Areax Empires and Puzzles HotM September 23
Areax is Empires and Puzzles’ September 2023 Hero of the Month (HotM) and there’s no denying, she’s strong. The only question is speed; is Slow too Slow in today’s E&P?
Well, there’s a little more to it, like Stats and the other Chain Heroes… I mean, how does Areax compare?
Let’s find out.
On the personal front, I’ve been dogged with RSI for the last week or so. RSI, or Repetitive Strain Injury, must be some old-people business ’cause I never had anything like this as a kid.
And I did some dumb stuff over a prolonged period of time back then.
That said, in my research for a solution, I found that RSI is a growing concern for young gamers. Crazy to think. Sitting there in some funked-up position, playing the latest PC title.
Anyway, now I do some stretches 3 times a day to help. And it does.
And with all the other stuff I now do daily, it occurs to me that getting old is a full-time job.
Before we start, let me swear in…
“I swear the reviewer’s oath in the presence of the Universe and all that is Good:
I swear that I will share my personal observations and opinion on Areax, the current Hero Of The Month, to the best of my knowledge, understanding, and ability, taking every opportunity to defuse the tension and otherwise cause humour and levity to bleed into as much of my analysis as I possibly can with the limited talents afforded to me.”
Alright, the music’s playing, the coffee’s cooling, and I’m ready to go.
Onwards!
This post may contain speculation, personal opinion, and adult comedy. It is not advice and is solely for entertainment and informational purposes.
Areax’s Stats and Special Skills (Hero Of The Month)
Key Facts: Ice (Blue), Slow, Wizard, Legends 2023
Special Skills (Radiating Frost): 1. Deals 380% damage to the target. 2. The attack chains through all enemies who are adjacent to any hit enemy. 3. The target receives 374 Frost damage over 2 turns. 4. [Element Link] Gives +10% Mana generation to all Ice allies for 4 turns (can’t be dispelled).
Passive Skills: 1. RESIST SPECIAL SKILL BLOCKING ~ This character has an innate resistance against Status Ailments that block Special Skills. 2. RESIST WATER DAMAGE ~ This character has an innate resistance against Water damage.
Talent: JINX ~ +25% chance to deal +15% extra damage per each active buff the enemies have. The extra damage applies to both normal attacks and Special Skills.
Aether Power: REGEN ~ Regenerates 420 health over 6 turns.
Legends 2023 Family Bonus: 1/2/3 Heroes: +10%/+15%/+20% Defense. Bonus for 2+ Heroes: Element Link affects all allies.
The Big Blue Horse: Areax (Empires and Puzzles)
Areax is slightly monotonous while still being quite intriguing.
On the one hand, we’ve seen this type of Hero many times before. And as a HotM there’s an expectation that she’s not gonna be able to live up to the prestige of the real premium Heartthrobs out there.
However, Areax is a new, post-Big Balance Update (BBU), Hitter. And anyone in the know, knows what that means!
Looking back at Beta and going by my own notes, Areax had weaker Stats:
Atk: 824 Def: 700 HP: 1545 P: 825
Compare that to what we have today:
Atk: 871 Def: 747 HP: 1687 P: 875
As a quick reference (and because it might be relevant later), here’s Cinisia, another post-BBU HotM Hitter:
Atk: 883 Def: 729 HP: 1341 P: 825
I also see that Areax’s Special damage has been reduced from 390% to 380%, and the Frost damage has been reduced, from 422 to 374 (over 2 turns).
The other thing that may have changed is her Alpha Aether Power.
According to the Forum, it was Mana Boost in Beta, whereas now we have Regen. Sadly, that’s not something I recorded this time around, so I can’t verify.
However, of course, Mana Boost would’ve been a great asset to a Slow Hero.
All in all, Areax looks great. A really solid Hitter.
How Does Areax’s Special Skill Work? A Detailed Guide (Empires and Puzzles)
The best way to describe Areax’s Special is to liken it to taxes.
See, once you Opt-in to the System (don’t worry if you can’t remember doing this), you’re “connected”.
That means they know that you exist and are eligible for taxing at some point in the future.
And then, when you’re least expecting it, BANG! Taxed.
See, the connection is where they got you.
A link to a family member or dwelling is the standard way of logging you… like a mother; that’s always hard to hide, especially retrospectively.
And that’s how Areax works… by taking advantage of a “connection”.
But worry not! For there are ways around this:
A. Be powerful enough to write your own laws (useful in so many ways), or
B. Go the other route, and sever ties; become a nomad
Same with Areax:
A. Utilize a powerful Hero to stop the demand for HP Taxation, or
B. Sever ties with the Hero standing next to you.
Simple.
Areax Vs. Empires and Puzzles
Before getting to the table, it should be noted that in Beta part 3 of her Special only affected the target (and not all Heroes hit):
3. The target receives 374 Frost damage over 2 turns.
I believe it was intentional and by design.
For this table, I’m thinking of the “Chain Attack” Heroes. Also, a few big multiple Hitters:
| Hero | Mana Speed | Damage | Secondary | ATK Stat | Total Hit Score |
| Areax | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 380% damage to target and adjacent enemies | A little Frost damage to target | 871 | 16,549 |
| Sneferu | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 415% damage to target and adjacent enemies | All hit targets are immune to new Status Effects for 5 turns and receive 250 damage if attempted. PLUS Dunes Passive… | 834 | 17,305 |
| Khufu | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 450% damage to target and adjacent enemies | Target gets -41% Defense against Fire++. PLUS Dunes Passive… | 819 | 18,427 |
| Sir Roostley | Average (10 tiles) | Deals 310% damage to target and adjacent enemies | The Caster gets -20% attack for 3 turns | 778 | 12,059 |
| Malin | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 325% damage to all enemies | All enemies get 364 Bleed damage, 75% decreased healing, and reduced accuracy + more against Dark | 836 | 13,585 |
| Ahmose | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 400% damage to all enemies | All allies reflect Status Effects and 150% damage back (from Fire) | 803 | 16,060 |
| Queen Guowang | Average (10 tiles) | Deals 330% damage to all enemies | All allies get 10% mana every time an enemy fires off. Plus the Caster gets “Vengeance” | 797 | 13,150 |
| C. Guardian Kong | Average (10 tiles) | Deals 300% damage to all enemies | All allies reflect Status Effects and 115% damage back (from Ice) and Dispells all enemies | 848 | 12,720 |
| Nyx | Styx 2 (9 tiles) | Deals 360% damage to all enemies | All enemies get -34% defense | 819 | 14,742 |
| Cinisia | Average (10 tiles) | Deals 240% damage to all enemies | This is a HotM and here for Ref. A solid Hitter | 883 | 10,596/ 12,708 |
| Klaern | Slow (12 tiles) | Deals 240% damage to all enemies | This is a HotM and here for Ref. He represents the deepest regrets of one’s life | 766 | 9,192 |
(Total Hit Score = Atk Stat x Damage % x Number of targets)
Thanks, Tobov!
Ha! Looks awesome in black and white… The horse is a massive Hitter.
Is Areax Worth It? (Passives)
The only caveat I’d offer about that table is the fact that Khufu always seems to slap you with that 70% Dunes Passive (70% damage to all with 243 Sand damage over 3 turns).
And that Passive, added to his already massive hit, means everybody’s dead when he’s done.
So Areax won’t necessarily have the same impact, even though the numbers are in the same range.
-Just look at Klaern…. [Close up your top man, no one needs to see it]
Both Slow. Both Ice. What a difference. Near double the damage.
Areax is out here trying to out-angle Malin and Ahmose!
It’s just a pity she doesn’t have something else going on, especially in a complex game like Empires and Puzzles. A simple, ‘all allies get +10% Defense’, would have made the world of difference.
That said, we do get a top-tier Resistance to Ailments that block her Special Skill. And also a Resistance to Water Damage:
‘Passive Skills: 1. RESIST SPECIAL SKILL BLOCKING ~ This character has an innate resistance against Status Ailments that block Special Skills. 2. RESIST WATER DAMAGE ~ This character has an innate resistance against Water damage.’
There’s good and bad here. But we can’t deny that Areax gives F2P/C2P players access to a super-Hitter.
The most bare-bones version they could come up with… but come up with it, they did!
Areax Empires and Puzzles – Hero of the Month September 23
My final thoughts:
Areax is a fantastic Hero, as HotMs go.
Stats are becoming more and more important and if I have one regret, it’s not being more generous with Cinisia.
When it comes to these “hit-all” Heroes, damage output is a key measure of their value. And Cinisia was leading the charge of post-BBU HotM.
But where Cinisia had questionable HP (1341), Areax does not (1687), which gives her survivability to aid with the Slow mana charge.
As we can see from the table above, on paper Areax is comparable to the absolute best in primary damage output.
We can also see that she is missing the Secondaries and Passives that truly make the elite, elite.
Another issue is speed.
However, I’ve found that Slow Heroes can be beneficial if you can build a team around them that takes their speed into consideration.
That means, I will only take one Slow Hero along for Raids for example, unless I have a Mana-God accompanying us.
And now with Lord Loki prevalent across the E&P community, I suspect Areax might be a great partner in an ice-heavy, lower-tiered, Raiding Stack. Maybe with a strong Boosted Healer somewhere on deck.
She’d also be great on Defense, for completing Stages, and anything Rush.
A final note about grading: Areax could be called a T2 on damage output alone but once she passes the blood-brain-deity barrier, we’re talking semantics anyway, as we agree she could ‘change the outcome of a battle’.
I’ve graded her a T1 due to the slightly less useful condition of ‘adjacent’ targeting, and the lack of a strong Secondary/Passive/Family Bonus, normally associated with a top Slow Hero.
But if this were a battle of strength, she would be in the second tier. She’s a fantastic Hero.
Congrats if you pulled her!
Please feel free to have your say in the comments below.
[Note: Hitters tend to lose their value over time. Please refer to my Power Creep post]
Hero Grade for Areax (Empires and Puzzles)
So for my grading, the question is:
Is this Hero’s Special capable of/likely to change the outcome of a battle? Yes.
If not, do they still bring enough to the party to help defeat the deities? N/a.
Old Cynic’s Hero Grade: Deity ⭐★★
[Please always check in-game Hero Cards to confirm details and never chase Heroes]
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Strangely enough, if you look at Areax in the lvl 90 preview, it shows 512 frost damage over 2 turns. That would be significant. Not sure if it’s a bug or not.
But still I would bring Areax with a blue EDD, and I would expect him to be able to obliterate the entire team with a bit of defence down. Him being slow is an issue that can be mitigated with good healers and silencers.
Not really a top contender but has the potential to be great with the right setup.
Hey Yorka, yes I always refer to the base card and that’s the 374. But you’re right, Limit Broken twice with emblems, and you get the 512.
Agree with you, a great hero in the right setup!
Good evening Cynic 💪❤️
I hope you are feeling better.sharing this about the new HOTM with team. I do like the resist water with some of the newer fighters that have came out. Much love 🤗 Lisaa
Thank you Fancylissa, I am. The stretches really work 😄. Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it!
Resistance to block special skills is a really, really great passive in Very Fast.
Great review. I think she’s good for those that can’t get Khufu and Sneferu, which is most of us. As primarily a damage dealer, the talent class is perfect. Would love to have her and she’s resistant to silence and mindless.
Thanks Inkblot. Defo agree.
I don’t like the chain hitters on offence. By the time the slow goes off, the tank is often defeated, leaving a hit 2, depending on the formation of course.
Hi Kristomaji, that was part of my thinking too. Something to consider… Thanks for stopping by!
But if the tank has already been defeated, than half (or a lot) of the problem is solved, right?
Greetings OC, keep at it with the stretching…
As for Areax, I had real fun with her in beta and I’d love it if she decided to come home to my roster.
That said I think she is great. Granted, she doesn’t come along with those extras like some of the other monsters but her passives, and her class make her a lot of fun, and her hit can change the outcome of a battle as I have had the joy of experiencing.
Hey Cornelius, I will! Good luck!
From the looks of it, Areax is a budget door kicker and most effective against teams with no dead heroes, which allows her to use the offensive part of her special to its maximum potential. Being on the receiving end of Khufu’s special in a recent Rush war, I believe Areax will also be an excellent team member on defense, especially because Peters or C2 Lianna can’t silence her at all.
However, as a war cleaner who has zero interest in raids, I don’t think I would use Areax that much outside of clearing map stages, if I ever got her. Even putting her on my stronghold and war defense is a little iffy because I already have a Water and Slow hero there (M&M and C. Azlar respectively). Areax should also still be vulnerable to mana cut/drain/stall skills (Onatel, Leonidas, Li Xiu, Proteus, etc.), so the innate resistance is not a catch-all solution. That said, I like to farm map stages, so I’d probably still use her quite often.
Hey Nortaneous, I like it, “a budget door kicker”! Agree with you, Areax is a great hero, allround… just gotta be a little patient with her depending on the situation. Thanks for sharing.
I used to excitedly waited for a HOTM to come out. Nowadays, every new HOTM looks so meh compared to the new event hero. SG, please make HOTM great again!
Hey MIB, I get you. But there is hope coz all these new HotM have better stats… a small mistake by e&p could mean a monster is released and made commonly available to the collective! But maybe it won’t be a mistake and I’m just a cynic.
I pulled her this AM as a bonus draw for a costume summon. Nice! Can confirm frost damage from part 3 of special only impacts target over 2 turns.
Your list of chaining heroes above omits Sally, who hits for 270% at Slow as a 3 Star.
Thank you Kenn, appreciate it!
Winifred is another good chain hero that is slow to compare against.
Thanks Honibee, I’ll add her!
Been reading your posts since the beginning, and I love your insights. I pulled two Areaxes using gems trying for Costumes. Can you see any reason to keep both, or should I trade the second one in for Fated Summon. I already pulled Malosi with my first Fated Summon, so I don’t see me getting to trade Areax in until at least the next one.
Hi 4EverLSU, thanks for reading all this time.
I mean, having two firing off would be a sight to behold and Rush would be fun, but in general I think at Slow, 2 of them would be hard to build around (re. Raids/Defense).
I wouldn’t level 2 myself because I’d prefer diversity for my limit resources. -Either way, I would fully test 1 first to see how I felt.
There have only been 2 HotMs I wanted a second of; Devana and R&N.
As always, please ask others too.
Hola cinico,me suscribí a tu canal,tus análisis me parecen acertados y correctos y aunque sé que no es el sitio ni el lugar quería comentarte que opinas de Lasalle? Disculpa por preguntar aquí!
Translated: Hello cynic, I subscribed to your channel, your analyzes seem accurate and correct to me and although I know that it is not the site or the place, I wanted to tell you what you think of Lasalle? Sorry for asking here!
Hey Guillem, I liked him in Beta for the mechanism of flooding Fiends but can understand that he was a little understrength once he got to market.
I saw that he was buffed and I think that with the way he works, he was never going to be improved by too much (12% – 15%). I do like Fiends in general and Amethyst is a prime example of their power.
I don’t have the time to do the research required for a full review but hope my mutterings are enough.
Just to add, everybody has a different roster, so if you’re wondering if you should level him, I would say experiment at 3/70 and see how you feel. I also have this post which offers some thoughts.
Thanks for subscribing!
Translated: Hola Guillem, me gustó en Beta por el mecanismo de inundar a los Demonios, pero puedo entender que le faltaba un poco de fuerza una vez que llegó al mercado.
Vi que estaba mejorado y creo que con su forma de trabajar nunca iba a mejorar demasiado (12% – 15%). Me gustan los demonios en general y Amethyst es un excelente ejemplo de su poder.
No tengo tiempo para hacer la investigación necesaria para una revisión completa, pero espero que mis murmullos sean suficientes.
Solo para agregar, todos tienen una lista diferente, así que si te preguntas si deberías nivelarlo, te diría que experimentes en 3/70 y veas cómo te sientes. También tengo esta publicación que ofrece algunas ideas.
¡Gracias por suscribirte!
Gracias por responder,tenía esperanzas con él.de momento lo subí a 4/80,más adelante pensaré que hacer con el.
Translated: Thanks for responding, I had hopes with it. For now I raised it to 4/80, later I will think about what to do with it.
I just can’t get past the design of this character. They just stuck a horse head on a female body! I have Khufu, so I won’t be leveling this hero unless I see a lot of usage.
As a F2P, I was super excited to get her as a bonus draw! I don’t have any of the heros that you mentioned in the same vein as her. I’ve got a blue seat at the banquet table opening soon. Would you recommend Areax? I’ve got Suzuna, Zila Lei, Triton, Planchet and Chick Jr. still waiting for their chance 😆 Thanks for helping everyone so much! Getting old ain’t for sissies! I may have to ask you to share the stretching regimen you’re on – RNGesus knows I could use it myself 😉
Hey Martha, sorry for the late response, I’ve been busy.
Between Areax and Suzuna, Areax is likely to have more impact and will be an absolute unit in Rush anything. That said, Suzuna has her usages and I have one levelled. She’s not bad at all. Just not elite. You’ll also need to consider the Slow speed as well… can you play with Slow heroes? It’s a matter for your personal play-style. But if I had to pick one personally, it would be Areax.
Hope this helps.
… that reminds me, time to stretch!
Hi OC, I have levelled and emblemed Areax only last week and, if I’m honest, I’m not impressed. It’s just..for a slow hero a 370 damage is not quite what I need. I think I rather take Khufu, independent of colour. I’m not saying she’s a bad hero, but I decided I do what I have never done: level a second hero (Jana) and take the Wizard emblems of Areax and give them to Jana. Only problem is that I need more blue heroes, but as long as we do purple tanks, I think I’m making the right decision…I hope 😉
So basically a worse Porthos. If you have both, I honestly can’t see a reason why someone would run Areax instead of Porthos. Situational attack all 380% vs always attack all 380% with a massive heal/blue tile attack up/increased damage against fire. Someone please give me a sanity check lol