Snowball and Barkley Double Header Review (Empires and Puzzles)

Is Snowball Worth Levelling? (Empires and Puzzles)

Let’s start with Snowball. He looks ruff. 🙄 Like he’s been put through the wringer of life. And he fights like it, too, producing one of the deadliest Fiends ever seen in E&P.

As a point of reference, 250% to 3 targets at Fast is decent but far from elite. In Beta, Snowball hit for 300%, which is closer to the absolute top-end that we’d see from the likes of Tinsel (340%) Staintongue (330%) and Quenell (320%).

In fact, here’s a useful table from the Staintongue review:

Snowball’s value is clearly going to be predicated on the strength of those Fiends, and it’s Khepri who immediately comes to mind for comparison, although he’s Average speed.

Here’s the table from his review, showing the old guard of Fiend Summoners:

Hannah serves as a nice reference point here because, at Fast, she deals 215% damage on what will also be lower Atk Stats (S.861 Vs H.780).

And Hannah’s Fiends don’t do anything nearly as significant as Snowball’s do.

Snowball looks great in this company.

(There’s also a Fiend table in Kai’s review, for those interested in more data)

Snowball’s Passive Empires & Puzzles

It has been said before, but what Snowball brings at Fast could mark the beginning of The Age of the Fiends (Esme cough, cough).

Before we grade, check out Snowball’s Wrath of Pets Passive. -That’s 85% damage to all enemies when a Fiend is summoned to any enemy.

So that’s another 85% damage to all enemies in addition to his 250% main hit.

And his other Passive grants him 5% health and Mana when a Minion is summoned to any ally.

Two excellent Passives on a near OP Hero.

For my grading, the matter of import is the +40% damage that the Fiends induce.

To have such a powerful ability accessible at Fast is scary, and to have that ability inflicted by Fiends, is doubly scary.

If you don’t have a great Healer to hand, who’s ready to apply some First Aid at that very moment, then 3 of your Heroes will cause squinting with their every whimper.

And this Ailment could endure for the entire length of the battle.

On a happier note, “Fiend Resist” Passives, Arco types, healing, and Minions will all protect against it.

Although, all but one of those methods will leave a window of opportunity.

In honesty, I can’t see how I grade Snowball any lower…

Hero Grade for Snowball (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 ⭐⭐★

Grade Revised

Is Barkley Worth Levelling? (Empires and Puzzles)

Barkley is an awesome character, really fun to look at and to play with.

But when I first got him in Beta, I was frankly disappointed with his feeble performance.

Undeterred, I headed directly over to the Beta Suite and ordered my free complimentary meal (a large serving of Bouillabaisse).

While I waited, I requested the busboy fetch me the morning paper.

When he returned, I put the paper aside, no longer interested in reading it. I didn’t tip. Instead, I mulled over what I would say to the Beta Honchos.

I chose my words carefully:

“…some people will really love it (Sir. Barkley is to whom I referred) only to be disappointed by the Special.

…make him sting on the back-end with the Fiend explosion, should you delete (dispose of, kill, otherwise make unavailable) the target.”

And you know what? I think it helped.

In Beta, Barkley hit 3 enemies for 150% damage, and his Fiends dealt 150% damage if the target was defeated.

When I was finally reunited with Barkley this morning, he was all over me, ruffing all types of nonsense about how he’s an “Alpha” now. ~Telling me how pleased he was about the extra fuel they put in his rocket pack and how he won’t let me down by licking lampposts like my dog does.

And that’s great. Really is. But I think the Dev who upgraded Barkley slipped on the keyboard…

Do they realise he does 300% damage to the target, then hits another 2 randomly, then drops a Fiend on their heads, and should one die from the onslaught, then the neighbours get 500 damage EACH? Plus, 85% Damage on the Passive!

For starters, I always think of Adalinda when I think of Average hitters. She hits for a massive 395% to 3 enemies and inflicts a massive -56% reduced Defense for 4 turns. She also happens to dump a troublesome Fiend on their heads too.

Cupido, also Average, does 295% damage to 3, and Aramis, 375%.

There’s also Khepri, from up in the Snowball section, too. -He not only hits for 275% to 3 at Average, but his Fiends will explode after 3 turns causing 600 damage to the targets and minor damage to the nearby enemies.

And while I prefer Khepri’s Fiends, I’d much rather Barkley’s slap.

See, Barkley hits “the target and 2 random enemies”. Like Kullervo, or Bjorn does, -although they both only hit two enemies in total.

So he could double up or triple the same target -THAT’S CRAZY.

Imagine Barkley in a Rush War…

Barkley, Slapping in Style

For me, Barkley’s slap mechanism is much more useful than, say, Khepri’s more traditional outburst.

On top of that, he has this utility that could cause a further 1500 damage to each nearby enemy.

This sort of direct fixed damage is becoming more common with the likes of Thunderclap, Sorrow, and Green Knight.

But what I really like here with Barkley is that once you manage to defeat one enemy, he has a good chance of completely tipping the balance of play by removing (or nearly removing) the other two nearby.

And the more enemies you dispose of, the more juice the others will have to endure via Barkley’s slap.

Still, the Fiend damage part of the Special is more conditional (as it requires the aforementioned death of the target).

OK, let’s wrap this up.

Barkley’s incredibly strong, offers massive and multiple hits, and a huge bite on the ass if you don’t manage his Fiends, AND he offers synergy, direction, and, most importantly in life, purpose.

He’s great.

The caveat is what I see in the Khepri comparison. Khepri has the better, less situational set of Fiends, which have the potential of doing greater damage.

That said, Barkley’s Atk Stat is 877 Vs Khepri’s, 776. And due to his Stats and Passive, Barkley hits harder than both Khepri and Adalinda (according to my poor math).

At the end of the day, I would grade them equally; however, it’s Barkley’s 3-slap mechanism that makes him more powerful, in my view.

900% to one enemy is possible with him, and he hits like a truck with those Power Stats.

Hero Grade for Barkley (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.