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A single KB IO or -KB set bonus is enough to cover the vast majority of the game's KB effects. However, they can still stack and there are some very few attacks used by enemies that will significantly exceed that single IO or bonus. If you want to beat them, I believe you need 16pts.

As for PVP, Force Bolt and Power Thrust are the most common and hardest-hitting KB powers. The latter is a lot more common than the former, thanks to the Psi/EM hordes. Not sure how much diminishing returns hits either, but they enhance to over 51mag (FB) and 45mag (PT) before DR.

Spines/Fire is probably the best option for Scrappers. Good AOEs, dual damage auras, a self-heal and a recovery power. There are other options, but that's likely to be the most efficient.

For anything before final build, I'd focus on ranged attacks and use Hover/Flight in combat to stay somewhat safe. Make sure to get Aim & Build Up, slot each with 3xRech. Slot attacks with 2xAcc, 3xDmg & 1xEnd. Pick up a single Karma -KB or a BotZ -KB of the lowest level you can afford and slot it in Hover. Make sure you have 3xEndMod in Stamina as early as possible. I like to fit a L20 Miracle +Recovery and a L30 Numina's +Regen/+Recovery in Health as soon as possible, too, but those may not be in your budget (alignment merits help a LOT here, can have both in four days).

Powers to skip (for now): Fire Sword, Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, Blazing Aura, Burn and Hot Feet. Yes, that's pretty much your entire secondary. Those PBAOEs require some survivability to be useful and at this stage you just won't have enough. I'd probably also skip Blazing Bolt and maybe even Fire Breath.

Pool power options (for now): As I mentioned, I like Hover/Flight at this stage - range offers quite a bit of survivability on its own that can only be negated by using PBAOEs and melee attacks. I also like the Leadership pool at this stage, especially Vengeance. Hasten is a nice pickup if you can fit it in, though you likely won't have it up all the time at this level. The Concealment pool is good, too (skip Stealth). Phase Shift is a godsend for squishies.

You could always pick up teleport?

IMHO, */Stone is just too slow to be anything but a meatshield. They take a huge recharge hit that means Hasten & Earth's Embrace can't be efficiently permanent. They're too slow and can't jump, even to get over sidewalks or rubble. They have a gaping huge psi hole that can't efficiently be mitigated simultaneously with other damage types. Soloing takes the patience of a saint and a masochist's determination to enjoy just how terrible the process can be.

Given the survivability and quality-of-life advantages of sets like Invuln, WP, Dark, Elec and Energy, there is little reason to go */Stone today.

LFFF people probably do the same things anyone else does when they have a new 50: farm, PVP, PVE, RP or anything else they want to. They just get to the endgame differently.

Speaking to character knowledge, the same powerset on the same AT can perform very differently (quality-wise) depending on power choices and slotting. That said, powers are powers: a mez is a mez, ranged damage is ranged damage, PBAOEs are PBAOEs, etc. If you've ever been on a team with someone playing that AT, you can probably step into any of the AT's powersets and not embarass yourself, even if you never gained a level through your own effort. Support powersets are the most varied, but even they are self-explanatory. The game's just not so hard that someone gains a significant amount of skill over anyone else by grinding away through the levelling process.

To me, nothing is worse in this game or any other than going through weeks of content to realize that you hate the character. That's the kind of thing that makes me want to walk from a game, because what if the next character turns out similarly? There are dozens of other games I could spend that time on. Sitting through a day or so of PLing to get the final version up and running is a lot more efficient.

My wife runs a BS/SR, but doesn't use Parry. Build for the Headsplitter > Hack > Disembowel > Hack attack chain and revel in the awesome. As Necros said, Parry can still be useful in Incarnate content and it's also useful when exemplared below softcap.

Dark Melee: -ToHit, which stacks nicely with any defense you build up to enhance survivability, attacks animate and recharge quickly, self-heal, no redraw, great damage buff in groups (not so great against single opponents).

Dual Blades: Better AOEs & cones, easier to reach attack chain goals (even without Hasten), some mitigation available from knockdown effects, slow animations, redraw.

With DB/WP/Body, my key goals would be: enough recharge to run Blinding Feint + Attack Vitals, effectively softcapped S/L/E/N/F/C with Barrier & RttC, as much +HP as I could find (up to the cap), and regen after that. I run a DB/WP/Energy Brute at the moment and the only difference would be the Brute getting Superior Conditioning. I included the data chunk for the build below as something for comparison.

I have a DB/WP Brute and like it a lot, but I always had this nagging feeling that the long animations were dragging it down on Fury. It does have great survivability, though. A Scrapper might be better, depending on your attack chain and how much survivability you're willing and able to buy.

The sets are pretty well-balanced overall and both are great. If pushed to make a recommendation, I would say...

1. If you want to tank large/multiple spawns, then I would recommend Invuln, but...
2. If you don't care so much about that, but still want to tank AVs/GMs, then I would recommend WP, but...
3. If you don't care about tanking at all and still want survivability, roll a WP Brute, but...
4. If you don't care about tanking at all and want the best possible offense, regardless of survivability, roll an FA Brute

Option #1: PL MEH!

I've PL'd, self-PL'd and been PL'd a bunch. It gets you through the worst levels to, well, whatever level you want to be. Sometimes, I just want to get to SOs or I'm just looking for something to bridge the gap between bank missions if I'm going for that accolade. Most of the time, I want to be 50, so I can get shards, easily complete those defeat badges and get my full build in place. I can pick up all the TFs anytime and the arcs through Ouro, so there's little drawback to starting at the end.

Option #2: Avoid opponents that you hate...

Nothing worse than getting torn to pieces by an enemy type that is tailor made to beat your character. Slogging through the 20s, 30s or 40s under those conditions is just no fun. Run arcs you like against opponents that are at least interesting to you and that don't debuff you to uselessness or otherwise bypass what defenses you've managed to cobble together.

Option #3: Get the most out of it...

If I am doing a "pure" run to 50, then I'll tend to run TFs and tips almost exclusively. This maximizes the benefits of slogging through content. It helps to see another 100 or so merits thrown in with each level, along with a couple a-merits. By the time you hit 50, you'll be able to afford a Glad Armor proc easy off a-merits alone. That's ~3B in your pocket or 3% global defense out of one slot - your choice.

Option #4: Don't wait til 50 to fully slot...

Despite all the shiny new endgame content, it's nice to be able to handle the little stuff when the WST rolls around or if you just feel like hitting one of the lower-level arcs or TFs. Though I've been a max-level IO adherent up until recently, I plan to slot L33 IOs and PVP & Purple IOs in my new builds as I can from here on out. I may even change that to L28. This will make all those slots that much more important, too.

I expect Fire, Dark and KM to be the most popular secondaries. Fire just does more damage, so it'll always be popular. Dark has a self healing attack and -ToHit, which will help against those circumstances that would normally overwhelm 45% defense. KM has nice damage and a -Dmg debuff that will help when an attack squeaks through.

That said, I think it'll be competent in traditional content, but maybe not quite as good for Incarnate content. At least it won't melt from debuffs. The added resists and other attributes of Ice, Invuln and Shield should make them better defense-based choices. If Tankers get Energy Aura, that should be a better option, too.

Assuming that perma-Hasten isn't an issue and that you don't need any more recharge to get the attack chain you want, then Musculature is a great way to go. If you want and don't yet have perma-Hasten or need more recharge for a better attack chain, then Spiritual is the better option.

I've been considering the benefits of Hasten-less builds for a little while now. A perma-Hasten Musculature build will outdamage a no-Hasten Musculature build, obviously, based on attack chain options alone. It'll cost a bundle, but the benefits are clear.

The more interesting question for me is: can a no-Hasten Musculature build compete with a perma-Hasten Spiritual build? With Quickness from SR, five LotG 7.5s and a few set bonuses, I believe you could craft an attack chain with Musculature alpha that is competitive with a perma-Hasten Spiritual chain. Fast-activating & fast-recharging sets like Claws, Dark and Katana would seem to offer the best shot at pulling it off.

I suspect that the "run away!" mechanic was built with old data in mind, as opposed to the current state of the game. More people are playing buffers/debuffers now and damage jumped quite a bit with IOs, then quite a bit more with Incarnates. At this point I half expect to see a Pylon uproot itself and run off to the mothership upon seeing a lone Scrapper approach.

Choose KM if...

you want to play a Scrapper or Stalker...
you're deaf or play without sound...
you like the animations...
you can either throw enough recharge into the set that you can fire off CS often or don't care about such things...
you love +Dmg buffs and -Dmg debuffs...
you hate redraw, and...
you'd rather fight an AV than a horde of minions.

Specific to KM I would just never roll a KM Brute. The damage buffs are so much better for Scrappers, plus the ability to instantly recharge PS is great. Brutes just don't get enough out of the set to justify it. It's probably still better for Brutes than Energy Melee, but that's not exactly the gold standard of Brute primaries.

If you're willing to let go of KM, but want to stick with Dark, then it goes back to my earlier argument. If you use the control auras, then Scrapper. If you don't, then Brute. CoF can effectively work like a taunt aura if you can shovel enough accuracy bonuses into the build and deal with the endurance cost. That makes this a closer decision than most, if you're choosing based on chasing down runners.

For Brute secondaries, I usually start by thinking FA. It is just that good for them. You get a nice self-heal (and toxic resist buff), a nice recovery tool, and gobs of damage that just happens to work best with the Fury mechanic. FA is to Brutes what Shield is to Scrappers. Where the secondaries are truly equal (e.g. nothing takes advantage of either ATs particular characteristics), then Brutes come out ahead due to more HP. This includes sets like WP, Regen, SR, Invuln and Energy. Dark and Elec are in that grey area, depending on your build and playstyle.