The Baroness
Previewing How Brynn Has Changed in The Betrayer's War
Once a Marshal of the Citadel, Brynn now reluctantly finds herself thrust into the position of leadership after the death of her aunt, the baroness of Forthyn. Her ascension comes as the barony now endures its darkest trial, for it has been lost to the armies of the Dragonlord Levirax and the Uthuk Y’llan. With her mastery of the battlefield, Brynn seeks to defend the refuges of Forthyn and carve a hopeful future for her people.
In The Betrayer’s War, the second Act of Descent: Legends of the Dark, Brynn’s role as a frontline warrior has been expanded even further. With her excellent mix of offensive and defensive abilities, she can lead the charge with her new Technique abilities and pummel enemies into submission.
In addition to her increased health, Brynn comes packed with new abilities on her hero card. Befitting her new role as a leader, both of these abilities provide new tactical options outside of simply hitting harder with her sword or hammer. For example, her first new ability, Strategic Defense, allows her to bolster the defense of herself or any other hero on the field, while also granting the affected hero a surge if they were not the original target of an enemy’s attack. On the other side of her hero card, she has the ability Press On, an action ability that grants her extra movement and either herself or an ally a bonus action.
Perhaps the biggest addition to Brynn’s arsenal is her new Technique abilities, which we mentioned earlier. The Technique keyword adds additional effects to an ability depending on what damage types Brynn has on her equipped weapon, effectively making them two skills in one! For example, her Stand Fast skill allows her to boost her own or another hero’s defense, and if she has a Crush weapon equipped (such as a Sundering Warhammer ), she could allow that hero to counterattack. However, if she has a Slash weapon equipped (such as a Citadel Blade ), then a whopping 3 additional successes could be added to the defense.
If Brynn’s attack has multiple damage types, then she can choose which Technique effect she wants to activate. For example, if she is wielding her Citadel Blade and activates the action ability on Crashing Wave , she would normally have to use its second effect of discarding fatigue from a card. However, if another effect (such as from the Mana Weave trinket from Act 1) grants her attacks the Aquos damage type, then she can choose to activate the first effect of adding a black die to the attack instead.
Even outside of her Technique abilities, Brynn comes armed with all sorts of new tactical options. Her Interpose skill lets her throw herself in between her allies and an attacking enemy, while Second Wind (one of her new 3 XP skills) can clear a massive amount of fatigue and conditions from herself and her allies. Her legends—a new card type we talked about in our first look at The Betrayer’s War—also provide her with tactical choices, especially when choosing which ones to take. Heart of Forthyn allows her to take more damage and absorb hits for her allies, while Hand of Forthyn increases her ability to suffer fatigue and helps clear fatigue off of allies when enemies near her are defeated. Remember, once you choose a legend, the other side of that card is locked out for the rest of the campaign, so make sure to pick the option that suits your playstyle for Brynn best! This decision can even influence your later legend choices, such as the choice between Crown Guard and Citadel Guard .
Legends Only Grow
With her flurry of new combat techniques and her expanded tactical acumen, Brynn is a force of nature on the battlefield that even the most terrifying monsters should fear. Look forward to trying out Brynn’s new abilities when The Betrayer’s War hits store shelves in August!
