What makes them hard?
I killed one easily at level 15. Do they give lots of buffs to other forsworn?
What gives?

They are raised by Hagravens to be champions of the Forsworn and ar designed to be boss enemies. They also have 25% resistance to magic being of Breton blood.

They didn't seem to hit that hard.

Forsworn aren't usually that tough to kill, and Briarhearts aren't much different; they just happen to cast spells, have higher health, and had their hearts replaced with briar hearts.

Losts of people on the forum said they were really tough so i got super hyped for my first attempted fight with one then i was like, "meh".

What difficulty are you playing on? Granted anything is easy to kill if you don't play like a dummy...

The forsworn briairhearts were my second death in the game they are so powerful even now i have trouble fighting them i remember there was some in the north west near a standing stone.

It depends a lot on player level and character durability. The Briarhearts gave me some trouble early on, though far less so at lv 57.

They do look interesting, as most of the forsworn do. Perhaps Bethesda can beef them up in dlc, or have the Briarhearts use spells like fireball and the stronger shock spells?

Your probably playing on novice, or, you built your character with heavy armor and a LOT of health, like I did. I play ona dept, and sometimes I go down to novice when Im playing pretty casual, but neither time had I had MUCH trouble with them. Its probably due to my style of play, high defense, and max damage output.

Here's the deal with briarhearts.

If for whatever reason you get hit with their spin attack, it's game over. (On master anyway) I have been one shotted with 600 health and 600 armor. Their spin attack is as fast as a player with perked dual wield it seems. They attack fast and can power attack with consistency. I have been one shotted before, but never at high level (40+) with good armor rating and health, EXCEPT, by briarhearts.

That's why they are a pain. It's because I couldn't expect how much damage they would dish out until I let my guard down against one of them. Ok, you fight a Draugr Deathlord, other then how powerful his shout is, you know what you're getting. He's gonna have some health and ebony weapons, and after a certain AR he isn't going to be doing much damage to you. (I had a lot more survivability at 570 then at 470 for example) A briarheart can come out of nowhere and spin attack and I'm dead. (Master level)

Try to fight the briarheart at Hag's End and Hag Rock Redoubt at higher levels. Get in melee and take a spin attack.

Yeah when people on here started saying they were really tough I was like "lolwat" since I already killed hundreds of those little buggers with no sweat.

Depending on your character and how you play, Briarhearts can be difficult to take down. That is what makes this game great.

However, tactics can help in battle. Then things are easier.

They're about 2x as hard as other forsworn. Not insane, but definitely more than just a little harder.

It depends on the character. With a mage, summoning two dremora lords takes care of pretty much every enemy in the game with ease. Even dragons, if you Dragonrend them. Can't say I was ever challenged by a Briarheart. Archers give me much more trouble, as I routinely would get 1 shot by them (level 40, still 100 health on max difficulty).

Go up against a Briarheart and a few ravagers with no armour. Note where your head falls before you reload.

Perhaps max difficulty is required, and not be built like a tank.

I find the falmer and thalmor to be more challenging.

i try to avoid them, they are a tough fight on master at lower levels. But i also find the forsworn to get repetitive and boring.

I was on master with 150 health i think and something like a 140 armor rating.

My Nord currently has ~450 health and 515 armor, 600+ with shield. I tend to block alot, and use bashes to stagger the enemy.

Everything depends on the difficulty level, character skills and strategy. Some characters might find certain enemies to be much easier than for some other type of character.

Youre a great gamer. Is that what you want to hear? Let me guess... No exploits in smithing or enchanting and you had no follower. Wow. Impressive

Higher level Briarhearts get one nasty shock spell. I was flying through this mine with no problem and then *ZAP* *ZAP* *dead*

You're level 15. You aren't spawning the hard ones yet (BaseID 44313).

EDIT: At higher levels (30 or so) they can be found in Deepwood Vale and Hag Rock Redoubt. With around 400 health and 500 armor, one power attack from one of these guys took half of my health bar.

Briar hearts are easy. Just pickpocket their heart. They die.

Briarhearts are the only ones who resist Jo'Nyans master Illusions, this frustrates this one. So this one steals their hearts whilst they slumber, making for a swift kill!