Full Build Friday - Briar, the Restrained Hunger

I usually don't worry too much about how dated a character is when I release a build for them, but for once, I'm hot on the heels of this character's official release! With nothing else afoot, let's get to it. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

You can also check out a video detailing the build over on the YouTube channel.

With that, let’s get into the build for Briar the Restrained Hunger from League of Legends!

BRIAR, THE RESTRAINED HUNGER

CHARACTER Briar

SOURCE League of Legends

BUILD GOALS

o Briar was a failed experiment of the Black Rose eventually imprisoned and contained by a special pillory that reins in her bloodlust

o Despite her horrific hunger, she is eager to find and make friends and appreciates the presence of mind granted by her shackles

o In gameplay, she is a melee diver, a class that excels at singling out a target and blitzing them. She spends health to use her abilities

o Her passive, Crimson Curse, causes her attack and abilities to inflict bleed. This bleed heals her and she lacks any base health regeneration

o Head Rush causes Briar to leap to a target with a damaging kick that briefly stuns and reduces the enemy’s armor

o Blood Frenzy causes Briar to break free of her pillory, turning her berserk and driving her to attack the nearest enemy. She gains additional attack and movement speed while in this state

o During a Blood Frenzy, Briar can recast it for Snack Attack, empowering her next attack to deal additional damage and heal her

o Briar can charge Chilling Scream, during which she heals and becomes resistant to damage. Unleashing the scream damages enemies and knocks them back if fully charge, stunning upon impact with terrain

o With her Certain Death, Briar launches the keystone of her pillory in a direction. If it hits a champion, she dashes to them, fears all enemies, and then goes into an enhanced blood frenzy against the marked target

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Razortooth Goblin

o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma, +Strength, -Wisdom

o Ancestry Feat: Fang Sharpener

Background: Prisoner

o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Charisma

o Skill Increase: Stealth (trained), Underworld Lore (trained)

o Background Feat: Experienced Smuggler

Class & Subclass: Battle Mystery Oracle

o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma

o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Intimidation (trained), Religion (trained)

o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – ancient dust, guidance, haunting hymn, shield, stabilize; 1st – bless, flense

Details

o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18)

Briar is a tough build to open with. Lorewise, she was created as a hemomnatic golem, which is probably best represented with the fleshwarp ancestry. However, the fleshwarp is limited with its ability boosts and unfortunately locks her into boosts that don’t quite work for the build. Same with the magical experiment background. Both of these work fantastically, but cripple the build too greatly. This particular build will try to navigate between flavor and function.

As such, Briar is built as a goblin (she absolutely has goblin energy) with the razortooth heritage though she could also use the dhampir heritage. However, much of what she would gain from the dhampir heritage will be gained in a more powerful version through the archetype used in this build and skilled helps her few invested skills. The Fang Sharpener ancestry feat enhances the damage of her jaws while also providing her with persistent bleed damage on a critical hit, befitting her Crimson Curse. Following her failed missions, Briar was imprisoned, which will be represented through the prisoner background. While Briar has a focus on losing control, she has a number of fantastical abilities. To merge these two concepts, she is an oracle who uses the battle mystery, the curse of which imposes penalties on Briar when she isn’t Striking enemies. This is meant to represent her Blood Frenzy and at least the berserk part of her Certain Death while the fast healing granted by being in non-trivial combat encounters fits nicely with the healing effect of her Crimson Curse. For spells, haunting hymn is a mini-Chilling Scream whereas flense is another way for her to inflict persistent bleed. Both guidance and bless buff Briar, increasing the likelihood of her landing the Strikes her mystery encourages her to make.

LEVEL 2

o Class Feat: Vampire Dedication

o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler

o Spell Repertoire: 1st – harm*

o Gear: cloak of feline rest

LEVEL 3

o General Feat: Toughness

o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)

o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – blood vendetta, inner radiance torrent*

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, candlecap

LEVEL 4

o Class Feat: Vision of Weakness

o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare

o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – horrifying blood loss

o Gear: bracelets of dashing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest

LEVEL 5

o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 19)

o Ancestry Feat: Ankle Bite

o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)

o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – fear, vampiric touch*

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), bracelets of dashing, golden legion epaulet, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, candlecap

Briar is described as a vampire and this is represented as with her Vampire Dedication, which immediately nets her a fangs Strike and the ability to Drink Blood from enemies. However, none of the vampire feats stand out at 4th level for her, causing her to pick up Vision of Weakness instead because it is the coolest focus spells in the game. It does mesh nicely with her mystery, allowing her to size up a victim and enhancing her next attack against them. Briar herself is rather diminutive and will take Titan Wrestler to throw down with larger enemies – particularly so that she can pin them down and drink their blood. With the fear effect found in her ultimate, Briar will also have a focus on Intimidation despite being a fairly friendly girl. Ankle Bite is simply another fun way for Briar to get some more bites in during a combat, and she doesn’t have a great use for her reactions otherwise

Briar picks up blood vendetta to give her some more persistent bleed and compliments it with horrifying blood loss to possibly inflict a stickier frightened condition. In a pinch, harm can heal her but she also has vampiric touch to help keep her in the fight and fits nicely with Snack Attack. A 3rd-rank fear creates an area fear akin to her Certain Death while inner radiance torrent is taken specifically to represent the charging effects of her Chilling Scream. It doesn’t have the knockback effects but the charge-up feels nice.

LEVEL 6

o Class Feat: Daywalker

o Skill Feat: Quick Jump

o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – bone spray/swallow light

o Gear: +1 hide, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), lifting belt, bracelets of dashing, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives

LEVEL 7

o General Feat: Fleet

o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)

o Spell Repertoire: 4th – bloodspray curse, vampiric maiden

o Gear: ring of the ram, +1 hide, fearsome weapon rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), bracelets of dashing, golden legion epaulet

LEVEL 8

o Class Feat: Predatory Claws

o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap

o Spellbook: 4th – war march

o Gear: wounding weapon rune, lesser grub bloves, ring of the ram, +1 hide, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), demon mask

LEVEL 9

o Ancestry Feat: Hungry Goblin

o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)

o Spell Repertoire: 5th – blood feast*, repelling pulse

o Gear: +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune, ring of the ram, fearsome weapon rune, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

LEVEL 10

o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution,+ Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 20)

o Class Feat: Monk Dedication

o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess

o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (trained)

o Spell Repertoire: 5th – blink charge

o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, wounding weapon rune, ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

Daywalker unfortunately feels kind of necessary from her archetype, allowing her to resist being destroyed by sunlight while making her more resistant to effects such as disease, poison, paralysis, and sleep. Predatory Claws is a little late, but does give her some claws to tear apart enemies when she descends into her Bloody Frenzy. But then Briar will pivot towards a Monk Dedication, allowing her to perform powerful kicks and providing some nice options down the line. It does also provide her with training in Diplomacy since she does want to make friends. During this block, Briar will also take the Hungry Goblin ancestry feat to give her some extra temp HP whenever she crits, befitting the healing from Crimson Curse. Head Rush involves a small leap, which will at least in part be represented by feats such as Quick Jump and Powerful Leap making her better at condensing such actions. Intimidating Prowess helps her Demoralize enemies, which in turn lowers their AC to somewhat reflect the armor breaking of her Head Rush.

Bone spray offers some more bloodletting magic and is more generally useful but swallow light is just super cool and thematic for a vampire. Vampiric maiden offers some additional healing as well as lockdown for the stuns in her kit. In her 5th rank spells, she finds some of the best spells to represent her kit. First off, blood feast almost perfectly represents her Snack Attack and while repelling pulse is the wrong shape, it comes with an area damage effect and knockback. Finally, blink charge is a nice early way to reflect the dash and impact of her Certain Death.

LEVEL 11

o General Feat: Incredible Initiative

o Skill Increase: Thievery (expert)

o Spell Repertoire: 6th – heroism, vampiric exsanguination*

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, cloak of thirsty fronds

LEVEL 12

o Class Feat: Monk’s Flurry

o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat

o Gear: +2 resilient hide, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, boots of bounding, umbral wings

LEVEL 13

o Ancestry Feat: Chosen of Lamashtu (Chosen One) – Unbreakable Goblin

o Skill Increase: Thievery (master)

o Spell Repertoire: 7th – energy aegis, repelling pulse*

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient hide, oracular crown, cloak of the bat, armbands of athleticism, mask of the banshee

LEVEL 14

o Class Feat: Basic Kata – Stunning Fist

o Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance

o Gear: greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), cloak of devouring thorns, +2 resilient hide, cloak of the bat, greater demon mask

LEVEL 15

o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 21)

o General Feat: Feather Step

o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)

o Spell Repertoire: 8th – canticle of everlasting grief, devour life*

o Gear: +2 greater resilient hide, boots of speed, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), greater ash gown, oracular crown

From her new monk archetype, Briar can take Monk’s Flurry, netting her the Flurry of Blows class feature. The folding of two Strikes into a single action is a nice way to represent the increased attack speed from her Blood Frenzy. Additionally, she can use Basic Kata for Stunning Fist to cover the stun of Head Rush and possibly her Chilling Scream though the chances of this admittedly aren’t great. Terrified Retreat actually covers the fleeing effect of her Certain Death through a non-magical means and Terrifying Retreat gives her some resistances that might be nice to represent the increased resistances during the charge of Chilling Scream. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, these builds are largely setting-agnostic and Pathbuilder is as well. So it registers the Chosen of Lamashtu feat as Chosen One, which Briar can use to also become an unbreakable goblin, increasing her Hit Points ever so slightly.

While most casters would probably want to throw heroism on the martials and Briar may if she really wants to make friends, but she can instead cast it on herself to be the martial. She can also use options such as vampiric exsanguination and devour life for more damage dealing and healing. She also takes canticle of everlasting grief, another collection in her sonic based spells inspired by her Chilling Scream.

LEVEL 16

o Class Feat: Advanced Kata – Flurry of Maneuvers

o Skill Feat: Quick Unlock

o Gear: dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient hide, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), cloak of devouring thorns

LEVEL 17

o Ancestry Feat: Unbreakable-er Goblin

o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)

o Spell Repertoire: 9th – massacre, wail of the banshee

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), dragonscale amulet, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level), +2 greater resilient hide, boots of speed, greater ring of the ram

LEVEL 18

o Class Feat: Advanced Kata – Ki Strike

o Skill Feat: Scare to Death

o Spell Repertoire: 9th – heroism

o Gear: belt of giant strength, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), bloodthirsty weapon rune, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient hide, greater boots of bounding

LEVEL 19

o General Feat: Diehard

o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)

o Spell Repertoire: 10th – fated confrontation, miracle

o Gear: +3 greater resilient hide, belt of giant strength, dread blindfold, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), dragonscale amulet, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level)

LEVEL 20

o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 22)

o Class Feat: Mystery Conduit

o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump

o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained)

o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient hide, wand of slaying (8th-level), belt of giant strength, bloodthirsty weapon rune, speed weapon rune

She picks up some more options from her monk archetype, using Advanced Kata to take Flurry of Maneuvers, which might allow her to grab a victim, rake at them with her claws or sink her fangs into them, and then immediately follow it up with a Drink Blood for a total of two actions. Similarly, she can use Ki Strike to enhance her Strikes when not affected by the bonus from her mystery or heroism though the extra damage may still be useful even if her attack is already buffed. With her capstone feat, Briar can advance her curse to save a spell slot, expanding her use of the likes of blink charge, blood feast, and other 5th-level or lower spells while also increasing her combat capability through her curse. Her cursebound spells can be somewhat situational, and this gives her a way to enhance her curse to major without having to spend the focus points, which she may also want to save for ki strike. The investment in Thievery and Quick Unlock is mostly a cheeky nod to her ability to escape her pillory without any apparent trouble. Reckless Abandon makes fantastic sense for Briar, but Unbreakable-er Goblin gives her some extra Hit Points to hang in the fight, making them both valid choices.

Wail of the banshee is a further exploration of a sound-based effect inspired by her Chilling Scream but fated confrontation is actually meant to better serve as her Certain Death. The isolation is meant to resemble the fear effect she creates in all enemies except her target and even includes a teleport to her target.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Briar may be able to take feats from her Vampire Dedication earlier to speed up gaining her Monk Dedication, but in the levels before she can get it, she may favor options such as Widen Spell given her area effects, possibly Detonating Spell for some of her burst, and Steady Spellcasting may help her as she casts spells in melee. Options such as Blaze of Revelation in later levels may help represent the fact that she casts her abilities by spending Hit Points as well. She may like to pick up Clinging Climber from her vampire archetype, but its more fantastical abilities don’t quite fit her. She could also pick up a stance from her monk archetype to find a good one to resemble her kicks or claws such as Dragon Stance or Tiger Stance. Flying Kick may also better resemble her Head Rush. Alternatively, or maybe even additionally, she could start dipping into a Barbarian Dedication to reflect her savagery when she descends into a Blood Frenzy.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Briar is a razortooth goblin oracle of the battle mystery and the prisoner background. After failing the Black Rose due to her savagery and bloodthirst, Briar was thrown into a prison which is reflected by her background. Her hunger for blood and gore comes from her Vampire Dedication, which also gives her fangs with Vicious Fangs and claws through Predatory Claws though she does have a bleed-inducing jaws Strike with Fang Sharpener. This bloodletting bite along with her spells that inflict bleed, such as flense, bone spray, and blood feast, reflect the bleed of her Crimson Curse while the healing of it comes from her vampiric spells, the fast healing granted by her mystery when she’s in the thick of battle, and the temporary HP from Hungry Goblin. The bleed from Fang Sharpener and Hungry Goblin in particular are a fantastic mundane way to create her passive. Head Rush is a simple leap with a stun and can be accomplished with the likes of Quick Jump into a Stunning Fist that she gains from her Monk Dedication though the chance for this is low. Alternatively, she could use grabs to achieve an effect similar to the stun with her Flurry of Maneuvers and focus on Athletics. The armor reduction of it can come from her ability to inflict frightened and similar conditions reducing AC. There aren’t any effects that forcibly taunt you in Pathfinder 2e, but her battle mystery heavily incentivizes Briar to fight and lash out at enemies as an attempt on the effect. The second casting of it, Snack Attack, is almost perfectly represented in her blood feast spell. While the channeling effects of Chilling Scream are best represented in inner radiance torrent and the resistance comes from her Terrifying Resistance, the best spell to actually replicate the effect is repelling pulse, with an area damage and knockback though this is in an emanation rather than a cone. A fun combo could be found in using blink charge to dash into the midst of enemies before roaring out with repelling pulse to scatter them. Finally, Briar has several fear effects for her Certain Death such as a 3rd-rank fear and her skill investment while its teleport effects can be seen in blink charge or fated confrontation, which does have the nice touch of preventing her target’s teammates from interfering, a nice representation of her ultimate’s fear.

Bloodthirsty but bursting with boundless brio, Briar blitzes and brutally butchers baddies with beaucoup bloodshed and battle-ready bravado.

Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!

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Have a fantastic Friday!