Miriam & Midnight: The Occult Duo That Once Ruled the World

Overview

Miriam & Midnight, often affectionately (or fearfully) referred to as "M&M," arrived in October 2022 as part of the Return to Morlovia (Halloween) event. At launch, they were an absolute terror—a "Telluria 2.0" that dominated defenses with massive boosted health, beefy minions, and insane mana speed synergies.

Fast forward to today, and the story is quite different. After receiving the dreaded "balance update" (read: nerf hammer) in early 2023 which stripped away their direct boosted health, M&M has transitioned from a meta-defining tank to a niche support hero. While still a solid minion summoner, they now serve as a stark reminder that in Empires & Puzzles, no king (or queen) rules forever.

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lb2

Hero Art & Visuals

The artwork perfectly captures the "eccentric witch" aesthetic. Miriam looks like she’s about to offer you a poisoned apple or a very questionable cup of tea, while Midnight the cat stares into your soul with the judgment only a feline can muster. It’s whimsical, slightly creepy, and fits the Halloween theme to a tee. The sheer size of Midnight relative to Miriam suggests that either she is very small, or that cat has been eating well—possibly feasting on the tears of players who faced her pre-nerf.

General Info

Hero Stats

Base Stats (No Emblems)

Level	Attack	Defense	Health	💪Power
4/80	793	838	1526	850
4/85lb1	854	903	1645	907
4/90lb2	977	1033	1882	1019

▶Calculate with Emblems

Simulation: 0 Emblems

Level				💪
4/80	793	838	1526	850
4/85lb1	854	903	1645	907
4/90lb2	977	1033	1882	1019

Stat Analysis: Here is the hard truth: Miriam & Midnight's stats are ancient.

• Base Power: 850
• Modern Standard: New heroes in late 2025 are debuting with ~1260 Base Power.

Even with a full Limit Break (LB2), M&M reaches around 1019 Power. A modern hero starts with stats 25% higher than M&M's maximum potential. In practical terms, her minions—which inherit HP based on her stats—are significantly squishier than they used to be simply because her base health pool hasn't kept up with the 3000+ damage snipers of today. She relies heavily on emblems and limit breaks just to survive a single hit from a modern attacker.

Special Skill: Litter of Kittens

Special Skill

Litter of Kittens

Mana Speed

Average

• Summons a Blue Kitten Minion for the caster and nearby allies. Blue Kitten Minion inherits 30% HP and 30% attack from the caster. The Minion recovers 22% health for its owner at the end of each turn.
• The Blue Kitten Minion lifts the newest cleansable status ailment from its owner and adds it to the hit target.
• The caster and nearby allies get +50% attack for 3 turns.

⚡ Tile Breakpoints Guide

10Base Tiles

12% Bonus

9Tiles

Skill Analysis: The "Litter of Kittens" skill is a shadow of its former self, but it still has utility:

• Minion Summon: She summons Blue Kitten Minions for herself and nearby allies (3 heroes total). These minions inherit 30% HP/Attack.
• Heal Over Time: The unique mechanic here is that the minion heals its owner at the end of every turn (22%). This effectively functions as an uncleansable Heal Over Time (HoT) as long as the minion lives.
• Ailment Reflection: The minion "lifts" the newest cleansable ailment and gives it to the target. This is a fantastic mechanic against DoT heavy teams or defense droppers, acting as a pseudo-cleanse and reflect.
• Attack Buff: Gives +50% attack to the caster and nearby allies.

The Elephant in the Room: The skill originally provided a massive chunk of Boosted Health to the caster and nearby allies. This was removed. Without it, she lacks the "save button" potential she once had. She is now a sustain engine rather than a burst healer.

By the Numbers

Let's crunch the math based on her maxed stats (assuming LB1 for a realistic veteran roster):

• Minion HP: With ~1645 HP (LB1), a 30% minion has ~493 HP.
  • Context: Modern AoE hitters deal 600-800 damage easily. These kittens pop instantly against meta defenses.
• Healing: The minion heals 22% of the hero's max health. For a hero with 2000 HP, that's 440 HP per turn.
  • Verdict: This is actually very strong healing if the minion survives.
• Mana Speed: Average.
  • With the Morlovia Family Bonus (up to +12% mana) and a Level 29 Magic/Styx troop, she can effectively become Fast or even Very Fast in the right team composition. This was her original claim to fame.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

Family Bonus

Family Bonus

Monthly Event - Morlovia

• Bonus for 1/2/3 Unique Heroes:
• +3%/+6%/+9% mana generation
• The members of this family have additional perks in the Halloween event.

Analysis: The Morlovia family bonus is excellent. Gaining up to +12% mana generation when paired with 2 other family members allowed M&M to fire at breakneck speeds. However, running 3 old Halloween heroes today is a recipe for disaster due to their low stats.

Passives

Inherent Abilities

Passive Skills

• 

  Steal Buff

  When this character casts their Special Skill, they have a 65% chance to steal the newest dispellable buff from a random enemy that has buffs. If no enemy has buffs, deals 150% damage to all enemies.

Analysis:

• Steal Buff: This is M&M's secret weapon. On cast, she has a 65% chance to steal the newest dispellable buff from an enemy. If there are no buffs, she deals damage instead.
• Strategic Value: This can steal Taunts, Dodge, or heavy Defense buffs. It triggers before her minions land, potentially stripping a defense buff to make her allies hit harder.

Aether Power

Aether Power

Defense Up

At the start of each battle, this Hero gets 20% defense for 6 turns.

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

Analysis: Defense Up. It helps her survive a bit longer, but considering she is often used as a tank or flank, a defensive aether power is appropriate. It’s passive and boring, but functional.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: In late 2022, M&M was the "Queen of Tanks." She shifted the meta away from Purple tanks (Xnolphod/Hulda) to Blue. She was so dominant that forums were ablaze with calls for nerfs, comparing her oppressive reign to the Telluria/Vela era.
• Power Creep Analysis: The removal of her boosted health combined with three years of stat inflation has hit her hard. She is no longer a viable tank in top 100 play. Modern "Construct" or "Goblin" heroes do more at Fast speed than she does at Average.
• Modern Viability Verdict: Niche / Bench.
  • She is still usable in Minion Wars or Bloody Battle tournaments (where her minions provide healing).
  • For new players, she is a solid healer/buffer.
  • For veterans, she sadly gathers dust, completely outclassed by heroes like Relius, Hathor, or any modern 5-star healer.

Emblem Path Analysis

The Survivalist (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Pros: Keeps Miriam alive to cast, and crucially, increases her HP pool, which makes her minions beefier (since they inherit % of HP).
• Cons: Low tile damage.

Final Recommendation

Go full Defense/Health. Her value is entirely dependent on her casting and her minions surviving. Attack stats are irrelevant for her role.

Strengths

• Passive Healing: 22% HP per turn is massive sustain if the minion lives.
• Ailment Reflection: Turning an enemy's Defense Down against them is satisfying and effective.
• Buff Stealing: The passive ability to steal a Taunt or Dodge can single-handedly win a raid.

Weaknesses

• Stat Deficit: Her stats are severely outdated, making her minions fragile paper tigers.
• Minion Counters: The game is flooded with anti-minion heroes (Ogima, Grimble, Alucard, Bubbles) and Passives (Lunar New Year) that punish minion summoners.
• Positional Limit: She only affects nearby allies. In a game dominated by "Hit All" and "Heal All" heroes, a "Nearby" skill feels restrictive.
• No Burst Heal: The removal of boosted health leaves her team vulnerable to immediate execution.

Best Game Modes

• Bloody Battle Tournaments: Minions are one of the few ways to "heal" (via meat shield) in Bloody Battle.
• Buff Booster Tournaments: She provides buffs and minions, and her passive steals enemy buffs.
• PvE / Auto-Farming: Her sustain is great for map stages where enemies don't have minion counters.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

The "Undying Minions" (Mid-Game)

• Team: Frosth - Miriam & Midnight - Pengi
• Why: Frosth buffs minion HP/Attack. M&M provides more minions. Pengi uses the number of minions to unleash a machine-gun attack. This synergy was meta in 2022 and still works in mid-tier wars.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Anti-Synergy: Do not pair her with other minion summoners if you are facing Grimble or Ogima, as you are just feeding them mana or damage.
• Counters:
  • Grimble/Alucard: Destroy minions and gain mana.
  • Ogima/Garten: Destroy minions and deal massive damage.
  • Lunar Heroes: Disable minion effects.

Advice for New Players

If you pull her early in your E&P journey, rejoice! She is an incredible tank and healer for story content and lower-tier raids. She will keep your team alive through almost anything. Max her immediately.

Advice for Veterans

Do not Limit Break (LB2) her. Do not strip emblems from modern heroes to give to her. She had her time in the sun, but unless she gets a costume that modernizes her stats and restores her healing, she is a legacy hero best used for depth in War or Tavern of Legends.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The fall of M&M is a sore subject in the community.

• Pre-Nerf Hype: Players called her "The new gen Guin without the mana cut" and "Hybrid Hulda." She was everywhere.
• The Nerf Reaction: When the boosted health was removed, the sentiment shifted to despair. One user noted, "Sadly this is the last straw for me... Completely wiped out the health boost feature. She was only boost-3, they could have sensibly reduced the boost."
• The "Bait and Switch": Many players felt burned, citing that she was released as OP to drive sales, only to be nerfed after the event ended. As one player put it: "Anyone with a brain realized this hero would be OP... SG knew that full well."

Final Thoughts

Miriam & Midnight is a tragic figure in Empires & Puzzles history. She represents the cycle of "Release OP > Sell > Nerf > Forget." While her artwork remains top-tier and her mechanics are interesting on paper, she has been left behind by the relentless march of power creep. She is the "Crazy Cat Lady" of your roster—eccentric, full of stories about the good old days, but probably not the one you want leading your army into battle in 2026.

Verdict: A solid B-tier hero for roster depth, but no longer the A+ superstar she was born to be.