Difference between revisions of "Brawler"

Revision as of 10:50, 16 July 2014

Locked Description

Though you may fight alone against many,

destined to fight till you die,

still you do not relent.

In a ring of blood you learn

that a pair of fists

can face the world.

Description

The ravages of the Spellblaze stretched armies thin and left many unprotected. Not everyone could afford the luxury of a weapon.

Without steel or iron, poor communities of all races turned to the strength of their own bodies for defense against the darkness.

Whether a pit-fighter, a boxer, or just an amateur practitioner, the Brawler's skills are still handy today. Many of the Brawler's abilities will earn combo points which they can use on finishing moves that will have added effect.

The unarmed fighting styles the Brawler uses rely on maneuverability and having both hands available. As such, they cannot make use of their training wearing massive armour or while a weapon or shield is equipped. Their most important stats are: Strength, Dexterity, and Cunning

Starting Equipment

• Iron Gauntlets
• Rough Leather Armor

Starting Talents

• Uppercut
• Double Strike
• Combat Accuracy
• Armour Training

Talents

Strategy

More mobile than traditional fighters and more durable than fragile rogues, the Brawler is an unarmed combatant with exceptional burst and sustained damage.

Pros:

• Exceptional mobility for a warrior
• Highly-synergistic Pugilism tree
• Excellent natural scaling
• Strong synergy with on-hit items
• High critical strike chance
• Kills space-time anomalies, vampire lords, and the entire Orc race with BARE HANDS

Cons:

• Limited build/playstyle options
• Equipment restrictions
• Weaker talent trees outside of Pugilism (*cough Grappling cough*)
• Bosses are immune to Instantdeath (i.e. Haymaker)
• Generalist tendencies (medium armor & medium defense) makes optimizing defenses less intuitive
• Cannot grapple large dragons, even though Celia's model makes them all look like starved halflings

No blades, no magic; Brawlers fight with their bare (er, gloved) hands, and they fight very well. Like their Marauder cousins, Str/Dex/Cun Brawlers combine the rogue's critical-prone multi-striking capabilities with the warrior's survivability. However, while Marauders leans more towards the rogue's dual-wielding playstyle, Brawlers gravitate towards the warrior's "Meat-Grinder" playstyle through their incredible natural scaling and Pugilism. Speaking of which:

Natural Scaling

Bonuses:

• +40% attack speed while unarmed
• .5 Physical Power per Level

Brawlers have neither a primary nor a secondary weapon to grant them stat-enhancing perks, so these benefits come embedded in the class itself. The 40% bonus attack speed removes the standard 20% unarmed attack speed penalty and replaces it with a 20% AS bonus (although the Disarmed effect negates this), making it essential for a class built around unarmed combat. The physical power per level serves a dual purpose: early on, it slightly improves your damage and helps your Finishing Moves (mainly Uppercut) apply their intended effects while you focus on unlocking your essential Dexterity and Cunning abilities. However, its main purpose becomes noticeable around level 25+, where the combined potential of your natural scaling, Unarmed Mastery, and strength bonuses are often just enough to trigger cross-tier effects (either Off-Balance or a straight Slow) on lesser enemies. While the effect isn't as reliable as a dedicated ability, it is essentially a free disable that procs on your basic attacks, allowing you to butcher ants, wolves, bears, and other low-quality monsters with little fear of retaliation. This ability will eventually taper off as monsters gain higher and higher physical save.

Pugilism - A Gentlemen's Art

Pugilism is the Brawler's most iconic and most important talent tree. Combined with the Brawler's natural perks, it is what allows an unarmed fighter to match and potentially exceed armed fighters in raw damage output. While there are certainly ways to build the Brawler without investing deep into the Pugilism tree, few builds synergize with the class as well as one emphasizing Pugilism, Unarmed Mastery (talent) and, to a lesser extent, Finishing Moves. Going over the abilities:

Double Strike

The Brawler's bread-and-butter skill with an excellent damage-per-level increase, extra point combo point at level 4, zero stamina cost, and a low cooldown that can be further reduced by Relentless Strikes and brawler's gloves/gauntlets. Eventually, you may come to think of Double Strike as being your real basic attack.

Relentless Strikes

This is what differentiates Pugilism from other talent trees and makes it something worth investing 16-20 points in. While its level 1 results are barely noticeable, the cooldown reduction becomes increasingly apparent with levels, bringing Double strike onto a permanent two-turn cooldown at level 4 and nearly halving the cooldowns of Spinning Backhand and Flurry of Fists at level 5. Similarly, the stamina gains from this ability will be minimal at first, but will become increasingly powerful as levels in Double Strike, Spinning Backhand and Flurry of Fists generate additional combo points.

Spinning Backhand

This is why the Brawler is categorized as a "mobile" fighter. With two points, Spinning Backhand's range increases to 4, allowing you to save Rush for initiations when it's truly needed. At level 5, Spinning Backhand gains a full 6 range (along with the range-influenced DPS increase), meaning that it can effectively replace Rush as the go-to "mage-bashing" tool. Finally, with maxed Relentless Strikes, this ability sits with a manageable seven turn cooldown, meaning that it can be used multiple times within a large engagement. Throw in its AoE component, and you have the Brawler's all-in-one utility slap. Consider adding a second point early, then add on remaining points once you've reached acceptable levels of your other Pugilism abilities if you desire.

Flurry of Fists

The Brawler's wombo combo "this thing needs to DIE" ability. Spinning Backhand into Flurry of Fists will kill most non-boss casters instantly in the first half of the game, and almost instantly thereafter depending on your opponent's resistances. At rank 4 it delivers three combo points, meaning that Spinning Backhand -> Flurry of Fists -> Any Finishing Move will deliver a four point finisher in three turns. With maxed Relentless Strikes, its hefty twenty-four turn cooldown can be brought to a semi-decent fourteen seconds. More importantly, level 5 Relentless Strikes dramatically cuts Flurry of Fists' stamina cost (with low fatigue, usually by about a 1/3rd), making for a somewhat-oxymoronic "spammable nuke."

Striking Stance

This isn't technically a Pugilism ability, but its relationship with Double Strike and its incredible bonuses should not go unmentioned. Striking Stance gives a sizable accuracy boost and - more importantly - an exceptional damage modifier to all striking talents, meaning all damaging talents in the Pugilism tree along with select abilities such as Counter Attack. Think of it as a powerful Dexterity-based passive that will only cancel itself if for the user activates that *other* stance.

Ah, Grappling Stance...

Grappling with Grappling Stance

Grappling is:

• Stamina-intensive
• Single-target focused with little flexibility
• Mobility-restrictive
• Size-restrictive (can't grapple Rantha)
• Unreliable (Can't silence Undead)
• Weak compared to Striking Stance (Physical Power and Physical Save? Not only are they diminishing return stats, but the Brawler gets them anyway through other means...)
• Uncomplementary to the rest of the Brawler's talents

For all intents and purposes, Grappling Stance is a disabling stance. It is meant to pin an opponent in an unfavorable position while removing their damage and escape options through silences, stuns, and dazes while reducing Accuracy, Defense, Attack Damage, and global speed. It is NOT meant to kill outright - rather, it is meant to disable an opponent while they die from other means. If you are an Oozing Horror, then you have a bevy of teammates along with your own natural secretions to make up this extra damage. However, if you are a lone Brawler, you are just that - alone - so you don't have those external options.

Simply put, Grappling is an ability better left to monsters rather than adventurers. Player characters usually have enough damage to kill enemy damage dealers outright, and if they cannot (i.e. it's a boss) they can usually teleport around and slowly whittle the boss down through hit-and-run tactics. It's not that Grappling itself is bad, it's just players have better options, especially in the early game. Adding a few points in the mid to late game may provide some situational utility, but don't postpone your core talents (Pugilism and Unarmed Mastery) for it.

Overall

The Brawler is great fit for players looking for a mobile, powerful class who can do a little bit of everything.

With their BARE HANDS.

Fisticuffs!

Notes

Noteworthy Items:

• Bloodcaller
• Spellhunt Remnants

"Don't Stop My Groove!"

• Stuns are particularly dangerous for the Brawler. Consider holding on to an Infusion:Wild (Physical) until you can level up Unflinching Resolve and/or acquire stun resistance.
• Bulwarks and Paladins are pains to deal with. Even if you have resistance/armor penetration, exercise extreme care when fighting these opponents. At higher levels, a random Assault can easily kill you if you've taken too much damage through other means.

Other Talent Trees:

• While Pugilism is a critical part of the Brawler's damage output, players still have some flexibility in what supporting trees they add afterwards. Unarmed Discipline provides some interesting utility talents and positional displacers while Dirty Fighting provides exceptional crit potential via stun lock -> Backstab-enhanced Flurry of Fists along with a speed-crushing Cripple. Experiment with both and see what combination works best for you.

Classes