I have a dark melee fire armor brute, the aoe's are crazy, 2 heal powers, 2 build ups and 2 end recovery powers... with GW as a patron,,, really fun
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DM/WP is overkill IMO. It doesn't really need Dark Consumption as much, or Siphon Life. SR is really good with it - the ToHit debuffs work really nicely. DM/FA is a match made in Heaven IMO, but it will take a little while to garner the endurance needed.
Remember: DM makes EVERYTHING better.
Deamus the Fallen - 50 DM/EA Brute - Lib
Dragos Bahtiam - 50 Fire/Ice Blaster - Lib
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Formally Dragos_Bahtiam - Abbreviate to DSL - Warning, may contain sarcasm
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Originally Posted by Shubbie
Im very good at taking a problem and making it worse.
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DM/shield is sick on a scrapper, I'll be rolling one as a brute when I get the slots.
Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
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DM/shield is sick on a scrapper, I'll be rolling one as a brute when I get the slots.
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I actually prefer to avoid Shield due to the clipping that occurs with my costume. I know, minor, but it really annoys me.
Would you consider a DM/ELA? It's my favorite pairing with DM.
Defense sets are almost too powerful with access to the glut of IO set bonuses. In fact, it's so easy to soft-cap that the -toHit debuff from Dark Mellee is largely useless end game.
My experience is that the -toHit stacks well with the bit of defense that you can get through IOs on Fire and ELA (especially with Darkest Night from GW). This drastically increases the potential of these sets, stacking solid defense with some of the best resist values. It's still not as powerful as a softcapped defense toon, but you recieve a damage aura and endurance recovery tools as well.
Speaking of damage auras-- these toggles are extremely potent for Brutes. I would not roll a DM toon without one. Soul Drain + fury + a damage aura melts minions in no time, allowing DM's superior single-target DPS be concentrated on harder opponents. The minions are but an afterthought caught in your aura of death, feeding your fury. Both /SR and /WP are ponderous in relation to /Fire and /ELA in this regard.
DM/ElA is going to be my next brute as well. The recharge boost from Lightning Reflexes should allow you to buzzsaw through tough targets while Lightning Field works over the peons.
Plus, you'll be the Rikti's worst nightmare.
Not many mentions of Willpower/SR, which is quite the opposite of the discussions on the forums... Interesting.
Elec armor seems to put up better resist numbers than Fiery Aura, so that may be an option. Although, I have a question: For Grounded, the passive do you have to be *on* the ground, or can you use hover (being close to the ground)? The power just says near, but I just wondered, since I usually pick up hover for my toons.
DM/WP is a bit overkill on mitigation and +recovery, but a valid build. DM works with really everything. DM/SR is a great build, the -ToHit debuffs are basically pointless once you've soft-capped the build, but those and the self-heal make leveling DM/SR fun and easy. It's a powerhouse from level 22 on up.
You have to be on the ground, pretty much. I've been knocked back/down while jumping plenty of times with Grounded running. Elec has solid resist numbers, but no self-heal at all, which is where Siphon Life is nice.
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DM/shield is sick on a scrapper, I'll be rolling one as a brute when I get the slots.
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I actually prefer to avoid Shield due to the clipping that occurs with my costume. I know, minor, but it really annoys me.
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Pick the Energy Elemental Shield and set it to a very transparent color. You can barely even see the shield at that point
They're all solid combos, really.
DM/SR synergizes very well; the -to hit combines with your +def to keep mobs whiffing. It means you don't have to work so hard to build up extra Defense bonuses from sets, etc. The drawback is lack of AoE damage and yeah, a very tight build. (Skip a travel power; take all of Fitness + Quickness.)
I have a DM/WP Scrapper that tanks; I had to pick up Provoke to keep attention off squishies (such as a hyperactive fire/kin controller).
DM/Elec (mentioned in a reply) is an awesome combo and tons of fun. DM helps to cover the holes Elec Armour has. An AoE Beast, but not so much as DM/FA, which has the added benefit of you being able to skip Stamina once you get your 2 heals and 2 +ends slotted up.
So really? Roll the dice and play the secondary that won. You'll be happy.
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Although, I have a question: For Grounded, the passive do you have to be *on* the ground, or can you use hover (being close to the ground)?
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I believe that you do have to be on the ground and that hover negates the power.
The other issues is that you can't lay a burn patch while in the air. (That would be for Fire armor...)
Yes, Grounded only works when on the ground. Sometimes it doesn't work on stairs or hills, either.
@Liz!
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Currently most active:
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Friendly, helpful and surprisingly light on the drama.
Save our game Master post.
Ok, so I've narrowed it down to /Fire and /SR.
I'd have to say I prefer the mechanics of Defense rather than Resistance, which inherently makes SR more appealing than Fire.
Still, I'd like to know whether SR maintains its defensive edge against Fire in the higher levels. With Healing Flames on a relatively short recharge, and Siphon Life, does Fire ever compare to SR?
I guess what I'm asking is if SR > Fire is true the entire game, since Fire obviously edges it out in damage potential. Then, my decision would solely be based on whether I want a tougher character, or a more damaging.
Depends what you're fighting. Fire has more damage, and high recharge Healing Flames is great against most things. Fire's lack of resistance to psi, cold, toxic, slows, and end drain will be felt against mobs that do such things.
Ok, I just watched Werner's /SR scrapper in a video. I think my choice is Super Reflexes, lol.
DM/SR is a monster. The endurance cost is high, but at least it has Dark Consumption to help, and even as early as level 8 you'll be largely unhittable to a tough lt or boss if you nail them with a touch of fear (which you can, and probably should, respec out of once your defenses are soft-capped).
Weight training: Because you'll never hear someone lament "If only I were weaker, I could have saved them."
I felt the need for a new brute myself recently, and I settled on DM/FA. It was sort of a process of elimination, as I already have my 50 EM/ELA and a 25 DB/DA alt. I've never played DM or FA before, so I figured what the hell. I know it's a tight build, what with trying to fit in the Fighting Pool, however the combo looks like it could be pretty good on paper at least.
DM/Fire, DM/Shield, DM/WP and DM/SR are your choices.
DM/Fire will take more damage than the other two, but it adds an Aura and gives two Self Heals and two PBAoE Endurance recovery powers, so you'll be hard pressed to run out of endurance. You also get variety in your build up powers: Soul Drain and Fiery Embrace, and you can stack Midnight Grasp and Burn for big time damage.
DM/Shield gives The -ToHit debuff stacking, the heal, and the PBAoE Endurance recovery power along with Against All Odds, Shield Charge, and the /Shield power that boosts team defense. In other words, the unique attractions here are boosting your friends' defense, the boost from Against All Odds, and Shield Charge.
DM/SR will make you pretty-much invincible, but it's fun to level at times, and you won't have as much fun in PvP (or at least that's how it was explained to me).
DM/WP will get you more PvP time. Is's all-over solid, and the benefits of Dark Melee do a lot to make this one sturdier.
I would pick DM/Shield, but that's because I like having a Teleblast and hate dealing with more Build up powers than I have to. Also, I drool at the thought of a whole eight person team full of /Shield Brutes. If all eight of them have Grant Cover, you're looking at a combined 67.52% Defense. Unslotted. Put in two Defense IOs, it goes up to 100.8%! Cool, huh?
Too many alts to list.
Cool. Thanks for the advice, everyone. I actually tried out quite a few different brutes to ~level 12 to get a feel for them. Willpower and Shield felt the sturdiest, probably because of the extra HP boost. With Fire, I found myself using Healing Flames almost constantly, which isn't something I enjoy. I think I prefer a more "hands-OFF" secondary. SR is already known to be a late bloomer, and it shows.
Also, in a strange turn of events, I tried an EM/SR brute, which was also quite fun. How does Energy Melee stack up to DM? I was thinking of maybe EM/WP or EM/Shield as a second brute.
This thread actually made me roll a DM/Invuln brute. It's just super amazing so far at 22. So far it feels more resilient than my DM/Ela. We'll see though. My DM/Ela can run darkest night to cover large spawns without running out of end. This toon won't be able to afford that, but I'm hoping having a scaling survivability power will help compensate for that.
Energy Melee has more damage per attack, but their attacks have longer animation times. Their two big bangs, Energy Transfer and Total focus, do Extreme damage, but their animation times are about as long as snipe attacks.
I'd say that, all things considered, the two are equal for Brutes because the DM attacks have shorter animation times, damage that fewer enemies protect against, and cool effects like -ToHit Debuffs, heals, the PBAoE Endurance Recovery, and the Immobilize.
But I have to admit that I'm a bit biased. I've always liked Dark Melee over Energy Melee.
Too many alts to list.
In continuing with my suffering altaholicism, I've decided to make a Brute for my next character. I've pretty much decided on Dark Melee, but I need more insight on the secondaries.
).
I've never (seriously) played a non-squishy AT, so I should be in for quite a welcome. The secondaries I'm considering are Super Reflexes, Fiery Aura, and Willpower. All seem to mesh well with DM, so I need some help fleshing the pros/cons of each set out.
From me hawking over the forums, I've learned that Dark Melee is lacking in AoE damage, so my first thought was to go with Fiery Aura. The damage aura, combined with Burn (when an AoE immob is present) should help alleviate the lack of serious AoEs. Fiery Aura has a record of being pretty squishy, but I have my suspects that the difference in performance between secondaries would are highly overstated when coming from a squishy. Even then, Siphon Life and Healing Flames should cater to it's weak resists. I also hear that tough/weave are almost required.
Willpower, from what I can see, is one of the most survivable brutes out there. I'd have two endurance recovery powers, which should make me pretty sufficient in the endurance department. It also has incredibly high regeneration and some decent resists. Siphon Life would also accelerate my health bar's return to the green when hit with a hard alpha strike, which I hear is Willpower's weakness. The to-hit debuff from Dark Melee would also make a (small) impact on the time between hits, enabling my regeneration to do it's thing. Tough/Weave don't seem to be the norm on this combo.
Super Reflexes, besides being a super-tight build, also seems like it would be the toughest, enabling capped defense relatively easily. Again, the to-hit debuff would only help my defense, and the debuff resistance combined with Siphon Life seems like my character would be nearly indestructible (besides the rare unlucky streak
So, that is where my question lies. Is the increased defense in SR and Willpower worth the trade-off for a little AoE damage, which is where DM seems to be lacking. Like I said, I've never rolled a "tough" AT, so I'm not very knowledgeable in the importance for such defenses in the late game. Thanks for reading my long post!