Brutus

## Overview

Brutus is probably the most unique monster in the game, in that it almost necessitates building an entire team around it, but that team can be extremely powerful. After one turn of buffs and setting up with Power Focus, Brutus can deal some of the highest damage of any monster in the game, often wiping an entire team on the spot.

## Crit-based damage dealer

#### Equipment

* Katana
* Fin
* Coat / Cape
* Bead Chain / Charging Sphere / Fang

### Build Details

Brutus' goal is simple. On turn 1, set up with Power Focus (which we only take level 4 of, because getting the mana sustain to pay for level 5 loses more damage than it gains), to trigger Mediation and get a damage boost, and on turn 2, attack with Ram Charge. We take every damage bonus we can: The Might support, the crit support, and the neutral damage support, to maximize our chance at oneshotting the enemy team on the second turn. The rest of our skill points go into Mana to cast our skills, and then into toughness.

Katana is the best weapon for a pure physical attacker, and Fin offers a fantastic mix of damage and toughness. Coat provides a good mix of damage and toughness, while Cape is a pure damage option. Bead Chain and Charging Sphere both provide a bit of Mana Regeneration, the former giving more crit and the latter some extra Charge stacks, while Fang is the highest damage option.

### Team Options

* The first thing Brutus needs is a support that can provide it with buffs and Charge stacks. On PvP Brutus teams, this monsters is usually also the team's healer, and can additionally Purify potential Blind stacks. Good candidates for this include King Blob, Vertraag, and Bard. If you don't need Purify, you can use options like Caraglow and Thanatos
* The second crucial teammate for Brutus is a monster that can Protect it. Since Brutus is the lynchpin of the strategy and also needs two turns to do damage, any enemy that sees a Brutus team will try their best to target it down, and Brutus will have a much higher chance at surviving if paired with a support that has Protect. The most common option for this is Targoat, as it shares Charge support and is a Beast for King of Beasts while buffing Brutus with Armory, but Kame or Mega Rock can work as well. Oculus bears mention as the only monster with Purify and Protect, while Promethean is the only monster with Full Offense and Protect.

## Non-crit Damage Dealer

#### **Equipment**

* Heavy Mace / Trident
* Ancestral Medal
* Charging Sphere
* Crown / Dumbbell / Warrior Flask

### Build Details

While it's flashy and impressive to hit the enemy for 10,000 or 20,000 damage with Brutus, you don't gain anything extra for dealing 200% of a monster's health, so in PvP it's sometimes worth dropping some of Brutus' damage in exchange for toughness and utility. This build forgoes Crit and one item of damage to get a significant increase in toughness compared to the previous build, and also has much better Mana. The strategy is the same, buff with Power Focus and attack, but while you won't hit as hard, you'll also be less likely to lose everything by having Brutus taken out before it can attack.

Since we're not using crit, Heavy Mace offers the best damage, though Trident can be run as well for even more toughness. Ancestral Medal is there purely for damage, providing an attack increase and some damage-increasing stacks. Charging Sphere provides us with the two stats we need and more Charge stacks. Crown is a strong choice for pure toughness, Dumbbell is a nice mix of stats especially on a team that can apply Might, and Warrior Flask is a pure damage option that also offers some sustain.

### Team Options

* This build is run with the same teammates as the other one

## Checks and Counters

* Brutus has poor mana and wants to cast expensive skills, which makes it vulnerable to Chill and Poisoned Nerves, and it doesn't like Weakness lowering its damage.
* While most Brutus teams are run with a Purify user, some stack teams can apply more than 4 harmful stacks per turn if they're targetting one opponent, and Blind is very detrimental to Brutus because it wants to set up Power Focus before it attacks.
* Brutus can't take out a monster through Phoenix Affinity, and often needs two power focus-boosted attacks to take out a monster that has it if the enemy team can get around the Wound stacks it inflicted with Severe Hit
* Finally, the nature of Brutus teams can hinder it at times. Especially when you're going second, you don't always have enough time to spend a full turn just setting up with Power Focus. While Brutus can do reasonable damage just by attacking immediately, it's outclassed as a standard Might attacker by other mons.