I also recommend stamina for any brute since endurance cna sometimes be your only limiting factor. Once you pick-up Power Sink then you might change your mind, expecially if you grab Conserve Power.
I skipped Hasten on my EM/ELA Brute since I was able to achieve the same amount of recharge from Lightning Reflexes (+20%) and +recharge from IOs. You'll have to figure out if Hasten is right for your build.
Definitely take Power Surge, your Tier 9, since it makes you god-like for 180s especially from Rikti with their smashing/energy/psi damage types.
Taunt is skippable if you are taking Lightning Field. If no LF, then I suggest taunt to keep the critters pounding on you for max Fury.
You can skip Grounded (if you take CJ and Acro) and Conserve Power from ELA. I'll let someone else talk about DM since my experience is limited to scrapper's DM.
With Dark Melee? Nah, I don't think so. IIRC, it has a nice endurance recovery power you can use when Power Sink is down. You may need it early game, though. It might be best to take it as soon as you can, and then drop it once you get both DM and ElA's endurance gain tools.
As for powers to skip, definitely skip touch of fear. It helps your survival, sure, but it also detracts from your possible gained Fury. I would also skip taunt...... and maybe Shadow Maul since it anchors you and has a massive animation time. The long animation keeps you from using other attacks to help build Fury.
Hasten will be good with this build. You'll be able to get a buzzsaw going and keep it going for some time thanks to your great endurance tools.
Well, that's my opinion, anyway. Don't have much experience with DM on a brute....
definately get hasten with DM, cant agree more.
clouded, which set combo do you find to be the "least poor" for fighting rikti?
I would say that stamina is indeed necessary for an optimal build. You want to be able to run Lightning Field 100% of the time, whether there's a single target or an entire spawn. I also recommend utilzing Darkest Night from Ghost Widow's patron. The (-)damage is basically resistance to all (and stacks wonderfully, bringing my toon's Smashing/Lethal resistance potentially above 70% total), and the toHit debuff is a layer that you lack. Stamina will let you run both of these endurance heavy toggles full time while using Power Sink.
You also really want to take Health, because you have no regen or +hp anywhere in the set. If you're taking Health for survival reasons, Stamina is just a single pick away...
i was concerned a little as i reached 40 on my stone melee/willpower brute about rikti. they are a pain. probably second only to malta in their annoyance factor.
although the set has no real big defenses to the psi that comes from rikti and only around 45% smash/lethal resistances, the soft control combined with the high regen rate in willpower has made it a non-issue
i can keep rikti bosses flipping and as i get more io'd out, i can get the fault cooldown short enough to make them even less of an issue.
for the few that are hightly smashing resistant - well that's what gloom is for imo.
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55-60% is acceptable, ergo Electric Armor (60% with Tough) is acceptable. Okay. If you're not including Tough, then none of the armor sets can reach that value.
Stop using words you don't mean, then.
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i would only consider 50-60% acceptable if yo have some other form of mitigation to add on top of that.
from defense to lessen the frequency of the hits, or a high innate regen to deal with the dmg that does get through.
i have a 50 /elec brute that no matter how i build it - i'm just never impressed.
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55-60% is acceptable, ergo Electric Armor (60% with Tough) is acceptable. Okay. If you're not including Tough, then none of the armor sets can reach that value.
Stop using words you don't mean, then.
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i would only consider 50-60% acceptable if yo have some other form of mitigation to add on top of that.
from defense to lessen the frequency of the hits, or a high innate regen to deal with the dmg that does get through.
i have a 50 /elec brute that no matter how i build it - i'm just never impressed.
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I mostly agree with /Elec not being impressive, but it functions well in the 40-50 range villain-side, which is where it counts. If it was a hero set I'd /yawn.
As for the argument a bit back that it doesn't have enough S/L protection, it's unarguably correct. Even with Tough it's bad. Why? It has no defense and no self heal. I don't even buy that other sets are worse off. The only sets that are possibly worse are: /Dark; which has less resist, but has some defense, a heal, a stun and a fear, /Fire; which has less resist, but has a great self heal and /Shield; which is definitely worse. The S/L resist in /Elec are bad no matter how you slice it.
My main that is all IO'd out is Willpower. He has 53% resist to Smashing and Lethal and only 17% defense to Sm and Le. Most the time I am a complete badass, but when I fight large mobs of -defense critters like Cimeroa I have to constantly pop Strength of Will and Inspirations. That 17% defense on top of 53% resist is great, but 53% resist alone is not very good at all.
I'd say you need about 80% resists if you dont have a decent amount of layers of other mitigation like regen, heals, or defense. That is why I don't play anything/Elec.
60% resists all by itself is poor.
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definately get hasten with DM, cant agree more.
clouded, which set combo do you find to be the "least poor" for fighting rikti?
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DM/SR or DM/EA are both good choices but I would take /SR over EA for personal reasons. DM is a good primary since it's not resisted very much by the rikti. Fire would also be a prime choice.
DM/SR and Fire/SR would be nasty.
For the record, I never called ELA a poor set or even a poor set against rikti. That whole tangent started when I gave my opinion in regards to the Smashing/Lethal Resistance % from ELA. ELA w/ Tough is a good set for Rikti as well, just not my first choice.
Meh, I love the look of /ELA so I stuck with it. Now don't get me wrong when I tried Willpower I pooped my pants but the look and the feel of /ELA MAkes me happeh! Plus the Recharge from Reflexes, hasten and IO make me want to o lala! lol
yeah i got you. i dont like elec much either, although for different reasons (anything pre-power sink makes me want to rip my eyes out!!) but its you opinion, state it however you wanna.
im not a big fan of SR either, its basically broken among casuals IMO (meaning you dont need time or money to make it great) while still being competitive among hard cores (meaning it gets ever morer awesomer when you IO it out)
but please dont let that make you think that "i love challenge i play poo/poo" i just prefer something in between, strong enough to not go bald, yet needs enough TLC that you feel as if you accomplished something when you do well.
not hatin on SRs, just me.
May I also suggest building your IO sets toward melee defense. Stacked with your DM -tohit, an extra 20-25% or so melee defense from IOs would make those swords whiff 95% of the time. Throw in Darkest Night later on and be untouchable and unkillable even if they do hit you.
Take Taunt with this advice, the -range is crucial to making things close to melee where your defenses are strongest and they can be within reach of Soul Drain and Lightning Field. Melee is your friend.
Slot Lightning Field for endurance [u]drain[u] as well as accuracy, damage and endurance usage. By itself with enough time and slotting it can drain an enemy to 0. Combine with Power Sink and you have a whole additional level of mitigtion, since you can drain most mobs and keep them at 0 indefinitely.
Punch/Tough/Weave can come in extremely handy. This build is probably the one time I'll actually recommend Fighting in its entirety, since you won't have much else you'd want more and endurance should never be a problem. Since you're DM you can skip Medicine. With a travel power, Fitness and Fighting (and probably Hasten if you want to buzzsaw) you should be fine on pools. Set Punch to auto for Fury generaton and you're golden.
DM/ELE is the original buzzsaw build. Take Shadow Punch, Smite, Siphon Life and Punch and just rotate then furiously. You'll see what we mean. Toss in a Dark Blast and Midnight Grasp every now and again and you'll be shocked and amazed at what you can accomplish.
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May I also suggest building your IO sets toward melee defense. Stacked with your DM -tohit, an extra 20-25% or so melee defense from IOs would make those swords whiff 95% of the time. Throw in Darkest Night later on and be untouchable and unkillable even if they do hit you.
Take Taunt with this advice, the -range is crucial to making things close to melee where your defenses are strongest and they can be within reach of Soul Drain and Lightning Field. Melee is your friend.
Slot Lightning Field for endurance [u]drain[u] as well as accuracy, damage and endurance usage. By itself with enough time and slotting it can drain an enemy to 0. Combine with Power Sink and you have a whole additional level of mitigtion, since you can drain most mobs and keep them at 0 indefinitely.
Punch/Tough/Weave can come in extremely handy. This build is probably the one time I'll actually recommend Fighting in its entirety, since you won't have much else you'd want more and endurance should never be a problem. Since you're DM you can skip Medicine. With a travel power, Fitness and Fighting (and probably Hasten if you want to buzzsaw) you should be fine on pools. Set Punch to auto for Fury generaton and you're golden.
DM/ELE is the original buzzsaw build. Take Shadow Punch, Smite, Siphon Life and Punch and just rotate then furiously. You'll see what we mean. Toss in a Dark Blast and Midnight Grasp every now and again and you'll be shocked and amazed at what you can accomplish.
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I'd agree with most of this, but you can get melee defence up in the mid 30s relatively easily without compromising anything else, stacked with darkest night this should make you pretty untouchable.
4xToD sets in SP, smite, boxing, MG = 15%
Multistrike set in lighning field (Oblit has insufficient end red) = 1.88
2x6 Ti coatings in 2 of the toggles and a steadfast unique in the other = 8%
Weave and 1 slot CJ =8.2
This comes to a little over 33% and I believe there's a PvP IO you can add too.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
Can you actualy farm decently with Dm/ElA? Meaning Lib. Yes its my new obsession hehe.
I hate all this terrorist business. I used to love the days when you could look at an unattended bag on a train or bus and think to yourself.... I'm going to take that.
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Can you actualy farm decently with Dm/ElA? Meaning Lib. Yes its my new obsession hehe.
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DM isn't a good farming set because it's too single-target oriented.
You can do okay with /ElA with either Tough, Aid Self, or both; generally I see it farmed with FM or SS, and either /FA, /WP, or /Inv.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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You should totally take Axe if possible just for the Talsorian or Rikti models.
Either way, Vanguard armour. Sport it.
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May I also suggest building your IO sets toward melee defense. Stacked with your DM -tohit, an extra 20-25% or so melee defense from IOs would make those swords whiff 95% of the time. Throw in Darkest Night later on and be untouchable and unkillable even if they do hit you.
Take Taunt with this advice, the -range is crucial to making things close to melee where your defenses are strongest and they can be within reach of Soul Drain and Lightning Field. Melee is your friend.
Slot Lightning Field for endurance [u]drain[u] as well as accuracy, damage and endurance usage. By itself with enough time and slotting it can drain an enemy to 0. Combine with Power Sink and you have a whole additional level of mitigtion, since you can drain most mobs and keep them at 0 indefinitely.
Punch/Tough/Weave can come in extremely handy. This build is probably the one time I'll actually recommend Fighting in its entirety, since you won't have much else you'd want more and endurance should never be a problem. Since you're DM you can skip Medicine. With a travel power, Fitness and Fighting (and probably Hasten if you want to buzzsaw) you should be fine on pools. Set Punch to auto for Fury generaton and you're golden.
DM/ELE is the original buzzsaw build. Take Shadow Punch, Smite, Siphon Life and Punch and just rotate then furiously. You'll see what we mean. Toss in a Dark Blast and Midnight Grasp every now and again and you'll be shocked and amazed at what you can accomplish.
[/ QUOTE ]This is one of many posts in this thread that I have found useful and gives me an understanding of how the set plays, but I have a question.
This post suggests the use of 11 pool powers (Boxing+Tough+Weave, Swift/Hurdle+Health+Stamina, Prereq+Travel Power, Hasten, Prereq+Darkest Night). This requires dropping five primary/secondary powers. In the plan I'm currently operating from, I'm currently dropping four, and one of those is Taunt (Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear, Taunt, Conserve Power); if I take Taunt, it means I need two more powers to drop.
I suppose I could save one slot by just going Hasten/Super Speed, but Mercy Island architecture already has me head-desking. Does it get less bad later on?
For people who like to take a lot of pool powers with this build, what in DM/ElA do you drop?
By the way, I have my DM/ElA Brute to level 8 and it's getting more fun as it goes. Thanks to all for the advice.
Electric Armor doesn't need Dark Consumption; Power Sink recharges faster and will keep your endurance topped off. You lose a long recharge AoE that requires a good deal of slotting, but considering how much it actually contributes to AoE damage due to that recharge...
So Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear, Taunt, Conserve Power, and Dark Consumption. If you'd rather, you can replace Shadow Punch in your chain with Boxing (eww) to save a power choice since you're planning on taking Tough/Weave anyway - once you start getting into high DPA attack chains neither one will end up used that often - you'll want to use Smite and Gloom as frequently as possible, filling with Midnight's Grasp and Siphon Life. Dropping Shadow Punch will give you the option of picking up Taunt for the -range.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
[ QUOTE ]
I suppose I could save one slot by just going Hasten/Super Speed, but Mercy Island architecture already has me head-desking. Does it get less bad later on?
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Depends, since you can obtain 3 flight temps and a jump temp, and buy a flypack in grandville. I tend to find a travel power superfluous on most of my toons redside other than those that want SS to stack the stealth with something else.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
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May I also suggest building your IO sets toward melee defense. Stacked with your DM -tohit, an extra 20-25% or so melee defense from IOs would make those swords whiff 95% of the time. Throw in Darkest Night later on and be untouchable and unkillable even if they do hit you.
Take Taunt with this advice, the -range is crucial to making things close to melee where your defenses are strongest and they can be within reach of Soul Drain and Lightning Field. Melee is your friend.
Slot Lightning Field for endurance [u]drain[u] as well as accuracy, damage and endurance usage. By itself with enough time and slotting it can drain an enemy to 0. Combine with Power Sink and you have a whole additional level of mitigtion, since you can drain most mobs and keep them at 0 indefinitely.
Punch/Tough/Weave can come in extremely handy. This build is probably the one time I'll actually recommend Fighting in its entirety, since you won't have much else you'd want more and endurance should never be a problem. Since you're DM you can skip Medicine. With a travel power, Fitness and Fighting (and probably Hasten if you want to buzzsaw) you should be fine on pools. Set Punch to auto for Fury generaton and you're golden.
DM/ELE is the original buzzsaw build. Take Shadow Punch, Smite, Siphon Life and Punch and just rotate then furiously. You'll see what we mean. Toss in a Dark Blast and Midnight Grasp every now and again and you'll be shocked and amazed at what you can accomplish.
[/ QUOTE ]This is one of many posts in this thread that I have found useful and gives me an understanding of how the set plays, but I have a question.
This post suggests the use of 11 pool powers (Boxing+Tough+Weave, Swift/Hurdle+Health+Stamina, Prereq+Travel Power, Hasten, Prereq+Darkest Night). This requires dropping five primary/secondary powers. In the plan I'm currently operating from, I'm currently dropping four, and one of those is Taunt (Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear, Taunt, Conserve Power); if I take Taunt, it means I need two more powers to drop.
I suppose I could save one slot by just going Hasten/Super Speed, but Mercy Island architecture already has me head-desking. Does it get less bad later on?
For people who like to take a lot of pool powers with this build, what in DM/ElA do you drop?
By the way, I have my DM/ElA Brute to level 8 and it's getting more fun as it goes. Thanks to all for the advice.
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This is just my opinion and of course preferences will vary.
Boxing/Tough/Weave
Hurdle/Swift (some may choose Health, I would not)/Stamina
CJ/SJ (this lets you skip Grounded by using -KB IOs, and gives defense)
Shadow Punch/Smite/Siphon Life/Taunt/Soul Drain/Midnight Grasp
Charged Armor/Lighting Field/Conductive Shield/Static Shield/Lightning Reflexes/Power Sink
Gloom/Darkest Night
This leaves two powers open for interpretation. Myself, I'd choose Dark Obliteraton and Power Surge. But that's just me. There's a slew of good ones there; Hasten, a different travel power and Grounded, Touch of Fear.
I personally would not recommend Shadow Maul for a Brute, the animation is prohibitive to Fury generation. It has its places to be sure, just not here.
I also really dislike Grounded as a rule. It's got a lot of benefits, but being KBed any time you're jumping is just... wrong. I personally just prefer to close the loophole with CJ + IOs, as the resistances are not worth the downside of the power.
There are three endurance recovery tools available in this build: Stamina, Dark Consumption, and Power Sink. Nobody should need all three. Pick two and use the leftover power choices otherwise. (As an aside, this is also why I would not pick Health- the build relies on healing, not regen, so the only reason Health would be useful is from a +recovery IO standpoint, but this combo will already be swimming in endurance). Also, depending on your endurace situation, Dark Consumption can be better than Power Sink, as it does fairly decent AoE damage. It just recharges 3x slower and isn't conducive to draining as a mitigation tactic. Again, each have their place depending on your preference.
Thanks for all of the advice.
I'm going to go with DM/ElA. While some of the other primaries may be equivalently effective despite the resist differences, I like the idea of hitting the Rikti where they're soft (or at least less hard), and ElA does everything I want it to do (I mistakenly thought it had a Psi hole) and a resist-oriented character works better for me than a defense-oriented character. I will be taking Tough.
So...at this point I could just dive in and learn on my own, but some pointers would be welcome.
Is Stamina necessary here? I ask only because of the several endurance tricks this combo has.
Hasten Y/N?
I'm having a hard time finding primary/secondary powers that I might want to skip for pool powers. Right now my best candidates are Shadow Maul and Taunt. Would I miss either of the Tier 9's? Are any of the ElA powers less essential than they look?
Thanks again.