the formation. They can't be moved or removed. Two of Hew Maan's "Human" friends have also joined the formation to see them in action! Quest requirements are doubled in non-boss areas.
  
  Getting to know Zrang — Because of their location in the formation, Zrang is on top of Hew Maan, meaning that enemies have a 25% chance to count double for quest progress (Teamwork). Kleeb and Yassa are not on top, which means that hits-based and armor-based enemies and blockers have a 50% chance of spawning with 25% of their hits already gone, and the base attack cooldown of Champions adjacent to Hew Maan are reduced by .5 seconds (Please Stand By)!
  Reach Area 75.

• More Dead Than Hew Maan — Hew Maan starts in one of the middle columns of the formation. They can't be moved or removed. Relentless Undead monsters spawn and attack your formation. When they are killed, they don't disappear. Instead, after 5 seconds, they get back up and resume their relentless attack.
  
  Getting to know Kleeb — Because of their location in the formation, Kleeb is on top of Hew Maan, meaning that Champion damage against bosses is increased and if that boss has hits-based or armor-based health, successful attacks destroy twice as many segments as they normally would (Teamwork), Yassa and Zrang are not on top, which means that boss enemies move 25% slower, and the base attack cooldowns of Champions adjacent to Hew Maan are reduced by .5 seconds (Please Stand By)!
  Reach Area 125.

• Hit 'em fast, Hit 'em hard — Hew Maan starts in the back of the formation. They can't be moved or removed. Armored abyssal chickens spawn in each area. These chickens drop no gold, nor do they count towards quest progress. Every 10 areas, the number of Abyssal Chickens that spawn per area increases by 1.
  
  Getting to know Yassa — Because of their location in the formation, Yassa is on top of Hew Maan, meaning that Champion damage is increased in the two columns in front of Hew Maan (Teamwork), Kleeb and Zrang are not on top, which means that hits-based and armor-based enemies and blockers have a 50% chance of spawning with 25% of their hits already gone, and bosses move 25% slower (Please Stand By)!
  Reach Area 175.

For information on previous years' variants, check out the Grand Revel 3 blog.

"Hello, fine bartender, we... I mean... I would like one cup of your finest beverage, please. Yes, yes, thank you ...the ...uh, ...normal human beverage, please." The patron's trench coat shuffled in an unusual way, but the bemused bartender poured a flagon of ale and left three smaller cups, just in case. "It's working," the knees muttered. "The human beverage is ale! I should've done the talking." "How tall we are..." the torso whispered, "So tall..." "SHHHH!!!"

MORE KOBOLDS IS MORE BETTER. Introducing our latest champion, arriving with Grand Revel, Hew Maan, a definitely human champion and not at all three kobolds in a trench coat.

I. Hew Maan

Zrang, his twin brother Kleeb, and their brood-sister Yassa began their Icewind Dale existence stealing gems and dreaming of being respected by the locals. Inspired by their mentor, Jarlaxle, they stand tall to form Hew Maan - who is totally a human and not on a nefarious mission to steal all the Champions' stuff.

Hew Maan's origin story is ongoing in our Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign, and cameoed in two of our Idle Champions Comics. They hold a special place in our hearts, and we were excited and inspired by the community reaction to bring them to Idle Champions as a champion, for deep down, aren't we all just three kobolds in a trench coat?

Zrang, Kleeb, and Yassa team up and stack up to form Hew Maan, providing different buffs based on who's on top of the stack. Hew Maan is a Support champion, when you want to add them to your formation, you can swap them with Delina (Slot 8).

II. Hew Maan's Stats

Race: Kobold & "Human"	Alignment: Lawful Evil
Class: Rogue/Bard	Gender: Male & Female
Age: 67	Affiliation: none

STR: 11	DEX: 12	CON: 16
INT: 12	WIS: 8	CHA: 16

Role: Support
Eligible for Patrons: Mirt the Moneylender, Vajra Safahr
Slot: 8, (Delina)

III. Hew Maan's Design

Hew Maan is a multifaceted and dynamic individual. Well actually, they aren't an individual at all, but three kobolds, Zrang, his twin brother Kleeb, and their brood sister Yassa, each with their own distinct personalities!

Zrang is surprisingly insightful, but definitely still a kobold, and is working on the difference between kobold and human vocabularies.

Rough and tumble and ready to tussle; Kleeb is the kobold you want in control when you're gearing to fight.

Yassa was charmed by Trex's complimentary nature. She cheers on her fellow kobolds & Champions. She's a glass-half-full sort of kobold, and a bit of a fast talker.

Zrang and his siblings hide inside a trench coat and masquerade as a human, and their teamwork makes their dream work! Their buffs change based on where they are located in the formation. With Teamwork, they provide three different buffs that are useful in different situations. Place them near the front of the formation and they increase your rate of progression, place them in the center of the formation and they assist with killing bosses. Place them near the back of the formation and they greatly increase your damage against non-boss monsters. Hello, Fellow Humans, allows them to buff their fellow human Champions, but they can masquerade and buff another race through their specialization ability Did We Say Humans? We Meant....

IV. Hew Maan's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Crossbow — The middle kobold shoots a random enemy with a small crossbow.

Formation Abilities

• Teamwork — Depending on where they are placed in the formation, a different kobold takes the top slot in the trench coat and provides a different buff:
  • Zrang: Front X columns — Enemies have a 25% chance to drop double quest items or count for double quest progress.
    
  • Kleeb: Middle columns — Increase the damage of Champions against boss enemies by 400%; if the boss has hits-based or armor-based health, successful attacks destroy twice as many segments as they normally would
    
  • Yassa: Back X columns — Increase the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of Hew Maan by 100%.
    
  Note: in formations with four or less columns, X is always 1. In columns with five or more columns, X is always 2.

• Hello, Fellow Humans — Increase the effect of Kleeb and Yassa's Teamwork abilities based on the number of human Champions in the formation:
  • 1-3 "other" humans: +100%
  • 4-5 "other" humans: +700%
  • 6-7 "other" humans: +3100%
  • 8-9 "other" humans: +12700%

• Carefully Balanced — Increase the effect of Zrang's Teamwork ability by 10% for each Champion adjacent to the kobolds (stacks additively and then applied to Teamwork multiplicatively).

• Please Stand By — The two kobolds that are not on top provide lesser buffs passively. These abilities are not buffed by Hello, Fellow Humans.
  • Zrang: Boss enemies move 25% slower.
    
  • Kleeb: Hits-based and armor-based enemies and blockers have a 50% chance of spawning with 25% of their hits already gone.
    
  • Yassa: Reduce the base attack cooldown of Champions adjacent to the kobolds by 0.5s.

Specializations

• Did We Say Humans? We Meant... — The Hello, Fellow Humans ability now uses the most populous race in your formation instead of Human. Ties do not matter as only the count is important.

• Impressive Coatwork — The effect of all Teamwork abilities are increased by 100%.

Ultimate Ability

Each kobold in the stack attacks repeatedly with their own crossbow, peppering a random target with 12 bolts in total. An additional effect then occurs based on whichever kobold is on the top of the stack. Moving the kobolds while the effect is active does not update it.

• Zrang: Roll Out! — The effect of Zrang's Teamwork is doubled for 30 seconds.
  
• Kleeb: Stop! — Non-boss enemies are stunned and no additional enemies will spawn for 15 seconds.
  
• Yassa: Faster! — Reduce any active ultimate cooldowns of all Champions in the formation by 25%.

V. Hew Maan's Legendary Equipment

Slot 1: Global DPS	Slot 2: Global DPS	Slot 3: Hello, Fellow Humans
Slot 4: Carefully Balanced	Slot 5: Ultimate Damage	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

VI. Conclusion

What do you think about Hew Mann? If you have feedback, let us know in a Community Q&A or Champion feedback post on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

By Bush Whackers, For Butterflies

The butterflies are out there somewhere, and this weekend's visitor is looking to attract them to the event area! This is their second visit, so complete there tasks and get your 2nd of their 5 butterfly companions!

Head to the event area in the Commons to get started. Attract different species to the event area in 2ways:
1 - Help Harrow in the event area with her quests, unlocking at noon on Saturday and Sunday. There are 2 species to unlock this way.
2 - Collect Rare Flowers! You can do this after completing Harrow's first quest, available on Friday. There are 3 species to unlock this way, which will be much more challenging to get!

At the end of this colourful quest, you'll get to choose a butterfly companion from the different species you attract.

You have until noon on Monday February 1st to attract as many as you can, and you'll have until noon on Wednesday February 3rd to choose one as a companion. Good luck!

Strengthen the Smolder Horses!

Smoldering Intensifies

While you're there, don't forget to check out the new Smolder Horse pet! The more there are, the higher the max level bonus is for everyone who has one! It's only available until Monday February 1st, so grab one and help everyone get the most powerful pet while you can! Talk to the smoldering fellow in the event area for updates on the bonus.

Read the Release Notes!

Hi Whackers!

Do you have a lot of excess in-game currency that you're looking to spend in a hurry? Is your ranch too full of multiple copies of gold bricks?

Good news! If you have access to the Flux, there's now a store there for you to spend your gains on! If you've expanded your Ranch to the maximum and bought all the trinkets that cost gold and gems from the General Store, then he will have an assortment of items for you to purchase.

Debuting with the release are some very cool items. For Gold, you can pick up a Statue Lock, so that Nate won't be able to change your Commons Statue to himself! As well, you can grab your own personal Glitch to place on your Ranch and choose which Flux you want to visit after a successful crop harvest.

Plus, you can assemble your very own Erika pet! Buy all 5 pieces for 200 Island Tokens each and get odds to increase the amount of Nothings you win! (Helpful for using the "Nothings turn into" Runes.)

Check out the rest of the items and drain those wallets! Plus more items will be added at a later date.

You can chat about it on the forums here!

We know you've been waiting so we're excited to launch new Talents for both Tier One and Tier Three. Plus we have a new weekend celebration for you with buffs for five Crusaders AND a new Golden Epic with the purchase of the unique Tasty Chests.

As a reminder for our new players, or for those who have yet to discover Talents, these are unique additional features and powers that are available in exchange for Idols. As ever, the criteria to unlocking the tier talents is dependent on you beating a specific area. For Tier 3 talents you're going to need to beat area 600 in any campaign!

You won't lose any DPS or Gold gains when you exchange your Idols. You'll always keep your total DPS and Gold bonuses in keeping with the number of Idols you've earned since you started playing.

You can read more about the first Talents we launched last year here, the Tier 2 update here, and the Tier 3 update here. Without further ado, here are the details for the new Talents.

The two new Tier One Active and Passive talents are (available after reaching area 150 in any objective):

Speed Runner Increase the odds of getting shorter duration missions by 10% per level (20 levels)

Every Last Cent Gold missions award 5% more gold per level (20 levels)

The new Tier Three Active, and Utility talents are (available after reaching area 600 in any objective):

Extra Training Increase the maximum Crusader level by 25 per level (40 levels)

Sniper Clicking/tapping directly on a monster does 10% more damage per level (40 levels)

But wait, there's more! We're also launching a brand new weekend buff. For the duration of the weekend, five Crusaders will be receiving massive buffs to their abilities.

Emo Werewolf, Jason, Artaxes, Gold Panda and Pilot Pam will all get a limited time buff applied automatically this weekend. Plus, there are unique Tasty Jeweled Chests to get featuring gear just for those five Crusaders!

• Emo Werewolf - +400% increase in DPS.
• Jason, Master of Shadows - +100% increase for all Crusaders.
• Artaxes, the Lion - Roar ability increased +200%.
• Gold Panda - Increase all Gold found by +100%.
• Pilot Pam - Focused Teamwork ability increased +200%.

Tasty Summer Talents Buff!

Crusaders of the Lost Idols is one-year-old this month, and we're celebrating in style with a giveaway all weekend long.

There are three free gifts up for grabs. Collect all three and you'll automatically unlock a super-secret fourth gift!



The first gift will be made available in the Idol Times newsletter this Friday (sign-up now). Then make sure you Like us on Facebook for another giveaway on Saturday. The final gift will be available on Sunday on the official Crusaders Twitter account @CrusadersIdols.

Please note the unique codes are only valid on PC/Web. For mobile, you must link your account using these instructions so you can redeem the codes.

Thank you for supporting us and being an awesome community of players. We're looking forward to you playing for the next 12 months!

Today we're introducing a special incentive: Buy a Jeweled Chest Bundle and get a FREE Golden Epic Card that you won’t find anywhere else within the game.

All you need to do is buy a bundle of jeweled chests in the shop, and you'll receive the epic Super Friggin' Sharp Axe. This monstrous weapon will increase Jim the Lumberjack's DPS +300%.



Red rubies won't count against this special promotion, and the offer will apply to your next money purchase only.

Check out its awesome shininess in the shop now and admire its razor-sharp glory.