Swabbie is the hero you can just buy. He sits on the paid side of the Black Tide pass for 20 bucks, no wheel, no luck, no 0.3% drop rate.
He is also a janitor with a mop, and I mean that literally. His whole kit is mopping the deck and leaving puddles of water everywhere.
In Heroes vs Hordes terms, any hero under 50 dollars is a good deal. So 20 is fine. I am past the point where I would buy a hero outright, but plenty of people do, and it is not a mistake early on.
His level progression is genuinely strong. That makes him a real option if you are starting out and want somebody to carry you. His globals are much less exciting, and Marina Tideborn's are better across the board.
Below I go through his level progression, his globals, his skills, and his forge. I also work through the pass math that decides how many shards you walk away with.
| 10 | +10% Area of Effect |
|---|---|
| 20 | -5% Cooldown |
| 30 | +10% Area of Effect |
| 40 | BUCKET TOSS: Every 5s, Swabbie hurls a bucket of water, creating water puddles that deal 100% damage per tick. |
| 50 | All Heroes: +50 Health |
| 60 | +10% Area of Effect |
| 70 | All Heroes: +10% Status Effect Duration |
| 80 | SOAP THE DECK: Swabbie spins his mop rapidly around him, dealing damage. Small puddles appear occasionally. |
| 90 | All Heroes that share Faction: +5% Area of Effect |
| 100 | FINAL MOP: All kills fill the meter. Swabbie slams the mop into the ground, releasing a tidal wave to deal 240% damage and exposing enemies around him. |
| 120 | All Heroes: x1.05 damage to slowed enemies |
| 140 | Strong Stat Bonus: x1.2 damage to slowed enemies |
| 160 | All Heroes: +100% Damage |
Swabbie has physical damage in his base stats and then stacks area of effect three separate times, with cooldown mixed in. Those are exactly the stats that make a hero good early in the game.
His 140 strong stat is damage to slowed, which tells you there had better be a slow somewhere in the kit. There is, but it comes out of the forge rather than the skills, so you have to read the forge nodes to find it.
If you are new and you like the guy, this progression backs you up. He will carry you through Normal and Hard Mode without complaint.
This is where he loses the comparison. Level 50 is +50 health, which is horrendous. Level 70 is status effect duration, which is not very good. Level 90 is +5% area of effect and only applies to heroes sharing his faction, which makes it close to useless.
Level 120 is All Heroes, x1.05 damage to slowed enemies, and that one is decent. Almost every hero and almost every build has some way to apply slow, so it ends up being a small damage bump across your whole roster. It does nothing in Boss Brawl, where you cannot slow the boss. His 140 strong stat is x1.2 damage to slowed on top of that.
For reference, Marina Tideborn's 120 is x1.1. Swabbie's is half as good.
His 3-star forge is x1.025 damage, which is the standard filler global they hand new heroes now. Above average, not exciting.
Add it up and you get one mid global at 70, one above-average-but-still-kind-of-mid at 120, and a fine 3-star. I would not spend 20 dollars for the globals alone.
Here is the part worth knowing. After pass level 15, every event level you beat gives two more Swabbie shards. Beat all 40 and that is 25 extra levels, so 50 bonus tokens on top of the 15 pass rewards.
You get all of it no matter when you buy, so buy late. Play the event out, see what the wheel gives you, and only then decide.
HaxSennin has a nice extension of this. Grab the daily gem pass, then put the 200 daily gems toward each additional pass level. Roughly 3,000 gems gets you to the bonus tier and another 30 or so Swabbie tokens, and buying anything at all gives you a couple more spins. Daily gems are one of the most efficient buys in the game anyway.
You have to read the forge to understand Swabbie, because this is where his slow is hiding. Nothing in the skill text tells you the puddles slow enemies. They do.
More Soap! gives Mop Sweep more attack area. Wet Mop gives Mop Sweep a chance to slow enemies when hit. Take Wet Mop basically every time, since his 140 strong stat is damage to slowed and this is the switch that turns it on.
Slippery Floor makes small puddles last two seconds longer and slow harder. Soapy Water makes small puddles damage enemies lingering in them. These two are close to interchangeable, and I lean Slippery Floor for general clearing.
The 3-star, worth x1.025 damage. Nothing to decide here.
The big green goopy puddle. It evolves off the area tome, which is a middling tome to build around. You can fit it, but it is no damage tome or duplicator.
Deep Rot raises Saltwater Corrosion damage amplification by 140%. Brine Concentrate triggers corrosion one swing sooner, which is probably a 20 to 25% bump. I take Deep Rot, especially for single-target work. Note that his 5-star buffs the weapon rather than the ultimate, which is the opposite of Marina Tideborn.
His base attack is Mop Sweep. He swings the mop, it deals damage, and it occasionally leaves a puddle of water behind. Every fourth swing is empowered, though there is no visual tell for it that I could spot in try mode.
Every five seconds Swabbie dumps a bucket of water and creates puddles that deal damage. How long those puddles stay on the ground is the whole question with him, because that is where most of his real damage lives.
He spins the mop rapidly around himself for damage, and small puddles appear occasionally on top of that. More puddles.
Kills fill a meter, then he slams the mop down and releases a tidal wave. The description says cleaning gets serious and he starts throwing powerful water swings.
Honestly, the ultimate looks a little lacking. The tidal wave crosses the screen once and then you are back to small spinning particles.
Notice that none of these skills mention a slow. Every skill here is on a plain timer, which is why the forge matters so much for him.
Swabbie is fine. He's a real hero with a real forge, his level progression is strong, and the pass shards make three stars realistic if the wheel doesn't cooperate.
He's also not spectacular. His ultimate looks a little lacking, his globals won't move your roster, and Marina Tideborn's are better in every slot.
One build note. Area of effect grows the mop but doesn't grow the puddles, so don't stack it expecting bigger water.
If you're early in the game and you want a main you can just buy, 20 bucks is a good deal. Go nuts, dude. If you're late game, save the money and put it toward the wheel.
I'm Kolz, a high-level HVH player. Ask questions here, on Reddit, or on Discord.
And remember: Always do your adventures!
