Budatin: The Gargoyle Who Waits... And Waits... For Tiles

Overview

Budatin is a 3-star Rare Dark (Purple) hero from the Sanctuary of Gargoyles event, first released in 2022. In a family known for incredibly annoying passive abilities and strong defensive stats, Budatin stands out as the odd one out. While his brethren are busy smashing enemies or overheating allies, Budatin is playing a tile-matching mini-game of his own. He is a "Board Alterer," a niche role that attempts to manipulate the flow of mana through shield enhancement.

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Hero Art & Visuals

Budatin embraces the classic grotesque aesthetic of the Gargoyle family. He looks like a mischievous imp caught in the middle of a prank, with horns, claws, and a tongue wagging out. The purple loincloth and glowing accents tie him firmly to the Dark element. It is a fitting design for a creature meant to perch on a cathedral and mock passersby, though in this case, he might be mocking the player trying to find a use for him.

General Info

Hero Stats

Base Stats (No Emblems)

Level	Attack	Defense	Health	💪Power
3/50	500	502	729	482
3/55lb1	567	569	827	538
3/60lb2	700	703	1022	649

▶Calculate with Emblems

Simulation: 0 Emblems

Level				💪
3/50	500	502	729	482
3/55lb1	567	569	827	538
3/60lb2	700	703	1022	649

Budatin possesses a defensive stat distribution. With 729 base HP and 502 Defense, he is quite sturdy for a 3-star hero. When Limit Broken (LB1 and LB2), these numbers balloon significantly, making him a tough nut to crack, especially when combined with his passive Stoneskin. However, his Attack stat is on the lower side, which reinforces his role as a support or tank character rather than a damage dealer. In the modern meta, his defensive bulk holds up well, but his low attack power makes him less threatening in tile damage scenarios compared to newer 3-star attackers.

Special Skill: Abiding Dogma

Special Skill

Abiding Dogma

Mana Speed

Average

• Alters the power of all Dark shields on the board. When an attacking Hero casts the special, the shields become enhanced and give +37% more mana. When a defending Hero casts the special, the shields become weakened and give -30% less mana.

⚡ Tile Breakpoints Guide

10Base Tiles

12% Bonus

9Tiles

Analysis: This skill is... puzzling. "Abiding Dogma" alters the power of all Dark shields on the board.

1. On Offense: When you cast it, existing Dark shields give +37% more mana.
2. On Defense: When he casts it, existing Dark shields give attackers -30% less mana.

The fundamental issue here is Speed vs. Impact. Budatin is Average speed. By the time you charge him (10 tiles), you have likely already used most of the Dark tiles on the board to get him there. Unless you have a board flooded with purple tiles after you have already made your matches, his special fires into a void, doing absolutely nothing—no damage, no healing, no team buffs, just a potential mana boost for tiles that might not exist. On defense, he can act as a mana bump for the attacker if they are using purple, or a slight annoyance, but he poses zero immediate threat to the attacker's health pool.

By the Numbers

Mana Speed Analysis

• Base Speed: Average (10 tiles).
• With +20 Emblems (Wizard + Mana node): +2% mana gen.
• With Costume Bonus: None.
• Effective Speed: Still requires 10 tiles without significant troop support (which is limited in 3-star tournaments).
• The Problem: To make use of his skill, you need more than 10 tiles. You need 10 to fire him, plus leftover Purple tiles to benefit from the +37% boost. This requires a board with 13+ Purple tiles to see real value, which is statistically rare.

Support Calculation

• Mana Boost: +37% per tile.
• Impact: If you have 3 tiles left after firing, they generate roughly as much mana as 4.1 tiles. It creates a "Ghost tile" effect for matching tiles, which is powerful if you have the tiles to match.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

Family Bonus

Family Bonus

Challenge - Gargoyle

• Bonus for 1/2/3/ Unique Heroes:
• Immune to Poison damage / Immune to Poison and Burn damage / Immune to Poison, Burn and Water damage
• The members of this family have additional perks in the Return to Sanctuary event.

The Gargoyle family bonus provides immunity to status ailments from specific elements based on the number of Gargoyles in the team.

• 1 Hero: Immune to Poison.
• 2 Heroes: Immune to Poison and Burn.
• 3+ Heroes: Immune to Poison, Burn, and Water damage. This is excellent for 3-star tournaments where damage-over-time (DoT) heroes like Tyrum, Jahangir, or Waqas are common. Being immune to Poison alone makes him a counter to several popular 3-stars.

Passives

Inherent Abilities

Passive Skills

• Gargoyle's Stoneskin

  Every time this Gargoyle casts a Special Skill, their Stoneskin hardens. The next 4 times they receive damage, it is dropped to 1. This effect can't be dispelled.

Gargoyle's Stoneskin: This is the saving grace of the entire family. After firing his special, Budatin reduces all damage from the next 4 hits to 1.

• Why it's good: In a 3-star setting, this makes him incredibly durable. Multi-hitters or slash attacks just bounce off him.
• Why it's bad on Budatin: It only activates after he fires. At Average speed, he might die before getting his stone armor up.

Aether Power

Aether Power

Damage Reduction

At the start of each battle, all damage received by this Hero is reduced by -10% for 6 turns.

In battles with multiple waves, the effect is refreshed at the beginning of each wave.

Damage Reduction: Reduces damage received for the first few turns. This synergizes well with his role as a meat shield, ensuring he survives long enough to hopefully fire his special and activate Stoneskin.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Budatin was immediately identified as one of the weakest heroes in the Gargoyle lineup. Players compared him unfavorably to nearly every other Dark 3-star, from Tyrum to Treevil.
• Power Creep Analysis: While his stats are decent thanks to the Gargoyle baseline, his skill has aged like milk—or rather, it was sour from the start. Newer 3-star heroes from events like Opera, Goblins, or Construct offer massive damage, healing, or game-changing ailments at Faster speeds.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Bench / Niche. Budatin is largely irrelevant in today's competitive 3-star meta. He is overshadowed by Treevil (Very Slow but game-ending), Maeve (Fast defense down), and essentially any sniper who actually removes an enemy from the field. His only niche is perhaps as a tank in a Rush tournament if you literally have no other options, simply because his Stoneskin makes him annoying to kill.

Emblem Path Analysis

The "Stone Statue" Build (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Maximizes his only real asset: his bulk. Keeps him alive longer to trigger Stoneskin and the family bonus.
• Cons: His tile damage becomes even more negligible.

The "Tile Booster" Build

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Increases tile damage, which is the only way he contributes to killing anything.
• Cons: He remains Average speed and does no skill damage, so this feels like a waste.

Final Recommendation

For most players, the Defense/Health path is recommended. If you are forced to use him, you want him to sit there and soak up damage while your other heroes do the actual work.

Strengths

• Stoneskin Passive: Reducing damage to 1 for 4 hits is undeniably strong survival tech.
• DoT Immunity: Immune to Poison (and potentially Burn/Water) which counters specific 3-star threats.
• High Survivability: Good base defensive stats.

Weaknesses

• Zero Immediate Impact: His special skill does no damage, no healing, and applies no status effects to heroes.
• Conditional Utility: Requires specific tile conditions on the board to provide any value.
• Average Speed: Too slow for a setup hero that needs to fire before you make your big matches.
• Passive Playstyle: He relies entirely on the board and his teammates to win. He cannot turn a losing match around.

Best Game Modes

• Rush Attack Tournaments: His speed becomes Very Fast. He can fire early, get Stoneskin up, and potentially mess with the attacker's mana gain from tiles.
• Meat Shield: Can be used in events purely to soak up hits thanks to Stoneskin if you need to protect a glass cannon.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Sample Team Ideas

• The "Yellow Titan" Filler: Budatin - Treevil - Maeve - C. Tyrum - C. Rigard.
  • Why: If you lack other Dark boosters like Sergei or Khonshu, Budatin can technically increase mana gain from tiles to help recharge your slow hitters like Treevil. It is a desperate move, but mathematically valid.
• The "Annoying Rush Tank": Faiez - Budatin - Treevil - Budatin - Faiez.
  • Why: A stall defense for Rush tournaments. The goal here is just to not die. Budatin sits there activating Stoneskin while Treevil inevitably kills everyone.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Dispel is useless: His Stoneskin is undispellable, which is a plus.
• Minion Summoners: Since he deals no damage, he cannot clear minions. Kvasir shuts him down by simply ignoring him.
• Tile Dumps: Smart attackers will dump non-Purple tiles into him to charge their heroes, knowing he poses no threat when he fires.

Advice for New Players

If you pull Budatin early in your game, do not prioritize him. Standard Season 1 heroes like Tyrum, Balthazar, or even Renfeld (especially with costume) offer more utility and direct impact. Keep him only if you have absolutely no other Dark 3-stars or need a Gargoyle for the family bonus.

Advice for Veterans

He is "food" (leveling fodder) or a museum piece. Even in the deepest rosters for Tower events or Contest of Elements, it is hard to justify a slot for him. There are simply too many 3-star heroes who actively contribute to winning the match. Do not waste Alpha Aethers here.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The community reaction to Budatin was famously harsh.

• One player on the forum summed it up perfectly: "He fires his special which does no damage, no heal, no minion, no status effect, no buff, no dispel, no cleanse, but he does get to fire his special again faster!"
• Another user noted: "I think the developer for this particular hero was on coffee break when they snatched this unfinished concept off his desk."
• Regarding his utility: "Even at Very Fast it would be crap. But I would keep one until the inevitable buff..." (Spoiler: The buff never really came).
• The polls were brutal, with the vast majority voting "Not at all" for summoning and "Food" for his primary purpose.

Final Thoughts

Budatin is a fascinating study in game design—a hero with a unique mechanic that fails completely in practice due to speed and board RNG. He is a gargoyle that forgot to be scary. While his passive Stoneskin is a top-tier defensive ability, it is wasted on a hero who exerts no pressure on the enemy. You can safely leave him on the bench, or better yet, the Soul Exchange (if 3-stars were allowed).

Verdict: A stone-cold pass. Keep one for the collection if you must, but don't expect him to fly.