TheBruteSquad

Legend
  • Posts

    868
  • Joined

  1. I didn't think you were attacking SOs. I just dislike the word 'neglect' when applied to a form of mitigation that an armor set doesn't come with. All too easily 'neglect' can start to infer what you're neglecting is a 'necessity' in an MMO playerbase mindset. I throw around 'don't forget the SOs' speeches for new players and guests who might not get the fact that high end builds look nothing like the standard builds the game is supposedly still balanced around and might be picking or discriminating against power sets based on the high end IO builds... and then pass these picks or discriminations along to people they know.
  2. This is my current build on live. Overall I'm content with it, but there's always room for improvement. Specifically,

    1. Gloom's slotting is a damned shame.
    2. My accuracy relies a LOT on Rage being up. Any way to keep my defense while finding a 5th slot for my single target attacks?
    3. That last percentage point to softcapped smash/lethal would be nice, but it isn't as important to me as finding more damage for gloom.

    Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.92
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Gunther: Level 50 Magic Brute
    Primary Power Set: Super Strength
    Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Leadership
    Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

    Villain Profile:
    Level 1: Punch -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
    Level 1: Fire Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7), RctvArm-ResDam(23), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(37)
    Level 2: Haymaker -- KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
    Level 4: Healing Flames -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(31), Dct'dW-Heal(40)
    Level 6: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A)
    Level 8: Knockout Blow -- KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(11)
    Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(15)
    Level 12: Blazing Aura -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Erad-Dmg(15), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
    Level 14: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(46)
    Level 16: Plasma Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(23), RctvArm-ResDam(39)
    Level 18: Rage -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(19), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(34)
    Level 20: Consume -- Erad-Acc/Rchg(A), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(21), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21)
    Level 22: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(25), TtmC'tng-ResDam(40)
    Level 24: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(27), LkGmblr-Def(34)
    Level 26: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(27), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(36)
    Level 28: Burn -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), Oblit-Dmg(43), Oblit-%Dam(43)
    Level 30: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
    Level 32: Foot Stomp -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(33), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
    Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
    Level 38: Tactics -- Rec'dRet-Pcptn(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(40)
    Level 41: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(50)
    Level 44: Dark Obliteration -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
    Level 47: Taunt -- Zinger-Taunt(A), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg(48), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(48), Zinger-Acc/Rchg(48), Zinger-Taunt/Rng(50), Zinger-Dam%(50)
    Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A)
    Level 0: Born In Battle
    Level 0: High Pain Threshold
    Level 0: Invader
    Level 0: Marshal
    Level 50: Cardiac Partial Radial Revamp
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(42), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(42), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Fury
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(39)
    Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(31), Efficacy-EndMod(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(39)
  3. If they're going to factor in IOs to hit the softcap shouldn't FA also be softcapped for the purpose of the discussion?

    The price difference in doing so should be irrelevant when discussing effectiveness: It's a variable set by the player base, not the game mechanics. You were the first to mention soft capped fire armor when it should have been mentioned right away if shield defense was given the benefit of a soft capped defense.
  4. Fire Armor doesn't come with any defense so how can you 'neglect' it? You can neglect your resistances in Fire Armor by not taking your resistance toggles or slotting them, you can neglect your healing ability by ignoring Healing Flames. You can't neglect Fire Armor's defense.

    Or are you equating playing the game with SOs with being built poorly? If so, should SO's be removed from the game so people don't fall into this trap?
  5. Where's the creepy factor? Just looked like a doll to me.
  6. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Energizing_Ion View Post
    It looked 'good enough'....


    I never knew who Nightcrawler's dad was....in the 90s cartoon (the main thing that got me into X-Men I guess) they always said Mystique was the mother but I don't remember any episode saying who the father was (in fact I kind of remember an episode where Nightcrawler and Mystique talk about how Mystique is trying to find the father (not for emotional/sentimental reasons I think).

    And come to think of it....that episode I'm thinking of, had a normal human being as the father because when Nightcrawler was born he was blue/etc and that's what got Mystique 'uncovered' as a non-regular human being...*shrugs*
    Where the comics decided to make him a mutant of extraordinary power and devilish appearance who was banished by angels to a dark dimension that he can leave for short periods of time with his teleportation powers. Using this time to knock up as many women as as he could in the hopes of one day having his descendants open the gate and allow him to return to earth so he could be beaten down by Dr Strange or the Avengers or Fantastic Four or - er - I mean, take over the place.
  7. I didn't even recognize a fair number of the mutants in there at first glance.

    Once again I think Fox has gone for too many characters. While Magneto lifting a battleship is always appreciated it's not a substitute for good storytelling. The comics often suffered from Too Many Mutants syndrome as well but at least they weren't trying to cram them into a movie length feature.
  8. I don't know how the show is 'doing' but I hope it gets a second season. I doubt it will, but I hope it does. The family dynamic is one of the things I liked most about 'The Incredibles'.

    Johsua, though, needs to freaking die. Heroically, ideally. No, it's not fair that King keeps trying to interfere with his attempt to be with Katie... but he doesn't exactly hesitate to mindwipe her every time she rightfully begins to question his past.

    For a while (and still, though shakened) I was of the opinion that the power manifests because of subconscious desire. Jim wanted to make a difference - strength and invulnerability. Stephanie needed more time in a day - superspeed. Daphne .... pass. JJ needed help in school - superbrains.

    What does that theory say about Mr "Still Haven't revealed my really, real name unless the writers have forgotten I chose Joshua to cover up another lie that was exposed"? Telekinesis and mind control ... control freak.
  9. Brute.

    ... what, I have to choose one of those two?

    Fine. Scrapper. I expect only two things from a melee dps in this game: to hit things until they fall down (both do this) and to hold as much aggro as they can survive, since the tank is probably over the cap or has enemies out of gauntlet's area or taunts radius.

    Scrappers can hold aggro (some MUCH better than others). Stalkers are at their best when they get to shed it via placate for a big crit as often as possible (hopefully while scrapping it out if I nabbed them for DPS).

    The holding of overflow aggro is why I would choose a brute over either when looking for melee dps.
  10. Fire melee or claws. Dark melee if you can survive having fodder around tough enough to feed soul drain while beating on the pylon.

    Honestly, though, you're already at the wall for /inv. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that for brutes against pylons in general. I can do 22 min with my sm/wp and really I'm happy that I can go nuts on a pylon for 20 minutes without running out of endurance or health.

    Most of the sub 10 minute pylon times submitted come from scrappers, controllers, masterminds, and dominators. Not Brutes. I'd like to see the time of a totally tricked out dm/shield vs a scrapper dm/shield of the same build and slotting but since shield is so much better for scrappers I'm guessing someone who wants to build to take down things like pylons will just make the scrapper instead most of the time.

    You really would be happier ignoring the existence of pylons when trying to come up with something that feels 'strong'. Your fire/inv will be able to melt the face of most everything in the game with those numbers, wade fearlessly into hordes of enemies and set them all aflame in seconds, and own any elite boss you encounter. Don't get hung up on a sack of raid-target hit points and raid level regeneration.
  11. Yeah... that's too bad about Daphne. I would guess the writers felt she needed an 'active' power that would allow her to be put in situations similar to the others without becoming an instant victim - and mind control often goes hand in hand with mind reading in comics. However, it didn't go so well for Matt Parkman on Heroes...

    I'm guessing that King has a power and his power is immunity to powers from his interactions with Joshua and the freak of the week. Joshua, who really has every reason to just off the guy, doesn't. The freak of the week said specifically 'I don't need my powers to kill you' and hit him with a blunt object instead.
  12. She did, but she might be holding that info back from King just like 'Joshua' did - the problem with holding the leash of superpowered villains is that they're always looking for a way to slip the collar.

    I like this show. Even the teen moments aren't any worse than most of the stuff that featured in the New Mutants back in the early 90s.

    Plus, Jim stopping that train in episode 10 was one of the most badass superstrength moments in tv history.
  13. Want joy, fun, and seasons in the sun? SM/WP.

    My toggles come to 1 end/sec consumption (all wp toggles plus tough and weave). My recovery is just under 4 end/sec.

    I have 80% end reduction in stone mallet, heavy mallet, gloom, and seismic smash.

    I have two chance for end recovery performance shifters.

    And I can, and do, flatline my blue bar if hasten is running to bring my global recharge to 125% (with spikes to 225% via a recharge proc in fault). Also an uncommon spiritual alpha slotted. A lot of that is the hasten crash of course... but it only shows up because my relentless engine of brute destruction is (very slowly) moving towards 0 without losing 15 every two minutes.

    My WP/Energy Melee tanker ran without stamina for quite a while... it was a mistake - he was always gasping for blue pills. Total Focus and Energy Transfer hurt the blue badly. I was very happy when free stamina came along. Once I get him alpha slotted with the cardiacs it should all be a thing of the past.
  14. On the one hand, I agree with everything NinjaPirate is saying about art.

    On the other hand...

  15. Origin started out ok. It really only fell apart when they deviated too far from the comics... the X-Men cameos, Frankenpool, mind wipe bullet.
  16. I'm wondering that myself. As a sm/wp I rely on fault knocking things down but staying within my regeneration range. If it's going to be a scatterfest there's going to be some awfully upset footstomp/burn combo-ing SS/Fire farmers...
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by TrueGentleman View Post
    Minus being duly deputized under the law (a minor detail that only the Adam West TV show rectified).
    I was under the (probably mistaken) belief that Batman isn't deputized because if he were all the evidence he gathers (most of which illegally) would be thrown out of court. Since he's not an official part of the legal process his evidence, like Crimestoppers tips, serves to point the police in the right direction to discover the same evidence themselves which is what actually makes it to court. I.. think it has a name... inevitable discovery?

    Yeah. That's it'.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wikipedia
    Inevitable discovery is a doctrine in United States criminal procedure that allows evidence of a defendant's guilt that would otherwise be considered inadmissible under the exclusionary rule to be admitted into evidence in a trial.
    The doctrine was adopted first by the United States Supreme Court in Nix v. Williams in 1984. It holds that evidence obtained in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights is admissible in court if it can be established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that normal police investigation would have inevitably led to the discovery of the evidence. The rationale for the rule is that police misconduct is sufficiently deterred and the interests of society are better served by putting police in the same position that they would have been in without the rights violation, not a worse position.
    If I understand that right all the ruses and schemes and bribes and threats and such that Batman's villains use to foul up Due Process illegally allows Batman's illegally gathered evidence to stand. It wouldn't if he were legit.
  18. I like this change. Venom was fun but the character really had gone as far as it could as bonded to Brock - the story had a start (getting the symbiote), a middle (the hunt and torment of Peter), and an end (realizing that Spiderman wasn't that bad a guy after Spidey saved his ex-wife). After the end he just kind of wandered around the middle for a few years and I *really* disliked the Gargan-bound Venom.

    Bound to Flash, a character that, in my opinion, is one of the most developed supporting characters Marvel has - a massive long standing history from school bully to boxer to marine, from enemy to rival to friend - I think both Flash and the symbiote have room to grow.

    Granted, a second symbiote, or clone of the symbiote, might have been the safer route to go with this change.
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by MrHassenpheffer View Post
    Why I love my brute;

    +4 X8

    nuff' said.
    What combo do you play? I've always found +4/x8 to be more trouble than its worth... even with the few brutes I have that can withstand it.

    OT: Why I love my Brute(s): The pacing. Even if they're taking the same time to clear a mission as one of my scrappers the fury-chasing and auto-brawl makes it feel faster.
  20. Don't worry, they already whapped it on the nose (for brutes) last pass when it got ported over to Tanker.

    And yes, I do find it odd that rise to the challenge has a mild -to hit, but death shroud doesn't.

    edit: No I don't. Dark's -toHit in an aura is in cloak of fear. Derrrr.
  21. If you literally have nothing else you remotely want, power wise, I'd say sure why not. Bonus damage is bonus damage. I would never waste an enhancement slot on her, though. Maybe an acc/recharge pet IO in the default slot and call it a day. Mind you, she'll die pretty much instantly to the AoEs you're ignoring.
  22. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Traegus View Post
    you sir, are a traitorous lech. you are being watched now, if you ever speak against the STRONG and PRETTY again......... there WILL be reprisals!
    Maybe there will be, but if the reprisals come in the form of a wm/ea brute.. I think I'll be ok.
  23. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Biospark View Post
    The best I have ever seen is Dark/Dark on a scrapper. But after thinking about Darkest Night, I agree with the previous poster that a Dark/Dark Brute would debuff more easily and consistently against more enemies than any other combination out there.

    Fair Warning though: Dark Armor is NOT a great set on just SOs. This set really starts to shine once it starts taking on IO set bonuses. Once you have a fully IOed build, like Dechs says; "Dark Armor SUCKS!".

    you CAN tank anything.
    Amusingly enough my mainly SO (kb reducer in hover, and miracle/numina procs in health are about it) dark/dark/soul brute can do anything my IO'd to the gills sm/wp can - except beat a pylon. Darkest Night, cloak of fear, and death shroud combined with tough, siphon life, and dark regeneration do a really good job of reducing enemy attack frequency, damage, and accuracy. I keep meaning to IO the poor girl but since she doesn't really need it she kind of always gets shuffled down the 'IO meh!' list.

    Yes, a lot of that these days is the awesome that is Darkest Night... but long before it was a Patron Power option I was fearless at spawn diving on a team. Usually dark regen and cloak of fear were enough. If not... well, it was an excuse to stun everything while rezzing at full health and endurance.

    I would say on SO's only Dark/Dark/Soul is actually one of the *stronger* defensive brutes.
  24. I... don't quite understand the goal of that build, all_hell. Bonus damage? 12% damage is six fury... which is not exactly hard to come by.

    I built my sm/wp to be a berserker: 55% global recharge before hasten, 48% smash/lethal resist, 20% smash/lethal defense, 38% energy/neg, 25% fire/cold, 2500 hp, 45 hp/sec regen with zero enemies. He can destroy a pylon, crush an elite boss, is more than durable enough to be the first into any fight, can tank if I use Darkest Night or have someone throw a defense boosting buff onto me of some type... the only thing he can't do is beat AVs without inspirations (except Manticore, but it's freaking manticore).

    I don't use mids but I slotted my single target attacks 5 crushing impacts and an endurance (4 end/sec recovery and two peformance shifters are NOT enough to keep stone melee happy at 125% recharge when fighting a pylon). I did not slot brawl or boxing. Reactive armors (4 piece) into tough, mind over body, and the tier 9 I always forget to use. 4 dark watchers into darkest night. 4 thunderstrike into throw boulder and gloom. Liberal uses of numina and miracle throughout all the heals. Three luck of the gamblers including the global recharge into heightened senses and weave. A LOTG recharge in combat jumping . The global defense IO in the first power in willpower.
  25. The argument is that the things that truly melt faces, like Positron, are a minority in the game... where the things that do smashing/lethal can be found in practically every single spawn. So while it doesn't help with some of the big boys (only SOME - most of the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators do indeed have smash/lethal in their attacks) it helps with everything else.

    As for specifics on the build it really depends on what you're going for. DPS? Tanking? Stupid Scrapper Tricks? The All Rounder? The Supreme Being (all of the above)?