How Good is Mr. Pengi? Empires and Puzzles Review
Mr. Pengi is the only brand-spanking-new Hero in this year’s Santa’s Challenge, -Empires and Puzzles Christmas Event.
As expected, he’s strong. And if you’re already playing Minion makers, Mr. Pengi should be on your Christmas Wishlist.
Before we start, please consider sharing a link to this post with your alliance or on social media. It really does help.
This post may contain speculation, personal opinion, and adult comedy. It is not advice and is solely for entertainment and informational purposes.
Mr. Pengi’s Old Cynic Review
Class: Druid
Family Bonus: Winter 2/3 Heroes = 1. +2%/+3% health for minions inherited from their summoner. 2. +5%/+10% attack for minions inherited from their summoner.)
Special Skills (Herring Blaster): 1. Deals 450% damage to the target. 2. Deals an additional 130% damage to as many random enemies as there are Minions owned by allies. The damage is reduced on each consecutive hits. 3. All hit targets receive 132 Frost damage over 3 turns. 4. Summons an Elf minion for the caster and nearby allies with 7% HP and 10% attack inherited from the caster.
Talent: COMPANION ~ +15% chance to summon a Thorn Minion after receiving any damage. The effect is applied at the end of the turn.
Is Mr. Pengi worth Levelling? (Empires and Puzzles)
Yes. Even if you don’t play a Minion summoner, he’s still a powerful sniper with a couple of decent tricks up his sleeve.
And if you do run Bera, Freya, Motega, Director Zuri, or any of the other summoners in Empires and Puzzles, then Mr. Pengi becomes a whole different monster.
Mr. Pengi’s Special Skills Explained
Mr. Pengi has four distinct Skills, which when viewed as a whole, makes him seem a bit OP. But in today’s Empires and Puzzles, he is not completely ridiculous.
First, we have his sniping, dishing out 450% damage to a single target.
After that initial hit, things get a little messy.
Mr. Pengi will randomly hit an enemy, for every Minion owned by an ally.
The first random hit is worth 130%, and over the consecutive strikes, the damage is reduced, until finally, it’s only worth around 20%.
So, if you have 5 allies with 3 Minions each, he could hit another 15 times!
And based on some initial Beta information, combined with some general guesswork, I make it that Mr. Pengi will do near 1,498% total damage (and that may be a lowball estimate).
But Mr. Pengi isn’t done yet.
Mr. Prengi will now Cast a Frost damage worth 132, for all the enemies he managed to catch.
And still not satisfied, this Fast Hero will summon a Minion worth 10% HP and 10% Att, for himself and nearby allies.
Minions, by the way, which will increase the damage he’s able to shell out next time around!
Finally, on the seventh day, he rested.
Likelihood of hitting 15 times?
Let’s say 5×3 Minions isn’t very likely, at least not until the end of battle. What about 5×2?
I play Freya, Devana, and Reuben, and if things are going reasonably well, most of my Heroes will have a Minion or two by the midway point.
For argument’s sake, let’s say three Heroes have a single Minion, while the other two Heroes have two Minions each: That would mean an additional 7 hits for Mr. Pengi.
That’s about 1,070% damage.
-Not a bad return for a Fast Hero, especially when the necessary triggers are so easily attainable (Minions).
Mr. Pengi Comparisons (Empires and Puzzles)
I’d like to start with his Minions. 7% HP/ 10% Att is a solid effort.
-It’s the same Minion as the other 5-Star Heroes from Santa’s Challenge provide. And, how does that compare game-wide? …
| Hero | Mana Speed | Minion Health | Minion Attack |
| Mr. Pengi | Fast | 7% | 10% |
| Reuben | Fast | 5% (78HP) | 10% |
| Anastasia Tier-1 | Very Fast | 8% (137HP) | 17% |
| Motega Tier-1 | Very Fast | 8% | 17% |
| Bera/Freya | Fast | 20% (334HP) | 20% |
Next, we have his strike. I worked out that his top-end potential was near 1,500% damage. Are there any other Fast Heroes able to come close to that? Let me know in the comments below.
| Hero | Mana Speed | Damage | Secondary |
| Mr. Pengi | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 450% damage to the target | Will potentially hit another 15 times -up to 1,498% damage |
| Finley | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 385% damage to the target | Will hit another 4 times, if target(s) has/have a buff + targets get -34% defense |
| Quenell | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 320% damage to the target & NB | Gains a +40% power boost for her next Special, with a possible top-end hit of 520% damage to 3 targets (1,560% total) |
| Captain Nemo | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 300% damage to the target | Deals 600% if the caster has a status ailment |
| Russell | Average (10 tiles) | Deals 350% damage to the target | Won’t miss, can’t miss |
| Phileas Fogg | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 420% damage to the target | Target is immune to new buffs and dispels buffs from target |
| Onyx | Ninja-1 (5 tiles) | Deals 270% damage to the target | Target is immune to new buffs and dispells buffs from target |
| Gaillard | Fast (8 tiles) | Deals 490% damage to the target | Protects against Fiends |
Comparing Mr. Pengi with other Fast hitters isn’t really fair, because he’s highly likely to cause a lot more damage.
Ruby (1,850% on Slow) and Penolite (1,225 – 2,450% on Average) are more in his league.
Mr. Pengi? Hero Grade (Empires and Puzzles)
My final thoughts:
Mr. Pengi is a great all-rounder; helping both the offence and defence at the same time. He’s like a one-man army.
Synergy comes into it again, because if you don’t prioritise Minions in your strategy, Mr. Pengi will lose out on a lot of his potential.
However, Minions are commonplace in Empires and Puzzles. And that means, Mr. Pengi’s barrier to greatness is easily overcome, should the player so wish.
Finally, Mr. Pengi isn’t a one-trick pony, he’s a busy Hero masquerading as a sniper.
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: Archangel
What are your thoughts? Did I get it wrong, or miss something? Let me know in the comments below.
[Please always check in-game Hero Cards to confirm details and never chase Heroes]
Enjoyed the post? Then please help me, -share it with your alliance!
Want more Empires and Puzzles? Click here.
Don’t forget to check out my Hero Ranking Page!
Looking for a new mobile game (iOS or Android)? Check out my new review section.
Follow me on Facebook: Visit Old Cynic’s page
Copyright: oldcynic.com
Images used by way of review/tutorial – Copyright owned by Empires & Puzzles: Small Giant Games
There’s a video in the Facebook group of him killing an entire attacking raid team by himself when his team had full minions. Insane.
It’s his Speed I can’t get over -Fast. Average would’ve been a bit more balanced, but he is an addition to the Christmas crew -and they are a strong lot.
Thanks for stopping by
Nice review. I lucked out big in this event. On 60 pulls I got Pengi, Mother and Krampus. Reading your review makes me wish I had mats for both. Probably will work on Krampus first. Going to feed Pengi a bit and try him on the map.
Congrats Fledger! That is a great result and a lovely problem to have.
Christmas heroes are known to be OP so hopefully they’re somewhat future-proofed, too.
I got 2 Pengi and am 1 telescope away from 6…
I have Frida at 3/70
I have krampus on my team so Pengi would benefit from 5 minions, they would fire at the same time
But the combo: kiril c, krampus, Frida, Lepus i would have… (i play 4-1, never mono)
Which way would you go?
I can see why you ask, Frida looks pivotal to your raid squad:
– Target & NB get -54% defense against Ice for 4 turns
– Dispels buffs from the Target & NB
It would’ve been nice if Frida Dispelled first. Anyway…
I can see how Frida really does offer a lot to a Blue raid team, and locks-in a lot of offense which M.Lepus can then take advantage of. So, by choosing Mr. Pengi, you’re bound to lose a little synergy.
That said, Mr. Pengi looks OP and his damage (over Speed) may make up for what’s lost. Also, he’s a brand new, fresh out of the box, hero.
If it were me, I’d break Synergy for the current Superstar. OR, Swap out the hitter (M.Lepus) to keep Synergy -tho I understand the Mats issue).
Finally, allow me to relinquish any legal responsibility: this is not advice, just chewing the fat.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have since maxed them both… and i have 1 more of each lol
i think i’m doing Bobo next, depending on what comes from that trade thing… would do an Ariel
Hey, thanks for the update, it’s nice to know how things turned out.
Freya is big for titans with the element defense down.
Mr Pengi is kinda OP with that additional hits and do serious damage and at fast speed? Thats overkill a little bit. Wont be surprise if people start putting him on defense.
One thing for sure, if people wants to put him on their defenses, they would have to put a few more minion summoners in their defenses to fully utilize the additional damage. However, players with the new yellow Gargoyle will have a field day when that happens.
Hey MIB, my thoughts exactly re. Penolite.
But at the moment, he’s a one-off and there shouldn’t be too many of him about?
I like it; the new heroes one-upping each other. There’s a big battlefield out there and the heroes are much more varied with strengths and weaknesses.
Now, I just need to get a few of them.
Thanks for sharing your view!
Im already facing these +20 LB PENGI in some defenses. These guys sure are quick on this. But like my comments before, Penolite is having such a wonderful time against them. Lol
I picked it with the EHT at the end of the Normal Xmas Challenge! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Congrats Gixu -again, soooo lucky. I wish! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your good fortunes!
Pengi’s frost damage stacks with Skadi. Even at 3/50 with a full complement of minions he does more damage than a fully leveled Master Lepus..
In top alliances I wouldn’t use him on defence. Too many Skadi’s, Grimble’s and Penolie’s. Let’s see if he gets a balance tweak.
That’s good to know. My Master Lepus isn’t aging well at all. That -Defense is irritating.
Thanks for commenting!
Pulled one along with mother north.. its the best christmas in years.. already 😉
From what ive seen this far is that he will be a perfect addition to my second blue monoteam.. where he will be paired with frosth and athena (frosth adds ammo with minions at fast speed, athenas def down will cap out fast as lightning), its gonna be a killer combo.. i can only see one flaw with him.. and that is that his animation with a full rack of minions will take 8sec
Haha -Congrats, that’s awesome, & funny about the 8 sec animation. That’s a fair trade-off for a monster.
Thanks for sharing!
Got him and will level him as son as I finish costumed Magni
BUT he has very hard competition with GAILLARD and RIAN waiting. What do you think ?
For me, it’s Mr Pengi over Gaillard & Magni, but it depends on if you run Summoners.
Good luck choosing and thanks for visiting!
Thanks. Yes i run Freya and Frosth and also Seshat, Telluria… So yes I think I will give Pengi a try.
Hi Old Cynic
First of all, thanks (and congrats) for all the work you’r doing.
I have Mr pingui, Lv84/85 +20, Sword over health and defence last (left, left ,right, left, right, left right). + Lv 27 Mana troops (on field, goest at 1207 atk, 1065 def and 1653).
Great synergy with motega, and in the future, with Mother north (costumed) and Freya (exept againt a penolite team, i’ll suffer ! 😀 )
My question is :
Do you have an idea / sim about the total damages he does (cumulative) at +5/+10/+15 minions ? (on average, and on a basis like..dunno… 800def ?)
It goes sooooo fast i can’t count at all.
In a month, i’ll have (in order) : MotherN(C)80/+20, Motega80/20, Freya80/+20, Pengi85/+20, Nadhezda80/+20. Hope to see you on field (what’s your game nickname?) :p
Kind regards from france.
Hi Yardman, thank you!
Your team looks awesome, congrats. I did do a little math (hard going for me, I tell ya) to accompany the review, but it was sketchy. Maybe a slow-mo of a video would allow the count? Thanks for reading my stuff, I appreciate it!
Oh sorry, I didn’t answer your question re my tag. I was the Old Cynic, and use that for YouTube videos, but tend to keep a low profile in-game. My alliance doesn’t even know that I blog at the OldCynic. I’m a recluse!
Ha ha mate, no Pb. Wish we can fiigt (alongside, of vs :D)
For penguin, he’s now Lv 85 with troop mana 27.
Stats :
Atk : 1215 Def : 10766 HP : 1667
Impossible to see how many damages in average. Too fast and i didn’t took vids (dunno how to do ha ha ha).
Yet, he’s incredible. Little bit OP but….not that much. Not until i’ll pair with mother north costumed :p
Thanks for your answers and hope to see ya soon in game 🙂
Congrats guys for getting that super hero!
I’ve already faced him in raids and he’s a game changer (it’s game over guys)! Wish I had him!
I am afraid to say but heroes like that, as Telluria, will soon get nerfed (hope my thoughts never get realized).
They should be either slow speed or with less power!
(again hope this never happens)
Hi there,
Thanks for all of your hard work! I’m a frequent visitor to your reviews.
I was very fortunate to pull 3 Mr. Pengi and a Mother North this year! I’ve already leveled one Mr. Pengi, but am wondering if I should level a second one or level my Frosth to go with him? I feel like Frosth would help with raids but a second Mr. Pengi would help more with War and still help in 3/2 raids.
Also, just subscribed!
Hey Bouncer, Happy New Year and thanks for subscribing!
I think it’s a matter of when, not if. He’s clearly one of the most OP heroes in the game. I like the idea of a Frosth to get those Minions out (if you don’t have another hero filling the role).
Congrats tho, -Imagine 3 Pengi’s, 1 Frost, and 1 MN! 🙂
Mr pengy can be filthy to face.
Though I have found a use for a 5* that gets little love, Noor. Her sparrows can keep pengy’s ammunition minimised while the rest of your team works on the inevitable krampus and mother north. Can’t say improves my win rate much, but she’s fun!
Hey Nurgles! If he fires it’s a real, Close Your Eyes & Hope for the Best moment. Noor does the same thing that Devana’s Minion does; I didn’t know -cool stuff. Every little helps.
Thanks for stopping by
Hi all 🙂
Noor is fun to play. Unfortunately, he’s so sloooww 🙁
Without a +29 mana troops, it’s hard to expect a payback on pinguin.
The hero of the month, Viscaro, seems the best option in order to “lower a bit” pinguin (and all santa’s heroes) pain.
Or… Penolite (unfortunately, i don’t have one… and if i cross one with my pinguin, he’ll be my top priority target !)
Hey Yardman, you’re right Viscaro is a nice option if you get him. I try to kill Mr. P asap, or get Hanitra going. Good luck getting the heroes you want!
Ha ha Mate 🙂
I have both Viscaro and Hanita 😉
Yet, they don’t fit with pingui, just as counters.
I think my “counter christmas teams looks more like :
Viscaro, Eloise (i need to up the asap), Alexandrine (heal + heal on dot) or Krampus, Jade (for evade and mana – ) and… damn, i have no good red heroes (maybee a grenat for more heal).
Nice review. I pulled Mr. Pengi as well. I haven’t made a minion strategy team yet, but I’ve been holding Noor as well, so this could be fun.
Question though, do fiends count as minions? Otherwise that
could be a good defense strategy against the big penguin.
Hi TBone, I see what you mean.
Yes, in my experience Minions will replace Fiends (in a Raid), so I expect they’ll replace a Minion on Defense.
If you do test it out, come back and confirm our suspicions!
Hi man!
We all know there will be a nerf of the Xmas family, so… do you think Pengi will still remain a Deity???
Thx!
Hey Gixu,
Yes, absolutely, -Mr. Pengi is still OP.
I think it was just too much Synergy with the rest of the Xmas family; their Minions were strong and bonus was crazy so why play Bera with Pengi? -No reason.
Now, maybe players will look to put a different team around him…
I saw this team the other day (Before Nerf):
C.MN | C.KRAMPUS | LUDWIG | DODGER? | Mr. PEN
It was crazy… If you kill Ludwig, MN brings him back everytime… and the killer on the team? Only 1… Mr. Pengi
Anyway, they did not nerf Pengi, he is still very much OP in my eyes.
Thanks for stopping by Gixu!
Pengi is fantastic!
I use him on 2 teams:
Frosth, Frida, Finley, Pengi and Aegir (or Ureaus, if I want more minions, since his 2021 family bonus together with Frosth is to give everybody minions).
Or my minionsteam:
Marjana costume, lady of the lake, puss in boots, pengi and Queen of hearts… That’s a nasty team… Lots of heal, minion defence, taunt and 3 hitters (along with minions, some of them who steal mana).
I recently got Gaillard but it is Pengi that I’m going to limit break (this time. Both Finley and Frida are already lvl 85).
I think he really should be paired with minion summoners and the old summoners really works fantastic with him
I pulled him during the last event. He fits perfectly in my defense team, my plan is with Hulda and Kara on the front and mother north, Khufu Mr Pengi behind them.
I should have enough sinergy
What would be the best raid formation?
Thanks
Framar
Hey Framar, personally I use the Double formation. But Standard and Reverse seem to be the most popular. If you want my tips for setting up a Defense, I put it all here! Congrats on the awesome heroes 🥳 and thanks for reading!