I would say invul , decent resist, dull pain , and unstopable witch is the best lvl 38 power 
But if you whant someting reliable and good vs all dmg , go fire or dark , they dont have a good lvl 38 power and dont have knock back resistance , but they can be very solid sets , with some power pool powers!
After lvl 38 the strongest brute set is stone, but with some penaltis to your primary!
you have all the nunbers you need here 
Hero builder
i have stone on the go atm, its good so far. holds aggro well with mudpots and with an SG mate with Kin corruptor, should be good when he gets speed boost
Granite is the toughest thing in the game, and can still get pretty close to RES cap (for tanks at least) even Post-ED.
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Granite is the toughest thing in the game, and can still get pretty close to RES cap (for tanks at least) even Post-ED.
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So can Unstoppable, only differnce being those lucky Stoners get it as a toggle
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Granite is the toughest thing in the game, and can still get pretty close to RES cap (for tanks at least) even Post-ED.
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So can Unstoppable, only differnce being those lucky Stoners get it as a toggle
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, unstoppable is great, but stoners win in overall defence because granite is a toggle and because they have the regen from rooted.
Yeah, Invincibility up until Stone gets granite. then Stone has an edge, however the slow in Stone could make it harder to keep Fury up.
I really should do something about this signature.
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Granite is the toughest thing in the game, and can still get pretty close to RES cap (for tanks at least) even Post-ED.
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Got to remeber - attack rate - speed - damage its a big dam pay off for all that res. Furry will be no prob building that as every one will be punding on you but in PvP every one will be avoiding you and theres not much you can do about it. 
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Granite is the toughest thing in the game, and can still get pretty close to RES cap (for tanks at least) even Post-ED.
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Got to remeber - attack rate - speed - damage its a big dam pay off for all that res. Furry will be no prob building that as every one will be punding on you but in PvP every one will be avoiding you and theres not much you can do about it.
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TP Foe for PvP, they'll have no choice about confronting you then.
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TP Foe for PvP, they'll have no choice about confronting you then.
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It still doesn't build fury as they can move off, TP foe -> Run off to attack something else -> TP Foe -> Run
Its ok in PvE where things will mindlessly attack you but not for PvP
True but as I have a Energy/stone brute and use it in PvP quite a bit its about the best you can hope for.
Personally I use tp foe followed by Stun or total focus. I'm at some point going to slot more slows in mudpots in an attempt to get a few more slugs in. That and the opposite of tping next to someone with a stacked stun attack ready.
With squisihies I don't always need much fury to plant them in short order regardless. It's just in the timing and is certinaly situational as to who your targets are.
Its not brilliant I grant you, but its about the best tactic I've found so far for PvP for a stone secondary, or indeed a stone primary for a tank which I also have.
I don't tend to worry if I have a great PvP toon or not, I just make do with what I have tuning it to a pvp/pve build with probably more of an emphesis on PvP and see what tactics come of it.
To say its useless is one thing, but it's that or not a lot happening for a stone armour toon to be honest
Dark will make a pretty though brute with no weaknesses although it takes some lvls to get it right.
Once you get into the 30's with dark you will be doing fine even against psi.
Dark has all round resistance, but it is weaker against the most common damage types than Stone and Invun. Its defence got nerfed in issue 5 to be negligable. In addition it lacks a +max hp power, and they have reciently been improved.
I really should do something about this signature.
But it has a fear power, and it people are feared they tend to miss more. Also can run the Psy res at the same time as others, where as you need to ditch Granite Form for it if you're stone.
That said the lack of knockback pushes it off my list and places stone at the top for all round defence
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
I did say that you would need some pools to get it right.
Dark doesnt have a +max hp but it has the best self heal in game.
Dark also have a damage aura which invunl does not.
But thats just my opinion.
Stone is the toughest at high levels, but you have a long time to wait till it gets that status (Granite in the mid 30s). As others have said, Granite doesnt really suit a damage dealing class with all those nasty penalties. I found the Fire Secondary was perfectly adequate at damage mitigation. I added Tough from the Fighting Pool as the s/l res isn't the best, but due to the nice Fire/Dark Energy resist I was lasting longer than Brutes with some other secondaries in the very common Circle of Thorns missions. One thing I did miss, an max HP point increase from the heal like with Dull Pain/Earth's Embrace, even though Healing Flames does recharge faster than these powers.
Another reason fire is worth looking at: blazing aura. Get a nice fury going and this power will be doing half your damage on those big mobs.
Out of curiosity which is the toughest of the Brute secondarys?
I want to make a character based around being really tough (note: do not own COH, am not going to buy COH, want to play a villain that's tough).
I heard all sorts of good things about dark armour from scappers, but though I would ask the experts i.e. the people who play them.
Oh and if you feel like throwing numbers in I'd love to have peek.
Thanks