Blue_Centurion

Really, the fox tailed thingy or whatever? Wow. I get grilled for a week, not a word from the mods. Someone puts lipstick and a jumpsuit on a cartoon character, stop the presses. There ain't no justice.

Yeah, I ran a SS/Will for almost a year as my main. i am now leveling another cause I want a clean slate. Like any Brute, pre-20 is kinda painful. Slot for End reduction in attacks and whether the storm (until i19). But from 20 on SS/Will is a monster. It plays like a fat Scrapper, not a light Brute. You do best taking a good look at the landscape, and trying to avoid giant alphas. (This is where I spend all my mental energy in the game, not deciding how to perfect my attack chains, but deciding where I can survive jumping in and winning)
Your only real tools for paying off mistakes with Willpower are Inspirations and good teammates.

But for me SS is just fun, and one of the reasons I chose another Brute instead of a Scrapper for my A Merit ticket earner.

You said low level. Are we talking around 25? Cause if so doesnt SS kick but over everything (barring the need for any Aoe that is) You get Rage at 18, and Knockout Blow at like level 3. (Okay, exaggerating, but way early) You get a solid attack chain with SS way early, and the Rage thing just kicks it into a new world.

I know Energy Melee does great ST damage, but it really is burst, and the attacks come in much later, right?

Yeah, it's hard for me to run Dark/Dark because the toggle management and timing of certain powers like AoE End Drain and Heal are art forms. So willpower is fun for me. But someday (After Dark/Invul is done) I will look at creating the Uber Dark guy. But whereas my Dark Invul is built very straightforward (if stubbornly so) I will really need to sit with Mids for weeks and decide my buildout before i tackle Dark/Dark. I have dark/dark tank at 32, and a dark/dark Brute at 40, both SO'd except for KB prot and that Proc in the heal. But yeah, SS/Will is just pure fun for me for now.

heh, I guess I like boring. The SS/Will was my main for almost a year. And here I go making another.

But yeah, i even want to push boring further I guess, by enhancing the Willpowers okay at everything, not a master of anything feel to become pretty good at everything, master of nothing. Part of the thought being on Def/Corr/buff heavy teams he really shines, since his base numbers are all repectable to begin with. Or when I pop Oranges and Purps just one goes a long way.

And yes, i really do enjoy the SS build, but for Knockout Blow really lol.

Hey folks. I am in the process of setting up a SS/Willpower Brute. I had one as my main for almost a year, but the build was not optimal by any means, and i stripped it some months back.

My goal with the new build is to place enhancement slots, I/O sets, and Procs/Globals in such a way as to always get the most bang for my buck. The theory being that the Alpha Slot content will build on a very solid base.

So, I am not trying to softcap anything, I am not trying to max anything. The goal is that everything I put on, I want to use as few slots as possible to get as much as possible. It is a generic build. Much like the Willpower set itself that I am building this on, not great at anything, just good at most things.

The toon will run mostly at 50+ content, so the enhancers should be highest level where possible, except for Globals when it makes most sense to be minimum level.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Okay, first let me say that I am ignorant of a few things here. If you doubt that i am sure my fan club will be along shortly to reassure you of the validity of this statement. I have never run an Electric anything past 5th. What i know about the Alpha slot just about begins and ends with how to spell it. But I ran a Willpower brute as a main for almost a year. (SS/Will). One thing stood out is you are slotting End Reductions, and lead off your Alpha Slot discussion with an Endurance management power. You cannot be telling me you are having End issues? Cause doesnt Electrical Melee give you at least some End back? And Willpower, sheesh, it's like the energizer bunny. I thought maybe you ain't running fitness, but that is solved with i19, and still. Do you really need End Red on the build currently? I mean, i need End help on my SS/Invul SO'd Brute, but, you know, those guys always run hot, specially pushing the fighting set.

I respect your opinion Nalrok. Quite a few of my new fans here are fresh off a 700 post beat down of me in the market forum. And they really hate me for poking at their sacred cow.

But you are quite correct. You pointed out many of these flaws some time ago. I am having fun with the build. I will continue on my quest.

I posted this line of question on Smite Life specifically, and my build in the other post, to get this off the market forum and into the Brute forum.

Chasing ST DPS on this build is as silly to me as chasing high global recharge seems to be to these guys. I have a certain way of running this guy, and this is it. From what I have heard Dark Melee has some of the highest ST DPS in the game for Scrap/Brute. If I am at 80% of that, that is not bad. It is not as straightforward as that, due to Soul Drain, etc.

I ask for assistance (really a very specific clarification) in that i would love to see the numbers for the classic Dark Melee Attack Chain, using only SOs versus an attack chain created with no Siphon life, but throwing in Soul Mastery Gloom, also SO'd. Figure 125% global recharge plus Hasten for both attack chains. Please plot out the attack chains long enough so that both recycle to the starting point and are usable again.

The goal here is not to see if the Classsic attack chain using Siphon life can be beat. It is purely to look at the difference in an observational setting.

Rarely will this attack chain be used, since that would mean that I was fighting an AV with nothing around it. that happens about 1% of the time in high level content. But again, we are examining.

Here is my original post in this chain:

Okay. I have a DM/Invul that uses a ton of recharge. I am not using the classic DM attack chain. I rely heavily on Gloom and Dark obliteration from Soul Mastery. They are both purpled, and both up a lot. (ranged doesnt hurt either) I also use Smite as a finishing/placeholder attack (again purpled), Shadow Maul if it looks like I can get 2 or more (also purp'd), and of course Midnight Grasp, (purpd, although with rooting grasp, so not optimally enhanced)

I only use Siphon Life when down hit points-maybe once every 30 seconds in medium fighting, or every 15 in heavy mobs. Started as an early habit because at low levels the sucker eats end. Currently my recharge is around 117%, will respec into Hasten after i19 and get more recharge.

I have gotten quite the earful about how not using Siphon life is ruining my attack chain. I am throwing out tons of damage as is (especially since Soul Drain is tantalizingly close to perma)

Any opinions from fellow Brutes on attack chains here?

I have further went on to say that i know that not slotting Siphon life and using it for damage is hurting my attack chain. I actually run this character. i run it through tough high level content.

I have further asked for assistance (really a very specific clarification) in that i would love to see the numbers for the classic Dark Melee Attack Chain, using only SOs versus an attack chain created with no Siphon life, but throwing in Soul Mastery Gloom, also SO'd. Figure 120% global recharge for both attack chains.

Also, I cannot say enough that I run this character at high level content, in flashbacks, doing strike forces. Iplay the character a specific way, using Dull Pain and Siphon Life in what appears to be a completely different manner than is regularly used in the cities. i wil say this, the way I use it has saved my bacon, when i need a ton of healing power, more than once.

Again, i realize I am not "maximizing" the damage potential of this character. The question I am asking here is, substituting in Gloom into the attack chain, how do the damage numbers over a period of time really change.

Guess i'll have to struggle through with 92 seconds then. thanks.