A great cosmic conflict has spilled out upon the prime material plane.

While celebrations to mark the start of spring begin in the quaint Sword Coast town of Triboar, a Githyanki raiding party descents from above, raining destruction.

It's up to the Champions to defend the innocent and figure out what has drawn the attention of the Gith and their Endless War. It's time for Greengrass 7!

Greengrass 7 has arrived! It introduces Gale, the Human Wizard from the 2023 Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3. This Support Champion brings the might of Mystra to the Absolute Adversaries and your formations! It also reintroduces Penelope "Half-Pint", the Halfling Druid from the Heroes of the Planes. You can learn more about the rework to Penelope below. Also, you can choose three of eight previous Champions to unlock over the course of Greengrass 7!

As a reminder: Adventure Variant information can now be found in the corresponding Champion's Spotlight. This change is being made so that all information about a Champion and their adventures can be found in one place.

Table of Contents

• Gale
• Penelope
• Flex Champions
• New Patron
• Events 2.0

Gale

Gale of Waterdeep was a prodigious archmage, his talents earning him the attention of Mystra, the goddess of magic. At her side, he learned all that mortals might accomplish with the Weave, in time earning his place as her lover, and her Chosen. And yet, he was not satisfied. In an attempt to prove he was ready for even greater power, he accidentally unleashed 'the orb' - a highly volatile fragment of pure Weave, corrupted by Netherese magic, which buried itself in his chest. Cast out by Mystra, humbled by his downfall, he does all he can to prevent the orb's cataclysmic detonation, watching for his chance to get back everything he lost, and more.

Gale is a support champion that buffs Champions in the two columns ahead of him and debuffs monsters the first time he attacks them. Gale will have access to all of Elminster's Patron adventures and variants, and is ready to be unlocked in the first seat opposite Bruenor.

Learn more about Gale in our Champion Spotlight!

Penelope

Penelope "Half-Pint" is a halfling who just wants to be everyone's best friend, even if they are evil, or a plant, or a rock. With friends that already include a treant named Neverember and a clan of chwinga that have adopted her, Penelope is ready for anything! She has the heart of a true hero and will always stand by her friends...until she goes into shrub mode of course.

Penelope is a Support, Gold Find, and Healing Champion who focuses on crowd control by slowing and debuffing enemies. She'll have her insect friends ready for when you swap her with Arkhan in seat 12.

Learn more about the changes coming to Penelope in our Reintroduction Spotlight!

Flex Champions

Flex Slots allow players to unlock additional Champions and earn chests during events, choosing from a pool of retired Champions associated with the event. This pool of retired Champions includes the Champions from previous years of the event as well as some Champions whose events have been retired. This event's Flex Slot pool includes:

New Patron: Elminster

The Sage of Shadowdale himself, Elminster Aumar, is the newest Patron in Idle Champions! Elminster joins Zariel, Mirt the Moneylender, Vajra Safahr, and Count Strahd von Zarovich as the fifth Patron. To unlock Elminster you'll first need to complete 250 Adventure Variants and unlock 100 Champions. Once you've done that it will cost 100,000 Gems and 10,000 Currency from the first four Patrons.

Elminster has agreed to be the Champion's patron, but only for the newest Champions! A Champion must have been released or reworked in an event in the last 3 years (including evergreens) to be used.

Elminster Patron Shop

With a new Patron, comes a slew of new shop items! In addition to the normal Patron shop items, Elminster's shop will contain feats and skins for the 3 Champions who are always eligible for his variants: Gale, The Dark Urge, and Dungeon Master, a new exclusive familiar, and a GE Potion!

Elminster Feat Details

Dungeon Master:

Rare Feat to increase the age of his Patience Young Ones! ability by 5 years.

Epic Feat to increase his Disappearing Act ability by 80%

The Dark Urge:

Rare Feat to increase his Embrace/Resist the Urge specializations by 40%

Epic Feat to increase his damage by 120%

Gale:

Rare Feat to increase his An Experienced Sage ability by 40%

Epic Feat to change Gale's alignment to Neutral Good

Events 2.0

Event Changes

Events 2.0 is a significant update to the events system in Idle Champions. Because players will now be able to unlock more Champions, content, and rewards through Events 2.0, we are increasing the duration of events from 12 days to 21 days. Events will typically begin on the first Wednesday of each month and run for three weeks. Content updates for Idle Champions will occur on the Wednesdays outside events.

Along with the Event duration change we are reducing the number of annual events, shifting from 17 annual events down to 12. Long term, we plan to retire the Midwinter, Greengrass, The Running, Midsummer, and Brightswords events. However, as we transition over to the new Event 2.0 schedule, there will be a Greengrass event in April 2024.

Quality of Life Updates

As part of the Events 2.0 update, we are also making several quality of life updates:

• Bounty Contracts used outside of events will award Event Tokens for the next event.
• Event adventures, variants, and free plays no longer cost Event Tokens to start.
• Event Tokens are now only used to purchase Event Chests directly (free plays no longer need to be grinded to obtain extra chests).
• Event Tokens left over once an event ends will automatically be converted to Champion chests.
• Retired Champions may come out of retirement.
• Event Boons are granted to players who purchase specially marked event-related DLC during an event. There are four tiers of Event Boons that offer buffs to Champion Damage, Gold Find, Champion Health, Click Damage, and Speed. These buffs increase with each tier of Event Boon. Additionally, the first purchase that grants an Event Boon will also unlock the Supporter Slot.

To learn more about what is changing with Events 2.0 check out our Blog Post! Join our amazing community with any of the links below:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But you know what? I'm learning to enjoy the taste of chaos. Count me in."

With a kind heart and a keen mind, Gale of Waterdeep is ready to support his friends with words that are both poetic and a bit pompous. This wizard has a great deal of talent, and even greater ambitions. However those brilliant aspirations once lead him to becoming lost to Mystra's graces and cursed with a time bomb in his chest. He hopes his new found friends can help him earn back his place, as well as prevent a magical cataclysm.

I. Gale

Gale of Waterdeep was a prodigious archmage, his talents earning him the attention of Mystra, the goddess of magic. At her side, he learned all that mortals might accomplish with the Weave, in time earning his place as her lover, and her Chosen. And yet, he was not satisfied. In an attempt to prove he was ready for even greater power, he accidentally unleashed 'the orb' - a highly volatile fragment of pure Weave, corrupted by Netherese magic, which buried itself in his chest. Cast out by Mystra, humbled by his downfall, he does all he can to prevent the orb's cataclysmic detonation, watching for his chance to get back everything he lost, and more.

Gale is a support champion that buffs Champions in the two columns ahead of him and debuffs monsters the first time he attacks them. Gale's release is also when we will be releasing our latest Patron: Elminster! All of the details about Elminster as a Patron will be available in the Greengrass blog coming on April 3rd. Gale will have access to all of Elminster's Patron adventures and variants, and is ready to be unlocked in the first seat opposite Bruenor.

Check out our Champion Spotlight embedded below for a quick overview of Gale's abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. Gale

Race: Human	Alignment: Neutral
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 35	Affiliation: Absolute Adversaries	Class: Wizard

STR: 8	DEX: 13	CON: 15
INT: 17	WIS: 10	CHA: 12

Role: Support

Eligible for Patrons: Vajra, Strahd, Elminster (always available)

Seat: 1 (Bruenor)

III. Gale's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Fire Bolt - Gale deals 1 hit to a random enemy, prioritizing enemies that haven't been affected by Netherese Orb's debuff.

Passive Abilities

• Ally of Elminster - As an Ally of Elminster, Gale can be used in any Elminster Patron adventure or variant, even if he would not normally be available to be used due to variant or patron restrictions.

Formation Abilities

• Archmage's Insight - Gale increases the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of him by 100%.

• Netherese Orb - The first time Gale damages any enemy, they take 1000% additional damage from all subsequent attacks.

• An Experienced Sage - Gale increases the effect of Archmage's Insight by 10% for each Elminster Patron variant you have completed, stacking multiplicatively.

Specializations

The first specialization allows you to select Gale's school of magic.

• Evocation - Gale's Fire Bolt deals damage to all enemies in a small area.

• Abjuration - Attacks against Champions miss 50% of the time.

• Enchantment - Increase Archmage's Insight's number of columns by one.

• Illusion - Archmage's Insight now affects his column and the column behind, and enemies that attempt to choose Gale as a target instead choose to attack another Champion, assuming another valid target exists.

The second specialization determines how Gale's Netherese Orb will get more powerful.

• Ceremorphosis - Your formation gains one Ceremorphosis stack due to the mind flayer tadpole in Gale's brain. Gale increases the damage of Netherese Orb by 100% for each Ceremorphosis stack, stacking multiplicatively.

• Mystical Mentor - Gale increases the effect of Netherese Orb by 100% for each Champion in the formation with an Intelligence of 13 or higher, stacking multiplicatively.

• Finite Fellowship - Gale increases the effect of Netherese Orb by 7.5% for each Champion you have unlocked that is not eligible for the current adventure, stacking multiplicatively.

Ultimate Ability

• Gale's Gale - Gale casts Gust of Wind, knocking back all enemies a medium distance, deal 1 ultimate hit each, and slowing all monsters by 50% for 15 seconds.

IV. Gale's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Global Damage	Slot 2: Archmage's Insight	Slot 3: Netherese Orb
Slot 4: An Experienced Sage	Slot 5: Ultimate Attack Damage	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. Gale's Adventure Variants

One With the Weave - Defend Triboar from a Githyanki invasion with Gale!

• Gale starts in the formation. He can't be moved or removed.
• Only Gale and Champions buffed by Gale's Archmage's Insight can deal damage.
• Getting to know Gale: Gale increases the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of him. You can customize how this works with a specialization choice!
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Pawn to Cleric Four - Defend Triboar while being assisted by a limited number of allies.

• Gale starts in the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• You may only use Champions with an Intelligence of 13 or higher, Heroes of Baldur's Gate affiliation members, and/or Absolute Adversaries affiliation members.
• Getting to know Gale: Gale's second specialization choice determines which heroes are best to solve the problem at hand.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

Elminster's Errands - Defend Triboar from a Githyanki invasion with the Sage of Shadowdale!

• Gale starts in the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• Elminster joins the formation. He distracts adjacent Champions with his stories, increasing their normal attack cooldowns by 3 seconds.
• You may only use the base 12 Core Champions and/or Champions that have been released in the last 3 years.
• Getting to know Gale: Gale is always available for any of his Mentor's patron challenges, even if the restrictions would say otherwise. Gale's buffs further increase as you complete Elminster Patron variants!
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

Has Gale earned a prominent place in your formation? Let us know all about his magical might:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

"Won't you be my friend?"

The entire Heroes of the Planes affiliation have been a part of Idle Champions for quite a while now, including everyone's favorite friend in shrub form: Penelope! With the benefit of time, and now surrounded by all her Heroes companions, Penelope deserved a rework of her kit. Because while she might be everyone's friend, she's also ready to pack an earth filled punch to protect them! So let us introduce you to the new and improved Penelope Half-Pint!

I. Penelope

Penelope "Half-Pint" is a halfling who just wants to be everyone's best friend, even if they are evil, or a plant, or a rock. With friends that already include a treant named Neverember and a clan of chwinga that have adopted her, Penelope is ready for anything! She has the heart of a true hero and will always stand by her friends...until she goes into shrub mode of course.

Penelope is a Support, Gold Find, and Healing Champion who focuses on crowd control by slowing and debuffing enemies. She'll have her insect friends ready for when you swap her with Arkhan in seat 12.

Check out our Champion Spotlight Video embedded below for a quick overview of Penelope's abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. Penelope's Stats

Race: Halfling	Alignment: Chaotic Good
Gender: Female	Pronouns: She/Her
Age: 33	Affiliation: Heroes of the Planes	Class: Druid (Circle of the Moon) / Warlock

STR: 10	DEX: 16	CON: 14
INT: 8	WIS: 17	CHA: 14

Role: Support, Gold Find, Healing

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra, Zariel, Elminster (available from April 3rd, 2024 until April 3rd, 2027)

Seat: 12 (Arkhan)

III. Penelope's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Go Away - Penelope jumps out and hits the closest enemy with her quarterstaff, dealing damage and knocking it back slightly.

Formation Abilities

• Have You Met My Friends - Whenever Penelope attacks an enemy and doesn't kill it, for the next 30 seconds, all Champions deal 500% additional damage against them.

• Insect Plague - Upon entering an area, Penelope summons 4 medium-sized, randomly positioned Insect Swarms on the near 2/3rds of the battlefield. Enemies who are in a Swarm are slowed by 100% and are afflicted by the Have You Met My Friends debuff. The slow effect can stack multiplicatively if an enemy is inside multiple Swarms. Every second that one or more enemies are inside the swarm, the slow effect is additively reduced by 1%. When the slow effect reaches 40%, the swarm is dispersed and disappears.

• Chwinga Mask - When any enemy enters one of Penelope's Insect Swarms, Penelope dons her chwinga mask, calling an elemental friend to her aid. It sits on her shoulder while her mask is on. All Champions adjacent to Penelope gain the following charm(s) based on their tags. Charms last until the party changes areas.
  • Healing Charm (Tank Champions) - Penelope heals affected Champions for 100 HP every second.
  • Tools for the Job Charm (Healing, Support, or Gold Find) - Penelope increases the damage of all Champions by 400% for each Champion affected by this charm. This effect stacks multiplicatively.

• Story Time - Each time a Champion adjacent to Penelope attacks, add a stack of Story Time. The party's gold find is increased by 1% for each stack of Story Time, stacking additively. Story Time stacks are capped at 1,000,000,000. Whenever a boss enemy enters an Insect Swarm, the number of Story Time stacks are increased by 2.5%.

First Specializations

• Keep Your Friends Close - Increases the effect of Have You Met My Friends by 150% for each Good Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Keep Your Future Friends Closer - Increases the effect of Have You Met My Friends by 125% for each Evil Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Everybody Gets To Be Friends - Increases the effect of Have You Met My Friends by 70% for each Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

Second Specializations

• Fury of the Fireflies - Each time one of Penelope's Insect Swarms is dispersed, the effect of Chwinga Mask (both charms) is increased by 200%, stacking multiplicatively and resetting when you change areas.

• Splitting The Hive - Each time one of Penelope's Insect Swarms is dispersed, another smaller swarm appears randomly (preferring to appear on an enemy if possible), damaging monsters in it for 15 seconds of BUD damage and slowing them using the same rules as the original Insect Plague. These smaller swarms do not spawn additional ones when they disperse.

• Dance of the Ladybugs - Each time one of Penelope's Insect Swarms is dispersed, Penelope reduces the cooldown of all adjacent Champions ultimate abilities by 20% of its remaining cooldown.

Ultimate Ability

• Erupting Earth - A fountain of churned earth and stone erupt in the enemies' path (centered on the nearest enemy), dealing area damage in a large radius and creating difficult terrain that lasts for 30 seconds. Enemies that encounter the difficult terrain have their movement slowed by 50% while they travel through it.

IV. Penelope's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Global DPS	Slot 2: Have You Met My Friends	Slot 3: Chwinga Mask Healing Charm
Slot 4: Chwinga Mask Tools for the Job	Slot 5: Specializations	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. Penelope's Achievement and Adventure Variants

Achievement:

• Slow down a minute! - Slow the movement of 1,000 enemies with Penelope's difficult terrain from her Erupting Earth ultimate.

Adventure Variants:

Half-Empty Crypts - Half of the crypts are empty! We've interrupted some grave robbing!

• A collection of Grave Robbers appear in each area. They don't drop gold, nor do they count towards quest progress. While one or more Grave Robber is alive, Undead Creatures move 100% faster and deal 200% additional damage.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Half-Full Outlook If we're going to make such a mess, let's clean up as we go!

• In each wave, Awakened Cleaning Supplies spawn. Awakened Cleaning Supplies deal 200% additional damage and spawn with 4 hits-based health chunks. However, Penelope and her positive outlook can destroy each of these enemies with one hit. Penelope starts in the formation. She can be moved.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

Half-Pint Friends

• Penelope starts in the formation and can't be moved. Penelope's base attack cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds. Only Good champions can be used.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

How many friends has Penelope made in your formations? Let us know:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

This week the Turn of Fortune's Wheel continues! Explore the Outlands in Welcome to the Outlands and defeat Dragonborn Glitch Strongheart in Crystalwork. After that, put your formations to the test with new Adventure Variants! Read on to learn more!

Note: You will need to have completed the previous two Turn of Fortune's Wheel adventures, The Fortune's Wheel and A Glitch in the Mortuary, in order to access these new adventures.

Welcome to the Outlands

Begin to explore the Outlands, and find a walking castle!



With the help of Mrs. Fox, you set off into the Outlands in search of information about the lost modron R04M! The Outlands is a disk-shaped plane home to the gate towns that connect to each of the Outer Planes. At the center of the Outlands sits the Spire, with Sigil floating above it. Near the Spire is where Mrs. Fox drops you off and it's time to start exploring from there. But, what's that in the distance? It looks like... a castle? Better check it out!

Variant

We've Got Swords and Flames - Begin to explore the Outlands, and find a walking castle and running enemies!
• You may not use Champions with ranged (normal) attacks.
• Each enemy wave that spawns increases the speed and damage of all enemies by 100%, stacking additively and reset with each area change.
• Complete area 650

Crystalwork

Explore more of the Walking Castle and help get it moving again!



Another glitched Champion has appeared! Like our group of Champions, Strongheart has no memory of who he is - but he does have a sense of what he thinks is right! Unfortunately, that's not good news for the Champions and their new friend. In his new, shining, gold dragonborn form, Strongheart is threatening to undo the only lead you have for finding R04M - stop him before it's too late!

Variant

Lawfulwork - Explore more of the Walking Castle with some lawful Champions in a hurry.
• You may only use Lawful Champions.
• Champions' normal attack cooldown is increased by 2 seconds.
• Complete area 700

We would love to hear about your experiences in the Outlands! Join our community and start a conversation:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

How far would you go to celebrate foolishness?

Festival of Fools is a time-honored tradition in Sword Coast communities. Townsfolk engage in the usual gluttonous consumption of food and drink during the festivities, but they also play pranks on each other.

Unfortunately, one prankster has decided to play a practical joke on a Frost Giant nearby...

Festival of Fools 7 is our first Events 2.0! It introduces The Dark Urge, the Dragonborn Sorcerer from the 2023 Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3. This DPS Champion is ready to spread evil across the Forgotten Realms with the rest of the Absolute Adversaries. It also reintroduces Dhadius, the Human Wizard from the Betrayal at Baldur's Gate board game. You can learn more about the rework to Dhadius below. Also, you can choose three of eight previous Champions to unlock over the course of Festival of Fools 7!

Note: Going forward, Adventure Variants information will now be found in the corresponding Champion's Spotlight. This change is being made so that all information about a Champion and their adventures can be found in one place.

Table of Contents

• The Dark Urge
• Dhadius
• Flex Champions
• Events 2.0

The Dark Urge

The Dark Urge remembers nothing but a path paved with blood. Unimaginable cruelty whispers from within. Can he escape it? Would he even want to?

The Dark Urge is a DPS Champion who counts the number of enemies he has slain. Like the other Absolute Adversaries, he has a mind flayer tadpole in his head, and his damage increases as more Champions with tadpoles are added to the formation. Will you choose to embrace his murderous urges, or fight against them? That choice will be made once you unlock them in seat 11 opposite Jamiliah.

Learn more about The Dark Urge in our Champion Spotlight!

Dhadius

Dhadius is a mage of legendary status and acclaim...at least, in his own mind. Being an egomaniac, he seeks out esoteric lore and rare magical secrets so he may know things that the 'common fools' do not. Dhadius hails from Luskan in the north, where he is a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, an infamous group of wizards, and is determined to let it be known far and wide that he is a wizard to be respected and feared.

Dhadius has been reworked to modernize his kit and give him some additional formation niches that he may be able to slot into. We've buffed up his abilities and altered his equipment so that his powerful magic is better utilized and encourages more experimentation. This glass cannon can be unlocked in seat 5 opposite Calliope.

Learn more about the changes coming to Dhadius in our Reintroduction Spotlight!

Flex Champions

Flex Slots allow players to unlock additional Champions and earn chests during events, choosing from a pool of retired Champions associated with the event. This pool of retired Champions includes the Champions from previous years of the event as well as some Champions whose events have been retired. This events Flex Slot pool includes:

Events 2.0

Event Changes

Events 2.0 is a significant update to the events system in Idle Champions. Because players will now be able to unlock more Champions, content, and rewards through Events 2.0, we are increasing the duration of events from 12 days to 21 days. Events will typically begin on the first Wednesday of each month and run for three weeks. Content updates for Idle Champions will occur on the Wednesdays outside events.

Along with the Event duration change we are reducing the number of annual events, shifting from 17 annual events down to 12. Long term, we plan to retire the Midwinter, Greengrass, The Running, Midsummer, and Brightswords events. However, as we transition over to the new Event 2.0 schedule, there will be a Greengrass event in April 2024.

Quality of Life Updates

As part of the Events 2.0 update, we are also making several quality of life updates:

• Bounty Contracts used outside of events will award Event Tokens for the next event.
• Event adventures, variants, and free plays no longer cost Event Tokens to start.
• Event Tokens are now only used to purchase Event Chests directly (free plays no longer need to be grinded to obtain extra chests).
• Event Tokens left over once an event ends will automatically be converted to Champion chests.
• Retired Champions may come out of retirement.
• Event Boons are granted to players who purchase specially marked event-related DLC during an event. There are four tiers of Event Boons that offer buffs to Champion Damage, Gold Find, Champion Health, Click Damage, and Speed. These buffs increase with each tier of Event Boon. Additionally, the first purchase that grants an Event Boon will also unlock the Supporter Slot.

To learn more about what is changing with Events 2.0 check out our Blog Post! Join our amazing community with any of the links below:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

"Behold the dance of death."

With a haunted past that he cannot remember, The Dark Urge has been left with only cursed dreams and bloody cravings. This may be an opportunity to write their life anew and craft a brighter future. Or they can carve new memories filled with vicious murder and the cruel glee of slaughter.

I. The Dark Urge

The Dark Urge remembers nothing but a path paved with blood. Unimaginable cruelty whispers from within. Can he escape it? Would he even want to?

The Dark Urge is a DPS Champion who counts the number of enemies he has slain. Like the other Absolute Adversaries, he has a mind flayer tadpole in his head, and his damage increases as more Champions with tadpoles are added to the formation. Will you choose to embrace his murderous urges, or fight against them? That choice will be made once you unlock them in seat 11 opposite Jamiliah.

Check out our Champion Spotlight embedded below for a quick overview of The Dark Urge's abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. The Dark Urge

Race: Dragonborn	Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: Unknown	Affiliation: Absolute Adversaries	Class: Sorcerer

STR: 8	DEX: 13	CON: 15
INT: 12	WIS: 10	CHA: 17

Role: DPS

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra, Strahd, and Zariel

Seat: 11 (Jamilah)

III. The Dark Urge's Abilities

Basic Attack

The Dark Urge has two normal attacks: a melee attack in his regular form, and a melee attack while in his Ultimate Slayer form.

• Murderous Slash - The Dark Urge moves up to the closest enemy and attacks all nearby enemies with a slash of his dagger.

• Slay - The Dark Urge (in Slayer form) moves up to the closest enemy and attacks all nearby enemies with vicious swipes of his claws, dealing ultimate damage.

Passive Abilities

• Dark Inheritance - The Dark Urge is eligible to start in all adventures, even if the Patron, Variant, or other restrictions would say otherwise. He also does not interact with any Champion abilities or variant effects that are based on age.

Formation Abilities

• The Urge - Each time the Dark Urge defeats an enemy, he gains a Murder stack. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 0.1% for each Murder stack he has. Stacks persist between adventures.

• Ceremorphosis - Your formation gains one Ceremorphosis stack due to the mind flayer tadpole in the Dark Urge's brain. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 100% for each Ceremorphosis stack, stacking multiplicatively.

• Living on the Edge - The Dark Urge has 6 Outcast stacks, minus 1 stack for each adjacent champion that does not have the DPS role. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 100% for each Outcast stack, stacking multiplicatively.

Specializations

The Dark Urge's first Specialization picks his subclass.

• Storm Sorcery - The Dark Urge's Murderous Slash attack is empowered by lightning. This increases the range by 200% and deals up to 800% more damage to enemies based on how close they are to him.

• Draconic Bloodline - The Dark Urge's damage is increased by 200% for each Dragonborn Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Divine Soul - The Dark Urge increases the number of The Urge's Murder stacks he gains each time he defeats an enemy by 200%.

The Dark Urge's second Specialization is a choice between embracing or resisting the Urge.

• Embrace the Urge - The Dark Urge unlocks the Form of the Slayer ultimate, and deals 100% more damage for each Evil Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Resist the Urge - The Dark Urge's alignment becomes Lawful Good, he unlocks the Wither's Resurrection ultimate, and deals 100% more damage for each Good Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

Ultimate Ability

The Dark Urge has two ultimate attacks, depending on if you Embrace or Resist the Urge.

• Form of the Slayer - The Dark Urge moves to the enemy's side of the screen and transforms into the form of the Slayer for 15 seconds. While in this form, Sceleritas Fel joins the formation in the Dark Urge's spot while the Dark Urge is in the Ultimate form and is immune to damage. The Dark Urge gains a new melee attack that deals Ultimate damage.

• Withers' Resurrection - Withers appears in the back of the formation and raises his right hand. All enemies take 1 Ultimate hit and are pushed back to their side of the board with a shockwave, all knocked out heroes briefly glow white and are resurrected to full health, and all heroes are immune to damage for 15 seconds. This Ultimate automatically triggers if The Dark Urge is knocked out. After the duration ends, Withers disappears.

IV. The Dark Urge's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: The Dark Urge DPS	Slot 2: The Urge	Slot 3: Ceremorphosis
Slot 4: Living on the Edge	Slot 5: Specializations	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. The Dark Urge's Adventure Variants

How Many Die Today? - Save the village from a foolish prank gone wrong with The Dark Urge!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• Only Champions with the DPS role can deal damage. (clicks still deal damage)
• Each wave spawns an Intellect Devourer. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The Dark Urge's damage is boosted by the number of enemies he has defeated, and this persists after you complete adventures.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Time for Bloody Murder - Save the village with some high damage heroes!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• You may only use Champions with the DPS role and/or members of the Absolute Adversaries or Heroes of Baldur's Gate affiliation.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The Dark Urge deals more damage when he is near the edge of the formation or next to DPS Champions. How will you maximize his damage?
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

Rampage or Redemption - Save the village while deciding to fight or embrace murderous urges!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• You may not use Neutral champions unless they are members of the Absolute Adversaries affiliation.
• Each wave spawns an armored Mind Flayer. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The type of Champions that associate with The Dark Urge depends on if he embraces or fights against his urges. Which one will you choose?
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

Did you put The Dark Urge on the path to redemption? Or did you revel in his murderous side? Let us know all about it:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

At the beginning of the very first year of Idle Champions, Dhadius the Scarlet joined the Champion roster. Originally from the game Betrayal at Baldur's Gate, this arrogant wizard proudly launched his Chromatic orbs from the formation. But over time he has not been taken as seriously as he thinks he should be, so he now becomes our first Champion to be reworked so he can finally get the respect he craves!

I. Dhadius

Dhadius is a mage of legendary status and acclaim...at least, in his own mind. Being an egomaniac, he seeks out esoteric lore and rare magical secrets so he may know things that the 'common fools' do not. Dhadius hails from Luskan in the north, where he is a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, an infamous group of wizards, and is determined to let it be known far and wide that he is a wizard to be respected and feared.

Dhadius has been reworked to modernize his kit and give him some additional formation niches that he may be able to slot into. We've buffed up his abilities and altered his equipment so that his powerful magic is better utilized and encourages more experimentation. This glass cannon can be unlocked in seat 5 opposite Calliope.

Check out our Champion Spotlight embedded below for a quick overview of Dhadius' abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. Dhadius

Race: Human	Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 57	Affiliation: None	Class: Wizard

STR: 8	DEX: 12	CON: 10
INT: 18	WIS: 9	CHA: 11

Role: DPS and Support

Eligible for Patrons: Strahd

Seat: 5 (Calliope)

III. Dhadius' Abilities

Basic Attack

• Chromatic Orb - Dhadius tosses a Chromatic orb with a random element (acid, frost, or fire) at the nearest enemy.

Formation Abilities

• Skill Empowerment - Increase Dhadius's damage and the damage of Champions with 14 or more Intelligence within 2 slots of Dhadius by 100% for each Champion in the formation affected by this ability, stacking multiplicatively.

• Practice Makes Perfect - Enemies hit by a Chromatic Orb are debuffed based on the orb's type (acid, frost, or fire). Each debuff increases the damage of subsequent orbs of the same type by 400%, stacking multiplicatively. Enemies can have up to 5 debuffs of each type; debuffs do not expire.

• Chromatic Wonder - Dhadius keeps track of the total number of sets of all three orb types he has cast in the current area. Dhadius increases the effect of Skill Empowerment by 100% for each set, stacking multiplicatively and capping at 20 stacks.

Specializations

Dhadius' first Specialization determines whether or not he works with Magic users or non-magic users:

• Together In Magic - The effect of Skill Empowerment is increased by 100% for each Champion in the formation with a Magic base attack, stacking multiplicatively.

• Apart in Magic - The effect of Skill Empowerment is increased by 100% for each Champion in the formation that does not have a Magic base attack, stacking multiplicatively.

Dhadius' second Specialization determines what he focuses on:

• Empowered Orbs - Chromatic Orbs now do AOE damage and deal 400% more damage.

• Empowered Empowerment - Increase the effect of Skill Empowerment by 200%

• Use Smaller Words - Dhadius reduces the required Intelligence of Skill Empowerment to 12 and higher.

Ultimate Ability

• Magic Missile Barrage - Dhadius wildly fires off a large number of magic missiles. The number of magic missiles starts at 10 and increases by 1 for each enemy on the screen. Each missile hits a random enemy, so not necessarily every enemy will be hit.

IV. Dhadius' Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Together In Magic and Apart in Magic	Slot 2: Global DPS	Slot 3: Skill Empowerment
Slot 4: Practice Makes Perfect	Slot 5: Chromatic Wonder	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. Dhadius' Achievement and Adventure Variants

Achievement:

• Smart Companions - Complete 100 areas while Dhadius is buffing everyone in the formation with Skill Empowerment.

Adventure Variants

Frightful Weather

• In areas where it is snowing (excluding boss areas), your party will take 1.7% of their max health as unavoidable damage every second.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Light in the Darkness

• Several slots in the formation are taken up by floating magical torches.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

A Wise Endeavour

• Only champions with a wisdom score of 13 or more, plus Dhadius, may be used.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

Does new and improved Dhadius live up to his own hype? Let us know what you think:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

Table of Contents

• Events 2.0 Goals
• Event Changes
• Featured Champions
• Flex Slots
• Event Tiers & Rewards
• Quality of Life Updates
• What's Next?

Events 2.0 Goals

Events were the first system we added to Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, kicking things off with our first event, Highharvestide, on September 28, 2017. Ever since then, events have remained largely unchanged – until now!

In the Idle Champions: 2024 State of the Game we stated our high level goals for Events 2.0. Before diving into the Events 2.0 Preview Blog, we want to reiterate our goals:

1. Give players more choice over which Champions appear in events.
2. Increase the depth of events with additional goals and rewards.
3. Give more opportunities to update Champions outside of seasons.

Without further ado, let's talk about Events 2.0!

Note: Screenshots in this blog reflect a work in progress version of the Events 2.0 update. The finalized version may differ in layout or appearance.

Event Changes

Events 2.0 is a significant update to the events system in Idle Champions. Because players will now be able to unlock more Champions, content, and rewards through Events 2.0, we are increasing the duration of events from 12 days to 21 days. Events will typically begin on the first Wednesday of each month and run for three weeks. Content updates for Idle Champions will occur on the Wednesdays outside events.

Along with the Event duration change we are reducing the number of annual events, shifting from 17 annual events down to 12. Long term, we plan to retire the Midwinter, Greengrass, The Running, Midsummer, and Brightswords events. However, as we transition over to the new Event 2.0 schedule, there will be a Greengrass event in April 2024.

Finally, Champions whose events are no longer active will have new homes with other events. Those Champions will be available using Flex Slots during their new events along with other retired Champions from those events.

Featured Champions

Event 2.0 Events will have two Featured Champions. These Champions may be New Champions or Reworked Champions. Most events will have one New Champion and one Reworked Champion, however some may feature two New Champions, and some may feature two Reworked Champions.

All players will have free access to unlock and earn equipment for the same two Featured Champions each event. For our first Event 2.0 Event, Festival of Fools, all players will have access to the Reworked Champion, Dhadius the Scarlet, and the New Champion, The Dark Urge. Champion Spotlights for both of these Champions are coming early next week!

Dismantles will be offered for Reworked Champions for the duration of the event. However, the Dismantle period will end immediately if any Reworked Champion Chests are purchased using Event Tokens.

Flex Slots

In addition to the two Featured Champions for an event, everyone will have access to three Flex Slots. Flex Slots allow players to select additional Champions to unlock and earn equipment for during each Event 2.0 Event, choosing from a pool of retired Champions associated with the event. This pool of retired Champions includes the Champions from previous years of the event as well as some Champions whose events have been retired.

Events begin with one Flex Slot open with an additional Flex Slot opening during the second and third weeks of an Event 2.0 Event. Flex Slots that open during the second and third weeks of the event require 3 Time Gate Pieces to unlock. Between the two Featured Champions and the three Flex Slot Champions, players will be able to unlock and earn equipment for at least 60 Champions each year through Events 2.0.

There is also an extra Supporter Slot available during Event 2.0 Events. The Supporter Slot is an additional Flex Slot that can be unlocked as an additional bonus for making an in-game purchase of specially marked event-related DLC during an event.

Event Tiers & Rewards

Events 2.0 allows players to Tier Up events for individual Champions once all three of their event variants have been completed. This grants access to the next Event Tier and three additional event variants, which have increased difficulty and additional rewards.

There are currently four Event Tiers in total, increasing the number of Gold Champion Chests available from events for each Champion from three to 12. Completing Event Tiers also unlocks Event Buffs for associated Champions, which last for 60 days from the start of the event they unlock in. Some Event Tiers may also reward unique Feats and special consumable items. Not all Champions will initially launch with these additional rewards, however Featured Champions will always have them.

Event Tiers do not reset between events, so you can continue to progress through a Champion's Tiers during future events. Additionally, Event Buffs unlocked through Event Tiers will become active once again if you choose the Champion in a flex slot in a future event.

Quality of Life Updates

As part of the Events 2.0 update, we are also making several quality of life updates:

• Bounty Contracts used outside of events will award Event Tokens for the next event.
• Event adventures, variants, and free plays no longer cost Event Tokens to start.
• Event Tokens are now only used to purchase Event Chests directly (free plays no longer need to be grinded to obtain extra chests).
• Event Tokens left over once an event ends will automatically be converted to Champion chests.
• Retired Champions may come out of retirement.
• Event Boons are granted to players who purchase specially marked event-related DLC during an event. There are four tiers of Event Boons that offer buffs to Champion Damage, Gold Find, Champion Health, Click Damage, and Speed. These buffs increase with each tier of Event Boon. Additionally, the first purchase that grants an Event Boon will also unlock the Supporter Slot.

What's Next?

Barring any last-minute issues, Events 2.0 will go live on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. We're eager and excited to receive your feedback and make further improvements to this system based on how you're using it!

A Visitor From the Far Far Ranch

The Far Far Ranch is far far away, but there's a visitor that's brought a piece of it to the Commons!

Bea's visiting from the Far Far Ranch and has brought three Bubble Buddies to see if they'll thrive in Bushwhackia.

Bubble Buddies

Bubble Buddies are cute bouncy critters that come in an array of looks and abilities! Let's see the three Bea's brought with her:



Buddies eat Bushy Carrots and output Blorts, which Bea will trade you for in her Ye Bouncy Buddy Boutique store. Watch the buddies get bigger and bigger as you feed them!

Buddies will also eat the more rare Spicy Tofu to output Blorts AND a resource unique to that buddy. Here are the buddies and their unique yields:

Dragon Buddy - Gold
Hedgehog Buddy - Gems
Raccoon Buddy - Mana/Power
During Bea's visit, Bushy Carrots and Spicy Tofu can be found in bushes all over Bushwhackia.

Help feed their bouncy bodies, earn Blorts, and redeem prizes! The saying goes, 'Big Buddies have bottomless bellies!'

Instant Egg Incubation!

Bea's brought a machine that can instantly hatch a basic pet egg! You'll need to whack up a lot of fuel to get it working, via a challenging collection quest. Should you manage it quickly, you can even attempt it a couple more times at the cost of some Bush Bucks to repair the egg machine.

A Feeding Frenzy!

Bea and her buddies leave on Wednesday March 6th, so make the most of the opportunity while you can!

Discuss this mini-event on the forums!

Table of Contents

• Collections
• Guide and Collection Quests
• Rewards
• What's Next?

Collections

An expansion to Collections has been a long time coming, and is something we've wanted to focus on for several years now. Whereas the original Collections dialog only tracked your Champion's equipment progress, the updated and expanded experience allows you to track your progress across nearly every aspect of Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms. It's also home to our new Guide and Collection Quest system, which you can read about later in this blog.

Note: Screenshots in this blog reflect a work in progress version of the Guide and Collections Quests systems. The finalized versions may differ in layout or appearance.



At launch, the updated Collections dialog will track the progress of your Campaigns, Blessings, Patrons, Champions, Skins, Feats, Equipment, Enemies, Familiars, Achievements, Time Gates, and Modron Cores. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg! For example, on the Champions page you can see % of Champions Unlocked, % of Champions with full Epic Equipment, Evergreen Champions Unlocked, Event Champions Unlocked, and % of Champions unlocked by year.



A few additional highlights of the updated system include:

• Search and sort options for individual pages. (Search for adventures with specific enemy types when you have quests or challenges to defeat those enemy types as just one example!)
• Finally re-read the adventure dialog from adventures you've already completed!
• Preview Champion skins at a high resolution!
• Use a 'Premium Progress' toggle that includes or excludes progress that can only be made with premium purchases in the game (set to 'Off' by default).
• And there is even more to discover!

Guide and Collection Quests

Starting Idle Champions can be daunting for newer players. With over one hundred Champions, eight campaigns, twelve annual events, and a plethora of systems to unlock, it isn't always easy to know where to start.

That's where Guide and Collection Quests come in.



Guide and Collection Quests can be found in the main Collections menu. There are over 300 Guide and Collection Quests, starting with the tutorial adventure and carrying through to every feature unlock and completion in the game. Guide Quests have gold or silver borders and lead to feature unlocks or unique rewards, while Collection Quests have normal borders and mark the individual milestones as you complete your collection.

Progress across both Guide and Collection Quests is retroactive. When you first open the Collections dialog and go into the Guide Quests menu, you will have the option to claim your completed rewards either individually or by clicking the 'Claim All' button to claim them all at once.

As we add additional Adventures, Variants, Champions, Campaigns, and other updates to Idle Champions, the Guide and Collection Quests will continue to be updated as well.

Rewards

As you complete Guide and Collection Quests you will unlock Silver Chests, Gold Chests, Electrum Chests, Patron Gold Chests, Champion Gold Chests, Corrupted Gems, and Scales of Tiamat.

What's Next?

Barring any last-minute issues, Guide and Collection Quests will go live on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. We're eager and excited to receive your feedback and make further improvements to this system based on how you're using it!