You really don't wanna go with shield? Elec/Shield is a really good combo (double Lightning Rod).
Anyway, Dark Melle is good with both SR or EA, the -tohit in the attacks and the heal helps you.
Are shields really that good?
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Are shields really that good?
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SR is better at defense because you can cap defense debuff resistance without even using elude. Neither EA nor SD can come close.
EA has superior endurance management and built in stealth.
SD has against all odds which is a damage buff based the number of enemies immediately around you. It can be softcapped, but not as easily as SR can.
So: Have the best pure secondary mitigation? SR
Get the best damage buff for your primary? SD
Act like a stalker? EA
Be well, people of CoH.
man i read the title wrong. I was wondering which kind of brute would be unable to hear anything.
Yeah, if you are going for pure defensive, Stone is probably king. Shields are good, but made more for Offense than Defense. Electric Armor has very good defense, but is more toggle-heavy than SR. Thankfully, late in the game it gets a power that regains end, which keeps it defensive for even longer.
They are all good, but you ought to pick the one that fits with your character concept. trust me, if it works thematically, you won't regret any of these choices.
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SR is better at defense because you can cap defense debuff resistance without even using elude. Neither EA nor SD can come close.
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SD can come close to SR's defense resistance, but it's not perfect:
Battle Agility - 21.59% slotted (13.84% base)
Grant Cover - 13.84% base (unenhanceable) **
Active Defense - 26.99% slotted (17.3% base)
A note on Active Defense - you can enhance its def resistance by slotting multi-aspect enhancers into it, namely Membranes. Also, it is possible to double stack the def resistance. So, with all the above powers slotted and AD double stacked, you're looking at around 89.41% def resistance.
Keep in mind that means you'd need to have enough recharge to double stack AD and you'd actually have to be double stacking it, which costs extra time and endurance.
[edit: ** I take that back, Grant Cover is enhanceable for Brutes / Scrappers, but not for Tanks (which is who I looked at SD last time). Not sure if that's intended or an oversight.]
With those numbers you can get 97.16% def debuff resistance, so it's even.
I would go with Energy Aura since it's the only option that has an end recovery power. I'm unsure how end intensive Elec Melee is though, so you might do fine with one of the others depending on how much you get from the end recovery in it's attacks.
I'd stick with the 62.42 DDR number. Having doublestacked AD would be waste of endurance, a waste of slots and a waste of DPS.
Be well, people of CoH.
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I'd stick with the 62.42 DDR number. Having doublestacked AD would be waste of endurance, a waste of slots and a waste of DPS.
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I dunno, Bill, being able to hit 95% def resistance seems invaluable to me. I'd rather have the option to do it, even if I didn't use it most times. Besides, the investment is 2 extra slots.
I'm speaking from inexperience, but I'd personally take a close look at it when designing a build.
ok and as for primary kinda stuck on SS or electric ill probly go with elec but as for secondary IM gonna go SR so if anyone has a nice build that be nice.
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Are shields really that good?
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SR is better at defense because you can cap defense debuff resistance without even using elude. Neither EA nor SD can come close.
EA has superior endurance management and built in stealth.
SD has against all odds which is a damage buff based the number of enemies immediately around you. It can be softcapped, but not as easily as SR can.
So: Have the best pure secondary mitigation? SR
Get the best damage buff for your primary? SD
Act like a stalker? EA
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its worth noting that sheild comes with resistences that other defence sets can only dream about, nearly 18% res to all (but psi) before factoring in tough and one with the sheild. Also against all odds has a -7.5% damage debuff in it which is pretty nice in conjuction with everything else.
Personally I like SR because its easier to cap out
I like EA because its the energizer bunny
I like sheild because it can be def capped out, have decent resistences +damage and an extra t9 attack 
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I dunno, Bill, being able to hit 95% def resistance seems invaluable to me. I'd rather have the option to do it, even if I didn't use it most times. Besides, the investment is 2 extra slots.
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I like this philosophy.
To me it seems like a no brainer to at least have the option in one of my builds. A SD build with capped DR will have potentially the same def as SR, the same DR as SR, static resistances that match very closely with the average performance likely from the scaling ones SR gets, extra HP and of course more damage, and... shield charge.
The only costs are the lost opportunity cost that the extra IOs and slots SD needs take away from you, and that you can't have DB, spines or claws (well, just db for brutes)
[edit]: also, it's not like that extra recharge is a waste either. more recharge is good for shield charge, and... well, probably for your primary too.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
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I'd stick with the 62.42 DDR number. Having doublestacked AD would be waste of endurance, a waste of slots and a waste of DPS.
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I dunno, Bill, being able to hit 95% def resistance seems invaluable to me. I'd rather have the option to do it, even if I didn't use it most times. Besides, the investment is 2 extra slots.
I'm speaking from inexperience, but I'd personally take a close look at it when designing a build.
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Agreed. I spoke in haste and had just woken up. DDR is invaluable to a defense based character. I've been going over DPS studies with fire/shield and I'm stuck in damage output mode, not mitigation mode.
As Spiritchaser states, and as my own high recharge /SR build shows, you can have doublestacked AD/PB for some of the time even with a single basic lvl 50 IO. (Total recharge on PB for Bill Z right now is 209.9% (global+enh) and Mids shows it having a recharge of 64.5seconds.)
I never do on my claws/sr because I don't let it fire off until I see it blinking or I'm running between spawns.
It's good advice to go for the doublestack when considering shields.
Be well, people of CoH.
I wanted to make a brute with alot of defense and I was eaning tward SR or EA.. i dont really like shields all that much but what one of those two? And if there is any other set anyone would recomend go for it. I was also leaning tward electric for primary