Merlin or Proteus? 🤔

[ochartier]

I allready have 3 fully-ish levelled teams that are well balanced. My next purple is either Merlin or Proteus, I have a hard time deciding which of the 2 is the best all arounder. Any input?

[Larry_Bitterman]

Proteus.

He gets me through events and quests without overextending my items.

Like him so much I’m bringing a second one up for wars

[frathoss]

I agree with the Proteus first, I am going Proteus Merlin Proteus.

[AndyBSG]

I’ve got both maxed but Proteus is definitely the one who gets used most

[ochartier]

Seems like we have a consensus! Thanks

[KLinMayhem]

I vote proteus too. Used him in the trial of mysticism and didn’t need to use battle items on the last stage.

[arios]

Proteus , if you need to choose 2nd Proteus or Merlin , ofc you can do Proteus again and again and again

[HughTheFirst]

Agree with the crowd. Proteus first, then Merlin. Merlin is nice vs titans but proteus is way more rounded.

[Kerridoc]

Merlin is more fun on raids; watching Merlin kill an ally always makes me chuckle. Proteus is more effective, however.

[Grahm]

+2 on proteus from me

Join us at Team No-Mana™

If you aren’t going for a high score, 2xProteus + any healer is a comfy ride through any event except for purple-reflect.
I usually finish events without knowing what skills the bosses have.

[Winters1]

If there are two of them, is it Protei?

[Gryphonknight]

I would level 3x Proteus before leveling 1x Merlin especially since both are wizards ( see note for really really long explanation).

Notes

Explanation- long

@Gryphonknight

Personally I would do a second Proteus, and a third Proteus, before a first Merlin and all before a first Ameonna ( I abandoned leveling my Ameonna when I got Proteus and also when realized Tiburtus was the only Ramming Pulverizer in Ranger class).

Proteus is group mana control ( huge ), pure DOT bypasses reflect damage AND bypasses high defense stat. Anti-Guinevere hero, purple 4* Cheshire Cat is rumored to have pure DOT which will bypass Guinevere’s high defense stat.

Merlin is only single target and like Hansel ( fast mana speed) and Gretel ( average mana speed like Proteus & Merlin) trying to fill a Titan’s mana bar three times in 3 turns is impossible without luck. Proteus does not require refilling the enemy mana bar for maximum effect. In fact Proteus is effective even if you cannot fill the enemy mana bar while Merlin’s is less effective if the enemy mana bar is at zero and if you cannot fill the mana bar before the special expires.

Both Proteus & Merlin are purple, average mana speed and special lasts 3 turns.

Hansel ( fast mana speed with bonus special skill defense buff ) I might level before a second Proteus, but they are separate colors and I always level heroes with same color 1*-3* heroes.

[ritingon]

@Gryphonknight

I would level 3x Proteus before leveling 1x Merlin especially since both are wizards ( see note for really really long explanation).

I don’t have a Merlin and I wouldn’t kick one out of bed if I got one, but I’d absolutely agree: Proeteus over Merlin every single day.

[Sternman]

Proteus freezes mana and has decent DoT on three along with a good attack stat. He has helped me win many raids.

This makes me a huge fan of Proteus, I have a 2nd Proteus in the works with a third on the bench.

I wanted (still want) Merlin b/c he looks both fun and useful, didn’t get him but have no lingering regrets.

Proteus has:
+. Higher attack (707 vs 682)
+. Damages Three
+. Freezes Mana on Three
+. Slightly more durable (2* Def + Health) 1674 > 1635
= Average Mana, same as Merlin

Team composition:
Merlin will work well on the same team with Onatel while Proteus negates her special. Merlin never blocks mana, just knocks it to zero under Mindless Attack, so Onatel can continue to steal generated mana. Proteus’ mana block means Onatel has nothing to steal from the blocked heroes.

Edit for clarity, Onatel steals generated mana, not existing mana

[ritingon]

@Sternman

Merlin will work well with Onatel while Proteus negates her special. Merlin never blocks mana, just knocks it to zero under Mindless Attack so Onatel can continue to steal mana

That was actually one of my questions. To be clear, Onatel only steals mana that would have otherwise gone to a target, not many that was blocked? Or in other words, Proteus’ effect is taken into account before Onatel’s?

If that’s the case, I guess I’ll be getting a touch more use out of Hansel and Gretel (and Merlin if I ever get one) in the future, but Proteus is still pretty great.

[Sternman]

Correct (from what I have read on the forum).
Ontael’s special allows her to steal a % of what the enemy is getting that turn. If that is zero due to Proteus then Onatel steals xx% of zero.

[Suicide_Bunny]

Proteus is the one you want, to help you get through the toughest boss stages on the challenges and events or if you are working through the hard Atlantis. He was a game changer for me - I could only compare his impact to the one Wu Kong or Wilbur had. He’s basically cheaper and more available version of Hel, who is considered one of the most powerful purples in the game.

If you ever read those advices about how many dragon attacks and bombs you need to bring to the challenges to finish the boss stages, with Proteus just replace these with 2 sets of mana pots and you can handle everything.

[Garanwyn]

I have, and use, both of them. They do very different things, and so you want to pick the right tool for the right job.

Proteus: good tile damage, low direct damage, and 3-hero mana freeze

He’s really good if you’re facing multiple heroes who are scary if they fire (think GM, Guin and Quintus). He doesn’t make the situation better (mana is frozen, not reduced), but he can buy you time. Fire Proteus, then move tiles around to change the board to best advantage, without fear that dumping tiles will make someone fire.

Merlin: decent direct damage, decent tile damage, and 1-hero mana effect

Merlin is best for dealing with one scary target. Unlike Proteus, he actually can improve your situation. If you dump enough tiles into the target to fill its mana bar, it will damage its own team with a slash attack, and empty its mana to boot. That, plus decent attack damage, is very helpful in coping with one strong target among several weaker targets.

Note, also, that Proteus doesn’t stop mana gain from Alby or Onatel. When facing them, Merlin is by far the better choice, since the fill-up they produce can be countered by pushing the enemy mana bar to full.

[zephyr1]

@Garanwyn

Note, also, that Proteus doesn’t stop mana gain from Alby or Onatel. When facing them, Merlin is by far the better choice, since the fill-up they produce can be countered by pushing the enemy mana bar to full.

To clarify, in case this is misread by others, this means they can regenerate or steal mana, even while a status effect affecting mana generation is active, and this is confirmed to be intended behavior:

Onatel Steals mana when Can't gain mana is applied

This is intended behaviour, so not a bug. I hope this helps to clarify!

@Dante2377 wrote a nice explanation on this, which goes into useful detail (click through for more, only quoting the most salient part, and note that this explanation predates Onatel’s release):

@Dante2377

Hel, Natalya, & Little John: These cards affect mana generation (i.e. mana from tile matches), but NOT regeneration. This means cards under the effect of Hel/LJ/Nat and Alberich will still regenerate Albi’s mana each turn as usual.

[Garanwyn]

Technically, Onatel is stealing, not regenerating. So just to be 100% clear:

You hit Onatel with Proteus’ status effect, and she can still steal mana from others through her special.

But if Onatel and Proteus both affect the same target at the same time, then Onatel won’t steal mana from that hero until Proteus’ status effect goes away. Thus:

@Sternman

Merlin will work well with Onatel while Proteus negates her special.