Three numbers in the fight
Brittle changes three of the values the combat AI builds for each hero:
| Value | Change | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Courage | −0.26 | How long the hero keeps fighting as things go wrong |
| Steadiness | +0.06 | How fast nerve drains (higher is worse) |
| Poise | +0.05 | Extra misjudgement chance when hurt (higher is worse) |
No trait takes away more courage. For comparison, Cowardly is −0.25, Haunted −0.16, Shaken −0.15 and Superstitious −0.10. Courage starts from Bravery and Resolve (0.6 for a hero at 10 in both) and is clamped between 0.25 and 1.6, so on an average hero Brittle takes away close to half of it.
The other two values are built from Composure. A hero at Composure 10 has 0.14 poise, an extra 7% chance per decision to pick the wrong option at half health; Brittle raises that to 9.5%. Their steadiness rises from 0.35 to 0.41, so once their nerve starts to go it drains about 17% faster.
What that looks like in a delve
- Earlier faltering. Nerve is worked out from the hero’s own health and how many party-mates are down, divided by courage. With less courage the same situation drains them further.
- Refusing to press. If you set a hero’s stance to press in, a hero below 60% health checks every couple of seconds whether to drop it. The chance is 35% of how far their courage sits below 0.8: about 7% for an average hero, about 16% for a Brittle one. The delve report pins these refusals on the nervous traits.
- Fewer actions when it matters. A faltering hero in a party of four is a quarter of the party’s actions gone at the hardest moment of the fight.
As party leader
You set an order for when the party should retreat: after the first hero is downed, at half, at most, or never. A leader’s temperament shifts it. Each bold trait (Reckless, Dauntless, Brave, Glory Hunter, Restless, plus Hopeful) pushes it a step later and each fearful one (Cowardly, Shaken, Haunted, Brittle, Superstitious) a step earlier; the net sign decides. A Brittle leader with nothing bolder to balance it calls the retreat one step earlier than you asked. Steady leaders (Stoic, Cool-Headed, Methodical, Steady, Iron-Willed, Unbreakable, Stalwart) always follow your order exactly.
At a dungeon fork, a Brittle leader leans +2 toward the known path, taking a side room only about 20% of the time with nothing pulling the other way.
Elsewhere
- Festivals. Brittle counts against a hero in wit (−2) and valour (−3).
- The sealed tomb. In this delve event, nervous heroes may refuse to break a seal unless a steadier hero is there to overrule them.
- Grief. When a comrade dies, Brittle heroes get the “fragile” set of grief lines.
- Flavour. On pair duty the hero speaks with the “nervy” voice. The hero card links the trait to Resolve and Composure; that link is descriptive.
Conflicts and rarity
Brittle can never appear alongside the courage traits: Dauntless, Stoic, Brave, Iron-Willed, Unbreakable Will or Stalwart. It also excludes Death-Defying. Earning any of those later in a career removes Brittle.
- Rarity: common, negative · draw weight 100 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 25
- Founding draft: any card, or as the negative half of the wildcard card.
- In the wiki’s archive: present in the earliest archived build, 1.9.6.
Managing a Brittle hero
- Keep them out of the leader’s seat.
- Use them where holding ground matters less, such as ranged damage behind a solid front line.
- Surround them with help. A strong leader’s aura adds to effective courage, and protective party-mates keep them from being the one under pressure.
A real negative on any front-line hero, and a moderate one elsewhere.