Julius Relics First Look | Hero Wars Alliance

This is our Julius Relics First Look, and Guardians, we have been waiting for this one. Hero Wars Alliance has finally brought one of the most recognizable tanks in the game into the Relic system, and Julius is already live with his Relics in Brawls.

Before we go any further, though, let’s set expectations. This is a first look, not a final verdict. Since Julius is available in Brawls right now, we have the perfect opportunity to test everything properly before drawing conclusions about the best stopping level, the strongest teams, or how important these Relics actually become.

For today, we simply want to understand what Julius received. There are already some very interesting mechanics here, and one of them immediately raised a big question: Damage over Time. We’ll come back to that shortly.

Julius Relics First Look: Level 1 – Pawsitive Influence

Julius begins at Legendary Relic Level 1 with something important to distinguish from the next two levels. Rather than upgrading one of his existing skills, this level grants a completely new skill called Pawsitive Influence.

Every 13 seconds, Julius identifies the most injured ally and gives that Hero a Shield capable of absorbing any type of damage. There’s also an interesting twist: the more Health that ally has already lost, the stronger the Shield becomes.

That’s a very Julius way to open his Relics. Instead of adding another generic defensive bonus, he gets an emergency protection mechanic aimed squarely at the Hero who needs help the most.

Of course, several questions remain. How significant is that Shield in actual combat? How often can it change a battle? Which Heroes benefit the most from having Julius protect them this way? That’s exactly what Brawls are for.

Level 10 – Meowsterpiece of Defense Goes Legendary

At Legendary Relic Level 10, one of Julius’s existing skills is upgraded to Legendary: Meowsterpiece of Defense.

The new mechanic is simple but potentially very useful. When a Shield is destroyed or expires, the Hero who was protected by that Shield recovers Health. In addition, Way of Progress Heroes receive twice as much healing from this effect.

There is one important exception, however: this additional effect doesn’t apply to the Meowsterpiece of Defense skill itself.

Now notice the direction we’re already seeing. At Level 1, Julius receives another way of putting a Shield onto an ally. Meanwhile, at Level 10, Shields can also become part of the team’s sustain when they disappear. In other words, protection can potentially transition into healing.

Considering Julius has always been strongly associated with Shields, we’re very interested to see how much additional survivability this creates across a complete battle.

Level 20 – Nine-Lives Engine and the Cleanse Question

Then we arrive at Level 20, and Guardians, this is where our attention immediately went.

At Legendary Relic Level 20, Nine-Lives Engine is upgraded to Legendary. Whenever Julius or one of his allies gains a Shield, all negative effects are removed from that Hero.

Read that interaction again, because this is where things get interesting. Julius isn’t simply protecting somebody from the next incoming attack. Instead, that Shield can potentially become a cleanse at the same time.

Naturally, we already have questions:

• Which negative effects can Julius consistently remove?
• How powerful is this against teams that depend heavily on applying debuffs?
• How frequently can Julius and his teammates trigger this effect through their Shields?

The Damage over Time Question

But one question stands above the rest. If one of Julius’s allies is already suffering from an active Damage over Time effect and then receives a Shield, what happens?

Does that active DoT get removed? Could part of the effect disappear while something else continues? Or does the damage simply keep ticking?

We’re not going to guess. The description says all negative effects are removed, but we want to see exactly how that interaction behaves in battle before telling you what it means. After all, if it has significant consequences against Damage over Time teams, that’s a completely different story.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait, since Julius can be tested in Brawls right now. So that interaction is absolutely going onto our testing list.

Level 30 – Defensive Lunge Adds Offense

Finally, we reach Legendary Relic Level 30. Once again, this isn’t an upgrade to an existing skill; Julius receives another completely new skill called Defensive Lunge.

After three Relic levels focused heavily on keeping the team alive, Level 30 introduces an offensive component. While Julius or his allies have a Shield, their Armor Penetration is increased for each active Shield.

That’s interesting, because Julius’s signature mechanic suddenly isn’t only protecting his team. Those Shields can potentially contribute to how effectively the team attacks as well.

Again, we’re deliberately not throwing calculations at you today. Instead, we want to see how Armor Penetration behaves with multiple active Shields, how consistently the team can maintain those Shields and, most importantly, whether the theoretical benefit translates into a meaningful difference in actual battles.

The Full Julius Relic Progression at a Glance

Looking at all four Relic stages together, the clearest takeaway from our Julius Relics First Look is how deliberate the progression feels:

Protection, sustain, cleanse and, finally, offense. On paper, it’s a very interesting evolution of Julius that never moves away from what he has always been about: Shields.

What This Julius Relics First Look Won’t Claim Yet

However, there’s a big difference between reading a Relic description and seeing what it actually does when five Heroes start fighting.

That’s why we won’t tell you today that Level 20 is the perfect stopping point. Nor will we say Level 30 is mandatory, or that these Relics suddenly make Julius unstoppable. We simply haven’t tested enough to reach those conclusions.

What we can say is that there are enough interesting interactions here that Julius absolutely deserves some serious testing. Level 20 especially stands out, since that negative-effect removal could create some very interesting situations, and we want to know exactly where its limits are.

Level 30, meanwhile, raises another question entirely. Can a Hero traditionally associated with protecting his team now indirectly make that same team considerably more dangerous offensively?

What Comes Next for Julius

This Julius Relics First Look is only step one. Next, we’ll be taking Julius into Brawls, testing these Relic levels properly, looking at different teams and interactions, and especially investigating that negative-effect mechanic. Once we have those answers, we’ll come back with the real analysis — not what the descriptions suggest, but what actually happens in battle.

Julius finally has his Relics, and we’ve waited a long time for this one. Now it’s time to find out whether the wait was worth it.

So, which interaction are you most curious about? Let us know what you want us to test first, because the descriptions are here, the Relics are here, and now the fun part begins.

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