A new forester named Briar will appear in League of Legends in mid-September. The vampire girl will be the first character in the game without basic health regeneration. In this guide we’ll show you how to play as Briar, what items to collect and how to determine the runes.
Briar’s abilities
Champion came out quite simple in terms of mechanics. Gameplay-wise, the character resembles a mixture of Warwick and Vai. The girl belongs to the forest diver class, which is designed to get to the back of the battle line or kill a target under a tower. Briar is best suited for low rankings, as there the enemies are worse positioned, kite enemies and do not think about team compositions.
“Scarlet Curse” (passive skill)
Briar’s healing effectiveness increases as she loses health. Autoattacks and skills briefly cause enemies to bleed (the effect is cumulative), which deals physical damage depending on the number of charges. Briar heals from this damage. The champion has no base health regeneration, and her abilities expend HP.
The skill emphasizes Briar’s vampire status. The skill enhances the champion’s autoattacks and helps keep her health up in the forest and during battles.
“Leap (Q)
Briar jumps to the target and briefly stuns it, as well as dealing physical damage and weakening armor. If a champion applies this skill to a minion or monster during Blood Rage, it stops attacking champions in priority.
The skill greatly improves Briar’s mobility, allowing you to jump over small walls if you can see the enemy. Since the main damage of the champion is done by auto-attacks, the skill will help you to get close and successfully deal with the target.
“Blood Rage” / “Snack” (W)
Briar jumps to a chosen location and enters the “Blood Frenzy” state, pitting herself against the nearest enemy (priority is given to champions). In this state, she has increased attack and movement speed, and her autoattacks deal physical damage to the area. When the skill is reapplied, Briar’s next autoattack is boosted. It deals physical damage that depends on the missing health, and restores Briar’s health from the damage dealt.
Briar’s main skill, which she uses to clear the forest and dispatch enemies. The skill also grants a small burst, which will help her overcome small walls on the map.
“Eerie Scream (E)
Beginning of training: Briar comes out of the “Blood Rage” state and begins to gather her strength. During this time, she takes less damage and regains health. Use: The champion emits a scream that deals damage depending on the preparation time and briefly slows enemies. Fully charged, the skill discards victims. If the enemy hits a wall, he takes additional damage and is stunned.
The skill will help you gain some control over Briar’s frenzy. Try to use it to push opponents into the wall. Or use the skill when caught in the hard focus of opponents.
“Certain Death” (R)
Briar launches a projectile and flies to the first enemy hit, marking it as her victim. Upon arrival, she deals heavy physical damage to everyone around her and terrifies them. Briar then goes into an enhanced Blood Rage state and hunts her prey until one of them is dead. During the effect, she has increased armor, magic resistance, and movement speed.
Briar’s Ultimates resemble a mixture of Warwick’s and Vex’s strongest skills. The radius of the skill’s use exceeds half of the map, so it can be used to kill a fleeing enemy or initiate a battle.
The order of pumping skills Briar
The first is to fully learn W, because the skill has a significantly reduced cooldown, as well as grow all the characteristics from buffs to damage. The next maximizes Q, which reduces the roll time and increases the rate of armor penetration. Ultimates are traditionally taken out of turn, and then get E.
Runes on Briar
Only one rune variant sits perfectly on Briar through Conqueror. The set will help maximize the damage and survivability of the champion. You can also try to build through “Decisive Offensive”, but our tests showed that “Conqueror” gives the heroine more advantages.
Items on Briar
Briar has three mythical artifacts: Triple Alliance, Boneslayer, and Ripper. The first one will increase the dueling potential of the vampiress, and the other two will be better in team battles, adding control or survivability. The other items among the legendary items depend on the composition of heroes in the lobby. If you have to tank, collect more survivability items. If you have someone to absorb damage for you, take more damage. You should choose either a Firewolf cub or a Windwolf cub as pets.
Who to take against Briar
Since Briar is played in the forest, there is no specific counterpick for Briar. She is vulnerable to long-range poke and compositions with a lot of control. Try to team up with champions like Leona, Nautilus, Veigar, Lux, Jace, Morgana, Shen, Orn, and so on.
