What is this guide about?
Hwei has a unique trait called Artist, which allows him to create a copy of a unit on your unit bench. The core concept is simple:
- You receive a stack every round after facing a player combat (not after PVE rounds)
- At the start of the planning phase, if the stack counter matches the cost of the unit, Hwei will consume ALL stacks and create a copy
- If you want to create a copy of a Legendary unit, you therefore need to gather a total 5 Stacks
- Stacks can be transferred between units, you can even leave the special bench slot empty
When the Set went live, Riot added a hidden Easter Egg that allows Hwei to copy non-units as well. Initially this mechanic required a total of 10 stacks, but it has been reduced to 7 Stacks in Patch 14.7. This is a showcase what you can copy beyond units.
Component Anvil - 7 Stacks
Completed Item Anvil - 7 Stacks
Support Item Anvil - 7 Stacks
Artifact Item Anvil - 7 Stacks
Tome of Traits - 7 Stacks
Golden Egg - 7 Stacks
Exalted Orb - 7 Stacks
Things to remember
During the PBE Cycle it made a difference if you upgraded Hwei to 2 Star or 3 Star. Back then Hwei required one stack less to upgrade something and Hwei 3 Star would straight up create a new 3 Star unit every round with no stacks required. This mechanic was removed when Set 11 went live and likely won't make a return.
While copied Item Anvils and Tome of Traits will work fine, copying an Exalted Orb currently does nothing. The copied Orb will start with 0 EXP and cannot gain any EXP after combat, making it effectively useless at the moment and should be avoided.