The straightforward premise of “Brave” a princess who refuses to be betrothed and her relationship with her mother felt quaint in the context of the previous films. The story of Scottish princess Merida, and her journey towards self-actualisation, felt less ground-breaking than the studio’s more overtly unusual premises, such as an old widower chasing adventure in “Up”, the robot love story in “Wall-E”, or a rat with culinary ambitions in “Ratatouille”. Disney had, in fact, bought Pixar Studios six years earlier, so that “Brave” was, technically, a Disney film. It was a foray into the princess-mode of storytelling that was more reminiscent of Disney. Although the reception was positive, the general feeling then was that “Brave” was good but not great Pixar material. By that point, the studio’s previous 12 features across 17 years had defined it as a cultural behemoth in animation. (It seems she still 'Slays' but no longer has 'has a Slay ability'.When “Brave” premiered at the Seattle International Festival in June, 2012, it was the first feature from Pixar Animation Studios to feature a female protagonist. For example, Cloak of the Assassin stops working, but Bad Moon and Shadow Assassin still do. However, when she completes her Quest, some Slay effects, but not all, stop working.(She still has the ability after Quest completion, but it does nothing.) This interacts accordingly with Baba Yaga, Bad Moon, Cloak of the Assassin, and so forth. Brave Princess can be seen as having a Slay ability that, when activated 3 times, completes her Quest.Mihri, King Lion particularly appreciates her because she is affected by his hero power, and she in turn contributes to it when she finishes her quest. She can be a long-term contributor if you pursue a Royal-related strategy, like ones that rely on Court Wizard and/or King Arthur. You can support her with characters like Mad Mim and spells like Queen's Grace to improve her chances of Slaying.īe wary of investing too much into her with spells like Sugar and Spice or Merlin's Test unless you think she can be a long-term contributor for your board after finishing her quest.

When you are playing against high-level competition, she often will not - even if you picked her up on your first turn of being level 3 - depending on your luck. New players tend to overestimate how often she finishes her quest, as against bots and low-level players, which you play against initially, she usually will, as bots and newer players' boards do not scale up as fast as those of experienced players. If you aren't able to Support her, she's a risky pick any turn after turn 4 (the first turn most heroes are level 3). Like most Slay characters, you will usually want to put her either in slot 1 or slot 5, as those are the positions most likely to attack before being attacked.īeware - as the game progresses and your opponents' boards have healthier and healthier characters, she becomes less and less likely to Slay, and recognizing when she is and isn't likely to finish her quest is key to deciding whether or not to buy her, and whether or not to keep trying to finish her quest when there are other characters that may be a better fit for your board. She also has decent stats for a level 3 character, though her quest is her upside. Brave Princess is generally a worthwhile investment on any board if she is able to complete her quest by about the time you hit level 5.

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