Bruenor Battlehammer is an incredibly well-known character from the Companions of the Hall in the Forgotten Realms setting that you can also choose in the somewhat controversial, third-person action RPG Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Bruenor was a king, a warrior, and most importantly, a role model to people like Wulfgar, Cattie-Brie, and Drizzt.

Mechanically within Dark Alliance, he functions primarily within three different roles:

1. Tank
2. Bruiser
3. Support

Most people will likely play him as a damage-dealing tank, but Bruenor works equally well as a healing supporter, or a tank that steals all the enemy aggro then heals himself whenever he gets low.

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Because most of Bruenor’s moves have stamina destruction and inflict a variety of debuffs on the enemy (or buffs on Bruenor and his allies), he plays a bit more "technical" than say Drizzt or even Wulfgar. So, to help you figure out to best way to make this work, here are our build suggestions and general overview.

6 What Attributes To Max Out First

As far as stats go, it might be a bit surprising to see which ones take priority for Mr. Batlehammer here. As the Tank role, you would usually assume that Constitution would be Bruenor’s first stat to focus on, but it’s actually ordered a bit differently:

5 An Overview Of Bruenor's Most Common Playstyles

Now, as we said, Bruenor Battlehammer can be played in a variety of ways, but most accurately he’s played in three different ways. And, funnily enough, the three names of his Feat Trees accurately sum up these playstyles, so that's how we'll label them.

The Forge

This is the playstyle focused on inflicting enemies with all the different Conditions, buffing allies, and managing your constantly degrading Stamina Bar with parries and potions.

It’s a decently fun playstyle since your friends will be able to enjoy themselves more, enemies won’t be able to do as much against you, and you can make a game out of how many different debuffs/conditions you can apply on a single Elite.

The Hammer

Pretty obvious, but this would be Battlehammer’s full-damage playstyle centered around the heaviest hitting moves, the most immediately powerful abilities, and gear that primarily buffs strength and dexterity.

Honestly, while it's the simplest playstyle, it’s probably the most fun. You don’t have to worry about the conditions you’re applying all too much, you can jump into the thick of it, and you can just focus on straight-up violence through combos.

The Anvil

Lastly, this is the pure tank/support playstyle for Bruenor, entirely focused on blocking enemies, taunting them to draw aggro, and healing yourself or nearby teammates with Warsong to keep things going. It’s a very easy playstyle since you really just have to focus on two things: keeping yourself alive and keeping the enemies looking at you.

4 Bruenor's Best Feats

Feats are unlocked throughout your adventure, and each one makes a pretty big difference going forward, so here are the best ones in each Tree for Bruenor:

• The Forge: Scavenger, Pack Rat, Keen Mind
• The Hammer: Charger, Dungeon Delver, Battle Master
• The Anvil: Blessing of the All-Father, Heavy Armor Master, Shield Master

3 His Best Moves

As far as Bruenor’s Moves are concerned, this Dwarven King does have a few that are used on repeat, such as:

• Shield Slam
• Rolling Boulder
• Warsong
• Lunging Axe

These are all moves that you’ll likely find yourself using the most. Of course, Bruenor has other useful moves such as Frostwave Grind, Backstep Launcher, and Stomping Quake, but they’re a bit more situational, while these four moves are good in just about every scenario.

2 The Best Abilities To Have Equipped

Bruenor has four abilities, with only two equipable at once. So, in order, here are the ones that seem to be the strongest and most commonly used.

• The Anvil of Clangeddin: One of the ones Bruenor starts with, but you’ll likely keep it equipped the entire game. While the damage output might not seem great for a single target, the fact that it guard-breaks enemies, hits everyone in a certain radius, and imbues all ally weapons (including Bruenor's) with fire element damage during its duration makes it more than worth it.
• Whirlwind: The strongest damage-dealing Ability Bruenor has, he basically does the spinning attack Wulfgar does for his ultimate, but Bruenor also applies the Sapped and Slowed conditions to all monsters hit.
• Taunt: Taunts all nearby monsters in an AoE around Bruenor. You start with this ability, and you’ll likely get rid of it after unlocking Whirlwind. But, if you’re playing a full-tank build for him or using the Goblin Bane eight-piece Set bonus, it’s actually well worth keeping equipped. Well, it's worth it when it works, which is about half the time, but who knows, maybe that'll eventually get fixed in a patch.
• Battlehammer Brew: Bruenor drinks a mug of brew and throws it on the ground, somehow applying its effects to both himself and all nearby allies. Basically, it gives you and your allies the Regeneration and Cleansing buffs for a bit. It’s a useful support-type ability, but Warsong usually works equally as well and doesn’t take up a much-needed Ability slot.

1 General Builds Centered Around Specific Armor Sets

Finally, let’s talk about the Dwarven King’s different Armor Builds! Bruenor has eight different named armor sets you’ll find throughout your many runs, and each one has a different bonus it grants when you wear three, five, or eight pieces of the Set all at once. That said, only about half of them are really useful to fully “build” into, so here they are, in order from best to worst:

1. Coldstone Guardian Build: Whirlwind is one of the Bruenor’s strongest Active abilities, so having a set that doubles its duration is absurd, since that doubles the damage as well. Additionally, the three and five-piece bonuses add up to 25% Physical Damage Reduction, which is a pretty sizeable amount as well.
2. Battlehammer King Build: This next build is centered around The Hammer or The Anvil playstyle for Bruenor, as it’s built for giving you bonus damage after successful blocks. That said, it’s not exactly the best, given how Precision Strikes is much better on someone like Drizzt or Cattie-Brie rather than Bruenor.
3. Duergar Infiltrator Build: We’ve already mentioned how useful the Anvil of Clangeddin is, so a build centered around making that ability even stronger is obviously going to be strong, and the staggering amount of Armor Penetration gained with this Set is helpful as well.
4. Battleranger Build: The Battleranger Build is hands down the one to go for if you’re going full tank with this little Dwarf. Since you’ll be using the Warsong move a lot with this playstyle, you’ll be getting the Vampiric and Thorns buff quite a lot as well.
5. Goblin Bane Build: The Goblin Bane Set Build is likely the least used on here, but if you love being a support-type player, it’s the one for you. Basically, with all eight pieces equipped, you’ll take 50% less damage from taunted monsters, and your taunt lasts 50% longer.

NEXT: Dark Alliance: How To Restore Stamina