Xyzor

Thanks to everyone for the absolute best sub-forum in any game I've ever played. Will miss this game, and this community, very much.

Farewell...

Staff/Ela is 100% win. Slot for defense and live forever...

I've been testing a SS/Bio for the same reason mentioned above, I don't have a lvl 50 SS character yet. It is probably what I will go with when the set goes live.

I do have a lvl 50 Staff Brute and I would wager that a Staff/Bio character would be about the most flexible combo you could put together. With the multiple 'forms' on both primary and secondary, you could adapt yourself (please excuse the pun) to just about any situation you'll find yourself in.

You'll get better defense (well, more useful defense) from pulling those 2 slots out of Combat Jumping (leaving just the +Global Rech) and putting those 2, plus one more slot (pulled from somewhere) in Boxing as a mule for a Kinetic Combat set. You should also replace the Mako's in Smite with 4 Kinetic Combats plus 1 proc or 3/4-pack. If you are soft-capped on S/L or Melee positional without using KCs because of your Powerset, use a 5 of a purple set here for +Rech (either ATO1, moved from Midnight Grasp - see below - or ATO2, once it is live).

A minor Frankenslot for Siphon Life is a good idea, too, maybe 5 of a dmg set and one heal, or 4 kinetic combat plus 2 heals or 1xheal/1xdmg.

Midnight Grasp is you best attack - I;d recommend finding a 6th slot for it and putting a dmg proc in there.

Maybe pull 1-4 of the 10 slots you've invested in Health and Stamina for full sets of Perf Shifter and Numina? Health with at most 5 total (2 numinas, including the proc plus 3 other procs (Regen Tissue, Miracle and Panacea if you must). Stamina, with PP also in your build, doesn't need more than 3 slots, either.

Not everyone can easily parse the data chunk. Maybe post the build in addition to the data chunk?

Also, I gather from your sig that this is your DM/Shield, but in a general forum, it is nice to at least mention the AT and powersets, so people know if their personal experience/knowledge would be helpful.

It really does sound awesome...considerably better than the Defense debuff.

It is not that DEF is worthless (in fact it's quite the opposite), it is just that it is very easy to slot for +Def bonuses. Because of that, a Resist Set that slots for Defense can get 'better' layered mitigation. However, most Resist sets have no DDR compared with Defense sets, so they are more vulnerable to cascade failures (but have strong +Resist to fall back on). Brutes have a high Resist cap (90%), so the prevailing opinion is that Def sets work better for Scrappers and Resist sets for Brutes. That is not to say that either AT can't be very successful with any secondary, resist- or defense-focused.

very nice suggestions. The one question that popped into my head as I was reading about the Double Hit suggestion was: What happens if a Brute has the Assault Hybrid active already? How would that affect the Proc? Double Double Hit, or what?

Drop Shadow Maul - it sucks as a primary attack (narrow cone and long, rooted animation). You can use that power slot, and the 5 slots left in it, to get Dark Consumption back, if you are having END issues.

If you can find a slot or two for something in Stamina and a few procs in Healths, too (Regenerative Tissue, Miracle, etc).

You aren't going to find, IMO, a more flexible combination than Staff/Ela. TONS of good tools in both sets to accomplish whatever you are looking to do at the moment. Easy on the blue bar with excellent survivability and great AoE, which is LOTS of fun in team content.

On a Brute, I like Ela over Ea, because if the higher resist cap on brutes. I know you are looking at mid-lvl content, but still, you can slot for +def a LOT easier than +resist, so even at 35-40 you can have pretty solid layered mitigation.

Tip for Triple Threat on Chimera - Have the targeted people fight Chim. He will port them to him anyway.

Tip for 8 min: All the mobs count, so make sure to aggro EVERY group you can find as soon as they spawn. They'll each summon 2-4 of their little drones, that die easy and fast, adding to the counter quickly. Lots of time is wasted chasing down and focusing DPS on Bosses...

Just put together a team with a lot of AoE. The mobs die easily, you just need attacks that hit them all. New packs spawn when you clear out the one before, so don't let stragglers get away.

We've met the reqs for this badge on every run I've taken my Staff Brute, so IME, AoE = badge.

How about the fact that the Proc is NOT adding actual KD to powers without current KB? Can you confirm that this is a known issue and being looked at?

It seems to convert KB to KD just fine, but it is not adding KD to other powers (which it is supposed to do).

I slotted the proc and another piece into Guarded Spin, and ran 2 TFs and 4-5 Solo missions without a single KD. I didn't check the combat log to see if it was going off without having any effect, or if it is just not proc-ing at all.

Anyone else noticing this?

This thread is on this first page of the Scrapper Forums, and gives PLENTY of advice regarding this exact build.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=290781

There is also a link in there to Planet_Js Regen guide, which will help you a lot.

That said, here are a few places where some advice would help you:

Overall Goals: Build for +Rech, S/L Def, then more +Rech. Luck of the Gambler Global Recharges, 7.5% Rech Set bonuses, Kinetic Combats and Reactive Armors are your best friends.

Scrapper's Strike: You can 5-slot the set for a Catalyzed 10% Rech boost, or split the set for 2 5% S/L Defense bonuses. Up to you based on how other powers are slotted.

As a primary attack, Shadow Maul sucks, IMO. The rooted animation is too long, and the cone is too narrow. I use it in my build to mule a S/L Def boost, but hardly ever actually use the power. It is a waste of that Armageddon set, IMO. I have that set in Soul Drain, which I use as my primary AoE attack (and Buildup, ofc).

Siphon Life is an excellent attack for your primary chain, so should be frankenslotted for both dmg and healing. 4 Kinetic Combats and 2 Nictus work well there, for dmg, healing and S/L and Regen bonuses.

6-slotting DP is a bit of a waste. 5 slots will get you the +Rech bonus from either DW or Panacea, and will likely have you HP-capped. You don't need to chase +Healing bonuses as a /Regen. Your healing will be fine. The Panacea Proc in this power is largely a waste, but so is the straight +Heal one, so if you MUST use Panacea here, either is fine. DW gives you close to the same bonuses at a fraction of the cost, so long as you aren't violating the rule of 5 with +Rech.

If you go Spiritual Alpha, and load up on LotG +Global Rech and other +Rech set bonuses, Hasten can be perma with just 2 slots (one boosted to +5). You can hang on to 3 for exemplaring purposes, but it is a nice way to gain an extra slot somewhere else.

The Winter's Gift is SS should be the Slow Resist one, not the movement speed one. 20% Recharge Slow resist is great for /Regen.

Integration may be overslotted. Not that DW is bad there, but you can get more utility with a couple of Numina's in there and 2-3 slots somewhere else. This is a matter of preference, IMO.

Use one of the extra slots we've found to add a 4th to Resilience and put 4 Reactive Armors in there to max its +resist and add S/L Def. If you can find 2 more slots, also put the Steadfast +Def and Gladiator's Armor +Def in this power. The GA is expensive, but combined with Steadfast is a +6% to all Def, which is pretty huge. To be clear, yes, I am saying to 6-slot Resilience.

Do the same thing for Tough - 4-slot reactive armor if you can.

Midnight Grasp is your primary attack power. Slotting it for Immob is not advisable. 6-slot this for a dmg set plus a Proc. If you aren't going to split up Scrapper's Strike, use 5 of them here with a Hecatomb Proc.

I assume you are 4-slotting Revive for set bonuses. Don't. Take these 3 slots, move them to Boxing, and mule a Kinetic Combat set there for +S/L Def. You will be MUCH better off.

You don't need Physical Perfection at all, and you certainly don't need to 6-slot it. Move whatever end-mods you have to Stamina and re-invest the others elsewhere.

You don't get much from enhancing Moment of Glory's Defense. 2 slot this with a LotG +Global Rech and +Recharge. Move the rest of these slots to Weave and use LotG's there. You could also find a spot in Weave for the Shield Wall +3% Res IO, which is a nice piece for layered mitigation.

I am assuming you are Blue-side, but consider switching to Red, at least temporarily, to open up the Soul Mastery Patron Pool for Shadow Meld. It is one of the best pool powers out there to combine with /Regen, and the Ranged blast there provides a perfect compliment for DM.

That is plenty to get you started. Take a look at the other thread. My current build is posted towards the end of that page - It has great S/L Def, very good Resists, all the +Rech you need for perma-DP and Hasten, and high base regen to boot.

Good Luck!

If memory serves, Brutes also have a higher Resist cap, so they get a bit more out of Resist-oriented sets like Ela.

I made my Staff character a Staff/Ela Brute mainly because of worries over baddies running away from my aura. I have fallen in love with Ela, just the right balance between clicks and passives/toggles for me (although toggling up 11 powers is a bit annoying after the rare defeat).

With the IOs that are out there, I really enjoy playing Resist sets and slotting for Defense.

Why are there no Monkey/Ape heads? We have about 600 other animal heads, but not the Big Gorilla Head I want!

Please add these ASAP (or, if they do exist, and I just can't find them, please let me know where to look/what to get).

What about something simple, like Spring Attack as an opener? That mass knockdown might help diffuse (or at least taper) Alphas, and give you a second or two to grab the targets you want (while also consistently putting you right where you want to be in the middle of packs.

Not sure if this would help at all since I haven't tried it yet, but do you think Control Hybrid would make any difference? If you have enough AoEs to drop early (can't look at your build atm), would the side that adds control to dmg attacks lock down enough of the debuffers or dmg-dealers to get through those packs? I know you give up a lot by not having melee hybrid, so the tradeoff probably will not be worth it, just a quick idea that popped into my head while reading this thread.

Would respecing to add a ST Fear/Hold, etc, help at all, to take one of the LTs that debuff out of the fight right away?