Gaillard: The Educated Exorcist with a Skin of Stone

Overview

Gaillard is a 5-Star Legendary Ice hero from the Sanctuary of Gargoyles Challenge Event. Released back in late 2021, he was one of the first heroes to introduce the "Softskin/Stoneskin" mechanic, making him deceptively tanky despite his slender frame. As a Sorcerer, he wields a massive book and a pair of spectacles, proving that the pen (or in this case, a heavy tome) might be mightier than the sword—especially if you're fighting Fiends. While he lacks a costume, his base form offers a specific set of skills that can still be useful in niche situations.

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Hero Art & Visuals

Gaillard's design is a delightful departure from the usual "muscle-bound warrior" or "ethereal mage." He looks like a nervous accountant who just realized he's in a battle to the death. With his oversized glasses, horns that look slightly inconvenient for hats, and a massive tome clutched to his chest, he screams "academic anxiety." The blue tones fit his Ice element perfectly, and the stone texture of his skin hints at his Gargoyle nature. He’s the kind of hero who would probably try to file a noise complaint against a Barbarian before fighting them.

General Info

Hero Stats

When looking at Gaillard's stats in the context of the modern 2026 meta, we have to be brutally honest: he is stat-anemic.

• Attack: His base attack of ~856 was once top-tier, rivalling pure snipers. Today, modern attackers boast 1300+ attack stats.
• Defense & Health: Sitting at roughly 739 Defense and 1501 Health, he is extremely fragile by current standards. Modern heroes often start with 2200+ Health.

However, Gaillard has a secret weapon: his Stoneskin passive (more on that below). This artificially inflates his survivability, allowing him to survive hits that would obliterate a hero with double his stats. Without this passive, he would be made of glass; with it, he is made of... well, stone.

Special Skill: Educated Exorcism

Gaillard's special skill, Educated Exorcism, is a two-part kit designed for surgical strikes and protection.

1. The Snipe: Dealing 540% damage at Fast speed is a classic sniper formula. In his prime, this was a "delete button." Nowadays, against modern defense stats, it's more of a "strong dent," but it can still finish off damaged foes.
2. The Exorcism: The true utility lies here. Making all allies immune to Fiend damage and effects (and preventing new ones) for 4 turns is massive. Note that he does not remove existing Fiends instantly like Esme or Wang Yuanji; he just neuters them. If you have a Fiend on you, it stops hurting you. If an enemy tries to cast a new one, it bounces off.

By the Numbers

Let's crunch the data to see what this gargoyle is really made of.

• Mana Speed: Fast. He needs 8 tiles to charge (or 7 with the right mana troops/bonuses). This speed is critical for his role as a sniper and preemptive protector.
• Damage Potential: With 856 Attack x 540% = 4622 raw damage value.
  • Comparison: A modern sniper like Adelitza (1312 Attack x 600%) hits for ~7872 raw damage value. Gaillard hits for about 58% of the damage of a modern sniper.
• Defensive Value: The Stoneskin reduces incoming damage to 1 for the first 3 hits. This effectively gives him "infinite health" for 3 hits. Against a sniper doing 2000 damage, Stoneskin saves him 1999 HP.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

The Gargoyle family brings unique defensive layers that define Gaillard's playstyle.

Family Bonus

The Gargoyle family bonus provides immunity to Poison (1 hero), Poison & Burn (2 heroes), or Poison, Burn, Water & Fiend Damage (3+ heroes).

• Analysis: This is situational. In a mono-blue team with other Gargoyles, immunity to Burn is great against red tanks. The "Fiend Damage" immunity at 3 heroes overlaps with his special skill, which is a bit redundant but ensures passive safety.

Passives

Gargoyle’s Stoneskin: This is the MVP of his kit. Every time he casts his special, his skin hardens. The next 3 times he takes damage, it drops to 1.

• Analysis: This is dispellable by nothing except pure tile volume or multi-hitters. It allows Gaillard to survive devastating special skills. It completely counters high-damage single snipers. Note: DoTs (Damage over Time) count as "hits" for stripping layers, so a bleed or burn will eat through this protection quickly.

Aether Power

Special Boost: Increases Special Skill damage.

• Analysis: Simple and effective. Since his main role is dealing damage, this helps him keep up (slightly) with the power creep.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Gaillard was a top-tier sniper. He was the answer to the "Fiend Meta" dominated by Elizabeth and Hannah. His Stoneskin made him annoying on defense, and his hit was lethal.
• Power Creep Analysis: The years have been unkind to his stat line. As mentioned in the By the Numbers section, his damage output has effectively been halved relative to modern health pools. His Fiend immunity is still unique because it prevents the application of effects, but there are now many healers who can just cleanse or block these effects while also healing 2000 HP.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Niche / Situational. He is no longer a viable defense hero for top-tier wars. On offense, he serves a specific purpose: Fiend Nullification. If you are facing a team heavy on Fiends (e.g., against older heroes like Elizabeth or newer Fiend summoners) and you lack a modern counter, Gaillard can still do the job. He is also usable in 4-star tournaments (if you haven't LB'd him? No, he's 5-star, disregard) or mid-tier wars.

Costume & Costume Bonus

Currently, there is no costume available for Gaillard. This puts him at a significant disadvantage compared to older heroes (Season 1, Season 2) who have received massive stat boosts through multiple costumes. He relies entirely on Limit Breaks and Emblems to stay relevant.

Emblem Path Analysis

As a Sorcerer, Gaillard has a talent that gives a chance to drop the mana generation of his target. This synergizes well with his role as a sniper/controller.

The Aggressive Academic (Attack Path)

• Path: Attack > Defense > Health
• Pros: Maximizes his sniper potential. He needs every point of Attack to dent modern health bars.
• Cons: Leaves his health pool very low.
• Why: Stoneskin mitigates the need for high Defense/Health. If he gets hit 3 times, he takes 3 damage regardless of his defense stat. Therefore, investing in Defense provides diminishing returns compared to Attack.

Final Recommendation

Go Full Attack. Gaillard's survival relies on his Stoneskin, not his HP bar. If the Stoneskin breaks, he's likely dead anyway. Maximize his damage to ensure he can actually kill something when he fires.

Strengths

• Stoneskin Survivability: Can tank infinite damage for 3 hits. Great against snipers like reliability.
• Fiend Immunity: Proactively prevents Fiends from landing, which is often better than removing them after the fact (as you avoid the initial damage/effect).
• Fast Speed: Charges in 8 tiles (3 matches), allowing him to fire before Average speed tanks.
• Sorcerer Class: The mana delay on hit can disrupt enemy timing.

Weaknesses

• Outdated Stats: Low base stats make him vulnerable to tile damage (which Stoneskin doesn't block effectively if it's a cascade) and DoT.
• Doesn't Cleanse: If you already have ailments (other than from Fiends), he doesn't help.
• Doesn't Remove Fiends Instantly: He stops the negative effects and damage of existing fiends, but the visual Fiend remains until healed off (though it does nothing). This can be confusing.
• Vulnerable to Multi-Hitters: Heroes who do "3 hits of 150%" will instantly strip his Stoneskin layers.

Best Game Modes

• War Attack (vs Fiends): His primary niche. Bring him against Elizabeth, Viscaro, or other Fiend summoners to protect your team.
• Bloody Battle: Excellent here. Since you can't heal Fiends off in Bloody Battle, preventing them or nullifying their damage is the only counterplay. Gaillard is S-Tier in 5-Star Bloody Battle tournaments against Fiend tanks.
• Tournaments (Buff Booster): Stoneskin counts as a buff, and his Fiend Immunity is a buff.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Synergy: The "Shield & Sword"

Pair Gaillard with heroes who can protect him once his Stoneskin fades, or who benefit from his Fiend protection.

• With Taunt Heroes (Krampus/Ludwig): Taunt forces enemies to hit the tank, preserving Gaillard's Stoneskin for stray AoE hits.
• With Mana Boosters (Mica/Odin/Xnolphod): Speeding him up ensures he gets his Fiend Immunity up before the enemy tank fires.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Minion Destroyers (Grimble/Topaz/Eloise): They don't counter him directly, but they often accompany teams that don't rely on Fiends, making his special less useful.
• Rangers/Bypass: Bypass talents (Rangers) and skills (like Cobalt or Sobek) ignore defensive buffs. However, Stoneskin is a bit unique; usually, bypass works against Defense Up, but Stoneskin acts as a damage reduction. Correction: Stoneskin reduces damage to 1. Bypass does penetrate defense buffs, but Stoneskin is often coded as a reduction, not a defense buff. However, newer "Superior Talents" and specific bypass skills can sometimes cut through.
• DoT Spammers (Gravemaker/Emilio): Damage over time ticks count as "hits" for stripping Stoneskin layers in some mechanics, or simply bypass the reduction logic (you take full burn damage).

Advice for New Players

If you pulled Gaillard early, congrats! He is a fantastic sniper for map stages and early raiding. His Stoneskin will save you constantly. Prioritize leveling him as your main Blue sniper. He will carry you through Season 2 and 3 Hard modes simply by not dying to bosses.

Advice for Veterans

Gaillard is a "luxury counter." You likely have stronger blues (Sobek, Hippo, etc.). Do not Limit Break him (LB2) unless you are extremely competitive in Bloody Battle tournaments or face a specific war meta where Fiends are rampant and you lack other counters. He is not worth the Alpha Aethers compared to a modern stat monster.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

Back in the day, the community was torn on Gaillard.

• The Sniper Debate: One player noted, "He is the most hard hitting fast sniper in the game... superior to Lianna." Reading this in 2026 is humorous, as modern support heroes now hit harder than old snipers.
• The Fiend Confusion: There was much confusion about his skill. "He counters many of the new heroes that are op," said one user, while another lamented, "He didn’t really do much against minion heroes… And he doesn’t remove fiends… Just stops the ailment."
• The Verdict: The consensus settled on him being a "Solid sniper especially with his stoneskin passive."

Final Thoughts

Gaillard is like a classic car. He has style, a unique engine (Stoneskin), and can still turn heads on a Sunday drive (Bloody Battle). But you wouldn't take him to a Formula 1 race (Top 100 Alliance War) against the modern supercars of Empires & Puzzles. He remains the undisputed King of "Stop Hitting Yourself" when it comes to Fiends, but his stats need a serious tune-up—or a Costume—to compete in the big leagues.

Verdict: Keep him for Bloody Battle and anti-Fiend depth, but don't expect him to be your main carry anymore.