Russell – 5* Fire / Red - October 2021 HOTM (Hero of the Month) -- Initial Release

New HOTM Released for October 2021: Russell

This thread is for discussing strategy related to Russell, as well as your thoughts on him.


Russell

Rarity Element Class Mana Speed
:star::star::star::star::star:
Legendary
:fire:
Fire/Red
image
Wizard
A
Average
Level Attack Defense Health

4/80
:crossed_swords:
795
:shield:
739
:heart:
1322
4/85 856 796 1425
4/90 980 911 1630
Origin Family
Hero of the Month Legends 2021
Image Aether Power Description
special-boost Special Boost At the start of each turn, this Hero’s Special Skill deals an additional +30% damage for 6 turns.
In battles with multiple waves, the effect is refreshed at the beginning of each wave.
:no_entry_sign: Resist: This hero has an innate resistance against status ailments that affect Attack.
:hourglass: Ability: This hero gains 5% mana each time an enemy receives Burn Damage
:dizzy: Special Skill: Sure-Fire Combustion
  • This Special Skill never misses its targets.
  • Deals 350% damage to the target.
  • The target and nearby enemies receive 264 Burn damage over 3 turns.
  • Element Link gives +10% increase for any healing received for all Fire allies for 4 turns. This effect can’t be dispelled.

All-in-one still under construction. Card image to be added when available.


:hugs: Family Bonus

Heroes become stronger when teamed with other unique Heroes in the same Family.

Legends 2021 Family
Bonus for 1 / 2 / 3 Heroes:

  • +10% / +15% / +20% critical chance.

Bonus for 2+ heroes:

  • Elemental Link affects all allies.

:test_tube: Changes from Beta

There appear to be no changes to Russell from last-seen Beta stats, skill, and design.

Beta Information: 🧪 Early information on the October 2021 HOTM -- Russell


:thought_balloon: What do you think of Russell ?

This thread is for thoughts and discussion on Russell.

Based on preferences Forum members have expressed, please try to stick mainly to Russell and not wander off topic too much to other heroes.

Some Popular Questions for Discussion

  • Is Russell worth summoning for?

  • Would you use Russell on Defense? Offense? War? Quests/Events? Titans?

  • Which heroes on your Roster best pair with Russell ?

  • What heroes would you take when facing Russell as an opponent?

  • Would you give Russell Wizard Emblems? Which Talent Grid path will you choose?

  • What do you think of special?

  • What do you think of Russell’s character design?

  • If you Summoned Russell and would like to post your results, please include some thoughts on why you Summoned Russell, and whether/how you plan to make use of them.*

*NOTE: Summon Results posted without any commentary/feedback at all should be flagged as Off Topic and removed, based on preferences expressed by the Forum community. Please include some comments about what you think of Russell when posting Summon Results. In addition to opinions about Russell, you are also encouraged to include how many Summons it took before receiving Russell (or how many Summons you’ve done without receiving Russell), so other players are presented with realistic experiences of the rarity of HOTM.


:money_with_wings: Avoiding Overspending & Heartache :broken_heart:

Or: How many summons are needed to get a HOTM?

_Special thanks to @Garanwyn & @zephyr1 for assistance on summoning odds and proofreading for this section.

It’s important to remember that HOTM have very low summoning odds. No amount of summoning will guarantee a HOTM.

On average, in a 10-pull, you have a 12.3% chance of summoning the HOTM.

But that statistic can lead our minds astray in exactly how our odds play out as we continue summoning.

Some useful insights:

  • 73 times out of 100, you’ll get a HOTM by pull 100
  • 95 times out of 100, you’ll get a HOTM by pull 229
  • 99 times out of 100, you’ll get a HOTM by pull 352

Putting that in Perspective

  • 27 out of every 100 people won’t get the HOTM by the 100th pull

  • If 1 Million players each summoned 100 times, 270,000 of those players wouldn’t get the HOTM

  • 5 out of every 100 people won’t get the HOTM by the 229th pull

  • If 1 Million players each summoned 229 times, 50,000 of those players wouldn’t get the HOTM

More Insights & Reading

I highly recommend reading these three threads for more information and context on summoning odds:

If you’ve read them a million times before, you may consider reading them again before deciding on your budget for summoning. A little time spent deciding on how much money you want to risk on summoning goes a long way to avoiding disappointment, frustration, and regret later. :slight_smile:


:thinking: Wondering About Your Personal Situation?

Feel free to discuss your team and roster here, and ask for advice from other Forum members.

If you’d like more extensive advice on sorting out your particular roster, I recommend creating a new thread in Gameplay Help & Tactics, and posting screenshots of your hero roster, along with your questions.


:link: Related Threads You May Be Interested In

6 Likes

Feedback Poll - Russell (post release)


:question: Is Russell worth Summoning For?

  • Yes, absolutely
  • Only if you’re P2P
  • Yes, but only when featured.
  • Not really
  • Not at all

0 voters

:question: How many copies of Russell would be useful to keep & Level?
Note - this is roster space dependent & isn’t the same for everyone!

  • Zero
  • Just one
  • 2
  • 3
  • All of them

0 voters

:question: What do you think Russell’s Primary Purpose is?

  • Damage Dealer
  • Damage Dealer (Over time)

0 voters

:question: What do you think of Russell compared to other Heroes?

  • Over Powered (OP)
  • Little stronger than Most
  • On Par with Most
  • Little Weaker than Most
  • Completely Broken (Under Powered)

0 voters

:question: How does Russell’s Special Skill and Intended Purpose match Russell’s Base Stats?

Note this means her Class, Attack, Defence & HP Stat

  • Perfectly
  • Better than Most
  • On Par with Most
  • Worse than Most
  • Terribly

0 voters

:question: Is Russell worth giving Wizard Emblems to?

  • Yes absolutely
  • Depends on who else you got
  • Hmmmm, not sure yet
  • No I don’t think so
  • No… Not at all.

0 voters

:question: In Defence, where do you think Russell is best used?

  • Left Wing
  • Left Flank
  • Tank
  • Right Flank
  • Right Wing
  • Not on defence at all.

0 voters

:question: How do you think Russell is best used?

  • PvP Raids/ War attack
  • Normal Defence
  • War Defence
  • Titans
  • Farming
  • Tournaments
  • Event Teams

0 voters

Choose up to 3 options

1 Like

This means that blinding him or Wukong´s buff miss chance doesn´t apply to him? Also dodge and evade are useless against him?

2 Likes

As clarified in Beta the answer is yes to both. So neither Wu-kong, Neith, Justice, … nor Costumed Kadlined can make him to miss the target.

13 Likes

that is how I understand it. Else his damage is to small for average speed in my opinion.

5 Likes

i cannot wait to try for him!! :grin:

I don’t have any of the circus heros as I was on a spending pause last time they came, so ideally I’ll get him and the 3-4* from that event in a few days.

1 Like

Omg he looks like a douchebag :rofl:

10 Likes

This hero could be great, but SG was deaf to the suggestions to buff his dmg.

Uraeus is average speed sniper with 485% hit bypassing minion + 345/3 DoT for all with minions.

Russell is average speed sniper (?) with 350% hit + 264/3 DoT for nearby.

Is the “never miss” a good trade off for far less damage - I don’t think so. Not to mention, Uraeus is hardly considered an A tier card…

By design a counter to C Kadilen, but by execution C Kadilen will laugh at him trying hard to kill a minion. Wasted concept, but then again - he’s a HotM, so beta’s opinions saying he’s too weak made SG say “oh then he is exactly as he should be, thanks guys!”.

Mana generation on burn is fun thing, but don’t let this fool you… unless you pair him with Emilio, that will not matter all that much.

His niche use is finishing a wounded Frigg with a certain hit, so you don’t have to suffer seeing Gefjon being dodged by 100 hp hero.

17 Likes

Probably a reason why starfall replaced wonderland. For people to pull for Emilio asap
Yeah, also I don’t think his other attributes like never missing his attack justifies the horrendous sniper damage. Dark lord used to be really terrible because his sniper damage is really bad. And he’s a fast sniper. DL used to be the worse, but the title now goes to Russel

2 Likes

Does he get 5% mana per burn tick ? ( 5x 5%) or jest 5% per turn no matter how many enemies are burning ?

3 Likes

I have a feeling that Russel’s artwork was drawn by the the same artist who did the slayers. And Russel was originally supposed to be aodhan. He has the look of a 4* hero tbh

5 Likes

No. To be honest it‘s my Nemo with only 300% as fast sniper. Anyway, I like both. :wink:

that is my question too, if I use Emilio/JF does itcount 1x5% or 5X5% ?

At least Nemo has a conditional increase of his base damage. 350% is all you get from russel

He should be called Keith after Keith Flint.
Firestarter, Twisted Firestarter (Prodigy)
RIP Keith.

11 Likes

Each burn instance charges him separately. So 5x5% in case of Emilio.

5 Likes

Russell’s skill has been circumvented by the Rogue class.

You tested him and the rogues still evaded?

Yes. Avoided by Sif.