🎅 Santa's Challenge 2019: Teams, Strategy, FAQs, Discussion, and Links – Christmas Event

[zephyr1]

December 1 through January 4: Santa’s Challenge 2019 Christmas Seasonal Event!

If you do not see Santa’s Challenge in Quests after the start time, force quitting and reopening the app or restarting your device will usually work.

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Guides

@Pois1’s excellent guide to Santa’s Challenge

@Mariamne’s excellent guide to Santa’s Challenge

@Mariamne

Santa’s Challenge (2018)

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Rewards & Flag Requirements!

Stage	Normal Flags	Normal Rewards	Advanced Flags	Advanced Rewards
1	3	6x Clean Cloth	10	7x Metal Ores
2	3	6x Common Herbs	10	7x Potent Laves
3	4	10x Clean Cloth	11	7x Sunspire Feathers
4	4	6x Crude Iron	11	9x Metal Ores
5	4	10x Common Herbs	11	9x Potent Leaves
6	5	1x Tall Boots, 1* Blue Trainer	12	1x ETT, 3* Blue Trainer
7	5	7x Large Bone	12	9x Sunspire Feather
8	5	8x Leather Strips	12	5x Fine Steel
9	6	10x Crude Iron	13	5x Fine Steel
10	6	9x Large Bone	13	7x Fine Steel
11	6	13x Oil	13	7x Grimoire Dust
12	7	Rudolph Avatar, 1x Daily Summon, 1* Red Trainer	14	Mother North Avatar, 1x EHT, 3* Red Trainer
13	7	2x Minor Healing Potion, 8x Leather Strip	14	3x Potent Healing Potion, 5x Hardwood Lumber
14	7	2x Minor Mana Potion, 13x Oil	14	3x Mana Potion, 5x Midnight Roots
15	7	2x Antidote, 13x String	15	2x Bomb Attack, 8x Hardwood Lumber
16	8	2x Arrow Attack, 5x Crypt Mushroom	15	2x Super Antidote, 8x Midnight Roots
17	8	2x Axe Attack, 5x Crystal Shard	15	1x Super Mana Potion, 4x Dragon Bone
18	8	Warm Cape, 2* Blue Trainer, 1x Daily Summon	16	1x ETT, Farsight Telescope, 4* Blue Trainer
19	8	2x Mana Potion, 5x Firestone	16	1x Super Healing Potion, 4x Meteor Fragments
20	9	2x Axe Attack, 7x Crypt Mushroom	16	1x Revive Scroll, 4x Dragon Bone
21	9	2x Potent Healing Potion, 7x Crystal Shard	16	1x Time Stop, 6x Meteor Fragments
22	9	2x Mana Potion, 7x Firestone	16	1x Tornado, 6x Orichalcum Nugget
23	9	2x Antidote, 7x Crypt Mushroom	16	1x Miracle Scroll, 4x Dragon Bone
24	9	Buddy Avatar, Hidden Blade, 2* Red Trainer	16	Santa Avatar, Mystic Rings, 4* Red Trainer

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Special Game Play: Frosted Shields

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Normal and Advanced Modes

There are two modes for Seasonal Events, Normal and Advanced. You can play either or both, and must complete each stage in that mode to advance.

The modes are separated, a bit like tiers in Challenge Events. Unlike Normal/Hard modes in Atlantis, advancing in the Normal mode won’t give you access to the corresponding Stages in Advanced. You need to beat each stage in each mode to progress.

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No Hero Restrictions

Unlike Challenge Events, there are no restrictions on hero or troop rarity in the Normal and Advanced modes. There are also no restrictions on hero Classes, unlike Class Trials.

You’re free to use any heroes you’d like!

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No Elemental Barrier/Color Reflection

Also unlike Challenge Events, Seasonal Events have no enemies or bosses with Elemental Barriers that reflect damage and status effects. So you can use any of your heroes as you see fit!

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No Replaying Completed Stages

Unlike Challenge Events, Seasonal Events don’t allow replaying a completed Stage — much like how Quests work.

Once you beat each Stage, it’s locked, and once you beat the entirety of the Seasonal Event, you can’t play any more.

If you fail at a Stage, you can retry as many times as you’d like, up until the Event ends.

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No Event Heroes as Rewards

Also unlike Challenge Events, Seasonal Events have no possibility of receiving event heroes as rewards.

There are avatars available in the loot for completing some Stages, which sometimes are confused by players as being the actual heroes when looking at the rewards list. Seasonal Heroes can only be acquired by Summoning, and the odds for them are extremely low.

Please see the linked threads below for each Seasonal Event hero for more information on them and the low Summoning odds.

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Offers Calendar

During Seasonal Events, there is a special calendar with a different offer each day, each available for 24 hours.

The offers are not visible until the start of each day, and show for all players at the same time (for Springvale, Sand Empire, and Return to Morlovia, they rotated at 00:00 GMT).

Once closed, the Offers Calendar can be accessed by tapping a special icon on the Stronghold screen.

Four of the calendar days also offer free items — typically these are crafting ingredients, and sometimes flasks or tokens.

The offers on Seasonal Event Calendars are varied in price range, and often offer some of the best deals on purchasing particular individual ascension materials and gems. Not all items will be offered, and the quantity available for each item is typically fairly restricted — though this Santa’s Challenge is the first time we’ve seen offers with multiple “In Stock,” instead of just one.

Santa’s Challenge Offers Calendar Log

Day	Date	In Stock	Price (USD)	Gems	Ascension/Emblem	EHT*	ETT*	Flasks	Other Items
1	1 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	-	-	-	5x Arrow Attack, 5x Healing Potion, 5x Antidote
2	2 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Gloves	-	-	-	-
3	3 Dec	1	$9.99	1000 Gems	Damascus Blade	-	-	-	-
4	4 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Sturdy Shield	-	-	-	-
5	5 Dec	1	$29.99	2800 Gems	Mysterious Tonic, Warm Cape, Hidden Blade	2 EHT	3 ETT	1x Titan	4x Orichalcum Nugget, 2x Meteor Fragments
6	6 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Compass	-	-	-	-
7	7 Dec	1	$49.99	4700 Gems	Poison Darts, Sturdy Shield, 2x Orb of Magic	3 EHT	4 ETT	2x Titan	8x Meteor Fragments, 8x Dragon Bone, 8x Orichalcum Nugget
8	8 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	-	-	-	5x Fine Steel, 3x Dragon Bone, 2x Hunter’s Caltrops, 1x Summon Token
9	9 Dec	1	$9.99	500 Gems	50x Rogue, 50x Sorcerer	-	-	-	-
10	10 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Orb of Magic	-	-	-	-
11	11 Dec	1	$6.99	350 Gems	35x Fighter, 35x Ranger	-	-	-	-
12	12 Dec	1	$29.99	2800 Gems	Mystic Rings, Hidden Blade, Sturdy Shield	2 EHT	3 ETT	1x Titan	4x Dragon Bone, 2x Meteor Fragments
13	13 Dec	1	$9.99	1000 Gems	Royal Tabard	-	-	-	-
14	14 Dec	1	$99.99	10000 Gems	Mysterious Tonic, Farsight Telescope, 2x Gloves, 2x Trap Tools	5 EHT	5 ETT	5x Titan	20x Meteor Fragments, 20x Dragon Bone, 20x Orichalcum Nugget
15	15 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	-	-	-	5x Hardwood Lumber, 3x Meteor Fragments, 2x Scroll of Alteration, 1x Summon Token
16	16 Dec	1	$9.99	500 Gems	50x Paladin, 50x Cleric	-	-	-	-
17	17 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Hidden Blade	-	-	-	-
18	18 Dec	1	$6.99	350	35x Druid, 35x Monk	-	-	-	-
19	19 Dec	1	$29.99	2800 Gems	Poison Darts, Gloves, Trap Tools	2 EHT	3 ETT	1x Titan	4x Orichalcum Nugget, 2x Meteor Fragments
20	20 Dec	1	$9.99	1000 Gems	Tome of Tactics	-	-	-	-
21	21 Dec	1	$99.99	10000 Gems	Mystic Rings, Royal Tabard, 2x Compass, 2x Warm Cape	5 EHT	5 ETT	5x Titan	20x Meteor Fragments, 20x Dragon Bone, 20x Orichalcum Nugget
22	22 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	-	-	-	5x Midnight Root, 3x Orichalcum Nugget, 2x Hurricane, 1x Summon Token
23	23 Dec	3	$1.99	200 Gems	Trap Tools	-	-	-	-
24	24 Dec	1	$29.99	2800 Gems	Farsight Telescope, Sturdy Shield, Hidden Blade	2 EHT	3 ETT	-	4x Dragon Bone, 2x Meteor Fragment
25	25 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	1 EHT	1 ETT	-	Summon Token
26-30	26-30 Dec	5	$0.99	200 Gems	-	-	-	-	-
Mystery Offer Available after purchasing all 5 of the 26-30 Dec 200x Gem Offers		1	$4.99	700 Gems	-	1 EHT	1 ETT	-	-
31	31 Dec	1	FREE	-	-	-	-	World, Raid, Titan	-

* EHT = Epic Hero Token; ETT = Epic Troop Token

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Epic Hero Tokens Can Be Used for Seasonal Summoning

The Seasonal Summons replaces the regular Epic Hero Summons.

Because of that, unlike Challenge Event Summons, the Summoning Portal for Seasonal Events allows using saved up Epic Hero Tokens that can otherwise normally only be used for Epic Hero Summons.

That makes Seasonal Events the only place you can currently use Epic Hero Tokens for a chance at non-Season 1 heroes.

Many people regard the Christmas heroes as the best Season Heroes, and therefore prefer to save their Epic Hero Tokens for December or early January during this Santa’s Challenge Event. For more discussion of this, please see: What is the best Seasonal Summons?

You’ll also have the same chance at the HOTM as usual when using Epic Hero Tokens.

Because Santa’s Challenge 2019 is expected to run from through all of December into the beginning of January, you should have an opportunity to Summon while either HOTM is available.

For information on the December and January HOTM, please see:

• December 2019 HOTM: Grimble – New December 2019 HOTM (Hero of the Month): Thoughts, Discussion & Summon Results with Feedback

• January 2020 HOTM: 🧪 Early Information on the January 2020 HOTM (Vela)

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Festive Stronghold

During each of the Seasonal Events, your Base is updated in the spirit of the season.

For Santa’s Challenge, this includes snow, snowmen, Christmas lights on trees, and aurora/northern lights in the sky.

Like with the coconuts during Sand Empire and pumpkins during Return to Morlovia, the snowmen will bounce when tapped.

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Polls

How do you feel about the Frosted Shields?

• I love them! They’re a lot of fun, too bad they only come once per year, and you can’t replay the Stages.
• They’re a fun change of pace, and I like playing them now, but once through the Stages is enough.
• I don’t like or dislike them
• I dislike them, I’m glad they only come once per year.
• I hate them! I won’t play Santa’s Challenge, or will do so begrudgingly just for the loot.

What’s your favorite part of Santa’s Challenge?

• Different Content – I like having something new to play that’s not available all the time
• The Offer Calendar — I like more opportunities to purchase items and gems
• The Ascension Materials – I like getting the Warm Cape, Hidden Blade, Telescope and/or Mystic Rings
• The Avatars – I like getting Rudolph, Buddy, Mother North, and Santa avatars
• The Loot – I like the items available for completing Stages other than the avatars and ascension materials
• Something Else – share in the comments below!
• Nothing – I don’t like anything about Santa’s Challenge

For more polls, see the other Santa’s Challenge 2019 threads below!

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Share Your Teams, Results (once the event starts), and Ask Questions!

• Many players will switch up their heroes used for each Stage, based on the monster/boss colors — are there heroes you’re using consistently for Santa’s Challenge?

• Are there any Stages you’re having a hard time with, and would like advice on beating?

• Are you using particular items to beat Santa’s Challenge stages?

• How do you find playing with the Frozen Tiles?

• Do you have insights on strategy to share, or questions?

• Is there anything about Santa’s Challenge that you’re wondering about?

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Santa’s Challenge 2019 Hero Threads

• Santa Claus: Santa’s Challenge 2019 – Thoughts & Discussion

• Mother North: Santa’s Challenge 2019 – Thoughts & Discussion

• Budddy: Santa’s Challenge 2019 – Thoughts & Discussion

• Rudolph: Santa’s Challenge 2019 – Thoughts & Discussion

Older/Other Related Threads on Santa’s Challenge

• 2019 - xMas Event Summon Results
• Christmas 2018 event
• I hate the Christmas Heroes
• Christmas Heroes Pull
• Christmas Offers Calendar 2018
• What is the best Seasonal Summons?

[JLB_ep]

Hey I noticed right at the beginning you wrote excellent guide to morlovia twice

[zephyr1]

Fixed, thanks! They’re both excellent guides, but are obviously for Santa’s Challenge.

[tsoukalos]

better grab my seat here fast for more replies

[Didnt-Get-A-Massage]

Was it the whole month last year? This is when i 1st started playing

[zephyr1]

Yes, it was a similar schedule last year, offers all of December, and the event itself extended slightly into January.

And happy 1 year-ish anniversary!

[Didnt-Get-A-Massage]

Thank you. SG will be making lots of money this month

[Rohn]

I dont see me making ANY pulls this Month.
Dont need MN. I have Alby
Dont need Santa. I have him
Dont need Buddy. Have more than 1 of him
Dont need Rudolph. I ate all of him

[Ranvir]

It is the best seasonal event for me.
Like the spirit of Christmas

The calendar may start with free gifts, it is sunday

[Merry_me]

EHT for everyone that would be joyful

[szparo]

Does it start at 9AM CET like e.g. Atlantis?

[zephyr1]

It just started at 2019-12-01T07:00:00Z

[notyou87]

I had 500 gems and did a pull… Low and behold the almighty GAN JU!! lol

I have so far done 1 - 20 on Normal (none on hard).
Those frost covered tiles are more annoying than I expected, and you seem to get a lot, too.

[Rapisu]

Got so many red guys, but no Santa. Tha’s also pretty much the extend of my summons, I already used my tokens in october for Kingston (didn’t get him) and my gems in november for Evelyn (didn’t get her, but I finally got Proteus).

The challenge itself shouldn’t be a big problem. I beat it last year and my team only got stronger since.

[chlo]

I don’t have very high level heroes but I recently got Proteus and Wilbur, which I hope will help in this challenge!
I hope to be able to beat the stage in Advanced with the epic hero token, but doubt I will be able to go much further.

[holmanski]

I’ve spent a lot on this game. No regrets.

That said, it’s VIP only for me after 12/31. Plenty of work to do without spending any more to do it.

I pulled Rudolph and Buddy from 50 pulls. I know it’s RNG, but this event seems to prefer kicking out Oberons and Greymane made a solid comeback. Oh, and Nashgar. Those three accounted for a large chunk of the Wagyu feeders I ate on these pulls.

I also pulled Grumble who’s at the end of a line that RNG loves to keep long. For some reason I can get plenty of Holy AMs but good grumblin luck with dark! Ugh.

Excited to have Buddy! Knew Santa and MN were very low odds. Liking the seasonal event lasting all month, and looking forward to another year of playing in 2020.

[Shohoku79]

Still creepy smile from Buddy, second time around. Still sloppy story second time around. I mean, what happened to Richard’s gift? Did they finally get it to him? Or is the quest of having him breaking ice blocks and shoving snow his “gift?”

[notyou87]

…wait, people actually pay attention to the story line and cut scenes?

[Aunty_Krauser]

On my main, I can do all of normal with my leveling team. Advanced I am gonna have to pull out the big guns.