Braum is one of the most popular supports in League of Legends due to his powerful yet easy-to-play kit.
The Heart of the Freljord is tailor-made to defend AD carries and is often built to maximize health and create openings for the marksman. Braum’s passive makes dueling difficult for opponents since they may find themselves stunned after taking four hits.
Since his release, Braum has maintained his status as one of the most consistent tanks in the bot lane, even when more popular picks like Nautilus and Leona attempt to take over. His unique ability to shield allies from bursts of damage and counterattack accordingly has become increasingly beneficial as years have gone by due to the sheer amount of damage some champions can deal in mere seconds.
Like all champions in League, Braum will need to adapt his build to suit the situation. Some items are useful for the support regardless of the direction the game goes in, however.
Here is one of the best builds for Braum in the 2022 season of League.
Runes
Resolve
Guardian: Braum’s role is to guard the ADC and the rest of his team, ensuring they have the upper hand in fights. Taking Guardian will allow Braum to protect fellow champions nearby and grant them a small shield should they take damage. This effect will also activate should Braum use an ability on his allies, such as his Stand Behind Me, that will already grant bonus armor and magic resistance.
Font of Life: Braum has many ways to impair the movement of enemy champions. This can be done using his passive’s stun or through his Winter’s Bite to apply a slow to the enemy. Once he has done this, the target will be marked by Font of Life. Marked targets will heal back health to allies who damage them over two seconds.
Bone Plating: Having more durability is going to make Braum better at defending his allies. Bone Plating grants Braum early tankiness, reducing the subsequent damage he receives after first being damaged by an enemy champion.
Unflinching: Unflinching grants Braum extra mobility during combat. Often enemy champions will choose to use crowd control abilities against Braum to slow him down and stop him from reaching his allies. This rune is going to reduce the effects of these abilities by up to 20 percent as Braum’s health gets lower.
Inspiration
Magical Footwear: Another way Braum will gain early mobility is by using Magical Footwear. At 12 minutes into the game, Braum will receive a pair of Slightly Magical Boots. If Braum can help his allies get takedowns before that mark, he’ll get them even quicker, saving him 300 gold.
Biscuit Delivery: For many champions in the bottom lane, taking Biscuit Delivery is going to be extremely beneficial. This rune gives the champion a way to heal back from damage without the need to return to base. Biscuits will also increase the maximum mana the champion has, giving them a small advantage for later in the game.
Optional—Approach Velocity: Should players want to be more aggressive with Braum, Approach Velocity is a great choice. By slowing someone with Braum’s passive, Q, or ultimate, Braum will gain a burst of movement speed towards them. This will allow both Braum and his allies to stack his passive and immobilize a caught-out foe, though is certainly not necessary in every situation.
Bonuses: +8 ability haste, +6 armor/+8 magic resist (matchup-dependent), +15-140 health
Starting items
Steel Shoulderguards
Due to support champions’ inability to farm minions, starting with a support item is important. Steel Shoulderguards gives Braum a way to secure gold for himself and his ADC through minions killed by either player. While there are many items that do this, this item is perfect for Braum due to its stat increases of 30 health, three attack damage, and 25 percent health regeneration.
Additionally, Steel Shoulderguards will transform once enough gold has been acquired. Once transformed, the item will gain the ability to place wards that grant vision to allies.
Relic Shield is also an option that players may choose to start with, though Braum’s abilities scale with his HP rather than his AP. This makes it more effective for him to use Steel Shoulderguards and proc his passive often.
Health Potion
Much like Biscuit Delivery, taking a health potion grants Braum another way to sustain health and remain in the lane should he take damage from enemy units or champions. For the remaining 100 gold, taking two potions is the perfect choice to cap off Braum’s starting items.
Stealth Ward
You can’t be a great support player unless you watch your warding. Starting with a Stealth Ward provides Braum with a powerful tool that can save a bot lane matchup from falling victim to an early level two gank from the enemy team. It can also be useful for stopping invades in the early game, though it should be used depending on the situation.
Core items
Locket of the Iron Solari (Mythic)
The introduction of Mythic items provided champions across the Rift with valuable tools that increase their ability to perform their distinct roles, often being the first purchase players opt for due to this power spike. Tank supports don’t have much to choose from, but for Braum, nothing could be more helpful than offering players even more shielding with Locket of the Iron Solari. Outside of its massive active shielding effect, it also provides champions around Braum with a small boost to their armor and magic resist, making it a great option for Braum players that want to be in the front of the action.
Plated Steelcaps/Mercury’s Treads (boots)
Boots provide Braum with not just a boost of speed that may let him land a pinpoint Q on an opponent, but can also be customized to provide Braum with even more defenses depending on the matchup. Plated Steelcaps are almost always a must-have for Braum players due to how often they’ll be poked down by an enemy ADC. Mercury’s Treads provide a boost to Braum’s tenacity that can help against matchups into champions like Morgana or Leona that may leave Braum unable to move for some time, though.
Zeke’s Convergence
At his core, Braum is a tankier support. Many items on this build are going to be focused on increasing his health and armor, adding bonus durability to the Freljord champion.
Zeke’s Convergence is the perfect item to increase Braum’s durability, boasting 25 additional armor, 250 bonus mana and health, and 20 ability haste. One of the main uses for this item comes once Braum and his allies engage in a teamfight. Should Braum cast his ultimate ability, he will be surrounded by a storm that will deal magic damage and add a slowing effect to enemies caught inside.
Knight’s Vow
The perfect support item for tank champions, Knight’s Vow allows Braum to partner with an ally and grants bonus effects for the pair should they be next to each other. On top of this, the item will grant Braum 400 bonus health, 10 ability haste, and 200-percent base health regen. This item can only be linked to one ally champion at a time, so Braum is going to want to use this on his ADC.
Thornmail
Being a natural tank, Braum enjoys being at the center of attention. Throughout most of the game, Braum will likely be on the receiving end of lots of damage, much of which he is unable to do anything about due to his lack of items. But once Zeke’s Convergence and Knight’s Vow are built, Braum can opt for the powerful Thornmail, which will punish enemies dealing damage with their auto-attacks.
Redemption
Outside of the enchanter class, most supports do not have access to ways to heal their allies. Braum attempts to compensate for this with his armor and magic resist presents, as well as his large shield and rune choices, but bringing low allies back from low health isn’t really what he does. Luckily for champions like Braum, Redemption acts as not only a way to deal with low-health allies but also benefits Braum through increases to his mana regen, health, and ability haste.
