Wallace, Ruadh or Brienne? Who is your favorite character in Tears of Metal, a trending title of these days? To me, Ruadh is the only option since he is a complete match to my playstyle: armor-breaker and heavy damage.
Unlocking these characters requires some steps to follow. If you want to know how to unlock characters in Tears of Metal, join me and I will tell you everything I know.
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How to Unlock Characters in Tears of Metal: Quick Answer
First, there is nothing you need to do to unlock Wallace. He is the default hero of Tears of Metal and you can play him from the very beginning of the game.
Ruadh (my favorite one) is unlocked by beating the Banshee. Important: this changed in the July 24 patch. Before that, he was gated behind Gilles the Hog plus a Settlement Outpost upgrade and plenty of players put in twenty hours without ever seeing him.
Brienne is the tricky one. She unlocks through her own dedicated quest rather than a boss kill or a village purchase. Be warned that this quest shipped with a bug where gates could stay shut and block your progress partway through. That was fixed on July 24, so if you tried during launch week and got stuck behind a closed gate, go back and try again. It was not you.
William Wallace: Character Features and Unlock Guide
As I mentioned, William Wallace is the default hero in Tears of Metal. He fights with a claymore.
That detail matters more than it sounds. Every claymore he carries comes with its own combo set, so switching weapons genuinely changes how he plays instead of just bumping a damage number. Three weapons are worth knowing about:
- Flamberge: the one everyone chases. It cost 9 Dragonstones at launch and dropped to 3 on July 24, so it went from a long-term goal to something you can realistically afford.
- Celtic Longsword: now buyable outright for 500 triskelle.
- Secret weapon: assembled from pieces you find in chests during runs. The campaign shop no longer offers you a piece you have already collected, which was a real annoyance at launch.
His big ability drops a wave of arrows across a wide area in front of him. It looks incredible. Be realistic about it though: arrow volleys tear through fodder, but the enemies that actually end your runs are captains and a volley bruises them rather than deleting them. Use it to clear space, not to solve a boss.
One more thing about him that a lot of players got wrong through no fault of their own. Committed Charge grants 35% damage resistance. The in-game tooltip used to display that as minus 35%, which is backward and it was only corrected on July 24 patch. If you skipped that ability because it read like a penalty, go back to it.
Wallace is the default pick, which causes a lot of players to treat him as a tutorial character to be discarded. Believe me, that is a misread.
Tip: blocking got much better on July 24. Bosses’ block-breaking attacks can now be parried, which was not true at launch. If you already trained yourself to just run away from those windups, retrain that habit.
Ruadh Stonecrusher: Character Features and Unlock Guide
Ruadh is the hammer bruiser Paper Cult teased ahead of launch. His pitch is blunt. Giant hammer. Where Wallace is quick and precise, Ruadh trades speed for pure impact and crowd control. What else do you need?
He is the tool you reach for when an armored elite or a boss is the thing standing between you and progress.
To recruit him, you need one box ticked: defeat the Banshee. That is it now. No Outpost level, no Gilles requirement. Paper Cult moved him behind a single boss in the July 24 patch and honestly it was overdue.
He also picked up an indirect buff in the same patch that helps him more than anyone. Enemies are no longer invulnerable while they evade, so those big committed hammer swings that used to whiff clean through a dodging target now connect.
Tip: Try to unlock Ruadh early. He is genuinely powerful and if you are the kind of player who would rather hold a line than dance around it, he will make the rest of your campaign shorter.
Brienne Ironleg: Character Features and Unlock Guide
Brienne is the one you actually work for and she is worth it if you like getting close.
She is a fast melee brawler. Her whole approach is pressure: get in front of a target and beat it down. If Ruadh is about one enormous swing landing, Brienne is about ten fast ones landing before the enemy recovers.
Her unlock runs through a dedicated quest. I am running the campaign now and will update this section with the exact trigger and steps.
Tip: whichever hero you are on, watch your Threat level while hunting unlocks. Every battle and event you finish inside a region pushes Threat up and higher Threat makes every later fight harder.
Which Character Should You Unlock First?
Play Wallace, because for a while he is your only option and the July 24 price cuts make experimenting with his claymores cheap.
Go for Ruadh next. One boss is a fair price for the best raw damage in the roster.
Save Brienne for when you have a few clears behind you and know the maps well enough to work through a quest without dying to something stupid on the way.
More heroes are coming during Early Access, along with a new emblem family, more equipment, charms, companions and village content. Paper Cult has even admitted there are two heroes it has shown publicly that you still cannot play. Soon, apparently.
