Fjalar, The Dwarven Golden Skald: Poetic Justice Served Hot

Overview

Fjalar is a 4-star Holy hero hailing from the subterranean realm of Nidavellir, introduced in Untold Tales 2. Released back in late 2024, he brought the "Firestorm" mechanic—previously seen on 5-star heavy hitters—down to the Epic rarity. As a Fighter class hero, he has the tenacity to stick around, which is fortunate because his mechanic relies heavily on him surviving long enough to charge his Molten Core. He functions primarily as a sniper with a side hustle in minion prevention and mass arson via his passives. If you like your bards short, sturdy, and capable of setting the entire enemy team on fire while singing a ballad, Fjalar is your dwarf.

Hero Art & Visuals

Fjalar's design is classic high-fantasy dwarf but with that distinct Empires & Puzzles "magma-infused" twist common to the Nidavellir family. He sports a magnificent beard that likely requires its own separate grooming budget and wields a weapon that looks like it doubles as a musical instrument and a blunt force trauma delivery system. The warm gold and red tones emphasize his Holy element and his fiery passive abilities. It is a solid design that communicates "I might write a poem about you, but I will also hit you with a hammer."

General Info

Hero Stats

When we look at Fjalar's stats in the context of late 2025, the power creep is evident. With a base power of 707, he sits significantly behind modern 4-star marvels like Breca (794 Power). His attack stat of 718 was respectable upon release but is now merely average. His defense and health are serviceable for a 4-star, but he lacks the sheer bulk of the newest generation of heroes. To make him competitive in current 4-star tournaments, Limit Breaking is almost mandatory to bridge the gap created by a year of stat inflation.

Special Skill: Poetic Justice

Fjalar's special skill, Poetic Justice, is a mixed bag of reliability and volatility.

• The Good: It never misses. In a world full of Dodgers and Blindness ailments, having a guaranteed hit is excellent utility.
• The Better: It bypasses minions. This ensures that his damage connects with the hero's health pool, which is critical for finishing off weakened targets hiding behind meat shields.
• The Niche: It blocks new minions. This is fantastic against summoner-heavy teams (like those pesky Christmas minion makers or Kingdom heroes), shutting down their sustainability engine for 4 turns.
• The Volatile: The "Firestorm Strike." This damage mechanic scales based on the difference between Fjalar's attack and the enemy's defense. While the ceiling is high (1080 damage), the floor is low. Against high-defense enemies—which are increasingly common—he might hit like a wet noodle. Conversely, against frail targets, he hits like a truck.

By the Numbers

Let's break down the math behind the bard's performance.

• Mana Speed: Average. He requires 10 tiles to charge. With a level 23 Mana Troop (or level 17 Magic/Styx + class node), he can drop to 9 tiles. He sadly does not have a mana-boosting passive like some of his family members.
• Damage Potential:
  • Base: ~270 damage (minimum).
  • Max Cap: 1080 damage.
  • Condition: To reach that 1080 cap, Fjalar's attack needs to vastly outstrip the target's defense. In 4-star tournaments where emblem and limit break disparities can be huge, you might see numbers closer to the high end. Against Limit Broken 5-stars in wars? Expect numbers closer to the low end.
  • Nature Bonus: Deals 30% more damage to Green enemies. This helps push the damage curve up significantly against his weak element, making him a designated Green-hunter.
• Passive Burn: The Molten Core deals up to ~193 Burn damage over 3 turns (varies with charge) to all enemies. This is a significant chunk of extra damage, totaling nearly 600 damage spread across a full team, plus defense down.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

The Nidavellir family brings some heat, quite literally.

Family Bonus

The family bonus is strictly for the Untold Tales 2 map stages. While helpful for clearing hard mode, it has zero impact on raids, wars, or tournaments.

Passives

This is where Fjalar truly shines.

1. Empowered Resist Burn: Not only does he ignore burn damage (sorry, Colen), but he also heals himself for 450 boosted health and gains 5% mana. This makes him a hard counter to red-heavy DOT teams.
2. Molten Core: This is the star of the show. It charges when he takes damage. When he fires his special, he unleashes a wave of Corrosive Burn on all enemies.
   • Corrosive Burn: Deals damage and lowers defense (-10% per turn). This turns his single-target snipe into a team-wide defense break, setting up the rest of your team for massive damage.
   • Anti-Minion Kicker: The core deals extra damage to those with minions.

Aether Power

Defense Up is a solid, if unexciting, Aether Power. It helps him survive long enough to charge his mana and his Molten Core. Given his Fighter class relies on reviving, having higher defense while alive helps mitigate the RNG of the revive talent.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Fjalar was seen as a "mini-owl" or a 4-star version of the newer Construct mechanics. He offered a way for budget players to access the Firestorm mechanic and the powerful Molten Core passive without chasing 5-stars.
• Power Creep Analysis: One year later, his stats are showing their age. 707 power is low. The Firestorm mechanic ages poorly because as enemy defense stats rise (with new master emblems and higher LB caps), the damage calculation favors the defender, pushing his output closer to the minimum floor.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Fjalar remains a strong niche pick for 4-star tournaments, specifically Bloody Battle (where minion blocking and raw damage are king) and Rush Attack (where his average speed becomes fast, allowing him to spam the defense-down burn). In 5-star wars, he is largely obsolete unless you are punching down or facing a specifically older Green tank.

Costume & Costume Bonus

As of this review, Fjalar does not have a costume. He relies entirely on his base stats and limit breaks.

Emblem Path Analysis

Fjalar is a Fighter, which is one of the best classes for 4-star heroes due to the Revive talent.

The Glass Cannon (Attack Path)

• Path: Attack > Health > Defense
• Pros: Maximizes the potential of the Firestorm Strike. Since the damage scales based on the Attack vs. Defense differential, every point of Attack helps push him away from the minimum damage floor.
• Cons: He becomes squishier, and dead bards sing no songs (and don't trigger Molten Cores).

The Sturdy Skald (Defense/Health Path)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Ensures he survives to charge his Molten Core (which charges by taking damage). Taking hits is good for him, but dying from them is not.
• Cons: His special skill damage will suffer significantly against high-defense targets.

Final Recommendation

For Fjalar, the Attack Path is generally recommended. The Firestorm mechanic is too punitive if your attack stat is low. You want to squeeze every drop of damage out of that special skill. Rely on the Fighter revive and his Aether Power for survival.

Strengths

• Accuracy: Never missing is a huge asset against dodge metas.
• Minion Control: Bypasses minions to kill the host and prevents new ones from spawning.
• Team Utility: The Molten Core passive provides a team-wide defense down (via Corrosive Burn), which is rare on a sniper.
• Burn Counter: Turns enemy burn ailments into a massive heal and mana boost.

Weaknesses

• Inconsistent Damage: The Firestorm mechanic means he can hit very softly against buffed tanks.
• Average Speed: In a fast-paced environment, Average speed for a sniper is often too slow.
• Stat Deficit: His base stats make it harder to achieve the high damage ceiling of his skill.

Best Game Modes

• 4-Star Tournaments (Bloody Battle): Minion blocking is premium here, and the bleed/burn damage adds up without healers to mitigate it.
• 4-Star Tournaments (Rush Attack): At Very Fast speed, he can keep the entire enemy team under constant Corrosive Burn and defense down.
• Map Stages / PvE: The Never Miss is great against annoying mobs, and the Family Bonus helps in Untold Tales.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Fjalar works best not as a primary sniper, but as a setup hero or a finisher who brings utility.

Sample Team Ideas

• The 4-Star Yellow Stack: Guardian Jackal - Griffin - Fjalar.
  • Why: Jackal applies Elemental Defense Down (Very Fast). Griffin hits fast. Fjalar follows up; if his core is charged, he applies regular Defense Down (via passive) to everyone else.
• The Anti-Minion 4-Star Team: Captain of Diamonds - Fjalar - Gobbler.
  • Why: Complete minion destruction. Fjalar prevents them, the others eat them.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Counters: Garrison Guards or Constructs with high defense will laugh at his Firestorm Strike. Cleansers remove his minion block and his corrosive burn.
• Anti-Synergies: Do not pair him with other defense-down heroes that might overwrite his Corrosive Burn defense down with a weaker version, although stacking Corrosive and regular defense down is usually possible (check specific interactions).

Advice for New Players

Fjalar is a solid 4-star. If you lack strong yellow hitters, he is worth leveling. His "Never Miss" ability will save you headaches in mid-tier raiding against annoying Rogues or costume Kadilen users. Don't rely on him to one-shot bosses, though.

Advice for Veterans

He is likely a depth hero for you. He sees play in 4-star tournaments and potentially in Mythic Titan events if you need a yellow hero who won't miss weak spots (though his animation time might be annoying). He is not worth an Alpha Aether unless you are ultra-competitive in 4-star tournaments.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

When released, the community was lukewarm. One player noted, "Card is still a little misleading in the first part when saying it never misses targets which could lead one to think that there could be multiple targets." The clarification that he is a single-target sniper with a "plural" description caused some initial confusion. Another user lamented his damage output: "His damage is not good... when I use them for attack, it’s almost always minimum damage yet when I face them, they seem to always fire max damage." This is the classic Firestorm paradox. However, the consensus settled on his passive being the real MVP: "His best part is his passive that gives def.down scaling and burn damage."

Final Thoughts

Fjalar is a hero who reads better than he plays in many scenarios, largely due to the fickle nature of Firestorm damage. However, he remains a tactical Swiss Army Knife for 4-star content: he counters dodging, he counters minions, and he counters burn damage. While he won't be winning any awards for "Highest Damage Dealer 2025," he does enough unique things to warrant a spot on your roster, just maybe not on your main defense team.

Verdict: Keep and level for tournaments, but don't expect him to sing his way into your 5-star war team.