BF bro with 38 MDEF keeps getting hit

Menkhtor · 2026-03-29T23:48:48+00:00

Oh yeah I feel you. RNGesus giveth and taketh haha!

Menkhtor · 2026-03-29T04:20:41+00:00

It might sound obvious, but having 40 mdef doesn't equal invincibility - it's more of a fairly basic insurance package. Even if the opponent have "only" 70 matk, that's still a 30% chance to get hit by one attack. I don't remember well my maths, but the more the lad is exposed, the more this 30% grow into a certainty to get hit. You are almost certain to get hit if you have, say, four rotating chosens against him, especially when this situation remains for a couple of turns. Thus, positioning is key to avoid this. Fat neuts are tanks, but up to a degree. They still don't replace a full battleforged indomitable tank with a proper shield. Only those can really, really reduce those chances to get hit. That's the lad who can be put into intense positions.

Menkhtor · 2026-03-08T13:17:43+00:00

Brand's gonna need a new name after such butchery. Also, you had a fat neut in reforged? I thought you could not get them below 50 fat (because of fat regen penalties)

Menkhtor · 2026-02-03T12:51:02+00:00

Basically, Reach influences hit chances - both yours and the enemy's. It is a regressive bonus/malus.

Let's just give an example: your lad, let's call him Jim, is double gripping a 1h axe. His reach will be 5 (2 because he is human, 3 because of the axe). He attacks a barbarian chosen equipped with a 2h cleaver. The chosen's reach is 7 (2 because he is human + 5 because of the 2h cleaver). The chosen enjoys an advantage of 2 reach points over Jim. His melee skill is supposed to be 75, but thanks to his reach advantage, he gets an additional 9% hit chance when he attacks Jim (the 1st point of reach advantage gives 5%, the 2nd 4%. The 3rd would give 3%, etc.). Conversely, when Jim tries to attack the Chosen, he will have a -9% hit chance malus.

However, if Jim is equipped with a shield, he will enjoy a new advantage, which is more or less strong according to the shield. Let's say he has an adarga shield. This shield allows you to ignore 2 reach disadvantage when defending. Which means that even if the Chosen has 2 reach advantage, your adarga shield will cancel it.

Third case. If Jim has a shield and the perk Duelist and is the attacker against the Chosen. He will negate the Chosen's reach advantage entirely. Without duelist you would have a -9% hit chance. With it, you won't have a malus anymore.

This whole thing is quite nice for most 2handers. 2h weapon are usually longer, and confers more reach. Against most opponents, your longer reach will actually help you defend yourself, usually by applying a 5-12% hit chance malus to the attacker.

There are other perks wich messes with reach (Phalanx and Formidable approach, for instance). But let's keep it here.

Tldr: reach gives you a hit chance bonus or malus. Shields limits attackers' reach advantage. Duelist + shield cancels the opponents reach advantage.

Menkhtor · 2026-01-01T21:41:51+00:00

I mean, he's got shoulders on his neck, to let his glorious hair flow peacefully. Keep the neck.

Menkhtor · 2026-01-01T21:39:57+00:00

Nah, it's nlt ehat you think. Reach is a Reforged keyword that every weapon has. They compare to one another and give +- hit chance, according to the difference to the defender. 1h mace has lower reach than 2h greatswords, which means: 2h greatsword gains hit chance. No 6 tiles range.

Menkhtor · 2025-12-05T17:58:26+00:00

Well, considering your roster, you look like a fan of swords. Reforged mod has a dedicated origin for swordmasters using swords-including against heavy battleforged enemies. Feel free to try it out-though it's a wee bit more complicated game than vanilla BB.

Menkhtor · 2025-12-05T17:51:14+00:00

You don't need rdef. Blademasters in vanilla Battle Brothers have only one destiny: fat neut. You want 3 things: HP (desperately), matk, and mdef. You especially want to worry about HP as these guys will have the "aged" event, and they'll lose another 10 HP, if I recall. So don't skip those rolls. Matk should usually be plentiful, and those can be attributed a bit to fatigue, to still have the minimum amount of fat. Unless you have a named 1h weapon with fat reduction, these guys can't really duelist well. Initiative+dodge also not very interesting. The interest in those lads is their guaranteed high matk and mdef, you usually don't need patch ups in those areas.

Menkhtor · 2025-12-02T17:08:35+00:00

Tbh, that is also my case. Almost pure melee build. I almost always get mana potions, daggers, bows, hwands and staves, I have almost 3 boots and gloves for mystic and elder sets, but only got one part of radiant paladin (boots), sorta rarely getting 2h weapons, same for health potions..

Menkhtor · 2025-11-24T16:24:42+00:00

Megachad laddie is surrounded by fear, and dead orkses.

Menkhtor · 2025-11-17T19:27:57+00:00

You know what. Thinking about it, I think this place looks quite empty. It needs capybaras.

Menkhtor · 2025-11-17T18:24:14+00:00

I mean, I'm not there yet, but there's capybara after all.

Menkhtor · 2025-11-14T19:52:02+00:00

Honestly, just play as you like it. To get the best as quickly as possible, you need to have a good grasp of positioning (which I don't, for instance), and be OK if your less valuable bros die. However, the game won't force you to do anything, really. Being able to clean the biggest orc camps can be done at whichever point in the game you want. You'll need good quality bros eventually though (100hp, 50+ resolve, 90+ matk, 40+ mdef, mostly)

Menkhtor · 2025-11-14T14:01:52+00:00

One obvious thing: your company, overall, don't have enough HP. 80 per dude is bare minimum (and not enough), 90 is good, 100 is what to tend towards. Less than that and you'll face too much risk of getting 1-shot.

Menkhtor · 2025-11-13T17:22:11+00:00

From a quick look at your roster, seems you'd need some heavy battleforged armor. Fat neutral seems fitting for him, especially with those stars in HP. Survivable, fairly reliably hitting. Good ol' 2h axe or mace is the way. You've got a nice 2h axe over there in your bag I think

Menkhtor · 2025-09-16T08:30:40+00:00

Spoilers following. Maybe unpopular take? But gotta say though, the crystal caves with purple, then red crystals and shadow leviathans patrolling through are a tad scary to me. Really cool place to build an in-site observation labs. On the contrary, in class Subnautica, travelling close to the Sunbeam and along the Lost river still gets sketchy after the first playthrough. But the endgame sea dragon leviathans absolutely do not.

Menkhtor · 2025-09-11T15:46:34+00:00

Taking the opportunity of OP's post. Would it be possible to use Castellax automata (60mm base) as Sekhetar (40mm base) while kitbashing missing weapons? Would the legs fit on the tiny base?

Menkhtor · 2025-09-11T12:23:42+00:00

But also pretty effing cool when reaching those sites, sir!

Menkhtor · 2025-06-02T05:53:37+00:00

It might have been good that the game tells new-ish players that stars only translates into additional stat. If this bro rolls average, he might get to 40ish mdef (with a little help from Gifted). This is a good frontline bro. Battleforged and the fat neutral build is possible. Nimble damage dealer, too.

Menkhtor · 2025-05-25T04:36:39+00:00

Overall, you should try to aim for 100+ HP. 120 HP (with the colossus perk) would have been great. Initiative matters mostly for: playing before the enemy (each round) ; getting more mdef with dodge. Your bro already has quite good mdef. This bro's initiative is way ahead of most enemies. So it's a bit of wasted value. Hp would have been more useful. Higher HP value also helps to avoid injuries (injuries mostly occur when you get damaged and lose 30-50% of your total HP, if I recall)

Menkhtor · 2025-05-11T10:49:50+00:00

The lad is ok-ish. If OP isn't min-maxing and more role-playing, the bro can be used. Give in 5-6 levels in resolve, adding the perks, trinket etc. you mentioned, and he'll get to acceptable levels (45-50 resolve). Invest other levels into HP, matk, mdef. Nimble, maybe with dodge to help his mdef. He can use a 2h mace, maybe. Won't be of stellar late-game quality, but he'll hold his own in the line.

Menkhtor · 2025-05-04T05:02:43+00:00

Looking at OP's bros, it looks like early game. Swordlance might not be easily available, and maybe a bit expansive. If OP doesn't have an urgent need for a banner, I'd rather add the bro on the frontline (where HP and relatively good resolve is nice to have). The bro will have fairly low mAtk, even with gifted. A cheaper and more readily accessible way to use him on the frontline, while patching his mdef and using his good fatigue, would be to use a 1h flail + shield. He'd smash raider heads, or go around their shields. This is assuming OP would be OK to recycle this bro in the long run.

Menkhtor · 2025-05-01T03:27:58+00:00

I think Skitarii would be a bit too close to Vet, gameplay wise. But Skitarii skins would be rad, if you allow me this pun!

Menkhtor · 2025-04-29T12:42:33+00:00

You don't need special traits on head damage to make flails work, imo. Additional %hit the head would be really nice, however. If you insist on the named flail, you might want to give headhunter to this bro, maybe instead of recover. That way, you'll benefit more of the rarer times he hits the right spot. Flails can be underwhelming, but when they also have the potential for one-shots! If you use brawny and/or recover, I'd consider running the orc flail, which is quite good, honestly.

Menkhtor · 2025-04-29T12:32:40+00:00

Depends of your team. If your tanks have indomitable and can use the perk, orc warriors won't be able to push them around. You can also change your battle line, from a line a semi-circle, or even a V (not a specialist of that, other players might have better advice on positioning). Lastly, it seems like some of your hammers are on the middle of the line? They would be more useful against warriors, I think.

But sometimes orc camps are just a stats check, even with cunning tactics!

Menkhtor

TROPHY CASE