Braum, the Heart of the Freljord, revealed[]
By sixtwo[1]
The frozen peaks of the Freljord have for centuries punished the weak. But as these feared glacial lands host the graves of the frail, for the mighty, the land is a cradle, a place that elevates mere strongmen into true champions. story started here, and as his strength and fortitude grew, so too did his legend. Today, his feats inspire all from the poorest of peasants to the fiercest of raiders. And as he prepares to bear his shield into battle once again, he goes knowing he carries the hopes and adoration of the Freljord's people with him.
- Concussive Blows
- Winter's Bite
- Stand Behind Me
- Unbreakable
- Gameplay
Braum is a strong and resilient melee support capable of making game-changing plays while saving his team from a barrage of enemy attacks. He forms
bonds with the marksman he fights alongside, forming a between the two teams and to the aid of his allies as he transitions into a late game tank.- Bot lane
In lane, Braum functions most effectively as a reactionary or opportunistic support, constantly on the lookout for chances to apply
to the enemy duo. Accurate use of triggers the mark on targets who've wandered from their minion wave, while Braum can tag aggressive enemies with basic attacks before leaping back to the ranged safety of his marksman with . After applying , Braum and his marksman have two solid options: either follow up hard and try to activate the stun, or zone the enemy and take up aggressive positioning. is powerful enough to win almost any trade, while the threat of triggering the stun acts as a powerful deterrent, forcing the enemy marksmen away from valuable minion gold. Braum's also a powerful asset during friendly ganks: by dashing to his jungler with , Braum's able to get into the heart of the enemy duo. After they've been tagged with , the jungler's extra attacks accelerate the stun and help secure kills.But while Braum is undeniably useful on the offense, he's an absolute colossus when defending. The additional defenses provided by
help both Braum and his marksman survive otherwise lethal damage, while has the potential to completely shield his ally from all incoming damage when positioned correctly. When activated, protects all of Braum's allies behind the shield from basic attacks and targeted and pass-through abilities like , , and , but not placed abilities like or . More importantly, Braum can move while using , meaning he can reposition with his ally as they head towards the safety of their tower, or as the enemy team moves to flank around the shield. Braum is also able to continue attacking and casting abilities while he shields with - landing the slow from while moving back deters enemy junglers and marksmen still further.Braum gains solid initiation or follow-up potential once he hits level six and unlocks
, offering friendly junglers easy ganking targets with its huge knock-up and slow. If Braum's looking to cut off his target's escape route, he can quickly reposition with before firing behind his target. The ability's slow field is large and powerful enough to force and secure kills. Finally, is equally powerful as a disengage tool, nullifying chases when aimed correctly.- Teamfights
The more allies around Braum, the more his shield shines. In small-scale skirmishes, he darts in front of his allies with
before using to block pick attempts and soak up the subsequent damage. Should his team be outnumbered, is again a strong disengage ability, particularly in the jungle's narrow pathways. Alternatively, when Braum's part of the more powerful skirmishing group, a well-aimed slows and applies , all but guaranteeing a kill.While other supports operate best within their team or deep in the enemy ranks, Braum functions best as a physical wall between the two teams, soaking up damage with
while his team's damage dealers get to work. The low cooldown on helps Braum slow both approaching and fleeing enemies while setting up for his team. His is strongest here – by floating between the two teams, Braum's able to use basic attacks on the enemy tanks and fighters as he hits the enemy backline with , potentially setting up stuns against the entire enemy team. Meanwhile, gives Braum the sudden celerity he needs to dart to his teammates and protect them from harm with , which has the potential to turn around even the most lamentable of teamfights, or protect his squishies when they're being attacked. Finally, unleashing through the enemy team splits and (literally) slows their hopes of a coordinated assault, giving Braum and his allies the opportunity to move in and clean up.- Synergy
Works well with: | Struggles against: |
---|---|
Ashe - the Frost Archer By slowing her enemies, Ashe gives Braum a much easier target for his casts. Similarly, the two can pair and together to utterly paralyze an enemy and all but guarantee a level six kill. |
Zyra - Rise of the Thorns Zyra boasts a kit that handily bypasses Braum's defenses. By planting behind him, she's able to negate with . also snares Braum, preventing him from protecting his marksman with . |
Caitlyn - the Sheriff of Piltover With her unrivalled range, Caitlyn's best at capitalizing on Braum's passive, . With clever timing, Braum can also use as Caitlyn fires , helping both escape and dive when needed. |
Vayne - the Night Hunter Vayne's got a few tricks up her sleeve to assert her dominance over Braum. low cooldown allows her to dodge with relative ease, while throws Braum back even when he's shielding with , giving Vayne access to her enemy marksman. |
Ezreal - the Prodigal Explorer Ezreal's applies on-hit effects, meaning once Braum's applied , Ezreal can add further stacks from distance with his . The sheer threat of this is enough to force most enemies away from farming. |
Lulu - the Fae Sorceress Lulu can out-position by casting on Braum or his marksman before firing off to hurt and slow both. |
Champion Insights[]
, designed byAs with all champions, we designed Braum to fill a specific gap in the League of Legends champion pool. Specifically, he's the first true tank support that we've created, a champion who takes the hits for their team. We've had plenty of defensive supports - champions like
, , , etc. - who negate damage through heals or shields, along with fighter supports like and , who are generally great at initiating teamfights before diving deep into the enemy team and disrupting as much as possible. Braum's something different: he's a tanky support who literally takes the hits for his team, and as such requires a new mindset, position and playstyle to most conventional supports.The key to Braum's unique playstyle is
, his . It's an active defense, similar to , but while was created so that he'd have the means to protect himself (the team utility is considered a secondary bonus), we specifically designed so that Braum could protect his team. It makes Braum different because he - more than any other champion - creates zones of safety behind him. He defends throughout the game, first by protecting his marksman during laning, then by protecting his entire team and tanking during late game. While other supports focus on buffing, heals or disruption, Braum fills a unique role between the two teams, taking the brunt of the damage for his team and letting his damage dealers do their thing.This positions him literally between the two teams, and gave us some interesting design questions to answer. Specifically, how else does a defensive melee support contribute in fights when he has limited damage and can only land basic attacks on the enemy's beefy frontline? This is where we brought in his
, , and , . Braum can harass while protecting, not necessarily through his own strength, but by applying to enemy targets. This greatly amplifies his team's power while keeping Braum's positioning consistent throughout teamfights. And while Braum can't easily harass the enemy backline ( only affects the first enemy it strikes, and Braum's basic attacks are melee), when his allies get jumped by enemy fighters and tanks, he can quickly reposition with before peeling multiple targets with .Trivia[]
- Braum is voiced by JB Blanc, whom also voices , 2 Fortune Croaker, and 4 Laurent Bladekeeper in Legends of Runeterra and and in Arcane.
- Braum is Jordan 'Wrekz' Anton's first champion ever designed.
- He started off as the Hextech Engineer. She was a mechanic from Piltover who used a Hextech-powered shield. This incarnation suffered from gameplay complications and slowly became Braum.[2]
- Braum himself was at first a Demacian but this Braum was deemed too serious for his jolly defender theme, so he was moved to the Freljord.[3]
- The fan-made champion Angus was one of the inspirations for Braum, with similarities including a manly personality, the ability to intercept projectiles, and the ability to empower his allies with facial hair.
- Another inspiration was Alex Louis Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist.[4]
- Larry 'TheBravoRay' Ray confirmed Braum was also partially inspired by professional wrestling (his arm band resembles old wrestling ones)
- Another inspiration was Alex Louis Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist.[4]
- The fan-made champion Angus was one of the inspirations for Braum, with similarities including a manly personality, the ability to intercept projectiles, and the ability to empower his allies with facial hair.
- 'Trials of the Poro' was released during the Zodiac period of Aries (
- The eponymous mustached artwork. was first seen in
)
- During development he was called CeeCee.
- At one point in development 'Immovable Object' and incidentally shipped to the PBE named as such.
- The name was probably changed because Braum can actually move during the ability's duration.
was called
Media[]
- Related Music
Braum's Theme |
The Feats of Braum Soundtrack |
Pixel Poro Music |
- Related Videos
- Main article: Summoner icon
- Main article: Ward skins
- Main article: Emotes