Brutes, once you get Stamina and SO's, are pretty much off the chain. Is that what the kids are saying these days? Anyway, if you took a pit bull, gave it too much PCP, shot it in the butt with a BB gun, and took it off the chain you'd get a very similar effect to a Brute. I have an Elec/Invuln (Elec is wonderful after level 32, kinda weak before then) and a fire/willpower (good stuff in both primary and secondary. Two flaming thumbs up.) So that's my personal experience.
Stalkers are a very different playstyle. One walks through the city, unseen and unknown, deciding who lives and who dies. Why? Because you say so. They're much less desired on teams, and it's a slower, calmer, playstyle. I've got a Ninja/Ninja and an energy/energy stalker and I think I prefer energy primary. [I'd probably go ninjitsu secondary, but I don't have huge preferences either way.]
Bruting, if it's for you, you will clearly know it after about level 22. I find the 15-21 range on EVERY villain I've tried to be kind of unpleasant and hard. You gotta make your bones, I guess.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Both are fine choices with their pluses and minuses so a lot of which will be better for you depends on your playstyle however if you want to be desired by groups I don't think stalkers fit that defition. They may not be hated by groups any more but brutes are definitely more in demand.
If you do choose to go the stalker route, I would agree with Fulmens that Energy Melee is the easier/better primary and Ninjitsu or Super Reflexes are excellent secondaries.
Brutes are endurance hogs if you run their damage auras. I don't really enjoy my brutes until the low 20s when I can get them stamina and SOs or level 25 or higher IOs. I love my fire/fire and stone/stone but they do eat the end bar. I would suggest /willpower for a brute secondary and avoid dual blades primary so you don't need to concentrate on the combinations. Energy melee for brutes, as with stalkers, has the nice benefit of a lot of disorient from the attacks which helps survivability.
So, my recomendation of what to try would be energy melee/willpower brute.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
I would say roll one of each. You will gradually find yourself playing one more than the other. I started a stalker and a brute at about the same time, and my stalker gets a lot more playtime (level 37 compared to level 27) I contribute just fine on teams, my assigned task is to take out bosses in 3 or 4 hits while the rest of the team annihilates everything else. Works pretty good. Oh, in case you were curious, my stalker is DM/Nin and my brute is DM/SR.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Of course now I am going to go make my first energy melee/willpower brute...
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
[ QUOTE ]
They're much less desired on teams, and it's a slower, calmer, playstyle.
[/ QUOTE ]
What teams are you playing with? I don't play Stalkers at all, it's not my playstyle. But I have a tremendous amount of respect for them since the refurbishment Castle & Co. did last year.
As to the original poster, what do you most enjoy in combat? Do you like being the center of attention? Causing chaos? Destruction with AoEs? Huge, hard-hitting single-target attacks? Do you prefer to have a few smaller attacks with one or two "Big Guns" or do you prefer an arsenal of medium attacks that give you a steady damage output? Do you prefer a steady level of protection or a lower basal-protection with much higher peaks? Fire-and-forget armor or one with lots of click powers? Do you most have a taste for Defense, Resistance, Heals, or Debuffs as mitigation?
In short, how do you like to play?
Roll a Brute. Making a Stalker and trudging up to 50 was one of the biggest wastes of time that I put into the game. As soon as VEATs were released, I deleted him.
I would go for a Stone/WP Brute. It's gonna be a pain on Endurance (at least, until Quick Recovery and Stamina, if you choose to get both) but the results are very much worth it.
Rising to the Challenge: Spines/Willpower
I have much love for my super strength/super reflexes brute. I'm going to agree that the choice depends on your playstyle. Stalkers are kinda cool, and The feeling of sneaking around then getting a super high damage crit is nice. I still haven't had the patience to get one up to or past 20. They do seem to level slower than brutes for me.
That said, I wouldn't turn down stalkers for teams. Those who know what they are doing are awesome to see at work. They sneak up, drop the largest mob in a group, and aren't too tired to fight some more after that.
As for your initial question, one more point to make. Both ATs do fine solo or on teams. Villains just seem to be a bit more made for soloing.
I've played a Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Stalker (primarily team-based), an Electrical Melee/Energy Aura Brute (again, team), and an Energy Melee/Invulnerablity Brute (solo to 45, teamed to 50) to 50, and overall I'd say I had more fun on the Stalker. There's just something about one-shotting an orange-conned Lieutenant that makes me smile. Either way, teaming and solo play was possible on all 3 toons, albeit easier to solo with the Brutes.
I also have a lowbie Dual Blades/Willpower Brute (solo) and Martial Arts/Energy Aura Stalker (team) that I'm in the process of leveling. Again, I find the Stalker more fun to play. Might be the power choices or the team focus, I don't know.
For a Brute, I would recommend Electrical Melee as a primary, and either Invulnerability or Stone Armor as a secondary. Once you get to 32, there's nothing more fun than Electrical Melee IMO and having those secondaries will get you a ton of playtime in the late game, but the early game will probably be tough. For a Stalker, I'd recommend Ninja Blade/ or Spines/, and /Ninjitsu or /Super Reflexes. Just a side note, Hide works better when combined with a Defense-based set.
Be warned that Stalkers tend to not get invited to teams. It seems they have a bad reputation due to idiots that think their sole job is to run to the end of the mission and click the glowie.
I really like my stalker - but yeah - harder to play on teams. Especially if it is just me and an SK'd lowbie. When I use placate my teammates usually die as the agro shifts to them.
Brutes are great - they solo well and team well.
And there is nothing wrong with trying both.
I just never could get into Brutes. But I'm on my 2nd stalker now.
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
Some one asked what playstyle I prefer. Well, I DO like stealthy classes alot, but I dont like who fragile they can be in some games. I like to be proactive in combat, but I do not like to micro manage stuff like toggles, etc. I tried a Mastermind up to 20 or 21 about a year ago. It was ok, but the constant attention to some things kind of made it get old for me.
I like pretty fast & active combat, and now on second thought, Stalker may not be for me. I always tend towards the stealth classes, but running off to hide andreturn to assassinate again would probably get old for me.
Sounds like brute would probably be more my speed. I have played one up to around 10 or so, but this was a while back.
I do like AoE alot, but not if you cant handle the attention you get from it. My brute is Energy/Energy, is there a more suitable one that is tough but can still AoE a bit? Back when I chose it, there werent as many powerset choices as there are now.
Brute.
I'm a very casual play returning from a long break. I'd like to give melee a try on the villain side. I've been trying out some different toons, but there are so many choices now that I can't seem to settle on one
What I would like is a toon that is solo friendly, and would also be ok in groups ( mostly solo, I rarely have time for a TF ). I'd prefer if it were also somewhat desired by groups rather on the opposite end of the spectrum, if you get what I mean. I like both play styles of scrapper and brute, but I have never played either past the mid teens, so I have no idea what to expect long term.
Also, suggestions for what powersets to check out would be great, i've spent the last two days trying several combo to see which I like, and which I dont. I'm pretty open to ideas. Ideally I'd like to find something that I can stick with to 50 for a change
Thanks for the help