Brawler

Class Difficulty: Advanced

Role: Tank/Damage

Available to races: Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, Man, River Hobbit, Stout-axe

Gameplay: Brawlers are aggressive melee fighters who wield a unique resource called Mettle to maximize their damage and fuel their most powerful skills. Although their offensive capabilities truly shine in one-on-one combat, they are not without recourse when faced with multiple enemies. In fellowships, a Brawler's abrasive nature helps them hold the ire of their foes and keep their allies safe.

Lore: Brawlers are formidable fighters whose bold manoeuvres can topple their foes and safeguard their allies.

This class is inspired by Helm Hammerhand, who to the astonishment of many, would take to the battlefield barehanded.

A male Human Brawler

Class Navigation Classes Skills Traits Traceries Effects Deeds Guides

Gameplay

Brawlers use Set-up skills to generate Mettle, and use Finisher skills to consume Mettle to deal damage or generate aggro, depending on the specialization. Using Finisher skills tiers up different Innate Strength buffs on the Brawler, which can be shared with with the fellowship and max tier. They provide invaluable support to the fellowship through buffs such as  Strike as One! and  One for All.

• Blue-line (Tank): Brawlers specialized in the Fulcrum trait tree use their finisher skills to generate and keep aggro as tanks, making up for their lack of Force Attack skills. They are famously difficult to kill, with passive damage reduction through  Mettle Shield and strong cooldowns like  Weather Blows. Due to the nature of  Mettle Shield, they excel in tanking bosses instead of large numbers of enemies.
• Red-line (Damage): Brawlers specialized in the Maelstrom trait tree use their finisher skills to deal single target and AoE damage. While outputting less damage than other classes, they make up for this with their powerful raid-wide buffs. They have a lot of cooldowns, and can choose when to spike their damage. They frame their rotation around using  Fist of the Valar to consume all 9 Mettle for maximum damage.

This class is more niche, with it being one of the least played classes in LotRO. The set-up and finisher skill combination is controversial, with some loving the gameplay and others not enjoying it as much. Play around with this class a bit before deciding if you like it or not.

Mettle

Mettle display showing 8 Mettle

Mettle is a skill resource used by Brawlers. Certain skills build Mettle (up to a maximum of nine) while others spend it. When out of combat, Brawlers will gradually decrease Mettle down to three.

The Brawler gains increased damage from each point of Mettle they have, tracked through the  Battle Flow effect.

For more information, see Mettle

Finisher Skills

Mettle-consuming skills are separated into three categories: Heavy, Balanced, and Quick Finishers. Depending on the Brawler's specialization, using one of these finishers tiers up an Innate Strength buff for each type of finisher. In addition, certain traits and skills specifically interact with a specific type of finisher skills. When Innate Strength buffs have been tiered up to maximum stacks, a Yellow-line Share Skill can be used to temporarily grant the fellowship a unique bonus, based on the Innate Strength.

Set-Up Skills

All Brawlers have access to the three set-up skills:

•  Low Strike
•  Dextrous Hook
•  Sinister Cross

These skills are the primary means of generating Mettle. In addition, when a Finisher skill is used, it gains a unique bonus based on the most recently used Set-up skill. This bonus can vary based on specialization and additional traits.