Hank Brawl Stars: Complete Guide, Best Build & Tips (2026)
Quick answer: Hank is an Epic Brawler in Brawl Stars classified as a Tank. His main attack, Balloon Blast, charges up a water balloon that deals more damage the longer it is held. His Super, Fish Torpedo, fires torpedoes in a wide spread dealing damage and disrupting enemy positioning. His best build runs the Waterballoons gadget with the It’s Gonna Blow star power in most situations, though the right pick shifts by mode, which this guide breaks down below.
Who Is Hank in Brawl Stars?
Hank is an Epic Brawler developed by Supercell for Brawl Stars, their multiplayer mobile arena game. He is a whale-themed ocean character with a high health pool, a charge-based main attack, and a wide-spread torpedo Super. His rarity is Epic, placing him in the same tier as Edgar and Colette in the broader Brawl Stars roster.
Hank’s Tank classification reflects his role: he is designed to absorb damage at the front line while disrupting enemy positioning with his Super and controlling space with his charge-based main attack. His high HP makes him one of the more durable Brawlers in the Epic tier, and his dual gadgets give him flexibility between offensive crowd control with Waterballoons and defensive survivability with Barricade depending on the match situation.
His exact HP totals have shifted across several balance patches since launch, so treat any specific number you see elsewhere as a snapshot rather than a fixed value, and check the in-game stats screen for the figure active in your current season.
What distinguishes Hank from other Tank-class Brawlers is the skill ceiling embedded in Balloon Blast. A charged attack at maximum hold time deals significantly more damage than a quick tap-fire. Players who learn to hold the charge appropriately while moving deal far more damage per activation than those who tap-fire at close range. This mechanic makes his damage output highly player-dependent rather than simply scaling with proximity like most Tank attacks.
Hank’s Base Stats (Max Power Level)
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Rarity | Epic |
| Class | Tank |
| Health (HP at max power) | High (see in-game stats for the exact current value; it has changed across balance patches) |
| Main attack | Balloon Blast (charge-hold, more damage the longer it’s held) |
| Super | Fish Torpedo (wide spread torpedoes, area disruption) |
| Movement speed | Slow to Normal |
| Attack range | Medium |
| Gadgets | Waterballoons / Barricade |
| Star Powers | It’s Gonna Blow / Take Cover! |
His HP is the highest-leverage stat in his kit. It is what allows him to remain in medium range while holding the Balloon Blast charge rather than needing to fire immediately and retreat. Investing coins and power points into his health upgrades at each power level meaningfully extends how long he can hold frontline positions before needing to disengage.
For progression order: gadgets unlock at Power Level 7 and star powers unlock at Power Level 9, the same as every Brawler in the game. There’s a common misconception that both unlock at the same milestone. In practice this means you’ll have a usable Hank build (base attack plus one gadget) well before you can equip a star power, so don’t hold off testing Waterballoons or Barricade while you’re still saving power points toward level 9.
Balloon Blast: Hank’s Main Attack Explained
Balloon Blast is Hank’s primary attack. He inflates a water balloon while holding the attack button. The longer the hold, the larger the balloon and the higher the damage output when it fires. At minimum charge, the balloon deals modest damage. At maximum charge, it delivers one of the highest single-shot damage values available to an Epic Brawler at his range bracket.
The Charge-Hold Mechanic in Practice
The charge duration creates a timing decision in every attack activation: how long can you hold before the enemy moves out of range, repositions behind cover, or forces you to react to incoming fire? Holding the charge too long in an active fight often means the shot fires at an empty position. Releasing too early means below-average damage. The skill of Balloon Blast is reading opponent movement and releasing at the moment maximum charge aligns with their position.
Against slow or stationary targets, Brawlers holding a position in Gem Grab or Heist defenders clustered near a safe, a full charge is almost always achievable. Against fast Brawlers like Edgar or Leon, a medium charge fired at the predicted position is more reliable than waiting for a full charge that the target will have moved away from.
It’s Gonna Blow: Speed During Charge
The It’s Gonna Blow star power grants Hank a movement speed boost once his attack is charged past roughly 80%. This directly addresses the charge-hold tension: rather than being a stationary target while building to maximum damage, Hank can move faster during the highest charge window, making him harder to predict and harder to hit.
This speed boost also helps him close distance on retreating targets during the high-charge phase. Star power thresholds and boost percentages are the kind of detail Supercell adjusts in balance patches, so if you’re min-maxing frame-perfect timing, cross-check the number against the in-game star power description before you rely on it in a tournament setting.
Anticipating Enemy Movement
Experienced Hank players aim where opponents will be rather than where they currently are. A Brawler retreating from the gem mine will move in a predictable direction. A full charge aimed at that retreat path lands at maximum damage on a moving target without requiring a reaction-speed shot. This predictive approach to Balloon Blast is the primary mechanical gap between intermediate and advanced Hank play.
Fish Torpedo: How Hank’s Super Works
Fish Torpedo is Hank’s Super. When activated, Hank launches torpedoes in a wide spread in front of him. The torpedoes travel across the map and deal damage to all enemies they contact. The spread covers a significantly wider area than his Balloon Blast, making it effective for hitting multiple targets simultaneously or for area denial across a wide corridor.
Unlike some Supers that build passively over time, Fish Torpedo only charges from landing Balloon Blast hits, which is worth remembering the first time you pick him up: whiffing your main attack doesn’t just cost you damage, it stalls your Super entirely.
Offensive Super Applications
The primary offensive use is firing the Super into a cluster of enemies to deal simultaneous damage to multiple targets. In Gem Grab around the mine, in Hot Zone contested areas, and in Brawl Ball near the goal, opponents frequently group within the torpedo spread width. Landing the full Super spread on two or three Brawlers deals enough combined damage to significantly alter the health states of the entire opposing team in a single activation.
Area Denial and Disruption
Fish Torpedo also functions as an area denial and crowd disruption tool even when it does not deal maximum damage. Opponents who see the Super incoming must decide whether to absorb the torpedo damage or reposition out of the spread path. This repositioning forces them away from objectives, out of cover, or into positions where Hank’s teammates have better angles. The disruption value of a Fish Torpedo that opponents avoid is often as high as one that connects, because the repositioning creates openings.
Charging Fish Torpedo
Unlike Chuck’s passive Super charge, Hank charges Fish Torpedo by landing Balloon Blast hits on enemies. Higher-charge Balloon Blast hits contribute more to the Super charge per activation. Consistently landing medium-to-full charge Balloon Blasts charges the Super noticeably faster than tap-firing at minimum charge. This creates an incentive loop: better Balloon Blast play not only deals more damage per hit but also charges the Super faster.
Best Gadget and Star Power for Hank
Hank’s two gadgets and two star powers split cleanly along the same fault line: one set pushes him toward lockdown and offense, the other toward pure damage absorption. Picking a build usually comes down to which side of that line your mode falls on.
| Gadget | Effect | Best suited for |
|---|---|---|
| Waterballoons | Hank’s next Balloon Blast attack slows the movement speed of all enemies it hits for a short duration | Gem Grab, Brawl Ball, Knockout, any mode where slowing a specific target dramatically changes the fight outcome |
| Barricade | Grants Hank a temporary damage shield that absorbs a set amount of incoming damage | Heist, Siege, Hot Zone, modes where Hank is the primary defensive anchor absorbing sustained fire |
Waterballoons is the stronger default for most modes and team compositions, and it’s the gadget behind the build referenced in the quick answer above. The slow it applies to a hit target dramatically extends the time that target remains within Balloon Blast range for follow-up charges: a slowed gem carrier in Gem Grab cannot reach safety before a second Balloon Blast lands, and a slowed ball carrier in Brawl Ball gives defenders time to reposition.
It converts Hank’s area-denial role into a lockdown tool that combines with any teammate who deals follow-up damage effectively. Barricade earns its place as the correct alternative specifically in Heist and Siege, where Hank is the primary damage-absorbing frontliner holding a position under sustained fire from multiple opponents at once, and the extra survivability matters more than the extra crowd control.
| Star Power | Effect | Best situation |
|---|---|---|
| It’s Gonna Blow | Hank gains a movement speed boost once his Balloon Blast charge passes roughly 80%, allowing him to move toward or alongside opponents during the high-charge phase | Most modes, open maps, situations where mobility during the charge phase changes the approach angle |
| Take Cover! | Hank takes reduced damage from sources originating near a wall he is standing next to | Wall-dense maps, defense-heavy modes like Heist and Siege, situations where Hank holds a fixed position near cover for extended periods |
The same split shows up here. It’s Gonna Blow is the stronger pick in most situations because it converts what would otherwise be a vulnerability window, holding still at high charge, into an approach advantage: Hank can close distance on retreating targets while maintaining the charge, then land near-maximum damage after repositioning under the speed boost.
Take Cover! is the correct swap on wall-heavy maps and in defense-anchored compositions where Hank’s job is holding a position near terrain rather than crossing the map, which is essentially the same logic that makes Barricade the right gadget in those same modes. If you’re building Hank for Heist or Siege specifically, Barricade and Take Cover! usually go together; if you’re building him for Gem Grab, Hot Zone, or Brawl Ball, Waterballoons and It’s Gonna Blow usually go together.
Hank’s Hypercharge
Hank’s Hypercharge amplifies his Fish Torpedo Super: it widens the torpedo spread, increases damage per torpedo, and adds extra effects during the activation. Because the exact figures move with balance patches, we’re not stating hard percentages here; check the Hypercharge tab in Hank’s in-game profile for the values live in your current season.
What doesn’t change is the strategic use: the wider spread during Hypercharge means even opponents who would normally dodge a standard Super take torpedo damage, so it’s worth saving for the moment before a major team fight rather than popping it the instant it’s ready.
Best Synergies with Other Brawlers
Hank’s kit is built around creating a stationary target, so his best partners are Brawlers who punish a stationary target, keep him alive while he’s the one standing still, or lock a target down for him. Colette is the clearest example on the offensive side: her percentage-based Taxing Shot deals more absolute damage the more HP the target has, and Hank tends to slow high-HP frontliners with Waterballoons, which are exactly the targets Colette wants.
On the support side, Doug is Hank’s strongest partner: Snack Attack heals him while he holds the Balloon Blast charge in the frontline, and Second Serving can revive him if an extended hold ends in elimination, which lowers the risk of committing to an aggressive charge in the first place. This pairing shows up often in Gem Grab, where Hank holds the mine frontline while Doug sustains him from behind.
Willow is the third piece worth building around. Her Hex Super freezes an opponent in place for several seconds, long enough for Hank to land a full-charge Balloon Blast on a target that has no way to move out of position, which is one of the more reliable ways to guarantee a maximum-damage hit rather than hoping the enemy stays still on their own. Her Lantern’s Curse puddles add a second layer, slowing anyone standing in them and compounding Hank’s control window further.
Best Team Compositions with Hank
For Gem Grab, the strongest shell around Hank pairs him with Doug for sustain and Willow for setup: Hank holds the mine frontline and slows the gem carrier with Waterballoons, Doug heals through the exchanges and can revive him with Second Serving, and Willow’s Hex freezes the carrier or a key threat long enough to guarantee a full-charge Balloon Blast. It’s a slow-building composition, but it’s resilient because it doesn’t depend on a single damage type to close out a round.
Brawl Ball asks for a different shape. Here Hank works better as a disruptor than a frontline anchor: Waterballoons slows defenders who would otherwise stop a scoring push, and Fish Torpedo clears the approach to the goal. Chuck is the natural partner in this shell, since his mobility lets him punish exactly the defenders Hank has just slowed down, and Colette rounds it out by handling any high-HP defender Chuck can’t outrun on his own.
In Heist, the composition flips toward defense. Hank runs Barricade and Take Cover! near the friendly safe, absorbing the opening rush while Leon picks off distant threats invisibly before they reach him and Brock adds long-range pressure on anyone approaching the safe perimeter. Unlike the Gem Grab and Brawl Ball shells, this one leans entirely on Hank’s damage-absorption gadget rather than his crowd control, which is the clearest illustration of how much a single gadget swap changes his role on a team.
Best Game Modes for Hank in Brawl Stars
Hank’s mode strength tracks two things closely: how much the mode rewards holding ground, and how mobile the opposing Brawlers tend to be in that mode. That’s why he peaks in objective-control modes and struggles in modes built around chasing or evading.
Gem Grab and Hot Zone: his best modes
Gem Grab is Hank’s strongest mode. His high HP lets him hold the gem mine frontline through sustained exchanges that would eliminate lighter Brawlers, Waterballoons turns near-escapes by retreating gem carriers into eliminations, and Fish Torpedo fired across the mine area disrupts coordinated collection attempts.
Hot Zone rewards the same qualities: his HP lets him contest the zone longer than most opponents, Fish Torpedo across the zone perimeter disrupts challengers trying to enter, and Take Cover! near the zone walls extends his durability through the sustained fire these fights typically generate.
Heist and Brawl Ball: strong secondary picks
In Heist, Hank functions as a defensive anchor: Barricade absorbs rushes and his HP delays safe damage long enough for teammates to eliminate attackers, while a well-charged Balloon Blast on offense deals significant damage to the safe or its defenders.
Brawl Ball suits him as a disruptor and space-controller rather than a primary scorer: Fish Torpedo clears approach paths to the goal, Waterballoons slows intercepting defenders, and on enclosed maps with corridors his HP lets him hold the center without being immediately eliminated by a single dive Brawler.
Where Hank struggles: Knockout and Showdown
Both of Hank’s weaker modes share the same root cause: his charge-hold attack needs a relatively static target, and both modes are full of Brawlers actively trying not to be static. In Knockout, his slow-to-normal movement speed makes repositioning between phases difficult, and landing full-charge Balloon Blasts consistently is harder against the mobile Brawlers Knockout tends to favor.
Solo Showdown is worse still: his high HP keeps him alive, but the same slow attack charge and movement speed leave him vulnerable to kiting from mobile Brawlers who can simply stay outside his range indefinitely.
Duo Showdown with a coordinated healing partner softens this considerably, but a dedicated Showdown specialist will generally outperform him in the format regardless of build. Trio Showdown, where four squads of three fight it out, softens the problem further since a full squad can screen him while he charges, but the underlying issue doesn’t disappear: he’s still the easiest member of the squad to kite and pick off if he gets isolated from his team.
Is Hank Good in Brawl Stars? (Quick Verdict)
Yes, with a caveat: Hank is a specialist, not an all-rounder, and the mode breakdown above makes that clear. In Gem Grab and Hot Zone specifically, he’s one of the stronger Tank picks in the Epic rarity tier because those modes reward exactly what he’s built to do: hold a position, punish anyone who lingers near it, and lock down a key target with Waterballoons. He’s a solid secondary pick in Heist and Brawl Ball for the same underlying reason, and noticeably weaker in modes that reward mobility over positioning.
Whether he’s “skilled” to play is really a separate question from whether he’s strong, and the honest answer is that his ceiling sits well above his floor. A new Hank who tap-fires Balloon Blast and never adjusts to what the opponent is doing will underperform almost every other Tank in the Epic tier, because minimum-charge damage is genuinely weak.
A player who learns to read enemy movement and hold the charge through a fight, the skill covered in the Balloon Blast section above, gets access to some of the highest single-hit damage available to any Epic Brawler. That gap between minimum and maximum execution is wider for Hank than for most Brawlers his rarity, which is why opinions on whether he’s good tend to split so sharply between casual and experienced players asked the same question.
If you’re picking him up for the first time, expect an adjustment period before he feels rewarding, and lean on the Beginner Tips section below rather than judging him off a first few matches of tap-fired Balloon Blasts.
How to Counter Hank in Brawl Stars
Every reliable Hank counter attacks one of the same two structural weaknesses: his HP is the only thing making him hard to kill, and his charge window forces him to stand still.
Colette attacks the first weakness directly. Her percentage-based Taxing Shot is uniquely punishing against Hank precisely because his primary advantage is a large health pool. The higher his HP, the more absolute damage each shot deals, which turns his defensive stat into her offensive one.
Long-range Brawlers like Piper and Brock attack the second weakness. Hank’s charge window is a period where he’s holding relatively still, and these Brawlers can deal sustained damage during that hold while staying outside his effective range, forcing an early, weaker release since he can’t close the gap under fire without the It’s Gonna Blow speed boost.
High-mobility Assassins take a more direct route to the same problem: Edgar and similar dive Brawlers can reach Hank before he completes a full charge, forcing an early release at reduced damage, and the close-range engagement also makes his arc-based balloon harder to land precisely.
Beyond brawler picks, two positioning habits go a long way against him. Interrupting the charge window with any ranged pressure forces an early, weaker release and degrades his average damage per activation significantly. And against Fish Torpedo specifically, staying spread out rather than clustering near objectives denies him his best Super activations, since a team that clusters near a mine or a goal is handing him his most valuable targets.
It’s also worth tracking his Barricade cooldown: the window right after he uses it is when his defense is genuinely thin, and coordinated pressure during that window can eliminate him faster than his HP would otherwise suggest.
Hank Skins and Customization in Brawl Stars
Hank has received several cosmetic skins since his release, including Lifeguard Hank (a summer beach lifeguard reskin), Party Hank (a festive palette swap with altered balloon effects), Diver Hank (a deep-sea theme with submarine and diving-gear visuals), and Moon Guardian Hank (a Harvest Festival-themed skin with a red-and-gold color scheme and a moon motif on his tank).
All skins are purely cosmetic and do not affect his stats, Balloon Blast charge rate, Fish Torpedo spread, or gadget effects. Skin availability rotates with the Shop and Brawl Pass, and Supercell periodically brings older limited-time skins back through seasonal events, so this list reflects what’s been released as of this guide’s last update rather than a guaranteed current lineup. Check the in-game Shop and active Brawl Pass tiers directly for what’s actually purchasable and its cost in gems or coins right now.
Hank in Competitive Play
Hank shows up regularly in high-trophy Gem Grab and Hot Zone lineups, which lines up with everything above: those are the modes that most reward his combination of high HP and a lockdown gadget. The Hank-and-Doug sustain core described earlier is a common sight on the Gem Grab trophy ladder specifically because it doesn’t rely on a single damage type to function, which makes it resilient to most meta shifts even as the numbers behind his kit get adjusted.
In Championship and Club League events he appears most consistently in the same two modes, usually running Waterballoons and It’s Gonna Blow rather than the defensive alternatives, which matches the offensive lean of competitive Gem Grab and Hot Zone play generally.
Supercell issues regular balance patches affecting Hank’s HP, Balloon Blast charge rate and damage scaling, Fish Torpedo spread and damage, and gadget effects, and several of these numbers have moved more than once since his release. Rather than repeating specific figures here that a single patch could invalidate, check the official Brawl Stars update notes in the mobile app after each season update to confirm the values active right now, particularly before committing to a competitive build around a specific gadget or star power number.
Hank Tips and Strategies for Every Skill Level
Beginner Tips
- Hold the attack button, don’t tap it. Tap-fire Balloon Blast deals far below average damage, and the entire value of his main attack sits in the charge. A partial hold still beats a minimum-charge tap by a wide margin, so build the habit of holding meaningfully longer than feels natural before releasing on every attack.
- Use Fish Torpedo for area denial, not just kills. If enemies are grouping near the mine or goal, fire the Super even without a confident direct hit. The spread forces repositioning that opens space for your teammates whether or not the torpedoes actually connect.
- Stay near walls on dense maps. Take Cover! reduces incoming damage near terrain, but even without it, walls give Hank cover from direct fire during the charge hold. Position against a wall facing the direction you intend to charge.
- Save Waterballoons for high-HP targets. The slow matters most on Brawlers with enough health to survive the first hit and remain in range for a follow-up. Using it on a target at 10% health who’s about to die anyway just wastes the cooldown.
Advanced Strategies
- Use It’s Gonna Blow to close distance during the charge. When an opponent retreats, start charging and use the speed boost at high charge to pursue them without breaking the charge, then release once the pursuit closes the gap. This converts the charge-phase vulnerability into an offensive repositioning window instead.
- Coordinate Fish Torpedo, or a Balloon Blast charge, with Willow’s Hex. A frozen target from Hex can’t move out of position, which is one of the few situations where you can start charging Balloon Blast with confidence that the target will still be there when you release.
- Pre-charge before entering a contested zone. In Hot Zone or around the gem mine, start holding the charge before you cross the zone perimeter so you arrive with most of the charge already built, rather than eating the vulnerable startup window while you’re already inside the fight.
- Save Barricade for the dive response, not on cooldown reflex. Assassin dives from Edgar or Leon are Hank’s most dangerous matchup. Barricade is most valuable the moment an Assassin commits to a close-range dive, absorbing the burst that would otherwise take Hank down before he can react.
Other Epic Brawlers to explore
- Edgar Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
- Colette Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
- Doug Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
- Willow Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
- Chuck Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
- Leon Brawl Stars: Complete Guide
Frequently Asked Questions About Hank in Brawl Stars
What is the best gadget and star power for Hank?
Waterballoons and It’s Gonna Blow are the strongest default pair for most modes: the slow extends how long a hit target stays in Balloon Blast range, and the speed boost turns the charge window into an approach advantage. Barricade and Take Cover! are the correct swap specifically in Heist and Siege, where Hank’s job is absorbing sustained fire near a fixed position rather than repositioning across the map.
How do I unlock Hank, and when do his gadget and star power become available?
Hank is unlocked through the Starr Road progression system, Brawl Pass season rewards, in-game events, or direct purchase from the shop when available. Once unlocked, his gadgets become available at Power Level 7 and his star powers at Power Level 9, the same milestones as every Brawler.
What game modes is Hank best in?
Gem Grab and Hot Zone, where his HP sustains frontline presence through contested objective fights and Waterballoons locks down retreating targets. He’s also strong in Heist and solid in Brawl Ball. He underperforms in Knockout and especially Solo Showdown, where his slow movement and charge-based attack are exploitable by mobile opponents.
Who counters Hank, and how do you counter him?
Colette is his most punishing individual counter because her percentage-based damage scales with his high HP. Long-range Brawlers who chip damage during the charge-hold window interrupt his timing from a distance, and high-mobility Assassins who close the gap before the charge completes force an early, weaker release. Beyond specific picks, spreading your team out against Fish Torpedo and pressuring him right after Barricade goes on cooldown both apply consistently.
How does Hank compare to other Epic Brawlers?
Among Epic Brawlers, Hank is the primary dedicated Tank. Edgar is an Assassin in the same rarity tier with low HP and high burst, and Colette is a Damage Dealer with percentage-based attacks. Hank’s high HP and charge-based attack fill a frontline sustain role that no other Epic Brawler replicates. See the complete Brawl Stars characters guide for full tier comparisons.
