Candleguard — guide

In short

Candleguard is a Rare Magic Attack champion from the Dwarves — a straightforward AoE nuker with a self ATK/C.RATE buff and a Weaken debuff. He doesn't shine anywhere: his only real home is Faction Wars depth. Build him for ATK%, C.RATE and SPD only if you actually keep him — the site's verdict is blunt: food.

Strengths

• Victory Cry hits all enemies for 4.25× ATK and, fully booked, has a 75% chance to place Weaken 15% for 2 turns — a real damage amplifier for the team.
• Attention buffs him with ATK +25% and C.RATE +15% for 3 turns before the AoE hit, so he needs no external setup to start hitting.
• Candlelight removes a random buff (60%) or steals one (70%) if the target carries 3+ buffs — handy against buff-stacking waves.
• Rare tomes are cheap, and Magic affinity is rarely a problem.

Weaknesses

• Low base stats even for a Rare: 1,233 ATK, 782 DEF, 15,195 HP. He folds to splash damage and needs heavy gear to hit at all.
• 94 base SPD and 10 ACC — his Weaken won't land past early content without ACC gear, which competes directly with damage stats.
• No turn meter control, no defensive utility, no scaling on his nukes.
• The author explicitly advises against PvP, and Hydra/Doom Tower sit at 1.0.

Where to use

Faction Wars (2.5) is clearly his best area — a body for Dwarves depth and a fine early AoE there. Dungeons, Clan Boss, Chimera and Hard mode (2.0) are filler tier: he can farm early waves and gets replaced fast. Hydra and Doom Tower (1.0) — skip. Arena (1.5) — no, per the author's note.

Stats and gear

Priority: ATK% → C.RATE to ~100% → C.DMG → SPD. Take ACC (~150–200) only if you genuinely rely on his Weaken. Rough 6★ targets: 3,000+ ATK, 100% C.RATE, 150%+ C.DMG, 170+ SPD.

Sets: the build list names no sets, so use standard nuker gear — Savage or Lethal for ignore-DEF, Cruel for raw ATK, Perception only when you need ACC. Listed relic: Malefic Talon.

Masteries and blessings

Go down the PvE route (dungeons / Clan Boss / Doom Tower / Faction Wars); the build highlights Pierce Defenses as the key mastery. Standard nuker offence picks follow, with a boss-oriented final tier if you ever field him on Clan Boss. No blessing is listed: on a Rare they're cheap but low-impact — take a damage one only if you actually play him.

Tomes

Book Victory Cry first: it pushes Weaken to 75% and cuts the cooldown from 4 to 3 — the biggest single upgrade, and it benefits the whole team. Then Attention for its two cooldown reductions. Candlelight last — the extra strip chance rarely justifies tomes on a hero you'll likely feed.

Verdict

Candleguard is a filler Rare with one decent debuff and nothing else — use him in Faction Wars if you must, then feed him. The food verdict is deserved.