Nekomimi_EU

[ QUOTE ]
But, after ED, when we had been cut down so dramatically, what on earth does it do for anyone ?

[/ QUOTE ]
I really wish people would stop trying to use ED as a reason why one particular Power pool is underpowered.

ED affected every character equally (well almost - powers which only take one time of Enhancement like travel powers suffered slightly worse). If Inv Tankers were affected by ED, do you think its possible that every other AT in the game was also affected?

Also I think you will find with IOs you can now reach greater heights than you could before ED. You just have to slot sensibly.

Well with a good three abilities doing PBAoE knockdown/back (Thunderstrike, Lightning Clap, and Lightning Rod and ), two abilities doing PBAoE disorientate (Oppressive Gloom and Soul Transfer) and one producing AoE Fear (Cloak of Fear) you will probably discover most of the opponents arent attacking you a lot of the time.

The up side to this is that you will have a really high survivability. The down side is that building fury will be a real pain.

I'll be really interested to see what you do with this build.

I've always found jumping on a */Elec brute just doesnt work with grounded. Expect to be on your back all the time. Either get acrobatics, swap jumping out for any other travel power, or get used to being knocked around.

Also I would swap taunt out for Lightning field, which in my opinion works just as well as a taunt, but also damages and end drains your opponents.

Otherwise looks a fine build so far.

This is very doable - I play a elec/elec brute who has Lightning Reflexes, Swift and Sprint heavily slotted. I ended up getting a travel power because I found walls and trenches a pain, but it was definately possible. I still have them heavily slotted since I love the speed in missions, and an unsurpressed travel power makes everyone very very envious of you.

Just one word or warning - if you are speed boosted on a cave missions you may as well give up trying to navigate.

Well the first commen is that assuming you use even level SOs slotting the optimal speed is 70.05 fps (by 3 slotting Swift, Quickness and Sprint) at level 50.

Swift (2xRunSpd), Quickness (3xRunSpd), Sprint (1xRunSpd) as you have done will give you

a run speed without sprint of 61.47fps
a run speed without sprint of 47.51fps

Now if you keep the same number of slots (6 slots), but swap it to

Swift (2xRunSpd), Quickness (3xRunSpd), Sprint (1xRunSpd) this will give you

a run speed without sprint of 63.41fps
a run speed without sprint of 42.98fps

Since I always run with Sprint on, I would go with the second option. In addition it allows you a higer degree of control if someone does speed boost you (you can turn off sprint).

I've actually slotted

Swift (3xRunSpd), Lightning Reflexes (1xRunSpd), Sprint (1xRunSpd) which gives me

a run speed without sprint of 60.99fps
a run speed without sprint of 41.58fps

However I've then slotted two Aegis Enchancements in each of my Resistences giving we a +20% run speed. Unfortunately this isn't an option for you since you are Defence based, but I would still recommend looking at slotting Kinetic Combat in attacks. This IO set only goes to level 35, but at 35th level in addition to the 5% speed bost gives 22% Acc, 85% Damage, 41% End, 41% Rechange and a chance at Knockdown. Slot an Accuracy IO with it and even at 50th level its reasonable slotting. Alternatively you might consider focussed smite (which gives a 3% run speed bonus). Thunderstrike in your ranged attacks would help too.

[ QUOTE ]
I know that's a poor answer, but it really does. If you're Defence based, Aid Self is great and you can manage with one Interrupt in there. If you're Resistance based then you'll probably need two.

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I'm a resistence based Brute with Self aid slotted with no interupts. It can be used that way if you remember..
<ul type="square"> a) You cannot use it when you are taking damage over time,
b) Ideally you should use it immediately after an AoE knockback attack so all your enemies aren't attacking you (should be easy for Superstrength with foot stomp)
c)If you can't knock them back, you should time it a fraction of a second after their attack hits.
d)If you can last through a single fight, you can always use it as soon as the last enemy drops and be sure it will work - in which case you'll discover a few green inspirations for emergency healing last a long time.[/list]With practice you can get it off consistently when not taking DoT damage. When you are taking DoT you can pop a green.

I do plan to slot it with Interupts, but just haven't got arround to it yet (something else is always more important and when you only have a couple of slots in it heals make more sense).

What I'm really trying to say is even when not slotted with interupts its useful (with interupt reductions slotted its even better). Of course I don't usually attempt to tank, its not a Brute's role, so I cannot say how useful it would be to a tank.

Personally I would recommend respecing at 35 or 36 and getting back some of those End Redux (but not all of them).

I have:
Charged Armour: 3 res, 1 end redux
Lightning Field: 1 ac, 3 end mod, 2 end redux
Conductive Shield: 3 res
Static Shield: 3 res
Grounded: 3 res
Lightning Reflexes: 1 run spd
Power Sink: 3 end mod, 1 rec red (but next level it will be 3 rec red)

And this is perfect above 35th level (I never have any edurance issues). When exemplaring below 35th (ie without Power Sink) I just make sure I don't go anywhere without atleast 4 Catch a breaths, and I make sure I always use inspirations so there are free slots for any new Catch a breath that may fall.

I also would recommend against getting both Conserve Power and Power Sink - once you have Power Sink Conserve Power seems like a complete waste of a slot.

[ QUOTE ]
I am currently running a trio with friends and I have an Energy / Elec brute. Now one of my team mates has alot of aoe that he likes to use. So instead of slotting lightning field for damage, i was thinking about taunt to keep them all together and then he can let loose.

Good idea? And how would you go about the slottting if I went this way?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can slot Lightning field for Taunt 'Duration' but I never considered this worthwhile.

The Magnitudes of Taunt effects stack differently than other effects in game. They stack from the same source, but not the same power, and do not stack from different sources. As such you cannot stack multiple Taunts from Lightning Field, but you do want to get another taunt in before the first one wears off. Taunt does not change the agro limit (17 targets).

Without slotting Lightning Field gives a 13.5 second magnitude 4 Taunt every tick. Since the 'tick' on the lightning field is 2.03 seconds they will be taunted again long before the initial taunt wears off. Infact they will be taunted another 5 times before the initial taunt waers off.

You might want to consider slotting for accuracy if you want to get the maximum taunting benefit. If the field misses the taunt will fail. A lighting field with high accuracy is also great for finding those Regen/Dark Armour stalkers in Warburg.

Personally I slot mine with 2xAccuracy, 1xEndurance Reduction, 3xEndurance Modification. I think I've got to be about the only Brute in the game to do this but it suits my style - I have Power Sink 6 slotted (3xRecharge, 3xEndMod) and like to start fights with it.

Generally though with Melee mobs if you catch them in the field as it ticks you will keep agro since they will follow you and stay in the field. With Ranged mobs you will keep agro for as long as they are in the field and 13 seconds after. It is entirely possible however (especially with sprint and lighting reflexes) to move passed a critter and not have the field 'tick' whilst the critter is in range.

Thanks

Well while we are on the subject, can I ask your opinions on this build? I wanted to work Phase Shift in (for theme reasons), and felt Recall Friend might be useful for controlling the Singularity. Other than that I just build what I figured would make a reasonable Grav/Nrg Dmionator, but since I've never actually played a Dominator beyond 8th level I may be way off the mark...

Also I've just played an Elec/Elec Brute up to 27th level, and holding off on Travel Powers till late in the game is very viable. She got her Travel power at 26th, and still have over 4 hours of temporary travel powers left (which means that she used less than 2 hours). It helps that in the early game there are three Flight packs and one Jump Pack.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Grav/Nrg Dom v1.1
Level: 50
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Gravity Control
Secondary: Energy Assault
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01) Lift - Acc(1), Acc(7), Rechg(15)
01) Power Bolt - Acc(1), Acc(13)
02) Gravity Distortion - Acc(2), Acc(3), Hold(3), Hold(5), Rechg(5), Rechg(7)
04) Bone Smasher - Acc(4), Acc(9), Dmg(9), Dmg(11), Dmg(11), Rechg(15)
06) Swift - Run(6)
08) Grant Invisibility - EndRdx(8)
10) Recall Friend - IntRdx(10)
12) Dimension Shift - Rechg(12), Rechg(13), Intang(40)
14) Invisibility - EndRdx(14)
16) Health - Heal(16), Heal(17), Heal(17)
18) Gravity Distortion Field - Acc(18), Acc(19), Rechg(19), Hold(21), Hold(21), Hold(23)
20) Stamina - EndMod(20), EndMod(23), EndMod(25)
22) Whirling Hands - Acc(22), Acc(31), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(40), Rechg(46)
24) Power Boost - Rechg(24), Rechg(25), Rechg(34)
26) Wormhole - Acc(26), Acc(27), Range(27), DisDur(29), DisDur(29), Rechg(31)
28) Teleport - EndRdx(28), Range(36), Range(43), Range(46)
30) Total Focus - Acc(30), Acc(31), Dmg(37), Dmg(37), Dmg(37), Rechg(46)
32) Singularity - Acc(32), Hold(33), Hold(33), Hold(33), Rechg(34), Rechg(34)
35) Phase Shift - EndRdx(35), Rechg(50)
38) Power Burst - Acc(38), Acc(39), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), Dmg(40)
41) Dark Consumption - Acc(41), EndMod(42), EndMod(42), EndMod(42), Rechg(43), Rechg(43)
44) Dark Embrace - DmgRes(44), DmgRes(45), DmgRes(45), EndRdx(45)
47) Summon Seer - Acc(47), Dmg(48), Dmg(48), Rechg(48), Rechg(50), Rechg(50)
49) Hover - EndRdx(49)
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01) Sprint - EndRdx(1)
01) Brawl - Acc(1)
02) Rest - Rechg(2)
01) Domination - Empty(1)
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I did a quick comparison of Jacobs Ladder versus Chain Induction and must say I was stunned by what I came up with.

Lets get the asthetics out of the way. Chain Induction looks stunning and sounds great. Jacobs ladder in my opinion also looks good, but not nearly as good as Chain Induction.

It is a well known fact that the Devs have a formula for balancing powers against each other so they are all as effective overall; well that formula is clearly bust.

Firstly I compared total damage done based on rage and number of targets hit.

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Jacobs Ladder
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1 62.55 75.06 87.57 100.08 112.59 125.1 137.61 150.12 162.63 175.14 187.65
2 125.1 150.12 175.14 200.16 225.18 250.2 275.22 300.24 325.26 350.28 375.3
3 187.65 225.18 262.71 300.24 337.77 375.3 412.83 450.36 487.89 525.42 562.95
.
Chain Induction
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1 55.04 62.55 75.06 87.57 100.08 112.59 125.1 137.61 150.12 162.63 175.14
2 84.16 91.67 104.18 116.69 129.2 141.71 154.22 166.73 179.24 191.75 204.26
3 113.28 120.79 133.3 145.81 158.32 170.83 183.34 195.85 208.36 220.87 233.38
4 142.4 149.91 162.42 174.93 187.44 199.95 212.46 224.97 237.48 249.99 262.5
5 171.52 179.03 191.54 204.05 216.56 229.07 241.58 254.09 266.6 279.11 291.62</pre><hr />

Most people can consistently hit two or more targets with Jacob's ladder after a little practice. Although the devs say it happens I have never seen Chain Induction jump four times, hitting four additional targets, and seldom actually see it leap more than once. Half the problem here may be that you have to leave the original target alive long enough for this to happen. I tend to take things down as fast as I can hit them.

As can be seen against a since target Jacob's Ladder is always better. With even 30 rage Jacob's Ladder hitting two targets (which can be achieved consistently) will do more damage that Chain Induction hitting 5 (something which theoretically is possible, but simply doesn't happen). In fact if you assume Jacob's Ladder will consistently hit two targets whilst Chain Induction will consistently hit three (and this is being very generous to Chain Induction), Jacobs Ladder is actually better across the board.

We then look at the secondary affects (I'll use the PvE stats)

Jacobs Ladder
100% Energy Damage
10% chance of 6 second sleep
7% Endurance drain
10% chance no Endurance recovery for 2 seconds

Chain Induction
61% Smashing / 39% Energy (main target)
100% Energy damage (additional targets)
10% Endurance Drain (main target only)
30% chance no Endurance recovery for 4 seconds (main target only)

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Chain Induction is a better Sapper against single targets. Against two or more targets Jacobs Ladder will drain more Endurance, but Chain Induction will always have the lead on Recovery debuffing. Overall I'd consider them balanced on debuffing.

Jacob's ladder has a sleep component which Chain Induction doesn’t have - a clear advantage for Jacobs Ladder.

Finally there is the damage types. Against defence based sets Jacob's Ladder has the clear advantage. Split damage types are always a bad idea against defence based sets since they are 'allowed to use the best defence you have against an attack with multiple classes' (Arcana's Guide to Defense v1.4 - Updated for I7). Against Resistance based defences Smashing is the most common resistance, and probably worse than Energy, but it is nice to have a split damage for fighting anone who is highly resistant to a particular attack type. Overall though I feel Jacob's ladder has the edge with its pure energy damage.

Finally we look at the activation time, recharge time and Endurance cost.

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Jacobs Ladder Chain Induction
Activation Time 1.67 1.0
Recharge Time 8 14
Endurance Cost 8.528 10.192</pre><hr />

Chain Induction has an advantage in shorter activation time, which is nice. If it recharged fast enough to be used frequently in an attack chain it might be nice for building fury. For some bizarre reason Chain Induction which appears to be inferior to Jacob's Ladder in every way possible has been given a higher Recharge time and a higher Endurance cost.

So after looking at the two powers I have to say, if with practice you can consistently hit two targets with Jacob's ladder, or you find you are fighting one on one a lot you will be much better off using Jacob's ladder.

Finally it has to be noted that Chain Induction is currently bugged so you dont get any XP for mobs killed by the leaping charges, so an already poor power also leaches XP

Chain Induction appears to have only three areas where its better, its sapping ability when fighting one-on-one, its lower activation cost, and it looks absolutely stunning. Meanwhile it has a huge number of areas where it is clearly inferior.

Of course you could just take both, but if you only have room for one I hope this helps you decide

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, I'm not trying to get you to go back and try again. I dislike the PvP Zones, as I dislike any form of PvP which encourages people to be pillocks in game. And this kind of Zone does just that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe I've been incredibly lucky but the majority of people I've met in PvP haven't been pillocks.

My first experience of PvP was bad. I took my Dark/Kin Corruptor into Warburg in search of nukes. I met a friendly Mastermind and asked him what to do. He was very helpful. A short while and several ASes later I was feeling a little peaved, but I got lucky. I realised that Tactics and Accuracy Inspirations weren't spotting them, so I was running double accuracies (and burning through them damn fast). I spotted an approaching stalker. I'd figured out that generally they waited for me to engage mobs before openning up on me, so I opened with Fullcrum shift and Blackstar. I dont think the poor stalker knew what hit him. Shortly after that I started being ganked by a large group of stalkers..he'd brought his mates.

Since then my experiences have been much better. I met some friendly duelers with my Corruptor, and had a fun afternoon dueling with my corruptor (who turns out to be pathetic in PvP, even though he got lucky with that Stalker). Then a few days latter I had real fun PvPing between my Claws/Regen Scrapper and a Martial Arts stalker. He always got the AS in, but then I came back fast. Neither of us managed to take the other down, but it was a lot of fun.

The best PvP experiences I've had though have definately been team based though. I enjoyed playing part of an eight man team getting our Nukes in Warburg, whilst four stalkers tried to make things difficult (we had enough overlapping +per powers that we got to see them, but only seconds before they took out a squishy, so we were all watching each other to defend our doms and corrs). I've also enjoyed playing as part of a team in Siren's when things were close to balanced.

I had one really bad day, where I got one fluky kill in, but died to stalkers something like a dozen times. Since then its all been good.

Many of the opponents I've faced have been great sports. The other day, together with another stalker, we took on a controller and a fire Tank. It was great fun, and at the end I congratulated the Tanker on how well he'd protected his squishier friend, and how effective his firey aura was. He seemed pleased to talk, and we thanked him for a great time

Overall I much prefer PvE, but PvP is a nice diversion. I have learnt the hardway that a solitary Corruptor (or any other squishy without an AoE field/aura) in Warburg is suicide, but other than that its been reasonably balanced. CoX PvP is definately better in teams though.

[ QUOTE ]
Be careful. Something I noticed on my Warshade was that if you tp into a mob, and they notice you before the temporary hover after the tp wears off and smack you with a KB attack, then you go absolutely flying...

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the useful advice.

I've noticed the same thing with my Stalker which is why the only time I teleport in combat is when I'm running away, or I get immobolised.

I'm hoping to rely on lightning Reflexes, Sprint and Swift most of the time in combat. I know this isnt perfect for PvP, but Elec/Elec is hardly the perfect PvP brute anyway.. (especially with Energy drains only having 25% effect on players))

Sorry, Lightning reflexes does not affect fly speed, nor does Swift.

Well I've gone with teleport.

The combination of Swift, Lightning Reflexes and Sprint give a pretty good ground speed, for combat and its unsupressed, so I only really need a travel power for getting places and virtical travel. Teleport seems to fit well with Lightning Rod thematically.

I've chosen not to get my travel power till 24. So far I havent regretted it. I got two temporary travel powers from the Mayhem missions (Atlas and Kings Row) and plan to pick the Sky Raider Flight Pack from Lt Chalmers in my early 20s. So far at 18th level I still ahve over 85 minutes left on the Jump Pack and over 100 minutes left on the flight pack. Add in another 60 minutes from the sky raider pack and thats over 4 hours of travel powers..more than enough to get me to 24 hopefully.

So far Endurance has been a huge issue. I'm hoping Stamina at 20 will solve much of this. I know from the RV event thatonce I get Power Sink all Endurance issues will vanish... At the moment I actually fight groups of three or less yellows with all shields off, since health is less of an issue than endurance.

Brawl, Charged Brawl and Havok Punch, are great for building rage. I really feel I need more attacks in this build, but there simply isnt room for them (short of either taking air superiority and fly instead of teleport, but I want teleport).

To shine Elec/Elec really needs Medicine (aid self), fitness (sprint and stamina), Speed (Hasten), Fighting (Tough and Weave), Leaping (acrobatics), but obviously this isnt possible so we have to pick and choose. This is the build I'm going with and baring the Endurance issues it seems okay so far.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
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Archetype: Brute
Primary: Electric Melee
Secondary: Electric Armor
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01) --&gt; Charged Brawl==&gt; Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(27) Rechg(40)
01) --&gt; Charged Armor==&gt; EndRdx(1) DmgRes(13) DmgRes(15) DmgRes(17)
02) --&gt; Havoc Punch==&gt; Acc(2) Acc(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) EndRdx(7)
04) --&gt; Conductive Shield==&gt; EndRdx(4) DmgRes(17) DmgRes(19) DmgRes(19)
06) --&gt; Swift==&gt; Run(6) Run(27) Run(46)
08) --&gt; Thunder Strike==&gt; Acc(8) Acc(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) EndRdx(13)
10) --&gt; Static Shield==&gt; EndRdx(10)
12) --&gt; Recall Friend==&gt; Rechg(12)
14) --&gt; Lightning Field==&gt; EndRdx(14) EndRdx(15) Acc(23) Dmg(23) Dmg(25) Dmg(25)
16) --&gt; Grounded==&gt; DmgRes(16) DmgRes(40) DmgRes(42)
18) --&gt; Health==&gt; Heal(18) Heal(43) Heal(43)
20) --&gt; Stamina==&gt; EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --&gt; Lightning Reflexes==&gt; Run(22) Run(42) Run(50)
24) --&gt; Teleport==&gt; EndRdx(24) Range(40) Range(43)
26) --&gt; Aid Other==&gt; Heal(26)
28) --&gt; Aid Self==&gt; IntRdx(28) IntRdx(29) Heal(29) Heal(31) Heal(34) Rechg(37)
30) --&gt; Build Up==&gt; Rechg(30) Rechg(31) Rechg(31) TH_Buf(45) TH_Buf(46)
32) --&gt; Lightning Rod==&gt; Acc(32) Acc(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(34) Rechg(34)
35) --&gt; Power Sink==&gt; EndMod(35) EndMod(36) EndMod(36) Rechg(36) Rechg(37) Rechg(37)
38) --&gt; Power Surge==&gt; Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) DmgRes(39) Hold(46)
41) --&gt; Electrifying Fences==&gt; Acc(41) Acc(42)
44) --&gt; Ball Lightning==&gt; Acc(44) Acc(45) Dmg(45)
47) --&gt; Summon Striker==&gt; Acc(47) Acc(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)
49) --&gt; Resuscitate==&gt; Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Sprint==&gt; Run(1)
01) --&gt; Brawl==&gt; Rechg(1)
01) --&gt; Fury==&gt; Empty(1)
02) --&gt; Rest==&gt; Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

From my experience..pre Power Sink (lecvel 35) you need stamina, especially if you've taken either Lightning field or Lightning Reflexes.

Based on the PvE and PvP I did during the RV event, post Power Sink stamina is very much an optional extra.

Having siad that, I fully intend to take it because I suspect I will need to exemplar down below 35 occassionally.

I've worked with 4 stalkers and a corruptor and that was great fun, as are three stalker teams. but as the team size grows so do the spawn sizes. You are going to have to carry a lot of awakens since one of you is going to take the alpha stike on each group of mobs and with 8 in the team they could be very big spawns.

You'll end up relying heavily on powers like Teleport Foe to pull stuff from larger groups just to break up the spawns.

Good luck anyway.

[ QUOTE ]
Simple and easy,

Do what you want-think-like a tank should-would do.

It is called playstyle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is true, however there is a big proviso here. If you want to be of any use within a team certain things will be expected of you.

A tank who makes no attempt to hold the attention of the enemy will not be appreciated. The role of a Tank is normally seen as the guy who stands in harms way and deflects stuff so his squishy companions can blast around him without fear of dying. The guy who steps aside and lets them die - well he may still be a Tank, but he sure isn't heroic.

Lots of really good Tanking guides here

I would start with Tanking for Teams: The Anvil and A Guide to Lowbie Tanking and Surviving Their Spillover which seems pretty good guides.

Okay..There are arenas located in CoH and CoV.

In CoH try Galaxy City or Talos
In CoV go to Port Oakes or look inside the Giza in St. Martial

Once you get to an arena you can set up a play vs player fight. You do this using arena consoles (they are blue and found in the Arena). These fights will not give you any debt etc. and are really just for fun (although there is a rating system and you can rate your match if you like)

You invite people to join your contest using /ai &lt;character name&gt; . You can also join existing games by selecting the eligible tab at the arena console.

[ QUOTE ]
Aren't you guys bit of nitpicks? Corruptor are healer/buffer/debuffer in a few words : support role?

[/ QUOTE ]

I object to that.. It shows incredible short sightedness on your side.. Why?

1) Because my Corruptor can dispense more damage solo than any Brute, Mastermind, Stalker or Dominator I have ever met, but I know there are corruptors out there who can out damage me.
2) Because in many teams I have been in the Masterminds have been incredibly good Buffers, better than the Corruptors.
3) Because it dictates a play style that doesnt agree with the way I want to play.

I can tell you now that a Kinetics Corruptor is the single most offensivecombination in the game, with the huge downside of being incredibly squishy. The combination of Build Up (or equivalent), Fulcrum Shift, Nuke (of whatever type), Catch a Breath, Transference is incredible, and we can take both Siphon speed and hasten giving us the fastest attack rate in the game (faster than SR scrappers or Elec Brutes Lightning Reflexes Hasten combo).

I've played extensively with */Rad and */Dark corruptors, and they can be incredibly strong attackers too. When the Corruptor knows they arent going to die because someone else is holding the agro they can be astoundingly dangerous.

Having said that I can buff. I can buff melee characters incredibly well. I can debuff single targets very well. I know when I need to do both roles, and I do them well.

If I join a team an someone says, "you're the buffer" or "you're the healer" I know that they don't actually appreciate some of my talents. If they ask me to heal though I wont object (in actual fact I heal and buff all the time anyway... I feel I've messed up if anyones Speed Boast drops, and I'm always healing the front rows - as a kineticist its often hard to heal the back guys).

Yes we can buff/debuff and heal, but its only half our role and it doesn't define us. Neither half defines us because we are at our best when we use our who set of abilities.

[ QUOTE ]
The crash of power surge is exactly like unstoppable, what sucks is you dont have the heal you get in the invuln pool it just means you pop respites instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

For some reason I thought the Unstoppable crash was END only.. guess I was wrong.
Over the event I was trying to pop a CAB and use Aid Self. With the run from RV to Grandville Respites became like gold dust, and they were the only thing keeping me alive under gun fire (Lethal DoT)

I'm very used to Nukes from playing Blasters and Corruptors and Nuking alot, but where as they always felt worth taking I was verey hesitant to actually use Power Surge due to the crash. If Inspirations had been dropping more I wouldn't have been and in PvE (where mobs drop them alot) or a zone where there was an Inspiration seller I wouldnt have been.

[ QUOTE ]
Elec/* looks like the ultimate PvE brute. ....I didn't actually play one, so half the elec brutes that i fought were probably using their final tier power.

[/ QUOTE ]
Is it wise to make a sweeping statement like that without actually playing one?

In my opinion Elec/* is a weak set..possibly the weakest melee set, but atleast when paired with Elec Shields the End drain becomes useful.

The set is however incredible fun..and really flashy to see (especially the final power - lightning Rod).

Elec Shields fares better. Its an okay set, but somehow produces a character that doesnt play like a Brute. Its too squishy (low S/L Res, low KB res, no heat, no Defence) and its powers inhibbit the build up of fury. Having said that the sapping abilities are incredible. Over all its probably a balanced set, just not Brute like, and again, like Elec Melee its fun.

[ QUOTE ]
Another implication, don't bother to slot for end drain until you get power sink.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd entirely agree with this. It also means that until you hit level 35 you have no damage mitigation in your Primary if you go Elec/Elec... (appart from Knockup in Thunderstrike)

My feelings on the Elec/Elec brutes were rather mixed..

Elec Melee looks incredible, but due to the slow attacks isnt very good at building Fury. Also the damage output is poor to say the least. Having said that, Lightning Rod is incredibly fun to use. Elec Melee needs a serious buff somewhere. In addition Chain Induction is still seriously broken (giving no XP for enemy killed with the jumping sparks).

Elec Shields is very odd. The Smashing/Lethal resistance is low, and there is no defence, meaning that this set goes down fast under most circumstances. In addition there is no heal, and the KB resistance given by grounded is very weak. However the set looks incredible, and it has completely overpowered sapping abilities. Finally Power Surge whilst nice, is actually a pretty average fianl Brute Power. It is much better than the likes of Soul Transfer or Rise of the Phoenix, but I would have much prefered something like Overload or Unstoppable. The combined crash on both End and Health is a killer.

I found as an Elec/Elec Brute I could solo missions incredibly easily, but not at anything near the speed a Brute would normally solo at. The moment you AoE sap all the enemy arround you they slow down their attacking and your fury drops fast. This means you have to balance damage mitigation in the form of sapping with damage output in the form of fury.

I also found that even with three interupt reductions Aid Self was very difficult to get off, but due to the low Smashing/Lethal resistance and lack of defence you need to heal alot. My advice is carry a lot of Inspirations.

Overall opinion..
Elec Melee is weak, but fun. It seriously needs some Dev love.
Elec Armour is great but dont expect your Brute to play like a Brute..its completely counter intuitive. I suspect that the Sapping ability of Power Sink is too high (it may well be a bug), but if they fix this the overall value of this set will drop and I feel it will become very underpowered. At the moment it plays more like some sort of weird Kinetics Corruptor/Brute hybrid than like a Brute.

You were doing it wrong then..the Endurance Drain on an Elec/Elec Brute is absolutely insane. It is actually better than the END drain a Kinetics Defeneder or Corruptor can lay down with Transference and unlike that defender you can keep them at 0 end.

It works like this..

Power Sink is your main sapping power..its extreme but you only get to use it every 30 seconds or so. You'll find in PvE you only have to use it once to sap Bosses. In PvP you will need to use it twice, so you can sap guys in about 31 seconds. Slot it (Recharge x3, EndMod x3)

Lightning Field shouldn't be your damage field. Its your Agro generation and Sapping field. The roll of this field isnt actually to drop the enemy to zero END - its to keep them there when you've used Power Sink to sap them. I found it worked well slotted (EndRdx x2, EndMod x2, Acc x2)

For your first two attacks take Charged Brawl and Havoc Punch. Combined with Brawl or Boxing these allow you to build agro fast. Jacobs Ladder just isnt fast enough to build agro well so I skilled it. Slot them both something like (Acc x2, Dam x2, Recharge x1, EndMod x1)

Now just remember keep the Lightning field up all the time and Power Sink whenever you can and you'll have an incredible Sapper. The EndMod Enhancements in the first two attacks helps a little (but not much), however when testing with a friend I discovered with these two in place I could keep a Regen Scrapper on zero End, without them I couldn't, so I feel your better off without them.

Finally, forget Sapping another */Elec Brute..it simply doesnt work.