MurderousMalk

The point on Breathe of Fire and Combustion that I was making was both /Fire Tanker and /Fire Dom get both of those powers. The /Fire Tanker gets both so BoF is rather skippable with combustion on the list. Also /Fire Doms have both with BoFs cone range at 40ft.
I just want to try an see Fire Brute be able to make a tough choice with their power selection instead of most likely writing off Breathe of Fire. I mean, it's a RANGED cone...15 foot? That's like having a gun and throwing it at mobs instead of shooting it.

Also Violent Rise, if Combustion on brutes would be overpowering...I guess you've never played a /Fire Dom. They have both and the cone is 40ft...lol

I just find it funny that a Fire-Fire Dom has both a 40ft Breathe of Fire and Combustion. Tell me no one find this alittle lacking for Brutes? If Brute's version of Breathe of Fire was 40ft...I be overjoyed. At least then I wouldn't have to stand should to should with the mobs to set them on Fire :/

Thank You for the quick response Niviene. As always, doing a great job of keeping the players informed

Found my problem Kranik...it was a Trunk check mark...lol
Thank you for the help and effort in helping get Mid's somewhat current

So I take it all my fellow Fire-Fire Brutes have no opinion on Breathe of Fire? That's it is fine as is? Or substituting it with Combustion from Tanker's Fire Melee set?

The only problem I'm having is I tried your idea for Claws for brutes. When I save the toon and close it, then go back to re-open it and all the primary powers (claws) are taken back off like I was creating a brand new toon. Any Ideas? did I miss a step?

On your question for 2 Acc Drew...unless I have a primary/secondary that boosts my Acc normally, I alway but 2 acc in powers. Magikwand also bringd up alot of good ideas also. Depending on what you eventually try as your build Drew, Magik's advice is spot on. I'd argue a couple point, but advice is advice and every like bit always helps. The Worst Question is to never ask Drew.
With Magik's quote of "kill them before they kill you" sums up Fire-Fire to a T. If you attack chain is continuous and fluid, then the stream of orange numbers above your target will make you giggle like a schoolgirl. Also Magik's advice about +dmg enhancements is pretty much the same path I follow on brutes. And also dead-on, is Magik's advice about using inspires...they are your friends so gobble them up like skittles.

If I was on Justice I would definitely join up JD...but alas my main server is Virtue :/
Also I have made the necessary adjustments to my Mid's and already got my new Claw Brute planned and so far...he looks like a beast with just plain lvl 50 IOs
Looking at Claws/Reflexes...hehe I may actually try out PvP for a change Muha ha ha

Fire/Fire/Mako...as of now, I'm working with mainly a DoT-Ranged Specific brute build. 2 ST DoT attacks, 3 Cones, 3 PBAoEs, and patron immobile.
My basic attack chain should go as: patron Immobile, 2 patron cones, Breathe of Fire, Hit Firey Embrace, jump in the middle of the mobs, Hit 3 Burns with a Taunt in somewhere as Blazing Aura is going, and kill the remaining with ST attacks.

Seems that's the common reaction from most I just wish I didn't have to almost stand on top of the mobs to use it. As you said, I love setting the mobs ablazed, but just wish it could be fixed or switched with Combustion so it wouldn't be such an easy choice to skip. With alittle tinkering, it could make an extremely nasty cone or conform more with Fire Melee's ST and PBAoE set, as it were.

Also try the slotting Dark Regeneration with 3 end reducers/ 2 acc/ 1 end mod. With Hasten it should drop the End usage to about 18-19 and the recharge to about the same 17-19. You'll just need 2+ mobs to fill your end bar most of the time.

The thing about Dark Armor that I've found, is yes...it can be very endurance intensive but potentially very powerful set. Dark Armor allows you to either damage enemies, fear enemies, stun enemies...or a combination of them. The crash from Rage and Hasten is rough but manageable. First thing you'll need to decide is which of the 3 toggles you'll want. Some work togther, some work against each other. Cloak of Fear works best either alone or with Oppressive Gloom, as Death Shroud keep pulling them out of their fear status.
On the Super Strength side, I'd recommend slotting heavy for more endurance. Since Rage basically allows you to run your attacks with only needing 1 Acc, you can try slotting: 1 acc/ 2 end/ 2 dmg ... and a recharge reducer if needed. Most use 3 single target attacks with/without an additional power pool attack and Foot Stomp. I'd also recommend Tough to buff up your smashing/lethal resist. Unless you use -KB IOs, you'll need to take the Jumping power pool to fill the Knock Back (acrobatics) hole that Dark Armor has.

As a basic idea for slotting I use for most of my Brutes, I start with accurary and endurance with recharge if needed. I add damage last for the simple point that Fury, once it's 50% plus filled, does a lovely job of adding that damage you need till your able to slot your attacks for damage.
The one true thing that kills most brutes most of the time is to run out of Endurance and have your toggle drop. No endurance means no attacks going out and not toggles/armors to protect you. Yes you should try to keep your Fury bar as full as possible, but not at the risk of dying in the process. Make an educated guess when going from mob group to mob group as to when you need to rest and recover endurance. Once you find your groove, you'll know it.

Another good idea to give you a look at how you would want to build your fire-fire brute is to try and download "Mid's Hero Planner" for www.CoHtitan.com I believe is the site. Someone please correct me on the site if I'm wrong. If I'm getting your basic idea Drew, you'll most likely want to skip Breathe of Fire and find out whether you want to take Hasten on your build. Whether or not, Hasten will give you a better idea of taking more attacks or less. Since fire Melee's secondary effect is more damage in the form of DoTs, then if might not be as fast as Dark Melee or slow as Stone melee...but just watch the poor mobs stand there and being burned to the ground is it's own pleasure
Also check out other player's guide on this forum and the Tanker's forum. In most parts, both Brute and Tanker version of Fire Melee and Fire Aura is the same with a few exceptions and numbers to resistance levels.
Remember to pick up Tough from the fighing pool, and either combat jumping + acrobatics or invest in 2 -KB IOs to cover the holes in Fire Aura. If you play on Virtue, you can always look me up in game for other quick answers, my global is in my Sig.

I was wondering if anyone skip Breathe of Fire due to it's minor range (15 feet) and 30 degree arc. I mean for a ranged attack/cone, I still must practically stand in melee range to shoot it off and unless the mobs line up really nice for you, I hit maybe 3-5 at a time. Even slotted with 2 range IOs at 50, it only increase to 21 feet. I mean most other cones of this type are either a distance of 20-40-60 feet or at least have a cone arc of 45 degrees plus . Is there any possible way to get either a longer range and slightly wider arc -or- keep the 15 feet range and really open up the cone arc to 90-120 degrees plus?
I'm just throwing out an idea here, anyone else feel the same? If we can't get it changed, then how about Combustion from the Tanker's version of Fire Melee?

So basically it depends on what you want to build your Fire-Fire brute for. I'm trying out all DoTs and doing 2/3rds of my damage before I jump into the center of the mobs. If you worried about Fury, well with all that and hitting Taunt after you jump into them pretty much guarantees you have gotten their attention.
Something else you can also see with my idea is that I skip alot of my single target attacks in favor of the Cones and AoEs. You may try it and decide it's not for you. To each their own, and I wanted to try something not the normal. I have a Buddy I duo with that is more traditional in taking more of his single-target attacks than I am, and it works for him...that's his play style. The biggest thing about brutes is being able to be productive and since we are the "basic" and closest thing to a tanker...please take taunt. It generates more Fury than most attacks and the squishies will love you for it.

The thing about Fire Melee-Fire Aura Drewlonius is in how you look at it. By itself, Fire Melee has for AoE/Cones: Breath of Fire (cone...and I'm still up in the air about it) and Fire Sword Circle. On the Fire Aura Side you have: Blazing Aura (your damage/taunt aura), Burn (which only really works effectively with an Immobilizer), Rise of the Phoniex (you unfortunely have to die to use this one), and the Endurance recovery power (which the name eludes me at this moment, and the recharge doesn't make it a reliable PBAoE power itself).
Now with that, you can add patron powers to get your self more cones or AoE or targeted AoE powers depending on what your looking for. I myself am going to try Mako to pick up his immobile and 2 cones. What this will basically do is give me the following: 2 single-target attacks, 3 cones, 2 PBAoEs, along with filling most of the holes within Fire Aura itself.
My basic attack chain should go like this: Immobilize, Firey Embrace (which is basically like FA's build-up), 2 patron cones, Breathe of Fire, jump into the mob, hit Burn, Taunt, and kill what's let with Single-target attacks. Add the immobilize as needed and continue hitting Burn.
With this basic idea, most of the mobs will be half way dead or dying as i jump into the center. If I hit Firey Embrace as I jump into the mobs, then I can hit Burn 3 times before Firey Embrace and the immobilize wears off. Burn with Hasten drops it's recharge to about 8-9 seconds recharge and with 3 damage IOs about 600+ damage per click of it.

Working on a Fire-Fire-Mako myself at lvl 35 right now. It really depends on what you want to focus on. Single-Target, AoE, Cones, survivability, damage output...many of these things will help decide which way you build it. In general help, you need either combat jumping/acrobatics to fill the immobile/knockback hole that fire aura has -or- grab 2 -KB IOs and forgo acrobatics altogether. Also need Tough to help round out your smashing/lethal resistances. Past that, like I said, depends on what you want to focus on. The set is great for damage output with a patron immobilize and Burn as an actual damage attack.

Guess that TA-Arch defender of mine is getting re-rolled a Arch-TA Corr ... hehe

Now what to pair it with so I never have to stop running group to group and laugh insanely as I do it ... Muha ha ha

JD, thank you so much for for your huge amount of effort in getting the Devs to give brutes Claws...if you were a chick...I'd kiss ya...lmao

Great work man, keep up the good work

Ladies and Gentlemen the OP asked for help, not a bickering session. If one disagrees with another then fine, offer another case and point. Throwing around insults don't prove a point...it makes you look childish.
While I'm still working on my Fire-Fire-Mako idea, I have seen both SS-Shield and Elec-Shield in action. Both are impressive, but both can be expensive to maximize potential. So far alot of good points and ideas have been made. It is true that SS has a quick recharging PBAoE, but without adding patron powers...that's all it brings. If I am understanding the OP...and I might be wrong...he/she was looking for ideas for making a brute that is heavy in AoE attacks and such.

I have a lvl 42 Dark Melee-Energy Aura brute myself. He's a different style of brute play, but still a brute. Taunt works wonders to help keep aggro, since the set comes with a stealth power. Like any brute that is defense based, it won't blossum till after lvl 22 and Single Origin Enhancements.
I guess it just really depends on what primary set you choose to mesh with it. I biggest think I've noticed with Energy Aura is that the power "Energy Drain" is most useful with large groups, since it has a healing portion to it. With large amount of mobs around you it's a nice size heal, but nothing to use solo. Depending on your primary to heal with heals or get Aid Self to help compensate for a lack of heal in the powerset.

The thing I'd like to know is when the Devs are going to increase the Range of Breathe Fire to be remotely close to all the other powersets ranges. It starts at 15 meters...that's practically melee range. Either needs an increase in it's range so it truely is a ranged attack or a large increase to the size of the cone so if I have to stay in basic melee range I get to hit mobs with something like a 180 degree arc.
Just about every other powerset, except Jacob's Ladder, has a decent range to their cones if their ranged. Even the Patron powers has a starting range of 40-60.