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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
Discouraged and looking for answers.
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Need to see your build first.
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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
Discouraged and looking for answers.
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Please post your build, 'cause my SS/Inv soloed two elite bosses earlier. In each case, three lucks and one respite.
Also, post your normal tactics.
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Some powerset combinations are more self-sustaining than others. I run a Dark/Dark Brute and at level 30 in beta I could literally SMASH my way non-stop through a mission set for two heroes, using Dark Regeneration and Consumption.
At lower levels I made prodigous use of Rest. You could 3-slot it for recharge. I'm thinking it may be available after each battle.
Take a look at whatever self-heals your powerset packs and six slot them with heals, recharge reductions and accuracy if necessary.
Health is an excellent choice for Tanks, and it should also be a good pick for Brutes with their added HPs. The medicine pool is also a good pick.
Those ideas are off the top of my head. Now if you will excuse me, I must be off to SMASH!!!!!!!
I currently have a lvl 17 SS/Fire brute, and I find I can solo incredibly well with my difficulty set to Vicious (third one for +1 enemies and bosses).
Most of my stuff isn't even really properly slotted (Healing Flames only has one recharge in it) and since I just turned 17 I barely have cash for new DOs..
It's not that hard, you just have to not be afraid to use Rest quite a bit. I am thinking of slotting it, too, strangely; with one DO recharge in it, it's available every third battle. I can usually last that long, but sometimes I'm up against red bosses and it's a bit more complicated (I miss quite a bit).
If you build up your Fury adequately, you can quite literally SMASH red bosses, provided you hit them of course. Using that technique, with your Fury at 3/4 full, I take off almost half the health of a +3 boss with KO Blow..
BTW, all my attacks are currently slotted with one aim and 2 end rdx. I still have endurance issues if I don't watch out my Fury build and use Haymaker + KO Blow too much, but it should mostly be resolved by the time I have Stamina (in 3 levels).
I think you're doing something wrong.
Properly slot your attacks with ACCURACY balanced with damage, and don't skimp on damage resist slotting either.
It will get even better at level 20+ when you can the stamina regen power.
Without seeing your build, it's bit hard to say, but some general advise:
Mix selection of prim and sec powers about 50/50. Edit: and slot attacks with several ACC and EndReds. Fury will give you the damage, all you need is endruance to keep fighting and the accuracy to hit.
Set Brawl to auto attack. It's your best fury builder.
Use Brawl and your fastest attacks as your Fury-building attack chain. Attacks like Jab (SS), Stone Fists (SM) and Barrage (EM) are good examples.
Don't use your big attacks until you have high Fury. Only use them on enemies that have a lot of HP or you're just wasting endurance.
Keep constantly moving. Never stop fighting unless you're certain another fight will kill you.
Use Rest when you're forced to stop. Try to be ready for it, by clicking rest just as you kill the last mob in a group to loose as little Fury as possible.
Edit: Oh, and use inspirations constantly. Anything that can keep you going jsut a little longer is good.
Low endurance and all you have is a Luck and a Heal? Turn off your armours, pop the luck and be ready to use the Heal.
Basically, do whatever it takes to keep moving and SMASHING!
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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
Discouraged and looking for answers.
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HUrrr?!?! I'm level 19 with my energy/fire brute. Have teamed up on maybe 5 missions. I die. Orange bosses hurt, but I can take em. Red bosses... DAMN THAT CALIBAN!!!.... made me ask for help because I didn't want to change zones for fear of the mission resetting on me to get insps.
But soloing normal missions? No issues. And I'm on the 2nd tier of difficulty.
Have my s/l shield 5 slotted with DOs, 3 dam-res/2end-red.
My healing flames has DOs, 3rec-red/1heal. I fire it off at half health.
I think we have a difference in opinion on the self heal and what soloable means. But even last night, I soloed about 12 whites into one group. And they were the Wyvern archers.
There is something truly beautiful about a full fury bar feeding my fiery aura. They all dropped rather quickly.
With bosses that I can't take out w/o insps, I pop 2 purples, a yelow and a red. That's all it takes.
Be well, people of CoH.
I have a fire brute and loving it! Thanks for the advise on slotting. Never really thought of that, but it is so cool when you have a lot of fury and can kill a baddy with one shot of knockout blow... 
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This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
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I always try to do my mishes solo on lower levels unless my SG invited me. I want to test how my AT goes without any help and see how long it will last. Interestingly, I die more often teaming up rather than doing solo. I pop some insp. here and there. I save green and blues and use the others immediately 'coz ins will be comming when you kill a lot of baddies.
I also use rest but not very often.
So far I like what I have on my AT and mebbe adjust the slots based on some of the ideas on this thread.
Give it a little more time if you want. You can also change AT find an AT that suites you, Brute is not for everyone (as for me - WS).
Nice question and good answers.
I'm DM/Fire and haven't had a problem soloing at all. Sure I use up inspirations, but they drop all the time so its ok
I'm only level 11 at the moment, but my EM/FA Brute absolutely rages solo. I barely rest in missions, since going into a fight with a near-full rage bar is usually much more important than going in with near-full health. Things just don't last long enough to hurt you against that kind of damage, provided you've slotted for a little accuracy in your attacks.
I struggle to imagine a more soloable toon than my current one. Over the first 11 levels, anyway. 
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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
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How often do you expect to use insps? My rule of thumb is, if I've got a full tray I am doing something wrong (and wasting potential drops).
Anyway, SS/EA here, 12th level, no problem soloing so far - I've jumped into groups of yelows and oranges and come out of it.
J
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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
Discouraged and looking for answers.
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I play Stone/Stone and i'm a boulder rolling down hill, Its so much fun its crazy. Everything that gets near me gets SMASHED and i've yet to die.
People who team up with me just go "whoa cool" as they sit back and do nothing at all lol
SMASH
edit: Im only lvl 6 but ive yet to use rest and constantly have to use inspirations just because they are there, not because i need em lol
SMASH!!!
Thanks for the replies all, here is my build up to 8 as requested:
Archetype: Brute
Primary Powers - Ranged : Super Strength
Secondary Powers - Support : Fiery Aura
01 : Fire Shield damres(01) damres(5)
01 : Punch dam(01) dam(3) acc(7)
02 : Haymaker dam(02) dam(3) acc(5)
04 : Blazing Aura dam(04) dam(7)
06 : Healing Flames recred(06)
08 : Knockout Blow recred(08)
Slotting might be SLIGHTLY off, I didn't go in game to check, have to get ready for work.
Bother my DM/EA and Fire/DA build are doing great solo, both below 10 still. And they did well in beta in the teens.
Level 50 is a journey, not a destination.
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Thanks for the replies all, here is my build up to 8 as requested:
Archetype: Brute
Primary Powers - Ranged : Super Strength
Secondary Powers - Support : Fiery Aura
01 : Fire Shield damres(01) damres(5)
01 : Punch dam(01) dam(3) acc(7)
02 : Haymaker dam(02) dam(3) acc(5)
04 : Blazing Aura dam(04) dam(7)
06 : Healing Flames recred(06)
08 : Knockout Blow recred(08)
Slotting might be SLIGHTLY off, I didn't go in game to check, have to get ready for work.
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Are you using Brawl at all?
You skipped Jab, and if you aren't using Brawl, then I can see how you'd have a really, really hard time building Rage.
And without Rage, then yeah, a Brute is going to suck solo.
These are all excellent suggestions! Brutes are great soloers so if you're having trouble with it, try some of these helpful tips.
Building a brute isn't like a scrapper or a tank. Fury is the key.
In CoH, many many people skip that first fast recharge attack power because it didn't have that kick they were looking for. If you try to build your brute this way, you will be hurting.
You have to attack fast and often, using as little endurance as possible, until your Fury Meter starts getting high, the SMASH with your high damage attacks.
Without using jab and brawl for quick fury buildup, yeah, you are probably having trouble.
hmmm. I have a lev 10 Dark/Fire Brute, and I gotta say he is amazing. I solo bosses same level easily and take on large mobs. Your slotting maybe the issue.
I did play a SS/Fire Brute on beta, and he didn't do as well.
Don't even bother with damage enhancers until you get DO's. You want +acc (I use _3_ +acc training enhancers), -end, and -rec, in that order. Fury gives you a better damage boost than any damage training enhancer ever could. You just want to hit.
I also favor Jab over Punch. I have almost your exact build except I swapped in Jab. You just use Jab and Brawl until you get decent Fury, and then use Haymaker on full-strength minions, or loots/bosses. KO Blow should only be used on loots or better.
WOW! I didn't get that about the low level attacks.... thank you sooo much. I was having similiar problems with my level 10 brute, really not seeing the big deal and beginning to get bored. I was having major issues just fighting 2 or 3 even level minions.... and guess what I did. I skipped that first low level attack because my previous experience is all Tanking. I am going to have to get that Jab asap.
Now, what advice do you have about my Defense and Resistance powers both being 3-slotted with ++ green trainers, and I still get hammered in every fight, or that all of my attacks are slotted with ++ green accuracies and I still miss even level minions more than 75% of the time? Any ideas?
Even missed attacks build Rage, so missing your opponent isn't really a huge issue
The way most of your fights will probably go is, throw your quick, endurance saving attacks until your Rage is built up to a decent level. You're going to take some punishment here, but that's alright.
Once the bar is built, switch to your heavier attacks and you should be taking down everything around you in one or two hits. You're not going to take much more damage, because at this point the fight should be over in a matter of seconds.
If you're still in decent shape, pop your healing power or a green pill and rush headlong into the next mob, because your Rage will diminish quickly. If you get to them with a decent amount of Rage left, you should be able to take them all out quickly and not take much damage in the process.
Repeat until your health begins to look dire. Then rest and repeat.
Brutes are interesting because they make extensive use of both Brawl and Rest, which if I'm not mistaken, most players tend to remove from their tray at the earliest opportunity. Rest and Brawl are integral. Use them.
My advice, don't use your armors. Your attacks are your damage mitigation. Toggle defenses just drain your endurance, which means you have to rest more, which means you have lower fury, which means you do less damage, which means you get hit more by enemies.
I'm actually considering slotting rest for the 1st time in my CoH/V career. Figure 1 rec-red and 2 int-reds should do it. I'll start with 1 int-red when I get home to see how much it helps.
That pause before the immobilized flag goes up is a killer.
Be well, people of CoH.
Exactly, it definately looks like your missing jab and brawl. A brute should not skip their fast starting attack and should set brawl to autofire. These two will do more for building up fury. And the key to being a great brute is building fury quick and maintaining it.
If your not getting your fury up your going to be taking more damage over time. While if your fury is up you can kill faster.
I use DM and use brawl + shadow punch to build fury, adding in a smite when it cycles. And once fury is up tossing in shadow mauls. This combination is fantastic to charge through battles. I've charged orange Lts with half health and endurance and won.
The problem is that all of your COH experience with Tankers and Scrappers tell you to skip the fast quick attack an brawl. But for a brute those two are critical powers.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
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Granted my Brute is only level 8, but currently he chomps down inspirations, has to use his self-heal every third battle or so, and in general isn't very effective in solo.
This is daunting me from playing the AT, so does it get better? All I hear about is how great Brutes are for Solo and I'm just not seeing it yet.
Discouraged and looking for answers.