Brawl Stars Combat Mechanics and Status Effects
Brawl Stars fights are short, so small mechanics decide them: who gets stunned, who can heal through poison, which Super charges first. This page explains twelve terms that players search for, with the numbers that matter and the Brawler or Gear each one belongs to. Two names are not what they seem: Counter Crush belongs to Jacky, and Pierce is a Brawler as well as a word for piercing shots. One Gadget, Bull's T-Bone Injector, now exists under a new name.
Values come from the Brawl Stars community wiki and Supercell's 2026 release notes and apply to Season 55 (Brawl-o-ween, which runs until 5 November 2026). Balance changes also arrive in maintenance breaks between seasons (in 2026 on 8 July, 4 August and 16 September), so a Brawler's exact numbers can move.
| Term | What it is | Main example |
|---|---|---|
| Counter Crush | Star Power | Jacky |
| Damage over time | Status effect | Crow's poison |
| Energy Drink | Map pickup from a modifier | Any Brawler |
| Health Gear | Universal Gear | Any Brawler at Power Level 8+ |
| Invisibility | Status effect | Leon, Kit |
| Slow and stun | Crowd control | Gale, Bull, Frank, Buzz |
| T-Bone Injector | Old Gadget name | Bull (now T-Bone Missile) |
Counter Crush
Counter Crush is a Star Power of Jacky, the 34th Brawler added to the game and a Super Rare Tank. Every time Jacky takes damage, she answers with a free Groundbreaker counterattack that deals 30% of the damage she just received in a 4-tile radius. It costs no ammo, and it does not set off an opposing Jacky's Counter Crush, so two Jackys cannot loop damage into each other.
Because Jacky also charges her Super from damage she takes, a fight where she is hit repeatedly gives her both Super charge and counter damage. The Star Power is strongest in close, crowded fights, for example around the ball in Brawl Ball or near a Gem Grab mine. On open maps, long-range Brawlers can simply stay outside the 4-tile circle. Her other Star Power, Hardy Hard Hat, instead reduces the damage she takes, so the choice is between punishing attackers and outlasting them.
Some older guides attribute Counter Crush to Ash with a 25% figure. That is a mix-up: Ash is a different Tank whose kit is built around Rage, and his Super sends out robot rats.
Damage over time
Damage over time (DoT) is damage that arrives in ticks after the hit instead of all at once. The cleanest example is Crow: his three daggers apply poison that deals a small amount each second for up to 3 ticks. Poison does not stack from several daggers, but a fresh hit refreshes the timer. His Instapoison Gadget deals all the remaining poison damage at once.
The second half of the effect is easy to miss. Poisoned enemies receive 50% less from every healing source, and that reduction lasts up to 4 seconds after Crow's last hit, one second longer than the poison itself. One exception is Max's Sneaky Sneakers Gadget, which is not affected. So Crow is the standard answer to healers such as Poco and Pam and to Brawlers that rely on natural regeneration.
Counterplay is positional: leave the fight for a few seconds, let the ticks and the healing reduction run out, then heal.
Energy Drink
Energy Drink is a map pickup that appears in matches with the Energy Drink modifier. It is also one of the modifiers a host can switch on in Friendly Battles. A small circle marker and a jingle that can be heard anywhere on the map warn that one is about to spawn. The Brawler who grabs it deals double damage and moves 200 speed points faster for a short time, glows purple and grows slightly. Health is not changed, and the speed bonus stacks with speed-boost abilities.
Doubled damage makes a fight winnable for whoever reaches the drink first, so teammates are better off covering the carrier than all running for it. Watch the spawn marker: it gives a second or two to get into position or to stand where the enemy must come to you.
Older descriptions call it a Showdown-only power-up. It is better understood as a modifier that can be attached to normal events, much like other modifiers in the rotation.
Healing
Healing in Brawl Stars comes from three places: natural regeneration, Brawler abilities, and Gears. The base natural regeneration rate is 13% of maximum health per second once a Brawler stops fighting. Ability healing varies a lot:
| Source | Effect |
|---|---|
| Poco, main attack | Sound waves pierce and heal teammates hit for 5% of Poco's maximum health |
| Poco, Super (Encore) | Heals Poco and every ally the wave reaches |
| Pam, Super (Mama's Kiss) | Turret heals allies inside its radius for 12% of Pam's maximum health each second |
| Leon, Invisiheal Star Power | Restores 20% of maximum health each second while his Super is active |
Healing can be cut. Crow's poison halves all healing received (see damage over time). The Health Gear raises regeneration speed but does nothing against poison.
A practical rule: heal behind cover, not in the lane. Healing is slow compared with burst damage, so it wins long skirmishes, not duels.
Health Gear
Health Gear makes a Brawler regenerate health 50% faster: the base 13% of maximum health per second becomes 19.5% per second. It is one of the six universal Gears, together with Speed, Damage, Vision, Shield and Gadget Cooldown. Universal Gears (once called Super Rare Gears) cost 1,000 Coins each. A Gear is bought for one Brawler and works on that Brawler only; the first slot opens at Power Level 8 and the second at Power Level 10.
Short history: Gears arrived on 17 November 2021. The original Heal Gear restored health only while standing still and was reworked into the Health Gear on 1 March 2022. On 25 October 2022 Gear Tokens, Gear Scrap and Gear levels were removed and Gears became Coin purchases.
Since the August 2026 update, unlocking a new Brawler through Brawler Blast can also hand out a random universal Gear for that Brawler (2 Gem Fragments), and Brawler Blast is the only source of random Gears.
Health Gear suits Brawlers that retreat and recover between fights. For Brawlers that fight constantly, Shield Gear is the usual alternative: 900 extra health as a shield that regenerates over 10 seconds when the Brawler is at full health.
Invisibility
Invisibility hides a Brawler from enemy screens for a limited time. Taking damage makes the Brawler flicker into view for a moment, which is how good players track them.
| Source | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Leon, Super | 6 seconds | 7 seconds with the Invisiheal Star Power plus its Buffie |
| Kit, Cardboard Box Gadget | 3 seconds | Super charges 100% faster while he stays still; 23-second cooldown |
Invisibility is not the same as hiding in a bush. Vision Gear reveals an enemy in a bush for 2 seconds after you damage them, and the reveal is shared with the whole match, but since 23 May 2023 it no longer reveals invisible targets. Against Leon or Kit the answer is wide attacks and area damage around the spot where they vanished.
Slow
Slow lowers movement speed for a short time; reload and attack speed are untouched. It is rarer in Brawl Stars than in MOBAs, and most slows come from Star Powers or Gadgets rather than base attacks:
- Gale, Freezing Snow Star Power: his snowballs slow enemies for 0.5 seconds.
- Bull, Stomper Gadget: reworked on 25 February 2026 to slow enemies around him; enemies that are already slowed are stunned instead.
- Frank, Active Noise Canceling Gadget: the reverse case, it makes him briefly immune to stuns, slows and knockbacks.
Because the duration is short, Slow is mainly a tool to make follow-up shots land. Speed boosts are a separate system: the August 2026 release notes made Gear Speed stack with other speed sources and returned stacking to a list of speed Star Powers such as Colt's Slick Boots, El Primo's Meteor Rush and Grom's Foot Patrol.
Splash
Splash is area damage: a hit damages everything inside a radius, not only the target. Dynamike is the textbook case. He lobs two sticks of dynamite over walls; they spread slightly, explode together after 1 second, and each has a 1.5-tile blast radius. If both blasts hit the same target the damage is very high.
Splash is useful against cover and clustered enemies, and thrown attacks like Dynamike's ignore walls entirely. It differs from pierce, where one projectile passes through several targets in a line. You cannot escape splash by stepping behind a teammate, while a piercing shot loses nothing by hitting two enemies in a row. The counter to throwers is to close the distance, since most of them are weak up close.
Stun
Stun freezes a Brawler in place: no movement, no attacks, no Supers.
| Brawler | Source | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Frank | Super, Stunning Blow (1.7-second wind-up) | 2 seconds |
| Buzz | Super, stun on arrival, radius 2.33 tiles | 0.6 to 1.5 seconds; longer if he started farther away |
| Bull | Stomper Gadget, on enemies already slowed | Short stun after the slow |
Stun also interrupts: if Frank is stunned, pulled or knocked back during his 1.2-second attack delay, the attack is cancelled. That is why stuns are the answer to wind-up Brawlers.
The practical counter is to stay out of the radius when the Super lands, or to bait it out first.
Supercharge
"Supercharge" usually means how fast a Brawler fills the Super meter. The meter fills mostly by dealing damage; some Brawlers also fill it by taking damage (Bull, El Primo, Jacky, Ash) or over time (Edgar). Ash is an extreme case: he needs damage equal to 2.76 times his maximum health to fill his Super.
The Super Charge Gear makes Super and Hypercharge charge 10% faster and also speeds up passive and damage-taken charging. It is not universal: it is an Epic Gear (1,500 Coins) for specific Brawlers. On 2 November 2026 those are Ash, Bonnie, Jacky, Lou, Nani, Otis and Sprout; Bull, Edgar and El Primo lost theirs when they received Buffies, because Epic and Mythic Gears are removed and refunded when a Brawler's Buffies arrive. The Gear was added on 25 October 2022, the same day Gears moved to Coins. It does not help Bonnie while she is in her alternate mode.
Friendly Battles also offer a "Super Charge" modifier that speeds up charging for everyone in the match.
T-Bone Injector
T-Bone Injector was Bull's first Gadget. Added on 17 March 2020, it healed Bull instantly: 1,500 health at first, 1,600 from 24 October 2023 and 1,696 from 16 December 2025.
On 25 February 2026 it was renamed T-Bone Missile and reworked. It no longer heals on the button press. Aimed with the Gadget button, it fires a projectile that heals Bull for 100% of the damage it deals to an enemy Brawler, so a miss heals nothing. It cannot be used while Bull is charging with his Super, and its cooldown went up to 18 seconds on the same date. With its Buffie, the hit also marks the target, and Bull converts part of the damage he deals to that target into health.
Bull has 5,000 health and a shotgun that is strongest up close, so the missile is a way to turn the opening hit of a fight into health. If an older guide says the Gadget restores a flat 1,500 health, it describes the pre-2026 version.
Pierce
Pierce has two meanings. As a mechanic, a piercing attack passes through enemies instead of stopping at the first one: Poco's wide sound waves are an example. It rewards lining up targets.
As a name, Pierce is a Brawler: the 98th added to the game, a Legendary Marksman with 3,000 health, very long range and a very slow reload.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 18 December 2025 | Playable in the Training Cave |
| 19 December 2025 | Early unlock through Pierce Boxes and Shop packs |
| 1 January 2026 | Added to Starr Road |
Pierce cannot reload normally. His shots drop shells on the ground; picking one up restores one ammo and fires a piercing shot at the nearest target, through walls. The last ammo in a clip deals extra damage.
When someone says "Pierce is strong", check whether they mean the mechanic or the Brawler.
Related terms
- Brawl Stars progression, currencies and rewards
- Brawl Stars modes, clubs and social features
- Brawl Stars skins
Guides and services
Our Brawl Stars tier list and the Surge guide show how Gears and Supers are used in builds. Onlyfarms also lists Brawl Stars rank boosting and a mastery boost.
FAQ
How long does a stun last?
It depends on the source. Frank's Super stuns for 2 seconds; Buzz's Super stuns for 0.6 to 1.5 seconds, longer the farther he travelled. A stun, pull or knockback also cancels Frank's 1.2-second attack wind-up.
Is Counter Crush Ash's Star Power?
No. Counter Crush is Jacky's Star Power: 30% of damage taken is returned as a 4-tile Groundbreaker counterattack. Ash's kit uses Rage and a Super that spawns robot rats.
What happened to Bull's T-Bone Injector?
On 25 February 2026 it was renamed T-Bone Missile. Instead of an instant heal, it now fires a projectile and heals Bull for the damage it deals to an enemy Brawler, with an 18-second cooldown.
Does Vision Gear counter Leon?
No. Since 23 May 2023 Vision Gear only reveals enemies hiding in bushes for 2 seconds after you damage them. It does not reveal Leon's or Kit's invisibility.
What is the difference between splash and pierce?
Splash damages everything in an area around the impact point. Pierce means a projectile keeps travelling through the first target to hit others behind it.
