The Dwarves return in Blood Bowl 3 with one of the most fearsome reputations among starting teams. Despite their slow speed, their abundance of skills and tremendous resilience makes them one of the best defensive teams in the game. In Blood Bowl 2, Dwarves suffered at higher Team Values because of the Chaos murder teams, but will wider changes to the game allow them to thrive there once more?
In this guide, we’ll tell you the best starting build for your Dwarves, as well as the best ways to develop and skill them, and the best strategies to settle your grudges.
Starting Build
Dwarves received some cost increases in Blood Bowl 3, with both the Runner and Slayer getting a 5k price hike. This means many previous builds are no longer possible, and you have to make some choices between positionals.
- 1 x Runner
- 1 x Troll Slayer
- 2 x Blitzers
- 7 x Blocker Linemen
- 3 x Rerolls
- 2 x Dedicated fans
This build prioritizes the Blitzers, who are two of your most versatile players, and takes only one Runner and Slayer. You will need to ensure you keep the Runner safe until you can buy some backup, or you will have major problems with ball handling. This build does not try to include the Deathroller in the starting roster as it is prohibitively expensive, and in fact, you may not ever want to take it. You have 20k left over after roster purchases, which you can invest into Dedicated Fans for good returns.
Team Development
Your main priority will be to expand the roster with either an additional Runner, Troll Slayer, or Lineman. This is mostly a matter of preference, but having some redundancy at the Ball Carrier position is not a bad idea. If you add the second Slayer you won’t need more linemen until you get to higher Team Value.
An Apothecary is also a good purchase at some point, even with Dwarven durability, as enemies will target your Slayers and Runners, and get to them eventually. The Deathroller definitely has some useful applications as a roadblock and control tool, and with Dirty Player +2 it can absolutely shred opponents if luck (or Bribes) are on your side, but its great cost and Secret Weapon drawback are very significant issues to consider before purchasing one.
Best Skills
The best skills for your Dwarves are shown below. More expensive Secondary skills are shown in Italics. Blitzers and Runners are your most versatile players and can be given skills outside the usual bashing ones. Building one Runner as a dedicated Ball-Carrier and the other as a Ball-Hawk with Wrestle / Tackle / Strip Ball is a good setup.
|
Player |
Skills |
|---|---|
|
Runner |
|
|
Blitzer |
Guard, Mighty Blow, Tackle, Dodge, Break Tackle |
|
Troll Slayer |
Mighty Blow, Tackle, Juggernaut |
|
Lineman |
Guard, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Grab |
|
Deathroller |
Guard, Sneaky Git, Block, Tackle |
Strategies
The defining feature of the Dwarven team is its slow speed. Whether on offense or defense, careful positioning is of the essence, as any wrong moves can open up the field for your opponents, and you will struggle to recover the position.
On offense, you will need to deploy a cage to protect your Runner, and grind down the field, making space for it to advance with your Blitzers, Blockers, and Slayers. Time is your enemy as Dwarves, and opponents will often try and stall you and play keep-away. You will have to base up to keep them engaged and rolling dice, and to give you opportunities to get blocks on your turn. On defense, you will need to play a cautious style, not over-committing to any flank, or chasing opponents into their half, but maintaining your shape and keeping your defensive line strong. You can certainly base opponents and dare them to try and break you, as very few will have the ability, and once you have acquired some Guard and Mighty Blow, you can dominate any melee.
