Hu Tao and Little John are often maligned because of their slow mana, but both can be extremely useful for events and quests. And I think Hu Tao is the more frequently maligned of the two, so I’m going to use LJ as a comparison to justify buffing Hu Tao a bit.
LJ is squishy but has the advantage of a high attack stat, so at least he’s also useful for titans and makes a difference when he goes off.
Comparatively, Hu Tao is a pile of blubber for defense and hp stats, but his attack stat and AoE percentage are low enough that he doesn’t do much damage when he hits. Blind is incredibly powerful in this game, but so is a mana debuff like LJ — which is also a guaranteed debuff, vs blindness that gives a chance to miss.
Comparatively, I don’t think Hu Tao being a meat shield makes him balanced with LJ as a benchmark for another slow Epic hero with a powerful special.
I think a little buff — nothing huge — to Hu Tao’s attack stat, or his AoE percentage, would make him a lot more usable, and more in keeping with the benchmark of Epic season 1 heroes.