Tazus Stone Melee/Electric Defense Brute Guide
Stone Melee/Electric Defense so far is my favorite combination. Currently, I have a level 40 SM/Elect which I have tested many different builds with on test server and run solo missions on Relentless. I also have a 42 Dark/Invuln, 40 Energy/Fire, and 35 SS/Fire who I mainly PvP with in sirens. I have yet to reach 50 due to extended breaks from play. Many of these brutes were leveled before Grandville. Upon my return I have seen a major decline in quality guides and forum activity. It is my hope that this contribution provides some assistance to building the SMASH. I will not be covering patron powers since I have little experience with them and the same goes for IO sets. I will start with the primary attack set and then talk about defenses. What I recommend is simply what works for me and should no way be considered the final authority on how to make your brute.
A quick note about slotting:
Enhancement Diversification is based upon a percentage using identical enhancements. You will get the full benefit with pre single origin (SO) slotting going beyond 3 of the same enhancement.
I recommend slotting only for accuracy from levels 1-13.
Why?
Your attack is completely ineffective if it doesnt hit the target. Some would argue that end reduction helps, however. If you are saving 2 endurance from enhancements on an 8 endurance attack its based on the assumption that you are dealing X amount of damage. So you get X amount of damage and save 2 endurance. If you miss, you just wasted 6 endurance and got nothing in return. I would rather spend the 8 endurance and hurt something! Remember this formula:
2 Training Enhancements is roughly = 1 dual origin
4 Training Enhancements is roughly =1 single
origin
2 dual origins is roughly = 1 Single Origin
Slotting recommendations at each power listed below are based upon the assumption you want to run missions at relentless and are using SOs.
Stone Melee Overview
Pros:
-Good Burst Damage
-Good Mitigation (Fault, Hammer Knockdowns)
-Huge hammers with quick redraw and epic SMASH sounds
Cons:
- Endurance Heavy
- Stone is entirely smashing damage. This is
commonly resisted
- Can be Slow to generate fury
The rating system:
0/5: dont bother
1/5: concept only
2/5: highly situational
3/5: effective but mediocre
4/5: worthwhile with a minor shortcoming
5/5: A must have now!
11/5: If you skip this, go play pac man!
Brawl (Damage: Minor = Recharge: Fast)
Press control and click on this power to engage automatic attacking with it. Then place with an end reduction. Its not about hitting; its about fury generation until you get lightning reflexes which I will discuss later. It can be nice to finish off mobs cheaper than using a hammer. Everyone in the game can use brawl.
Stone Melee Attacks
Stone Fists (Damage: Moderate Recharge: Fast)
Stone Fists is a solid starting attack. It has a fast animation time, makes a hefty smashing sound, and has about a 10% chance to disorient. Personally, I skip this attack and take Air Superiority from the flying power pool set at level 6. It does the same damage, has roughly the same animation time, and is a guaranteed knockdown. /Electric has no self heal, thus you want maximum mitigation. The downside of course, is dipping into a power pool which you may want open later.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Damage, 2x Accuracy, 2x Endurance Reduction
Stone Mallet (Damage: High Recharge: Moderate)
Here is another solid attack and an introduction to your mallets. Great for level 2 unless you are getting Air Sup at level 6, then you should grab this at level 1. It has a moderate chance of Knockback.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy,1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
Heavy Mallet (Damage: Superior Recharge: Slow)
The second of the two mallet attacks You want to get both for their great damage, knock back potential, and how well they mesh together graphically. There is also a much higher chance of Knock back than Stone Mallet. More often than not, they will be knocked down by this attack.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
Build Up (Recharge Long)
This power lasts 10 seconds, gives a base 20% ToHit Buff , 80%DamBuff, and has a recharge of 90 seconds (75 if you take lightning reflexes from the / electric set). If you factor in the 10 second duration, three single origin recharges, and lightning reflexes, you are looking at around 30 seconds recharge. Great power early in a build, but can be skipped until later if necessary.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Recharge
A quick number crunch on build up:
Let us assume that in 10 seconds you can attack with:
Stone Fist or Air Sup = 42 dmg
Stone Mallet = 68 dmg
Heavy Mallet = 95 dmg
Seismic Smash =149 dmg
Attack chain total: Before build up = 354 dmg
After build up = 637.2 dmg
Thats an increase of 282 dmg with along with the 20% greater chance to hit. At higher levels you can see the difference instantly with seismic smash.
These numbers would vary according to your level and how much fury is generated.
Fault (Recharge Slow)
Fault is the most under rated attack in stone melee because it deals no damage. However, the amount of damage you DONT TAKE makes up for it. This attack is an amazing control power and to skip it would be a monumental mistake, especially if your secondary armor set has no self heal. It is a target based AOE knockdown and disorient with a killer animation. Just target something at the head of a group and que up the attack. When you close into attack range your character will stomp the ground sending a crack running to the target which will then explode dirt upwards knocking everyone nearby down. They will be disoriented when they get up.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 1x Recharge, 2x Stun Duration
Note:
Slotted with a single recharge and combined with lightning reflexes from /electric fault is up roughly every 13 seconds. With 2 stun durations the mobs are left disoriented roughly 16 seconds. That means fault recharges before the mobs lose disorient! Thats right...thank you sir may I have another? Only reason I rate this as a 4 is due to there being no damage component.
Taunt (Recharge Slow)
Taunt is a great power for what it does. A vast majority of brutes find taunt unnecessary as do I. This is a very skippable power, but if you choose to take this it works extremely well.
Rating: 2/5
Recommended Slotting: For PvE Id say taunt duration, for PvP accuracy
Seismic Smash (Damage: Extreme Recharge: Slow)
This attack is hands down my favorite single target brute melee attack. The animation is blazing fast with an epic smashing sound. The damage is extremely high, recharge reasonable, and to top it off this attack has a mag 4 stun that will lock down bosses. I took this at 22 after I had stamina, but if you can fit it in at 18 the more power to you.
Rating: 11/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
Hurl Bolder (Damage: High Recharge: Moderate)
This power is useful for pulling, finishing off runners, or PVP to bring down flyers. The damage is higher than single target ranged attacks from patron pools and it has knockback. In PVP this power is an absolute blast. The only down side is a fairly lengthy animation time. This attack isnt useful for using within an attack chain, but its a lot of fun if you choose to take it.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
Tremor (Damage: Moderate Recharge: Slow)
For me, this is the most disappointing attack in the stone primary. This attack is a person based aoe that does roughly the same damage as stone fist and air sup. My point of contention is the very lengthy and unimpressive looking animation time (approximately 4 seconds), where you fly up into the air (getting smacked around the whole time) and come slowly crashing down. This attack doesnt compare to foot stomp in the super strength set. Recall that fault can be tailored to perma-disorient and knockdown mobs nearby but does no damage, its also a target based aoe, not person based. Having lightning reflexes and hasten often stacked on top of my powers, my mallets and fault recharge before tremor finally hits the ground. That means usually I could have SMASHED 2 or 3 targets taking them completely out of the fight verses doing mediocre damage with this aoe. I swapped it out for lightning field at 32 after several solo test runs on relentless where I realized this attack was actually slowing me down. My advice would be to try it out on test server before deciding to use it or not.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
This concludes my overview of stone melee and I hope it was beneficial. Now its time to take a look at Electric Defense.
Electric Defense
Pros:
-Good overall resistances (approximately 41% fully slotted on all but Toxic/Negative with SOs)
-Defensive toggles are very endurance friendly
-An amazing level 38 god mode called Power Surge
-Best brute endurance recovery attack Power Sink
-Run speed increase and +20% power recharge (lightning reflexes)
-Endurance drain resistance
-Built in AoE damage power called lightning field
Cons:
-No self heal
-No resistance to toxic damage without power surge
A Pro/Con in one:The knockback resistance only works close to the ground, but makes up for it with resistances and is also a passive power
A quick note on slotting defensive toggles: Every defensive toggle in this set costs 0.26 endurance or less. Slotting for endurance reduction makes only a miniscule change on these toggles. In fact, slotting all 3 defensive powers would yield a 0.10 difference in endurance use. Woohoo were saved! Seriously, with stamina and power sink in the electric defense set, dont waste your slots on this. The only toggle I endorse giving any endurance reductions to in this set is the offensive toggle lightning field.
Charged Armor (Toggle)
This is the default power you have starting out. Its a defensive toggle that gives a base 26.3% resistance to Smashing, Lethal, and Energy and can be increased to over 40% resistance.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Resistance
Lightning Field (Toggle)
This is a person based aoe power that does Minor(DoT) Energy damage, drains endurance, and has a mag 4 taunt. I recommend getting this post stamina and when you have a lot of slots to spare in the nearby upcoming levels. This is pretty endurance hungry; at .59 its usage drops to roughly, .39 with one endurance reduction SO, and .31 with a second. It also takes accuracy enhancements to be truly effective. However, with a full fury bar increasing the minor dot damage up to moderate status, and combined with damage enhancements this power is amazing. Right now at level 40 Ive seen it do just over 38 damage per tick.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 1x Endurance Reduction, 3x Damage
Conductive Shield (Toggle)
Your second resistance toggle. It gives a base resistance of 26.3% to Fire, Cold, Energy, and 15% to Negative. Fully slotted you can break 40% with the exception to Negative Energy which only reaches around 23%.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Resistance
Static Shield (Toggle)
Your final resistances toggle. It gives a base resistance of 26.3% to psionics which reaches just over 40% when slotted. This also gives resistance to hold, sleep, disorient, end drain, recovery debuff, and teleport. I recommend taking this at level 10 and postpone fully slotting until much later. I find that psionic damage doesnt become a serious problem until post 40.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Resistance
Grounded (Auto)
This is your inherent knockback and immobilize resistance power with a catch. You have to be on the ground for this to work (I dont fly from person to person when I SMASH). However, that is a small price to pay for its many other benefits. You gain a base 7.5 resistance to negative energy, and 9.3 to normal energy. You also have endurance drain resistance that is priceless against sappers and other endurance draining beasties. Without this or combat jumping you will have no immobilization resistance.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Slotting: 1x Resistance
Vs. Acrobatics You will not get knocked down while on the ground with grounded. Acrobatics is only a mag 2 resistance which you can get knocked down while having it on (its happened to me). Furthermore, you are forced to take another toggle, forced to have super jump as a travel power, and you miss out on the great perks I listed above you get with grounded. Also, when a sapper hoses your endurance, acrobatics is one of the many toggles that gets shut off.
Lightning Reflexes (Auto)
This power is one of the reasons to have electric defense. Lightning Reflexes increases all your powers recharges by 20% and increases run speed by 35% at absolutely no endurance cost. When combined with hasten you have a very effective SMASHTASTIC brute. This is a very worthwhile power to have.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 1x Running Speed
Conserve Power (Click)
Gives 119.2% reduction to endurance cost for all your attacks.. Lasts for 90 seconds and has a 600 second recharge. When triple slotted with recharges and combined with lightning reflexes it is up roughly every 4 minutes. Free powah! Personally, I think this power is unnecessary because of power sink and power surge. Though it could be very useful from levels 28 to 35.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Recharge
Power Sink (Click)
This power is amazing and I highly recommend taking it at level 35 when it becomes available. I consider this to be the absolute best brute endurance recovery power in the game. This power is an auto hit upon activation meaning it will never miss when activated within 10 radius of a mob. With three endurance modifications against a single target it will return roughly 50% of your endurance, two targets will give you full endurance. Adding one recharge combined with lightning reflexes places this power ready every 40 seconds.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Endurance Modification, 1x Recharge
Power Surge (Click)
This is the staple electric defense power. It makes you almost invincible for 3 minutes, increasing resistances by 52.5% to all except Psionics damage. You also gain resistance to disorient, sleep, hold, immobilize, Knockback, end drain, recovery debuff, and enemy teleportation. When combined with your other slotted defensive toggles and grounded, all but negative energy, toxic, and psionics reach 90%. Adding resistances to power surge will increase your negative energy and toxic resistance. With two resistances you can effectively cap your negative energy. The highest you can get toxic is around 80%, you have no toxic resistance without this power activated.
Rating: 11/5 (this one goes to 11)
Recommended Slotting: 1x Resistance, 3x Recharge
This concludes my overview of Stone Melee and Electric Defenses. I hope it was beneficial for you. I will conclude with a brief discussion of relevant power pool powers.
Power Pools
(I wont be covering these all in depth, if I dont feel its worth taking, it wont be mentioned)
Fitness
This pool set is a necessary evil for nearly every class in the game hero and villain alike. This contains swift, hurdle, health, and stamina. You need it for SM/Electric.
Swift
This power makes you run faster by a base of 35%. You have to take this or Hurdle. Personally I recommend hurdle, especially if you dont have combat jumping. Besides, if you take lightning reflexes you already have the same movement bonus.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended Slotting: 1x Run Speed
Hurdle
This power makes you jump higher by a base 166% and increases your jump speed by 124%. I highly encourage taking hurdle. Not only does it help get around missions easier, it can be mixed with combat jumping that alone adds a base 200% higher jump and 1% (twirls finger) speed increase. If you go with super jump hurdle stacks as a passive power thus increasing your jump speed while traveling.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 1x Jump Increase
*NOTE* I performed a respec and stacked swift and lightning reflexes. It simply did not play or feel right, I ran fast but when I jumped the movement speed slowed down as if I hadnt been running right before the leap. You actually move much faster by performing a series of little hops throughout a level due to the huge movement speed bonus in hurdle. Remember, swift = 35% increase, hurdle=166%. Embrace the hop !
Health
This power is available at level 14 and boosts your health regeneration. You can take swift and hurdle both to unlock stamina and skip this, but I dont recommend it.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Healing
Stamina
This power requires picking two powers from swift, hurdle, and health along with level 20 to get. It boosts your recovery (endurance regeneration) and is the reason you opened the fitness pool.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 3x Endurance Modification
Fighting
Boxing is essentially the same as stone fists without the cool animation and sounds.
Tough boosts your smashing and lethal resistance by about 15% fully slotted
Weave is a slight defense boost that when added with combat jumping can reach about 10%. I do not recommend taking this set for this build unless you are opting out of patron powers post 40.
NOTE: I respeced out of air superiority and went this route for a while and realized that air superiority mitigates far more damage than tough would ever offset.
Medicine
A lot of brutes swear to using aid self which requires taking either aid other or stimulant to get access too. Furthermore aid self takes at least three to six slots to be really effective. I solo on relentless and am often overflowing with respite inspirations from killing alone because I rarely need to heal. Dont forget you will have power surge if inspirations wont cut it. Personally, I dont need or want anything from the medicine pool.
Travel Powers
Leaping:
-Combat Jumping- is a nice toggle to have during combat providing some defense and immobilization resistance.
-Super Jump- is fast and practical, also my personal favorite.
-Acrobatics- gives you knockback and hold protection. Can be used instead of grounded. (if you didnt read a word I said about grounded)
Speed:
-Hasten-rocks for a brute, I take this and slot it with 3x recharges.
-Super Speed- is a decent travel power but can be difficult to use as a villain unless you have some temp powers or stack hurdle and combat jumping with it.
Teleportation:
-Recall Friend- is handy when in groups
-Teleport Foe- is great for PvP or Pulling
-Teleport- is the fastest travel power in the game. It has high endurance cost which is a hassle pre stamina and no toggles to give extra benefits in combat. This power works better with some builds than others. In the case of this build if you take grounded there is no need for the immobilization resistance from combat jumping. So you only truly sacrifice a tiny bit of defense (2.5% with one SO) and the base 200% height bonus while jumping. Could look pretty cool while using with the electric armor toggles running.
Flight:
-Air Superiority- is an awesome power for this build. I take this at level 6 and skip taking stone fists at level 1. I highly encourage you to do the same since it keeps all but elite bosses and arch villains flat on their back in combat. At 40 right now with lightning reflexes and hasten I have this attack on auto instead of brawl.
Rating: 5/5
Recommended Slotting: 2x Accuracy, 2x Endurance Reduction, 2x Damage
-Fly- is the slowest travel power, but also the safest. Not nearly as fast as Super Speed or Super Jump on open ground.
A Final Note:
That concludes the power rundowns for this guide. Remember with Stone / Electric your best defense is a good offense that keeps the enemy disoriented and off their feet. If you cant do either then fire up power surge or tap into inspirations. I welcome all questions and criticism. The numbers in this guide are all from Mids Villain Designer v4.1. My current build to 40 is posted below. I can't encourage you enough to utilize test server and try things out for yourself.
I highly recommend you don't. The slightly longer animation bites. I did this originally and was kicking myself come level 30 or so because it was hurting my Damage output directly and also because the longer recharge and animation times were affecting his ability to build Fury (building thru attacking is important to Stone since you'll be Controlling away a fair chunk of incoming attacks)
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