Xiong Shanjun: The Bear Necessities of Health & Mana Control

Overview

Xiong Shanjun, often affectionately (or fearfully) called "The Bear," is a 5-star Dark hero from the Journey Family, released during the War of Three Kingdoms era. Originally a somewhat confused hero affecting only "nearby" targets, he received a significant balance update that expanded his chaos to all enemies and allies. He is a attrition-warfare specialist, designed to grind the enemy down by shrinking their health bars while expanding your own, all while manipulating the flow of mana. He's a classic "slow burn" hero who wins not by a single strike, but by making the battle increasingly impossible for the opponent to sustain.

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Hero Art & Visuals

Let's address the bear in the room: Xiong Shanjun is terrifying. This isn't a cuddly teddy bear; this is a magically infused, armored beast screaming into the void. The purple energy crackling from his eyes and the arrows stuck in his armor tell a story of a warrior who simply refuses to go down. The art style is intense, leaning heavily into the "demon beast" aesthetic of the Journey family. It’s a bold look that says, "I will eat your healer."

General Info

Hero Stats

Stat Analysis & Power Creep: Let's be blunt: Xiong Shanjun's base stats are showing their age. Released in early 2023, his base power of 874 is significantly lower than the 1260+ power behemoths released in late 2025 (like the Construct or Astral Demon heroes).

• Attack (766): Extremely low by modern standards, where strikers push 1300+. Thankfully, his main damage source (Health Reduction) is fixed and doesn't rely on this stat.
• Defense (908) & Health (1621): Respectable for his time, but modern "squishy" heroes now have base defense higher than Xiong's tank-focused stats.
• Conclusion: To use him effectively in today's diamond arena or top-tier wars, Double Limit Breaking (LB2) is essentially mandatory just to get his survivability on par with a modern non-limit-broken 5-star.

Special Skill: Fury of the Mountain Lord

Skill Analysis: Xiong Shanjun's skill is a "four-point swing" that affects the entire board. It’s important to note that this skill was buffed to target ALL enemies and allies (previously target and nearby), which massively increased his utility.

1. Max Health Reduction (800 over 4 turns): This is his primary weapon. Unlike standard damage, this lowers the ceiling of the enemy's health. It ignores defense stats and standard damage reduction buffs. Against modern healers who rely on Boosted Health, this is a direct counter, as it shreds that extra HP layer first.
2. Boosted Health Regen (800 over 4 turns): He provides a significant safety net for his team. 200 HP per turn is a solid regeneration rate that can overheal, protecting your team from snipers.
3. Mana Generation Debuff (-24% to enemies): This is arguably his most disruptive trait. Slowing down the entire enemy team by a quarter significantly messes up their timing, often preventing a cleanser from firing before the next tick of damage.
4. Mana Generation Buff (+24% to allies): Conversely, he speeds your team up. This dual mana control creates a "tempo gap" where your team fires more often than the enemy.

By the Numbers

Let's break down the mathematical impact of "Fury of the Mountain Lord":

• The Health Swing:
  • Enemy loses: 800 HP (Max Health)
  • Ally gains: 800 HP (Boosted Health)
  • Net Swing: A 1600 HP differential created between your team and the enemy per hero. Across a 5v5 board, that is a potential 8000 HP swing in total resources.
• The Mana Gap:
  • Enemy Mana Speed: 76% of normal.
  • Ally Mana Speed: 124% of normal.
  • Net Advantage: Your team charges roughly 1.63x faster than the enemy relative to their suppressed state.
• Mana Speed:
  • Average Speed: Requires 10 tiles to charge.
  • With a Level 23 Mana Troop or Level 11 Magic Troop (+11%): 9 tiles.
  • With his own +24% buff active: He effectively becomes Fast speed for his second cast.

Family Bonus, Passives, Aether Power & Unique Abilities

The Journey Family bonus is the secret sauce that can turn Xiong Shanjun from "annoying" to "game-breaking."

Family Bonus

Analysis: This is one of the strongest RNG bonuses in the game for a buffer/debuffer.

• 50% Chance: Every time he casts, there is a coin flip.
• The Payoff: If it triggers, his 4-turn ailments/buffs become 5, 6, or even 7 turns.
  • 7-Turn Duration Scenario: The health reduction becomes 1400 total damage (200 x 7). The healing becomes 1400 total health. The mana control lasts nearly the entire match.
  • This makes him exceptionally dangerous when paired with other Journey heroes (like Queen Guowang or Erlang Shen).

Aether Power

Analysis:Heal Increase is a functional, albeit boring, power. It synergizes with his regeneration, ensuring that the first few ticks of his boosted health restore significantly more HP. It helps him stabilize the team quickly after firing.

Legacy & Modern Relevance

• Historical Context: Upon release, Xiong Shanjun was criticized for only hitting "nearby" targets, making him an awkward center tank. The subsequent buff to affect "All" enemies redeemed him significantly, turning him into a legitimate war tank option for a period.
• Power Creep Analysis: While his mechanics (Max HP reduction and Mana Control) are timeless and actually scale well against modern high-HP bosses and heroes, his stats have fallen behind. Modern heroes do "more" instantly. For example, Salome (Dec 2025) boosts health by 1300 instantly. Xiong takes 4 turns to reach 800.
• Modern Viability:
  • Top 100 Play: Non-viable. He is too slow and too squishy compared to the current monsters. He will likely die before firing.
  • Mid-Tier Wars: Viable. In rush wars or standard wars outside the top bracket, his ability to control mana and grind down tanky defenses is still valuable.
  • PvE: Excellent. Max health reduction is one of the best ways to tackle high-level quest bosses and Towers.

Emblem Path Analysis

As a Paladin whose primary job is to survive long enough to cast and then survive long enough for his DoT/HoT to work, there is only one logical path.

The Iron Wall (Recommended)

• Path: Defense > Health > Attack
• Focus: Take every Defense node available.
• Pros: Maximizes his Paladin class talent (chance to boost defense when hit), keeping him alive against snipers.
• Cons: Low tile damage, but he is not brought for tile damage.

Final Recommendation

Strictly follow the Defense/Health path. Xiong Shanjun contributes zero value if he is dead. His "damage" is fixed (200 per turn), so Attack nodes yield diminishing returns compared to keeping him alive for one more turn of mana suppression.

Strengths

• Total Board Control: Simultanously buffs your team's mana and nerfs the enemy's.
• Counter to Boosted Health: His max health reduction effect removes enemy boosted health ("overheal") faster than standard damage.
• High Ceiling: If the Journey family bonus procs, his skill becomes one of the most damaging/healing single casts in the game (over time).
• Fixed Value: 800 damage is 800 damage, regardless of the enemy's defense stat. This makes him effective against super-high defense tanks.

Weaknesses

• Slow Burn: He offers no immediate "save" or "kill." If your team is at critical health, his HoT might be too slow to save them.
• Cleanse Vulnerable: His Max Health Reduction and Mana Debuff are status ailments. A single cleanse (e.g., from Rigard or a modern toon) wipes out half his value immediately.
• Outdated Stats: He is fragile by 2026 standards and requires significant resource investment (Aethers) to survive.
• Average Speed: Without a mana troop or rush mode, he often struggles to fire before fast modern threats decimate the team.

Best Game Modes

• Rush Attack Wars/Tournaments: At Very Fast speed, he becomes a nightmare. He can fire early, locking the enemy mana down before they can get started.
• Tower Events: His max health reduction is permanent (mostly) against enemies and works great against bosses with massive HP pools.
• Bloody Battle: Interestingly, Max Health Reduction counts as damage, not healing limitation, so it still hurts enemies. However, his own Healing is nullified, making him half-effective.
• Map Stages: Great for auto-farming hard stages where sustainability is key.

Advanced Strategy & Team Compositions

Sample Team Ideas

1. The Journey Core:
   • Members: Xiong Shanjun + Queen Guowang + Erlang Shen.
   • Why: Maximizes the Journey family bonus chance. If Xiong extends his duration, and Queen Guowang extends hers, the team becomes an unstoppable engine of buffs and damage.
2. The Mana Choke:
   • Members: Xiong Shanjun + Waterpipe/Lady of the Lake + Proteus/Hel.
   • Why: Combine Xiong's -24% mana generation with mana reduction minions or mana stops. The enemy will simply never charge.
3. The Purple Attrition:
   • Members: Xiong Shanjun + Goseck/Quartz + Aramis.
   • Why: A heavy purple stack that relies on overheating and outlasting the opponent.

Counters & Anti-Synergies

• Toon Costume Heroes: With their high passive resistance to ailments, they can often ignore Xiong's health reduction and mana debuff entirely.
• Cleansers: Any hero that cleanses (Ariel, Vivica) neutralizes his offensive pressure.
• Gargoyles (stoneskin): They reduce damage to 1, effectively ignoring his health reduction tick for the first few hits.

Advice for New Players

If you pulled Xiong Shanjun early in your E&P career, he is a game changer. His ability to heal your team above their max HP makes difficult map stages and quests significantly easier. He is a great tank for your defense team until you reach Diamond arena. Focus on getting him a high-level mana troop to shave a tile off his charge time.

Advice for Veterans

Xiong Shanjun is a situational tool. He is likely not your main war tank anymore. However, do not feed him away. He remains a top-tier pick for Rush Wars and is excellent for depth in Tower events. Unless you have the absolute latest meta tanks, he is worth keeping at 4/80, but think twice before committing Alpha Aethers unless you have a specific Journey family team in mind.

Community Corner: Hot Takes & History

The community's relationship with the Bear has been a rollercoaster.

• The "Ugly" Duckling: Upon release, players were vocal about his visual design. One player noted, "Everytime I see him I feel like he is abused. The mouth just seems very weird."
• The "Boss Wolf" 2.0: Many compared him to the classic hero Boss Wolf. One user commented, "if boss wolf is on steroids. then he will look like this."
• The Buff Redemption: Initial reviews were lukewarm due to the "nearby" targeting. After the buff to "All," sentiment shifted to finding him "Great for me in defence as tank and also useful in offence."

Final Thoughts

Xiong Shanjun is a hero that demands patience. He doesn't offer the instant gratification of a 600% sniper hit, but his ability to warp the battlefield's math—health and mana—in your favor is undeniable. While his stats have gathered some dust, his kit remains mechanically sound. If you can keep the big bear alive, he will slowly, surely, and painfully grind your enemies into dust.

Verdict: A solid, utilitarian hero who has transitioned from a main tank to a valuable niche support piece for Rush wars and PvE.