Best Gauntlets / Fists Combos, Strings, and Tips in Brawlhalla
Gauntlets are a great weapon for beginners. Super simple moves, and a low skill floor, but with the capability for advanced manipulation of the stage, and a near infinitely high skill ceiling. As long as you can follow the momentum that Gauntlets tend to create, you can carry your opponent from one side of the stage to the other. If that appeals to you, then you’ll want to try out Gauntlets.
How to Play Gauntlets: Tips and Tricks
Neutral game
Gauntlets are very safe in Neutral. Your DLight and SLight are your main moves, and they both have decent reach. You have superb string/combo followup once you hit either move, so just keep going until you’re done with the engagement. Once you get comfortable with how NAir, SAir, and SLight move you in relation to the opponent, you’ll be able to throw opponents across the entire stage, following up with an edgeguard for early kill confirms.
Offstage Game
One of Gauntlets’ main strengths is its dogfighting capability. All three of your aerial attacks are grabs that redirect your opponents in predictable ways, so you have very simple sequences for offstage fighting.
On top of this, you have extra recovery with your SAir, so you can take risks other weapons can’t. If your opponent is offstage, you probably should be too.
Edgeguarding
Gauntlets are able to aggressively edgeguard like no other. As I said above - if your opponent is offstage, you probably should be, but that doesn’t mean you have to be.
When your opponent tries to recover high. You can look for Recoveries and NAirs to stuff out approaches from above, or use SLight to try and catch a landing, which will allow you to throw your opponent offstage again.
| BRAWLHALLA COMBOS MEANING | ||
|---|---|---|
| Light Attacks | Neutral Light | nLight |
| Side Light | sLight | |
| Down Light | dLight | |
| Air Attacks | Neutral Air | nAir |
| Side Air | sAir | |
| Down Air | dAir | |
| Signature Attacks (Heavy on the ground) | Neutral Signature | nSig |
| Side Signature | sSig | |
| Down Signature | dSig | |
| Recovery | Heavy in the air | Rec |
| Ground Pound | Down Heavy while in the air | GP |
| Gravity Cancel | Press Dodge while in the air | GC |
| Ending | The next attacks start closer to the end | e |
The Gauntlets Moveset in Brawlhalla
NLight
Gauntlets’ main grounded dodge read. Also true out of DAir at low percentages. Works well to catch opponents in 2v2s, as well.
SLight
The main grounded string starter for Gauntlets. DLight > SLight is true, so try to hit the DLight first. SLight has excellent anti-air, adaptable string followup, and can be used to read almost every reaction.
DLight
The main combo starter on Gauntlets. SLight, DAir, and NAir are all true out of DLight, but NAir is very finicky (look below for an example).
NAir
Other than SLight, NAir is Gauntlets’ most useful move. It can dribble the opponent at low percentages even leading into true combos, such as GC DLight > CD Nair.
SAir
As one of the weakest moves in Gauntlets’ kit, you wouldn’t think that SAir has many uses, but you’d be surprised. SAir doesn’t do much damage, but its knockback strength and angle can lead to some surprising early kills. Sair can also be used as a recovery - just spam SAir from far away, then jump/dodge to stage.
DAir
The secondary attack to use in neutral (along with SLight). Dash jumping into a DAir catches people off guard, and it can be followed up with a SLight or even another DAir, depending on how it lands.
Ground Pound
Gauntlets’ Ground Pound is very good. You’re able to move it while it’s falling, and the rate of descent is exceptional. A common tech when an opponent is close to the wall is to DJFF (Dash Jump Fast Fall) off the stage, XPivot, then fall straight down while Ground Pounding. If the opponent tries to swing under you or get behind you, just keep going down, as this forces them to burn a dodge. If they stay on/near the wall, then move in towards the stage.
This will almost always lead to baiting out a dodge, but can also lead to early gimps.
Recovery
Gauntlets’ Recovery is a common combo move, but also has decent recovery. GC DLight > CD Recovery is a kill combo, and SLight > Dodge Read > Slight > Recovery is a common string to kill, especially at lower ELOs, where most people dodge in or spot dodge.
Best Gauntlets Combos and Strings in Brawlhalla
DLight > SLight
The most used combo for Gauntlets. Has string follow ups, dodge reads, and leaves you in a pretty advantageous position.
DLight > Dash Jump DAir
If your opponent is used to DLight > SLight, try mixing this in. There are an entire new set of strings that are introduced out of this combo, and it can send opponents down, if used on the corner
DLight > Jump Chase Dodge NAir
A difficult combo to execute, but important for improvement at a high level. When you’re starting out with Gauntlets, you can use GC DLight > CD NAir, instead, but be wary that it costs your dodge.
| OTHER GOOD FISTS COMBOS AND STRINGS |
|---|
| Side Light > Neutral Air > Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Neutral Air |
| Down Light > Down Air |
| Down Light > Side Light |
| Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Recovery |
| Side Light > Recovery |
| Side Light > Fast Fall > Jump > Neutral Air |
| Side Light > (Read) Dodge-out > (Read) Dodge-in > Gravity Cancel > Side Light > Recovery |
| Down Light > Neutral Air > Recovery |
| Down Light > Jump-dash > Down Air > Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Chase-dodge-forward > Neutral Air |
| Neutral Air > Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Chase-dodge-forward > (Pivot) > Neutral Air > Jump > Recovery |
| Side Light > Neutral Air > Side Air > Ground Pound |
| Neutral Air > Recovery |
| Side Light > Fast Fall > (Read) Spot-dodge > Neutral Air > Chase-dodge-forward > (Pivot) > Down Air > Chase-dodge-forward > Neutral Air > Jump > Recovery |
| Down Light > Side Light > Recovery > Neutral Air > Down Air > Side Air |
| Neutral Light > Neutral Light |
| Down Light > Side Light > (Read) Dodge-out > Jump > Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Neutral Air > Neutral Light > Neutral Light |
| Ground Pound > Ground Pound > Ground Pound > Ground Pound > Ground Pound |
| Side Light > Neutral Air > Gravity Cancel > Side Light > Neutral Air > Ground Pound > (Read) Jump > Ground Pound |
| Down Light > Side Light > Neutral Air > Gravity Cancel > Down Light > Gravity Cancel > Side Light > Neutral Air |
| Side Light > Neutral Air > Gravity Cancel > Side Light > Neutral Air |
For more specific strings and combos for legends with Gauntlets please check out:
- Best combos and strings for Kor
- Best combos and strings for Wu Shang
- Best combos and strings for Val
- Best combos and strings for Cross
- Best combos and strings for Mordex
- Best combos and strings for Caspian
- Best combos and strings for Zariel
- Best combos and strings for Rayman
- Best combos and strings for Petra
- Best combos and strings for Onyx
High Skill Ceiling
I previously mentioned that Gauntlets have a very high skill ceiling, and I wanted to use this space to elaborate on that. Many combos and strings on Gauntlets are mechanically difficult, such as DLight > NAir, or NAir > DLight > NAir, but there are easier versions of them to perform (using GC DLight instead of grounded DLight into NAir). This is one of the main reasons I think that Gauntlets are an excellent starting weapon - they give new players a great way to stay motivated to improve.
Many players starting in ranked will climb to silver or gold, and then suffer from burnout. This is because, among other reasons, the mechanics of the game start to become second nature. You’re no longer playing against opponents that just face roll the controller, so mechanical outplay is actually difficult. For players who don’t care to learn about theory, this can be a buzzkill, but Gauntlets gives you some options to help you deal with this.
Because it has some of the most difficult inputs in the game (second only to Scythe or Greatsword), you simply will not be able to perform some of the combos when you start out. This means that you get to continuously test yourself as you improve, even into plat and diamond ranks.
Gauntlets are great for beginners and experts. Their aggressive offstage style teaches you a lot of important skills, if Gauntlets aren’t your style, consider checking out our weapon tier list for brawlhalla. If you don’t know what legend to pick who has a cannon we recommend you to check out the best legends with Gauntlets in Brawlhalla.
