Augustus: The Gnome Who Brought a Frog to a Sword Fight

Overview

Augustus is a Legendary Nature hero from the Winter Family, originally released in December 2022. Visually, he is a delightful departure from the usual grim warriors—a gnome casually smoking a pipe while riding a giant frog. In terms of gameplay, he is a classic Slow Support hero designed to turn the tide of battle with a single cast. He functions as a "win-more" or "save-me" button, providing massive overheal, a priority cleanse, and a scaling defense buff. While he doesn't have a costume yet, his base form still holds a specific, albeit narrower, niche in today's game.

max

lb2

Hero Art & Visuals

The art for Augustus is whimsical and charming. It features an elderly gnome with a flower-adorned beard, riding a massive, golden-eyed toad. The color palette is dominated by lush forest greens and earthy browns, fitting his Nature element perfectly. It’s one of the more relaxed and humorous designs in the game—he looks less like he’s going to war and more like he’s going to a very intense gardening competition.

General Info

Hero Stats

When we look at Augustus's stats through the lens of the 2026 meta, the harsh reality of power creep becomes evident.

• Attack (793): Extremely low by modern standards, where attackers push 1300+ raw attack. However, as a healer, this is his least important stat.
• Defense (846) & Health (1516): In 2022, this was tank territory. Today, modern 5-star heroes boast 1300+ Defense and 2400+ Health before Limit Breaking.
• Power (851): Compared to recent releases hitting 1260+ Power, Augustus is statistically "squishy." He relies entirely on his special skill's defense buff and overheal to survive; if he doesn't fire, he melts quickly against modern snipers.

Special Skill: Wisdom of the Gnomes

This skill is a Swiss Army Knife of survival, but it requires setup.

1. Priority Cleanse: This is the most critical part. He cleanses before he heals. This ensures that healing ailments (like those from newer anti-heal heroes) are removed before the HP boost is applied.
2. Scaling Boosted Health: The base 690 HP is already solid, but the board scaling (up to 930 HP) is massive. This can effectively double a team's health pool in PvE.
3. Scaling Defense Buff: A +34% defense buff is standard, but scaling up to +82% with green tiles makes the team nearly impervious to tile damage.
4. Minions: The Elf minions are small (10% HP), but they provide a meat shield and extra attack.

By the Numbers

Let's break down the "Frog Math":

• Mana Speed: Slow (12 tiles).
  • With 2025 Magic/Styx Troops (20%+) & Bard Bonus: Can reach 9 tiles, but requires heavy investment.
  • In Rush: 6.5 tiles.
• Healing Potential:
  • Minimum: 690 HP.
  • Maximum (8 Green Tiles): 930 HP.
  • Comparison: This rivals modern healers in raw output, but at a much slower speed.
• Defense Buff:
  • Minimum: +34%.
  • Maximum (8 Green Tiles): +82%.
  • Impact: At +82%, incoming damage is significantly reduced, often to single digits for tile damage.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

Augustus hails from an era before passive skill overload, which hurts his modern viability.

Family Bonus

The Winter Family bonus boosts the stats of Minions summoned by family members.

• Effect: +2% to +3% Health and +5% to +10% Attack for Minions.
• Analysis: This is a very dated bonus. Modern minions often have 20-30% HP base. Boosting a 10% Elf minion to 13% HP is negligible against modern AoE damage that hits for 500%+.

Passives

None. This is Augustus's biggest weakness. He lacks the "start with mana," "resist ailments," or "self-heal" passives that modern heroes enjoy, making him vulnerable to mana control and silence.

Aether Power

• Heal Increase: passive boost to healing received.
• Analysis: It helps him survive a bit better, but compared to "Revive," "Damage Reduction," or "Ailment Immunity," it's a lower-tier power.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Augustus was a PvE and Rush War monster. His ability to overheal the entire team to double HP made Tower events and Map stages trivial. He was arguably the best pure healer for survivability in the game.
• Power Creep Analysis: The game has shifted to "Fast" and "Very Fast" speeds with heroes who do three things at once. A Slow healer who does no damage and has no passive resistance is a liability in standard raids.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Niche / Bench.
  • Standard Play: He is too slow. By the time he charges (12 tiles), a modern defense has likely already killed him or fired 2-3 times.
  • Rush Attack: Still Viable. If he fires once, you likely win.
  • PvE: Still Excellent. For auto-farming or completing difficult stages where time isn't an issue, his overheal is a safety net.

Costume & Costume Bonus

Augustus currently does not have a costume. In a game where costumes provide massive stat boosts (often +30-40%), this leaves his base stats severely exposed. If he receives a costume in the future, it would need to address his mana speed or grant him significant passive survivability to make him meta-relevant again.

Emblem Path Analysis

As a Druid, Augustus has access to the Companion talent (minion summon on hit), which is actually quite useful for a meat shield.

The Iron Frog (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Maximizes his survival. He needs to live long enough to cast.
• Cons: Low attack stat means weak tile damage.

The Angry Gnome

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Slightly better tile damage for titans.
• Cons: Not recommended. He will die too fast in raids.

Final Recommendation

For most players, the Defense/Health path is mandatory. With his outdated stats, you need every point of armor to prevent him from being one-shot by modern snipers.

Strengths

• Priority Cleanse: Cleansing before applying the massive heal is a mechanic that ages well, countering heal-blocking ailments.
• Massive Effective HP: Between the 930 Overheal, the Defense buff, and the Minions, he adds thousands of effective HP to the team.
• PvE Sustainability: Makes your team nearly immortal in map stages and quest events.

Weaknesses

• Glacial Speed: "Slow" speed without modern mana-boosting passives is painful in the current fast-paced meta.
• No Passive Protection: Vulnerable to Silence, Mana Stop, and Mana Steal.
• Outdated Stats: Even fully Limit Broken, his stats are lower than modern heroes at 3/70.
• Board Dependent: His maximum potential requires a board full of Green tiles, which is usually when you are already winning.

Best Game Modes

• Rush Attack (5/5): His best home. Firing in 6 tiles makes him a top-tier support.
• Tower/Map Stages (5/5): The overheal carries over between waves, allowing you to stack HP to the max.
• Rush Defense (3/5): Good tank or flank, but vulnerable to tile dumps and modern tank-busters.
• Titans (1/5): Too slow, low attack, and his defensive animation takes time.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Augustus should be protected at all costs. He is the anchor; if he fires, your odds of winning skyrocket.

Sample Team Ideas

• The Rush Wall: Kalø - Augustus - Ludwig - Alfrike - MN. In Rush wars, this team is a nightmare. Ludwig charges Augustus, Augustus makes everyone unkillable.
• The PvE Auto-Farmer: Augustus - Sif - (Any 3 Hitters). Augustus keeps health maxed, Sif provides mana and counterattack.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Counters: Hypnos/Cleaver (Buff Blockers), Any Mana Controller (Proteus, Hel, Bubbles), Minion Destroyers (Ogima, Grimsteel).
• Anti-Synergy: Grimble/Goretooth. Heroes that rely on the enemy having minions don't care about your minions, but Augustus doesn't really have anti-synergy with teammates, other than perhaps overriding a higher defense buff (rare).

Advice for New Players

If you pull Augustus early, celebrate! He will carry you through Season 2, 3, 4, and 5 map stages with ease. Prioritize leveling him as your main healer for map progress and Quests. Do not worry about his slow speed in the early game; his heal is worth the wait.

Advice for Veterans

Augustus is likely a benchwarmer for you, coming out only for Rush Wars or specifically for Tower Events (Styx/Magic) where survivability is key and curses are an issue. Do not use Alpha Aethers on him unless you are strictly F2P and he is your only 5-star healer. There are better recipients for those resources.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

• The Pop Culture Gnome: The community immediately dubbed him "The Frog Rider" and drew comparisons to "Augustus Gloop" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• The "Shotgun Healer": One player described his ability as "Healing from a shotgun" due to the massive burst of health he provides at once.
• The Controversy: Upon release, a heated debate erupted. Some called him "OP" due to the overheal numbers, while others called him "Useless" because of the Slow speed. History proved the "Slow is Slow" crowd right for PvP, but the "OP" crowd right for Rush/PvE.
• Forum Hot Take: "He is just Melendor transformed into a gnome... but with a frog."

Final Thoughts

Augustus is a relic of a slightly slower, more board-focused era of Empires & Puzzles. While he has been stat-crept into oblivion by the titans of 2026, his kit remains mechanically sound. The combination of Priority Cleanse and massive Overheal is timeless utility. He won't win you a raid against a team of Goblins and Astral Gods, but he will ensure your team survives the grueling climb of a Tower event. He’s a good frog, just not a fast one.

Final Verdict: Keeper for Rush & PvE.