Roughian & Nurgib Empires and Puzzles HOTM January 23
Roughian & Nurgib are Empires and Puzzles’ January 2023 Hero Of The Month (HOTM), and I’ve already decided… I’m completely willing to change for her. I’ll change my clothes, my bedtime, heck, even my hairstyle, if she would just mosey on over this way.
Caveat: This post contains gameplay speculation and personal opinion. It may also contain adult comedy and sarcasm. It is not advice and is solely for entertainment and informational purposes.
Roughian & Nurgib’s Stats and Special Skills (Hero Of The Month)
Key Facts: Fire (Red), Fast, Rogue, Legends 2023 (Not activated yet)
Special Skills (Mana Scavenge): 1. Steals 50% of Mana from the target and distributes it to allies. 2. Deals 420% damage to the target. 3. The more health the enemy has, the more damage they will receive, up to 570% damage. 4. [Element Link] All Fire allies get +5% chance to dodge Status Ailments for 4 turns (can not be dispelled).
Passive: 1. MANA ON HEALTH RECOVERY ~ This character receives 5% Mana each time their health is recovered. 2. EAT MINIONS AND GAIN MANA OVER TIME ~ Every 3 turns, eats all Minions from a random enemy and gains a small amount of Mana for each eaten Minion.
Talent: EVADE ~ +20% chance to dodge direct damage from offensive Special skills.
How Good are Roughian & Nurgib? (Empires and Puzzles)
Roughian & Nurgib are so good that I would change my Main Raid Squad (MRS), to Fire hot, if I got them.
I would build a team around her, drop petals before her en route to any battle, and rename my doggy, “Nurgib”.
Roughian & Nurgib’s Passive Skills are so strong that the Season 5 bunch have unionized in a bid to prevent their release.
But I suspect they’re gonna fail, and that we will see something close to the Beta version of Roughian & Nurgib in the Wild, tomorrow.
And if we don’t?
Well, I’ll turn this Smile into a Frown on the day of release:
đ + đ
What does this mean? It’s not too bad but they have reduced the power of the Element Link. -I’ll explain it all in the Element Link section.
There is so much to love about Roughian & Nurgib
Roughian & Nurgib have the potential to affect most battles via their mere presence on the battlefield.
-It’s the Minion removing Passive to which I refer.
In fact, let’s check out the Passives before the main Special:
Passive: 1. MANA ON HEALTH RECOVERY ~ This character receives 5% Mana each time their health is recovered. 2. EAT MINIONS AND GAIN MANA OVER TIME ~ Every 3 turns, eats all Minions from a random enemy and gains a small amount of Mana for each eaten Minion.
So we have a nice 5% Mana boost to go along with any healing; nothing crazy, but could be enough to turn the lights on.
And then we have the piĂšce de rĂ©sistance, the destruction of all Minions from a random enemy. And for each Minion destroyed, she’ll gain a small amount of Mana.
The upside is that this will passively occur every 3 turns, the downside is that it will only target 1 enemy Hero, and you’ll have a 1 in 5 chance of it potentially targeting the one you want.
But throughout the course of a battle, this sort of Passive Skill could be an absolute godsend.
And Roughian & Nurgib have even more stuffed into their shoebox of squeaky toys…
Mana Stealing Hero of the Month (Main Special Skill)
You might remember in my Morax review, I highlighted all the waffle found on his Hero Card.
Well, it’s the exact opposite here with Roughian & Nurgib.
Roughian & Nurgib begins by stealing 50% of the Mana from the target and sharing it with her allies. -This is a really nice touch, if not always incredibly meaningful in battle.
If you do manage to catch a target on 100% Mana, that would mean distributing 10% Mana to each ally.
It’s more likely tho, that you’ll catch someone in the mid-range area, drawing something more like 3-7% Mana each.
As for the hit itself, we don’t need a complex table to tell us that 420% damage to a single target isn’t Meta breaking.
- Anne will give you a guaranteed 550%, with the promise of a backhand for the rest of the opposing chumps
- Dark Lord’s handing out 550% to whoever wants it, and
- Erebus is conking one head for 610% on 9 tiles following his recent Buff
But Roughian & Nurgib have the potential of hitting up to 570% depending on how much health the enemy has. And that does feel like a proper whack when accurately applied to the noggin.
~And at Fast, it’s easy enough to catch ’em early.
Roughian & Nurgib (Empires and Puzzles)
All in all, Roughian & Nurgib’s a very decent Sniper on core skills alone. Let’s not forget, back in the day, Lianna (who is still used by some F2P/C2P players today) hit for 512% but did absolutely nothing else. -No overtime, no personal development projects, and no being a “Team Player” coz Jeff called in sick.
And more recently we’ve seen the now infamous Balur (last month’s HOTM) who at Average hit a single petrified victim for all of 450%.
But it’s Tahir, the August HOTM, who offers a nice comparison as at Fast, he deals 350% damage to the target, which increases to 525% if the target has a Status Ailment or negative Stack.
Roughian & Nurgib’s Dodge Element Link (HotM 2023)
In Beta, Roughian & Nurgib had a fantastic Element Link, which consisted of granting all Fire allies (and possibly all allies with the 2023 Family Bonus) an 80% chance to dodge Status Ailments for 4 turns.
This was huge when I tested her; it was really cool and fun to dodge some of the game’s most irritating and frustrating Status Ailments.
What it meant in practice, at least in my tests, was that while you still felt the full force of an overhand right, you weren’t left with some itchy infection or game-changing illness.
Sadly, this Element Link was nerfed to high heaven before release.
While I don’t like to judge a card based on its Beta appearance, I can’t help but feel that this takes away a meaningful chunk of Roughian & Nurgib’s value.
It is somewhat understandable that they’d want to dial back on the strength of this Element Link, especially given that it could have rendered Heroes like C. Roc toothless, and severely hampered the likes of Matilda.
But to cut this all the way back to 5% means that my 200 words covering this Element Link are now much more valuable than the actual Link itself!
I thank you.
Roughian & Nurgib Empires and Puzzles – Hero of the Month January 23
My final thoughts:
Roughian & Nurgib combine to form a fantastic duo. It was a pleasant surprise to see all the bells and whistles on this Hero of the Month.
The Minion disposal is incredibly useful. -Sure, it isn’t as dynamic as we’d expect from a premium Hero, but in fairness, this is a Passive we’re talking about!
Overall, I really like Roughian & Nurgib. The order of the Special Skills is particularly good, which is another bonus for those of us who get her.
I’m going to grade highly on the principle of a very decent bit of Mana manipulation, a strong and obtainable high-end hit, and one of the most useful Passives you could get in the current Meta.
And more than that, she’s fun, fast, and dynamic.
I’d love to hear what you think.
đđHappy New Year Everybody! đđ
Hero Grade for Roughian & Nurgib (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 ââ â
[Please always check in-game Hero Cards to confirm details and never chase Heroes]
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As happy as I am NOT getting balur this month, so happy I’ll be getting her. If this is how the hotm will be next year they’ll be able yo make a difference. Thank you for so much fun (and interesting) reading material this year, I look forward reading your posts in the next one. Enjoy the feast this evening!
Weâve had it bad for so long that a real decent HotM comes along and itâs party time đ Thanks for taking the time to comment this evening, hereâs hoping for a fun and happy 2023!
saved all my challenge summons for tomorrow
Good luck f5alcon, Iâll be sure to visit your YouTube tomorrow to see if you got her. Happy New Year!
I’m so sick of Jeff calling in “sick” and then I see his Instagram posts at some fancy restaurant. That guy is a punk.
Thanks for another great review.
đ Jeffâs got the drop on all of us! Heâs out there living his best life. Happy New Year! đđ„ł
I really hope you get it
Have an awesome 2023, OC.
Cheers Mig-EL, you too!
Im eagerly waiting for this hero to come up before doing pulls on gargoyles. I already have 6 SE feeder, i mean, Balur. Dont need another one. lol
đ Poor Balur. Hope it goes well MIB!
I just read this post and coz of what you wrote, broke my rule of “don’t chase”, did a 7-pull and got him! I promise not to chase ever again đ
đŹ Never chase a Hero! It’s my rule too… Top of my Empires and Puzzles Tips!
That said, I’m sooo happy it ended well for you! Congrats đđ, I hope to get her, too!
Would you use her as a Tank? Or is she better suited for another position?
No, she’s not a Tank and if on Defence should be out of the way to allow her Passive to operate freely.
Which legendary heroes should I seriously consider claiming for my fated summon?
And which ones should I definitely avoid?
Thanks!
Telluria
Vela
Onatel
Seshat
Mitsuko
Tarlak
Ariel
Poseidon
Kageburado
Tyr
Skadi
Thor
Freya
Hello! For right or for wrong, I have shared my opinion on the current Fated Summoning options, here.
I think I have narrowed it down to Freya or Onatel. Which one do you think would have the most synergy?
Freya + Alfrike + Lu Bu
Or
Onatel + Peñolite + Devana
Thanks!
Both sets are good but Peñolite + Devana have speed on their side, however, I can’t tell you who to pick beyond my views on the heroes as given!
I just went through this, took me like a week to decide. In the end I chose Onatel (yes sheâs still solid, but I also needed a Legendary Holy).
Hey !
First, thank you for your reviews, I’ve been reading them since a few months, and they really helped me. I did like 3 pulls this morning… and I got Roughian & Nurgib. She seemed like a really good and usefull hero with all the mana boosts. I came here to read your review. Now I’m even more happy about this pull. She complements my roaster very well, I’ll be able to give all the emblems to her, since I don’t have a lot of heroes of this class (Only Kelile).
Plus, used with Ariel who boost my mana, Franz and Rayne that are already bringning the pain quite well together, and finally mama Freya, or loner Devana….or even just a second healer….this could be very interesting to test.
Now I hope they won’t nerf her…
I’m still not very good at building a good defense team or positioning my heroes, what position would you give her in your team, could she be used in defense or as a tank, or she’s more of an offensive hero ? It’s obvious that she got more attack power then defense, but….
Hi Koudelka, thanks for reading my stuff.
R&N isn’t a tank and if on Defense should be kept outta the way. -The Minion control needs to keep ticking over so a Sniper’s wing makes the most sense to me. If testing can prove enough speed (via her Mana tricks) then maybe a Flank on weaker rosters without better options.
The shared Mana is a variable and therefore unpredictable on D.
M&N will really shine on Offence where you can target the Mana victim yourself.
Congrats Koudelka đđ„ł
EstĂĄ Ă© a primeira vez que estou comentando por aqui, (sou Brasileiro estou usando o Google para traduzir pro inglĂȘs, me desculpem pelos erros ortogrĂĄficos) gostaria de agradecer suas anĂĄlises e os diversos conteĂșdos sobre o Empires, fico muito feliz sempre que vocĂȘ posta algo novo, me divirto muito com o seu conteĂșdo, parabĂ©ns e continue com esse belo trabalho, feliz 2023!!!!!
Translated: This is the first time I’m commenting here, (I’m Brazilian and I’m using Google to translate into English, sorry for the spelling mistakes) I’d like to thank you for your analysis and the various contents about Empires, I’m very happy whenever you post something new, I have a lot of fun with your content, congratulations and continue with this beautiful work, happy 2023!!!!!
đ Cheers Jeon Seong, thanks for breaking cover. It means a lot to know that you enjoy the light-hearted nature of my blog, -coz that’s always the intent. Happy New Year to you too!
Translated: đ SaĂșde Jeon Seong, obrigado por abrir o disfarce. Significa muito saber que vocĂȘ gosta da natureza alegre do meu blog, porque essa Ă© sempre a intenção. Feliz Ano Novo para vocĂȘ tambĂ©m!
Are you implying that the dog’s name is Nurgib, not Roughian?
That’s the way I went, but I don’t know.
I also think that Roughian (Wruff-ian) is the dog…
Nurgib sounds more like an appropriate name for an Orc?
Roughian deffo the pooch and Nurgib’s the orc. Not referring to Russians, mind.
I agree ,, roughian is a dogs name
Thanks a lot for this useful review!
Maybe you can add some advice with which other heroes R&N can be combined best. Tetisheri might be a good match.
Hi clafis71, for me R&N would work nicely in a Stacked 3/2 Raid team. The EL nerf is a real pity because it removes a strong teamwide defensive measure. Also, you could stick her on a wing and let the Passive work. Check out my Defense Team building post for more ideas. And, this Touney Guide, and my #1 in the world post.
Thanks for reading!
RNG is a funny think, December was dry month even with lots of EHT and other pulls (too many), zip nada, then Jan 1 10 pull I get ….. 2 HOTM, next day I get another trying to pull for Diaochan. Why cant this be spread out ? Hope they dont nerf this HOTM, happy new year and may RNG be good to you.
đ Congrats Maxx, that’s perfect, better than Balur. And yes, I’ll take any spare luck you might have left over đđ
Hello OC
First let me say that after Hurricane Ian I started playing E&P to distract me from all the damages to my condo. I soon found the game addictive and your reviews/comments even more necessary to continue to play the game correctly. I don’t play any other games period. I’m a nurse and I have no life lol. Anyway, I broke your rule and did a 10 pull chasing this HOM and got the bonus draw. The 10 heroes I received were Quintus, 2 Wang Yuanji, Rigard, Boldtusk, Hu Tao, 2 Zhou Yu, Jing, and Yao so all around a beautiful pull considering…I do have 302 heroes because I can’t seem to delete them for collection purposes. I had all the heroes already except Zhou Yu and I already read your review on him. Would love Erlang Shen or Xiahou Dun but that’s dreaming and I’m not chasing anymore. I get a laugh out of how R&N collect mana in the bag/purse and toss it on their allies. Some of these heroes are funny. On the other hand I find some irritating when their special goes off it covers my phone screen and I can’t seem to see the tiles until it’s done and sometimes it prevents me from the next move quick enough…hopefully you know what I mean. Wondering if you would be so kind to take a moment and answer me a question because I am curious who your favorite 15 players are in the game as of today. You can only pick five 5 star, five 4 star and five 3 star heroes. I’ll await your reply in haste. I have recently changed my team to a 3-2 blue/yellow all maxed LB and full emblems Skadi, Rhys, C Alasie, Wang Yuanji, Fenrir regular formation and I have a 4893 strength ranked 2nd in my alliance with 2534 cups and I’m currently level 38. I take your advice and always go shield/hp path over attack as I agree I want my heroes to last. You are absolutely fundamental to my decision making. Tyvm for all your time and efforts. P.S. I have a huge crush on you. đ€Łđ«Łđ€«
Hey Tasha, I’m sorry to hear about the damage to your condo, I hope everything works itself out quickly. As for the crush, that’s fantastic news, -but don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll pass. đđ
For my Fav Heroes? Well, it’s tough to guarantee I’ll get them all coz there are so many now, but I can offer some off the top of my head. Of course, my Ranking Page shows clearly who I think the OP Heroes are, in the T-3 listings. But as for “Favs”, something like this:
5-Star: Raynes, M&M (she is OP, but a lot of fun too), Penolite, Kullervo, & Khepri
4-Stars: Azmia, Franz, Anastasia, Proteus, Xiahou Dun, & Waddles (6)
3-Star: Kvasir, C. Kvasir, Bertulf, Faiez, Shrubbear, & Dawn
Thank you for all the support!
Got this jolly pair on my first 10-pull of the month. I was thinking they will fit snuggly in the left wing on defence moving Mother North to left flank, but I’m having second guesses between these positions. What do you think, is it left wing or left flank or R&N if you still want to keep Mother North?
Hi Yorka, I agree that the left makes the most sense, but Iâm not a fan of MN on the flank. If it were me, Iâd try MN left with R&N left flank.
It may be that you canât get optimal synergy with both of them at the same time. That said, in my tests, the Mana boost was hit or miss. -I mean by that, that the passive may be of more use on D and therefore the right might work.
I wish the EL was there because that could have provided yet more Passive help.
Anyway, Iâd love to hear if you find the right fit for your D. Thanks for visiting.
My other good options on the left on D would be Seshat, Tinsel or Guan Yu, but I see even less synergy with any of those. After thinking about it long enough, I guess Mother North is locked in place at left wing unless you place her next to Ludwig on left flank or something, which is a hero I don’t have yet. I guess there’s enough randomness in the game to allow for suboptimal defence groups, but I still would like my right side to deal damage and a lot of it, and R&N is not Khufu or Jove. So hard to decide what to do.
Yeah, so R&N is not really that good for defence. The mana distribution doesn’t make a huge difference, but the steal is good, and in order to steal mana you can’t rely on RNG to pick a target. My other left wing options are definitely better with Mother North or Guan Yu.
When it rains it pours. Iâve gone so long without a decent red, then in two weeks I get ruby, el duque and now this hotm. Whatâs your recommendation on which order I should go, I canât decide.
Hahaha, that’s an awesome catch. Tough call. Ruby on Offense I suspect will be a lot of fun, -and straightforward control. But all are great, just depends on what you need. Congrats!
I went from red heroâs being one of my weak spots to getting ruby, el duque, and these guys within a week. Iâm curious what your opinion is on the order I should follow. My main reds are Phenexa, ferant, and Elizabeth
Hi, I think I answered the same Q above. All are great, El Duque is v.powerful at VF. But Ruby offers pure, clean, control. I like R&N but both would rank above her on my grading system, tho the Minion Passive is next-level. Good luck deciding!
Different subject;
Jequn. Thoughts
On the distribution of mana I don’t think she counts herself. So if the opponent is at 80% she steals 40% and distributes that 4 ways so 25% of what she stole by 4 or 10% of the original by 4. Either way I agree she is awesome and happy I got her on my first pull of ’23. Love the site. Happy New Year.
Woo Hoo – After getting 2 x Balur’s last month I just pulled this one – as a F2P player this is awesome for me! Now I just need some others to go with her.. đ
Congrats đ Craig!
Happy New Year y’all!!
I just got her and since my only decent fire hero for defence is Nadezhda – I have to ask: Is she better than Nadezhda?
My team is
Zhuge Liang
Esme (no LB)
Lu Bu
and
Quenell
I also have Sobek LB and emblemed, but my def doesn’t work w/o proper healer, so Esme is better than him (seems crazy I know).
Anyway, I also have:
C.Marjana
Ilmarinen
Zagrog
Tahir
(none lvled up), but I kind of feel they can’t work on def against current meta – that’s why I haven’t lvl them up yet.
Any thoughts are appreciatex đ
Hello, I’m currently working on a post so can’t review this now, but it’s published so maybe others can offer an opinion too!
And Happy New Year to you.
Concur with Patrick above, stealing 50% of 100% mana to 4 compadres should probably be 12,5% each, not 10%.
So, I got her (and her little dog, too!) at 12:03AM Jan 1. Happy durn new year to me. My reds have been woeful, (cept my girl Zagrog on titans). R&N slotted in with Lewana, Elizabeth, Russell (who’s been much more valuable as dodge is much more popular), and a lonely Boldtusk looking for a 5* healer to look up to. Pretty psyched. Got Peppermint on Christmas day-finally got a meleefighterr in dark!!-so happy holidays all around.
I pulled two of them by sheer luck (I’m FTP), and I am ecstatic. It’s a shame I don’t have the rings (yet) to fully ascend Roughian/Nurgib, but from what I can tell, this is the best HotM since Jean Francois.
Speaking of JF, I would love to see you write up an article on him. He is devastating on raid defense teams. I’ve lost more than one battle because of him, and I count myself a decent player.
I agree! I test out Jean Francois a lot and he is a very nice Hero who offers both Defensive and Offensive Options. Great Hero to own.
Hi buddy. Thanks so much for all your work. Can I give you a tease of a question re this pair. I have a mature war squad and fully broken and emblemed defence, and have just emblemed costume Alasie, even though nerfed as top Rogue hero.
Do I now fully ascend this pair (had D’Artagnan in line for Red ascension mats) as Ihave rogue emblems growing or uncostumed Francine, whose ailment special seems so useful (or Winifred in nature slot. She ooks good but she is slow, not seeing her much and not reviewed by you) You rate Francine as Deity too, not sure if that is uncostumed as well as costumed version. What is your ranking of Wini, uncostumed Francine and RnN? Sorry for confusing post!
..and DArtagnan.. looking to pick the best standalone Red and Green to break and emblem
Hi CB, I liked C. Francine a lot when she first arrived, but it’s important to note the date; Oct 2021. A lot of time has passed and a million new Heroes have arrived.
It’s difficult to backward grade all of the Heroes based on the new Heroes who have arrived (takes too much time), but it’s fair to say that newer Heroes who earn Deity are 90% of the time stronger than those who came before.
C. Francine is still a solid Hero. The Costume is still the weaker of the two, tho. As for who to LB, you know that I can’t tell you what to do, but if it were me personally, for Green I would take Winifred. -She’s a powerful Hero, but of course Slow. As for red, it would be D’Artagnan. -He’s quick and a pest to deal with. (Still don’t like the Cover, tho)
Re. RnN, if the Passive looks good to you, she would be useful in providing some anti-minion cover, but it is a pity about that EL nerf as it blocks future benefits in 2024.
Anyway, good luck with your decision! Not a bad bunch of Heroes no matter which way you go (hence the similar grades).
Thanks OC. Wini’s bard mana passive would add a new dimension to teams as well. Also be fun to build a team that protects itself from the cover downside
Hi OC, I know itâs a bit off RnN topic, but Winiâs bard mana is a gem. I eventually got my super attack team pre Xnolphod nerf that would load Krampus in nine tiles, Xnolphod, Krampus, Onyx, Cobalt, cAriel. I feared no taunt defence. Sadness when nerf slowed the Xnolphod boost to need another tile (I.e. 3) knocked back the win percentage
Well I think, stress think, that with Bard passive Krampus now gets loaded on Xnolph fire. Happy day.
Had to split the ninjas losing the dodge and counter effect, but think itâs worth it
I know most of the focus is raids and war, but I am finding great Titan success with R&N. The mana steal and 570% damage is fun to play.