thinking about using a respec on my en/dark brute-

-and was hoping for some advice on whether my proposed changes are a good idea:

ps apologies in advance, quite a few questions here - not changed my character at all since i created him so may have quite a few mistakes along the way!

first the Dark Armour:

in the lower levels, I loved death shroud, but now (I've just hit level 41) I find im using it less and less so was considering getting rid of that. Good idea?

also, is it worth having both cloak of fear and opressive gloom? currently I only have CoF and have never tried OG. im thinking you only need 1 of the two, so which is better? CoF is quite end heavy, and not much use when I solo (mobs are small enough for me to handle without it), but it teams its fantastic!

second Energy Melee:

I have every attack except stun and taunt, and am not planning to take either of these. However the only one I an considering doing without is whirling hands. got it slotted up a fair amount, but its quite end heavy and I find myself using it just becuase its there rather than becuase I think its a particularly good attack?

was considering getting rid of barrage, but its my auto-power and its replaced brawl as a fast, low-cost attack which always keeps my attack chain going

Power Pools:

I have stamina (not changing that) and teleport (which, although is fast, im starting to get a little annoyed with). considering changing my travel power, but only considering fly or superjump. would prefer superjump, but i know i'll never use combat jumping, and definatly don't want jump kick...any suggestions?

also, is it worth opening up any of the other power pools? my self heal seems to be fine so don't need medicine (at least i dont think i do?) but i hear a lot about hasten. never had it before, is it worth getting?

and finally, patron powers!:

just hit level 41, and have mako as my patron (fits my concept, what with me being an undead pirate and all). have a choice of 2 patron powers: school of sharks or spirit shark. anyone know if either of these are any good? and can anyone speak from experience over which is better?

and yes I am planning to test any new build I do on the test server first, just thought I'd get some advice from all you wonderful people first

I'd swap CoF with OG, OG does cost HP but virtually no END.
Would get CJ, SJ and Acro, for KB protection.
Keep whirling hands, AoE damage=good.
Hasten is nice to have.
Take AoE patron powers rather than ST ones, AoE damage is good

This is assuming PvE, for PvP AoE is less important.

thanks for the reply

think i'll go for OG instead. managed so far without any KB protection, can get annoying at times but don't seem to suffer from it that much so the jurys still out on that one, and again theres still the CJ problem, with so many toggles already in DA don't really want to waste a power on it.

with the patron powers- school of sharks is AoE, but it does minor damage and the main effect is immob. the enemy, whereas the spirit shark does heavy damage. all my powers seem to revolve around doing maximum damage, thats why i was going more towards the spirit shark..but im not too sure just what "heavy damage" means, say for example compared with energy transfer?

Opressive Gloom and Energy Transfer combined with Hasten... You will be known as "The Incredible Suicide Brute". I would definitely give it a try.
And you should most definitely keep Whirling Hands. It´s better DPE as soon as there are three or more enemies around you. AoE damage is a nice thing for a brute.
The single target attack from the patron pools is not too good, but the AoE immob (+damage) is nice, especially in teams. The Spirit Shark´s damage should not be compared with something like Energy Transfer. That´s unfair.

The secondary effect of OG is disorient which ur is your primary's secondary effect, so it will stack (I would expect u get bosses disorientated more often). The single target sharky attack has the lowest damage of the single target patron powers, but has a 100% knockback effect (effective everytime against targets without KB protection, i.e. most bosses).

If u must get fly then drop barrage for air superiority, and then u have 2 100% KB moves which cant be bad.

However if u try to do a respec trial and ur team is relying on u to take the vines out, CJ,SJ,Acro would be the best bet. I tried the respec trial at 28 having just picked up lightning reflexes for faster lvling, but leaving grounded till lv30 meant I needed to wait till lv30 to complete respec trial.

The AoE damage attack from patron powers becomes available at lv44, and to take that u need 1 of the first powers. U dont have any cone effects (like shadow maul), so I wouldnt bother with an immobilize. The base total damage (according to prima guide) is 33 toxic damage. With full fury this will do significant damage, just remember to slot it 2 endurance with 18 base end cost. Since this is an AoE then * 5 mobs u will be doing the equivalent of an energy transfer in 1 hit (roughly speaking).

With and AoE disorient stacking with ur primary, and 2 100% KB moves it sounds like a tasty build; but thats if u can live without KB protection.



For single target damage, 2ndary effects ignored; ghost widow is the most damaging. Its a DoT, but the numbers add up to the highest figure and its negative energy, not too highly resisted.

Ive taken Maximillian's advice and completed the first part of my patron's arc on the test center.

Ive also been testing my lvl 50 out on test since he was granted a respec with the last patch. I was 6 slotting mace blast and disruptor blast, so I could pull out the mace and use 2 attacks, and even web mace if I needed to slow the target.

I recommend using the bind commands to bind the extra attacks to something close to hand like q,e and r.

My /DA only has one toggle he always runs: CJ. It's so cheap it never drops (IIRC 0.08 end/sec) and gives a nice movement boost. Just take all your shields and pick OG or CoF. You can use DS to keep aggro on you.

i did the respec and took OG instead of CoF and also took hasten instead of death shroud. I'm actually regretting some of these decisions

i hate the look of OG and its quite annoying when people start to wander away from you, at least with CoF they stay in 1 spot. the look thing may be quite petty, but i enjoy the fear aura!

hasten is fantastic, can't believe i've never taken it before, I love it!

but i also miss my death shroud, didnt realise how great it was till i lost it