Gloomhaven Brute Guide – Cards, Builds, Perks, Enhancements & Items

Last Updated on May 21, 2025 by Samuel Franklin

Our Gloomhaven Brute guide recommends perks, cards, enhancements and items to maximise this starting character. Designed as template from level 1 to level 9 this page is your guide to fufilling your party role as a damage dealer that mitigates damage for their allies.

Table of Contents:
– Brute Cards, Perks, Enhancements and Items Overview
– Brute Cards Detailed
– Brute Perks Detailed
– Brute Enhancements Detailed
– Brute Items Detailed

Gloomhaven Brute Guide Overview

This overview provides a quick reference while playing Gloomhaven with recommendations maximising damage where efficient while grabbing key movement and defensive abilities to ensure the Brute can survive in the front line.

Brute Cards Overview

• Level 1: Remove Overwhelming Assault, Sweeping Blow and Wall of Doom to create your initial Brute deck
• Level 2: Fatal Advance replaces Shield Bash
• Level 3: Brute Force replaces Trample (consider bringing Trample back for scenarios with lots of shielded enemies)
• Level 4: Unstoppable Charge replaces Eye for an Eye
• Level 5: Skirmishing Maneuver replaces Grab and Go
• Level 6: Immovable Phalanx replaces Warding Strength
• Level 7: Defensive Tactics replaces Spare Dagger
• Level 8: Frenzied Onslaught replaces Fatal Advance
• Level 9: King of the Hill replaces Provoking Roar

Brute Perks Priority Overview

• Ignore negative item effects and add +1
• Remove two -1
• Replace -1 with +1
• Add two +1 (take twice)
• Add one +3
• Add one stun card (take twice)
• Add one disarm and muddle card
• Add +1 shield card

Brute Enhancements Priority Overview

• Add +1 move to the bottom of Leaping Cleave
• Add +1 attack or wound to the top of Skewer
• Add +1 hex to the top of Skewer
• Add strengthen to the bottom of Brute Force

Brute Items Priority Overview

• Iron Helmet
• Hide Armour
• Boots of Striding
• Heater Shield
• Warhammer
• Minor Stamina Potion
• Minor Healing Potion

Gloomhaven Brute Guide Detailed

This section details all card decisions when playing as the Brute to adjust for your playstyle or party dynamics. The Brute has a number of cards based around retaliate that I don’t recommend form a major focus of your card build or playstyle as its better to focus on dealing damage instead of relying on this mechanic for damage. This is because of the setup required for retaliate and many monsters have non attack turns that will not trigger retaliate at all while also having to trade your health pool for the damage to be dealt.

Brute Cards Detailed

The Brute cards in level order are as follows with each discussed for its use cases and overall power level:

• Eye for an Eye (Starting): A weak card but gives one of our best starting initiatives at 18. Neither the top or bottom are particularly powerful given retaliate is effective only in specific circumstances and the heal is small although can help to mitigate wounds or poison. Most of the time you’ll be using the default options of this card though and picking it for the initiative until it gets replaced at higher levels.
  
• Grab and Go (Starting): A solid card with a repeatable loot action to acquire gold for early defensive items. The bottom 4 move is also one of our best move actions which is important to fill our melee role to close the gap between enemies.
  
• Leaping Cleave (Starting): One of our best Brute cards with strong attack 3 for up to two enemies that also rewards an experience point. This combines nicely with the utility of jump on the bottom movement action when required. The Air element generation on this movement also makes for a great setup card for Skewer attack.
  
• Overwhelming Assault (Starting): The first of several Brute cards that feature move and push mechanics. The two push value here is plenty to force an enemy into a trap or away from allies to prevent damage as the primary use of the card. The top burn is okay early on if we need some burst damage or for the experience but quickly drops off as enemy health scales.
  
• Provoking Roar (Starting): A strong card that scales with level nicely as disarm is always effective. The 10 initiative is also one of our quickest and ensures you can nearly always use the disarm first in a round. The bottom is not particularly useful as all you are doing is shuffling the damage onto the Brute and isn’t worth giving up the top for unless it will save an ally from a significant loss of their cards.
  
• Shield Bash (Starting): A niche situational card that has low initiative to help us control our turn order to maximise the top and bottom actions this card offers. The bottom uses are limited though given it is only a single shield value while the top is best saved for a late room to grab the experience or stun an elite enemy for your allies when everyone in your team is starting to run a little low on cards or health.
  
• Spare Dagger (Starting): A solid source of ranged damage that can be useful in a number of situations while also providing consistent experience. The bottom attack is also nice to double attack with the right card combos which can sometimes be the difference between an enemy being eliminated or surviving with a small amount of health and being able to attack us back.
  
• Sweeping Blow (Starting): An awkward card to use for the Brute given it has middle initiative and its power relies on having at least 2 or 3 enemies in front of you which only occurs regularly in specific scenarios and larger party sizes. The bottom move and push combo is similar in that sometimes it can feel great but often a single push value simply isn’t enough to utilise any traps in the scenario.
  
• Trample (Starting): A card for dealing with shielded enemies with a reliable pierce attack without an item from level 1. While it will eventually be replaced by stronger options it can be added to your hand as necessary for the scenario. The bottom is unfortunately quite lacking for a loss card although isn’t a terrible burn in a final scenario room for the two experience you can gain for using it.
  
• Warding Strength (Starting): Provides an average attack value on top but with the benefit of push to capitalise on any traps on the ground or to reposition an enemy away from an ally. The bottom is equally useful and best used before you expect to dive into a monster pack as it will help mitigate 5 damage overall and reward you with experience in the process. With the useful top I’d generally be looking to delay this action until a later room depending on the scenario of course and potentially not at all.
  
• Balanced Measure (Starting): One of several Brute cards that play into the idea that movement is damage for our character and reminds us not to be a stationary fighter on the front lines as we are a bruiser at heart. In the vast majority of situations you’ll be using the top of this card after playing a strong movement card which also has the benefit of granting experience for easier early level progress.
  
• Skewer (Starting): Giving the Brute another potential pierce option if we have Air available Skewer is a solid attack card that can deal between 3 and 8 base damage. This card is highly flexible as a normal attack, an anti-shield attack or to pick off an enemy hiding behind the front lines. The bottom is unfortunately a loss card although does have some combinations with Balanced Measure and boots to let us deal up to 8 damage on a single enemy in a round that might make the loss worth it for a level 1 card in the right situation.
  
• Wall of Doom (Starting): This card brings another potential fast initiative into the Brute deck but really doesn’t offer a strong top or bottom action. The top is bad for the reasons already noted around retaliate on this page and while the shield portion mitigates some of that as it reduces damage we take it is not worth the loss of this card. The bottom has potential when paired with our area of effect attacks but in most cases is only providing an extra 2 damage at best.
  
• Fatal Advance (Level 2): If you’ve played other Gloomhaven classes you might not look favourably on this card as it’s average by even level 2 standards. However, being able to obtain another 4 move that can pair with Balanced Measure or even just help us position ourselves is actually quite valuable to the Brute and something we lack. The top will rarely be used given the loss isn’t worth killing a normal enemy but like many of our other cards we can burn these towards the end of a scenario for experience farming.
  
• Juggernaut (Level 2): A close second to our other level 2 option Juggernaut is closely tied to the theme of a tanking Brute and if that’s what your party desperately needs then by consider taking this card at level 2 instead. This card works on any source of damage so sometimes you might only block small attacks so carefully timed usage and pairing it with items or Warding Strength will help it have the most impact.
  
• Brute Force (Level 3): Adding another area of effect attack this card has the benefit of adding muddle which helps us to reduce the incoming damage. The bottom also isn’t terrible with an ability to pick up a shield after moving that might reduce some incoming damage as well. Both of these card actions are significantly more powerful when used early on in a round and the middle initiative of 51 is not ideal so it needs to be paired with one of our limited fast initiative cards at all times.
  
• Hook and Chain (Level 3): A nice card at face value which leads many to grab this option at first. While the top action damage isn’t terrible at level 3 it quickly drops off with levels as enemies gain more health and the pull action has limited uses where it is helpful to our situation anyway. The bottom of Hook and Chain suffers in a similar way in that it sounds great but you’ll quickly realise the number of straight line moves you actually get to do in a scenario is low.
  
• Devastating Hack (Level 4): A large attack value considering its a level 4 card although this is driven by the loss associated with this top action. Compared to your other level 4 card that isn’t a loss card and deals only 3 less damage it simply can’t compete and shouldn’t be taken.
  
• Unstoppable Charge (Level 4): The clear winner of level 4 options given it provides us a repeatable attack 5 that also gives experience. Towards the end of the scenario the bottom can also be a lifesaver potentially stunning several tough enemies for a turn to protect ourselves and Gloomhaven party members.
  
• Skirmishing Maneuver (Level 5): A flexible card that gives us two attacks with a move in between. While this is weak against shielded enemies due to the two low attack values we have other options for those situations and the ability to move and attack from a single action is incredibly flexible. The bottom of this card also gives us our second ranged attack which can be combined with Spare Dagger for a fully ranged turn if required.
  
• Whirlwind (Level 5): Not a terrible level 5 card at higher player counts where this can easily turn into a 12 or even 16 attack loss in the right scenario, in practice though these situations are few and far between and almost non existent at lower party sizes. Whirlwind does give us a solid move 4 with a push 3 option that is the best of our move and push combo cards as it almost always allows for a trap push in a scenario if it exists but I recommend Skirmishing Maneuver for most players, builds and campaign scenarios.
  
• Immovable Phalanx (Level 6): A core card of the Brute that makes this an easy level 6 decision point as it offers plenty of benefit. This includes the low initiative that the Brute is always wanting more of in their hand, the reliable attack 4 top that even gives us a small shield to protect ourselves and the bottom that opens up a wealth of high damage attack combos in situations where we don’t need to move that round.
  
• Quietus (Level 6): The top on this card is lacking as normal enemies are rarely the greatest threat on the scenario battlefield and the requirement for them to be stunned is just not something we can rely on from our own cards. If you are running with a party that is throwing out stuns every few rounds though the value of this card can quickly skyrocket. Bottom wise we acquire a nice move 3 which also empowers our next attack slightly but isn’t particularly strong unless it is an area of effect much like the weaknesses of Wall of Doom from earlier levels.
  
• Crippling Offensive (Level 7): A strong top loss action for level 7 given it combines both wound and stun that are always a deadly pairing and rare to have available together. For the bottom we again find the move push combo on a Brute card with the added benefit of immobilise which can make it an effective defensive tool against melee enemies.
  
• Defensive Tactics (Level 7): A great tool to stop melee enemies from coming close to us with the ability to target 2 enemies at 3 range to apply the immobilise effect with a reasonably low initiative. In addition the bottom gives the Brute a persistent source of retaliate and shield although you shouldn’t rush to play this given how effective the top action is and the low values of these that are lacking for a level 7 card.
  
• Frenzied Onslaught (Level 8): When combined with Immovable Phalanx this top action can potentially give us 8 damage in a turn although we need to be careful against shields and retaliation effects given that this will be effectively 4 different attacks. The bottom sounds fantastic on this card although we lack the means to use this effectively ourselves and would be relying on the right party for it to be effective.
  
• Selfish Retribution (Level 8): While the top and bottom actions themselves are nothing fantastic the fast 12 initiative can be tempting for a Brute in which case you’ll be always using the bottom move outside of a final room to scoop up some gold. If initiative or movement are a struggle in your current party this is a reasonable choice at level 8 given we already have a number of top attack options to cover the loss of Frenzied Onslaught.
  
• Face Your End (Level 9): Face Your End allows for some reliable setups of our area of effect attacks and in a full 4 player party can definitely warrant consideration but below a party of 4 enemy numbers start to get a little too thin for this to be effective. The bottom loss can also be nice to have for a final room within a scenario as it allows you to delete an elite enemy. Ultimately your level 9 choice as a Brute is party and player specific so don’t be afraid to pick one that works for you.
  
• King of the Hill (Level 9): If you’re team lacks sufficient healing this might be the level 9 card you select as the 5 heal can repair some cuts from battle with each rest cycle. The top attack does provide a significant burst combo when paired with Immovable Phalanx and Balanced Measure that many don’t expect from the Brute and great for a boss fight in particular. As noted above both level 9 cards for the Brute offer something different and are effective if used as intended so select given your own situation.

Brute Perks Detailed

The first priority for Brute perks is the ignore negative item effects allowing you to equip Hide Armour and similarly themed heavy armour that would otherwise add negative attack modifiers to your deck. Beyond this focus on improving your attack deck by targeting negatives and then adding plus options.

Lastly the Brute can add attack modifiers of stun, disarm and muddle which when triggered can help prevent damage. Players can also consider grabbing these debuff focused perks earlier if you’re playing a tank orientated role in your party.

Brute Enhancements Detailed

Given players can easily push the Brute towards damage or tanking with a few cards your enhancements can vary based on your playstyle and party needs. I recommend that you only consider enhancements after you have your core items when playing the Brute.

Enhancing movement is always safe such as the bottom of Leaping Cleave given it stays with us for the entire adventure and is a Skewer setup card. Depending on your choice of cards you can also add this to any other non-loss movement bottom you have or look to add jump on a movement that lacks that modifier.

Nextadd damage through options like strengthen at the bottom of Brute Force or adding wound and an extra hex to Skewer for added damage utility. Depending on the regular cards in your deck some other notable options include Unstoppable Charge top, King of the Hill bottom or Defensive Tactics top.

Brute Items Detailed

The Brute items focus on minimising damage as a melee focused class and adding additional movement to their kit. Starting core items include the Iron Helmet that always feels satisfying when it triggers, the Hide Armour to mitigate some damage that is simply unavoidable as a melee class and Boots of Striding to buff our movement.

Beyond these core 3 the Brute can then pick their next items based on personal and party needs with good choices on the defensive side being Heater Shield and Minor Healing Potion while the offensive side you will want to look at Warhammer (pair with area of effect attacks) and Minor Stamina Potion to improve your combos. This is just the tip of the iceberg with the Brute as nearly every Prosperity level offers something that is a slight upgrade and so you’ll want to constantly consider these when you unlock new items. Without significant spoilers items that further enhance your movement (or default movement) are always attractive given your cards themed around movement, stronger variants of the Hide Armour given we are ignoring all negative effects of these anyway with perks and weapon or shields to enhance defence or attack.

For information and build guides on other Gloomhaven character options visit our Gloomhaven classes overview and the related Gloomhaven class tier list.

Written by

Samuel Franklin

Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms.

As a seasoned Gloomhaven adventurer Sam has delved into both the physical board game and the digital adaption for hundreds of scenario hours. While he enjoys the camaraderie and social aspect of the tabletop experience the digital version conveniences make it his preferred way to play where he has unlocked all of the Steam achievements. Sam frequently commands the Spellweaver, an elemental spellcasting powerhouse that he finds immensely satisfying for the risky, high reward playstyle that the class offers.