Ehina

I agree that Fire crushing everything else in term of dps is not even fun. Sure, it has no secondary effect other than a dot, so it's normal that it outdamages the other sets... but by such a huge margin ?

And no, I'd hate to see a Fire nerf. On the other hand a few buffs to the underperforming sets (Psi, Elec, ...) would be more than welcome.

SM/SD... that would be your endurance bar crying

My SS/SD is 39 atm and dont run into heavy end problems. I have frankenslotted all their attacks for something like 70-90% end reduction, as well as the toggles.

Spamming Footstomp with the FF proc, and KO blow each time it's up can be a bit endurance intensive, but nothing I cant manage with just one blue inspi time to time.

At 50 with all the uniques and a solid IO build I dont think she'll have the slightest endurance issue, at least I hope

Put this end proc in Dark Regen, frankenslot your attacks for max end reduction (they cost 10x more end/sec than the rage crash !), frankenslot also your toggles and DR too...

Only the proc may be expensive (like 15-20M), the rest costs nothing and gonna change your life as a SS/DA.

I usually play "nimble little cat girls" as you said, that must be why I like it.

I can understand it doesnt fit right on big hulking toons (claws/stone anyone ? )

I don't think it sucks at all, I even think it can be made pretty good.

- You get easily to the soft cap in S/L/F/E/N with minimal IO slotting (much less than what /Shield requires for example).
- With a few IO sets (zephyrs... etc) you can also raise pretty easily your range defense so that it should be soft capped with just one small purple : you're then totally protected to most Psi attacks.
- You have passive resists, even if they're not high, stacked with Tough they're not insignificant at all.
- You have infinite endurance, and for some primaries like SS or SM it's not nothing.
- The heal in Energy Drain is small, but once slotted it can be handy : /SR, /Shield dont have a heal at all.
- You have an AWESOME tier 9 : if you slot it for healing, that you should, it puts you easily to the cap (3.2k hps !) and therefore boosts your regen and your ED heal alot too ! The crash is not as annoying as many tiers 9 as it doesnt eat all your life. One small blue, one Energy Drain, and you're still fighting.

I still think they could have made the heal in ED a bit higher, like 10% base instead of 3%, the set would be much more popular then.

Another point is the redundancy between Energy Drain and Conserve Power, you definitely dont need both and the first one is much better. CP could be removed in favor of a Dull Pain for example, or something else that is useful.

I really think Claws is portable to brutes as it is now without any change. And that's what we will get.

In the same way that Dual Blades for Brutes is very close (minus the AT modifiers) to Dual Blades for Scrappers.

The difference being in the dam buff coming from Blinding Feint : 37.5% for a scrapper, 30% for brutes.

So we will prolly get a 30% follow up. I would prefer a higher FU dmg boost as Brutes get a lower base dmg and therefore benefit less from a dmg bonus comparatively to Scrappers... but well, those are the game mechanics that have been here since the beginning of CoV (same thing for Build up... etc).

Btw I dont understand the problem with Evi. To me the animation is one of the best in the game. The only issue that makes many people skipping it : it's a bit slow. But on scrappers it's also an AoE cone so that makes sense.

However, having new alternate animations for Claws would be great too

And btw this thread is the proof that the devs really listen to their playerbase. I'm pretty sure we would have gotten Broadsword instead if there hasnt been all those CLAWS4BRUTES threads.

So you can start a new campaign for this alternate animation JDouble...

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So who's in? Justice server, no AE, all Brutes, all Claws. You don't have to join a SG, I've made a global channel called "Claws4Brutes" so we can communicate thru that. There's no date set yet of course....but who's in?

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I'd definitely be in if it was in 2-3 weeks (even if I never played on Justice... could be cool). But I can't promise now for in a few months as I have no idea what will be going on then^^

Anyway starting a superteam CLAWS4BRUTES as soon as i16 hits is definitely a great idea, and I support that !!

It would be a totally different answer whether you're looking for an AoE god, or a single target god.

AoE : spines, paired with something solid, unfortunately cant have /shield here. My personnal preference is /invuln.
ST : dark melee/shield
a bit of both : fire/shield

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They'll probably increase the recharge time of N-Bolt (to 4 seconds I'd guess), drop the damage scale on Electron Haze, and drop the damage scale on Cosmic Burst (or make the stun non-guaranteed, or both). All in all I'd expect the powers and their order to remain largely the same, it's what they might do to those powers that worries me.

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I hope they don't. We need other good alternatives than Fire/ for blasters, be it for ST dps or AoE dps. Rad/ dps is already one big step below in both categories... Why should it be nerfed more ?

Tweaking Psi Blast when it got ported to blasters in i12 was probably regarding to PvP balance... Now that PvP changed (collapsed ?) drastically, it's also time to bring back Psi/ to it's full glory on a blaster.

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Edit* So hyped that in fact, I'm posting in the completely wrong forum. This was meant for Scrappers. Doh !

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This is what we call in french "un acte-manqué"

Not sure you can enhance farming more than it is now.

With people being able to size their own difficulty and team size, you will see less asks for fillers, and farm crying babies won't get that much free PL.

These options rock in my opinion !

To the OP : very good post. And I hope you're right.

Anyway this new i16 feature is brilliant in itself and is what i've been waiting forever in this game !

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This sounds sooo cool. I'm waiting for Billzbubba to post something lol.

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And JDouble too ! He was the originator and main supporter of the CLAWS4BRUTE !

I16 looks so awesome, I can't even find my words.

The new difficulty settings are just like the icing on the cake, but what an icing ! Looks almost as good as all the other features combined... and what features ! Powerset colors, proliferation, new anims for MA and SS.... Wow just wow !

Only half of this would make i16 full of win ! I don't see myself looking for new MMOs anytime soon !

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I want a fun brute....massive damage...great survivablity...and plenty of FUN!

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That is SS/Shield.

You got it Jacobi !!! Your hard work and dedication toward Claws4Brutes finally paid

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Powerset Proliferation - More powersets are now in the hands of Archetypes who couldn't use them previously! Blasters will have access to Radiation Blast, Brutes will get their Claws on , Controllers can now freeze it up with Cold Domination, and Corruptors get to feel the "twang" of Archery and Trick Arrow. Defenders can go high-tech with Assault Rifle and Traps, and Dominators can pulverize their enemies with Earth Assault. Masterminds heat things up with Thermal Radiation, Scrappers and Tankers get ready to fry their foes with Electric Melee and Electric Armor, and finally Stalkers get to swing their own mighty Broadsword.

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From the i16 overview page !!!

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How can Statesman fight against LR with his SS and win?

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- His faceplace cancels out Enhancement Diversification. That's why players aren't allowed access to it as a costume piece.
.

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Haha !

It's more about end recovery vs the cost of your attacks + the cost of the toggles.

There are certainly a few points you can improve in your build, but the main thing I see instantly that gonna destroy your endurance is your Foot Stomp slotting.

Only spamming Foot Stomp while Hasten is up will burn 15.6/6.3 = 2.47, that is almost your whole endurance recovery minus the toggles. If you count the FF proc, you might fall out of endurance only with this attack (that is if you spam it non-stop of course).

And that doesnt even count your other single target attacks or AoEs you gonna of course use in the meanwhile. If we just add KO Blow to the equation, and you use it with FS everytime it's up, 13.9/7.88 = 1.77 end/sec, your overall end/sec consumption - recovery is around 1.72 end/sec. You'll be out of endurance in approx 58 sec (less than that with the bonus of the FF proc), and with only 2 attacks.

Note that I don't take the Rage crash into account : it's only -25 endu every 120 sec (if you don't stack it : that means less crash time and no crash malus when you relaunch it just when it wears down, I prefer this solution). Those 25/120 are 0.21 end/sec, the cost of a toggle. And tenfold less than what FS or KO Blow gonna cost you if you spam it (what SS brutes want to do usually) ! Many people believe that the rage crash is what drains their endurance the most, but that's a misconception. It's almost insignificant compared to the cost of the attacks. It's just that if you're running low on endurance, the rage crash may detoggle you and that's often lethal if you happen to be in the middle of a big spawn.

So, the solutions :
- Nothing better than a good frankenslotting for FS : something like 20% acc, 80-90% dam, 80% end+, 80% rech+ and the FF proc that is awesome ofc ! (you can use Multi Strike, Obli and Scirocco parts for that, also the FF Rech/End IO can help here). (Just for information, Foot Stomp is maybe the only power in the game I constantly frankenslot on my toons because I consider its slotting being more important than the set bonuses it can give to the whole build)
- You dont need to multi-slot Phalanx Fighting, just a lotg rech in it will do the job, the basic defense bonus it gives you out of any teamate close to you is unenhanceable.
- Use those free slots to put an end red IO in KO Blow 6th slot (your second end hog after FS if you use it everytime it's up), and a 3rd recharge in Hasten.

You can also gain slots from your defense toggles, 3 lotg in each is enough. Membranes in Weave can also do the job pretty well.

On a SD brute, tanker or scrapper I like to slot Health and True Grit to the max I can, as it gonna give you a huge regen (up to 30-35 hp/sec on a brute and more with the hp accolades) : that means you can go endlessly without needing Aid Self or green inspis in most circumstances.

Just for info, one of the best slotting you can get to max your regen (and your recovery) is :
- True Grit x6 : Numix3 heal, heal/rech, heal/end, Rege Tissue unique and 2 Heal IOs.
- Health x6 : Numix3 unique, heal, heal/end, and Miraclex3 unique, heal, heal/end.

Just try this one on Mids and check in View Totals the difference in Regeneration (right click on it to read the hp/sec). Of course it's hard to get exactly there on a brute or scrapper as alot of slots are already devoted toward capping defense, it's easier on tankers. So don't take it necessarily as a goal in itself, but rather as an option to improve your survivability beyond the soft capping.

Sorry, it's a bit long to completely review a build and modify it, while keeping the original intent of the player who made it. I quite didnt completely make this effort, but still gave you a few hints

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For zone play, the only solution that would draw a larger crowd of casual players was to go the way they did. The fact that many of the long time zone PvPers were not a fan of this format in THIS game, doesn't change the fact that the devs were finally trying to fall in line with the industry standard. The objective was to increase activity in PvP zone play, this has been accomplished, which in turn is going to provide the devs with the data that their decision was the right one. They screwed up huge by not fully implementing all the arena options originally, which lost them their arena supporters, but that is not what this conversation is about.

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@Warhamster.

We agree on the intent, but not on the result.

In my opinion i13 pvp is a major mistake. You can't make PvP more "democratic" or "casual" by adding alot of non-intuitive rules that limit the gap between experienced and non-experienced players.

This gap, and the way you, the player, are going to close it or not is what makes the essence of PvP in a game : a sense of competition, challenge, achievement.

I've been a hardcore PvPer in my previous MMOs, and everywhere I've been I've seen the same thing : experienced and skilled players beating on less experienced and less skilled players. Organized teams beating on less organized groups of players. That's how PvP works, simply.

Thinking you can remove or lessen to a great extent those features from the PvP zones to make PvP more accessible to players is a mistake in my opinion. The intent is good, but the central idea, the way they did it (against their fans and community), and the non-intuitive rules they had to pulled out to achieve this are against what "most" people who like PvP in games are looking for, at least in my perception.

I've been one of the "PvE players" in this game who quite didnt like i12 (and before) PvP (for misc reasons), and got quite happy when they first announced a revamp.

I tested it, and now I regret i12 PvP... as weird as it can seem. The counter-intuitive normalization to dmg, resistance, and everything kinda spoils my motivation to do something that I dont see alot of logic in it.

However, I respect your opinion, as it's well argumented and coming from someone who seems to know what he's talking about. I'm glad that someone can enjoy i13 PvP and at the same time understand how it works, two points that seemed quite exclusive to me the last times I checked it.

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Most of the time I get asked when i join a group how I like DA, and when I say its awesome, and is tough as hell, they kinda laugh. So far I am pretty sure I have put a pretty good dent in the misconception of DA being squishie.

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And it's the magic of IO sets. You can turn alot of things into true tanking machines. And DA has a good potential there : solid resists, a great heal... it just needed defense and the IOs can bring you that.

Your only nemesis will be a big pack of Romans, Longbows or Rad type mobs who gonna debuff your defense... and even then, if you have team support, a few inspis... you should be fine.

Then someone gonna try to level a DA following your "it's awesome, and tough as hell" and gonna repeatedly get his butt handed to him with a SO slotting

Both are awesome !

(I played a MA/SD, DM/SD, SD/SS, SD/Fire, SD/Ice... And Elec/SD brute on villains.)

You get more survivability with the tanker, the defense is much easier to soft cap (only SOs, with weave, CJ + a steadfast 3% puts you to 42-43% def !). You get better damage with the scrapper.

If you love AoEs Shield/Fire/Fire tanker is a very nice choice.

For single target damage, DM/SD and SD/DM are both great.

You can't really go wrong with a Shield toon, be it a scrapper or a tanker (a scrapper will require more influence to get to the soft cap at level 50). Even my SD/Ice is great (and many ppl dont like Ice Melee !).

Hi all,

I was wondering about the Defense Debuff Resistance you get with Stone Armor. From Mids figures, I get 60% while I'm in Granite. Is there any way to boost this number ?

Do Rock Armor and Crystal Armor DDR apply also when you're in Granite, or only when you're outside of it ?

Thanks for the answer

On mine I wont go for tough/weave, but it's because I plan to soft cap her with IO sets as soon as I reach 50, in the meanwhile I have CJ and a 3% steadfast, so she's softcapped (45% in all positions) with only a small purple. Before each mission I refill my inspi tray with purples only, and I dont have a problem being the main tank even on tough maps.

However, if you don't plan to invest in expensive IO sets at 50, getting to weave asap is a better choice i think. Your both toggles, Phalanx 5%, CJ 2x slotted for defense, the steadfast IO and weave with 3 defense IOs = something like 43% defense, close to the soft cap. You'll live well there, without inspis.

Hasten is a must have if you ask me. Hasten 3xslotted for recharge, BU 3xslotted for recharge, Shield Charge frankenslotted so it has something like 25% acc, 95% dam, 25% end, 95% rech. In this way SC and BU are always up together, and very often.

Of course you'll need stamina asap (level 20).

Powers to avoid or not : everything is a no brainer in SD, but Grant Cover, not that it's not useful but you can go without.

For /Ice it's a bit more complex, most attacks are good, it's up to you. I would take in first place the AoEs (Frost and Frozen Aura) and slot them for damage, then also BU (to go with SC). A good solid second choice would be Ice Sword to have more single target attacks in case you have to solo something. Taunt can be quite useful also, I wouldnt skip it if you plan to be main tank in large teams.

For the Epics, it's a matter of personnal choice. /Fire seems the logical choice for dmg (filler, Fire Blast + Fireball), but /Ice is the logical choice for concept (filler, Ice Blast or Shiver + Ice Storm) and not that bad either. I think I'll go with the second one on mine. Note that it's not easy to go down to the 3rd epic power and at the same time take everything you need from powersets and pools... You may easily fall short of power choices.

Anyway, it was just to give a few tips. Don't hesitate to ask any more question. Good luck with your toon

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You know that FA = FS, right?

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That isnt correct. FS has a 15' radius and FA only 10', and that's a world of difference (aka 125% surface covered more). You have many melee PbAoEs in the game that would be great if they had this 15' range, and that makes all the difference.

The knockdown is also much more useful as a form of mitigation than a mag 2 sleep.

And FS benefits from Rage too (you cant count one without the other) and those 80% perma dmg buff makes a big difference on a tanker, like a perma build up (with a 10 sec crash every 2 min), you mentionned it.

Another small advantage for FS, but not insignificant, you can slot a FF +rech proc in it which has a chance to proc for every critter hit. This improves your global recharge by a significant margin. Put in other words, once you know this trick you can spam FS a bit more than you can spam FA.

FA has one clear advantage however, it's pure cold dmg, that is less resisted than FS smashing dmg. But this definitely can't make up for the differences I mentionned just above.

I agree on this point :
- Frost is awesome, yes it is. It does single target dmg with a 90° cone, 10' range that regularly hits 4+ targets.

And no, I dont agree on your fast assimilation that AoE = useful and ST = useless. Depends on the playstyle.