Welcome, guideoui.com visitors. Battle Brothers game guide focuses on Builds and Company Composition Guide. This guide is party composition with Warriors of the North and Beasts&Exploration DLC (v1.3.0.22). The guide will give you some tips, tricks, and advice on Builds and Company Compositions. While writing this instruction, we pick up many pieces of information from several sites for you. We hope that this guide will help you.
An advanced guide sharing some good builds and party composition with Warriors of the North and Beasts&Exploration DLC (v1.3.0.22).
Apr 28, 2015 r/BattleBrothers: BattleBrothers the game subreddit. Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 1 Preamble; 2 Seed structure 3 What influences seeds? 3.1 Seeds are not affected by; 3.2 Seeds are affected by; 4 Resources Battle Brothers uses procedural world generation to generate maps and starting brothers using a string of letters. These strings are randomly generated but may be entered manually when starting a new campaign after the player picks an origin. The seed affects the outcome. Battle brothers best map seed. Battle brothers is a turn based tactical rpg which has you leading a mercenary company in a gritty low power medieval fantasy world. Need a good seed for your new campaign in battle brothers then you have come to the right place. The world map is randomly generated at the beginning of each game. Battle Brothers is exceptionally good at making you feel a connection to characters who are, after all, little more than a drawing of a head and torso. No one has any voiced dialogue, the men are randomly generated for each new band, and while the game’s visual consistency might be admired, it does make it easy to mistake one angry Germanic.
Builds and Company Composition Guide (v1.3.0.22)
This is an advanced guide sharing some good builds and company composition experience.
The goal is to build a company which can fight against any opponents with less risk and pain (including Kraken, Ijirok, Black Monolith and other the most dangerous opponents).
1. Company Composition Fundamental
In this section, a common battle company composition and several situational company compositions will be discussed
1.1. Common Company Composition
A common composition of 12 brothers fighting company is like 6 frontline and 6 backline.
All frontline brothers can bear both melee and range damage. Some or most of them are good at damaging. They consist of various two-handed melee weapon users, one-handed melee weapon users with or without shield.
All backline brothers can bear some range damage. Some of them can bear temporary melee damage. Most of them are good at damaging. Some of them use melee weapon, some of them use range weapon, some of them use both. They consist of 2 or 3 tiles melee weapon users, sergeant, archer, crossbow man, thrower.
In addition, it will be much helpful to have some brothers who can overwhelm, disarm, stun, daze, injury, fear, stagger, knock back, throw net and other powerful tricks.
Also, it will be much safer and convenient to have some or most brothers with rotation or footwork, some or most brothers can use indomitable.
In later sections, various builds will be discussed to achieve an all-around company.
1.2. Situational Company Composition
- for common opponents:
Battle Brothers Wiki[battlebrothers.fandom.com] - Chosen
rotation, footwork, indomitable help a lot;
overwhelm, injury, net help - Witch Hut
- 3 or more archers will help
- Ijirok
- stagger, daze users will help a lot to bring down his speed thus allow brothers touch and hit him. Otherwise, he will keep jumping around and most of brothers will keep chasing without attack.
- Kraken
- 12 high melee brothers with good mdef
- Black Monolith
- 3-row formation with sergeant, ranger(optional) or other weak backline in middle is recommended. Thus, 10 frontline + 2 backline, or 6 frontline + 4 tough backline + 2 backline is recommended.
- heavy armor two-handed users help a lot;
- warscythe users with overwhelm and mushroom help;
- whip users help with Necrosavant.
(PS: there is no need to keep conqueror’s armor intact, it will be given as loot even if his armor is destroyed, it’s special.)
2. Frontline
Frontline brothers will fight face to face with opponents and also tank them.
Thus they need to bear both melee and range damage.
They can also use various weapons to attack and do various powerful tricks.
In this section, both offense and defense will be mentioned, while mainly focus on the defense.
In later sections, some detailed frontline builds are discussed.
2.1. Offense:
Please see Battle Brothers Wiki Melee Weapons[battlebrothers.fandom.com].
In general, two-handed weapons are the most powerful weapons, can do huge amount of damage with AOE. One-handed weapon with offhand free and duelist can provide higher single target damage. One-handed weapon with shield can provide only average damage.
More details about offense and weapons will be mentioned in later detail builds.
2.2. Defense
Below are currently found feasible solutions to bear both melee and range damage:
2.2.1. Shield
- Requirements:
shield, medium mdef(15+), high hp / fatigue
light armor(120/95) / medium armor (200/200)
Nimble / Battle Forged
Bone Platings / various
(better hp then go Nimble, better fatigue then go Battle Forged) - Behavior:
dodge or block well both melee and range attack, use light armor and hp pool / medium armor to absorb left damage. - Examples:
Shield user
2.2.2. Heavy Armor
- Requirements:
high mdef(30+), high fatigue
300/300 heavy armor
Battle Forged
Additional Fur Padding (Reduces damage ignoring armor by 33%) - Behavior:
dodge well melee attack, use heavy armor to absorb left damage;
take range attack like a meat before touch opponent, use heavy armor to absorb all range damage, and use “Additional Fur Padding” to deal the damage ignoring armor from top rank crossbow. - Examples:
Two-handed melee weapon user
One-handed melee weapon user
2.2.3. Dodge
- Requirements:
high initiative(≈150, bring 15+ mdef and rdef during combat), high hp (80+), medium mdef(15+)
120/95 light armor
Nimble, Dodge, Relentless
Bone Platings - Behavior:
dodge well both melee and range attack, use light armor and hp pool to absorb left damage. - Examples:
Fencing sword user
2.2.4. Adrenaline + Recover Cycle + Indomitable / Shieldwall / Spearwall / Riposte / etc
- Requirements:
fatigue, as low as possible initiative(can be achieved by heavy armor and accumulative fatigue)
Adrenaline, Recover, Indomitable / Shieldwall / Spearwall / Riposte / etc - Usage:
(here use Adrenaline + Recover + Indomitable to explain)
Indomitable + Other Actions every turn, if total available fatigue is not enough to do both,
then do Adrenaline + Recover or Recover + Adrenaline(for it to work, you need to go into Options, Gameplay, and Turn off “Auto-End Turns”).
An example:
E = Enemy
B = Brother
New Turn: E1-E2-B(0/91 fatigue, Great Sword AOE + Indomitable, 48/91 fatigue)-E3
New Turn: E1-E2-E3-B(33/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 81/91 fatigue)
New Turn: E1-E2-E3-B(66/91 fatigue, Adrenaline, 86/91 fatigue, Recover, 43/91 fatigue)
New Turn: B(28/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 76/91 fatigue)-E1-E2-E3
New Turn: E1-E2-E3-B(61/91 fatigue, Adrenaline, 81/91 fatigue, Recover, 40/91 fatigue)
New Turn: B(25/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 73/91 fatigue)-E1-E2-E3
New Turn: E1-E2-E3-B(58/91 fatigue, Adrenaline, 78/91 fatigue, Recover, 39/91 fatigue)
New Turn: B(24/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 72/91 fatigue)-E1(get hit, additional fatigue)-E2(get hit)-E3(get hit)
New Turn: E1(get hit)-E2(get hit)-E3(get hit)-B(76/91 fatigue,Recover, 38/91 fatigue, Adrenaline 58/91 fatigue)
New Turn: B(43/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 91/91 fatigue)-E1-E2-E3
New Turn: E1-E2-E3-B(76/91 fatigue, Recover, 38/91 fatigue, Adrenaline, 58/91 fatigue)
New Turn: B(43/91 fatigue, AOE + Indomitable, 91/91 fatigue)-E1-E2-E3
…
Loop
As above example, with 91 max fatigue, even in the worst case(start turn with 91/91 fatigue, get 15 back, thus 76/91 fatigue), it’s still possible to do an 23 fatigue AOE every two turns and keep constant indomitable.
The formula to calculate max fatigue needed to keep this loop is:
Max fatigue needed = 2*(Indomitable fatigue + Other Action fatigue) -5
A complete formula is:
Max fatigue needed = 2 * ( Adrenaline fatigue cost + Action A fatigue cost + Action B fatigue cost ) – 3 * Fatigue Recovery per turn
Below is some example with version 1.3:
| Skill Combination | Max Fatigue needed without Iron Lung | Max Fatigue needed with Iron Lung |
| Indomitable | 45 | 33 |
| Indomitable + Great Sword AOE | 91 | 79 |
| Indomitable + Two-handed single hit | 69 | 57 |
| Indomitable + Shieldwall | 85 | 73 |
| Riposte | 33 | 21 |
| Riposte + Shieldwall | 73 | 61 |
| Spearwall | 41 | 29 |
| Spearwall + Shieldwall | 81 | 69 |
| Spearwall + Indomitable | 91 | 79 |
- Limit:
for some opponents like Chosen which can also use Adrenaline thus act before our brothers and also some opponents like fatigue Unhold or staggered opponents which can act after our brothers, this method will be invalid. While, in general, this method can be still useful to against most opponents. - Exploit:
In addition, it’s possible to use Quick hands exploit to further low the max fatigue needed.
But it means every turn switching weapon once, can be a bit annoying and no fun.
See details in
Quick hands exploit still exists
Adrenaline Junkie Company[battlebrothers.fandom.com]. - Behavior:
with constant indomitable / shieldwall, both melee and range damage can be mitigated well;
in addition, this can be combined with above methods. - Examples:
Dedicated Tank, Riposte Sword Master, Spear Man.
2.2.5. Other Suboptimal Solutions
- high mdef, high rdef
it’s not easy to achieve due to attribute limit. - high mdef, high hp, Nimble
This is very vulnerable to range attack.
Light armor will be striped very quickly by range attack and bare naked brother will be further weaken by poison, bleeding, range attack.
If this method is used, holding a shield before touch opponents is recommended.
3. Shield User
- These are the most undemanding front builds.
Thus they are the core of early company.
Some of these builds can shine even in mid-late game.
3.1. Recruit:
- matk 70+(for early game) 85+(for mid-late game)
mdef 15+
fat 120+(for nimble), 130+(for battle forged)
hp 80+(for nimble), 70(for battle forged)
resolve 45
3.2. Level up:
- mdef
fat
matk
hp
resolve
3.3. Backgrounds:
- cheap or failed two-handed recruits
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
3.4. Perk:
- Basic
Recover (fatigue)
Weapon Mastery (fatigue and additional benefits)
Nimble / Battle Forged - Recommended
Colossus (≈15 hp, especially early game)
Rotation (survive,offense,assist)
Shield Expert (mdef, rdef, less shield damage intake,15% knock back chance)
Under Dog (mdef)
Brawny (≈15 fatigue, in case Battle Forged)
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue)
Berserk (ap, synergize well with recover)
Killing Frenzy(damage)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Fortified Mind(≈10 res) - Optional
Student
Fast Adaption ( early crap recruit or against shieldwall Ancient Dead)
Indomitable (survive, avoid stun)
Adrenaline (survive, offense, see above Adrenaline + Recover cycle part)
Backstabber (matk)
Taunt
Fearsome(fear, with hammer)
Dodge (only with -4 fatigue shield and Nimble)
Relentless (only with -4 fatigue shield and Nimble)
Overwhelm(only with -4 fatigue shield and Nimble)
Lone Wolf(can be used for dedicated distracting tank build) - Attractive but not recommended
3.5. Builds Examples:
- Early Crap:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-3&1-1&3-6&3-3
Fast Adaption for a little more hit chance, also helps against shieldwall. - Early Basic Nimble:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-3&1-8&3-6&3-3&5-4&6-3 - Early Basic Battle Forged:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-3&1-8&3-6&3-3&5-4&6-4&3-4 - Hammer:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&3-6&3-3&5-4&6-4&3-4&4-3&7-1&1-9&1-6&1-3
Hammer ensure 10 hp damage which synergize well with fearsome(require at least 1 hp damage) and poison (require at least 6 hp damage). Also as hammer doesn’t benefit a lot from duelist (due to low base damage), to use this 10 hp feature, footman with shield is a good choice. - Flail:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&1-6&1-9&3-6&6-4&5-4&6-1&4-2&3-3&7-3&3-4
Flail can ignore shield defense bonus and also can do 100% chance headshot.
The weak point is currently lack of powerful one-handed flail.
But it’s still very powerful for begin-mid game. - Sword – Constant Riposte – Adrenaline + Recover Cycle
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-3&1-8&3-6&3-3&5-4&6-4&3-4&4-6&1-7&7-4
This one can keep constant Indomitable + Shieldwall (with 200/210 armor, -8 fatigue sword,-14 fatigue shield, 134 max fatigue is needed) or Riposte + Shieldwall (with above, 124 max fatigue). - For Adrenaline + Recover Cycle details, see above Section.
Thus, it can switch between super tank and tank with damage(one good usage of legendary sword Reproach of the Old Gods - Spear – Constant Spearwall – Adrenaline + Recover Cycle
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-3&1-8&3-6&3-3&5-4&6-4&3-4&1-7&4-9&7-4
This one is like above sword riposte one.
It can keep constant spearwall (with 200/210 armor, -8 fatigue spear, -16 fatigue shield, 94 max fatigue is needed) or Indomitable + Shieldwall(138 max fatigue). - Dagger – Injury, Loot
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&3-6&5-4&6-4&3-4&1-3&1-2&2-1&3-1&4-7
Puncture can’t do critical hit;
Puncture can’t benefit from double grip, thus bringing a goblin shield or heavier shield is good idea.
In addition, due to puncture has -15% hit chance and 45 fatigue/per 3 hits (per turn), higher matk and fatigue are always better.
2.6. Equipment:
- for Battle Forged:
200+ duration head;
210+ duration body;
Additional Fur Padding(against top rank crossbow and dagger puncture) / Bone Platings / Horn Plate / Light Padding Replacement / Lindwurm Scale Cloak;
Weapon of choice. - for Nimble:
120 duration head;
95 duration body;
Bone Platings;
Weapon of choice.
Bandage.
3.6. Function:
- Tank and kill.
Note:
4. Two-handed Battle Forged Frontline
- Wearing the most heavy armor and wielding the most powerful two-handed weapon, they are the king of the battle fields.
4.1. Recruit:
- matk 85+
mdef 30+
fat 130+
hp 70
resolve 45-55
4.2. Level up:
- matk
mdef
fat
hp
resolve
4.3. Backgrounds:
- Whildman, farmhand, Lumberjack, Messenger, hedge knight, barbarian, brawler, squire,caravan hands, gravedigger, beast slayer, militia, etc.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
4.4. Perk:
- Basic
Student (level up quickly, as this build only works with high level)
Recover (fatigue)
Weapon Mastery (fatigue and additional benefits, optional for Mace if second skill is not used so often)
Under Dog (mdef)
Battle Forged (survive)
Berserk (ap, synergize well with recover) - Recommended
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue)
Rotation (survive,offense,assist)
Killing Frenzy(damage)
Reach Advantage (mdef, optional for Mace)
Brawny (≈15 fatigue)
Colossus (≈15 hp)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Fortified Mind(≈10 res) - Optional
Indomitable (survive, avoid stun)
Adrenaline (survive, offense, see above Adrenaline + Recover cycle part)
Backstabber (matk)
Crippling Strikes (injury)
Executioner(damage) - Attractive but not recommended
4.5. Builds Examples:
- Sword:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&4-6&5-4&5-1&6-1&6-4&7-3&3-4
Hammer :
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&5-4&5-1&6-1&7-3&6-4&4-3&3-4
Mace – Daze, Stun:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&5-4&6-1&7-3&6-4&4-1&1-7&7-4
Axe:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&5-4&6-1&7-3&6-4&5-1&4-4&3-4
Cleaver – Injury:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&5-4&6-1&6-4&5-1&4-5&1-2&2-1
Cleaver / Whip – Disarm:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&5-4&6-1&6-4&5-1&4-5&2-7&3-4 - Equipment:
- 300 duration head;
300 duration body;
Additional Fur Padding(against top rank crossbow and dagger puncture) / Bone Platings / Horn Plate / Light Padding Replacement / Lindwurm Scale Cloak;
Greatsword;
Two-handed Hammer;
Two-Handed Flanged Mace;
Bardiche / Greataxe;
Rusty Warblade (Barbarians) / named cleaver from Icy cave, Whip;
4.6. Function:
- Tank and kill.
4.7. Usage:
Note:
- These builds are also extremely demanding to recruit, gear and perk, thus they are only possible to use in mid-late game.
The recruit is very precious, thus keeping them alive is the principle.
A usual level up route is like:
level 1-6: backline pikeman with medium armor;
after battle forged: frontline with footman with shield and medium armor;
after all defensive perks or even level 11: two-handed.
5. One-handed Battle Forged Frontline
- As the recruit requirement is almost the same as Two-handed Battle Forged Frontline, these two builds are a little conflict on recruit.
Compare to two-handed, pros and cons are:
pros:
better single target damage ignoring armor (with duelist perk, synergize well with mace/axe/cleaver);
more hits;
cons:
less defensive(lack of Reach Advantage, thus require better mdef recruit);
lack of AOE damage;
Some attractive builds are discussed below.
- Recruit:
- matk 85+
mdef 40+
fat 130+
hp 70
resolve 45-55 - Level up:
- matk
mdef
fat
hp
resolve - Backgrounds:
- Whildman, farmhand, Lumberjack, Messenger, hedge knight, barbarian, brawler, squire,caravan hands, gravedigger, beast slayer, militia, etc.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com] - Perk:
- Basic
Recover (fatigue)
Weapon Mastery (fatigue and additional benefits)
Under Dog (mdef)
Battle Forged (survive)
Berserk (ap, synergize well with recover)
Duelist (damage ignoring armor, synergize well with mace/axe/cleaver) - Recommended
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue)
Rotation (survive,offense,assist)
Killing Frenzy(damage)
Brawny (≈15 fatigue)
Colossus (≈15 hp)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Fortified Mind(≈10 res) - Optional
Student
Indomitable (survive, avoid stun)
Adrenaline (survive, offense, see above Adrenaline + Recover cycle part)
Backstabber (matk)
Crippling Strikes (injury)
Executioner(damage)
Fearsome(fear, with hammer) - Attractive but not recommended
- Builds Examples:
- Cleaver:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&1-6&1-9&3-4&3-6&6-4&5-4&6-1&7-2&4-5&7-3
Cleaver – Injury
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&1-6&1-9&3-6&6-4&5-4&6-1&7-2&4-5&1-2&2-1
Heavy hit with orc cleaver (especially with named one), do the same armor damage as two-handed cleaver, more damage ignoring armor and can bleed on the first hit even on 300 armor.
Very competitive.Cleaver + Whip – Disarm:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&1-6&1-9&3-4&3-6&6-4&5-4&6-1&7-2&4-5&2-7
4 AP cleaver / whip hit, switch if needed, 5 AP disarm, synergize well;
3 tiles whip also helps with geist and necroservants.Axe – Injury:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-8&1-6&1-9&3-6&6-4&5-4&6-1&7-2&4-4&6-2&1-2
axe (50% additional damage to HP on a hit to the head);
Duelist;
Head Hunter;
brute(15% additional head damage, -5 melee);
juggler(+5% chance to hit the head) / killer on the run (+10% chance to hit the head).
With above, a head chopper build can be attractive.Mace – Injury, Stun:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&5-4&3-6&7-2&1-2&2-1&6-1&4-1&3-4&6-4
winged mace with duelist provides the highest damage ignoring armor among all one-handed weapons. it can injury opponent with max hp <262, but as remaining armor exists,
injuring opponent with 200 remaing armor and 150 max hp is more feasible (yes, it’s like Chosen). - Equipment:
- 300 duration head;
300 duration body;
Additional Fur Padding(against top rank crossbow and dagger puncture) / Bone Platings / Horn Plate / Light Padding Replacement / Lindwurm Scale Cloak;
Weapon of choice. - Function:
- Tank and kill.
6. One-handed Nimble Dodge Frontline
- Comparing to Battle Forge ones, these builds are generally less defensive due to light armor and extremely vulnerable with fix hp damage like bleed / Miasma, but tougher facing armor ignoring damage like crossbow bolt, dagger puncture(thus use them to chase ranger and anyone with dagger).
Recruit:
- matk 85+
ini 150+
mdef 25+
hp 70+
fat 100
resolve 40
Level up:
- matk
mdef
ini/hp
fat
Backgrounds:
- thief, etc.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student
Recover (fatigue)
Dodge (benefit from high initiative, 15-20 additional mdef and rdef)
Relentless (keep high current initiative, synergize with dodge,fencing sword lunge,overwhelm)
Weapon Mastery (fatigue and additional benefits)
Nimble (survive)
Berserk (ap, synergize well with recover)
duelist (more damage ignore armor, inflict estimated 15-25 more hp damage duration the first lunge hit, contribute well to kill low armor opponent in one lunge or lunge + slash) - Recommended
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue)
Footwork (escape from heavy armor opponent or trouble)
Killing frenzy (more damage, synergize with berserk)
Colossus (≈15 hp)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Fortified Mind(≈10 res) - Optional
Lonewolf (≈13 matk, 8 mdef,3 rdef, but will disappear when staying with other brothers) - Attractive but not recommendedUnderdog(this build is not designed to be surrounded,and conversely should escape from being surrounded or kill them quickly)
Overwhelm(for a single opponent with 75 matk it brings -15 matk debuff. But after two hits weak opponent maybe already died while his stronger bodyguards around aren’t been hitted, thus no debuff left; on the other hand, to debuff strong opponent like orc warlord, it’s safer to use archer or backline Warscythe.)
Builds Examples:
- Fencing Sword – Flank low armor opponent:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&2-3&3-5&6-3&6-1&7-2&1-6&4-6&5-5&7-3
Fencing sword is the most suitable weapon due to lunge which can get additional damage with high initiative. With goblin trinket, this build can be a goblin slayer killing and jumping. - Equipment:
- 120 duration 5 fat head;
95 duration 10 fat body;
Bone Platings;
fencing sword;
goblin trinket in case;
named items will help a lot;
dagger/bandage/shield;
Function:
- Kill.
Usage:
- flank enemy aiming for low armor opponent,
kill them in one or two hit and jump to next;
when getting stuck by heavy armor opponent or in trouble or just mission completed,
use lunge or footwork to escape;
when fighting high armor opponents, aiming targets with armor striped by other bros.
Note:
7. Backline
- Backline brothers will usually fight 2 tiles or further away from opponents. Thus they need to bear mostly only range damage, but it will be helpful to have some of them with the capacity to bear temporary melee damage.They can also use various melee or range weapons to attack and do various powerful tricks.
In this section, both offense and defense will be mentioned.
In later sections, some detailed backline builds are discussed. - Offense:
Please see Battle Brothers Wiki Weapons[battlebrothers.fandom.com].
There are fewer choices for backline, they are:
Melee:
- Two-tile Spear – Spetum
no strong point is discovered currently, not recommended; spearwall has normal 1 tile. - Two-tile Axe – Longaxe
highest hp damage, shield damage - Two-tile Hammer – PoleHammer
highest armor damage - Two-tile Polearm – Billhook
high hp and armor damage - Two-tile Polearm – Battle standard
for seregant - Two-tile Polearm – Jagged pike
allow brother without mastery can attack only with 5 AP; additional bleeding - Two-tile Polearm – Warscythe
AOE
Range:
- Bow
- Crossbow
- Throwing weapons
Map Seeds Minecraft
Defense
- Please see above Frontline section first.Basically for backline defense, it’s a easier version of frontline.
As most of backline only need to bear some range damage, medium or even low rdef + Nimble is already good enough. The bottom line is to take several hits and still can retreat and survive without injury.In addition, in order to have some of them with capacity to bear temporary melee damage, medium mdef + Indomitable is sufficient. This can be achieved by both 20+ mdef or 10+ mdef + Dodge.
- – Sergeant
- Specialized build for group resolve buff and pull panic brothers back to fight.
Recruit:
- res 90+
matk 85+ (not must-have, but do help with break net/free ally/hit alp shadow)
fat 120 (more is always better)
hp 80
mdef 10
rdef 10
Level up:
- res
matk
fat
hp
mdef/rdef
Backgrounds:
- Any.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student
Recover (fatigue)
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue, mobility)
Fortified Mind (resolve)
Rally the troops
Nimble / Battle Forged - Recommended
Colossus (≈15 hp)
Brawny (in case Battle Forged)
Rotation
Footwork (escape from trouble; combine with rotation to help ally escape)
Indomitable (survive, possibly use Adrenaline + Recover cycle)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Anticipation ( in case high base rdef) - Optional
Adrenaline(for Adrenaline + Recover cycle to keep constant indomitable; assist) - Attractive but not recommended
Builds Examples:
- Nimble Sergeant:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&2-4&3-7&3-6&6-3&7-4&1-3&5-5&1-7
Battle Forged Sergeant:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&2-4&3-7&3-6&7-4&1-3&5-5&6-4&3-4The Nimble one can have a little more fatigue, less risk of injury from crossbow, but more vulnerable in melee especially with bleeding and miasma.
Both work fine.
Equipment:
- 120 duration 5 fat head / 200+ duration head;
95 duration 10 fat body / 210+ duration body;
Bone Platings / Additional Fur Padding(against top rank crossbow and dagger puncture) / Unhold Fur Cloak / Light Padding Replacement;
Battle Stand;
sergeant trinket;
Function:
- alive, rally, assist;
Usage:
Note:
8. Two-handed Nimble Backline
- These are the main backline builds. Most of these builds only require high matk to ensure damage high damage output. Thus these builds can use “failed Two-handed Battle Forged Frontline recruits”.Both Nimble and Battle Forged can be used. Nimble builds are better to against armor penetration damage but weaker in melee. Battle Forged onces are on contrast side. While both can work.
Recruit:
- matk 85+
hp 80
mdef 15
fat 110(for nimble) / 125(for battle forged with 200/210 armor)
resolve 40or (for high initiative Overwhelm + Relentless + Dodge + Nimble build)
matk 85+
ini 150+
hp 80
fat 110
resolve 40
Level up:
- matk
hp/mdef/fat
resolveor (for high initiative Overwhelm + Relentless + Dodge build)
matk
ini
hp/mdef
fat
resolve
Backgrounds:
- various.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student
Recover (fatigue)
Weapon Mastery (fatigue and additional benefits)
Nimble / Battle Forged (survive)
Berserk (ap, synergize well with recover) - Recommended
Brawny (≈10-15 fatigue, in case of Battle Forged)
Pathfinder (ap, fatigue)
Dodge (benefit from high initiative, 15-20 additional mdef and rdef)
Relentless (keep high current initiative, synergize with dodge,overwhelm)
Overwhelm (Warscythe AOE can spread overwhelm debuff very well, like 0-6 stacks)
Rotation
Indomitable
Backstabber(matk)
Killing frenzy (more damage, synergize with berserk) - Optional
Colossus (≈15 hp)
Gifted (3 matk, 3 medef, 4 hp/fat/res)
Underdog
Anticipation(rdef) - Attractive but not recommended
Builds Examples:
Polearm:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&6-3&7-3&6-1&7-4&1-3&4-8&3-1
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&7-3&6-1&7-4&4-8&3-1&3-4&6-4
Standard Nimble and battle Forged builds.
Polearm + whip:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&2-7&4-8&4-5&6-3&6-1&7-3&7-4&3-6&1-6
can do 4 AP whip hit + 5AP polearm hit / disarm, whip 3-tile range helps a lot with geist, disarm works well with orc warlord with man splitter, necroservant and others except Black Monolith Conqueror, sigh…
Warscythe – Temporary Frontline
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-8&3-6&6-3&7-3&6-1&5-1&7-4&1-3
it’s exactly a weak version of Two-handed Battle Forge Frontline for some failed recruits.
Warscythe – Overwhelm
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-8&3-6&6-3&6-1&2-3&3-5&5-2&7-4
This is the finest nimble backline so far. It can provide average AOE damage(can be better with mushroom), spread Overwhelm to opponents next frontline, have 25+ mdef and 15+rdef.
The only disadvantage is hp maybe be a little low (70+ is still easy to achieve) due to tight perk and attribute.
Warscythe + Whip – Overwhelm
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&2-7&4-8&4-5&6-3&6-1&5-2&3-5&7-3&2-3
This is an super versatile build, can do above all tricks, but really tight in perks.
Be cautious to use.
Suboptimal longaxe, polehammer builds:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&6-3&7-3&6-1&7-4&1-3&1-2&3-1
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&3-6&6-3&7-3&6-1&7-4&1-3&4-3&3-1
Longaxe and polehammer are not polearm thus can’t benefit from -1 AP cost from polearm mastery. In addition to this, longaxe only provides a little more hp damage but does much less armor damage comparing to billhook. And polehammer provides more armor damage with 2nd skill much less hp damage. Thus, In general, these two are beaten by billhook and warscythe.
for some situational fight like Kraken, Two-handed Hammer Battle Forged Frontline brother can act as a temporary PoleHammer user.
Equipment:
120 duration 5 fat head / 200+ head;
95 duration 10 fat body / 210+ body;
Bone Platings;
Billhook, Warscythe;
dagger, bandage.
Function:
Kill, rescue others, assist.
Usage:
with Pathfinder + Polearm Mastery, these brothers can step 2 tiles then hit;
with Rotation + Indomitable, they can rescue others;
Note:
9. Archer
The most important and powerful ranger among all three types with longest fire range, 2-3 hits per turn, high damage, medium armor damage, medium damage ignoring armor.
Recruit:
ratk 85+
ini 150+ (not essential if go without Overwhelm, but archer with Overwhelm will help a lot)
hp 80
rdef 15
fat 100
Level up:
ratk
ini
hp/rdef
fat
Backgrounds:
Hunter>>>Others
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student (archers shine on high level)
Nimble (survive)
Bow mastery (fatigue, range +1)
Recover (fatigue)
Berserk (ap, synergize with recover)
Bullseye - Recommended
Pathfinder(ap, fatigue, go to high terrain quickly)
Footwork (escape trouble)
relentless(for overwhelm)
Overwhelm (can be spread to multiple opponents, like 0-6)
Killing frenzy (damage)
Gifted ( 4 more ratk value a lot, and also other attributes) - Optional
Dodge(around 15 rdef/mdef)
Colossus (hp)
Anticipation(rdef)
Crippling Strikes
Executioner - Attractive but not recommended
Builds Examples:
Archer – Overwhelm:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-11&5-5&6-3&6-1&2-2&3-5&5-2&7-3
this is a balanced one.
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-11&5-5&6-3&6-1&2-2&3-5&5-2&2-3
this is for low rdef.
Archer – Injury:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-11&5-5&6-3&6-1&2-2&7-3&1-2&2-1
Archer – Very Defensive:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-6&4-11&5-5&6-3&6-1&2-2&7-3&1-3&3-2
Equipment:
120 duration 5 fat head;
95 duration 10 fat bodyy;
Bone Platings;
Wooden Stick;
bandage for others;
Function:
spread debuff to dangerous and high priority target like enemy ranger, warlord;
do damage and kill priority targets;
Usage:
Note:
10. Crossbow man
Due to closer fire range and base hit chance bonus, crossbow is easier to hit with low ratk. This make it a early-game transit weapon for archer.
Battle Brothers Map Seeds Post Dlc
Despite this, Crossbow mastery brings additional damage ignoring armor making it energize well with injury.
However, comparing to bow, crossbow is low in total damage, armor stripping and range.
Recruit:
ratk 85+
hp 80
rdef 15
fat 100
Level up:
ratk
hp/rdef
fat
Backgrounds:
Hunter>>>Others
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student (archers shine on high level)
Nimble (survive)
Crossbow mastery (fatigue, +20% damage ignore armor to injury much more easily)
Recover (fatigue)
Berserk (ap, synergize with recover)
Bullseye - Recommended
Crippling strikes (injury higher max hp and more easily)
Executioner (+20%damage after injury)
Pathfinder(ap, fatigue, go to high terrain quickly)
Footwork (escape trouble)
Killing frenzy (damage)
Gifted ( 4 more ratk value a lot, and also other attributes) - Optional
Colossus (hp)
Anticipation(rdef) - Attractive but not recommended
Builds Examples:
Crossbow – Injury:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&2-2&4-10&1-2&2-1&6-3&5-5&7-3&6-1&1-6
due to additional damage ignoring armor from crossbow mastery, crossbow synergize well with injury.
Equipment:
120 duration 5 fat head;
95 duration 10 fat body;
Bone Platings;
Heavy Crossbow +15% hit chance -12 fat,
Spiked Impaler knock back target, +10% hit chance -10 fat;
Wooden Stick;
bandage for others;
Function:
injury and kill;
Usage:
Note:
11. Thrower
Low ratk requirements make it’s early game friendly.
With barbarian throwing weapon, this build can make devastating damage within 2-3 tiles range.
Recruit:
ratk 85 (can hit well with low ratk, high ratk will benefit more crossbow)
hp 80
rdef 15
fat 100
Level up:
ratk
hp/rdef
fat
Backgrounds:
Any.
Battle Brothers Wiki Character Backgrounds[battlebrothers.fandom.com]
Perk:
- Basic
Student
Nimble (survive)
Throwing mastery (fatigue, damage)
Recover (fatigue)
Berserk (ap, synergize with recover)
duelist (+25% damage ignore armor to injury much more easily)
quick hands (save 4 ap for every 16 ap) - Recommended
Crippling strikes (injury higher max hp and more easily)
Executioner (+20%damage after injury)
Footwork (escape trouble)
Pathfinder(ap, fatigue, go to high terrain quickly)
bags and belts(with it max 5*4 throwing + 14 crossbow bolt, other wise 5*2+14 or 5*3, or pack some other useful things like net) - Optional
Killing frenzy (damage)
Gifted (more attributes)
Colossus (hp)
Anticipation(rdef)
Bullseye(prefer to attack in 2-tiles thus it’s not really needed) - Attractive but not recommended
Battle Brothers Map Seeds Blazing Deserts
Builds Examples:
Thrower – Injury:
http://tumult.cc/bb-calc.html?1-9&1-8&1-2&2-1&6-3&5-5&6-1&7-2&4-12&1-6&2-7
due to additional damage ignoring armor from duelist, throwing weapon synergize well with injury.
This 10 throwing weapons + 14 crossbow bolt build is usually enough for average battle.
First 1-2 turns as opponents are still far, usually use crossbow.
Then throw 10 axes, around turn 7, back to crossbow, at that time usually the battle is already under control.
Equipment:
120 duration 5 fat head;
95 duration 10 fat body;
Bone Platings;
Bundle of Heavy Javelins,
Bundle of Heavy Throwing Axes;
Heavy Crossbow +15% hit chance -12 fat,
Spiked Impaler knock back target, +10% hit chance -10 fat;
Wooden Stick;
bandage for others;
Function:
injury and kill;
Usage:
Note:
Company Composition Evolution
In this section, above all details builds will be considered and a company composition evolving example will be given.
Example:
A common company composition involving route will be like:
- 3 shield user frontline + 2 polearm backline
- 5 shield user frontline + 2 polearm backline +sergeant + 1 archer
- 6 shield user frontline + 3 polearm backline +sergeant + 2 archer
- 5 shield user frontline + 1 two-handed battle forged frontline+
3 polearm backline +sergeant + 2 archer - 4 shield user frontline + 2 two-handed battle forged frontline+
3 polearm backline +sergeant + 2 archer - 2 shield user frontline + 4 two-handed battle forged frontline+
3 polearm backline +sergeant + 2 archer
Along the way, try to make the composition more diverse, such as have different weapons, different builds, so that the company is more versatile and has smaller possibility to get stuck by some opponents.
One powerful late-game company composition can be:
Frontline:
1 Two-handed Hammer BF (dagger, knock back, huge armor damage, AOE)
1 Two-handed Mace BF(daze, stun)
1 Two-handed Axe BF(shield damage,high single target damage, 2-tile AOE)
1 Two-handed Sword BF (high hp damage, AOE)
1 One-handed Cleaver BF with Whip (huge single target dmage,3-tile hit,disarm)
1 Shield user (tank, distract, riposte)
Backline:
1 Sergeant (Rally)
2 Archer (Overwhelm)
2 Polearm Nimble Backline(Overwhelm)
1 Polearm Nimble Backline(Whip)
Backup rosters:
other various interesting builds.
This is the ending of Battle Brothers Builds and Company Composition Guide (v1.3.0.22) guide. Hope it will help you. If there is wrong or you have suggestions, please let’s know and comment us. Have fun.