Yeah I’m still unsure about this hero, some are saying he’s great, others that he’s trash. I haven’t faced him or had any experiences with him personally but guess I’ll find out 
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I don’t think he’s very good if I’m being honest.
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Seems like he’ll become much stronger after the next balance update due to the change to skills that reduce max health.
If the opposing team has 1k extra, boosted health he’d remove all of it from up to 3 heroes and then further reduce their health by 800 over 4 turns.
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With the family bonus allowing 50% chance to increase status effects he casts by one, Two or three turns does this include the reduced health over four turns so could be increased to 7 turns and 1400 health reduction? I guess also increase the health given by the same amount?
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Yes, it would be all 4 of his effects so more health for himself and 2 allies and more reduction for the enemies.
I get that he isn’t the typical purple damage hero everyone tends to use but I like finding ways to make heroes useful.
If the health reduction changes happen this guy seems the most effective against health boosters, since heroes who boost health over the next 4 turns would have it all removed and their max health reduced further each turn.
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I’m hearing that alot of people wont give him the tabards as hes just ok , I’m level 90 with a stacked team and still on the fence anyone wanna weigh in I’ve watched all the youtube vids and no one seems impressed
He isn’t that great, in my opinion. He will lose most of his viability with the new update that removes all boosted health. There are too many ailment blockers out there too, so putting him on defense is out. He has nowhere to go.
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I can see use for him if people don’t have any other health reducers. Yeah, the change makes his own boosted health not as good, but the fact that he also reduces the enemies boosted health too, makes him viable for some.
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I was fortunate to pull Xiong and Im excited to test him out once I get the tabards. With the right synergy I think he could be a solid tank especially with Queen G at flank (sneaky little upgrade to the journy family passive).
Hes the type of hero that if his special fires early it might be hard to recover with a bad board. Should be fun on offense. Three more points I will mention
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Its well known that special skills that speed up/increase mana have a tendency to be superior than the typical special. With that being said, Im not exactly sure how he will fair out, but should be better than the avg hero.
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For wars, and depending on roster depth it can be a challenge to have a counter to dispel/prevent buffs and to cleanse/prevent ailments. Either you have both counters or you pick your poison.
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On offense, he fits well for my play style (3-1-1 or 2-2-1). Personally, I dont think his special makes a lot of sense for mono players, unless its just for a significant stat boost or you dont have better options. Sorry mono players! Please let me know if Im wrong about it.
Cheers!
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If it happened all at once, he would be better, but his effects can be blocked because they’re ailments.
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i’ve not decided yet if he’s great or just ok. that he just act on three is a big minus, hoewever in defence with another healer it might be tough to kill him and nearby enemies.
dispellers and ailment blockers or cleanser are the ones you would need to bring against him . that way he will loose his special power, if wou manage to load early enough 
on attack he could be interesting , however with effect on just 3 you probably need another healer which reduces the power in a fight where fast hits would be necessary to kill the 1-2 most dangerous enemies.
I still believe he’s worth leveling up and even emblem , especially if you do not have overhealers, mana reducers, or health reducers. mana accelerator can be a nice plus as a tank.
limit break I’d wait until testing out how efficient he is in my gameplay and in combination eg with dir zuri, hetepheres or other strong healers and eg giod hit all next to him . or a lady woolerton with 2LB maybe better hathor 
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I have been doing some testing, raiding myself in Beta with tank options of Xiong Shanjun, Hawthorn, Bera, Alfrike and Aramis (Aramis is the only one I don’t have in live game). This is part of the “Big adjustment” testing so many of these heroes are slightly nerfed from current live version, but base stats are also adjusted higher. Aramis is also gifted at lvl 90 but the others I had at 85 and I don’t have the Aethers to bring them to 90.
Defense Team: C-Panther : Anne : Xiong / Hawthorn / Aramis / Bera / Alfrike : Queen Guo : C-Panther.
Raid team (always) : Queen Guo / C-Gazelle / Hachiko / Chomper / Hohenwerf
Note the raid team lacks dispel so buffing heroes have some advantage.
Aramis tank defense wins 7/12 (58%)
Hawthorn wins 4/12 (33%)
Bera wins 3/10 (30%)
Alfrike wins 3/10 (30%)
Xiong wins 1/12 (8%)
I think I’d rank them in that order. Aramis really went down only on great yellow boards and on bad boards the entire defense was left standing with boosted health. I think we’ve all experienced that pain by now. I was always able to take Hawthorn out even on rather poor boards, but if he got to fire his special first sometimes it was enough for the remainder of the defense to kill me. Mana boosting the wings really helped get in just enough extra damage to turn the battle. Bera stat-wise should’t be a top tank anymore and I didn’t bring a good team to counter her, but she’s fast and cuts your mana upon death which is annoying. Alfrike is boom or bust. On a bad board that chains she’ll take you down hard and likely everyone else is firing just after her. If you can dance around hitting her for half the turns, you’re fine. Xiong…just doesn’t do enough. I thought he’d turn the match more than hawthorn but 3-wide heroes just aren’t effective enough.
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Thanks so much @Dorkus! That is incredibly useful information (albeit disappointing for those who pulled him).
Have a great weekend!
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I called that when I pulled him. Of all the featured heroes I could have pulled, I got the worst one. At least it was for free. Still won’t level him though.
Thanks for sharing. Any thoughts playing with him?
I find him useful, it helps the team and hurts the enemy at the same time. Also performed very well in Alliance Wars as a tank, flanked by Erlang Shen and Zeline.
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Thanks so much @kekcukka! My alliance uses purple tanks and I’m trying to decide if he’s viable for war, despite some of the negative reviews.
Would you mind sharing the other heroes of your team and also what your team power is, and what the general team power level of the teams that attacked you?
Thanks again!
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Sure!
These are my War Teams, I rotate time to time to keep things fresh. 5000+ teams and Level 70+ players attack me and most of the time they destroy my team in three attempts.
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Thanks a gazillion @kekcukka! Very much appreciated. Not sure I can field as strong a team as you but it looks like he’s definitely viable and perhaps underrated by other players…
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