Having read your other posts on Electric Armor I would advise junking the SS/Elec and going with Elec/WP.
Pinnacle
Arch light L50 INV/SS
Psiberia L50 Kin/Psi
Screaming Mentallica L50 Sonic/MM
Infinity
Arc Voltinator L50 SS/Elec
Mind Fire Kinesis L50 Fire/Kin
Flaming Screamer L50 Fire/Sonic
my first main vill was a SS/elec and he is absolutely amazing, id say get tough and weave and you should be perfectly fine. on that note I have a /wp scrapper that is great at fighting huge groups but im not a big fan of elec as a primary for any melee fighter besides a stalker
White, do you mind sharing a picture of JoIt with his armors all up? I'm curious as to how Energy Aura looks now with the changes.
Virtue: The-Invictus (Blue)
The Emissary of Justice - Level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
The Emissary of Justice. - Level 50 WP/Fire Tanker
Mesmerius - Level 50 Psi/Mental Blaster
Nucleoa - Level 50 Rad/Son Defender
/Elec is awful when it comes to survivability. I'd probably even put it behind /Fire. I know on teams with my brute unless I'm in Powersurge I'm pretty much going to be the first to die. Part of this is EM's fault, however, as it doesn't offer swift, consistent mitigation like, say, Footstomp does.
Another issue I find with Elec Armor is that even with Aid Self you're pretty suck. Sure, it's up quite frequently, but because of the long animation I find that usually by the time I'm allowed to attack again I've been nailed for the damage healed plus some.
Even with tough and weave it doesn't get much better. A little bit, but because of the more prevalent exotic damage in end game, it's just not enough.
Virtue:
Miserya - 50 EM/ELA Brute (Perma-shelved)
Adriana Rayne - 42 Katana/Dark Scrapper
Cyberpulse - 26 Super Strength/Willpower Brute
Steel Heart - 24 Invuln/Super Strength Tanker
I'm not sure if I'll advocate Elec/WP. Overall, you'll like your AoE damage output and you'll be fairly tough. What I always miss when I play my elec/elec/mu is single target damage. I rely a lot on mu lightning to get the job done. Without hasten and some extra recharge, I have a feeling you won't be satisfied with Lightning Rod after a few levels of playing it. You just won't fire it as often.
SS/Elec is not a bad combination, if you have the infamy to support it. This is an approximation of the build I currently use. I don't have obliteration in footstomp, because I'm working on placing armageddon and FF+rech in there instead. It is a pricey build. I might also consider switching elec fences for ball lightning for more knockdown mitigation.
What Elec does well:
-Rikti
-Malta (sappers, lolz?)
What Elec avoids:
-Elder Snakes
-Anything with DoT to interrupt the aid self.
I find these unpleasant:
-Cimerorans
-Longbow Nullifiers
-Fire Bosses (not only is it painfully slow to team with, but it carves through your paltry fire resistance)
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Super Strength
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Punch <ul type="square">[*] (A) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)[*] (3) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (5) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (13) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge[*] (17) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance[*] (27) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage[/list]Level 1: Charged Armor <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (9) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (31) Titanium Coating - Endurance[*] (37) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge[*] (39) Titanium Coating - Endurance/Recharge[*] (40) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 2: Haymaker <ul type="square">[*] (A) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)[*] (3) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (5) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (13) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge[*] (17) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance[*] (27) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage[/list]Level 4: Conductive Shield <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (9) Titanium Coating - Endurance[*] (31) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (37) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge[*] (40) Titanium Coating - Endurance/Recharge[*] (40) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 6: Hasten <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO[*] (7) Recharge Reduction IO[*] (7) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]Level 8: Hurdle <ul type="square">[*] (A) Jumping IO[/list]Level 10: Knockout Blow <ul type="square">[*] (A) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage[*] (11) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance[*] (11) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge[*] (15) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (15) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (31) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)[/list]Level 12: Aid Other <ul type="square">[*] (A) Healing IO[/list]Level 14: Super Speed <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO[/list]Level 16: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery[*] (25) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (25) Miracle - Heal[*] (48) Miracle - +Recovery[/list]Level 18: Rage <ul type="square">[*] (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge[*] (19) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge[*] (19) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]Level 20: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge[*] (23) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy[/list]Level 22: Grounded <ul type="square">[*] (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%[*] (23) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection[/list]Level 24: Static Shield <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO[/list]Level 26: Boxing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Accuracy IO[/list]Level 28: Aid Self <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (29) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (29) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 30: Tough <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (34) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Endurance/Recharge[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[*] (50) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (50) Titanium Coating - Endurance[/list]Level 32: Foot Stomp <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Damage[*] (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge[*] (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (34) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage[/list]Level 35: Power Sink <ul type="square">[*] (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod[*] (36) Performance Shifter - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (36) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge[*] (36) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge[*] (37) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge[/list]Level 38: Lightning Field <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (39) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (39) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance[*] (46) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (46) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance[/list]Level 41: Mu Lightning <ul type="square">[*] (A) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage[*] (42) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (42) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (42) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 44: Electrifying Fences <ul type="square">[*] (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance[*] (45) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage[*] (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge[*] (46) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)[/list]Level 47: Weave <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[*] (48) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure[*] (48) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure[*] (50) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure[/list]Level 49: Lightning Reflexes <ul type="square">[*] (A) Run Speed IO[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Celerity - +Stealth[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Fury
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]12.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]14.3% Defense(Smashing)[*]14.3% Defense(Lethal)[*]3% Defense(Fire)[*]3% Defense(Cold)[*]3% Defense(Energy)[*]3% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]25.5% Defense(Melee)[*]3% Defense(Ranged)[*]3% Defense(AoE)[*]18.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]18% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]10% FlySpeed[*]230.5 HP (15.4%) HitPoints[*]10% JumpHeight[*]10% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -4)[*]Knockup (Mag -4)[*]MezResist(Held) 13.8%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 8.25%[*]MezResist(Sleep) 8.25%[*]MezResist(Stun) 8.8%[*]13.5% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery[*]46% (2.88 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]1.58% Resistance(Fire)[*]1.58% Resistance(Cold)[*]3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*]10% RunSpeed[/list]
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/Elec is awful when it comes to survivability. I'd probably even put it behind /Fire. I know on teams with my brute unless I'm in Powersurge I'm pretty much going to be the first to die. Part of this is EM's fault, however, as it doesn't offer swift, consistent mitigation like, say, Footstomp does.
Another issue I find with Elec Armor is that even with Aid Self you're pretty suck. Sure, it's up quite frequently, but because of the long animation I find that usually by the time I'm allowed to attack again I've been nailed for the damage healed plus some.
Even with tough and weave it doesn't get much better. A little bit, but because of the more prevalent exotic damage in end game, it's just not enough.
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Yea, I really think the dev's should do something to seroiusly improve the set.
If endurance drain is to be it's "main" function for damage mitigation...then it definately need to do it BETTER than it currently does.
If not, then they really need to give ELA some form of Dull Pain or something. Or I'd even take something like Integrations level of "healing" in Static Shield or something...and/or up it's resists all around substantially...like 10-15% accross the boards 
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/Elec is awful when it comes to survivability. I'd probably even put it behind /Fire. I know on teams with my brute unless I'm in Powersurge I'm pretty much going to be the first to die. Part of this is EM's fault, however, as it doesn't offer swift, consistent mitigation like, say, Footstomp does.
Another issue I find with Elec Armor is that even with Aid Self you're pretty suck. Sure, it's up quite frequently, but because of the long animation I find that usually by the time I'm allowed to attack again I've been nailed for the damage healed plus some.
Even with tough and weave it doesn't get much better. A little bit, but because of the more prevalent exotic damage in end game, it's just not enough.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yea, I really think the dev's should do something to seroiusly improve the set.
If endurance drain is to be it's "main" function for damage mitigation...then it definately need to do it BETTER than it currently does.
If not, then they really need to give ELA some form of Dull Pain or something. Or I'd even take something like Integrations level of "healing" in Static Shield or something...and/or up it's resists all around substantially...like 10-15% accross the boards
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I think the closest thing to a buff we'd ever see would be a heal put into Power Sink similar to Energy Aura's Energy Drain.
And it wouldn't really be enough, but, what can you do? It's like shield or fire, you're trading off survivability for Lightning Reflexes and Lightning Field.
It's just not at all an even trade.
Virtue:
Miserya - 50 EM/ELA Brute (Perma-shelved)
Adriana Rayne - 42 Katana/Dark Scrapper
Cyberpulse - 26 Super Strength/Willpower Brute
Steel Heart - 24 Invuln/Super Strength Tanker
I think the biggest fix they could do for sets like Fire and Electric is Defense debuff resistance. What I find causing me the most problems is that after fighting the average Spawn is that my defense is in the Red meaning I am taking more damage. Because I am taking more hits.
If they cannot do that then I would vote for some more S/L/Cold and a tiny bit more negative energy and fire.
Now picture the reverse if you were defense based and -Resistance were as common as -Defense. Granted you will not get hit very often but when you do you take 2x normal damage?
As mentioned above Electric does some things well and others poorly. I would like to add Carnies to the list of does well.
As far as Crimora I do well on the wall if I kill the Healer and the engineer first. The engineers fire is a pain. Here is a case where my Defense is far into the RED.
LB sonic grenades are also a pain but you can play smarter and avoid that problem.
Pinnacle
Arch light L50 INV/SS
Psiberia L50 Kin/Psi
Screaming Mentallica L50 Sonic/MM
Infinity
Arc Voltinator L50 SS/Elec
Mind Fire Kinesis L50 Fire/Kin
Flaming Screamer L50 Fire/Sonic
That's a nice build and actually achievable unlike some SS/Elec builds I've seen that would require about 500 million infamy. I'm pretty poor redside so I've had a hard time getting the IOs I'd like to make my SS/Elec brute into decent shape considering how bad /Elec can be at times.
How's the extra melee defense working out for you with those bonuses?
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/Elec is awful when it comes to survivability.
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Yea, I really think the dev's should do something to seroiusly improve the set.
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What if they used the same trick that they did with Super Reflexes? As your health drops in SR your damage resistance increases. It'd be awesome if Elec got the same treatment so that as your health dips you start to get some defense. Granted there are some situations where this wouldn't help like if a ton of Cimerorans had already debuffed your defense to hell, but overall it would add a lot of survivability.
EDIT: oh, and to the OP there's an additional option for an Elec-themed brute. You could create a Shields brute and choose the electric shield, which looks pretty damn cool. That'd free you to pick a different primary. The downside of Shields is that it's relatively squishy compared to WP until you can get enough powers and IO set bonuses to really layer on lots of defense.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
on my elec/elec/dark Brute i have Aid Self 6 slotted 2 heals , 2 recharge , and 2 interupt reduction enhancements and it can be fired off fast enough to stay healed after Power Sink hits ( every 15 seconds).
also what Elec does well all add : Mu and energy Blasters to the list.
but wish list for /elec would be a Dull Pain and/or +perception.
and of course the possibility of perma Surge would be sweet.
also i went with Dark patron pool for the -tohit Toggle adds to the surviveability 
Talos Maltalomar lvl 50 Rad/Rad Corrupter - Triumph Server
Arack BloodThrall lvl 50 BS/SR Scrapper - Triumph Server
Rose's Kiss Lvl 50 Mind/Nrg/Ice PermaDom - Triumph Server
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That's a nice build and actually achievable unlike some SS/Elec builds I've seen that would require about 500 million infamy. I'm pretty poor redside so I've had a hard time getting the IOs I'd like to make my SS/Elec brute into decent shape considering how bad /Elec can be at times.
How's the extra melee defense working out for you with those bonuses?
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The extra melee defense has drastically increased my survivability. I do monitor my defense, but if my health starts dropping, I carry some 'good lucks' for those occasions. One of those, plus a footstomp/powersink means my heal will almost always fire successfully - and I don't have to waste slots on aid self. I may not be the toughest brute out there, but I can put some serious damage out - and I have the endurance tools to make sure rage and hasten crashes don't drop my toggles!
The numi and miracle uniques in that build were lucky gold rolls.
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That's a nice build and actually achievable unlike some SS/Elec builds I've seen that would require about 500 million infamy. I'm pretty poor redside so I've had a hard time getting the IOs I'd like to make my SS/Elec brute into decent shape considering how bad /Elec can be at times.
How's the extra melee defense working out for you with those bonuses?
[/ QUOTE ]
The extra melee defense has drastically increased my survivability. I do monitor my defense, but if my health starts dropping, I carry some 'good lucks' for those occasions. One of those, plus a footstomp/powersink means my heal will almost always fire successfully - and I don't have to waste slots on aid self. I may not be the toughest brute out there, but I can put some serious damage out - and I have the endurance tools to make sure rage and hasten crashes don't drop my toggles!
The numi and miracle uniques in that build were lucky gold rolls.
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My SS/Elec was about 120M to build but I did very well on the market and got some great stuff dirt cheap. I have some S/L defense and it sure helps but as soon as your hit by lethal it almost always debuffs you so any defense you have goes away. It sure helps against targets with Smash though.
Of all of my Electric's past L38 (4) only one has Power Surge and none use Aid Self. Villain side its my favorite armor to play. Granted its not as uber as WP but it can be fun.
Pinnacle
Arch light L50 INV/SS
Psiberia L50 Kin/Psi
Screaming Mentallica L50 Sonic/MM
Infinity
Arc Voltinator L50 SS/Elec
Mind Fire Kinesis L50 Fire/Kin
Flaming Screamer L50 Fire/Sonic
[ QUOTE ]
I think the biggest fix they could do for sets like Fire and Electric is Defense debuff resistance. What I find causing me the most problems is that after fighting the average Spawn is that my defense is in the Red meaning I am taking more damage. Because I am taking more hits.
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Hmm...I really don't think that "defense debuff resistance" would do all that much to improve the survivability of an armor set that relies totally on resistance...
That'd be a "slap-in-the-face" buff/fix if you ask me, and wouldn't solve anything. So please don't give the dev's the idea to do this lol.. cause I could see them doing something like that...
I still think a Dull Pain type power would be best..
Maybe not quite a "Dull pain" power, but something like the shield set gets, that stays on all the time, but isn't quite as large of a buff. Maybe add it to static shield, or even if it was applied while grounded was also in effect. Even adding a regen component to grounded or static shield would be a nice buff for /ela imo.
When you are debuffed for defense, you get hit a LOT often than the typical 50% chance to be hit. If you monitor your stats, you'll find that the times you really start hurting on electric are when:
1) Your resistance is debuffed
2) Your defense is debuffed
3) You're facing an EB/AV
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When you are debuffed for defense, you get hit a LOT often than the typical 50% chance to be hit. If you monitor your stats, you'll find that the times you really start hurting on electric are when:
1) Your resistance is debuffed
2) Your defense is debuffed
3) You're facing an EB/AV
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While this is true, unless we had SR levels of Defense Debuff Resistance or greater, the fact is Defense Debuff Resistance isn't going to do much for a set that relies almost entirely on resistance for it's protection. It's just simply NOT going to give noticeable enough improvements to ELA, and it doesn't even fit theme. Resistance based sets never usually gain access to Defense Debuff Resistance...and there's reason for that. Don't bring up Invuln either, because Invuln definately has Defense which needs protection from defense debuffs.
Nope. What would help ELA, is [u]one[u] of 4 things:
1.) A minor form of Regeneration (similar to a Scrapper's "Integration" from Regen).
2.) A "Dull Pain" like power
3.) Moderate +Defense (similar to what WP has access to)
4.) More resistance, in the form of a 10-15% increase to base.
One of those are the only things that will really help ELA compete with other armor sets. I'd suggest a "heal" like Reconstruction, but I think that might be too powerful even. That, or the dev's have to really "amp up" ELA's ability to Drain Endurance if that is to be one of it's main means of damage mitigation, because right now, it doesn't work very well on anything past "even con" minions...
I want an Electric Brute for themed purposes and currently have a SS/Elec/Mu, but for all intents and purposes, without wasting a ton of inf to get solid defense, the combination just sucks on teams even with Aid Self when I'm the only Brute. Currently, I'm considering scrapping and re-rolling him as an Elec/WP.
Virtue: The-Invictus (Blue)
The Emissary of Justice - Level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
The Emissary of Justice. - Level 50 WP/Fire Tanker
Mesmerius - Level 50 Psi/Mental Blaster
Nucleoa - Level 50 Rad/Son Defender