Florenna: E&P July 25 HOTM [4-Year Special]

Florenna is the Empires & Puzzles July 2025 Hero of the Month (HOTM), and she’s very special because she marks the fourth year of my E&P journey (to the day).

She’s actually an interesting Hero; however, to appreciate her value, we need to establish the potency of her poison and the fatality risk it poses.

On July 1st 2021, I decided to tell the world exactly what I thought of Devana, and since then, I’ve racked up an insane amount of articles about Empires & Puzzles.

So to celebrate, alongside Florenna’s review, I’ll be sharing some interesting Facts & Stats!

OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #1
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Florenna Stats and Special Skills (Heavy Fragrance)

Key Facts: Nature (Green), Fast, Druid, Legends 2025

Special Skills (Heavy Fragrance): 1. Deals 435% damage to the target. 2. The target can’t get their status ailments cleansed or reallocated by Special Skills for 3 turns. (This effect also prevents cleansing and reallocating itself.) 3. The target receives 912 Poison damage over 3 turns. This effect spreads to nearby enemies 4. [Element Link] Gives all Nature allies +20% Attack for 4 turns (can’t be dispelled).

Passive Skills: 1. MANA ON STATUS AILMENT RECEIVED ~ Gains 5% mana when she receives a Status Ailment or negative stack. 2. RESIST POISON ~ This character has innate resistance against Poison.

Talent: COMPANION ~ +15% chance to summon a Thorn Minion after receiving any damage. The effect is applied at the end of the turn.

Aether Power: ATTACK UP ~ +20% Attack for 6 turns

Legends 2025 Family Bonus: Not active yet.

The review format: First, a “Newbie” review for new players. Then, a “Veteran” review for experienced players. Then, some key facts for both to consider. Lastly, the Hero Grade, which is universal and reflects the Hero’s true value.

Florenna NEWBIE Review (Empires & Puzzles)

This is a solid Hero of the Month!

Don’t get me wrong, she’s not going to make you #1 in the world, but she will help you defeat plenty of enemies.

If you’re a new player, you might not know much about “Power Stats”, but it’s worth noting that newer Heroes have more Power credits, which means they have better Health, Defense, and Attack.

They are basically stronger. And with Florenna, you’re getting a Hero with strong Power Stats and very usable Special Skills.

Speaking of her Special Skills, Florenna is a Sniper first (in that she targets one Hero). However, after the initial slap, she poisons the target, and that poison spreads to nearby enemies. ~Much like my dog’s special lingering airborne attack.

What makes Florenna stand out, compared to previous Heroes with this same Skill, is that she first makes the target immune to being cleansed!

Again, my dog achieves a similar feat by letting loose near the doorway so you can’t escape! Genius tactics.

The only thing you need to watch for with Florenna is when Heroes are immune to Status Effects, [Jargon Buster] because her poison won’t stick on them and will be wasted.

Overall, Florenna is a weak-ish Sniper who promises some decent Damage-Over-Time, and if you’re new and just pulled her, she’s probably one of your better Heroes.

OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #2
There are over 445,650 words on this website. For reference, the Bible has 783,137 words, but that was a collaboration.

Florenna VETERAN Review (Empires & Puzzles)

Current HOTMs are really interesting because they’re the most accessible new Heroes.

Of course, it’s rare for a HOTM to challenge the dominance of the absolute top Defenses (and Florenna is unlikely to break the trend).

But they do create a class of Heroes who fill the gap between the Old-Meta and the New.

See, I’m convinced that a team of new HOTMs will beat (on average) a team of old superstars. AND, they don’t even need to have exceptional Special Skills.

I imagine you just need to create a cut-off date for older Heroes, and then let the Power Creep do the rest.

That said, the gap between the new HOTMs and the top Meta Heroes feels wider than ever.

That’s why I tend to grade good HOTMs as Warriors instead of Meek. At the same time, the idea prevents me from calling them Archangels.

Anyway, concerning Florenna, the main question we need to answer is, how deadly is her poison?

Let’s check it out.

OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #3
The most challenging aspect of covering E&P is the desire to get it right. It’s easy to call a dud a stud, but the goal is to be as near to the mark as possible. I’ve learned over the years that I’m going to get it wrong every now and then, but I have to accept it and move on because nobody can be right all of the time. However, at the time of writing this stuff, I genuinely believe what my fingertips are producing!

Florenna’s Poison Damage (Old Cynic’s 4-Year Special)

Before we get to the table, I wanted to state clearly that this sort of spreading poison isn’t as valuable as it once was. Nowadays, so many Heroes will simply passively block this threat to their lives.

With that said, how does Florenna measure up against other Heroes who spread DOT?

How quickly will her targets exit stage left?

My Evaluation…

Firstly, it was clear that these Heroes needed their Power Stats next to them, because some are so old that they might not be usable today, making their poison output irrelevant.

It’s also worth noting that there are other Heroes with similar effects, for example, some Garrison Guard Heroes have Mega Minions that will inflict spreadable Bleed.

In fact, the Garrison Guard are a good example of what a top-end Hero will give you vs. a HOTM: Their Mega Minions are spreading +400 damage over 3 turns (half what Florenna does), and it’s not even the main event, it’s a side thought.

Looking at the table, I would have liked to see Florenna inflict more damage. 912 seems a little reserved. However, her poison damage will inflate to 1287 once fully levelled.

Based on this information, it’s my contention that if you need a Hero for PvE and some mid-level PvP, Florenna is a viable option.

OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #4
In my first year blogging (2021), I wrote 73 posts from June. That’s 10.42 per month! In the second year (2022), I managed to write 105 posts. That’s 8.75 per month. 2023 saw 62 posts (5.16 per month). 2024 saw 43 posts (3.58 per month). And so far this year, we’re at 30 posts, which is an average of 5 per month.

Florenna’s Old Cynic Review

Final Thoughts:

Florenna’s first strike is unlikely to kill a healthy target, but that’s a good thing because that’s patient zero. We need them alive for our contagion to spread!

While I haven’t gone over her Passives, there is one that’s worth highlighting: Florenna will gain 5% mana when she receives a Status Ailment… This useful little bonus could mean that she becomes fully charged when you’re not expecting it.

My main issue with Florenna is that times have changed; transmitting a poison through the enemy line is pretty tricky nowadays (as it was in my testing). However, against the right team (PvP-wise), Florenna will definitely cause a lot of damage.

I think that about wraps it up for this post. Florenna is another good Hero for mid-level players… maybe even very good for that group, but for those looking for top-end scalps, you’re gonna need more!

Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below!

You can find all my HOTM reviews here.

OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #5
If I could select any Hero to have today, it would be Li Kui. There are so many Heroes to choose from nowadays, but at the moment, Li Kui’s Hero Card reads like a nightmare. He’s an Average speed defensive protector (Taunt) who reduces all received damage by -50%. He hits like a bowling ball to the head x5 (with the chance of critical damage), he may safely cleanse his team upon Special activation, and then has RIGHTEOUS REBELLION… Likely healing himself for 20% boosted health and maybe gaining 20% mana when he’s hit. That’s a lot of stuff going on. Still… I don’t like it when Regin fires off on my team, so I’d like to get her, too. AND, since we’re dreaming, give me Song Jiang as well. ~Make it a hat-trick.

Hero Grade for Florenna (Empires & Puzzles)

I have returned to basic grading (Meek, Warrior, Archangel, Deity) because things were overly complicated.

So, for my grading, the question is:

Is this Hero’s Special capable of/likely to change the outcome of a battle? No.

If not, do they still bring enough to the party to help defeat the deities? No.

Old Cynic’s Hero Grade: Warrior

[Please always check in-game Hero Cards to confirm details and never chase Heroes]

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OLDCYNIC FACTS & STATS #6
My favourite Hero for the entirety of the game is Ludwig. He is such a dynamic Hero, and I’m pretty sure they changed the game just for him (see his review). In the early days, it was Malosi: E&P was simpler back then. In that environment (with only Status Effects to manage), Malosi was a superstar. I love that Malosi can stop Ludwig. Devana was awesome, too. C. Roc was the most important Hero I’ve ever pulled because without him, I would never have stolen a #1 on the World Leaderboard.

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Images used for review/tutorial
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