Tears of Metal Battalion Monikers

What Monikers Do

Monikers are persistent modifiers applied to Scottish soldiers and captains in your battalion. They change how troops behave in combat — aggression, target priority, emblem sharing, and aura effects — rather than adding a simple stat line on your hero. Treat Monikers as build pieces alongside Emblem families and Charms, especially when Act 2 captain fights demand sustained battalion DPS while you break officer guard bars.

Monikers pair naturally with Battalion Management fundamentals: recruit captains when nodes offer them, protect veterans through hazard telegraphs, and invest Dunbar emblem picks that buff soldiers fighting in your wake. A well-leveled captain squad with the right Moniker can delete Act 2 swordsmen while your hero focuses shield breaks — permadeath still applies, so recall before telegraphed artillery rather than after half your roster dies.

How to Acquire Monikers

Monikers unlock through Village progression, campaign events, and captain-related rewards rather than a single shop menu. Barracks upgrades, Training Grounds drills, and settlement buildings expand how many behavioral modifiers you can assign before War Preparations. Some Monikers appear after specific Act milestones or companion interactions — check the Village before each campaign if you returned with new permanent currency.

Paper Cult may add Moniker slots or new modifiers during Early Access. After patch 0.11, captain health and block health tuning makes Moniker-backed sustained damage more valuable in Act 2 — read live tooltips when assigning modifiers because balance numbers can shift between patches even when names stay the same.

Monikers + Emblems + Captains

Dunbar + Monikers — Dunbar emblem families buff troops in your wake; Monikers that increase soldier stickiness or emblem sharing multiply that value. Strong for Wallace anchor runs and Brienne pressure builds that stay in melee range.

Captain focus — Monikers that enhance captain aura radius or officer guard-break assist help Act 2 shield elites where hero burst alone stalls. Split emblem families in co-op so one player runs Dunbar/Moniker sustain while another runs Mark or Smite burst.

Survival tradeoffs — Aggressive Monikers that push soldiers forward raise DPS but increase permadeath risk on Hazard maps. Pair with Resilient emblem picks or Ruadh healing before enabling glass-cannon Moniker stacks.

Monikers in Act 2 After Patch 0.11

Patch 0.11.57863 adjusted Health and Block Health for several Act 2 captains — Dagger, Sword and Shield, Polearm, Giant, and Rage Master — while softening the Act 1 → Act 2 difficulty curve. Monikers that amplify sustained battalion damage help more when individual captains live longer and block longer. Use the new Block-damage attack icon to time hero openers after your Moniker-buffed captains soften shield phases.

If Act 2 still feels sharp, prioritize one defensive Moniker or Resilient emblem before stacking offensive auras. Monikers cannot replace routing discipline — see Threat & Hazards when optional nodes spike pressure before captain arenas.