Abigail: The Paparazzo of Madness

Overview

Abigail is a 5-star Fire hero from the Investigator family, originally released in May 2024 as a "Secret Hero" within the Shadow Summon. She brings a unique, albeit risky, playstyle centered around the Insanity mechanic. While most heroes try to avoid madness, Abigail embraces it—literally bathing herself in it to fuel her defensive capabilities.

She operates as an Average speed support-attacker hybrid, dealing damage to all enemies while summoning minions that spread madness and bleeding wounds. However, her reputation has been... complicated. Often cited by the community as one of the more underwhelming "Secret" heroes, she occupies a niche that balances high risk with moderate reward. She doesn't have a costume, so what you see is what you get: a photographer who might just snap and attack her own team if you aren't careful.

Hero Art & Visuals

Abigail’s design is a striking mix of Victorian-era investigative journalism and Eldritch horror. She stands poised with a quill and a notepad, looking somewhat frazzled, with a massive, steampunk-esque camera strapped to her. The red spirits swirling around her quill suggest that her writing might be influenced by forces beyond mortal comprehension. It’s a thematic home run for the "Investigator" family—she looks exactly like someone who read a book she shouldn't have and is now frantically documenting the end of the world.

General Info

Hero Stats

Stat Analysis & Power Creep: As of late 2025, Abigail's base stats (1139 Attack, 1163 Defense, 2033 Health) show clear signs of aging when compared to the modern heavyweights.

• Attack: Significantly lower than modern attackers like Adelitza (1312) or Lin Chong (1328). She lacks the raw punch to be a primary damage dealer.
• Defense & Health: Her bulk is decent but no longer elite. Newer tanks and supports push 1300+ Defense and 2400+ Health easily.
• Power: At 1133 base power, she sits well below the 1260+ standard of the newest releases.

While she isn't "paper thin," she relies heavily on emblems, limit breaks, and her family bonus to survive in a meta dominated by heroes who hit significantly harder than she does.

Special Skill: Whispers of Xulu

Skill Analysis: Abigail's special skill is a double-edged sword wrapped in a riddle.

1. AoE Damage: 260% to all at Average speed is "okay" but not game-changing. It serves more to soften targets than to wipe them.
2. Xulu Minions: These are the core of her kit. They inherit 15% HP and 20% Attack. Originally criticized for being too weak (at 10%), the bump to 15% helps, but they are still relatively fragile meat shields.
3. The Insanity Loop:
   • Offensive: Each minion hit inflicts Bleed and 5 Insanity on the target. This is a slow burn. If you can keep the minions alive, they can slowly drive the enemy team mad, causing them to attack their own allies or skip turns.
   • Self-Sabotage: The kicker is that Abigail inflicts 55 Insanity on herself instantly. This pushes her over halfway to "fully insane" (100) in a single cast. This interacts with her passive (discussed below) but also puts her at immediate risk of malfunction if she isn't managed correctly.

By the Numbers

• Effective Mana Speed: Average. She needs 10 tiles to fire. Without innate mana boosting passives, she relies on troops and team support to speed up.
• Damage Potential: With ~1139 base attack (before troops/LB), a 260% hit deals roughly 2,961 raw damage spread across 5 enemies (before defense reduction). This is essentially a "tickle" in the current meta of boosted health and massive defense stats.
• Minion Survivability: With ~2033 base HP, a 15% minion has roughly 305 HP. A single slash attack or incidental AoE from a modern defender will likely vaporize them.
• Bleed Damage: 340 over 4 turns is 85 damage per turn. It stacks with the minion hits, but it's negligible against modern healing.
• Insanity Math: Casting once puts her at 55/100. A second cast without healing (which reduces insanity) puts her at 100+, guaranteeing negative effects.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

Family Bonus

The Investigator family bonus provides a boost to Attack and Health (20%/30%/40% for 1/2/3 heroes). This is a solid stat stick that helps patch up her aging stats, especially if you can pair her with other strong investigators.

Passives

Marked by the Old Ones: This is the most interesting part of her kit. She gains 5% damage reduction per 10 Insanity, up to 50%.

• After one cast (55 Insanity), she effectively has 25% damage reduction.
• This turns her self-inflicted madness into a massive survival tool. She becomes incredibly tanky after she fires, which is ironic because she might also become useless if she goes fully insane.

Aether Power

Defense Up is a practical, if boring, choice. It synergizes with her passive damage reduction to make her very hard to kill with tile damage or snipes.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Abigail was widely panned as one of the "worst" Secret Heroes. Players felt her minions were too weak, her speed too slow, and the risk of self-insanity too high for the payout. She didn't redefine the meta like some of her peers.
• Power Creep Analysis: Time has not been kind. Her damage percentage (260%) is now what we expect from Fast or Very Fast heroes, not Average ones. Her stats have fallen behind significantly. The Insanity mechanic, while unique, is too slow to impact modern Rush wars or fast-paced raids effectively.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Abigail is a niche luxury. She is not a top-tier defender or attacker. Her best use case is in very specific PvE scenarios or war attacks where you can control the flow of battle and utilize her damage reduction to use her as a "bait" tank, though even that is a stretch. She is primarily a collector's trophy.

Emblem Path Analysis

The Survivalist (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Maximizes her minion HP (making them harder to kill) and synergizes with her damage reduction passive to make her an absolute brick.
• Cons: Her special skill damage becomes even less relevant.

The Mad Bomber

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Squeezes every drop of damage out of her AoE hit and minion strikes.
• Cons: Minions die faster; she dies faster before her passive ramps up.

Final Recommendation

Go with Defense/Health. Abigail's only hope of being useful is staying alive long enough for her minions to stack insanity on the enemy. A dead photographer takes no pictures.

Strengths

• High Survivability: Once she casts, the damage reduction passive makes her very sturdy.
• Passive Disruption: If minions stick, they passively increase enemy Insanity, potentially disrupting their offensive flow without you doing anything.
• Minion Shield: Summons a meat shield for the whole team.

Weaknesses

• High Risk: 55 Self-Insanity is a massive liability. You are essentially debuffing your own hero significantly.
• Low Impact: 260% damage at Average speed is underwhelming in 2025.
• Minion Fragility: Even at 15%, the minions are easily cleared by almost any modern AoE hero.
• Healing Dependency: To manage her Insanity, she requires constant healing (which reduces Insanity counters), forcing you to build the team around her maintenance.

Best Game Modes

• Bloody Battle (Maybe?): Minions provide pseudo-health, and bleed bypasses defense, but her self-insanity is risky without healing to cleanse it. Actually, you can't heal in Bloody Battle, so her Insanity will never go down. Avoid.
• PvE / Towers: Long battles allow her to stack insanity on bosses.
• War Depth: A serviceable hero for your 4th or 5th war team against passive defenses.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Synergies

• Healers: Essential. Healing reduces Insanity. You need healers who fire often or provide HoT to keep her sanity in check.
• Taunt Heroes: A Taunter can protect her minions, allowing them to hit more often and spread more Insanity.

Sample Team Ideas

1. The "Keep Her Sane" Team:
   • Setup: Healer (e.g., Hathor) - Abigail - Taunter (e.g., Phorcys) - Sniper - Healer.
   • Concept: Double healers ensure her Insanity bar is constantly scrubbed, allowing her to fire multiple times without losing control.
2. The Minion Horde:
   • Setup: Abigail - Freya/Bera - Healer - Minion Buffer.
   • Concept: Overwhelm the enemy with minions. If Abigail's minions are protected by other minion buffs, they survive longer to inflict bleed and madness.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Grimsteel/Goblins: Heroes that destroy/replace minions make Abigail useless.
• Lunar Family: Heroes like Xiaotu disable minion effects or punish summoning.
• Anti-Minion Heroes: Anyone who deals extra damage to minions (e.g., Grimble, Ogima) will eat her lunch.

Advice for New Players

If you pulled Abigail early, she is a solid 5-star simply because she hits everyone and gives you minions. The Insanity mechanic might be confusing, but at lower levels, the raw stats of a 5-star (even an older one) are helpful. Just bring a healer with her always.

Advice for Veterans

She is likely not worth the tonics or Alpha Aethers unless you are a collector or purely F2P with no other options. There are 4-star heroes released in late 2025 (like glass costumes) that arguably offer more utility or damage with less risk. She is a fun toy, not a war machine.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The community was… not kind to Abigail.

• "Probably the worst secret hero and my first secret hero... they all can’t be winners."
• "I don’t really trust any of the insanity heroes to be effective on defense. After the first cast… 1/2 the time they are going to punch themselves in the face."
• "Much more relevant in attack with a taunter than in defense. That insanity will keep stacking."
• Many players were baffled by her average speed and low damage compared to contemporaries like Atwood or the Goblins. She is widely considered the "dud" of the Secret summon pool.

Final Thoughts

Abigail is a hero with a fascinating concept—a journalist driving herself mad to get the story (and damage reduction)—trapped in a kit that feels under-tuned for the modern era. Her mechanic requires too much maintenance for too little payoff. While her artwork is top-tier and her damage reduction is funny to watch in action, she usually ends up being more trouble than she's worth.

Verdict: A unique curiosity best left on the bench unless you enjoy living dangerously.