I personally dont fancy DM for brutes, I can see how it could be long surviving, but it doesn't suit my brute playstyle (kill before they can kill you)
Dark Consuption & Soul Drain could both make very nice tools, as well as recovering end Dark Consumption agro's like a dog on heat.
Shadow Maul should probably be avoided, which is a shame cause it is such a nice attack. Cycling the low level attacks with Siphon Life to build fury then using Midnight Grasp to kill "could" work.
"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!"
Guy in my SG (spec) has a DM brute and swears by it in PVE as he says its does alot of cone damage,alot more than his other brute sets.
Defiant's GoEH/MILITIS METUS
Yeah Shadow Maul for a brute does more damage than it does for a Hero. I'm just sceptical cause of the long activation. Then again I know some people dont like Jacobs Ladder and I'm finding that very usefull. Am just thinking of time locked in the animation for my Scrapper and wondering if its a real fury killer.
I'd try it out if I didn't already have 3 other low level brutes on the go at the moment
Edit: Does Spec only have one brute? If so I've teamed with him and he certainly did cause some damage. I dont see much graphically of anyone but me when I play my main brute. (which was the reason for his powersets)
"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!"
Run with it, you've got to 43 so far, not that far to go. your damage output should be quite high, as with sould drain poping off every so often you should be doing loadsa damage. Two self heals will be assisting you greatly and if you've taken boxing and tough you're res vrs s/l should be ok.
Above all have fun, not a common build, so go for it 
[ QUOTE ]
Edit: Does Spec only have one brute?
[/ QUOTE ]
No hes got like 4 or 5 
Defiant's GoEH/MILITIS METUS
Does anyone only have one brute? 
"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!"
[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone only have one brute?
[/ QUOTE ]
me
Defiant's GoEH/MILITIS METUS
Hows that work? I dont understand
"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'm level 50 DM/DA, i did have times when i thought i'd delete the char, the damage output doesn't even come close (if you ask me) to the other brute sets but ive never really had major troubles Touch of fear is really good and its real nice pvp. i use three attacks and Hasten (shad punch, smite, shad maul) got hasten 3 slotted with speed and soul drain 3 slotted with speed definatly works for me and the debuff thing is very nice against Bosses/EB/AVs Ive always seen it as if you can land ToF the enemy (PVE) will soon go down and leave you with hardly a scratch. Gotta agree though Buff DM! 
[ QUOTE ]
i use three attacks and Hasten (shad punch, smite, shad maul)
[/ QUOTE ]Wait....no midnight grasp? o.0
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i use three attacks and Hasten (shad punch, smite, shad maul)
[/ QUOTE ]Wait....no midnight grasp? o.0
[/ QUOTE ]
Midnight Grasp is the least awe inspiring tier 9 power I've ever had. The DoT makes it appear to be worse than Shadow Maul, even though it is about the same damage. Even fully slotted it isn't great. Even so I would say that skipping it is a mistake because DM is seriously lacking in attacks.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
DM is probably the most "Defensive" melee sets, with ToF and accuracy debuffs. So what do you expect, equal damage to the rest of the sets? 
. Bear in mind it also does negative damage which is less commonly resisted than S/L.
I think the thing with DM is it requires a slightly different playstyle to other brutes. To my mind, it works not by massive big hitters, but by facsilitating full fury more than any other sets. Its self heal, control, and debuffs all allow you to carry on pummeling away and getting attacked (not hit) allowing you to reach levels of fury better than any other brute, IMO.
If you have a corruptor who can replenish your end and HP, then DM isnt going to shine... but otherwise, its good.
It plays differently thats all - its not "gimped". I play mine by having ultra rapid cycling low attacks (NOT shadow maul) with just accuracy, end reducer, and recharge enhancers. By doing this you can quickly lay on the debuffs and build fury.
I like my dark/fire brute, a lot, because it's often the only team member standing when the enemies swarm all over your team thanks to some numbnuts not knowing their left from their right 
Mostly I like the combination because it features two strong heals, the end recovery powers have *just* enough recharge on them without Hasten to keep you going from mob to mob and when I'm having a good day, I've rampaged through an entire mission on Vicious without needing to stop and rest.
On a bad day though, or if you're with a team that has End problems, the set starts to show it's weaknesses, you *need* that Fury bar high most of the time to maintain a Brute-level damage output, unlike the other sets that seem to suffice well on half a Fury bar.
All in all, dark/fire = energizer bunny Brute.
Hey Guys,
I love the game and don't wanne start putting critics, but I have a brute lvl43 DM/FA and the urge to delete him is very near :-(
Have several brute builds so I can compare primary and secondaries.
But ..... I can't seem to find the use of Dark Melee :-( As a debuffer it's not bad, but I prefer bringing along a corrupter, and as a damage maker it's gimped (excuse the word), max damage at lvl43 (with full fury) is round 300!
Any1 having a good DM-build?
Thx,
Evil Jared
Shadow Society
I started this one after I read good articles on the US forums bout this build, but ........