Best Brann Curios for Every Role in The War Within
Archive note: Brann Bronzebeard was the solo dungeon companion of The War Within. World of Warcraft: Midnight launched on March 2, 2026, and its companion is Valeera Sanguinar, with her own curios. This page covers Brann’s last curio set, from Season 3 (patch 11.2, Ghosts of K’aresh).
The best Brann curios for most players in Season 3 were Quizzical Device in the combat slot and Tailwind in the utility slot. One gives you or Brann a role-based buff with no setup at all, the other speeds you up after every fight and shields you when you press a defensive. That’s our pick, and the reasoning is below.
Every number on this page comes from the curio spell tooltips in the Wowhead database, which lists all ten Season 3 curios as added in patch 11.2.0 and shows four ranks for each. Blizzard never published a recommended loadout. So the picks are ours, the numbers are not.
How do Brann’s curios work?
Brann carries two curios per run: one combat curio and one utility curio. That’s it. Each curio has four ranks, and a higher rank keeps the same effect but makes it bigger (Quizzical Device goes from a 5% bonus at Rank 1 to 20% at Rank 4). Season 3 came with its own set of ten, five per slot.
Best Brann curios in the combat slot
Short version first. Quizzical Device and Hatarang work on their own, Mana-Tinted Glasses needs a healer who pays attention, and the other two are insurance.
| Combat curio | What it does | Rank 1 to Rank 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzical Device | About 2 procs per minute: Brann can give players a health, damage or healing bonus for 20 sec based on his Combat Role, and players can give Brann one based on theirs | Bonus 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% |
| Hatarang | Brann throws hats that deal moderate damage and apply debuffs: more damage taken, less damage dealt, or slower attacks and casts | Debuff 20% to 35%; 2 to 5 targets; 1 debuff at Ranks 1-2, 2 at Ranks 3-4 |
| Mana-Tinted Glasses | Every 5 sec Brann gains more damage done and 5% more damage taken, up to 10 stacks; dispelling heals him and stuns nearby enemies | Damage 4% to 5% per stack; dispel heal 25% to 70%; stun 2 to 5 sec |
| Nether Overlay Matrix | Chance in combat to summon a weaker ethereal copy of Brann for 1 min | Copy 90% weaker at Rank 1, 60% weaker at Rank 4 |
| Ethereal Energy Converter | When a party member drops below 60% health, a device taunts nearby enemies, then heals allies; every 2 min, kills shorten the wait | Heal 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% of health; taunt 4 to 6 sec |
One detail people miss with the Glasses: if nobody dispels them, they drop off on their own when Brann falls below 30% health, and then there’s no stun. At ten stacks he takes 50% more damage, which is a lot for a companion who is supposed to keep a pack busy. Is that worth it for a 5% damage gain per stack? Only if your healer is actually watching his buffs.
Best Brann curios in the utility slot
| Utility curio | What it does | Rank 1 to Rank 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Tailwind | Movement speed burst for 10 sec after leaving combat, decaying over time; using a defensive cooldown in combat adds an 8 sec shield based on missing health (30 sec cooldown) | Speed 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%; shield 20% to 50% of missing health |
| Battered Aegis | The party deals more damage and healing; every 10 sec in combat you and Brann heal for part of the damage taken; a small penalty after a death | Damage and healing 3%, 6%, 9%, 12%; heal 5% to 20% of damage taken |
| Sands of K’aresh | When Brann uses Gathering Tools, the party gains stacking Critical Strike (up to 10 times) and crits spawn Sand Devils that pull enemies for 6 sec; once every 45 sec | Crit and slow 6%, 8%, 10%, 12% |
| Temporal Decelerator Crystal | Hitting an Elite above 80% or below 20% health slows its attacks and casts for 30 sec; killing it with the debuff gives the party stacking Haste | Slow 20% to 50%; Haste 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% |
| Audio Amplification Crystal | Brann’s lines can give the party a buff depending on what he says | Tooltip only says slightly, moderately, significantly, tremendously amplified |
The full in-game name of Tailwind is a bit longer, and the Wowhead link above opens its tooltip if you want to match it to your curio list.
Which Brann curios are best for each role?
Our reasoning, not data (Blizzard doesn’t publish curio pick rates, so there is no official number to lean on).
Quizzical Device works whichever role you give Brann, needs no timing and pays off in every pull, which is exactly what you want from a slot you set once and forget. Hatarang is the alternative when you’d rather have Brann weaken enemies, and at Rank 4 it hits up to five targets with two debuffs, so it shines on big packs. To be fair, Mana-Tinted Glasses has the highest ceiling on paper. The catch is that it punishes a distracted healer harder than any other curio in the set.
In practice, Tailwind helps on every run, because the speed after each fight saves real time between packs and the shield covers the moment you misjudge a pull and hit a defensive late. Temporal Decelerator Crystal and Sands of K’aresh can outperform it in the right layout, but both depend on things you don’t fully control: the first needs Elites, the second needs Brann to use Gathering Tools. Battered Aegis is the steady, no-thinking option (some players want exactly that).
| Your role | Brann’s role | Combat curio | Utility curio |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPS | Healer | Quizzical Device | Tailwind |
| Tank | DPS | Quizzical Device or Hatarang | Tailwind |
| Healer | Tank or DPS | Quizzical Device (Glasses if you will dispel) | Tailwind or Battered Aegis |
Elite-heavy run? Swap in the Decelerator.
Do Brann curios matter in Midnight?
No: in Midnight they do nothing, because Brann is no longer the companion there. Valeera Sanguinar is the companion there, filling the same tank, healer and damage roles, and she uses her own curio set, so nothing from Brann’s list carries over.
Honestly, this page is still useful if you’re finishing old War Within goals. For current content, start with our Midnight launch guide, check the WoW addons we recommend, and see how WoW PvP ratings are spread if you also play arena. Our best Brann curios, in short: Quizzical Device plus Tailwind, unless a specific run rewards the Decelerator or Hatarang.
FAQ
What are the best Brann curios?
For most players in Season 3 of The War Within, Quizzical Device as the combat curio and Tailwind as the utility curio. This is an editorial pick, not an official recommendation.
How many curios can Brann use?
Two per run: one combat curio and one utility curio.
How many curios were there in Season 3?
Ten: five combat and five utility curios, all added in patch 11.2.0.
How many ranks does a Brann curio have?
Four. The effect stays the same and the numbers grow, for example Quizzical Device gives a 5% bonus at Rank 1 and 20% at Rank 4.
Is Brann the companion in Midnight?
No. Valeera Sanguinar is the companion in Midnight, with her own curios.
