The fit penalty it removes
When a tutor teaches a pupil in the Training Yard, the game multiplies their teaching quality by a fit based on class and role:
| Pupil | Ordinary tutor | A Broad Hand | Of the Old School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same class | ×1.3 | ×1.3 | ×1.55 |
| Same role, other class | ×1.0 | ×1.0 | ×0.7 |
| Different role | ×0.55 | ×1.0 | ×0.385 |
A different role normally costs a pupil nearly half of the session. A Broad Hand sets every non-matching pairing to 1.0, so a tank can teach a healer with no loss at all. Same-role pupils already sit at 1.0 and gain nothing, and exact class matches still use the 1.3 branch. The yard’s tooltip calls it “a different trade, but a broad hand: a good match.”
This is a fit adjustment only. The pupil’s combat stats get no bonus.
How the trait has changed
In the wiki’s 2.0.7 snapshot the trait was weaker: it moved a mismatched fit only halfway back toward 1, so a different-role pupil was taught at ×0.775. By 2.1.8 it gives the full ×1.0. If you read older advice that treats Broad Hand as a half measure, that is where it comes from.
Choosing a tutor
Fit is one part of teaching. Teaching quality comes from veterancy (0.7 at level 0 up to 1.3 at level 20) times Leadership (0.75 up to 1.25), scaled by stage of life, and Born Mentor (×1.2) or Exacting (×1.18) raise it further. Quality sets how much a session can lift a pupil (up to +60%), and fit scales what the pupil takes from it.
So a Broad Hand with high Leadership is the safest single tutor for a guild with many classes: none of their pupils loses half a session to a role mismatch. A Broad Hand who is also a Born Mentor is about as good a general tutor as the yard can have. The game picks each pupil’s tutor by quality × fit, so a Broad Hand also tends to be chosen for pupils outside their own role.
Compared with Of the Old School
Of the Old School is the opposite approach: a stronger 1.55 match for the tutor’s own class and a 0.7 penalty on top of the normal fit for everyone else. One is the specialist for a guild built around a single class, the other the generalist for a mixed intake. The game never puts both on one hero.
Around the hall
- Standing +4, which feeds into who a party looks to as leader.
- Forks. A Broad Hand gives no lean at a dungeon fork; as leader they use the default odds.
- Flavour. On pair duty the hero speaks with the “teacher” voice shared with Born Mentor.
The hero card links the trait to Teamwork. That link is descriptive and does not raise the attribute.
Rarity and history
- Rarity: uncommon, positive · draw weight 45 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 57
- Founding draft: any card.
- In the wiki’s archive: first present in the 2.0.1 build (absent from 1.9.8).
Recruiting
A useful positive on any experienced hero who will spend time in the Training Yard, worth most to a guild that develops several classes at once. On a young recruit it only starts paying once they reach level 5 and can teach. See the training guide before assigning pupils.