My first brute, Arson Angel, is a lv 12 FM/EA.
I picked EA because I've already played Invul and DA and wanted something different. (I've also played a SR scrap extensively, so I don't mind Defense sets.) I picked Fiery Melee because it looked fun and I've never played it before.
I haven't quite worked out her bio yet, but I *am* certain Arson is a very bad girl who likes to set things on fire.
I wish I wasn't too lazy to learn how to post a pic, because she was created under the assumption that you don't have to look bad to *be* bad. 
My Characters
Knight Court--A CoH Story Complete 2/3/2012
NRG/Stone. Up next is SS/Invul.
(Keep note that I like to incorporate both min/max and character concept)
Paroxysm Zero is my DM/Fire. He's a rival of my DM/Inv Scrapper. I know Dark Melee is really supposed to be for the arcane types, but the way I saw it (given my Spidey fandom), a lot of the powers from DM could fit a symbiote type.
Long story short behind Paro Zero is (and yes, he's a lot like Carnage) basically, he was a low ranking member of the Hellions, who just loved arson. I pretended Crey had a new symbiotic program which is fusing biological/chemical materials with salvaged alien technology. When Crey found out about this thug's history (it's what he did to my Scrapper, you'd have to read his background; a grudge, if you will), they offered him to be part of their symbiotic program. He gladly accepted, as long as it met his needs for lighting everything on fire. His mindset grafted with the symbiote perfectly and now, in addition to the regular powers of the symbiote (regeneration, additional strength, tendrils that can drain life or incapacitate...), he is an incarnate of what he loves to do best.
And in terms of gameplay, I love the 2 heals and 2 end recoveries. I always duo him with my friend who is a AR/Thermal Corruptor. The shields just make him unstoppable, hehe.
I have a Dark/Dark, Energy/Stone and Fire/Energy. And I have to say the Energy Primary rocks incredibly. All the stuns will make any secondary look good.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
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i want to hear what all of you brutes think is the best way to go with powers sets.
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DM/Fire...Two endo recoveries, two heals, and a damage aura. What's not to love?
I went Dark Melee/Dark Armor all the way to 40. Psi Resistance was all I needed to hear..............
/e kicks his tanker like a red-headed stepchild
I have 2 that I am working on. A SS/INV and a Dark/Dark.
My first concept in CoH was an SS/INV character. Unfortunatly that did not work out as SS was restricted to Tanks and my damage output sucked. I'm much happier with the Brute.
The Dark/Dark is an ok character, however I expect that I'll delete him before 20th. While the character is ok it just doesn't give me that SMASH feel that SS does.
I'm hoping to eventually try them all. Here are the one's I've kept so far...
EM/EA (40) great soloability, stealth, one shot out of nowhere kills, ghosting, OVERLOAD. This guy is hands down my favourite toon, but there's no content left, and I'm not too interested in infamy farming. If I could grab a good group for some of those SFs I missed...
EM/Fire (35) My first brute, average solo, average in a team, Learned the ropes playing her, she's probably stalled at 35 untill they do something about the final powers in /Fire, which may be forever. Might freshen her up with a respec and try something new if there's a free one in I7.
SS/Dark (30) Great fun with rage, hate the all smashing damage against resistant opponents but you can't have everything. Rage+COF is fun in PVP so far, If I respec him for PVE at 38 I'll trade COF for OG. I think COF has as much place in pve as OG has in PVP (some but not lots). Can't stand the graphics of some of the auras, but as long as I stick with the basics, the rage glow still lets me see my costume well enough. Easily the best looking /Dark I've ever made.
Dark/Energy, (22) Not a bad set, And I liked him for a while, but he's been eclipsed by my ther brutes. He was supposed to be my designated AV killer, but he just never really got rolling. Partly this is because of performance, partly because with Warburg rockets EM/EA handles AVs exceptionally well, and partly because Energy Cloak didn't work well with his costume, I could change that, but feel no great need to do so... I see the giant axe looming as Elec brutes draw near...
EM/Inv (20 and rising fast) kind of a concept build and my current favourite. I'm building her up as a quasi-regen for the hell of it. I'll use Aid self for psi/ele/en plus dull pain of course. With Dull Pain Up, I should give my /Dark a run for his money when it comes to Psi survival. I'll also max slotting in health purly for concept, and I plan to throw in 2 SO endredux everywhere to compensate for the lack of quick-recovery. We'll see how it works. Accuracy or Damage is going to have to suffer, there just isn't room for everything I want. I'm currently experiencing deep psychological torment as to whether I should plan on a respec for barrage, which I love the look of, or stick with AS, which I love the performance of. Oh the choices...
Many Many deleated or lower level alts below 20... Dark/Fire, SS/EA, SS/Fire, Dark/Dark...
Still havn't rolled a single stoner.
All in good time.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
As I look around, I only see 5 people who picked the powerset of my 'nightmares' 
, so I'll be number six with my lvl 29 SS/DA Brute, Nexus Star. I swear I created her one day, and a day later she was talking to the Facemaker! I sometimes don't think I even remember everything she did! I came up with a concept based around her powers (Her being a star traveller using void energies for protection, and channeling it into raw strength for her attacks) and have been having a blast ever since!
"In Fearful Day, In Raging Night,
With Strong Hearts Full, Our Souls Ignite,
When All Seems Lost In The War Of Light,
Look To The Stars,
For Hope Burns Bright!!"
Blue Lantern Oath (MY Corp! ^^)
I have three in the works, all on VIRTUE server:
Thano - EM/EA -23- very SMASH!!!-y (3 !!!'s correct??)
Infinus - SS/EA -20- SUPREME SMASH!!! (still surprised i got that name without holding it with a mock toon...)
Volcan - -FM/INV - 16- BURNING SMASH!!! (a great combo and surprised I didn't see any others. I'm sure they are out there but I haven't seen any)
Xeceuter -DM/EA- Dead now...(made it to 14 but just didn't do it for me. Not sure why..he was my first Brute..who knows I may re-roll him)
FEEL the SMASH!!!
THE power of SMASH!!! compels you
LOVE the SMASH!!!
I think I'm something of a rarity with my particular brute here, everyone else seems to be going with a combination of Super Strength, Stone Whatever, and Dark. Mostly, keep in mind. No comments on choices here, I just noticed the trends in this thread and on Brutes in general. Here goes.
Meathook - Fire/Invulnerable. It's all for concept, I've never played a Tank in Heroes aside from an Invulnerable/Ice and he was a lot of fun. I thought I'd play from the opposing viewpoint and the other defenses just didn't seem to fit. However...holy moley. The absolute damage...! Mobs don't stand a chance. By the time I've registered any real damage there are heaps of charred bodies on the ground around me. With Stamina in there to regain the endurance I'm a big red machine. To anyone who hasn't tried it, go for it, it's a blast.
I tried em all in beta and when CoV went live made a ss/da hit the wall a little at 36 but dinged 37 today!!! I really like this powerset though 
!
www.paragonianknights.com
Prestige Award
My DA page
@Fire Chief
HOLA! nice to see another Fire/Invuln Brute out there!! ENJOY the BURNING SMASH!!! You aren't by any chance on Virtue are you? I have yet to see another of out ilk and can only imagine the mobs running to avoid getting turned into flaming screaming pixelated corpses...whoa got a lil carried away there.
DM/Stone here and heavily slotted for regen.
I probably do the least amount of damage out of all the brute builds but I can take it. I can take it for a looooong time.
6 Slotted EE + 3 Slotted Rooted + 3 Slotted Health + 6 Slotted Syphon Life + Endurance Regen
How I build fury- Mud Pots + Taunt (I'm not chasing anybody)
SS/FA here. I took SS for Rage. I LOVE Rage even with it's irritating end drop and quiet time. I went to 50 with FA on my tank and know it well. I love how Rage and damage auras interact. It's consistant damage and it hits when I am lying on the ground/slowed/etc.
I created a fantastic version of Dick Cheney called The VEEP as an NRG/DA Brute and that's probably my next toon. Maybe I should have made him as an AR corrupter.
I honestly have too many that I like:
dark/dark is my highest
others I have/had
stone/dark
ss/fire
stone/fire
stone/stone
energy/energy
dark/energy
ss/energy
I did a lot with Invul as tank so I have not dabbled much as a brute.
Can't wait to see what electric looks like.
ss/elec is the uber set or stone/stone
Fire/Fire...no wait, ELM/ELA, no wait, EM/Fire, no wait, Fire/Fire again, no wait, EM/Inv...
man, I just can't decide. Right now I have an EM/ELA that I'm liking and a Fire/Fire. I'm loving that heal and double build-up in /Fire and hating that not-having-a-heal in /ELA. Of course, there's always aid self.
But then again I have that ELM/ELA on Justice and Lightning Rod is just so so sweet.
Somebody save me...
EM/Fire for good old 1-2 shotting mobs
ELM/ELA for minion mowing
Stone/Invuln
Stone does Awsome damage and Invuln has a lot of autos which I like. I've pretty much solo'd to 38 but lack a bit in pvp. I think I'd do fairly well in pvp if I respec'd for it, maybe with hasten/ss to get into range and crush quick. Oh and if Tanks/Brute had any resistance to SLOW!
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Freedom
Mean 32 ss/invuln Tank
Avatar of Krogg 38 Stone/Invuln Brute