A great cosmic conflict has spilled out upon the prime material plane.

While celebrations to mark the start of spring begin in the quaint Sword Coast town of Triboar, a Githyanki raiding party descents from above, raining destruction.

It's up to the Champions to defend the innocent and figure out what has drawn the attention of the Gith and their Endless War. It's time for Greengrass 7!

Greengrass 7 has arrived! It introduces Gale, the Human Wizard from the 2023 Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3. This Support Champion brings the might of Mystra to the Absolute Adversaries and your formations! It also reintroduces Penelope "Half-Pint", the Halfling Druid from the Heroes of the Planes. You can learn more about the rework to Penelope below. Also, you can choose three of eight previous Champions to unlock over the course of Greengrass 7!

As a reminder: Adventure Variant information can now be found in the corresponding Champion's Spotlight. This change is being made so that all information about a Champion and their adventures can be found in one place.

Table of Contents

• Gale
• Penelope
• Flex Champions
• New Patron
• Events 2.0

Gale

Gale of Waterdeep was a prodigious archmage, his talents earning him the attention of Mystra, the goddess of magic. At her side, he learned all that mortals might accomplish with the Weave, in time earning his place as her lover, and her Chosen. And yet, he was not satisfied. In an attempt to prove he was ready for even greater power, he accidentally unleashed 'the orb' - a highly volatile fragment of pure Weave, corrupted by Netherese magic, which buried itself in his chest. Cast out by Mystra, humbled by his downfall, he does all he can to prevent the orb's cataclysmic detonation, watching for his chance to get back everything he lost, and more.

Gale is a support champion that buffs Champions in the two columns ahead of him and debuffs monsters the first time he attacks them. Gale will have access to all of Elminster's Patron adventures and variants, and is ready to be unlocked in the first seat opposite Bruenor.

Learn more about Gale in our Champion Spotlight!

Penelope

Penelope "Half-Pint" is a halfling who just wants to be everyone's best friend, even if they are evil, or a plant, or a rock. With friends that already include a treant named Neverember and a clan of chwinga that have adopted her, Penelope is ready for anything! She has the heart of a true hero and will always stand by her friends...until she goes into shrub mode of course.

Penelope is a Support, Gold Find, and Healing Champion who focuses on crowd control by slowing and debuffing enemies. She'll have her insect friends ready for when you swap her with Arkhan in seat 12.

Learn more about the changes coming to Penelope in our Reintroduction Spotlight!

Flex Champions

Flex Slots allow players to unlock additional Champions and earn chests during events, choosing from a pool of retired Champions associated with the event. This pool of retired Champions includes the Champions from previous years of the event as well as some Champions whose events have been retired. This event's Flex Slot pool includes:

New Patron: Elminster

The Sage of Shadowdale himself, Elminster Aumar, is the newest Patron in Idle Champions! Elminster joins Zariel, Mirt the Moneylender, Vajra Safahr, and Count Strahd von Zarovich as the fifth Patron. To unlock Elminster you'll first need to complete 250 Adventure Variants and unlock 100 Champions. Once you've done that it will cost 100,000 Gems and 10,000 Currency from the first four Patrons.

Elminster has agreed to be the Champion's patron, but only for the newest Champions! A Champion must have been released or reworked in an event in the last 3 years (including evergreens) to be used.

Elminster Patron Shop

With a new Patron, comes a slew of new shop items! In addition to the normal Patron shop items, Elminster's shop will contain feats and skins for the 3 Champions who are always eligible for his variants: Gale, The Dark Urge, and Dungeon Master, a new exclusive familiar, and a GE Potion!

Elminster Feat Details

Dungeon Master:

Rare Feat to increase the age of his Patience Young Ones! ability by 5 years.

Epic Feat to increase his Disappearing Act ability by 80%

The Dark Urge:

Rare Feat to increase his Embrace/Resist the Urge specializations by 40%

Epic Feat to increase his damage by 120%

Gale:

Rare Feat to increase his An Experienced Sage ability by 40%

Epic Feat to change Gale's alignment to Neutral Good

Events 2.0

Event Changes

Events 2.0 is a significant update to the events system in Idle Champions. Because players will now be able to unlock more Champions, content, and rewards through Events 2.0, we are increasing the duration of events from 12 days to 21 days. Events will typically begin on the first Wednesday of each month and run for three weeks. Content updates for Idle Champions will occur on the Wednesdays outside events.

Along with the Event duration change we are reducing the number of annual events, shifting from 17 annual events down to 12. Long term, we plan to retire the Midwinter, Greengrass, The Running, Midsummer, and Brightswords events. However, as we transition over to the new Event 2.0 schedule, there will be a Greengrass event in April 2024.

Quality of Life Updates

As part of the Events 2.0 update, we are also making several quality of life updates:

• Bounty Contracts used outside of events will award Event Tokens for the next event.
• Event adventures, variants, and free plays no longer cost Event Tokens to start.
• Event Tokens are now only used to purchase Event Chests directly (free plays no longer need to be grinded to obtain extra chests).
• Event Tokens left over once an event ends will automatically be converted to Champion chests.
• Retired Champions may come out of retirement.
• Event Boons are granted to players who purchase specially marked event-related DLC during an event. There are four tiers of Event Boons that offer buffs to Champion Damage, Gold Find, Champion Health, Click Damage, and Speed. These buffs increase with each tier of Event Boon. Additionally, the first purchase that grants an Event Boon will also unlock the Supporter Slot.

To learn more about what is changing with Events 2.0 check out our Blog Post! Join our amazing community with any of the links below:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

How far would you go to celebrate foolishness?

Festival of Fools is a time-honored tradition in Sword Coast communities. Townsfolk engage in the usual gluttonous consumption of food and drink during the festivities, but they also play pranks on each other.

Unfortunately, one prankster has decided to play a practical joke on a Frost Giant nearby...

Festival of Fools 7 is our first Events 2.0! It introduces The Dark Urge, the Dragonborn Sorcerer from the 2023 Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3. This DPS Champion is ready to spread evil across the Forgotten Realms with the rest of the Absolute Adversaries. It also reintroduces Dhadius, the Human Wizard from the Betrayal at Baldur's Gate board game. You can learn more about the rework to Dhadius below. Also, you can choose three of eight previous Champions to unlock over the course of Festival of Fools 7!

Note: Going forward, Adventure Variants information will now be found in the corresponding Champion's Spotlight. This change is being made so that all information about a Champion and their adventures can be found in one place.

Table of Contents

• The Dark Urge
• Dhadius
• Flex Champions
• Events 2.0

The Dark Urge

The Dark Urge remembers nothing but a path paved with blood. Unimaginable cruelty whispers from within. Can he escape it? Would he even want to?

The Dark Urge is a DPS Champion who counts the number of enemies he has slain. Like the other Absolute Adversaries, he has a mind flayer tadpole in his head, and his damage increases as more Champions with tadpoles are added to the formation. Will you choose to embrace his murderous urges, or fight against them? That choice will be made once you unlock them in seat 11 opposite Jamiliah.

Learn more about The Dark Urge in our Champion Spotlight!

Dhadius

Dhadius is a mage of legendary status and acclaim...at least, in his own mind. 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, and is determined to let it be known far and wide that he is a wizard to be respected and feared.

Dhadius has been reworked to modernize his kit and give him some additional formation niches that he may be able to slot into. We've buffed up his abilities and altered his equipment so that his powerful magic is better utilized and encourages more experimentation. This glass cannon can be unlocked in seat 5 opposite Calliope.

Learn more about the changes coming to Dhadius in our Reintroduction Spotlight!

Flex Champions

Flex Slots allow players to unlock additional Champions and earn chests during events, choosing from a pool of retired Champions associated with the event. This pool of retired Champions includes the Champions from previous years of the event as well as some Champions whose events have been retired. This events Flex Slot pool includes:

Events 2.0

Event Changes

Events 2.0 is a significant update to the events system in Idle Champions. Because players will now be able to unlock more Champions, content, and rewards through Events 2.0, we are increasing the duration of events from 12 days to 21 days. Events will typically begin on the first Wednesday of each month and run for three weeks. Content updates for Idle Champions will occur on the Wednesdays outside events.

Along with the Event duration change we are reducing the number of annual events, shifting from 17 annual events down to 12. Long term, we plan to retire the Midwinter, Greengrass, The Running, Midsummer, and Brightswords events. However, as we transition over to the new Event 2.0 schedule, there will be a Greengrass event in April 2024.

Quality of Life Updates

As part of the Events 2.0 update, we are also making several quality of life updates:

• Bounty Contracts used outside of events will award Event Tokens for the next event.
• Event adventures, variants, and free plays no longer cost Event Tokens to start.
• Event Tokens are now only used to purchase Event Chests directly (free plays no longer need to be grinded to obtain extra chests).
• Event Tokens left over once an event ends will automatically be converted to Champion chests.
• Retired Champions may come out of retirement.
• Event Boons are granted to players who purchase specially marked event-related DLC during an event. There are four tiers of Event Boons that offer buffs to Champion Damage, Gold Find, Champion Health, Click Damage, and Speed. These buffs increase with each tier of Event Boon. Additionally, the first purchase that grants an Event Boon will also unlock the Supporter Slot.

To learn more about what is changing with Events 2.0 check out our Blog Post! Join our amazing community with any of the links below:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

"Behold the dance of death."

With a haunted past that he cannot remember, The Dark Urge has been left with only cursed dreams and bloody cravings. This may be an opportunity to write their life anew and craft a brighter future. Or they can carve new memories filled with vicious murder and the cruel glee of slaughter.

I. The Dark Urge

The Dark Urge remembers nothing but a path paved with blood. Unimaginable cruelty whispers from within. Can he escape it? Would he even want to?

The Dark Urge is a DPS Champion who counts the number of enemies he has slain. Like the other Absolute Adversaries, he has a mind flayer tadpole in his head, and his damage increases as more Champions with tadpoles are added to the formation. Will you choose to embrace his murderous urges, or fight against them? That choice will be made once you unlock them in seat 11 opposite Jamiliah.

Check out our Champion Spotlight embedded below for a quick overview of The Dark Urge's abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. The Dark Urge

Race: Dragonborn	Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: Unknown	Affiliation: Absolute Adversaries	Class: Sorcerer

STR: 8	DEX: 13	CON: 15
INT: 12	WIS: 10	CHA: 17

Role: DPS

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Vajra, Strahd, and Zariel

Seat: 11 (Jamilah)

III. The Dark Urge's Abilities

Basic Attack

The Dark Urge has two normal attacks: a melee attack in his regular form, and a melee attack while in his Ultimate Slayer form.

• Murderous Slash - The Dark Urge moves up to the closest enemy and attacks all nearby enemies with a slash of his dagger.

• Slay - The Dark Urge (in Slayer form) moves up to the closest enemy and attacks all nearby enemies with vicious swipes of his claws, dealing ultimate damage.

Passive Abilities

• Dark Inheritance - The Dark Urge is eligible to start in all adventures, even if the Patron, Variant, or other restrictions would say otherwise. He also does not interact with any Champion abilities or variant effects that are based on age.

Formation Abilities

• The Urge - Each time the Dark Urge defeats an enemy, he gains a Murder stack. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 0.1% for each Murder stack he has. Stacks persist between adventures.

• Ceremorphosis - Your formation gains one Ceremorphosis stack due to the mind flayer tadpole in the Dark Urge's brain. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 100% for each Ceremorphosis stack, stacking multiplicatively.

• Living on the Edge - The Dark Urge has 6 Outcast stacks, minus 1 stack for each adjacent champion that does not have the DPS role. The Dark Urge increases his damage by 100% for each Outcast stack, stacking multiplicatively.

Specializations

The Dark Urge's first Specialization picks his subclass.

• Storm Sorcery - The Dark Urge's Murderous Slash attack is empowered by lightning. This increases the range by 200% and deals up to 800% more damage to enemies based on how close they are to him.

• Draconic Bloodline - The Dark Urge's damage is increased by 200% for each Dragonborn Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Divine Soul - The Dark Urge increases the number of The Urge's Murder stacks he gains each time he defeats an enemy by 200%.

The Dark Urge's second Specialization is a choice between embracing or resisting the Urge.

• Embrace the Urge - The Dark Urge unlocks the Form of the Slayer ultimate, and deals 100% more damage for each Evil Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

• Resist the Urge - The Dark Urge's alignment becomes Lawful Good, he unlocks the Wither's Resurrection ultimate, and deals 100% more damage for each Good Champion in the formation, stacking multiplicatively.

Ultimate Ability

The Dark Urge has two ultimate attacks, depending on if you Embrace or Resist the Urge.

• Form of the Slayer - The Dark Urge moves to the enemy's side of the screen and transforms into the form of the Slayer for 15 seconds. While in this form, Sceleritas Fel joins the formation in the Dark Urge's spot while the Dark Urge is in the Ultimate form and is immune to damage. The Dark Urge gains a new melee attack that deals Ultimate damage.

• Withers' Resurrection - Withers appears in the back of the formation and raises his right hand. All enemies take 1 Ultimate hit and are pushed back to their side of the board with a shockwave, all knocked out heroes briefly glow white and are resurrected to full health, and all heroes are immune to damage for 15 seconds. This Ultimate automatically triggers if The Dark Urge is knocked out. After the duration ends, Withers disappears.

IV. The Dark Urge's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: The Dark Urge DPS	Slot 2: The Urge	Slot 3: Ceremorphosis
Slot 4: Living on the Edge	Slot 5: Specializations	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. The Dark Urge's Adventure Variants

How Many Die Today? - Save the village from a foolish prank gone wrong with The Dark Urge!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• Only Champions with the DPS role can deal damage. (clicks still deal damage)
• Each wave spawns an Intellect Devourer. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The Dark Urge's damage is boosted by the number of enemies he has defeated, and this persists after you complete adventures.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Time for Bloody Murder - Save the village with some high damage heroes!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• You may only use Champions with the DPS role and/or members of the Absolute Adversaries or Heroes of Baldur's Gate affiliation.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The Dark Urge deals more damage when he is near the edge of the formation or next to DPS Champions. How will you maximize his damage?
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

Rampage or Redemption - Save the village while deciding to fight or embrace murderous urges!

• The Dark Urge joins the formation. He can be moved, but not removed.
• You may not use Neutral champions unless they are members of the Absolute Adversaries affiliation.
• Each wave spawns an armored Mind Flayer. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Getting to know the Dark Urge: The type of Champions that associate with The Dark Urge depends on if he embraces or fights against his urges. Which one will you choose?
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

Did you put The Dark Urge on the path to redemption? Or did you revel in his murderous side? Let us know all about it:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

At the beginning of the very first year of Idle Champions, Dhadius the Scarlet joined the Champion roster. Originally from the game Betrayal at Baldur's Gate, this arrogant wizard proudly launched his Chromatic orbs from the formation. But over time he has not been taken as seriously as he thinks he should be, so he now becomes our first Champion to be reworked so he can finally get the respect he craves!

I. Dhadius

Dhadius is a mage of legendary status and acclaim...at least, in his own mind. 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, and is determined to let it be known far and wide that he is a wizard to be respected and feared.

Dhadius has been reworked to modernize his kit and give him some additional formation niches that he may be able to slot into. We've buffed up his abilities and altered his equipment so that his powerful magic is better utilized and encourages more experimentation. This glass cannon can be unlocked in seat 5 opposite Calliope.

Check out our Champion Spotlight embedded below for a quick overview of Dhadius' abilities, and read on to get all of the details!

II. Dhadius

Race: Human	Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 57	Affiliation: None	Class: Wizard

STR: 8	DEX: 12	CON: 10
INT: 18	WIS: 9	CHA: 11

Role: DPS and Support

Eligible for Patrons: Strahd

Seat: 5 (Calliope)

III. Dhadius' Abilities

Basic Attack

• Chromatic Orb - Dhadius tosses a Chromatic orb with a random element (acid, frost, or fire) at the nearest enemy.

Formation Abilities

• Skill Empowerment - Increase Dhadius's damage and the damage of Champions with 14 or more Intelligence within 2 slots of Dhadius by 100% for each Champion in the formation affected by this ability, stacking multiplicatively.

• Practice Makes Perfect - Enemies hit by a Chromatic Orb are debuffed based on the orb's type (acid, frost, or fire). Each debuff increases the damage of subsequent orbs of the same type by 400%, stacking multiplicatively. Enemies can have up to 5 debuffs of each type; debuffs do not expire.

• Chromatic Wonder - Dhadius keeps track of the total number of sets of all three orb types he has cast in the current area. Dhadius increases the effect of Skill Empowerment by 100% for each set, stacking multiplicatively and capping at 20 stacks.

Specializations

Dhadius' first Specialization determines whether or not he works with Magic users or non-magic users:

• Together In Magic - The effect of Skill Empowerment is increased by 100% for each Champion in the formation with a Magic base attack, stacking multiplicatively.

• Apart in Magic - The effect of Skill Empowerment is increased by 100% for each Champion in the formation that does not have a Magic base attack, stacking multiplicatively.

Dhadius' second Specialization determines what he focuses on:

• Empowered Orbs - Chromatic Orbs now do AOE damage and deal 400% more damage.

• Empowered Empowerment - Increase the effect of Skill Empowerment by 200%

• Use Smaller Words - Dhadius reduces the required Intelligence of Skill Empowerment to 12 and higher.

Ultimate Ability

• Magic Missile Barrage - Dhadius wildly fires off a large number of magic missiles. The number of magic missiles starts at 10 and increases by 1 for each enemy on the screen. Each missile hits a random enemy, so not necessarily every enemy will be hit.

IV. Dhadius' Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Together In Magic and Apart in Magic	Slot 2: Global DPS	Slot 3: Skill Empowerment
Slot 4: Practice Makes Perfect	Slot 5: Chromatic Wonder	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

V. Dhadius' Achievement and Adventure Variants

Achievement:

• Smart Companions - Complete 100 areas while Dhadius is buffing everyone in the formation with Skill Empowerment.

Adventure Variants

Frightful Weather

• In areas where it is snowing (excluding boss areas), your party will take 1.7% of their max health as unavoidable damage every second.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 75.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 250.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 600.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1200.

Light in the Darkness

• Several slots in the formation are taken up by floating magical torches.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 125.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 350.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 800.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1400.

A Wise Endeavour

• Only champions with a wisdom score of 13 or more, plus Dhadius, may be used.
• Area Goals:
  • Tier 1: Complete Area 175.
  • Tier 2: Complete Area 450.
  • Tier 3: Complete Area 1000.
  • Tier 4: Complete Area 1600.

VI. Conclusion

Does new and improved Dhadius live up to his own hype? Let us know what you think:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

Table of Contents

• Collections
• Guide and Collection Quests
• Rewards
• What's Next?

Collections

An expansion to Collections has been a long time coming, and is something we've wanted to focus on for several years now. Whereas the original Collections dialog only tracked your Champion's equipment progress, the updated and expanded experience allows you to track your progress across nearly every aspect of Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms. It's also home to our new Guide and Collection Quest system, which you can read about later in this blog.

Note: Screenshots in this blog reflect a work in progress version of the Guide and Collections Quests systems. The finalized versions may differ in layout or appearance.



At launch, the updated Collections dialog will track the progress of your Campaigns, Blessings, Patrons, Champions, Skins, Feats, Equipment, Enemies, Familiars, Achievements, Time Gates, and Modron Cores. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg! For example, on the Champions page you can see % of Champions Unlocked, % of Champions with full Epic Equipment, Evergreen Champions Unlocked, Event Champions Unlocked, and % of Champions unlocked by year.



A few additional highlights of the updated system include:

• Search and sort options for individual pages. (Search for adventures with specific enemy types when you have quests or challenges to defeat those enemy types as just one example!)
• Finally re-read the adventure dialog from adventures you've already completed!
• Preview Champion skins at a high resolution!
• Use a 'Premium Progress' toggle that includes or excludes progress that can only be made with premium purchases in the game (set to 'Off' by default).
• And there is even more to discover!

Guide and Collection Quests

Starting Idle Champions can be daunting for newer players. With over one hundred Champions, eight campaigns, twelve annual events, and a plethora of systems to unlock, it isn't always easy to know where to start.

That's where Guide and Collection Quests come in.



Guide and Collection Quests can be found in the main Collections menu. There are over 300 Guide and Collection Quests, starting with the tutorial adventure and carrying through to every feature unlock and completion in the game. Guide Quests have gold or silver borders and lead to feature unlocks or unique rewards, while Collection Quests have normal borders and mark the individual milestones as you complete your collection.

Progress across both Guide and Collection Quests is retroactive. When you first open the Collections dialog and go into the Guide Quests menu, you will have the option to claim your completed rewards either individually or by clicking the 'Claim All' button to claim them all at once.

As we add additional Adventures, Variants, Champions, Campaigns, and other updates to Idle Champions, the Guide and Collection Quests will continue to be updated as well.

Rewards

As you complete Guide and Collection Quests you will unlock Silver Chests, Gold Chests, Electrum Chests, Patron Gold Chests, Champion Gold Chests, Corrupted Gems, and Scales of Tiamat.

What's Next?

Barring any last-minute issues, Guide and Collection Quests will go live on Wednesday, February 28, 2024. We're eager and excited to receive your feedback and make further improvements to this system based on how you're using it!

Table of Contents

• Welcome!
• Pausing Seasons for Core System Updates
• Collections & Guide Quests
• Events 2.0
• What's Next?

Welcome!

Hello! I'm Chris Dupuis, the Executive Producer for Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms. In my role, I plan the release schedule and coordinate with our incredibly talented team throughout the various stages of production, from initial concept to final release. It's a genuine pleasure to finally be able to share the exciting updates our team has been tirelessly working on over the past few months.

2023 was a fantastic year for Idle Champions, and I want to thank our dedicated community for joining us on this adventure! We have a small team here at Codename, but we all work together towards the same goal of releasing fun and exciting content for you, our players. Last year:

• We launched 18 new Adventure & Variant updates, 17 Events & Champions, four Seasons, and four Celebration Events.
• We introduced and released four Emergence Events, starting with the Red Wizard Emergence around the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
• We featured two Idle Champions Presents in-game events and Dungeons & Dragons 5E actual play campaigns with our community of incredibly talented content creators, introducing everyone to new original Champions: Miria, Solaak, Thellora, and Jang Sao.
• The Idle Champions community came together to raise over $30,000 for some amazing charities, including One Tree Planted, Lambert House, Take This, and Extra Life.
• Last but certainly not least, we worked with many fantastic partners last year including Deerstalker Pictures, Penny Arcade, and Cryptic Studios/Gearbox Software. We'd also like to give an extra special shout out to Larian Studios, who helped us to bring characters from the award-winning Baldur's Gate 3 to Idle Champions!

2024 is shaping up to be another big year for the game. We'll celebrate the 7th anniversary of Idle Champions this September, but before we get there we've got some big updates planned. We've got a lot to discuss, so let's get started!

Pausing Seasons for Core System Updates

We introduced Seasons to Idle Champions in September of 2022. Since then, we've rolled out seven Seasons featuring 35 Champions. However, Seasons are very resource-intensive to design and develop, and even though we have been able to keep up a steady stream of Season content, the time we've had available to work on other major system updates has been minimal. With that in mind, we put Seasons development on pause following the release of Season 7: The Rivals so that we could shift resources towards two major core system updates that we are very excited to finally be able to share with you now.

Without further ado, I'll let designers Peter Lee and Justin Stocks introduce you to Collections & Guide Quests, and Events 2.0.

Collections & Guide Quests

I’m Peter Lee, System Designer for Idle Champions. You may best know my work from my career at Wizards of the Coast, where I worked on the development of the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons and on board games like Lords of Waterdeep. I’ve been at Codename Entertainment since October 2021, where you’ve seen my hand in Champion designs and Adventure Variants. I've endeavored to make each new Champion feature an ability that makes them stand apart from the others, like Dungeon Master's Special Guest Star and Karlach's ties to the Zariel Patron. Today, I’m here to talk about Collections and Guide Quests.

Our revisions to Collections and the introduction of Guide Quests have two goals:

1. Help players to more effectively track their progress within Idle Champions.
2. Guide players (especially new or returning players) through the vast and ever-growing content of Idle Champions.

To start things off, we’re greatly increasing the usefulness of the Collections dialog. The current implementation shows the Champions and Equipment you have collected, but there is a lot more to the game than that! The updated dialog will feature Familiars, Skins, Campaign progress, Patrons, and so much more. There will be progress bars to show your overall completion, filtering to make it easy to search your Collections, and requirements to unlock major features like Trials, Campaigns, and Patrons.

It can be daunting to know what to do next in Idle Champions, especially for newer players. Guide Quests help players to determine what they should do next. These will work similarly to how Quests worked with Seasons, however, Guide Quests do not expire, and you can complete them at your leisure! As you complete these Quests, you’ll unlock additional, more difficult quests which will continue showing your potential paths through the game.

Each time you complete a Guide Quest you will earn rewards. In many cases it will be Corrupted Gems, but you’ll also find various Gold Chests and even some Scales of Tiamat. For our experienced players, there will be a button that lets you claim all the rewards at once, so you won’t have to click through hundreds of completed quests when they go live.

We’ll periodically add additional Quests as new content goes live, and I’m excited to see how this helps players progress through the game!

Events 2.0

Hello, my name is Justin Stocks and I am the Lead Designer for Idle Champions. You can interact with me and my co-founder David Whittaker on our Dev Insights stream every Thursday at 2PM PT at twitch.tv/CNEGames. I am here to talk about the next major system update for Idle Champions: Events 2.0.

The event system was the first system we added to Idle Champions after we released the game in September 2017, and aside from some small tweaks, events have remained mostly unchanged. Events 2.0 is an evolution of this system, using everything we have learned over the past six and a half years.

Our goals with Events 2.0 are three-fold:

1. Give players more choice over which Champions appear in events.
2. Increase the depth of events with additional goals and rewards.
3. Give more opportunities to update Champions outside of seasons.

So how did we approach each of these goals? Well, let me tell you.

Our first objective is to give players more choice over what Champions they recruit and gear up in events. This has become an increasingly important design task over the past couple of years, and even more so now that the number of unique Champions in the game has surpassed 100. Gearing up all of those old Champions is a daunting, time-consuming task! In Events 2.0, players will have the opportunity to customize their event by picking from a list of Champions associated with the event. There will be two Featured Champions in each event that everyone has access to, along with three other "flex slots" that allow players to customize the event to their liking. Flex slot Champions will include previously-retired Champions, going all the way back to year one superstars like Gromma, Strix, and Zorbu. This, combined with the ability to get more Gold Chests by completing the higher event tiers, should make it much easier to fully equip your entire roster of Champions.

Let's talk about goals and rewards next. In Events 2.0, after you finish all three variants, that Champion's event will upgrade to the next tier up. This allows you to replay the variants, each with a higher area requirement and another gold chest reward. Additionally, each completed tier will award a powerful buff for that Champion that will last during the event and continue for a period of time after the event ends. Finally, the highest tiers will award unique Feats and special consumable items. These tiers will reward players who have built powerful formations and geared up their Champions to meet the game's hardest challenges. If you don't quite have the power to beat them yet, don't worry! The next time you pick that same Champion in a future event, you'll be able to start from where you left off the last time and push for those high-tier rewards!

We mentioned that there will be two Featured Champions in each event, and this is related to our third objective. Not all Featured Champions will be new Champions -- some will be reworks of existing Champions! Most events will have one new Champion and one reworked Champion, but some could have two new Champions or even two reworked Champions, depending on what cool designs we've been cooking up.

Now, you might be thinking that having five event Champions to recruit and gear up in just 12 days is a bit much. You'd be right, but we are adjusting the cadence and length of events to account for this! Events in this new system will typically start on the first Wednesday of each month and last for three weeks. Time gate weekends and content releases will occur during the weeks between events. This will reduce the number of events per year from 17 to 12, but it will increase the number of Champions you can recruit and gear up during events from 51 to 60.

To cap this section, here's a quick summary of the changes from Legacy Events to Events 2.0:

Legacy Events	Events 2.0
Recruit and gear up to three Champions per event (51 Champions per year)	Recruit and gear up to FIVE Champions per event (60 Champions per year)
Three set Champions per event (no player choice)	TWO set Champions, then up to THREE additional player-picked Champions per event
One new Champion per event	TWO new or reworked Champions per event
Up to three Gold Chests from variants (per Champion)	Up to 12 Gold Chests from variants (per Champion)
Max variant area requirement of 175 (not scaling based on progression)	Max variant area starts at 175 and increases alongside event tier (scaling based on progression)
Generally no unique rewards (ie. feats/skins/buffs)	Cool unique rewards for the new/reworked Champions, and buffs for all Champions
One event every three weeks (on average, but with confusing exceptions)	One event per month (predictably starting on the first Wednesday)
Events last 12 days	Events last 21 days

What's Next?

Hey, it's Chris Dupuis again! Right now we're working to polish up both systems for their releases on February 28th (Collections & Guide Quests) and March 6th (Events 2.0). However, I'm sure you have a bunch of questions! Tune into Dev Insights over the coming weeks with your questions about Collections & Guide Quests and Events 2.0. We also plan to roll out dedicated preview blogs for each system before their release – here’s what to expect over the coming weeks:

• Collections & Guide Quests Rollout:
• Collections & Guide Quests Preview Blog on Friday, February 23rd
• Collections & Guide Quests LIVE on Wednesday, February 28th


• Events 2.0 Rollout:
• Events 2.0 Preview Blog on Friday, March 1st
• Champion Spotlights for [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] on Monday, March 4th & Tuesday, March 5th
• Events 2.0 LIVE on Wednesday, March 6

Before we sign off, I want to share a heartfelt thank you to all of our players from our team here at Codename Entertainment. Thank you for reading through this blog, playing, and joining us on this fantastic adventure. We look forward to hearing your questions in the coming weeks, as well as your thoughts and feedback once we release these updates in the coming months!

As Camp Vengeance gets ready to celebrate Grand Revel, a lone Templar approaches the Champions. Her merchant friend's caravan is missing. The investigation found only scattered supplies and wreckage along the trail. If there are any survivors, they seem to have been taken into the jungles of Chult...

Grand Revel 6 introduces Presto, the unicorn befriending wizard from the Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon! It also brings back Brother Uriah, the good-hearted cleric of the Black Dice Society, and Vi, the planes-walking, gun-toting, gnome artificer played by Jeremy Crawford on Acquisitions Incorporated! Players have until Monday, February 12th at noon Pacific to complete their Grand Revel 7 unlocks and objectives.

Presto

Presto is a bookish and timid teenager whose dreams of becoming a magician became reality when he was transported with his friends to the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons. He wields a capricious, unpredictable form of magic with his distinctive green magical hat. Presto is known for his inventive but sometimes uncontrollable magical solutions as he and his friends search for a way back home.

Presto the Magician is a support Champion who assists the party through debuffs created by his magical hat, buffs to the two columns in front of him, and he discovers extra Modron Component pieces. Once unlocked, you can find this human wizard in Seat 2 opposite Celeste.

Year Seven Variants

Magician! - Discover the fate of some merchants in the jungles of Chult with Presto!

• Presto joins the formation (Slot 6). He can't be moved or removed.
• Only Champions in the two columns in front of Presto can deal damage.
• Getting to know Presto: Presto increases the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of him. Place your damage dealers to take advantage of this!
• Reach Area 75.

The Last Illusion - Discover the fate of some merchants in the jungles of Chult with Varla, the illusionist!

• Presto joins the formation (Slot 7). He can be moved, but not removed.
• Varla also joins the formation. (New escort in Slot 4). Champions next to her attack faster as their base attack cooldowns are reduced by 2 seconds.
• Only monsters that have a debuff can take damage.
• Getting to know Presto: Presto's attacks debuff monsters, making them take additional damage and suffer other effects. Use him and other debuffing Champions to make it so you can damage these monsters!
• Reach Area 125.

It's Venger Time! - Discover the fate of some merchants in the jungles of Chult while being hunted by Venger!

• Presto joins the formation (Slot 7). He can be moved, but not removed.
• At the start of each Boss area, Venger arrives on his nightmare as an additional boss that must be defeated.
• You may only use Champions that have a Magic base attack, an age of 20 or younger, or have a total ability score of 78 or lower.
• Getting to know Presto: Presto's specialization bonuses depend on the other Champions in the formation. Pick a specialization and build your formation around it to maximize your damage!
• Reach Area 175.

We would love to hear about your experiences in Idle Champions on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

"My hocus-pocus is out of focus!"

Young Albert had already been working on his card trick skills when he was pulled into the fantastical world of Dungeons & Dragons. He took on the mantle of Presto the Magician, hoping to become a mighty magical mage. But between his lack of self confidence and an unpredictable magic hat, he still has a lot to learn about being a wizard!

I. Presto

Presto is a bookish and timid teenager whose dreams of becoming a magician became reality when he was transported with his friends to the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons. He wields a capricious, unpredictable form of magic with his distinctive green magical hat. Presto is known for his inventive but sometimes uncontrollable magical solutions as he and his friends search for a way back home.

Presto the Magician is a support Champion who assists the party through debuffs created by his magical hat, buffs to the two columns in front of him, and he discovers extra Modron Component pieces. Once unlocked, you can find this human wizard in Seat 2 opposite Celeste.

II. Presto's Stats

Race: Human	Alignment: Neutral Good
Gender: Male	Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 14	Affiliation: Saturday Morning Squad	Class: Wizard

STR: 9	DEX: 9	CON: 12
INT: 16	WIS: 14	CHA: 13

Role: Support

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Strahd

Slot: 2 (Celeste)

III. Presto's Design

"Magic hat, I'm gonna be frank: What we need now is a twenty-ton tank!"

With a green hat full of magical mischief and a repertoire of rhyming spells, Presto is excited to be a real wizard, even if he can't always control what actually happens. His Hat of Many Spells can produce birthday cakes, skateboards, and rotary phones, each damaging and debuffing enemies in different ways. He prefers to stay behind his stronger friends, so he'll boost the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of him. He'll also help scavenge Modron Component Pieces from defeated bosses to assist the formation on their adventures.

Presto can increase his damage bonus depending on who has joined him in the formation. He can specialize with Champions close to his own age, work with companions with less heroic ability scores, or be inspired by others capable of powerful magical attacks. And when he tries hard enough, Presto can pull an amazing elemental attack from his hat to debuff all the enemies on the battlefield and inflict ultimate damage!

Presto hasn't been able to use his magic to help his friends return home, but he's ready to assist the formation as they continue on their adventures!

IV. Presto's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Presto's Hat - Presto takes his hat off, pulls out a random projectile, and throws it at the nearest enemy, dealing one hit.

Formation Abilities

• Hesitant Helper - Presto increases the damage of Champions in the two columns in front of him by 100%.

• Hat of Many Spells - Presto's attacks cause monsters hit by them to take +100% damage (for 15 seconds), stacking multiplicatively up to 5 times. In addition, a secondary effect occurs depending on the projectile.
  Projectiles:
  
  • Birthday Cake w/ one lit candle: The monster is slowed by 50% for 5 seconds.
  • Skateboard: The monster is knocked back a short distance.
  • Rotary Phone: The monster is stunned for 2.5 seconds.
    

• Ultimate Hat Trick - Presto's ultimate is unlocked and has a random effect when used.
  Effects:
  
  • Snowballs: Snowballs fire out at all enemies, dealing 1 ultimate hit to each monster and slowing them by 50% for 10 seconds. The weather changes to Snow.
  • Fireworks: A shower of bright colorful fireworks shoot out and explode all over the battlefield, dealing 1 ultimate hit to all monsters, and stunning them for 5 seconds. The weather changes to Fog.
  • Tornado: A tornado flies out of the hat and grows in size, dealing 1 hit to all monsters and knocking them back a medium distance. The weather changes to Rain.
    

• Component Scavenger - Presto can help scavenge up to (2,000 + 20/day) Modron Component Pieces when killing bosses. While this cap is not reached, Presto has a 10% chance of scavenging 1 Modron Component Piece each time a boss is defeated. The cap increases by 20 every day.

Specializations

• Humble Heroes - Presto increases the damage bonus of Hesitant Helper by 100% for each Champion in the formation with a total ability score of 78 or less.

• Junior Juggernauts - Presto increases the damage bonus of Hesitant Helper by 100% for each Champion in the formation with an age of 20 or less.

• Magical Mastery - Presto increases the damage bonus of Hesitant Helper by 100% for each Champion in the formation with a magic attack.

Ultimate Ability

• A Hatful of Havoc - Presto takes his hat off and holds it out in front of him, firing an assortment of objects at his opponents.

V. Presto's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Global DPS	Slot 2: Hesitant Helper	Slot 3: Hat of Many Spells
Slot 4: Specializations	Slot 5: Ultimate Damage	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

VI. Conclusion

Do you have fond memories of the original Dungeons & Dragons cartoon? Are you excited to see Presto in your formations? We'd love to hear all your stories:

• The Idle Champions Subreddit or Steam forums.
• The Official Idle Champions Discord.
• Our YouTube Channels: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms and CNEGames.
• Our social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!

It's time again to put your formations to the test! Today we are more Adventure Variants to five of our active campaigns (we'll get to Turn of Fortune's Wheel next year!). Read on to learn more about what these adventures are and where to find them!

Adventure Variants

This week's update brings 10 new adventure variants for our 5 active campaigns.

Grand Tour of the Sword Coast Adventure Variants

• The Twilight Grove Variant 3: The Overgrown Grove
Enter the Twilight Grove and fight the forces of the Gulthias Tree!
• You may only use Champions with a Dexterity of 17 or higher.
• Plant creatures deal +400% damage and move +200% faster.
• 1-2 Twig Blights spawn with each wave. (Monster IDs 756-758) They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Complete area 425.



• Into the Unknown Variant 3: Mental Gymnastics
Help some farmers deal with a mind flayer epidemic!
• You may only use Champions with an Intelligence of 11 or less.
• 1-2 mind flayers spawn with each wave. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Complete area 425.

Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus Adventure Variants

• Questlines Variant 3: When Tentacles Attack
Clear off your quest to do list while tentacles attack!
• You may only use Champions with a Strength of 10 or lower.
• Two tentacles block two formation slots. (3 & 8) Every 5 seconds, they attack a random adjacent champion dealing 10% of the Champion's max health.
• Complete area 550.



• Bel's Forge Variant 3: Flames of Avernus
Begin to unravel Bel's intentions as you enter an active volcano!
• Every 10 seconds, a random formation slot catches fire for 10 seconds, dealing damage to any Champion occupying it equal to 10% of their max health every second.
• You may not use Cleric Champions.
• Complete area 575.

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Adventure Variants

• Deekin's Mission Variant 3: Don't Lose Your Head
Escort the survivors to Bryn Shander while under assault by brain eating intellect devourers!
• An Intellect Devourer spawns with each wave. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• If an Intellect Devourer reaches the formation, it leaps onto the head of a random Champion with an INT score of at least 11, eats their brain, and removes them from the formation for the rest of the adventure. If no valid Champions exist, the Intellect Devourer starves and dies.
• Complete area 500.



• Frozen Vengeance Variant 3: Mind Spike
Return to Sunblight fortress under assault by mind flayers that seek revenge!
• 1-2 Mind Flayers spawn with each wave. (Monster ids 1139-1141) They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• When a Mind Flayer spawns it Mind Blasts a random Champion, dealing 25% of their max health and stunning them for 60 seconds. Champions with an INT score of 15 or higher take no damage and are not stunned.
• Complete area 525.

Wild Beyond the Witchlight Adventure Variants

• The Bitter End Variant 2: A Wise Approach
Race through Motherhorn to rescue Gleam's sister with Champions that don't spurn Wisdom!
• You may only use Champions that don't have Wisdom as one of their lowest two stats.
• An ancient and wise Willow Treant joins the formation. They're so big they take up three spots in your formation, but don't do much else.
• Complete area 950.



• The Palace of Heart's Desire Variant 2: The Brains of an Illithid's Desire
  
Learn about the Palace of Heart's Desire with Champions that have less than stellar ability scores.
• You may only use Champions with an ability score total of 78 or less.
• 1-2 mind flayers spawn with each wave. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Complete area 1000.

Light of Xaryxis Adventure Variants

• No One Can Hear You Scream Variant 2: Arcane Suppression
Scavenge your way through Wildspace in an antimagic field.
• You may only use Champions with a Wisdom of 13 or higher.
• Champions with Magic attacks deal no damage.
• Complete area 500.


• Welcome to the Rock Variant 2: Welcome to the Vrocks
  
Explore the Rock of Bral, trading for repair equipment, while pursued by a furious flock of vrocks!
• 1-2 Vrocks spawn with each wave. They don't drop gold or count towards quest progress.
• Champions with Melee attacks deal no damage.
• Complete area 550.

See the in-game Change Log for more information!

We would love to hear about your experiences in Idle Champions on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

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 descent into the depths to discover the cause...

Feast of the Moon 7 introduces Jang Sao, the Satyr Druid/Wizard from Idle Champions Presents: Fatebreaker! This event also brings back Virgil, the aasimar storm sorcerer and member of the Rivals of Waterdeep as well as Penelope "Half-Pint", the Circle of the Moon Druid/Warlock from Heroes of the Planes! Players have until Monday, November 20th at 12PM Pacific to complete your Feast of the Moon 7 unlocks and objectives.

New Champion: Jang Sao

This celestial voyager traveled the Astral Planes for centuries collecting stars and painting galaxies with her cherished companion, Kwin. When Kwin departed, Jang Sao carried on her wishes of painting the cosmos. Now a wonderful artist, she immortalizes the heavens, reality, and most important of all, her friend.

Jang Sao is a Support and Healing Champion who collects stars and moons and stores them in her star map lantern. Her support abilities focus on isolated formation slots and she uses her druidic healing powers to protect her allies. Once unlocked, you can find this Satyr Druid/Wizard in Seat 8 opposite Delina. Find out more about her and and her abilities by checking out his full Champion Spotlight!

Year Seven Variants

The Circle of Stars - Pay respects to the heroes of olde during the Feast of the Moon with Jang Sao!

• Jang Sao joins the formation. (slot 4) She can't be moved or removed.
• Only Champions in formation slots with 2 or fewer adjacent slots can deal damage.
• Getting to know Jang Sao: Jang Sao increases the damage of Champions in formation slots with 2 or fewer neighboring slots. Place your Champions to take advantage of this!
• Reach Area 75.

Wise and Otherwise - Pay respects to the heroes of olde during the Feast of the Moon with Jang Sao's preferred Champions.

• Jang Sao joins the formation. (slot 5) She can be moved, but not removed.
• You may only use Champions with a DEX of 15+ or a WIS of 13+.
• Getting to know Jang Sao: Jang Sao's specialization choice encourages you to build a formation with high DEX or high WIS. Build your best formation with these restrictions!
• Reach Area 125.

Stars and Moons - Pay respects to the heroes of olde during the Feast of the Moon with a stellar performance!

• Jang Sao joins the formation. (slot 5) She can be moved, but not removed.
• 2-3 Astral Elves spawn with each wave. They don't drop gold, nor do they count towards quest progress.
• A Star and Moon each fill a slot in the formation. (slots 2 & 6)
• Getting to know Jang Sao: Jang Sao travels the cosmos collecting stars. Her star collection persists between adventures, strengthening her powers the more she journeys!
• Reach Area 175.

We would love to hear about your experiences in Idle Champions on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!