My thugs/pain MM can take up to 3 groups of enemies at a time.
I would like to thank sets and set bonuses.
Give it time, it's an uphill battle to an absolutely amazing payoff, and trust me it IS worth it.
And strangely enough my Bruiser "tanked" Synapse quite well.
If you just got him (level 28), go ahead and play up to 32. even if it is a struggle. Equipping the thugs will improve their damage output and give the enforcers another buff. That should help.
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If you just got him (level 28), go ahead and play up to 32. even if it is a struggle. Equipping the thugs will improve their damage output and give the enforcers another buff. That should help.
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He already stated he had no problems with his Thugs or Enforcer, it was his Bruiser he had issues with.
Yes the Bruiser is kind of squishy with no buffs, he is very tough if your MM gets the 2 x Resist IOs and 2x Defense IOs. Thugs are unique in that they are the only primary that can use Pet Recharge sets on Gang War.
Sovereign Right +10% resist ( on thugs )
Expedient Reinforcement +10% resist ( on gang war )
Edict of the Master +5% defense ( on thugs )
Call to Arms +5% defense ( on gang war )
2 x Enforcers with 7.50% Maneuvers
As long as you stay within 20 feet of your Bruiser he should have +20 Resist and +25% Defense added to his already existing resistances. Combine this with the +18% Resist from Word of Pain and you have a Brute equivalent Bruiser. ( I bought all 4 of those for just over 20 million Inf)
P.S. Once you get Painbringer on you bruiser its game over for any spawn 
Actually the buff is beyond 20 feet in range. I checked and it's worth 35 (which is weird since it says 20 feet)
i might give him another shot after i lvl a farm brute, i have no cash on red side atm. if i can afford those IOs, the toon might be viable (to me). thanks for replying, guys
Your enforcers should be slotted for +defense, and they should be in leadership range (30 feet) from your bruiser. You should be standing next to your bruiser, with suppress pain running. The rest of your pets should be fighting.
I run entirely common IOs on my thugs/pain and he is an absolute beast, the bruiser rarely needs ST healing, and I can run farm maps solo that are set for 8 people. I'm level 42, but I've been doing this since I hit 32, although the webmace made things a lot easier. I have 0 pet uniques.
I take alpha, typically at range, using my webmace. I don't micro my bruiser at all. I don't generally have to use nullify pain in this circumstance, as WoP + suppress pretty much covers incoming damage without me having to do anything.
I'm Thugs/Dark, so it could very well be Dark's defensive nature. But I find my Bruiser well able to tank, as long as I keep on him with Twilight Grasp. Most of the time he doesn't seem to need it, but when he does, he seems to really start taking the damage fast.
I'm guessing it's just a matter of reaction time. Buff up your defenses, as suggested (I definately second slotting the Enforcers for Defense, even though I don't, that's a good portion of your Bruiser's defense right there, though. Almost like it's his Invincibility equivalent) and get some IOs. That should buy you the time you need to use your heals.
He will also hold aggro better once you get to 32 and he gets Foot Stomp. If you're giving him the first Upgrade, you might choose not too, Hand Clap tends to ruin aggro, not draw it. Still, I did use it prior to 32, but stopped using it and only use the second Upgrade on him now.
One thing that saves my MMs and their pets a lot is using macros and other shurtcut command keys.
I used to dispair when my Bruiser would run out of Leadership range and die fast. Then I started using 'goto aggressive' commands for him and the Enforcers. My tactics go something like this:
I move to about 60 feet of the spawn. I have cone powers with this range so I'm pretty good at guessing it by now.
I leave the Minions in BG mode to help me absorb hits. That way they tend to stand near me anyway. If the Pyro wants to run up that's his bad...
I use the goto aggressive on the Enforcers and place them midway between me and the spawn. That way their leadership covers the minions and the Bruiser.
Then I set the bruiser to goto aggressive and send him into the spawn. If he gets out of my Leadership range I just move up a little. Any personal buffs I have to increase his life span I give him before he goes or I just feed him Insps that I seldom use.
Any MM that doesn't use Force Fields can be tricky. Play to your strengeths and the enemy's weaknesses and you'll have better luck I'm sure.
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
the bruiser on my thugs/traps is softcapped to all three positions. i generally have him tank an av on the edge of the ffg bubble. he rarely gets hit - even when fighting positron - and he holds threat like a champ.
1 defense buff in enforcers, both pet io unique defense aura in gang war and ffg = soft capped pets. pretty hot. only other way to soft cap your pets would be to take /ff, one unique io +defense and keep it bubbled
yes....I did quit playing at a very low level, so I will accept any criticism based on that being a factor.
). I am mostly disappointed because the only MM I am interested in is thugs and the Bruiser's squishiness was not discussed in any guide or other post that I had come across.
I rolled a Thug / PD MM several weeks ago, having never played the AT nor PD as a corruptor, so the toon was going to be a surprise to me for the most part. I have 2 50 tanks, a 50 scrap, a 50 fire/kin, and countless toons in their 30s and 40s, so I do have some experience and some expectations. Pain has nearly no dmg mitigation, granted, and I did have to work hard on the heals until I got the Bruiser, this is what I expected, thugs being a lil on the squishy side.
The Bruiser is an incredible disappointment, and not in the ways I was prepared to deal with, having read most of the thug guides available. I knew about his bugginess, using go-to, etc. What the guides did not prepare me for was his incredible wussiness. He could not stand up to 4 oj minions for more than 5 seconds at a time. I was incredulous, my enforcer is far far tougher, I actually used go-to with him in the early 20s, since he could take more of a beating than I could. The bruiser turned out to be a blapper, not a brute or tank at all. In addition, when i sent him into a group, he failed to even body aggro the whole group most of the time, but as soon as my other pets would open fire, the whole group would blitz my backline. This was unacceptable to me, and I have to admit this is the first toon I have ever rage quit from in this game, after playing (albeit casually) since release.
Am I missing something? Is it imperative to play a dmg mitigation secondary or possibly tank for your thugs via storm or darkest night? PD later gets Painbringer which can turn your Bruiser into a regen scrapper, but even that I could not foresee allowing me to kill anything higher than whites consistently. It crossed my mind to max out my enforcers def buffs and use them as tanks in lieu of my Bruiser's marshmallow flesh.
I apologize for my rage, and I did allow a week to pass before I posted (think before you post rule