Dreambreaker

I think I have room for Build Up if I put it off til 24 or so. It also depends on how early I want to get down the Fighting Pool (assuming I do so at all).

Currently I'm looking at this as the powers I'll pick while leveling:

1 Stone Fist
1 Deflection
2 Stone Mallet
4 True Grit
6 Swift
8 Heavy Mallet
10 Combat Jumping
12 Battle Agility
14 Health
16 Against All Odds
18 Seismic Smash
20 Stamina
22 Active Defense
24 Build Up
26 Phalanx Fighting
28
30
32
35 Shield Charge

That would obviously be in a different order if I were respeccing, but I find that having all the defensive toggles early is no help because I can't afford to run them anyway.

If I'm going to have end problems, though, I worry that tough and weave will be just too much to bear.

I generally don't take on more than 2 groups at a time. I'm rarely in a hurry to level.

It sounds like both Fault and Tremor should be put on the backburner at any rate given my playstyle.

Pardon my nubishness, but silly orange numbers?

I hadn't considered the Endurance problems I might have. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. My other Brute is WP and it seems that she has a neverending supply of Endurance. That'll probably take some getting used to.

So it sounds like you're recommending that all powers in the Shield set are worth taking?

Are there are any that are just outright skippable (like Taunt or Hurl Boulder in the primary)?

I didn't realize Fault was so good. The no damage part scared me off. Thanks for that input.

And I thought Grant Cover provided 0 benefit to the caster and only helped teammates? It's not that I don't want to be a team player, but I team up so rarely that I was putting myself first -- especially for leveling.

So I've been looking around for any sort of talk on a Stone Melee/Shield Defense combo. I have a concept of a construction worker-based villain that I think the two sets will fit nicely with.

No one seems to be talking about this combo, and a search yielded nothing.

Is there anything I should look out for? I've been inactive in the game for over a year now, and I certainly am not up to par.

This is how I'm seeing it:

Take It
Take It if there's room
Skip It

1 Stone Fist
1 Stone Mallet
4 Heavy Mallet
6 Build Up
8 Fault
12 Taunt
18 Seismic Smash
26 Hurl Boulder
32 Tremor

1 Deflection
2 Battle Agility
4 True Grit
10 Active Defense
16 Against All Odds
20 Phalanx Fighting
28 Grant Cover
35 Shield Charge
38 One With the Shield

Is that about right for the powers that are useful in this set?

My playstyle is mostly going to be solo with random pugs here and there. I've never gotten a toon to 50 so I'm not planning at this point to do a lot of raids or anything.

Also, are there secondaries that are particularly important or potent with this combo? I'm planning Combat Jumping/Super Jump and Swift/Health/Stamina. Is there another set that is a must?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!