Brawler’s Paradise: Maximizing Brick’s Melee Power

Welcome back to the arena, Vault Hunters!

In this article we’ll explore more potential Skill Tree builds for Brick. This Vault Hunter can be found in the Box of Badasses, along with a vast selection of other unique characters and enemies.

The previous article explored how to level up Brick into one of the tankiest tanks in the game. In this article, we’ll focus on leveling up his incredible melee potential. Brick’s first level is a simple +1 bonus to his melee skill. This buffs Brick’s already impressive stats into a +4 bonus to all of his melee attack and defense rolls. It's the equivalent of adding a red die to all of his rolls so he’s able to hit even the toughest enemies. These simple but brutally effective skill buffs not only turn Brick into a melee killing machine but also a solid tank against enemy attacks.

The second level is a real game changer by giving melee attacks Charge. This allows you to gain a free move before the attack so Brick can get within melee range. You can now focus Action tokens on attacks instead of splitting between movement actions. Brick starts the game with an impressive four yellow Action tokens, which could translate into four melee attacks if you plan out your turn.

Brick’s third level gives his melee attacks Rapid (2). This is really helpful if your first attack misses, you need to deal extra wounds to take out formidable enemies, or you’re fighting a mob of weak enemies. Note that this skill build allows Brick to Charge during every attack, including each Rapid attack. This can be used to gain extra moves, such as the example below.

Example:

The first diagram shows Brick about to attack the Maniac. While Brick is already within range of a melee attack, he uses his Charge ability to first move two zones and then attack the Maniac. This keeps him within striking distance of the Maniac and also puts him within Charge distance of the Psycho.

After Brick takes out the Maniac, he can use one yellow Action token to Charge and attack the Psycho. This example shows how to maximize Charge movement to set up the next attack.

The fourth level unlocks one additional yellow Action token, giving him the potential to make TEN attacks a turn when combined with Rapid (2)! Having a free move each attack with Charge is one of the best action-economy abilities in the game. You can use a Grenade or Rocket Launcher to soften up a mob of enemies and then Charge in to finish them off. You can unleash a fury of blows against a tough enemy with high hit points until you land a knockout punch. You could dive into a swarm of enemies and knock ‘em down like a bloody game of whack-a-mole. Having five Action tokens with free movement using Charge gives Brick a lot of flexibility, even with the limitation of melee attacks being range 1.

This skill build can also be very effective during a Fight for Your Life. The Charge ability allows you to get within melee range of an enemy (remember that you don’t have to attack the enemy that attacked you). Getting an extra attack with Rapid (2) gives you a backup plan if your first attack fails or gives you the potential to deal an extra wound to take out a tougher enemy. Being able to heal five wounds with a Fight for Your Life can keep Brick’s status as one of the tankiest tanks even with this offensive skill build, but it is much riskier. If you want a more defensive and less risky tank build, you can check out Brick’s previous article.