My SS/Elec is at 39 atm, and i've wrestled with what to get in the 40-50 lvls. For all intents and purposes the epics on brutes are pretty pointless, i've never felt i needed either a pet or a ranged attack, and the AoEs have long recharge, low damage and a high end cost. I've decided to get boxing at 41 and tough at 44 instead. This will put my S/L res at higher than an invuln brute, with res to almost everything else alreasy in the elec set. It's hardly an essential still, as the 40's are late to get extra res, but then thats when you start to get the really nasty enemies like malta, archnoids (HATE them so much) tons of arachnos.
Also considered handclap with the aoe immob but to be honest i think i'd rather just stomp them 
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
~Edna St. Vincent Millay
Yeah I've run into the same problem as both of you on my EM/Elec and SS/Dark brutes for the 40s. On the EM/Elec in particular I can't take Boxing/Tough (though I wish I could) as I've run out of pools and don't want to drop any of the following: Speed (Hasten), Flight (AirSup & Fly), Medecine, or Fitness.
For you I would say that Lightning Field would be good - when teamed I find that auras are my highest damaging attacks over time on all of my brutes (or so HeroStats tells me), and they are especially useful in a team to keep aggro on you and away from the squishies.
I wanted to take Scirocco for concept reasons on my EM/Elec but nothing in it appeals to me - my EM/Dark friend took all of the Scirocco powers except the pet and respecced them out at 50 because they were all rubbish and he just wasn't using them. I may go Black Scorpion instead because Web Envelope at least has some uses for an /Elec brute who doesn't want to leave the ground (Grounded) - i.e. bringing down flying enemies.
Another option is Taunt - my EM/Dark friend took that solely to use on the LRSF and it seems effective. If you team a lot or plan to do the LRSF then you might get some use out of it - I'll probably take it.
What turns me away from Hand Clap on my SS/DA brute is that it's knockback, not knockdown like Foot Stomp. Although I guess it can buy time to use Aid Self - my friend uses it like that on his SS/Elec.
I think my EM/Elec might end up taking SuperSpeed as well, because he already has Fly for vertical movement (I had Grandville in mind when I chose his travel power), but SS is so much faster for getting around most of the time. However it just seems a waste to me having two travel powers on a character (except for my stalker who had Fly and TP for tactical PvP reasons). But as I've selected all of my pools I don't see any other option.
Honestly the patron pools for brutes are just shamefully bad - web envelope is really the only power that I would say is particularly useful.
Thx for you opinions.
I also picked 4 Power Pools and dont wanna lose them (Fitness, Flight, Speed, Medicine).
But I disagree about the 1st Patron Power. The single target ranged attack is really good and can help you with your attack chain in case you get a -recharge debuff
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Yeah I've run into the same problem as both of you on my EM/Elec and SS/Dark brutes for the 40s. On the EM/Elec in particular I can't take Boxing/Tough (though I wish I could) as I've run out of pools and don't want to drop any of the following: Speed (Hasten), Flight (AirSup & Fly), Medecine, or Fitness.
For you I would say that Lightning Field would be good - when teamed I find that auras are my highest damaging attacks over time on all of my brutes (or so HeroStats tells me), and they are especially useful in a team to keep aggro on you and away from the squishies.
I wanted to take Scirocco for concept reasons on my EM/Elec but nothing in it appeals to me - my EM/Dark friend took all of the Scirocco powers except the pet and respecced them out at 50 because they were all rubbish and he just wasn't using them. I may go Black Scorpion instead because Web Envelope at least has some uses for an /Elec brute who doesn't want to leave the ground (Grounded) - i.e. bringing down flying enemies.
Another option is Taunt - my EM/Dark friend took that solely to use on the LRSF and it seems effective. If you team a lot or plan to do the LRSF then you might get some use out of it - I'll probably take it.
What turns me away from Hand Clap on my SS/DA brute is that it's knockback, not knockdown like Foot Stomp. Although I guess it can buy time to use Aid Self - my friend uses it like that on his SS/Elec.
I think my EM/Elec might end up taking SuperSpeed as well, because he already has Fly for vertical movement (I had Grandville in mind when I chose his travel power), but SS is so much faster for getting around most of the time. However it just seems a waste to me having two travel powers on a character (except for my stalker who had Fly and TP for tactical PvP reasons). But as I've selected all of my pools I don't see any other option.
Honestly the patron pools for brutes are just shamefully bad - web envelope is really the only power that I would say is particularly useful.
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I'm coming from a slightly different situation being SS/Inv and as such don't get a damage aura. So getting the area immob was more due to getting any sort of AoE attack for aggro grabbing...However, now that I've got it I have to say it's pretty darn useful when teaming for when you want to handclap. The cages lock the mobs down making them KB resistant and still makes them disoriented. So in essence cages and handclap together when it hits = a decent area hold 
Why are the Cages good if you cant KB your foes? Thats the main damage mitigation SS offers.
Cages + Handclap = Mobs immobilized and disoriented
So you have enemies that are basically held and who are not scattered all over the map by handclap, so you and your teammates can proceed to AoE them to hell.
And I have to say that I quite like the patron pools, even for brutes.
I like the cages, because I can stop runners dead in their tracks with them. No mercy for those cowards. 
Additional firepower provided by the Mu Striker is nice to have. And I have always wanted to pull with Ball Lightning. 
If it has eyes, you can blind it, if it has blood, you can make it bleed, if it has a mouth, you can make it scream.
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Why are the Cages good if you cant KB your foes? Thats the main damage mitigation SS offers.
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Well, usually most teams hates any sort of scatter effect as it ruins their own AoE attack opportunities. I usually get at least SOME grief when I go clap-happy with hand clap due to the massive KB.
I use it alot when solo, but when on a team I like to keep the mobs close to me as I don't have any real AoE attacks and everyone else does. So to keep the aggro I need them close. With cages locking the mobs down I can then still use hand clap, even though it doesn't scatter the mobs it still mitigates damage by delivering disorient status to all hit. In my case I have hand clap 3 slotted with disorient enhancers. Immobed and disoriented pretty much equals a hold.
I'd imagine a similar effect would also be useful to a tank with a damage aura.
Edit: Hehe Sin beat me to it..and explained it a lot better using fewer words :/
Scirocco's Electrifying Fences is supposedly the only AE immobilise in the patron sets that blocks knockback (I know the Ghost Widow and Black Scorpion ones don't block it - not sure about Mako). I can see how it might be handy with Hand Clap, but then again it would also block the knockdown on all of Super Strength's other attacks, and Foot Stomp is pretty good for control and mitigation of incoming damage.
Admittedly I haven't used Hand Clap before, but it was my understanding that it isn't a guaranteed disorient, and that it doesn't last very long either (8seconds base on even con minions according to SherkSilver's planner & would be less on higher level/rank stuff) - I certainly don't recall seeing too many disoriented mobs when my SS/Elec duo partner used it. In that respect I think using Elec Fences + Hand Clap as a regular combo would be a bit of a double-edged sword - it blocks your main secondary effect (knockdown) on the offchance you'll get a disorient. If it IS a guaranteed (or at least a high chance) disorient on everything that it hits then I agree this combo probably is worth it as an extra control option.
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But I disagree about the 1st Patron Power. The single target ranged attack is really good and can help you with your attack chain in case you get a -recharge debuff
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My friend slotted Scirocco's Mu Lightning with 3xDamage SOs (and 2xAccs) and he complained many times that it's damage was really pathetic, before he respecced it out. Not really surprising as brutes have the lowest base ranged damage modifier (50%, like tankers/scrappers).
When we duo'd I saw him use it just a couple of times: Once to pull (not something a brute does often) and once to attack a minion that was stuck in a ceiling and wasn't attackable in melee (in the end I ran across the room to kill it for him, because it was taking him so long). Sure it gave him a ranged option, but not a credible one. I think it would only be useful if you're a very cautious brute who likes to pull...
If you needed a filler while under -rchg then you might as well use Brawl, or pick up any other attack from your primary/power-pools. Quite frankly Hasten makes for a better power choice to counter -rchg.
Brute-wise the only single target ranged attack I'm considering is Mako's shark one for my SS/DA, just because: a) it's another source of knockdown to go with Punch/AirSup/Haymaker/FootStomp, so in that respect it fits him thematically, b) I have a feeling it will look cool, c) I'm struggling to find powers worth taking for him, d) Mako is the only contact in CoV I have never done (otherwise I'd probably be taking Black Scorpion for my SS/DA instead). I'm expecting it to be very situational though (i.e. I'll hardly ever use it, or remember I have it).
Heyas!
My SS/Elec Brute is level 40 at the moment, and I would like some suggestions. I need to choose 2 powers.
Well, I've already decided I'll pick Mu Lightning and Super Speed, at levels 41 and 49. My question is about the two other powers.
I have to confess that the Mu Striker sounds interesting. I had a terrible experience with the Blood Widow and respeced it out, but thats because I play at least on Vicious and everytime she got into melee, she died.
Now, the Mu Pet is a ranged one, and fits my concept. Besides, with Hasten, Lightning Reflexes and 3 recharge it will be out 60% of the time. The problem is that in order to have access to the pet, I have to take either Fences or Ball Lightning. The AoE Immob has a -KB component (keep in mind I chose SS). And the AoE attak deal less damage than my weakest attack (Punch), altough it's Nrg damage.
The other option is taking Hand Clap and Lightning Field. What about Hand Clap? Is it useful? I dont see a lot of people taking this power, and I already have Foot Stomp.
Any suggestions?
PS: I already took 4 Power Pools.