Cultist Brawler

The Cultist Brawler is a Human type enemy that can be found in any area, usually accompanied by Cultist Acolytes, and will almost always spawn in the first and second ranks. While they aren't particularly tough nor hard-hitting, they do have a good chance to inflict Bleed and a debuff that makes heroes more vulnerable to incoming Stress, priming the victim for the Acolytes' Stressful Incantation. They're also more dangerous to marked heroes, and the higher the difficulty, the more likely they are to take advantage of this.

Behavior
The Brawler has two mutually exclusive attacks, making its attack pattern very predictable. It will use Rend for the Old Gods in the front two positions, and Stumbling Scratch in the back. It has a 2x/3x/4x chance depending on difficulty to prioritize marked targets with Rend for the Old Gods, which also deals slightly more damage against marks.

Strategy
Overall, these enemies are only the helping hand of their Acolyte allies and are not a major threat. Though frail compared to the more eldritch creatures, their health pool can still be quite an irritant as dispatching these foes can require the turns of two heroes, save for the killing blow of a critical strike.

If a quick kill isn't possible, there is merit in pushing them to the back ranks, forcing them to waste a turn on a much weaker attack getting back to the front lines, and possibly displacing a more fragile Acolyte to the front where your heroes' blades wait.

Abilities
Apprentice =

Veteran =

Champion =