Hello and welcome to my very first guide featuring Braum Tank Support!
I am currently a S2 Player aspiring to continuously improve and rank up. I main top lane and support with some capability in jungle and mid lane, but struggle as an adc. I began playing not too long ago in November 2013. As expected when I finally got to ranked, I had been placed in B4. Through a lot of research and a positive attitude, I have improved immensely as the months went on even shooting straight from B4 to S5 in a matter of a month.


When Braum was first announced for release, I was instantly intrigued since Leona was my current favorite support champion. As more information came out, I instantly fell in love with everything about him from his abilities, personality, and even his lore.

Braum is a full tank support unlike any support or tank before him as of this guide's posting. He specializes in putting himself in harms way for his team to succeed while also having three powerful crowd control abilities. He may not be the best at dealing damage, but his defenses and control will leave your opponents fuming when they can not kill an ally with 1 hp left to their name. Also, let us not forget his glorious mustache that the gods themselves bestowed upon him to lead your team to glory!

Pros

• Praise the Mustache for it is our Savior!
• Very Tanky
• Plenty of CC
• Master of Getting Assists (20+ consistant)
• Amazing Defensive Shield that can even Negate a Projectile Ult
• Good Early Game, Scales Very Well into Late Game
• Stand Behind Me can allow for Wall Jumping if an Ally is Present
• Dragon Shield!

Cons

• Very Dependent on ADC and Team Mates to Capitalize on your Plays
• Will take a lot of CC Effects Sometimes putting Him in a Bad Position
• Generally Slow Champion
• Damage is Insignificant unless you Build a lot of Health or Pure Damage
• Messing up on Unbreakable's Direction can be Incredibly Costly

Primary Masteries

Block and Unyielding : Standard on all champions. Good when not using your shield, better when using your shield!

Enchanted Armor : Though generally not a great choice on most champions, Braum greatly benefits from this by stacking more Armor and Magic Resist with Stand Behind Me. Initial increase to your stats, then further increase with use of skill.

Veteran Scars and Juggernaut : Another standard choice that Braum gains a bit more from compared to other champions. Braum's Stache is pleased with more health.

Hardiness : Useful in the laning phase to take more punishment.

Resistance : Though not a big difference, It is still wise to get as much MR as possible. The only time you will be building a lot of MR in game is when majority of damage is from AP or the APC is fed.

Swiftness : Unbreakable gives you 10% movement speed, why lose that boost?

Legendary Guardian : Two to three points are sufficient in this. Usually pretty helpful when being ganked and for team fights.

Runic Blessing : Fantastic to run for those early all ins, but will fall off in the mid game. If this is not your cup of milk on your mustache, you can place the point into Legendary Guardian or Perseverance.

Tenacious : Let's be honest here. Unbreakable is gonna eat quite a bit of cc when active. This is a must have!

Fleet of Foot: One weakness that Braum will suffer from is his movement speed. This is especially apparent in the early game before he can get tier 2 boots.

Secondary Masteries

The leftover 6 points can be used to preference. Recommended would be between Recovery , Perseverance, Meditation , Scout , Phasewalker , Summoner's Insight , Alchemist , and Culinary Master

• Easily the strongest spell in the game
• Can be used offensively and defensively
• Wall jump with ease when in danger
• Flash combined with Stand Behind Me can cover a great distance for surprise attacks
• Will usually be your go to spell

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• When called for, can assist Braum with his movement problem
• Covers a greater distance than Flash with the drawback/advantage of potentially staying in opponents range
• Shorter cooldown than Flash

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• At least one player on the team should have this spell
• Can assist your adc when going all in on the opposing adc
• Good to use when chasing or being chased
• Scales better than other spells when dealing with late game champions such as Jax and Zed

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• Take if lane is a sustain lane such as Soraka and Sona
• Can potentially help in finishing off an opponent that otherwise got away
• Needed against high sustain champions such as Dr. Mundo and Vladamir

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• If adc does not have this spell, take it
• Usually meant to help with tough lanes
• Can be used offensively thanks to the addition of speed boost

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Concussive Blows is a very impressive and ominous passive. Whenever Braum hits an enemy with an auto attack or Winter's Bite, he will apply a single stack of Concussive Blows. When these stacks reach 4, the enemy will be stunned shortly.

• Once the first stack is applied, your allies can assist in adding stacks by auto attacking or on hit skills such as Ezreal's Mystic Shot.
• The stun will last for 1.25 secs up to lvl 6, 1.5 secs up to lvl 11, and 1.75 secs beyond that.
• Be sure to do an auto attack or two once an enemy is stunned as this will be one of the few times you can do decent damage thanks to the additional magic damage.
• Multiple enemies can have a stack of Concussive Blows on them at the same time. This means you should probably auto attack as many enemies in a team fight as possible.

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Winter's Bite is Braum's primary offensive skill. When cast, it will shoot a decent sized projectile in a targeted direction. The first target to come in contact with the projectile will take damage, be slowed, and have a stack of Concussive Blows applied.

• Minions can be hit by this skill, so it is important to have a clear shot at your desired target.
• Damage scales further with Braum's maximum health.
• Can be used after Stand Behind Me is cast on a minion or ally for a surprise attack.
• If possible, use Winter's Bite after Concussive Blows stun has been applied for even more damage on a single target.

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Stand Behind Me is what makes Braum an excellent support. The ability will let you jump to an ally or minion and increase not only your armor and magic resist by a percentage, but also the ally you casted it on.

• Using this skill will instantly place you in between your ally and nearest enemy. If desired you can use Unbreakable before jumping to your ally which could save them from that nasty Jinx ult.
• If the opportunity is present, this skill can be used to jump over walls when an ally is present to do so. Communication could be your best friend in dire situations.
• The skill can be used without jumping to an ally nor minion. It will just apply the armor and mr bonus to yourself.
• Feel free to use Stand Behind Me on the ally tanking dragon or baron.

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Unbreakable is not only what makes Braum an incredible tank, but it may be the best tank skill to date. Any projectiles that pass through the front of the shield will have greatly reduced damage directed only at Braum. The first projectile to pass through the shield will do absolutely no damage.

• Whenever possible, try to use while Stand Behind Me is active to take absolute minimal damage.
• You can still cast skills and spells while Unbreakable is active.
• The shield will not block skills that are placed area of effect such as Cho'Gath's Rupture and Zyra's Stranglethorns.
• Since Unbreakable can completely block the damage of the first projectile to hit it. It would be wise to plan when to use it while against champion ults such as Jinx's Super Mega Death Rocket! and Ezreal's Trueshot Barrage.
• SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT!!! Do not use this to block turret shots. It does not work, no matter how godly your mustache may be!

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Glacial Fissure is Braum's ultimate skill. It has really good utility in which it can be used in both offensive and defensive situations by creating an area of ice that initially knocks up every enemy caught in the cast and then slowing them while within the area affected.

• First enemy knocked up remains in the air longer than those that follow. Timing could be important in key situations.
• Enemies will still remain slowed for a short period of time after leaving the area affected.
• If possible, encourage your team mates to force a team fight in the jungle as his ult works well in enclosed spaces.
• Like Winter's Bite, using Glacial Fissure after Stand Behind Me could be quite surprising to the enemies.

Option #1:Option #2 You will start with Winter's Bite as a good opportunity to catch your opponent out lvl one is the fastest way to win lane. You are not completely decked out in tank items as of yet, so next skill picked is Unbreakable as you can properly position yourself to reduce damage to your adc without the need to gap close. Then last, Stand Behind Me before focusing on capping either Winter's Bite or Unbreakable and getting a skill point for your ult when available.

Braum has two ways that he can max his skills. He will either go R>Q>E>W or R>E>Q>W which will depend on the laning phase of the game. Generally you will want to be going Q>E as this will help to get your adc kills and increase your zoning potential. The drawback to this is that you will be spending more mana as you skill it up, but it is worth it. You will pick this order when you can zone your opponents, are ahead, or when your opponents will play passively such as Soraka support. E>Q will be for the opposite of that in which you are being zoned and need to sustain in lane as long as you possibly can. If you see a point in time where you are coming out ahead, you can switch from doing E>Q to Q>E.

You will lastly cap Stand Behind Me as you have to build up items to truly benefit from the scaling and also taking into account that the damage reduction from Unbreakable is better overall. The only situation where you should cap Stand Behind Me before Unbreakable is if for some crazy reason your opponents do not have projectiles to use. In which case you would cap Winter's Bite first.

Build #1:

Ruby Sightstone gives you a quick boost to your health as well as free wards. I tend to rush Sightstone and then put off Ruby Sightstone until much later in the game to get other items on other supports. With Braum though, I prefer to get Ruby Sightstone before moving onto my other core items aside tier two boots.

face of the mountain

Another big difference for Braum compared to other supports is that I will keep this item on him. Even with Leona I tend to switch Targon's Brace to work towards Talisman of Ascension for the amazing active on it. Face of the Mountain, however, works perfectly for Braum in that he can put it on himself to further mitigate even more damage and possibly a little bit of damage against your opponents.

With feedback and testing, this item is easily a must have with Braum. You gain armor, health, and a very useful passive. Originally I had imagined Braum sticking with his team rather than being inside the fight. It is now clear that with team fights, your not only protecting your team, but you are in the frey of enemies to place Concussive Blows on them. Sunfire Aegis thus becomes a very powerful item on you.

Aegis of the Legion provides well needed MR and even more health. It also has one of the most useful passives in the game providing your team with extra MR and Health Regen. Once you upgrade it to Locket of the Iron Solari, you and your team will be able to withstand even more damage. I can not stress how important using the active is.

Build #2:

These are an option if your team is well ahead in the game. I would probably still recommend going with either Mobility Boots or Mercury's Treads though.

If your team manages to stay far ahead in the game, you could take this item. It has the second highest amount of health on any item in the game and will give you a permanent slow to keep applying stacks of Concussive Blows.

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This will usually be your go to last item. It has health and armor which are always great to have. The active applies yet another form of cc for Braum to abuse. If you think you can escape, well then I mustache you a question. How far do you really think you will get?

If the opposing team is mostly magic damage or has a dangerous mage such as LeBlanc. It may be beneficial to pick up this item in place of Sunfire Aegis or as your last item depending on your needs.

Warmog's Armor is actually a very good item on Braum. As mentioned before, you can take more damage with Unbreakable the more health you have. The only reason this is not a core item is that it can be a bit of a selfish pick. Unbreakable is an amazing ability, but it only covers a single direction. Armor and Magic Resist will still be a higher priority as Stand Behind Me can make a squishy damage dealer much like a tank.

After quite a bit of testing, I found myself drawn more to Frozen Heart rather than Iceborn Gauntlet. When your opponents are heavy on AA champions, you can choose to go with this item over Sunfire Aegis. The bonus being that you can get within the 30-40% CDR range.

Iceborn Gauntlet has many different stats that Braum can put to full use. The primary reason for grabbing these though is for the CDR and Armor. As a bonus though, after casting any one of your spells, you gain another means of applying cc to your enemies. I would still recommend Frozen Heart over this one though if you decide you do not want to run with Sunfire Aegis.

Best used against a team with a high amount of cc or a spell combo that can 100 to 0 you (as unlikely as that is). Same as Spirit Visage as to when you would take it, and may even be a better choice depending on your preference.

When the opposing team has a lot of cc or a strong cc that can ignore your shield (i.e. Warwick), Mikael's Blessing can be a fantastic answer for these situations. I have not built this much myself. However when called for, it can be an invaluable item to have on you to protect your allies and yourself. Even more so if you choose to use it on yourself during a team fight, it can return a good chunk of health to allow you to absorb even more damage. Depending on the opposing composition, I recommend replacing Sunfire Aegis for more MR against AP heavy teams or to apply before Sunfire Aegis to deal with a dangerous cc as much as possible.

zeke's herald

Only take this item if your team is heavy on AD champions. Would most likely replace Locket of the Iron Solari unless the magic resist is of higher priority.

Only recommended if against 3 or more auto attacking AD champions. Does have a lot of armor as well which is never a bad thing. (At the moment I have no idea if this works with Unbreakable)

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These will be your go to boots in majority of games. One huge weakness Braum has is his lack of mobility which could have him in a bad position when your team or opponents initiate a fight. These will help you get to those fights quicker and also prevent stray opponent's from getting away so easily when active.

This will generally be your go to boots for heavy cc/magic teams. Since Unbreakable will be absorbing a good majority of projectiles and Stand Behind Me putting you in harms way, you will be eating a lot of cc.

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When ahead in the game, this enchantment will likely be your best choice in which you can set up a fight and your team can quickly follow up.

If you decided to go without Summoner's Insight , this enchantment is a great option to make up for that. It can even be taken if you do have that, but in this case other enchantments could be more worthwhile.

If you find yourself having trouble keeping in range of your opponents, this is a great option to take over Enchantment: Captain.

If anything within your base could be put at risk to fall, this is your go to enchantment. Majority of games you will likely be taking this over the others.

Best Synergy


Great Synergy







Good Synergy





Lacking Synergy

Credit To Wtf Pwnd for image

• White Dots: Early warding locations
• Red Dots: Mid/Late warding locations
• Red arrows: Walls that can be jumped with Flash or Stand Behind Me