Deadwinter Day has arrived once again in Longsaddle. While most citizens keep warm in their homes and exchange gifts to celebrate the midpoint of winter with friends and family, the Champions have been hired by the infamous Harpells to patrol the outskirts of town...

Midwinter 6 introduces Fen, the Drow Dhampir Warlock from the Black Dice Society, and brings back Rust on the Habour, hydrophobic Tabaxi rogue and sometimes member of the Oxventure Guild, and Talin Uran, a Combat Wheelchair-using Tiefling Rogue. Players have until Monday, January 23rd at 12 PM Pacific to complete their Midwinter 6 unlocks and objectives.

I. Fen

This Drow Dhampir Warlock has a touch of mischief and sneakiness, but she's loyal to those she cares for and a fearsome opponent for those who have earned her hate. Above all else, everything Fen has done has been for Isolde's freedom. Now she needs a new purpose to fight for, and maybe she can find it among the Society.

Fen is a DPS and Support Champion, and is the newest Black Dice Society member to join the formation. In addition to buffing the damage of Champions in her row, this Warlock/Rogue increases the attack speed of all Warlocks in the formation. Finally, she's keen to help you finish any Patron challenges you might still be facing. Once unlocked, you can find this Dhampir Drow in Slot 6 opposite Asharra.

For more details on Fen and her abilities, check out her Champion Blog, or her Spotlight Video below!

Year Six Variants

• Adventure Variant 1: Mirtwinter Day - Patrol the outskirts of Longsaddle on Deadwinter Day with Mirt the Moneylender. Fen joins the formation and can be moved, but not removed. Mirt also joins the formation and only Champions in Mirt's column can deal damage.
  Complete Area 75.


• Adventure Variant 2: The Wise and the Warlocks - Patrol the outskirts of Longsaddle on Deadwinter Day with the wisest of your Champions. Fen joins the formation and can be moved, but not removed. Vajra and redeemed Zariel also join the formation; they're here for moral support. You may only use Warlocks, Black Dice Society Champions, or Champions with WIS 15+.
  Complete Area 125.


• Adventure Variant 3: Oh Great, More Mist! - Patrol the outskirts of Longsaddle on Deadwinter Day as the mists of Ravenloft envelop the city. Fen joins the formation and can be moved, but not removed. Since the weather is foggy, you can't use Champions with ranged attacks, except for Desmond. 1-2 zombies spawn with each wave; they don't drop gold or count toward quest progress. Strahd spawns as a second boss in each boss area and he must also be defeated to progress.
  Complete Area 175.

If you have feedback to share, 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!

Deadwinter Day has arrived once again in Longsaddle. While most citizens keep warm in their homes and exchange gifts to celebrate the midpoint of winter with friends and family, the Champions have been hired by the infamous Harpells to patrol the outskirts of town...

Midwinter 5 introduces Rust on the Habour, hydrophobic Tabaxi rogue and sometimes member of the Oxventure Guild. Midwinter also brings back Talin Uran, a Combat Wheelchair-using Tiefling Rogue, a Combat Wheelchair-using Tiefling Rogu, and Môrgæn, the High Elf Ranger (Hunter) played by Morgan Webb also on Acquisitions Incorporated. Players have until Monday, January 24th at 12 PM Pacific to complete their Midwinter 5 unlocks and objectives.

I. Rust on the Harbour

Rust on the Harbour is a former pirate who gave up a life at sea because it was far too wet. His deadly skills are in contrast to his sweet nature and short attention span, and he enjoys seeing others succeed even if they are supposed to be antagonists. Now trying life as an adventurer on land, he'll lend his roguish skills to anyone who can give him that which his heart desires most: one gold piece.

Rust is a Support and Gold Find Champion whose excitement to find coin helps the rest of the formation increase their gold find. When you want to add him to your formation you can swap him with Jamilah (Slot 11).

II. Rust's Stats

Race: Tabaxi	Alignment: Neutral
Class: Rogue	Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 23

STR: 12	DEX: 18	CON: 15
INT: 11	WIS: 12	CHA: 14

Role: Support, Gold Find
Eligible for Patrons: Vajra, Zariel
Slot: 11 (Jamilah)

III. Rust's Design

We are fortunate to get to work with a huge variety of live-play D&D series, but it's a rare treat to be able to include the Dungeon Master as one of the Content Creators who bring a Champion to our game. So we're very happy that our third Champion from the Oxventure crew from Outside Xbox and Outside Xtra comes from DM Johnny Chiodini! They created Rust as their character for a Saltmarsh campaign, and brought the supportive tabaxi in as an NPC for Oxventure to enjoy.

Rust does his best to help his allies be more deadly on the battlefield, but his main focus is cashing in on all the coin he can collect! He's always on the hunt for One Gold Piece, which he will happily grab from the field when dropped by a defeated enemy. As long as he holds a precious coin in his claws, he buffs the damage bonus to Highest Bidder and the gold find bonus for Rust For Hire. Plus the more Oxventurers Guild Champions there are in the formation, the more likely he'll find a shiny gold piece while saying Hello, Friends!

For more information on Rust and his abilities, check out his Champion Spotlight!

Year Five Variants

• Adventure Variant 1: Gold Devourer — Rust begins in the formation. He can't be moved or removed from the formation. The Devourer appears as a secondary boss on area 25. It must be defeated in order to advance. Gold Find is reduced by 99%. Gold Find is increased by 200% per Champion in formation with the Gold Find Tag.
  Getting to know Rust: Rust increases your damage based on your total gold find. Use gold find buffing Champions in your formation to boost his support abilities!
  Complete Area 75.


• Adventure Variant 2: Deadwinter Drama — Only Champions with CON of 14 or higher can be used. In every area, frozen skeleton archers that attack a random Champion from a ranged distance appear. These enemies do not drop gold, nor do they count towards quest progress. If any undead enemy attacks a Champion, that Champion is stunned for 1 second.
  Complete Area 125.


• Adventure Variant 3: Heads or Tails — Rust begins in the formation (slot 6) with his One Gold PIece ability unlocked. He can't be moved or removed from the formation. When Rust is not holding his shiny gold piece, adjacent champions damage is disabled. When Rust is holding his shiny gold piece, non-adjacent champion damage is disabled.
  Complete Area 175.

For information on previous years' variants, check out the Midwinter 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!

Deadwinter Day has arrived once again in Longsaddle. While most citizens keep warm in their homes and exchange gifts to celebrate the midpoint of winter with friends and family, the Champions have been hired by the infamous Harpells to patrol the outskirts of town...

Midwinter 4 introduces Talin Uran, a Combat Wheelchair-using Tiefling Rogue. The event also brings back Môrgæn, the High Elf Ranger (Hunter) played by Morgan Webb on Acquisitions Incorporated, and K'thriss Drow'b, the Drow Warlock played by Kris Straub on Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team. Players have until Monday, January 25th at 12PM Pacific to complete their Midwinter 4 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: Talin Uran

Like many in the D&D community, we were inspired when Sara Thompson introduced us to the Combat Wheelchair last summer. We reached out to Sara last year to get their help in bringing a Combat Wheelchair Champion to Idle Champions, and it just so happened that their D&D character, Talin Uran, was a perfect fit!

Talin Uran is a rogue of great renown within Waterdeep. While on an assignment with the Grambar's Blades a few years ago, he was caught in a building collapse that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Now equipped with his combat wheelchair, Talin is back to doing what he does best: Saving the day and looking awesome doing it.

Talin is a charismatic rogue who specializes in analyzing and exploiting enemy weaknesses, increasing the damage of allies, and slowing enemies with his Scatter Tacks. Talin is a Support champion, when you want to add him to your formation, you can swap him with Celeste (Slot 2).

II. Talin's Stats

Race: Tielfling	Alignment: Chaotic Good
Class: Rogue	Gender: Male
Age: 26	Affiliation: none

STR: 10	DEX: 18	CON: 12
INT: 13	WIS: 13	CHA: 18

Role: Support
Eligible for Patrons: Mirt the Moneylender, Strahd von Zarovich
Slot: 2, (Celeste)

Talin's Abilities

Talin does everything you would expect a rogue to get up to, including no shortage of mischief. He attacks using both his rapier with Quiet Ambush and his chair with Razor Edged Chakram. Talin zips around in his chair, dropping caltrops behind when attacking with his Scatter Tacks slowing and damaging enemies that enter them. Ever observant, Talin susses out his enemies' weaknesses and passes this information along to his allies to support the team with Spot Weakness.

For more information on Talin and his abilities, check out his Champion Spotlight!

Year Four Variants

• Fiendish Friends — A collection of fiends spawn in each area. While they are alive, the fiends bestow the following buffs to other enemies.
  • Imp — Enemies drop 99% less gold.
  • Dretch — Enemies deal 100% additional damage.
  • Abyssal Chicken — Enemies move 100% faster. Charge!
    
Reach Area 75.


• Once Upon a Gazer — Only Champions with WIS 13 or higher can be used. Gazers spawn in each area. They do not drop gold, nor do they count towards quest progress. Champions hit by a gazer are stunned for 3 seconds.
  
Reach Area 125.


• Deadwinter Dodge — Only Champions with DEX 14 or higher AND INT 12 or higher can be used. Talin starts in the formation and can't be moved or removed.
  Reach Area 175.

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

Deadwinter Day has arrived once again in Longsaddle. While most citizens keep warm in their homes and exchange gifts to celebrate the midpoint of winter with friends and family, the Champions have been hired by the infamous Harpells to patrol the outskirts of town...

Midwinter 3 introduces Môrgæn, the High Elf Ranger (Hunter) played by Morgan Webb on Acquisitions Incorporated. The event also brings back K'thriss Drow'b, the Drow Warlock played by Kris Straub on Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team, and Regis, Halfling Rogue of the Companions of the Hall. Players have until Monday, January 20th at 12PM Pacific to complete their Midwinter 3 unlocks and objectives.

New Champion: Môrgæn

The ranger Môrgæn is a renowned tracker and hunter, able to pinpoint-target foes at any range, then vanish into the woods with no one the wiser. Her legendary ability with the longbow and the custom arrows she crafts instills fear into the hearts of her many enemies -- and more than a few of her coworkers. Famously, she is the only member of Acquisitions Incorporated known to be paid in advance, lest a missed invoice lead to dire repercussions.

Môrgæn is a Support Champion who takes a percentage of your gold find in exchange for a powerful DPS buff with her Paid Up-Front ability. The more gold Môrgæn takes, the greater the power of the buff, which persists through resets. When you wish to add Môrgæn to the formation, you can swap her with Makos (Slot 9).

For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Môrgæn dev blog!

Year 2 Champion: K'thriss Drow'b

Curious, affable, and morbid, the Drow heretic K'thriss Drow'b seeks the insane god-truth behind the veil of reality. As the "C" Team's hoardsperson, he keeps an eye out for occult relics that could aid him in his unearthly quest.

K'thriss is an unusual Support Champion. He reduces Gold Find to increase Global DPS, summons Shadow Demons to assist the party, and buffs distant allies. When you want to add K'thriss to your party, you can swap him with Bruenor (Slot 1).

For more information, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: K'thriss dev blog!

Year 1 Champion: Regis

As a poor urchin on the streets of Calimport, Regis quickly learned that survival often requires bending the rules in your favor. He fled to the north to avoid capture after stealing his former master’s magical ruby pendant. Eventually, he found companionship amongst the Companions of the Hall, becoming one of Bruenor Battlehammer’s most trusted confidants. Bruenor was the one who gifted Regis with the nickname “Rumblebelly” due to the halfling’s insatiable appetite.

Regis would prefer nothing more than to relax in the sun with a full belly near his home in Ten-Towns and fish for knucklead trout, the source of all of his scrimshaw carvings. But when his friends need help, Regis is always there for them. He never sees himself as the hero, even though his true friends know better.

Regis is a Support Champion. He uses a magical ruby amulet to buff Champions in front of or behind him, and to make enemies weak to different types of damage. When you want to add Regis to your party, you can swap him with Celeste (Slot 2).

Year Three Variants

• Utterly Devoured — Anyone the Devourer completely devours is now devoured for the entire adventure and can't be used again until you reset the adventure. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
  Reach Area 75.

• Limited Resources — Only Champions in the first bench seat are initially available. Every 10 areas, another bench slot unlocks, allowing Champions from that slot to be used.
  Reach Area 125.

• Careful Positioning — Môrgæn starts in the formation in slot 3 and can be moved, but not swapped out or removed from the formation. Only Môrgæn and Champions buffed by Paid Up-Front can deal damage; other Champions' attacks will still proc stuns/slows/etc., but will deal 0 damage.
  Reach Area 175.

Year Two Variants

• Velvet's Midwinter Adventure — K'thriss summons his unseen servant, Velvet, to help with party. Unfortunately, Velvet has been tasked with collecting gold for K'thriss, causing enemies to drop 50% less gold. K'thriss and Velvet both start in the formation, and once unlocked, K'thriss' Unseen Encouragement ability extends from both K'thriss normally, but also extends to those adjacent to Velvet.
  Reach Area 125.

• Truth Beyond Knowing — K'thriss desires more knowledge of his unknowable god. Every area, a Drow Cultist empowered by the sign of the Ur appears, attacking with Chain Lightning. The Drow Cultist drops no gold upon death, but does drop a glyph (book). Every time you collect a glyph, Champions with an Intelligence (INT) score of 13 or higher have their damage increased by 5%, while Champions with below 13 INT have their damage go down by 5% for the remainder of the adventure.
  Reach Area 125.

• More Like the Scream Team — The Devourer now arrives as a second boss in Area 25, and if that wasn't scary enough, the Devourer now devours Champions every 8 seconds instead of every 10 seconds!
  Reach Area 175.

Year One Variants

• Deadwinter Date — You've been tasked with escorting two young Harpell wards on a date during your adventure. They take up slots and are otherwise pretty useless.
  Reach Area 125.

• Deadwinter Fey — A large number of sprites and pixies spawn with each wave of enemies (not during boss areas). These extra monsters do not drop gold, and when killed they sprinkle a random Champion with pixie dust. Any champion that is sprinkled with 10 Pixie dust has their DPS and Formation Abilities disabled. Pixie dust stacks reset when you change areas.
  Reach Area 125.

• Deadwinter Pay (-back) — Every time you defeat an enemy (in a non-boss area) your Champions take 10% unavoidable damage. Champions adjacent to Regis take one third of that damage while Regis himself is immune.
  Reach Area 175.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

As the citizens of Longsaddle celebrate Deadwinter Day by exchanging gifts, the Champions have once again been hired by the Harpells to patrol the outskirts of town.

However, it appears as if one of Orcus' most feared abominations has been summoned to wreak havoc, a demonic fiend with an insatiable hunger...

Midwinter 2 runs until Monday, January 28th, 2019 at 12:00pm PST, introduces K'thriss Drow'b, Drow Warlock of the Great Old One, and also brings back Regis, the Halfling Rogue!

New Champion: K'thriss Drow'b

Curious, affable, and morbid, the Drow heretic K'thriss Drow'b seeks the insane god-truth behind the veil of reality. As the "C" Team's hoardsperson, he keeps an eye out for occult relics that could aid him in his unearthly quest.

K'thriss is an unusual Support Champion. He reduces Gold Find to increase Global DPS, summons Shadow Demons to assist the party, and buffs distant allies. When you want to add K'thriss to your party, you can swap him with Bruenor (Slot 1).

For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: K'thriss dev blog!

Returning Champion: Regis

As a poor urchin on the streets of Calimport, Regis quickly learned that survival often requires bending the rules in your favor. He fled to the north to avoid capture after stealing his former master’s magical ruby pendant. Eventually, he found companionship amongst the Companions of the Hall, becoming one of Bruenor Battlehammer’s most trusted confidants. Bruenor was the one who gifted Regis with the nickname “Rumblebelly” due to the halfling’s insatiable appetite.

Regis would prefer nothing more than to relax in the sun with a full belly near his home in Ten-Towns and fish for knucklead trout, the source of all of his scrimshaw carvings. But when his friends need help, Regis is always there for them. He never sees himself as the hero, even though his true friends know better.

Regis is a Support Champion. He uses a magical ruby amulet to buff Champions in front of or behind him, and to make enemies weak to different types of damage. When you want to add Regis to your party, you can swap him with Celeste (Slot 2).

Year Two Variants

• Velvet's Midwinter Adventure — K'thriss summons his unseen servant, Velvet, to help with party. Unfortunately, Velvet has been tasked with collecting gold for K'thriss, causing enemies to drop 50% less gold. K'thriss and Velvet both start in the formation, and once unlocked, K'thriss' Unseen Encouragement ability extends from both K'thriss normally, but also extends to those adjacent to Velvet.


• Truth Beyond Knowing — K'thriss desires more knowledge of his unknowable god. Every area, a Drow Cultist empowered by the sign of the Ur appears, attacking with Chain Lightning. The Drow Cultist drops no gold upon death, but does drop a glyph (book). Every time you collect a glyph, Champions with an Intelligence (INT) score of 13 or higher have their damage increased by 5%, while Champions with below 13 INT have their damage go down by 5% for the remainder of the adventure.


• More Like the Scream Team — The Devourer now arrives as a second boss in Area 25, and if that wasn't scary enough, the Devourer now devours Champions every 8 seconds instead of every 10 seconds!

Year One Variants

• Deadwinter Date — You've been tasked with escorting two young Harpell wards on a date during your adventure. They take up slots and are otherwise pretty useless..


• Deadwinter Fey — A large number of sprites and pixies spawn with each wave of enemies (not during boss areas). These extra monsters do not drop gold, and when killed they sprinkle a random Champion with pixie dust. Any champion that is sprinkled with 10 Pixie dust has their DPS and Formation Abilities disabled. Pixie dust stacks reset when you change areas.


• Deadwinter Pay (-back) — Every time you defeat an enemy (in a non-boss area) your Champions take 10% unavoidable damage. Champions adjacent to Regis take one third of that damage while Regis himself is immune.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

Today we're talking about our newest Champion: K'thriss Drow'b, the Drow Warlock of the Great Old One, and the latest addition to Idle Champions joining us from Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team!

K'thriss will be available in our next Year Two Event, Midwinter, which launches on Wednesday, January 16th. I hope this blog will give you all you need to know about our latest Support champion.

Don't forget that Midwinter is also a chance to collect and gear up Regis, the Halfling Rogue from R.A. Salvatore's Legend of Drizzt novels!

How you can unlock K'thriss:

K'thriss is unlocked by playing Midwinter, a limited-time event launching on January 16th and running until January 28th at noon Pacific. Once you unlock K'thriss, he swaps with Bruenor and Deekin (Slot 1).

Who is K'thriss:

Curious, affable, and morbid, the Drow heretic K'thriss Drow'b seeks the insane god-truth behind the veil of reality. As the "C" Team's hoardsperson, he keeps an eye out for occult relics that could aid him in his unearthly quest.

K'thriss is the second member of The "C" Team to join Idle Champions. His pal Donaar Blit'zen was the first back in October with Liars' Night 2. And yes, we will be looking to bring Walnut Dankgrass and Rosie Beestinger (who has an interesting connection to Strix) to the game in future updates. Stay tuned!

K'thriss' Design:

K'thriss was created by Kris Straub for the main-stage Aquisitions Inc games at PAX. Eventually he broke off from the main crew and joined his forever family: The "C" Team.

We chatted with Kris about what makes K'thriss tick and how best we could integrate him with the Champions. In the end, we landed on a quirky champion who supports the team by usurping a percentage of gold (he is a hoardsperson, after all) to buff party DPS, and helps those furthest away from him.


Base Attack - Dissonant Whispers: K'thriss telepathically whispers a discordant melody that damages and slows a random enemy.


Formation Ability: Hoardsperson: K'thriss' first formation ability unlocks his Acquisitions Inc role as Hoardsperson. As the Hoardsperson, K'thriss reduces gold find by 10% (causing cool pink coins to fall from all monsters that go directly to him. In exchange for taking 10% of the gold, K'thriss increases the damage of all Champions. In addition to that, every time K'thriss collect 75 of the cool coins, he summons a shadow demon. The demon attaches itself to the champion that does the lowest damage, and increases their damage to match the champion with the highest damage.

Formation Ability: Unseen Encouragement: K'thriss increases the damage of the Champion furthest from him by 200%. If there's a tie, all Champions furthest from K'thriss are buffed!

K'thriss' Specializations:

K'thriss' specializations are all about deciding whether the party needs him to focus on bringing his shadow demon along more often, or focus on buffing the Champion(s) furthest from him.

K'thriss' Ultimate Attack: Tentacular Spectacular

K'thriss' ultimate was a bit challenging, but we knew we wanted to bring our version of Tentacular Spectacular into the game. The big issue was making sure that he didn't look like a flasher when he executes his plan! With Tentacular Spectacular, K'thriss opens his cloak, revealing the inky black void underneath (is he even a person!?!). Then, tentacles sprout from the void, lashing out at enemies. What that means in our game is a hilarious cloak opening animation complete with jazz hands, followed by a SWARM of tentacles throughout the battlefield. It's really a sight to behold.

Kthriss' Equipment

Slot 1: Book of Shadows

• K'thriss' thirst for knowledge increases the damage of all Champions.

Slot 2: Robe

• Kthriss' cloak increases the damage of all Champions.

Slot 3: Hoardsperson Bag

• His Acquisitions Incorporated mandated bag increases the effect of his Hoardsperson ability.

Slot 4: Velvet

• K'thriss' Unseen Servant Velvet increases the effect of his Unseen Encouragement ability.

Slot 5: Ligotti

• His sentient tentacle/pet increases the damage of his ultimate attack Tentacular Spectacular.

Slot 6: Tetrathanotic Key

• The symbol of Ur reduces the cooldown of his ultimate attack Tentacular Spectacular.

Are there any other K'thriss details I should know?

K'thriss is Chaotic Neutral and a member of the Acquisitions Incorporated "C" Team. His stats are as follows:

Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 10 Int: 13 Wis: 10 Cha: 18

TL/DR: Final K'thriss Thoughts

K'thriss is a support champion focussed on increasing the overall DPS of your champions through his Shadow Demon via Hoardsperson and through his Unseen Encouragement abilities. He'll help slow enemies as they head to your formation, and he'll try to clear the board with his Tentacular Spectacular ultimate ability.

We'll be watching the discussion online and on discord to see how well he's received, so let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or on the official Discord! If you are enjoying K'thriss, consider checking out the "C" team broadcasts!


~The Idle Champions Team