Brutes got the short end of the stick on SD?
By
Demosthenes_II,
Posted on: 2009-06-07 16:25 in Brutes
You do know the base damage for Shield Charge is the same for all 3 ATs?
So a Brute with Fury will do significantly more damage with the attack.
That's true, but Shield Charge isn't available every spawn. AAO is. I'd agree that the set is a bit weaker on Brutes, though any secondary that adds a +damage power and an AoE attack is going to be nice. It's just nicer on Scrappers and Tanks.
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
i have a sheild brute, scrapper and tank at 50, its awesome across the board and brutes lose out on NOTHING
From a numbers standpoint is seems like less. Playability however shield scrappers and brutes are about the same.
Of the 3 ATs, a Brute does get the smallest improvement from AAO since it has the lowest damage scalar, but limiting the scope to just that particular bonus seems a poor reason to say the whole set is worse for Brutes.
True Grit provides more +HP on Brutes than Scrappers, the -dmg component of AAO provides a better bonus to Brutes than Scrappers because of their higher HP cap, SC does more damage, and Brutes have access to some great PPP powers that allow you to reach 45% defense rather easily thanks to -tohit debuffs. With Darkest Night, a /SD Brute could be around the soft-cap with nothing more than common IOs.
AAO caps at 65%. And it is not "bad" on any AT. What the OP is splitting hairs over is the fact that the criticals of scrappers are multiplicative with AAO, whereas fury and AAO are additive. There's a difference in final dmg (in solo settings mostly) but it's minor.
Brutes still have the higher damage cap, so it's all a wash in the end. Play what you enjoy, don't worry about spreadsheets.
I think as far as numbers and theory go, yes tanks and scrappers should be better off. But numbers don't always apply to how the actual game is played.
Like the guy above said, don't play by spreadsheets. I mean you can if you want, but thats not fun IMO.
Now don't get me wrong here I'm not saying that shield defense is bad for brutes or that it can't be amazing ioed out but I don't think it is as good for brutes as it is for scrappers and tankers. My reasoning is this. SD is great for tankers seeing as it is trivial to softcap and has decent resistance and +hp. It also has has the thing tankers need most....extra damage in the form of AAO and to a lesser extent Shield Charge. Scrappers get the same defense numbers as brutes which makes it more difficult (expensive) to softcap. However AAO's considerable damage bonus builds on scrappers already high base damage and of course they get shield charge as well.
Brutes on the other hand....well they have the same low defense/resistance numbers as scrappers. However, the set's signature power AAO does much less for brutes than it does for scrappers or tankers because of the fury mechanic. A brute with 95% damage slotting +200% damage from fury is looking at 395% damage. AAO grants a 65% damage boost fully saturated with full fury plus damage enhancements AAO is really only boosting your overall damage by 16.4%. Whereas on tankers it boosts their damage by 33% and on scrappers by 41.66%.
Obviously with +hp and okay resists if you softcap SD it is going to be very strong on brutes and add significant AoE damage with Shield Charge. However, it seems that the signature power of the set is tailored more to scrappers and tankers and does much less for brutes.