Nalrok_AthZim

Thanks, Manga. Glad you're on the same rig I am. Makes your advice a lot more applicable.

Heretic! D:

I still wish it was the old Bitter Freeze Ray animation.

Look at my hands... Yes..! RAAAH!

Instead we just got "Lemme make a football goalpost shape and then throttle you in the sternum".

Good point, I didn't realize how vague my post was. Lemme rephrase:

To generate fury, you need to whiff or be whiffed at.

:P

you're*

Soul Drain makes me happy.

This totally destroys my dream of making a comic where a /SD brute begins using Burst and knocks himself out cold with his shield.

Read the guide in my signature.

First off, You didn't look for the positives

I'll keep it simple:

-Fiery Embrace is now an incredible power. It makes /Fire a viable option for ANY primary; previously, the power was only useful if you were Fire/. Think of it as using Incendiary Ammo, but for your fists.

-The damage cap nerf was nothing special or painful. I've only been at the previous 850% cap when I had 4 Kineticists pumping max-spawn Fulcrum Shifts on me all at the same time with full Fury and a capped Soul Drain.

-Fury now generates way easier. WAY easier. And it degrades way slower. WAY WAY WAY slower. This means you can chain sweep entire spawns without losing that high-output edge Brutes are so notorious for. It's especially helpful to low-level Brutes, who now generate Fury at a phenomenal rate (compared to pre-i18), which allows them to take on more enemies and rack up more kills faster. Higher level Brutes lose Fury slower, making them able to sprint from one group to the next without needing that slow climb to get them back up to speed.

-Aura of Fear's mag nerf was nothing special, either. In order to generate Fury, a Brute needs to hit and BE hit. In my case (Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery) Aura of Fear was only useful when I wanted to lay down a fear on an EB/AV. Otherwise it was just an end-waster that didn't get me any more Fury.

----

I personally welcome these changes, as they've made my Brutes feel far more efficient (especially my newly-made Kin/Invul). Fury now feels like a true berserk; when you enter the fight, you get the blood pumping and feel the adrenaline flow. If the fight lasts too long, you say "I'm finishing this." Then you generate past 80 Fury and get the job done, maxing out your damage and slaughtering people. And when you get done, you still have that combat high, and you're ready to unleash on another group of unsuspecting enemies.

>_>

Oddly enough I have a 41 Bots/Pain, and I've never seen my bubblebots have endurance issues.

I'll strongly consider that. Usually I just use regular IO's until I hit 45+, but maybe starting early with some insane slotting will do me some good.

I don't think you need so many slots in Caltrops. The damage is miniscule, unless you're just slotting for bonuses. I never took it as it causes the spawn to run around and scatter out of your poison trap/demon AoE attacks.

I'm not entirely sure that the PvE stealth SS provides would be enough. I had it on my long-since-deleted 41 Thugs/Traps MM. I'd usually send the henchies in to provide a diversion while I laid stuff down; running in on my own, regardless of what I was using toggle-wise, usually ended in death.

Plus, KO Blow counts as a hold. Stack that with Poison Trap, and sucker-punch those bosses!

I see. Well, if you wanted to go a little crazy you could switch to Leviathan Mastery and get the shield and Knockout Blow. Last thing someone would expect is to get their jaw smashed in by the MM and not the pets.

Immediately after reading that on it's own, I heard Morbo from Futurama: "VOLUMINOUSLY!"