Wintershield sees a celebration of maps in the Realms, symbolizing our paths through the new year. As part of this year's tradition, the Champions have purchased a map from a Waterdeep street vendor. Then it started talking...

December 21st, 2022 is the beginning of both Wintershield 6 and Season 2: The Flayer Hunters! Wintershield 6 introduces Imoen, a rogue/wizard and member of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, and brings back two of her fellow Baldur's Gate heroes: Viconia DeVir, Drow Cleric of Shar, and Baeloth the Entertainer, Drow Sorcerer and proprietor of The Black Pits! Players have until Monday, January 2nd, 2023 at 12 PM Pacific to complete their Wintershield 6 unlocks and objectives.

Season 2: The Flayer Hunters

This is also the launch of Season 2, featuring five of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, specifically Nerys, Shandie, Krydle, Jaheira, and Viconia. For our Season 2 skins, we were very excited to collaborate with Max Dunbar to create The Flayer Hunters! All of these Champions have received updates and buffs, and you can see an overview of the changes we have made in the video below and in the game.



Aside from the Champion balance updates, we've been listening to your feedback about the quests and rewards. The quests for this season have been tweaked to reduce some of the grind players experienced in Season 1. We outright removed some of the most disliked quests and added new ones in their place.

On the rewards side, we've added an entirely new reward slot for non-season pass players, providing ten more items to that reward track. Some of these items will even increase the Season Champions' item level. For tier 11, we've removed the requirement that you must purchase all the items from tiers 1-10. Instead, tier 11 now has the same unlock requirement for both season pass and non-season pass players: simply purchase 40 items from tiers 1-10 and you're good to go! We have made some other adjustments to tier 11, removing several items, adding two new ones, and tweaking the costs and reward counts for the remaining items.

A lot of these changes were in response to player feedback, so please keep that feedback coming on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

Imoen's Design

Imoen is a surprisingly cheerful young woman, considering she eventually discovered that she was the child of a deadly murder god. As an orphan, she moved to Candlekeep at the age of 10 with her adoptive father and innkeeper, Winthrop. Soon she traveled to Baldur's Gate with a childhood friend, where she joined forces with powerful Champions like Minsc and Jaheria.

Imoen is a Support and Healing Champion who complements her thieving abilities with spells! She boosts her party's damage whenever a Favored Foe is defeated, and while not primarily a spellcaster, she doesn't mind stepping in with an occasional Polymorph or Stoneskin spell. Once unlocked, you can find this Human Rogue/Wizard in Slot 11 opposite Jamilah. You can find out more in Imoen's Full Champion Spotlight.

Year Six Variants

• Adventure Variant 1: Heya! It's me, Imoen! - Help a poor map find its way home for the holidays with Imoen! Imoen joins the formation, and can't be moved or removed. Only Imoen and Champions next to her can deal damage.
  Complete Area 75.


• Adventure Variant 2: Mutton Mongering Riff Raff - Help a poor map find its way home for the holidays fighting against a menagerie of beasts. Imoen joins the formation, and can't be moved or removed. 1-2 Beasts spawn with every wave, who don't drop gold nor count towards quest progress.
  Complete Area 125.


• Adventure Variant 3: Gotta Go Fast To Cast Fast - Help a poor map find its way home while blasting monstrosities as quickly as you can. Imoen joins the formation and can be moved, but not removed. You may only use Champions with an INT of 12+ and/or Champions from the Heroes of Baldur's Gate affiliation. Imoen's base attack cooldown is reduced by 0.5 seconds for each Champion next to her. 1-2 Monstrosities spawn with every wave, but they don't drop gold nor count toward quest progress.
  Complete Area 175.

Remember that if you have feedback, let us know in a Community Q&A or Champion feedback post on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

Wintershield sees a celebration of maps in the Realms, symbolizing our paths through the new year. As part of this year's tradition, the Champions have purchased a map from a Waterdeep street vendor. And then it started talking...

Wintershield 5 introduces Viconia DeVir, Drow Cleric of Shar from Baldur's Gate and Siege of Dragonspear. Wintershield also brings back Baeloth the Entertainer, Drow Sorcerer, and proprietor of The Black Pits also hailing from the Baldur's Gate games, and Artemis Entreri, the Human Assassin who first appeared in RA Salvatore's 1988 novel The Crystal Shard. Players have until Monday, January 3rd at 12 PM Pacific to complete their Wintershield 5 unlocks and objectives.

I. Viconia DeVir

Viconia DeVir is a devout cleric of Shar, the goddess of darkness and loss. But don't mistake her cleric powers as a sign of her working for good. She may not approve of how the Champions operate, but if the quest and the payout are worthwhile, she's here and ready to assist.

Viconia is an evil alignment buffer who can reanimate dead enemies and turn them against their former friends. She also heals, but only if you get damaged enough to make it worth her time. Once unlocked, you can find this displaced drow in Slot 5 (Calliope)

II. Viconia's Stats

Race: Elf (Drow)	Alignment: Neutral Evil
Gender: Female	Pronouns: She/Her
Class: Cleric	Age: 270
Affiliation: Heroes of Baldur's Gate

STR: 10	DEX: 19	CON: 8
INT: 16	WIS: 18	CHA: 14

Role: Support, Healing

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Strahd, Zariel

Slot: 5, (Calliope)

III. Viconia's Design

Viconia DeVir is a character from the original Baldur's Gate video game, as well as Baldur's Gate II and Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Many of her powers, abilities, and personality were drawn from those games. We're excited to have another evil Champion joining the roster, as well as another member of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate! She may begrudgingly call Baeloth and Minsc 'friends', but the rest of the Champions are just allies that can help her accomplish her goals and earn some coin. She'll offer the other Heroes of Baldur's Gate buffs with her Cleric of Shar ability, and heal those Champions who are in dire need with Cure Medium Wounds. But her main focus during battle is seizing control of the lifeless bodies of their enemies and using Animate Dead to send them back against their former allies!

For more information on Viconia and her abilities, check out her Champion Spotlight!

Year Five Variants

• Adventure Variant 1: Wandering Patrols — Help a poor map find its way home with Viconia. Viconia joins the formation. She can be moved but not removed from the formation. Each wave spawns 1-3 Flaming Fist Soldiers. They don't drop gold, nor do they count towards quest progress. Gold Find is reduced by 99%.
  Complete Area 75.


• Adventure Variant 2: Think About It — Only Champions with INT 13 or higher can be used. Each wave spawns 1-3 Drow Rangers that fire their ranged attack at a random Champion. These attacks also stun any non-elf Champion for 2 seconds due to sleep poison.
  Complete Area 125.


• Adventure Variant 3: Snarky Map — Help a poor map find its way home with Champions that aren't very nice. Only Evil Champions and other Heroes of Baldur's Gate Champions can deal damage. Enemies move 200% faster and deal 500% additional damage.
  Complete Area 175.

Getting to know Viconia: Viconia buffs both evil Champions and other Heroes of Baldur's Gate. Use these types of Champions to get the most out of her support abilities!

For information on previous years' variants, check out the Wintershield 4 blog. And if you have feedback, let us know in a Community Q&A or Champion feedback post on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!

There are many ways a cleric can assist their companions. While some focus on healing or offering buffs, others embrace the power to control those who would try and cause them harm. Because sometimes the best way to protect your allies is to turn your enemies into more allies!

Viconia DeVir was cast out of Menzoberranzan and house DeVir after refusing to sacrifice a child to the spider goddess Lolth. She has lived a dangerous and difficult life, and she joins the Champions at the behest of some of her acquaintances from Baldur's Gate this Wintershield!

I. Viconia DeVir

Viconia DeVir is a devout cleric of Shar, the goddess of darkness and loss. But don't mistake her cleric powers as a sign of her working for good. She may not approve of how the Champions operate, but if the quest and the payout are worthwhile, she's here and ready to assist.

Viconia is an evil alignment buffer who can reanimate dead enemies and turn them against their former friends. She also heals, but only if you get damaged enough to make it worth her time. Once unlocked, you can find this displaced drow in Slot 5 (Calliope)

Ia. Heroes of Baldur's Gate Update

When Viconia launches on December 22nd, 2021, we will also be expanding the Champions with the Heroes of Baldur's Gate affiliation to include all Champions from the Baldur's Gate Video Game Series e.g. Viconia, Baeloth, and Jahiera. They will join the Champions from the Heroes of Baldur's Gate Comic: Shandie, Minsc, Nerys, Krydle, and Delina who are already listed as members.

II. Viconia's Stats

Race: Elf (Drow)	Alignment: Neutral Evil
Gender: Female	Pronouns: She/Her
Class: Cleric	Age: 270
Affiliation: Heroes of Baldur's Gate

STR: 10	DEX: 19	CON: 8
INT: 16	WIS: 18	CHA: 14

Role: Support, Healing

Eligible for Patrons: Mirt, Strahd, Zariel

Slot: 5, (Calliope)

III. Viconia's Design

Viconia DeVir is a character from the original Baldur's Gate video game, as well as Baldur's Gate II and Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Many of her powers, abilities, and personality were drawn from those games. We're excited to have another evil Champion joining the roster, as well as another member of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate! She may begrudgingly call Baeloth and Minsc 'friends', but the rest of the Champions are just allies that can help her accomplish her goals and earn some coin. She'll offer the other Heroes of Baldur's Gate buffs with her Cleric of Shar ability, and heal those Champions who are in dire need with Cure Medium Wounds. But her main focus during battle is seizing control of the lifeless bodies of their enemies and using Animate Dead to send them back against their former allies!

IV. Viconia's Abilities

Basic Attack

• Sling — Viconia slings a stone at a random enemy.

Formation Abilities

• Cleric of Shar — Increase the damage of Evil Champions and Heroes of Baldur's Gate Champions by 100%.

• Animate Dead — When a non-boss enemy is killed there is a 20% chance that Viconia will seize control of its lifeless body and turn it against its former allies for 10 seconds, stopping their movement. While it is re-animated, it deals 20% of your BUD to nearby enemies each second. Multiple enemies can be animated at once, each of which will do its own damage, but despawn during area transitions.

• Cure Medium Wounds — Heals allies that are under 50% health for 20 health per second for 5 seconds.

Specializations

• Holy Power — Increase the effect of Cleric of Shar by 100% for each column away from the back-most column she is, stacking multiplicatively.

• Begrudging Respect — Cleric of Shar now affects Neutral champions instead of Evil ones. Heroes of Baldur's Gate are still covered under this new plan.

• Turn Undead — Increase the chance for Animate Dead to trigger by 100%.

Ultimate Ability

• Unholy Blight — Viconia summons a cloying miasma of cold and greasy darkness that damages all enemies and increases the odds of any enemies killed by it triggering Animate Dead by 50%.

V. Viconia's Epic Equipment

Slot 1: Global DPS	Slot 2: Cleric of Shar	Slot 3: Animate Dead
Slot 4: Cure Medium Wounds	Slot 5: Ultimate Attack Damage	Slot 6: Ultimate Cooldown

VI. Conclusion

Bring another Hero of Baldur's Gate to your formation this Wintershield, and enjoy Viconia turning your enemies against each other! If you have feedback, let us know in a Community Q&A or Champion feedback post on the Idle Champions Subreddit, on the Steam forums, or on the Official Idle Champions Discord!