Cthuwu: The Adorable Eldritch Abomination Driving 3-Star Tournaments Insane

Overview

Meet Cthuwu, the 3-star Rare Holy hero from the Shadow Summon who proves that big brains and big eyes are a dangerous combination. Released in early 2025 as part of the Cultist family, Cthuwu brings the chaotic "Insanity" mechanic—typically reserved for high-end 5-star heroes—down to the 3-star playground. He is a Fighter class hero, meaning he can revive just when your opponent thinks they've finally squashed him. If you thought 3-star Rush Attack tournaments were messy before, just wait until you unleash this little guy. He's weird, he's squishy-looking, and he's absolutely essential for competitive 3-star play.

Hero Art & Visuals

Cthuwu is arguably one of the most unique character designs in Empires & Puzzles. He looks like a "chibi" version of a Lovecraftian nightmare—specifically Cthulhu—but with an exposed, glowing purple brain and massive, innocent anime eyes. The juxtaposition of "horrifying cosmic entity" and "cute plushie" is struck perfectly. The golden tentacles and vibrant purple brain matter pop against the dark background, signaling his Holy element in a twisted way. It is a refreshing design that leans into the absurd fun of the game rather than just another angry warrior in armor.

General Info

Hero Stats

Cthuwu boasts an impressive stat line that puts many older 3-star heroes to shame. With 966 base HP, he is incredibly bulky for a Rare hero, allowing him to survive hits that would vaporize glass cannons. His attack of 486 is respectable, though not highest-in-class, but his defense is solid.

When compared to the modern benchmark of late 2025 3-star heroes (like the Glass family costumes or Temple heroes like Ali), Cthuwu holds his own effortlessly. While some newer powerhouses like Jax might edge him out slightly in raw power, Cthuwu's distribution favors survivability, which is excellent for a hero who wants to stay alive to spread madness. He is squarely in the top tier of stats for his rarity.

Special Skill: Brain-link

This special skill is a lot to unpack for a 3-star hero. At Fast speed, Cthuwu hits a target for 250% damage—a decent sniper hit, but that is just the appetizer. The main course is the secondary effect: for 3 turns, every time any of your allies casts a special skill, they have a 50% chance to deal extra damage (100%) to a random enemy and inflict 20 Insanity on them.

This creates a "machine gun" effect in team compositions where you can fire multiple specials in succession. The Insanity mechanic is the cherry on top. Cthuwu inflicts 40 Insanity on himself, but his allies inflict it on enemies. If an enemy reaches 100 Insanity (or gets unlucky with a lower amount), their skills target their own team.

Key Mechanics to Note:

• The Chain Reaction: You want Cthuwu to fire first in a sequence. If he fires, and then three other allies fire immediately after, you have three chances to trigger extra hits and stack Insanity on the enemy team.
• Self-Sacrifice: Cthuwu gives himself 40 Insanity. This is risky. If he fires twice in quick succession without cleansing or healing, he reaches high Insanity levels and might nuke your own team on his next turn.

By the Numbers

• Mana Speed: Fast. He needs 8 tiles to charge. With a level 17+ mana troop (not applicable in 3-star tournaments usually) or mana nodes, this can be shaved down, but in 3-star content, 8 tiles is the standard "Fast" breakpoint.
• Damage Potential:
  • Primary Hit: 250% to one target.
  • Passive Potential: If 4 allies fire while his buff is active, and the 50% chance triggers for all (best case scenario), that's an additional 400% damage spread randomly, plus 80 total Insanity distributed among enemies.
  • Total Output: Theoretically, a single cast can lead to 650% total damage output spread across the board. That is massive for 8 tiles.
• Insanity Math:
  • On Self: 40 Insanity per cast. Two casts = 80 Insanity (80% chance to misfire). You rarely want to fire him a third time without a cleanse or a mechanism to reset this.
  • On Enemy: 20 Insanity per proc. It takes 5 procs to guarantee an enemy reaches 100 Insanity, but even at 20-40, the disruption is real.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

Family Bonus

The Cultist family bonus provides a boost to Defense and Health for each unique family member on the team.

• Bonus for 1 hero: +20% Defense / +20% HP.
• Bonus for 2 heroes: +30% Defense / +30% HP.
• Analysis: This is arguably the strongest part of his kit for 3-star tournaments. Since Cthuwu is likely the only Cultist you will run in a 3-star team (unless you run duplicates), he gets a massive +20% stat boost just for showing up. This makes him exceptionally tanky.

Aether Power

Attack Up: At the start of the battle, this character gets +20% attack for 6 turns.

• Analysis: Simple and effective. It boosts his sniper hit and potentially scales the damage of the random hits if they are calculated based on his stats at the time of the ally's cast (mechanics can vary, but generally, attack up is never bad on a Fast hero).

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Before Cthuwu, "Insanity" was a complex mechanic locked behind 5-star paywalls. 3-star battles were dominated by Treevil (Slow/Very Fast rush) and the classic fast snipers. Cthuwu introduced a layer of RNG chaos that can disrupt the rigid 3-star meta.
• Power Creep Analysis: Cthuwu represents the "new era" of 3-stars where passives and complex secondary effects are standard. Compared to a classic Bane or even a Season 3 Kvasir, Cthuwu offers significantly more tactical depth and higher raw stats.
• Modern Viability Verdict: High. He is a staple for competitive 3-star play, particularly in Rush Attack modes where his Fast speed becomes Very Fast, allowing him to set up his buff immediately. He is not a "collector's item"; he is a weapon.

Emblem Path Analysis

Cthuwu is a Fighter, which is fantastic because the Revive talent can win games that should have been lost.

The Survivor (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Maximizes his massive Cultist family bonus (which scales off base stats). Keeps him alive longer to maintain the buff pressure.
• Cons: His snipe hits a bit softer.

The Tentacle Slap

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Makes his initial 250% hit hurt more.
• Cons: He might die before your other allies can fire to trigger his secondary effect.

Final Recommendation

For most players, the Survivor (Defense/HP) path is recommended. His value lies in his buff and the chaos he causes, not his single-target damage. You want him alive to facilitate the Insanity train. Plus, the Cultist bonus effectively multiplies every point of Defense/HP you add.

Strengths

• Stat Monster: The solo family bonus (+20% Def/HP) makes him one of the tankiest 3-stars in the game.
• Force Multiplier: He turns every ally's special skill into a potential extra attack and debuff.
• Disruption: Insanity forces enemies to kill their own teammates, which bypasses defense buffs and counterattacks.
• Speed: Fast mana allows him to be proactive rather than reactive.

Weaknesses

• Self-Sabotage: 40 Insanity on himself is dangerous. In a long fight, he becomes a liability if you can't control it.
• RNG Dependent: The 50% chance for allies to trigger the effect is a coin flip. Sometimes you get nothing.
• Requires Team Synergy: He is not a solo carry; he needs allies with charged specials to be effective.

Best Game Modes

• Rush Attack Tournaments: This is his playground. Everyone is Very Fast, meaning specials are flying constantly, triggering his passive damage and Insanity repeatedly.
• Bloody Battle: His high stats and damage output shine here, though the self-damage risk from Insanity is higher since you can't heal.
• Challenge Events: Good for clearing waves if you time your specials correctly to wipe enemies with the extra random hits.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

The golden rule with Cthuwu is Sequencing. Always fire Cthuwu before your other heroes.

The "Machine Gun" Rush Team

• Composition: Cthuwu - Treevil - Faiez - Buster - Another Fast Hitter
• Why it works: In Rush, you fire Cthuwu, then unload Treevil and Buster. The massive defense down from Buster/Treevil combined with the extra random hits from Cthuwu's buff (which might trigger off the other specials) creates a wipeout scenario. Faiez keeps the team clean of ailments and prevents Cthuwu from nuking himself.

The Mono-Yellow Blitz

• Composition: Cthuwu - Poppy - Kvasir - Rekhetre - Gan Ju
• Why it works: A 3-star mono team relying on tile damage and rapid special firing. Rekhetre provides boosted health to cushion the Insanity risks.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Counters: Cleanse Blockers (if Cthuwu goes insane, he can't be cleansed if blocked). Insanity Immunity (Costume Persa, though she is 5-star, but similar mechanics apply if introduced to 3-star).
• Anti-Synergy: Slow Heroes (outside of Rush). If your allies never charge, Cthuwu's buff expires unused.

Advice for New Players

If you pull Cthuwu, level him immediately. He is sturdy enough to help you through map stages and is a top-tier asset for your tournament defense team. Don't worry too much about the complex text; just fire him first and watch the fireworks.

Advice for Veterans

You likely have a roster full of Treevils and Toons. Cthuwu deserves a spot alongside them. He is worth the Limit Break (LB1 and LB2) purely for the stat check he provides on defense. The 20% stat bonus from the family makes him tougher than many LB2 Toons. Use him to counter the stale "Toon Passive" meta by using Insanity, which ignores those pesky passive resistances.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The community reaction to Cthuwu was a mix of adoration for his design and fear of his mechanics.

• Many players noted that his stats "are ridiculous" and better than old 5-star HOTMs like Kingston, highlighting the intense power creep.
• One player perfectly summarized his niche: "This guy could actually make those jolly/faeiz defenses more palatable."
• The art was a huge hit: "Aww that brain thingy is so cute."
• There was confusion about the sword path vs. shield path, but the consensus quickly shifted to Defense/HP once players realized how strong the family bonus was for survivability.

Final Thoughts

Cthuwu is a delightful paradox: cute yet terrifying, small yet statistically massive, and helpful yet potentially suicidal. In the current Empires & Puzzles landscape, he is easily one of the top 5 Holy 3-star heroes available. His ability to turn a cascade of special skills into an uncontrollable damage storm makes him incredibly fun to play manually and a headache to face on defense.

If you have him, max him. Just remember: Madness is a resource, spend it wisely.

Note: This review assumes the hero is fully leveled and utilized in appropriate 3-star content.