Challenge Festival: Empires and Puzzles Guide (with Heroes)
The Challenge Festival is an Empires and Puzzles Mega Event, which was designed to replace a bunch of old events, thus making room for a bunch of new events! (I assume).
On losing the old events, we all collectively wondered, “what about Our Lady Of The Lake?“
Well, the nervous laughter can stop, -She’s here.
Looking for the Challenge Festival II? It’s here.
If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to this blog. It really helps me grow.
MENU (Empires and Puzzles Challenge Festival)
1. Challenge Festival Guide
2. Challenge Festival Special Rules
Elemental Resistance
Color Reflect
3. All Stage End Bosses
4. Challenge Festival Summoning Portal
5. All New 3 Star Heroes
Treevil
Sally
Guardian Lemur
Gnomer
Phoenicus
6. All New Costumed Heroes
Costumed Jabberwock
Costumed Lady Of The Lake
Costumed Snow White
Costumed White Rabbit
Costumed Marie-Therese
Costumed Finley
Costumed Guardian Kong
Costumed Panther
Costumed Black Knight
Costumed Rumpelstiltskin
Costumed Guardian Gazelle (New)
7. All New 5 Star Heroes
Anne
Guardian Hippo
Green Knight (New)
8. All Challenge Festival Heroes
Caveat: The post represents game-play speculation and personal opinion. It is not advice. Information may not be accurate.
Challenge Festival Event Guide | Empires and Puzzles
The Challenge Festival is a 5-day event that got its first outing on 15th Dec 2021.
The Challenge itself consists of 10 Stages in Rare, Epic, and Legendary (30 Stages in all), and prizes improve with the level of difficulty.
As with similar events, the goal is to get the highest score possible -better scores mean better prizes.
Your personal ‘Master Score’ is made up of all the Stages you complete within a certain difficulty (say, Rare for example), and you can improve on that score by replaying Stages to your heart’s content.
Finally, the difficulty level (Rare, Epic, and Legendary), limits what heroes, troops, and battle items can be used.
Special Gameplay Rules for the Challenge Festival (Empires and Puzzles)
This event is like an amalgamation of a bunch of older events, including:
- Pirates of Corellia
- Guardians of Teltoc
- Knights of Avalon
- Fables of Grimforest
- Riddles of Wonderland
As a result, those heroes feature heavily in the Challenge itself and are known as the Challenge Festival ‘Families’.
Owning those heroes will also help you when completing Stages because non-event heroes will all be cursed.
The curse?
-25% everything (attack, defense, health, mana received).
And if that’s not hard enough, the heroes you face will get the following Special bonuses, according to the Family they’re part of:
- Pirates of Corellia: Every 3 turns, they steal 10% Mana and 5% HP from all heroes.
- Guardians of Teltoc: Every 3 turns, tiles of a random element are weakened by -50% attack.
- Knights of Avalon: All direct damage from Special Skills is reduced by -20%, as is any healing.
- Fables of Grimforest: Every 3 turns, they summon a Grimforest fiend which has 5% HP.
- Riddles of Wonderland: In an interesting twist, every 3 turns they rotate the element of heroes. Order of change: Holy → Dark → Fire → Nature → Ice → Holy ››
Special Challenge Event Feature – Elemental Resistance (Empires and Puzzles)
There is another interesting feature called, ‘Elemental Resistance’.
The idea is that if you use two heroes of the same element (two Holy heroes for example), it will reduce the damage that enemies receive from that element.
-At a rate of -10% per additional hero.
It’ll be interesting to see what impact this anti-stacking measure has, because clearly, with the non-family curse, players will seek to stack in hope of redressing the balance.
Color Reflect for Stages (Challenge Festival E&P)
Each Stage will reflect a different color. See the table below for more.
All the Bosses, for All the Stages, in the Challenge Festival
| STAGE | REFLECT | MONSTERS | END BOSS |
| 1 (Pirates) | Dark | Fire and Dark | Peters (Nature), C.Marie-Therese (Dark) and Captain Kestel (Fire) |
| 2 (Guardians) | Holy | Nature and Holy | Guardian Chameleon (Nature), C.Guardian Panther (Dark) and Guardian Gazelle (Holy) |
| 3 (Knights) | Ice | Ice and Dark | King Arthur (Ice), C.Lady of the Lake (Nature) and Merlin (Dark) |
| 4 (Fables) | Fire | Fire and Nature | Boss Wolf (Dark), C.Rumpelstiltskin (Ice) and Puss in Boots (Fire) |
| 5 (Riddles) | Nature | Nature and Dark | Queen of Hearts (Fire), C.Jabberwock (Dark) and Captain of Diamonds (Ice) |
| 6 (Pirates) | Dark | Nature and Dark | Sargasso (Dark), C.Finley (Ice) and Lady Locke (Nature) |
| 7 (Guardians) | Holy | Nature and Holy | Guardian Jackal (Holy), C.Guardian Kong (Fire) and Guardian Owl (Holy) |
| 8 (Knights) | Ice | Ice and Dark | Morgan Le Fay (Nature), C.Black Knight (Fire) and Guinevere (Holy) |
| 9 (Fables) | Fire | Fire and Nature | Red Hood (Fire), C.Snow White (Ice) and Hansel (Nature) |
| 10 (Riddles) | Nature | Nature and Dark | The Hatter (Nature), C.White Rabbit (Holy) and Alice (Ice) |
Related: The Best Heroes In Empires and Puzzles
Challenge Festival Summoning Portal (Empires and Puzzles)
This is one of the first portals not to include Season 1 heroes. Here are the highlights:
- Full odds can be found at the portal itself
- The portal will use Challenge Event coins or 300 gems
What heroes are up for grabs?
There are what feels like a million heroes here:
- A bunch of new 3-Star heroes,
- 10 Costumes for 5-Star heroes (3 released initially),
- and all the original Event heroes!
New 3-Star heroes in the Challenge Festival (Empires and Puzzles)
There are five new heroes in the Challenge Festival, and all of them are 3-Star.
On a personal note, I love the fact we get more Rare heroes because I enjoy playing them in Tournaments. Also, the odds of getting Rare heroes are greatly improved over Legendary heroes.
Anyway, onto the heroes:
Treevil
Treevil is Purple (Dark), Wizard class, Very Slow, and part of the Avalon family.
His Special deals 250% 280% damage to all enemies and inflicts -54% -34% attack, -56% -34% defense, and -44% -34% mana generation -all for 6 turns.
[This hero has been nerfed since release.]
A complete monster (and possible addition to my Best 3-Star heroes list).
Want more Treevil? Read his full review here.
Sally
Sally is Yellow (Holy), Barbarian class, Slow, and part of the Pirate family.
Her Special deals 270% damage to the target and creates an attack chain that hits all enemies adjacent to any hit enemy.
Guardian Lemur
Guardian Lemur is Blue (Ice), Fighter class, Average, and part of the Guardian family.
His Special recovers 32% health for all allies and buffs them with +94% defense against Nature for 4 turns.
Wow. I’m sure he’ll be popular.
Gnomer
Gnomer is Green (Nature), Rogue class, Very Fast, and part of the Grimforest family.
His Special deals 250% damage to the target and they’ll also bleed for 140 over 2 turns.
Phoenicus
Phoenicus is Red (Fire), Monk class, Fast, and part of the Wonderland family.
His Special buffs all allies (besides himself) with +50% attack and +24% mana generation, for 3 turns.
Not bad for Fast.
New Costumes in the Challenge Festival Portal (Empires and Puzzles)
Only 3 New Costumes will be released in the first Event, with more to follow in the future.
The initial 3 Costumes will be for Jabberwock, Lady Of The Lake, and Snow White.
Costumed Jabberwock
Costumed Jabberwock is Purple (Dark), Druid class, Fast, and part of the Wonderland Family.
His Special deals 300% damage to enemies on the edge of the formation, and if there’s only one enemy left, they receive double the damage. The target(s) also receive poison damage of 131 for 3 turns, and their mana generation is lowered by -12% per turn. This effect can not be cleansed.
Jabberwock is the original double hitter, with the likes of Zenobia and Zekena, following in his wake.
How is the Costume different? That mana control and more poison damage (was 258 over 3 turns before, Vs. 393 now). The hit damage is the same.
Costumed Lady Of The Lake!
Costumed Lady Of The Lake is Green (Nature), Fighter class, Slow, and part of the Avalon Family.
Her Special Boosts her allies’ health by 550 (this is Over-healing), she also Summons a Sword Minion for her and NB mates (worth 14% and 15%), and the Sword inflicts -24% mana generation for 3 turns (which can’t be cleansed).
Well, you lose and you win with this Costume; the Over-healing is awesome (if a little low), but the -24% mana generation isn’t great -not when compared to what they used to do (-10% mana… period).
Lady Of The Lake is one of the best heroes in the game because those Minions make it difficult to build up steam.
While the Costume Boost is welcomed, I wouldn’t choose to wear this version of the good Lady.
How is the Costume different? As above, healing has changed from 42% straight, to Over-healing, and the Sword Minions lose their edge.
Want more Lady Of The Lake? Read her full review here.
Costumed Snow White
Costumed Snow White is Blue (Ice), Ranger class, Slow, and part of the Grimforest Family.
Her Special dispels and cleanses all buffs and status ailments from all enemies and allies. And she deals 140% damage to all enemies, plus an extra 25% per removed status effect -with an upper limit of 530% damage.
How is the Costume different? Just a slight mix about of the figures; damage is down from 180%, additional damage was 15% (now 30%), and the upper limit was 420% (now 500%).
Costumed White Rabbit
Costumed White Rabbit is Yellow (Holy), Wizard class, Fast, and part of the Wonderland Family.
His Special deals 260% damage to the target and nearby enemies, they also get -34% defense for 3 turns (and this effect is reset if the target is healed -and can’t be dispelled).
How is the Costume different? Instead of targeting only one enemy with -defense, he now targets three. In exchange, he gives up 1 turn (3 now, instead of 4) and a little damage.
Costumed Marie-Therese
Costumed Marie-Therese is Purple (Dark), Druid class, Slow, and part of the Pirate Family.
Her Special deals 138% damage to all enemies, all allies are Boosted by 600 HP over 4 turns (can’t be dispelled), all allies receive +30% defense for 4 turns (can’t be dispelled), all allies receive Zombie Blessing (if made dead, they revive as a Zombie), and finally, all allies get a Happy Meal and toy.
That’s a lot of stuff going on. Still, it seems reasonable for Slow.
How is the Costume different? Damage has been reduced from 168%, and healing was Regeneration over 6 turns (now Over-healing). Buffs are non-dispellable now, too.
Costumed Finley
Costumed Finley is Blue (Ice), Fighter class, Fast, and part of the Pirate Family.
His Special deals 420% damage to the target and if the target has buffs, he’ll hit another enemy with a buff…again and again, or hit a random enemy if there are no more buffs. Each enemy can only be hit once. Also, all targets receive -56% defense for 3 turns.
Finley was already a family favourite, now he’s a little stronger +he’s got that Costume bonus.
How is the Costume different? His hit damage has increased, from 385%. -That’s insane. And the defense ailment has been increased to -56%… that’s insaner.
Want more Costumed Finley? Read his full review here.
Costumed Guardian Kong
Costumed Guardian Kong is Red (Fire), Monk class, Average, and part of the Guardian Family.
His Special deals 300% damage to all enemies and allies will reflect all status effects plus 115% damage, back to the attacker. Finally, he dispels buffs from all enemies.
How is the Costume different? His damage has increased, from 220%. Also, before he gave +94% defense against Ice for 4 turns (so a complete change there).
Looks like a great upgrade for him.
Costumed Panther
Costumed Panther is Purple (Dark), Paladin class, Fast, and part of the Guardian Family.
Her Special deals 285% damage to all enemies, inflicts -34% defense against Dark, and makes all enemies immune to new buffs (all for 3 turns).
How is the Costume different? Damage is up from 210% and hits all instead of target and NB, defense against Dark is decreased from -54%, and before she dispelled buffs from the target and nearby enemies.
Want more Costumed Guardian Panther? Read her full review here.
Costumed Black Knight
Costumed Black Knight is Red (Fire), Wizard class, Average, and part of the Avalon Family.
His Special gives him a 50% chance to limit any damage to 1 HP, Taunts the enemy team -preventing them from using Special Skills on his allies, and all allies get +54% attack (all effects last for 4 turns).
How is the Costume different? His Taunt (and the rest) has increased to 4 turns, but the allied +attack is now limited to +54% (before it was +45% plus a further 20% every time they were hit).
Costumed Rumpelstiltskin
Costumed Rumpelstiltskin is Blue (Ice), Monk class, Average, and part of the Grimforest Family.
He has a random ‘Draw a card’ Special, activating one of the following:
Skull: reduces max health of all enemies by 550 HP (it can’t go lower than 30% original health), all enemies get poison damage for 4 turns, dealing 60 damage and lowering their mana generation by -9% each turn.
Cross: Boosts the health of all allies by 620 HP (Over-healing), and all allies are immune to new status ailments for 4 turns.
Stars: inflicts -54% mana generation on all enemies for 4 turns (which can’t be cleansed), and all enemies are immune to new buffs for 4 turns.
How is the Costume different? The whole card is a new approach to Rumpelstiltskin, and I prefer it. A lot of mana control here which didn’t appear in the base version.
The original did this: 1. 270% damage to all plus 162 damage over 3 turns. 2. Heals all allies for 27% plus cleanses status ailments from allies. 3. -34% defense for all enemies and +48% attack for all allies for 3 turns.
Costumed Guardian Gazelle
Costumed Guardian Gazelle is Yellow (Holy), Fighter class, Average, and part of the Guardian Family.
Her Special removes all Status Effects from all allies except the caster, including effects that are otherwise undispellable or uncleansable and recovers 48% health for all allies.
And then all her allies (except the caster) dance the Dance of Spirits for 4 turns, which gives:
- +110% Attack
- Reduces all received damage by -30%.
- Gives immunity to new Status Effects.
- If the caster dies, the dancer receives 100 damage and their Mana is reduced by 100%.
- This effect can’t be dispelled but is removed if the caster dies.
How is the Costume different? Instead of just regenerating herself for 612 HP over 4 turns, she now recovers 48% health for all allies. The effects of the Dance of Spirits have also rejigged a little, increasing the amount of Attack by 10%, reducing the received damage protection from -50% to -30%, and increasing the amount of damage received if the caster dies from 84 HP to 100 HP.
New 5-Star Heroes in the Challenge Festival Portal (Empires and Puzzles)
There have been some brand new Legendary Heroes slowly released in subsequent appearances of the Challenge Festival Portal, joining the featured Families.
I will list them here as they are released:
Anne
Anne is Yellow (Holy), Fighter class, Fast, and part of the Pirate Family.
Her Special inflicts 550% damage to the target, and if the target has over 50% health, she targets another, and so on.
If no other enemy has over 50% health, Anne will hit 1 other random target.
Each consecutive hit causes reduced damage, and each enemy can only be hit once.
Once she’s done, hit enemies will receive -34% attack, -34% defense, and -24% Mana generation for 4 turns, should they use their Special Skills.
Read her full review here.
Guardian Hippo
Guardian Hippo is Blue (Ice), Barbarian class, Fast, and part of the Guardian Family.
Her Special gives Brutal Support; after any other ally casts their Special Skill during the next 3 turns, she’ll deal 225% damage to all enemies.
She also Buffs all allies with +34% Mana generation for 3 turns.
Green Knight
Green Knight is Green (Nature), Fighter class, Average, and part of the Avalon Family.
His Special reduces all enemies’ Defense by -24% for 3 turns, before dealing 235% damage to all.
If he dies during the next 5 turns, he gets resurrected at the beginning of the next turn with 40% health and deals 665 HP damage to all enemies. All Status Effects and Stacks are removed when he dies.
Find his full review here!
Related: Best 4-Star Heroes in E&P
All ‘Family’ heroes in the Challenge Festival (Empires and Puzzles)
A list of all the heroes available at the Challenge Festival Summoning Portal:
| Family | 5-Star | 4-Star | 3-Star |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pirates of Corellia | Captain Kestrel | Boomer | Sally |
| Finley (+C) | Peters | Vodnik | |
| Lady Locke | |||
| Sargasso | |||
| Marie-Therese (+C) | |||
| Anne | |||
| Guardians of Teltoc | Guardian Chameleon | Guardian Falcon | Guardian Bat |
| Guardian Kong (+C) | Guardian Jackal (+C) | Guardian Lemur | |
| Guardian Gazelle (+C) | |||
| Guardian Panther (+C) | |||
| Guardian Owl | |||
| Guardian Hippo | |||
| Knights of Avalon | Black Knight (+C) | Merlin | Bauchan |
| Guinevere (+C) | Sir Lancelot | Treevil | |
| King Arthur | |||
| Lady of the Lake (+C) | |||
| Morgan Le Fay | |||
| Green Knight | |||
| Fables of Grimforest | Boss Wolf | Gretel | Gnomer |
| Puss in Boots | Hansel | Pixie | |
| Red Hood | |||
| Rumpelstiltskin (+C) | |||
| Snow White (+C) | |||
| Riddles of Wonderland | Alice | Captain of Diamonds | Phoenicus |
| Jabberwock (+C) | Cheshire Cat | Shrubbear | |
| Queen of Hearts | |||
| The Hatter | |||
| White Rabbit (+C) |
Challenge Festival – Empires and Puzzles Guide
On a personal note, I prefer this format of Events (10 Stages) over the longer Towers, as I find them more manageable.
The fact that this portal omits Season 1 heroes is a fantastic bonus! Hopefully, I can get Lady Of The Lake, but there are so many other heroes I’d be happy with.
If you’re interested in the heroes from this event, be sure to subscribe, as there’ll be more on the way!
Enjoy the Festival!
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Gotta say, of all the new additions, Treevil scares me the most. Holy moly that special is strong! Unless you block or cleanse those ailments ASAP, getting hit by that special seems like it’s lights out.
Yep, seems like a Game Over move. Those Very Fast 3-Star Tournaments are about to get harder.
Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for the breakdown of the new event. This looks like an excellent redo of their old challenges. The thing I appreciate more than anything though is that there’s no season 1 shoved into it.
Thank you again for taking the time.
Thanks Cornelius!
Just a quick fix. Jabberwock costume description says 131 poison damage per turn for 3 turns, whereas the og is 240/3 turns = 80/ turn. So the costume is overall better.
Hi Duchay, I think that’s what I have. I’m looking and looking but can’t see the difference. Sorry if I’m missing it, I’ll check again tomorrow.
Your eval says the costume does less poison damage, but the wording on the cards is different, and he actually does 131 each turn for three turns (393 total) whereas the original does 240 over three turns.
So the costume does the same initial damage, more poison damage, and adds mana speed reduction. You state that “before he did more poison damage” which isn’t the case.
Sorry for being nitpicky. Love your writeups!
Thank you!
I got there in the end.
In the Gargoyle event, they might be immune to poison, but not immune to Lady Locke “moonligjt serenade”, and 918 damage over 4 turns (stone skin does not matter), is very respectable. I had no big problem with the legendary challenge by using her. I think she deserves some attention now that gargoyles will show up in teams
No review for costume Black night?