Editing Mnemon Explains Solar Combat (section)

====Brawl====

Often considered the weakest Dawn ability, as it lacks a dice adder or any kind of defence, Brawl still has some significant advantages, and is capable of its own brand of mayhem. It's an excellent ability for those want to help out rather than be the frontline warrior (being the king of the "I hold him, you hit him" style of combat), or as a sneaky backup to Melee, Archery or Thrown. Archers will of course be kicking rather than punching.

Brawl is also recommended for social characters, since someone in a clinch has little choice about listening to you.

Firstly, get a weapon, whether it's a fighting gauntlet, a Smashfist, or whatever you find lying around. This lets you do lethal damage easily, and defend, whether by simply using Melee defence charms with the weapon (recommended), or by being able to parry lethal using Brawl without a stunt (if you insist).

Secondly, it's essential to have a good soak when using Brawl, as you simply can't defend any other way while clinching, and many of the better Brawl offence charms are Simple, meaning you won't be able to use actions to defend. Flow Like Blood is recommended.

Clinching is best done by picking an opponent whose defences aren't great, and then taking multiple clinch actions against them. You only need one to hit, and they're clinched - it doesn't matter whether it's a good hit or not, so unless you're dealing with persistent defences, wear them down in order to get a grip on them. Many enemies will be paranoid about being clinched, and may go to excessive measures to avoid it; so even if you're not successful, you can be a terrible drain on their resources. Just be careful - when in a clinch, you have no defences other than soak, and well, we've discussed relying on soak, haven't we? It's best to team up with a friend, and have them kill whoever you're clinching before THEIR friends can attack you. Voila, out of clinch and ready to defend.

Brawl's charms are split into two main trees - the general use tree, and the hurling people tree. A clinching character will want Dragon Coil Technique, and thus needs the first tree. A character meaning to rely on striking will want the second tree, as it allows unparryable attacks, while grabbing some useful charms from the first tree for comboing. Expect to make combos with Brawl, as its charms are highly synergistic.

Ferocious Jab is a must for all Brawlers, allowing extremely punishing hits against opponents with poor defences, and being extremely cheap besides! A must for a striking Brawl combo.

Fist of Iron Technique is useless, but required to progress through the tree. Move on.

Ox-Stunning Blow is an exceptionally good way to cut down an opponent relying on Soak to size. Pick a vulnerable target and hit them as hard as you can with this, and they'll be wearing huge penalties for several turns. Expect your friends to execute them during this time.

Thunderclap Rush automatically wins initiative against one opponent; it's best saved for combos designed to screw over opponents who REALLY don't like losing initiative - great for ambushing Martial Artists, fellow Celestials and others who rely on power-up time before a fight.

Hammer on Iron Technique is a bit expensive, and only worth doing when Flow Like Blood is up, as it cannot be combo'd with dodge charms.

Dragon Coil Technique is a great help in clinches - get the opponent in the clinch first, then activate it on subsequent turns.

Crashing Wave Throw is the key to the striking strategy - because it cannot be parried, target a foe with poor dodge or no perfect defences, preferably standing near a wall, and hammer them. A combo with Ferocious Jab and Heaven Thunder Hammer will maul most targets, especially if you can smash them *through* something.

Sample Combo: Gleeful Dawn Demolition Shot Crashing Wave Throw + Heaven Thunder Hammer + Ferocious Jab + Seven Shadow Evasion, 11xp. For 6 motes, make an unparryable attack, doubling successes for damage, and hurling foe Str + Successes + Total Raw Damage yards. Foe takes damage equal to yards of flight remaining if they hit an object.