Aodhan: The Burning Wick of the Slayer Family

Overview

Aodhan is a 4-star Epic Fire hero from the Slayers of Fell Shadows family. Released back in 2021, he was one of the first accessible "Fiend Summoners" for many players, basically acting as a budget version of the legendary Elizabeth. He's a Wizard who loves to play the long game—starting slow like a damp matchstick but ramping up into a roaring bonfire if you let him live long enough. While his stats are showing their age, his kit offers a unique mix of sustain and anti-heal disruption that can still be a nightmare in specific formats.

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Hero Art & Visuals

Let’s be honest: Aodhan looks like he’s having a really intense bad hair day, or maybe he’s just the lead singer of a heavy metal band mid-solo. With his flaming vertical hair and glowing eyes, he gives off serious "human torch" energy. The floating fiery wisps in his hands are a nice touch, reminding us that he’s not here to punch you—he’s here to haunt you with little fire ghosts. He’s definitely one of the more "hot-headed" designs in the game (sorry, had to do it).

General Info

Hero Stats

Let's address the elephant in the room: Aodhan's stats are from a bygone era. With 677 Power, he sits well below the modern standard. Newer 4-star heroes, like those from the Construct or Beowulf families, are pushing 800 Power with attack stats nearing 800 and HP over 1500 before emblems. Aodhan’s 626 Attack is particularly low for a damage dealer, meaning he relies heavily on his fiends and emblems to make a dent. However, his 1298 HP was high for his time and still offers a decent meat shield, especially when paired with his self-healing stacks.

Special Skill: Wily Wisps

Wily Wisps is a multifaceted skill that does three things: hits everyone, summons fiends, and speeds Aodhan up.

1. The Damage: 210% to all enemies is respectable but not earth-shattering given his low attack stat. It's enough to soften a team but rarely wipes them out.
2. The Fiends: This is the main course. The Wisp Fiend hits for 35% attack every turn and, more importantly, absorbs healing equal to 18% of the target's max health. This makes him an absolute menace against healers.
3. The Self-Buff: Every time he fires, he gets +2 Stacks of mana generation. This is crucial because it helps him overcome his initial "Slow" speed rating (technically Slayer speed) and eventually turn into a machine gun of misery.

By the Numbers

• Mana Speed Analysis: "Slayer" speed starts at 12 tiles (Slow). However, Aodhan gains stacks automatically (Family Bonus) and via his skill.
  • Max Stacks (10) = +50% Mana Generation (Family + Skill stacks seem to cap together or interact). At full stack, he can charge in as few as 6-7 tiles, effectively becoming Very Fast.
• Fiend Damage: With ~750 Attack (emblemed), a 35% fiend deals roughly 260 damage per turn before defense reduction. Against 5 enemies, that's considerable passive pressure.
• Healing Absorption: For a modern 4-star with 1500 HP, the fiend absorbs roughly 270 HP. This effectively cancels out a standard HoT tick or a small direct heal.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

The Slayer family is all about momentum. They reward you for keeping them alive.

Family Bonus

The family bonus gives a 50/75/100% chance (for 1/2/3 heroes) to generate a stack at the end of each turn. A stack grants health regeneration and mana generation. This means Aodhan naturally heals himself and gets faster every single turn, making him surprisingly tanky in prolonged fights.

Passives

Resist Damage from Status Effects: This is huge. He takes 50% less damage from burns, poisons, and bleeds. This makes him a natural counter to DoT-heavy teams (looking at you, Barbarians and Poison dealers).

Aether Power

Fiend Resist is... ironic? It prevents him from receiving fiends at the start of battle. It's situational. In a mirror match against another Aodhan or Elizabeth, it's great. Otherwise, it's a bit of a wasted slot compared to something like "Special Boost" or "Defense Up."

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Aodhan was celebrated as the "people's Elizabeth." He brought the powerful Fiend mechanic to the 4-star arena, dominating Bloody Battle tournaments where the fiends couldn't be healed off.
• Power Creep Analysis: The game has gotten faster and hit harder. Aodhan's "ramp-up" style is risky in a meta where battles are often decided in the first 3-4 turns. His stats leave him vulnerable to being one-shot by modern snipers before he can get his stacks going.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Niche but useful. He is no longer a general-purpose hero. However, he remains a top-tier pick for Rush Attack (where his speed issue is solved) and Bloody Battle (where his fiends are permanent afflictions). He’s largely a benchwarmer for standard raids but a VIP for specific tournaments.

Emblem Path Analysis

Aodhan needs help dealing damage, but he also needs to survive to build stacks.

The Pyromancer (Attack Focus)

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Maximizes the initial hit damage and, crucially, increases the DoT from his Fiends (which scales off Attack).
• Cons: Leaves him squishier, risking death before he reaches full Slayer speed.

The Bunker (Defense Focus)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Synergizes with his self-healing stacks to make him very hard to kill. Ensures he survives long enough to fire multiple times.
• Cons: His special skill hits like a wet noodle, relying purely on the fiend's anti-heal utility.

Final Recommendation

For most players, the Attack Focus is recommended. The primary value of the fiend is the damage and healing absorption. If he hits like a truck, the fiends become threats rather than annoyances. However, if you use him solely as a tank in Rush wars, Defense is viable.

Strengths

• Anti-Heal King: Fiends absorb healing, effectively reducing the enemy's sustain.
• Bloody Battle Star: In tournaments with no healing, fiends cannot be removed (unless by specific minion removal skills), dealing permanent damage every turn.
• Self-Sustain: Regenerates HP every turn thanks to stacks, making him durable in attrition wars.
• Ramping Speed: Becomes incredibly fast in long fights (Tower events, boss waves).

Weaknesses

• Glacial Start: Starts at effectively Slow speed. If the board is bad, he dies before doing anything.
• Outdated Stats: Low base stats make him vulnerable to modern nukers.
• Minion Counters: Heroes who destroy minions (like Grimble, Gobbler, or modern equivalents) can often clear fiends or exploit the minion slots.
• Cleanse Vulnerable: While fiends aren't "cleansed," the healing absorption can be overcome by burst healers who overheal the cap.

Best Game Modes

• Rush Attack Tournaments: Being Slow doesn't matter when everyone is Very Fast. He fires immediately, dumping fiends on everyone.
• Bloody Battle Tournaments: His best mode. The fiends stick forever and whittle down the enemy.
• Tower Events / Map Stages: The stacks persist between waves (in some modes) or he has time to build them up, allowing him to be a machine gun boss killer.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Aodhan works best when he has time to breathe or when his speed is mitigated.

Sample Team Ideas

• The Slayer Stack: Cillian - Aodhan - Orla. Using 2 or 3 Slayers guarantees the family bonus stacks every turn, ramping everyone up significantly faster.
• The Anti-Heal Rush: Treevil - Aodhan - Healer. In Rush 4-star, Treevil cripples them, and Aodhan ensures they can't recover.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Counters: Eloise, Esme, Arco (Fiend removers/counters). Also Captain of Diamonds or anyone who destroys minions can often interact unfavorably for him.
• Anti-Synergy: Minion Summoners. While not a direct conflict, if your team fills the enemy slots with your own minions (not possible, but hypothetically), you can't cast fiends. More realistically, don't pair him with heroes who want the enemy to heal (is that a thing? No, not really).

Advice for New Players

If you pulled Aodhan early, he is a fantastic carry for map stages. His self-healing saves you potions, and his fiends will eventually kill tough bosses. Level him up, but prioritize his emblems for Attack to make map farming faster.

Advice for Veterans

You likely have him sitting at 4/70. Is he worth the Limit Break? Only if you take 4-star tournaments seriously. A Double Limit Broken (LB2) Aodhan with 20 emblems is a monster in 4-star Rush and Bloody Battle, often being the deciding factor. If you ignore tournaments, he's safe to leave on the bench.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The community has always had a love-hate relationship with Slayer speed.

• One user noted: "He’s the opposite of Colen... very beefy defensive stats... he’ll just spam you to death with fiends if you don’t kill him fast enough."
• Another famously said: "I hate facing this guy more than Ferant." (High praise given Ferant's dominance!).
• The general consensus on the forums is that while he hits hard, "Having multiple slayers is the key" to making the speed mechanic reliable.

Final Thoughts

Aodhan is like that spicy salsa in the back of your fridge—you don't use it for every meal, but when it's Taco Tuesday (or Bloody Battle week), absolutely nothing else will do. He’s a specialized tool for punishing healers and surviving the apocalypse. While he’s no longer the shiny new toy, he burns bright where it counts.

Verdict: Keep him. Max him for tournaments. Just don't expect him to win a sprint race against a Toon.