Varus
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Excellent (8/10)
Low Investment
Rare Relics OK
Varus is widely recognized as an "OTK machine" capable of trivializing even the hardest content like 6.5-star adventures through massive stat multiplication. However, his linear playstyle and lack of defensive versatility often lead to him being described as repetitive or unengaging by the community.
The Retribution Combo
The definitive best-in-slot relic. It duplicates the stats granted by Redoubled Valor and other buffs, enabling exponential growth for a guaranteed lethal strike.
Essential for generating Redoubled Valor. When combined with Varus's innate star powers and Secret Technique, this allows for massive stat multiplication.
Superior to Lost Chapter for high-level play. It resets your mana to 6 upon playing Varus, ensuring you can immediately cast Redoubled Valor to trigger his level-up and Overwhelm.
Strategy
This build focuses on a decisive Turn 1 or Turn 2 victory. Play Varus, utilize the mana refill from Hidden Tome to cast Redoubled Valor, and swing with a unit possessing hundreds of power and Overwhelm.
Star Forged Ascendant
Provides Fated and Augment, granting early stats and keywords that scale rapidly when targeted by Varus's spells.- Remains the primary engine for stat growth, providing the spell density and buffs needed to activate Fated and Augment.
Acts as a fail-safe for longer encounters. If the game reaches 6 mana, this ensures any spell cast is doubled, guaranteeing a finish.
Strategy
A viable alternative that leans into keyword generation. While slightly slower than the Secret Technique variant, it offers robust scaling through Fated and Augment.
Budget OTK
- The cornerstone of Varus's kit. Even without Epic relics, this provides the necessary stat doubling to threaten lethal damage.
A mandatory utility relic for smooth execution, providing the spell mana required to cast the generated Redoubled Valor immediately.- Provides late-game insurance by duplicating spells once mana thresholds are met, compensating for the lack of Secret Technique's raw multiplier.
Strategy
An accessible build using only Rare relics. It follows the same core principle: play Varus, refill mana, buff, and attack.
Other Relic Options
Accelerates Varus's deployment and contributes to the stat-doubling strategy by dealing damage to allies to buff Varus.
Enhances the damage of his spells, useful for clearing blockers or pushing extra burn damage.
A situational option that synergizes with his spell-heavy playstyle, particularly if the deck is thinned to focus on specific spells.
Constellation
Varus is a high-impact champion who functions at near-peak efficiency with just 3 stars. His constellation upgrades are largely considered luxuries rather than necessities, as his 3-star power already facilitates his infinite-scaling OTK strategy.
Blighted Blessing
The first time each round you target an ally with a single-target spell, copy it on your strongest ally.
Gift of Corruption
+1 Starting Mana. Round Start: Reduce the cost of a spell in your deck by 1, then create an exact Fleeting copy of it in hand.Review
Provides a consistent mana advantage and free spell generation, smoothing out his early game and enabling faster combos.
Blighted Blessing II
When you target an ally with a single-target spell, copy it on your strongest ally.Review
The defining power for Varus. It doubles the stats from spells targeting allies, transforming standard buffs into game-ending threats. This power alone makes him viable for 6.5-star content.
Gameplay Tips
Mulligan Aggressively for Varus
Varus is the sole win condition in his deck. Without him, the deck lacks a coherent finisher and struggles to utilize its equipment synergies. If you do not find him in your opening hand, use all rerolls to locate him.
Manage the Dead Cards
Varus's starting deck contains cards like Momentous Choice that require an equipped ally to function optimally. Since Varus is often the only source of equipment, these cards can be dead weight in your hand until he is played. Aggressively cut these cards at healers to improve consistency.
Prioritize Level Up for Overwhelm
While Varus can generate massive stats, he lacks inherent evasion until he levels up and gains Overwhelm. Ensure you trigger the requisite number of spells to flip him before committing to your final attack, preventing your lethal damage from being chump-blocked.
Abuse the Spell Mana Refill
Relics like Hidden Tome or Lost Chapter are critical because they allow you to play Varus and immediately cast Redoubled Valor (from Hymn of Valor) in the same turn. This tempo swing is the core of his strategy; do not play Varus without a plan to utilize this mana immediately.