Holidays are a time for togetherness; a time to get back together with family and friends and celebrate together. At least, that's what holidays are supposed to be about...

Someone outside Luskan has been pillaging the food stores in advance of this year's Simril celebration. Residents are becoming worried that there may not be enough to last the long Sword Coast winter to come!

Simril 3 introduces Krull, the Tortle Death Cleric of Tiamat from Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and brings back Warden, the corrupted Warforged Warlock, and Dhadius the Scarlet, an arrogant Human Wizard. Players have until Monday, December 9th at 12PM Pacific to complete their Simril 3 unlocks and objectives.

New Champion: Krull

Krull is a death-cleric of Tiamat who swore allegiance to Arkhan the Cruel after being bested by him in combat. He's Arkhan's alchemist, his experimenter, his torturer... Always surrounded by the dead, Krull wears a white painted face mask that makes him look undead in an effort to confuse and strike fear in his opponents.

Krull is a Support and Gold Find Champion, dedicated to serving his master, Arkhan the Cruel. He inflicts plagues on his enemies, debuffing them with various ailments. When you want to add Krull to the formation, you can swap him with Asharra (Slot 6).

For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Krull dev blog!

Year 2 Champion: Warden

Forged to be the jailer for a prison filled with eldritch horrors in a faraway land, Warden became corrupted by the monstrosities they sought to keep locked away. Now they journey at the behest of an otherworldly master, seeking souls for the insatiable Dark Hunger to corrupt and feast upon.

Warden is a DPS and Support Champion, corrupted by their Hexblade, the source of their otherworldly strength. At the same time, it is also from this Hexblade that the Elder Evils of Realmspace have laid their claim to Warden, infesting their body with eldritch malignancy. They use their Hex ability to curse enemies, debuffing them and causing them to take additional damage for each stack of the Hex curse they are afflicted with.

When you want to add Warden to your formation, you can swap them with Jamilah (Slot 11).

For more information about our Warden, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Warden dev blog!

Year 1 Champion: Dhadius the Scarlet

Dhadius is a mage of legendary status and acclaim (at least, in his own mind), who sees everyone else as intellectual worms. Being an egomaniac, he seeks out esoteric lore and rare magical secrets, so he may know things that the 'common fools' do not.

Dhadius hails from Luskan in the north, where he is a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, an infamous group of wizards. He joined them only recently and hasn't been taken as seriously by the others as he thinks he should be. He's determined to let it be known far and wide that he is a wizard to be respected and feared.

Dhadius is an arrogant Wizard and Support Champion. His Skill Empowerment ability increases the damage of nearby Champions - if they are intelligent enough.

When you want to add Dhadius to your formation, you can swap him with Calliope (Slot 5).

Year Three Variants

• Spoiled Staples — You'll need barrels if you want to cart all this food back to town before it spoils! At the start of the adventure, two barrels on wagons take up slots in the formation.
  Reach Area 75.


• Master Plaguebringer — Krull begins in the second column of the formation. He can be moved, but can't be removed from the formation. Non-Plagued enemies deal 100% more damage (additive) and move 10% faster (additive) for each enemy on the screen that doesn't have a Plague on them (including themselves).
  Reach Area 125.


• The Creeping Chill — Every 5 areas, the temperature drops by 5 degrees. For each change in temperature, the enemies get stronger, increasing their health and damage by 100% (additive).
  Reach Area 175.

Year Two Variants

• Unlucky Hunters — Local beasts do not take kindly to the Champions trespassing upon their land. Beasts deal increased damage, and their hides are thickened like armor.
  Reach Area 75.


• Frostbitten — The thickness of the falling snow in outdoor areas increases as the adventure goes on. Champions on the outside of the formation deal less damage the further they go due to the cold weather.
  Reach Area 125.


• Unspeakable Horrors — Warden begins in your formation. Starting in the first area and continuing every 25 areas after, you lose a formation slot to creeping eldritch horrors. For each tentacle taking up a slot in the formation, Warden's damage is increased.
  Reach Area 175.

Year One Variants

• Frightful Weather — In areas where it is snowing (excluding boss areas), the party takes damage every second.
  Reach Area 75.


• Light in the Darkness — Several slots in the formation are taken up by floating magical torches.
  Reach Area 125.


• A Wise Endeavour — Only champions with a wisdom score of 13 or higher – and of course, Dhadius – may be used.
  Reach Area 175.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

The malevolent black spire of twisted metal stands before you, ascending hundreds of feet into the crimson sky. Bristling with charred skulls impaled on iron spikes, the tower's apex splits into five narrow spires reaching upwards like a dragon's claws. An Ancient White Dragon colored gray with ash and soot circles the air above the tower. As you approach, the spiked iron portcullis yawns open like the mouth of a dragon.

Hunched over and wrapped in decaying violet robes, a muscular tortle shambles out of the darkness, flanked on either side by armor-clad undead. The tortle's shell is covered in pyramid-like spikes, each carved with draconic runes. Its face is painted in the visage of a gleaming white skull.

"If you wish to meet with my master," rasps the tortle, "you will need to convince me first. I am Krull, and I serve the Champion of Tiamat, Arkhan the Cruel. What business do you have here?"

Today we are excited to finally reveal Krull, the Tortle Death Cleric of Tiamat coming this week with our third annual Simril event. Some of you may recognize Krull from Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus or from some of the awesome art posted online. Let's dive right in and see how this evil tortle shapes up, shall we?

Who is Krull?

Krull is a death-cleric of Tiamat who swore allegiance to Arkhan the Cruel after being bested by him in combat. He's Arkhan's alchemist, his experimenter, his torturer... Always surrounded by the dead, Krull wears a white painted face mask that makes him look undead in an effort to confuse and strike fear in his opponents.

II. Krull's Stats

Race: Tortle	Alignment: Lawful Evil
Class: Cleric (Death Domain)	Gender: Male
Age: 40	Affiliation: none

STR: 20	DEX: 14	CON: 15
INT: 12	WIS: 20	CHA: 12

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra

III. Krull's Design

When it came to designing Krull, we were lucky to have the direct assistance of his creator, Joe Manganiello. Joe really helped us to distill down the essence of who Krull is and what his relationship is like with Arkhan the Cruel, and more importantly, how Krull prefers to operate. This led us down the path of creating a dark and twisted character who specializes in experimentation and creating different plagues while also supporting his master.

Now that his design has come together, Krull is a Support and Gold Find Champion, dedicated to serving his master, Arkhan the Cruel. He inflicts plagues on his enemies that can increase the amount of gold they drop, cause them to take more damage, and cause damage they take to also deal damage to other enemies around them. Krull is potent in formations focused on evil Champions, and is especially powerful when combined with Arkhan the Cruel. When you want to add Krull to the formation, you can swap him with Asharra (Slot 6).

IV. Krull's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Krull's Maul/Necrotic Touch — Krull attacks a random enemy with his Maul. Once Draconic Plague is unlocked, this upgrades to Necrotic Touch. At that point, if the enemy he attacks doesn't have all three types of Draconic Plague on them, he infects them with one of the plague strains they do not already have. Otherwise, he adds two stacks to each plague on them (if possible; respecting their individual caps).

Formation Abilities

• Draconic Plague — Krull applies a draconic plague to the next enemy to spawn. Plagues have a random effect (see below). This ability has a 5 second cooldown. Because of the Virulent Strain ability, enemies can have multiple Plague debuffs on them, including multiple debuffs of the same type. Multiple plague debuffs of the same type stack multiplicatively.


• Plague: Pilfer — An enemy infected with this plague drops 5% more gold for every 3 seconds it stays alive (additively), capping at 10 stacks (50%). Starts at 1 stack.
• Enemies drop 5% more gold immediately
• 10% after 3 seconds
• 15% after 6 seconds
• etc.


• Plague: Pain — An enemy infected with this plague takes 20% more damage every 3 seconds it remains alive (additively), capping at 10 stacks (200%). Starts at 1 stack.
• Enemies take 20% more damage immediately
• 40% after 3 seconds
• 60% after 6 seconds
• etc.


• Plague: Traitor — An enemy infected with this plague causes all enemies near it to take damage equal to 10% of the damage it itself receives. This amount is increased for every 3 seconds it remains alive (additively), capping at 10 total stacks (100%). Starts at 1 stack. Does not cascade -- damage caused by Plague: Traitor on other monsters does not trigger it. Note this is very beneficial to Arkhan and other single-target attackers as it provides them with a potential AOE.
• Nearby enemies take 10% of damage received immediately
• 20% of damage taken after 3 seconds
• 30% of damage taken after 6 seconds
• etc.


• Virulent Strain — When an enemy with a Plague on it dies there is a 10% chance that its Plague will transfer to another enemy that is not quite so dead. In this way, enemies can have multiple Plague debuffs on them, including multiple debuffs of the same type. Multiple debuffs of the same type stack multiplicatively. This ability is buffed by feats, but not by any normal upgrades or equipment.


• Arkhan's Army — Krull increases the damage of all "evil" Champions in the formation by 100%. This effect is decreased by 10% (additively) for "each" good Champion in the formation. Buffs to this ability increase both the base buff percentage and the decrease for each "good" Champion.


• The Master's Call — Krull increases the damage of Arkhan the Cruel by 400%, reduced by 75% (multiplicatively) for each slot away from Arkhan he is greater than one.
• Examples:
• 1 slot away = 400%
• 2 slots away = 100%
• 3 slots away = 25%
• etc.
• Dark Order Synergy — The effect of Krull's Arkhan's Army ability is increased by 100% (multiplicative) for each Dark Order member adjacent to Krull. This ability can be buffed by upgrades, feats, and equipment. Buffs apply to the post-stack value. This ability was added in September 2020, with the arrival of Torogar Steelfist, Arkhan the Cruel's bodyguard, and another member of the Dark Order.

Specializations

• Plague Focus: Pilfer — Increases the effect of Plague: Pilfer by 100%.


• Plague Focus: Pain — Increases the effect of Plague: Pain by 100%.


• Plague Focus: Traitor — Increases the effect of Plague: Traitor by 100%.

Ultimate Ability

Corrupted Ghouls — Krull summons four corrupted ghouls which spawn behind the formation and rush through it towards the nearest enemies. When a ghoul reaches an enemy it explodes, dealing damage in a small radius and leaving behind a pool of necrotic green goo that damages enemies that move through it. These goo pools last for 30 seconds.

V. Krull's Equipment

Slot 1: Global DPS	Slot 2: Plague: Pilfer	Slot 3: Plague: Pain
Slot 4: Arkhan's Army	Slot 5: Ultimate Damage	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

VI. Conclusion

We've been wanting to include Krull in Idle Champions since the very first time we set our eyes on his character art, and we're excited to have had another chance to work with Joe to bring this heavy metal tortle to life! We hope you like him!

Feel free to send us feedback on via the Idle Champions Subreddit, Steam forum, or the Idle Champions Discord!

The Champions find themselves in turmoil. The newer Champions are mounting a grumbling mutiny after many adventures of following silently behind the core group. They feel it's time for them to take charge. Perhaps then, we can make some progress!

As it turns out, we have a perfect opportunity for them to show off their leadership skills. We come across a forest town besieged by kobolds, with a mystery surrounding goblins and some enchanted apples. Kobolds, goblins, and a sunken citadel, Oh my! It's time to split the party!

Note: you will need to have completed the previous two Grand Tour Adventures, Who Lurks in Lurkwood and Orcs are Wild, in order to access these new Adventures.

Begun, Our Extra Life Charity Drive Has...

We're super excited to launch our 2019 Extra Life charity drive! We've added a new DLC pack for Celeste to the store. Codename Entertainment will be donating the net proceeds of all sales of the Healer of Toril Celeste Skin & Feat pack through November 27th to Extra Life! Pick up this awesome skin, get a boost for Celeste's healing ability, AND help sick kids through Extra Life!

Celeste's new Healer of Toril Skin
Don't forget to tune into our 24-hour stream from the studio starting on Friday November 22nd at 9AM at twitch.tv/cnegames. Clive and Alexis will be running live D&D games! Check out the Idle Champions Extra Life page here

New Updates

We've added 3 new Quality of Life updates into the build today:

• Formation saves will now also save your placed familiars!

• The character sheets on PC & mobile have been updated with two toggle options, the first one allows you to see upcoming upgrades, so you can have more information when you're at your wall!

• The second character sheet toggle combines upgrades, allowing you to see your Champions' progress towards their level cap. You'll now know how many more upgrades of each type remain before you reach your level cap!

The Sunless Citadel

The Champions find a mystery that requires them to split the party. We'll see the first half of the adventure from the point of view of the Evergreen Champions. The Sunless Citadel is our first base adventure with restrictions: You can only use Evergreen Champions (The Core 12 + Drizzt, Azaka, and Hitch).

• Variant: Veteran Brigade — Continuing the restriction from the base adventure, only Evergreen Champions can be used in this variant. Jot, the quasit joins your formation in area 23 onward. Additionally, each boss has 50 points of armored health. These are the veterans, after all.
  Reach Area 325.

Meepo's Quest

The Champions find a mystery that requires them to split the party. We'll see the other half of the adventure from the point of view of the Event Champions. Meepo's Quest also has a restriction for the base adventure: You can only use Event Champions.

• Variant: She's Harmless! — Continuing the restriction from the base adventure, only Event Champions can be used in this variant. Meepo, the kobold joins your formation in area 21 onward. Additionally, because we all know we're not going to return Meepo's 'pet', Champion damage is reduced by 25% for each 'good' Champion in the formation. . These are the veterans, after all..
  Reach Area 325.

See the in-game Change Log for more information!

During Feast of the Moon, residents of the Sword Coast pay homage to the deeds of legendary heroes by visiting their crypts and graves.

When the Champions arrive at The Crypt of Legends, they find hordes of undead crawling up from the depths. Something is making the dead heroes rise, and the answer will require a descend into the depths to discover the cause...

Feast of the Moon 3 introduces Sentry, the Warforged Paladin (Oath of the Ancients) from High Rollers: Aerois, and brings back Vlahnya Um'vairar, the Eladrin Bard/Wizard, and Gromma Nander, the Tortle Druid. Players have until Monday, November 18th at 12PM Pacific to complete their Feast of the Moon 3 unlocks and objectives.

New Champion: Sentry

Sentry, protector of the Kingdom of Solwynn, is an ancient relic on her plane. Long ago, a dark power obliterated Sentry's peaceful home, forcing her to power down until a new purpose could wake her. Now, with her ceremonial axe, and memories of Solwynn guiding her, Sentry devotes herself to protecting the friends fighting alongside her. Despite being thrust into a new world eons beyond the one she knew, Sentry defends the good of the world from the dark reaches of evil’s grasp. She will not fail again.

Sentry is a Support and Tanking Champion who buffs DPS while at the front of the formation with her Guardian of Solwynn ability. She also uses Create Echo to summon a companion who can increase healing received, speed up progress, and further boost formation DPS. When you want to add Sentry to the formation, you can swap her with Jarlaxle (Slot 4).

For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight: Sentry dev blog!

Year 2 Champion: Vlahnya Um'vairar

Fate Weaver, Spy mistress, New Olamn college of whispers instructor, Band Manager of Sirens of the Realms & Magic Missile, long time pal of Durnan. This noble looking Eladrin Elf has friends in high and low places. Her true origins are unknown though it is rumored she traveled across FaerÈ—n with a bard troupe and learned about the world one tavern at a time.

Vlahnya is a Support Champion, able to buff Champions in columns ahead of her with Enthralling Performance. The more harmonious the party, the greater the buff. When you want to add Vlahnya to your party, you can swap her with Delina (Slot 8).

For more information about our latest Champion, check out the Idle Champion Spotlight - Vlahyna dev blog!

Year 1 Champion: Gromma Nander

A wise Tortle matriarch, Gromma Nander is an elderly Circle of the Land Druid with nearly one hundred grandchildren. She has picked up many skills over her long life, and is able to fulfill DPS, support, or tanking roles in a formation. No matter her specialization, Gromma has a particular grandmotherly fondness for young members of any race, and will empower members of her party, with the youngest receiving the greatest boost.

Gromma is a versatile Tank and Support Champion. Her Druid Circle specializations offer different tanking options depending on the situation, while her Grandmotherly Love formation ability buffs your party, with the youngest Champions receiving the greatest benefit. When you want to add Gromma to your party, you can swap her with Nayeli (Slot 3).

Year Three Variants

• Strike While It's Hot — Enemies spawn with an effect called "Hardening Iron;" after every 2 seconds they're alive, they take 50% less damage from all sources, stacking multiplicatively.
  Reach Area 75.


• Ride-Along — Sentry starts out in the formation and can not be moved, removed, or swapped out. Two more slots are occupied by two frightened villagers who started out pretty excited about being able to go on patrol with the Champions, but have since changed their minds.
  Reach Area 75.


• Tempered Foes — Enemies that are damaged but not killed have their speed and damage increased by 100% and instantly heal one third of their missing health; this effect can stack multiple times but does not apply to static or hits-based/armor-based enemies.
  Reach Area 175.

Year Two Variants

• Inevitable Betrayal — Skeletal warriors accompany you in your adventures through the crypt of legends. They take up 2 slots in the formation. While they are both 'alive' the champions deal 50% less damage.
  Reach Area 75.


• Siren's Song — A doppelganger has taken on the guise of Vlahnya and is filling the crypt with dissonant tunes, waiting to destroy Vlahnya and take her place. Vlahnya starts the adventure in your party. This Doppel-Vlahnya appears in each area, stunning Champions, and only the true Vlahnya can deal damage to her until she reverts to her Doppelganger form.
  Reach Area 125.


• Undead Legends — Additional undead stalk the Champions within the crypt. Additional boss monsters appear in each boss area, including some legendary bosses from your past, present, and/or fugure. This variant features unique dialogue.

Year One Variants

• Respectful Restraint — Ultimate Attacks are disabled, and any attacks with a cooldown of 5 seconds or less have an additional 3 second cooldown (so a 4 second cooldown becomes 7 seconds, but a 6 second cooldown stays at 6 seconds). These lengthened attacks don't do any additional damage due to their longer cooldown.
  Reach Area 75.


• The Relentless Undead — Undead monsters have their health doubled, and when they take a killing blow, they are stunned for 10 seconds before coming back to life (they still drop gold and quest items and count towards the quest each time they are killed).


• A Grand Nandventure — Gromma Nander is forced to be in your formation. She starts at level 1 in your formation right away alongside Bruenor (or Deekin). Gromma cannot be removed from the formation or moved from her formation seat. She has a 4x damage boost and her normal attack cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.
  Reach Area 175.

See the in-game FAQ for more information!

Today, we're previewing our newest Champion: Sentry, the Warforged Paladin and Hero of Aerois! Sentry will be launching on Wednesday, November 6th!

Sentry, like fellow Heroes of Aerois Champions Qillek & Aila, comes from the plane of Aerois. Read on to learn all about this Warforged Paladin!

I. Who is Sentry?

Sentry, protector of the Kingdom of Solwynn, is an ancient relic on her plane. Long ago, a dark power obliterated Sentry's peaceful home, forcing her to power down until a new purpose could wake her. Now, with her ceremonial axe, and memories of Solwynn guiding her, Sentry devotes herself to protecting the friends fighting alongside her. Despite being thrust into a new world eons beyond the one she knew, Sentry defends the good of the world from the dark reaches of evil’s grasp. She will not fail again.

Sentry is a Support and Tanking Champion who buffs DPS while at the front of the formation with her Guardian of Solwynn ability. She also uses Create Echo to summon a companion who can increase healing received, speed up progress, and further boost formation DPS. When you want to add Sentry to the formation, you can swap her with Jarlaxle (Slot 4).

II. Sentry's Stats

Race: Warforged	Alignment: Lawful Good
Class: Paladin	Gender: Female
Age: 13	Affiliation: Heroes of Aerois

STR: 18	DEX: 10	CON: 15
INT: 8	WIS: 14	CHA: 14

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra

III. Sentry's Design

Since the Heroes of Aerois already have a Tank in Aila, we wanted to approach Sentry a bit differently. As we looked at what a healing tank could do, we realized that Echo was such a unique aspect of the character that we wanted to build upon it. We already had the idea of Flame Lance as her ultimate based on Rhiannon's suggestions, so utilizing Echo more seemed like a no-brainer. Create Echo gave us the ability to track Sentry's 'state' and change the next area up (boosting her allies, or lowering the quest requirements) based on what was happening.

Sentry's key ability is Guardian of Solwynn, allowing her to buff Champions behind her as long as she's in the front-most column. Most abilities tie back to Guardian of Solwynn and buff it further.

IV. Sentry's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Divine Strike — Sentry leaps forward and attacks the nearest enemy with her battleaxe, which explodes with radiant light. This attack can hit multiple enemies in a small AOE.

Formation Abilities

• Guardian of Solwynn — Increases the damage of Champions within two slots of Sentry by 100% if Sentry is in the front-most column of the formation.


• Create Echo — Echo accompanies Sentry in the formation, floating just beside her. Echo has multiple effects based on whether Sentry wasn't, currently is, or was ever under attack in the current area.
  
  
• a) Echo Healing — Whenever Sentry is under attack, Echo increases the amount of healing received by everyone in Sentry's column by 25%.


• b) Echo Resolution — If you are on the highest area unlocked, if Sentry wasn't attacked at any time in the current area, when you transition to the next area there is a 30% chance that the quest requirements in that area will be reduced by 20%.


• c) Echo Amplification — If Sentry was attacked at any time in the current area, when you transition to the next area, Guardian of Solwynn is increased by 400% for that area.

You can tell which effect may trigger in the next area based on Echo's current gem color:


• Purple: You are not in the highest area unlocked. You should fix that.
• Green: Sentry has not yet been attacked in this area and Echo Resolution may trigger in the next area.
• Yellow: Sentry is currently being attacked (Echo Healing is active). Echo Amplification will trigger in the next area.
• Red: Sentry has been attacked in this area and Echo Amplification will trigger in the next area.



• Redshift — Increase the chance of Echo Resolution (decreasing the next area's quest requirements) triggering by 10% (additively).
  
  
• Aerois Synergy — Sentry contributes a 100% buff (additive) to the Aerois Synergy Pool for each enemy on the screen. Guardian of Solwynn is then increased by 25% of the current Aerois Synergy pool.


• Reinforced Plating — Increases the health of all other Champions in the formation by 25% of Sentry's max health.

Specializations

• Nature's Wrath — Sentry's Divine Strike has a 50% chance to ensnare affected enemies in a circle of vines, stunning them for 3 seconds (remember her base attack has a small AOE effect).


• Echo's Will — Increases the quest requirement reduction of Echo Resolution to 30%.


• Sentry's Homeland — Increases the effect of Guardian of Solwynn by 100%.

Ultimate Ability

• Flame Lance — Echo transforms into an elk that Sentry can ride. Sentry and Echo then charge into battle with her flame lance, leaving a line of fire and dealing damage over time to affected enemies.

V. Sentry's Equipment

1. The various version of Sentry's Axe will increase the damage of all Champions.
2. Sentry's Shield increases the effect of her Guardians of Solwynn ability.
3. Sentry's different hair vines will increase the effect of her Redshift ability, which increases the chance of Echo Resolution triggering and lowering the quest targets for the next area.
4. Sentry's tabards increase her health.
5. The various versions of Echo will increase her Ultimate Attack damage.
6. Her belts will reduce the cooldown on her Ultimate Attack.

VI. Conclusion

Sentry may seem complex at first, but she's a versatile healing tank that can help you advance to your wall quicker with her Echo Resolution and Redshift abilities. Once there, she will help you push further thanks to her Echo Healing, Guardian of Solwynn, and Echo Amplification abilities.

Feel free to send us feedback on via the Idle Champions Subreddit, Steam forum, or the Idle Champions Discord!