Equipment 101: How to Build Your Gear in FaB
Equipment is one of the most distinctive aspects of Flesh and Blood. Unlike most TCGs where your deck is everything, FaB lets you equip your hero with head, chest, arms, and legs items that sit in play permanently — until your opponent forces you to trade them for blocks.
Getting equipment right is often the difference between competitive and non-competitive builds.
Equipment Slots
Every hero can equip:
| Slot | Examples | |------|----------| | Head | Helm of Isen's Peak, Mask of Momentum | | Chest | Tectonic Plating, Fyendal's Spring Tunic | | Arms | Goliath Gauntlets, Snapdragon Scalers | | Legs | Crater Fist, Ironboot Sabatons |
Plus class-specific weapons for heroes that use them (swords, bows, daggers, etc.).
The Blocking Economy
Equipment pieces have a block value just like action cards — but they're permanent until destroyed. When you use a piece of equipment to block, it cracks (breaks) and is removed from the game.
The core tension: cracking equipment is efficient in the moment but permanently reduces your defensive capacity. Late in the game with no equipment left, you're entirely reliant on cards in hand to block — which competes directly with your offence.
When to crack: Only when the alternative is taking damage that will materially affect the game outcome. Cracking Helm of Isen's Peak to block 2 on turn 3 is almost never correct. Cracking Tectonic Plating to survive lethal on turn 8 is obvious.
Head Slot Breakdown
Helm of Isen's Peak — cycle 1 card, draw 1 card once per turn. The utility here is enormous. Turning a dead card in hand into something useful happens multiple times per game. Nearly mandatory for most heroes.
Mask of Momentum — draw 1 card if you hit for 4+ and go-again. Aggressively slanted. Strong on Ninjas and heroes with consistent go-again chains.
Snapback — return a card to hand from pitch zone. Niche, but powerful in pitch-stack-sensitive decks.
Chest Slot Breakdown
Tectonic Plating — 4 block, once per game. The most defensive chest option. Mandatory in Guardian. Excellent in any control archetype.
Fyendal's Spring Tunic — gains 1 resource per turn until activated, then spend for a big bonus. The premium economic engine. Best in decks that have tempo to spare.
Ironhide Plate — 3 block vs arcane damage only. Sideboard card. Swap in for Kano, Azalea arcane builds.
Arms Slot Breakdown
Goliath Gauntlets — buff trigger when you attack. Best in class for aggressive Guardian builds. Free stat boost on every attack.
Snapdragon Scalers — grant go-again to your first attack if you played an action this turn. Incredible on aggressive heroes. Enables otherwise-impossible attack chains.
Bloodsheath Skeleta — lifegain on attack hit. Niche but excellent in aggro matchups.
Legs/Weapon
Every hero has class-specific weapons. Choosing between weapon variants is usually straightforward — take the one with the higher base power or the one with the ability that matches your gameplan.
Axiom Arc (Bow) — charge arrows for Ranger heroes. Dawnblade (Sword) — the classic Guardian/Warrior weapon. Kama (Dagger) — dual-weapon Ninja builds.
Building Equipment for the Sideboard
In best-of-three formats, equipment can be sided. The most common swaps:
- Chest swap: Tectonic Plating ↔ Ironhide Plate depending on whether you're facing physical or arcane damage
- Head swap: Helm of Isen's Peak ↔ Nullrune Hood for Kano matchups (Arcane Barrier 2)
Always have at least 1 equipment swap planned for your sideboard. Being caught with the wrong chest in a Kano matchup is a game-defining error.
Equipment mastery is quiet — it doesn't show up in highlights — but it separates consistent finishers from spikey one-event players. Know your gear, know when to crack it, and plan for what your opponent's equipment tells you about their plan.