Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppWelcome to our trait guide, where we'll be covering the Bruiser trait in the new TFT Set 16: Lore & Legends. In this guide, we'll explain how Bruiser works, cover its different champions, and provide a quick summary of the other potential traits you could branch into.
Explore all of the new Set 16 traits here!
Champions: Illaoi 1g / Shen 1g / Sion 2g / Dr. Mundo 3g / Kobuko & Yuumi 3g / Rift Herald 4g / Wukong 4g / Tahm Kench 5g / Volibear 5g
Your team gains 150 maximum Health. Bruisers gain more.
Here's a rundown of the traits you can branch into from Bruiser:
Illaoi is a simple 1-cost tank in Bilgewater. Her Tentacle Smash ability restores Health and deals physical damage in a line. Not a lot to say, but she'll be a useful early pickup to enable one or both traits.
Shen follows suit as Ionia's 1-cost frontliner. Although instead of healing, he applies a Shield to himself and a nearby damaged ally. Again, a simple but effective option early on.
Sion is a 2-cost frontliner with a permanent scaling passive. Every time he gets a takedown he gains max Health, which works very well with Bruiser. As for his active ability, Soul Furnace creates a Shield, then deals magic damage to adjacent enemies as it pops.
This Shield scales based on Health and AP, meaning he'll progressively grow stronger throughout the game. Overall, very solid for the cost.
Dr. Mundo's Maximum Dosage ability grants him healing and bonus Attack Damage for five seconds. If aligned with the Shimmer-Fused effect from Zaun, the added Attack Speed can make him a real threat.
Stacking Health improves his output (both healing and damage), so he's a great choice if you're looking for a more offensive tank.
Kobuko & Yuumi pair up to provide three excellent traits on one 3-cost unit. In combat, Yuumi switches between healing your weakest ally and granting Attack Speed your highest damage dealer. Their "You & Me!" active causes them to dance, restoring health over time.
Unlocking them comes naturally, as you simply need to collect six star levels of Yordle, Bruiser, or Invoker. A solid reward for the investment.
Rift Herald's Warp Armor ability causes her to gain max Health and grow physically larger. Then she'll slam her target, dealing magic damage to enemies within range. Afterwards, she gains a percentage amount of Durability depending on the number of enemies targeting her.
If you're playing Void (or a heavy Bruiser) comp, Rift Herald should serve as a pretty tough line of defense for the enemy to break through.
Wukong has a passive cheat death-like effect that summons a stone copy with the same items, but a small fraction of Health. His Diverting Trickster ability grants him a humongous Armor and MR boost before spinning into opposing enemies.
Having great resilience and a second wind combined makes Wukong well worth investing into.
Tahm Kench is the ultimate Bilgewater payoff, costing a whopping 500 Silver Serpents in order to unlock him. However, he is well worth the price.
His unique Glutton trait allows him to literally eat your champions, granting him a permanent increase in Health, Attack Speed, or Ability Power (stats based on role and star level).
Then once you send him into battle, he'll Devour his foes, dealing magic damage and locking them down for 2.5 seconds (also gains Durability).
If he happens to kill them with this ability, he'll spit out one of their random held component items or some gold, generating you extra value. However, if they live, they'll be launched at the furthest target, Stunning anyone who's hit in the crossfire.
Tahm Kench is undoubtedly insane, and a key unit to watch for whenever vertical Bilgewater is being played!
Volibear is a 5-cost tank that begins combat by biting and marking his enemies. After five casts, he'll eventually leap to a nearby location and activate Stormbringer for an empowering boost.
While active he gains increased Health and Attack Speed, plus summons a lightning bolt every two seconds. Any takedowns also cause a bolt to strike down on the fallen enemies.
Unlocking Volibear requires you to have a unit with 3800 Health, meaning you've likely invested into a tank already. If Bruisers become prevalent then he's a nice bonus addition, but otherwise he seems a bit narrow in use.
Thanks for reading! If you want to try and come up with your own team comps for Set 16, check out our Team Builder. For a full overview on the new set, check out our TFT Set 16 Reveal Page.
