Bob's Basic Guide to the Fated Summon

I note above that "I'm not going to generally comment on the raw power level..."

but in this case, I feel compelled to lead with a nod to the obvious - there is a wide range of potential Power ratings here.  And while Power isn't everything, it does go a way to help determining the viability, and survivability, of a FS pick you intend to use and keep using.

Most of the FS picks in this crop range from around 1100 power up to the upper 1300s -- which is already a pretty wide range.  But against even that, there are some standouts:

Pertinax: straight-up has Power 1526, putting him head, shoulders, and a few flight feathers above the rest (without need for costumes, at least).  If you're not sure where to start, you should take a look here.

Costumes: this requires use of Visiting Outfitter -- and for you to not already have better/more-desired alternatives for VO! -- but the Season 5 heroes, when costumed, have power ratings of
* 1587 (cMa'at), 1575 (cSobek), and 1593 (cEset). 
Note that while the Season 4 heroes get a boost from their costumes, it's not nearly as much:
* 1356 (cHannah), 1367 (cKravekrush).

NOTE: without their costumes, the S4 and S5 heroes are pretty much the smallest in Power.  I would not necessarily recommend these as priority choices without aiming them to be tailored by Visiting Outfitter!

ALSO NOTE: in general, these FS choices (or at least their non-costume forms, natch) are Hero Coachable -- Pertinax is the notable exception.

So while I'm going to share below the picture of how your choices will look (thanks to Empuzzled:  https://empuzzled.com/fated-summon), that's not the order in which I will review them this time.

Tier 1: The biggest Power

Allow me to reiterate that these are not big heroes by premium-portal standards - but - they are notably bigger than your other choices (in most cases, once costumed, which you will have to take care of yourself) and comparable in size to Soul Exchange picks, which is...not too shabby.  But size isn't everything, so what are you getting?

🟡 Pertinax: The biggest hero by raw stats without needing a costume; comes with the niche-but-useful Owl Passive (severely nerfs "free mana" direct gains just by being alive on the battlefield).  Does a never-miss hit-3, hitting other yellow heroes harder, via the Moonrise Strike mechanic (attack/defense buffs and debuffs are ignored, Growth/Wither are still used -- so the hit's value depends partly on how much Growth/Wither you can muster - or counter!).

If you're really looking at Pertinax seriously though, his headline is his minions (summoned for himself and nearby) -- they are moderate in size, but when killed off, they send the foe into Full Removal (gets rid of buffs, debuffs, stacks, uncleansable, and Growth/Wither) and then the ghost void where they are forced to sit for a few turns taking fixed damage.

This complex ability makes Pertinax an... interesting but odd/non-standard choice.  Also NOTE: (1) Toons and baked-in "sidecard" immunities from Talents, other passives, etc may convey immunity to being ghosted into the void, so choose your targets carefully and (2) Pertinax is actually new enough that he's NOT Hero-Coach compatible until Feb 2027.

I am going to review here the costume versions of the S5 heroes, but -- again -- note that Fated Summon does not include the costumes with a pick, and so you will have to use Visiting Outfitter or otherwise have the costume already.

🟢 cMa'at - Classic utility with a light (?) hit and defense down to all at Fast (also nerfing red foes' attack -- and likely nerfing all foes attack via passive). 

Note that the hit is actually variable due to a passive ability: the base hit is 220% to all, but with costume, the passive can hit up to 3 times @ 70% each - since each chance of the passive is 50-50, it means that each time you fire cMa'at's Special, she will actually average around 325% total (varying from 220% to 430%).  (The story is a bit more complicated as well, because Passives process separately from the Special, which means they ignore targeting restrictions and still process even when her Special is reworked by, e.g. Mindless Attack or similar abilities.)

And that's not all: the Family bonus means Ma'at gets a chance to blind and apply light Burn DoT every time she takes direct Special damage, and for a bit of sugar on the cream, a nibble of free mana every time a foe directly boost-heals from Special.

That's a lot!  Hit-all-plus-defense-down-all-plus-attack-nerf-all-plus-extra-stuff is a pretty respectable all-around hero.

NOTE:  Ma'at is already eligible for Visiting Outfitter.

🔵 cSobek - Even more straightforward: hit-all and DoT-all (while bypassing defense and counterattack).  Like Ma'at above, the base hit of 280% is just the start, and will average out to around 385% to all (varying from 280% to 490%), plus applying both Bleed DoT (from Special) and Sand DoT (from passive; the Sand damage can be attempted up to three times, making it more likely to stick, though Sand won't stack with itself; also attack nerf like Ma'at).  If not blocked/resisted/cleansed, that's a decent amount of two-flavored DoT over the next few turns.

And cSobek's first hit is 50% harder.

And Sobek also shares Ma'at's "chance to blind and burn" Family Bonus, which means that this hungry croc could be landing Bleed, Sand, and Fire DoT all by himself.  Yeah, go ahead and flex for your card portrait!

(Note that DoT can be great when it works but meh when it doesn't -- you'll want to make sure you can land the DoT and let it do its work by preventing cleanse and/or stopping/dispelling ailment block... and that the fight is long enough to reap the benefit.  If you are playing rocket-tag with damage, or under time pressure yourself due to incoming Veggie auto-fiends or Astral-Demon Resonance DoT, that part of Sobek's flex might not be for those fights.)

NOTE: Sobek is already eligible for Visiting Outfitter.

🟡 cEset - Instead of hitting all, cEset hits target plus 5 random targets... at Slow  (Still, that's gonna leave a mark when there's only two.. or only one..  foe to target.)  Hates purple (extra damage).  Messes with yellow tiles on the board.

Shares Passive with cMa'at and cSobek, so that's an additional 0-210% damage to all plus attack nerf to all.  See also same family bonus.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Eset only becomes VO-eligible Dec 12, 2026.  (Hero Coach is already in play... but you won't get the full costumed power until you, well, have the costume.)

Tier 2: The midrange

If you're considering picking heroes from this set, you're sacrificing raw stats for particular ability.  That may not always be a bad tradeoff, but be aware that damage and survivability won't be up to Tier 1 standards - so make sure the ability you're aiming for is worth it for your roster!

OWLS (except Pertinax, see above)

🔵 Timius - Fast hit-3... with older stats and the Moonrise mechanic (see Pertinax, above).  That part isn't so great.  Priority dispel plus buff blocking to three at Fast, though, might maybe be worth it for you -- and Timius still has the Owl anti-free-mana Passive (also see Pertinax, above).

🔴 Lodius - Very Fast sniper... with older stats and the Moonrise mechanic (see Pertinax, above).  That part isn't so great.  Getting counterattack up to all (albeit at 60%) at Very Fast might be your bigger reason to take -- and Lodius still has the Owl anti-free-mana Passive (also see Pertinax, above).

🟢 Verus - Average speed hit-all... with older stats and the Moonrise Strike mechanic (see Pertinax, above).  That part isn't so great.  Bleed DoT to all and blind to all may suit your purposes, though -- and Verus still has the Owl anti-free-mana Passive (also see Pertinax, above).

🟣 Ommodus - Slow hit-all... with older stats and the Moonrise Strike mechanic (yeah, yeah, you know the drill by now).  At Slow, even less fearsome than the other owls.  Fiendbusting on a non-healer might make him useful in Bloody wars/tournaments, but that's pretty niche (even with the same Owl Passive -  you probably want to take other owls first... or even third or fourth).

CLASH OF KNIGHTS (except Rayne, see below)

🔴 Torben - This Bear is showing his age, but his job isn't to score kills - it's to mark a target for imminent destruction.  By tagging one hapless foe both with defense down AND with "takes damage whenever allies do", he scores an assist at Fast and lets your other heroes take out the priority target.  Survivability is helped by his Fighter class and his Family bonus flipping defense debuffs on him into defense buffs.

🟢 Xiamara - A older-stats damage dealer?  Well... if you're not aiming for Tier 1 choices, she probably still does a bit better than Owls (buffable, plus self buffs for her second and subsequent hits, plus her family bonus turns would-be attack debuffs into free attack buffs), and she dings foes for getting free mana (albeit any single such ding is pretty small; note that this pairs well with Owls, though, reducing the size of the free mana and then also punishing foes for it anyway).

🔵 Lysanor - She's a reviver.  Do you need one/another one?  On the downside, her overall power is not really better than last Fated Summon's Relius; on the upside, a 60% revive chance is an attention-getter (and the attack buff she throws is hefty, and boost-heal-over-time is alright).  She's Slow - which isn't a big downside for a reviver per se - but in a team with lots of buffs/stacks she can be a bit faster.

🟡 Winnie - Priority cleanse to all plus direct boost heal to all is good... but Slow is not so good.  (And 1200hp just isn't what it used to be, given power creep and Legendary troops.)  Her family bonus (flip defense ailments into defense buffs) helps her stay alive to do her job... but not I'm not sure if she's generally fast enough or offers a big enough heal to be a team's primary healer these days.  In a Rush context, or with a second healer (to better enable her sticky defense buff), she might still be alright.

S4 (assuming costumes from Visiting Outfitter)

🔴 cKravekrush - If you're taking this guy, it's not for damage, or his "side-card" abilities.  You're taking him because ANTI-REVIVE -- to all.  No reviving self, no reviving anyone else, no buffs that contingently revive, just flat-out no revive.  (Except Cats.  Nothing stops Cats from reviving themselves except Bloody format.  Sorry.)  Hard to rate as a Tier, per se, but it's a fairly unique ability - if you can keep him alive and firing to do his job.

🟣 cHannah - Fast light hit-3 with smallish fiends which provide a sticky attack nerf.  Activating the Costume bonus (extra damage against boosted health) at Fast is not nothing.  Okay, but borderline Tier 2 - Tier 3, considering that you need the costume just to be this useful.

Tier 3: The special cases

First, note that pretty much all the S4 and S5 heroes without costume are really down in this tier.  If you want better use, you really need to get them to Visiting Outfitter.

Second, the HotM here really aren't that much smaller in raw Power than Tier 2 overall, they just don't have as many bells and whistles generally compared to older premium heroes.  (Also, plenty of folks - perhaps too hastily sometimes - sneer at all HotM, even current ones, so older ones... well... )

Thirdly, Rayne falls here because of being ~200 Power smaller than the other Clash of Knights choices.

I'm not saying you can't get use out of these FS choices - but that there are heroes in this Fated Summon that are just bigger and/or do more, so consider carefully before picking one of these to develop.

🟣 Rayne - For a hero of this age, the poison DoT is still nothing to sneer at, and it spreads.  (If and when you can land it, of course.) Having said that... taking Rayne at this point in the game and trying to keep her alive to do her thing might be more of an Alanis Morissette song than a winning pick compared to others in this FS.

🟣 Anoushka - Now this is an odd granny: light-ish heal to all, steals buff from one, sets target to Sleep (potentially quite nice if you can keep them asleep a while, fairly nice if you can follow up with a big hit at +50% damage for sleeping, disappointing if the sleep just breaks).  May or may not be your cup of tea but probably ages better than most other HotM choices.

🔵 SIni - Damage suffers from stats, but hits all, moreso against fire, can't be silenced/etc, and if you want the "messes with blue tiles" mechanic gives something beyond straight damage.

🟡 Zora - Hit-all who also cleanses, albeit at Slow, plus attack buff (much better if a lot of cleansing).  If there were wars/tourneys that were Bloody and Rush...

🟢 Bo & Runt - While straight snipers can age poorly, at least this one scales a bit with other minions plus a substantial attack buff for his own minion(s).

🔴 Zarga - Straight snipers can age... poorly.  If you can keep the Bleed DoT and its attendant stacks piling up, maybe.  But... eh.

in summary...

The "tiers" I've listed here should not necessarily be taken as a "you should/MUST take the heroes in this order!" endorsement -- but the raw Power levels are sufficiently, starkly different that it is a consideration.

In that regard:

* Pertinax is the biggest stand-alone hero
* Ma'at and Sobek, once costumed via VO, are also respectably sized and have a slew of useful and easy-to-add-to-many-teams abilities
* Eset, once costumed, is similarly sized but possibly more niche (color-focused, Slow), and the costume will need waiting on

Having said that, there are some highly useful abilities in the other tiers which are potentially worth your consideration, most notably including but obviously not limited to:

* Torben marks, at Fast, a Must-Get-This-Foe for a speedy demise
* Timius drops priority-dispel-3 plus buff-block-3 at Fast (plus has the Owl passive)
* Lysanor revives... with a notable % chance to do so
* cKravekrush (you'll definitely want to VO-costume him to help stay alive to do his job) is ANTI-revive when he fires

Size matters - but size isn't everything.  If it were, most everyone might indeed justifiably sneer at the Fated Summon heroes as little more than grist for the Soul Exchange mill.  Fated Summon can help give your roster abilities you are lacking, which is why I try to touch on *every* hero, not just the most obvious ones -- but I've ordered them because it's worth knowing the tradeoffs you are making by choosing one over another.

Good hunting!

Season 4

🟣 Xnolphod - Average speed purple healer that straight-out hands out a small chunk of free mana to all allies

🟡 Zekena - Fast two-shot sniper (yes, an old sniper); the second hit (randomly targeted, but can double- tap a single target) still has notably sized defense-down

🔵 Exeera - uhhhh Sorry. This is... hard to justify other than for completionists. If you are running some kind of DoT combo against red-heavy/only opponents? (likely not even then; even her costume barely helps)

🟢 Lughaidh - Frankly, if you like weird Ghost mechanic. (It’s Slow, though, and his boost heal has aged quite poorly, though his costume would help somewhat.)

🔴 Octros - Average hit-all, depending on tiles, plus attack-down... but that’s about it, probably needs costume bonus to do much

HotM

🟣 Uthragan - though he always had a glass jaw (moreso now), the self-healing-from-DoT can still be pretty annoying/useful... though you need to watch for poison/ailment immunity. Still generally likely much more PvE than PvP today.

🟡 Ithar - Very Fast buff/mana steal actually holds its value moderately well, outside of Ithar’s general survivability

🔵 Areax - a Slow chain-hitter with a touch of DoT.. mostly just...older...damage (resisting Special blocking is okay, but is it enough?)

🟢 Cinisia - Average-speed hit-all.. but also heal-nerf and some DoT (which is more notable vs blue). It’s worth noting that her passive means her attack is generally higher than it looks

🔴 Skargremar - Average hit-3 that blinds and mana cuts. Watch for ailment block and native immunity, but potentially useful.

Musketeers

🟣 Aramis - How far has once-mighty Aramis fallen to be in FS? Undispellable ailment block is still notable, even if the hit-and-heal is no longer as big as it used to be, in relative terms.

🟡 Constance - Do you have dodge? If you don’t, Constance does. (For PvP, watch out for foes with “never miss” Specials, though.

🔵 Porthos - hits-all.. but likely tile shenanigans is what you’re considering here

🟢 Athos - VF sniper, also activates Cover at VF; one kicker is how much you want anti-regular-minions currently (or are willing to try to crank Athos up to do enough damage to knock out half a mega- minion’s hp, and use him as a budget MM-buster)

🔴 Cardinal Richelieu - buff-thieving fiends are still notable (note -- see below -- that you may well need 2LB to get full benefit, since minions/fiends have a 1000hp limit before 2LB, 2000hp limit after)

Tower of Magic

🟣 Becky - choice of a quick snipe that makes the hit foe mana cut their own allies, or a slower buildup to free mana to allies and Guardian Hippo action. (Also, passives can throw some heals and mana manipulation.)

🟡 Vaishali - tactical flexibility with cleanse and dispel; the cleanse happens fast with some light buffs, the dispel is slow but priority and comes with some sand DoT and attack debuff. Plus, mana manipulation passives. Also one of the most recent Magic heroes on offer...

🔵 Camilla - a quick boost heal with defense buff, or a slower max hp bite plus significant defense down vs Specials; nice two-way utility

🟢 Telonius - DoT is often not a top strategy, but it does ignore defense stats if you can land it. If you really want a DoT team, Telonius’ first charge is notably important, and the second charge is heal-3 but for eyebrow-raising high %, and counters DoT if you need to.

🔴 Nadezhda - one of these mages is notably older than the others. She is a reviver and does have a costume, but it will be some time before it comes online with VO, so that’s a long-game play...

I hesitate to give general recommendations because FS is so dependent on what your roster could use (or if your roster can even use heroes of these vintages at all), but

• if considering bigger stats from picking up a S4 costume bonus via VO, Xnolphod as a healer and mana booster can still be useful

• HotM utility: if you want a quick thief or a debuffer, Ithar and Skargremar might be tactically useful on offense

• potentially notable Musketeer specials: Aramis’ undispellable ailment block, Constance’s dodge, Richelieu’s thieving fiends

• several mages offer tactical flexibility in a number of ways. Being able to do two different things with one hero can be a handy trick.
  
  Good hunting!