I slot for brutes, 1 acc, 1 end, 1 rech, 3 damage and in that order. My level 24 brute below doesn't have any Damages slotted as yet
"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 find it depends on the brute.
Personally I slot 3x Dmg on all of mine because you can never have too much damage - it's what the brute is all about! (I do the same on stalkers, blasters, scrappers and corruptors too). My Fire/Fire probably comes closest to the damage cap with 3xDmg in all attacks + Fiery Embrace + Build Up + Fury - but I still see a damage increase from using a red insp, even after being drowned in Fulcrum-Shift +dmg icons by my /kin duo partner. I believe the brute damage cap is 850%.
My Fire/Fire has all his attacks slotted 1x Acc, 1x EndRdx, 1x Rchg, 3x Dmg - he had Acc problems against AVs/Heroes in the 40s unless my /kin partner was stood nearby with Tactics (which he usually was), but I needed the Rchg and EndRdx so he could at least be soloed sometimes. I plan to slowly sort out the Acc problem by slotting Acc/Dmg HOs in place of a Dmg SO in each attack when I can (ok it's happening very slowly, as I only have one so far 
). He can kill a spawn faster than my other two brutes, and usually teams, so he is specialised for that.
My SS/Dark had all his attacks slotted 1x Acc, 3x Dmg, 1x EndRdx, 1x Rchg, but on quick attacks I've recently dropped the Rchg for another EndRdx. Perma-Rage sorts out any Accuracy issues for him and he tends to be my safest brute because of the amount of control he has (tons of knockdown, also OG & KO blow), even though he seems the slowest at killing both spawns and single-targets out of my 3 brutes (mainly due to Smashing resists now, I think). He has as many toggles as my Fire/Fire, but I mainly solo him, so non-stop play was important to me and he needed to be End-efficient above all; so I've specialised him for that.
My EM/Elec has every attack slotted 2x Acc, 3x Dmg and 1x Rchg. He runs less toggles and has less End problems than my other two brutes (doesn't have Tough, only runs Aura in teams) and has Power Sink, and even Power Surge, to top up his End as needs be. He's my boss-killer brute and can take down a single target like a boss/EB/AV faster than my other two brutes, so he is specialised for speed/accuracy/damage for fighting those purple-cons.
So I say play to your strengths and playstyle, then specialise for that. That works for pretty much any character.
Oh and in your 3x Rchg example you'd be burning Endurance almost twice as fast (3 Rchg SOs reduce a 20sec recharge time to around 12secs iirc) - you may as well slot 3x Dmg SOs, 1x Rchg SO and take Hasten as well.
Before L22 and SOs (and 3-slotted Stamina) I tend to only slot Acc & EndRdx, though, as I find they have the most beneficial effect.
Yes, I agree you can never have enough damage, but it seems to me that your total damage output will be increased more by putting on recharge enhancements then it will be from putting on damage enhancements. 3 damage enhancements won't double the damage output for a brute attack power, but 3 recharge enhancements WILL double your damage output.
Ofcourse you also double your end useage, as you mentioned...
I have a SS/Inv brute and after reading the forums I am planning to slot punch and air superiority with and acc, end red and rech red in that order and brawl with one end red and one rech red (don't care so much if that hits). I then have a core attack cycle to build fury which does not drain too much endurance. Haymaker and knockout blow, however will be initially slotted for accuracy and damage as they will come in to play mostly when fury is built up and the damages will maximise my pain giving 
.
Well, that's the theory anyway, whether it works in practice is another matter...
@Moondog
Union:
CoH: Moondog (WS); V-Rock (Tnk, semi-retired); Pole-Star (Bla); Demon Dog (Scr).
CoV: Midnight Gunner (Corr); Operative John Doe (Ban); Day-Star (Dom); Commissar Jaeger (MM).
Don't forget, it doesn't matter if you have 4 attacks available to you, you can only use 1 at a time! OK, maybe slot your biggest hitting attack with recharge, but to have 3-4 attacks to choose from is OTT.
With my brute, I've found that, in big teams, fury building is a big problem, especially if there's any MM pets to take your aggro. Also, if you plan to solo, you end up taking down a mob too quickly to build any decent fury.
Defiant 50's
Many and varied!
@Miss Chief
I agree with Valkryst, it kinde depends on the brute.
All my SS/... brutes have 1 accuracy on major powers, and none on low damage powers. When I look with herostats I get an average of 83% on not slotted powers and 92% on slotted powers. This can only be done with perma rage course. 1 ACC+3DAM+1RCH+1ENDRD
On my not SS/... brutes (and scrappers) I use 2 ACC,3 damage, 1 end or 1 rech (depends)
Mad Dave (lvl50 SS/INV), Mad Fire Green (lvl49 FM/EA), Evil Jimmy (lvl45 SM/SA), Fury Green (lvl38 SS/ele)
www.thesocpages.net
Better to maximise your efficiency in slotting for damage to be used per endurance point spent, rather than spending twice the endurance for what is really the same end effect - a 95-100% damage increase BEFORE fury is taken into account.
I cant believe how many different opinions there are for how to slot a brute. I slot low lvl with my choice of number of accuracy and recharge if necessary and 1 end reducer. I slot 3 damage in all attacks although I leave the lowest level attacks till last to slot for damage.
Ive read fury is based from the unslotted damage of an attack so that, damage slotting at around (guesstimate) 25% fury will become obsolete. Having said that I still 3 slot damage. Perhaps someone with access to more accurate info than myself can deny confirm? (I hope)
Ill probably test this theory when I get round to it!
Yes but Sar, the effect is the same before you take fury into account. That's not acceptable for a brute though. Fury makes a WORLD of difference. It seems to me that in some situations it's more important to do loads of damage in a short amount of time, then it is to be economic about your endurance use. In those situations slotting for recharge would be greatly superior to slotting for damage.
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I cant believe how many different opinions there are for how to slot a brute.
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That is one of the great things about this game, though - everyone has their own ideas and its fun to try out different things.
I build my brutes for non-stop killing efficiency, despite their differing sub-roles, but its perfectly feasible for someone else to build a brute a different way. There's no right or wrong way, just helpful and different opinions - ultimately whatever suits your playstyle is the "right way" to build your brute.
The 3xRchg thing is tempting to try, though - I'd be tempted to try it with a stone melee brute, seeing as they do such big damage on their long-recharge attacks. If you also took Air Superiority slotted with 3xRchgs you could keep an enemy on the floor more reliably than my SS/Dark can, and damage would be pretty good off the bat. I still think that, ultimately, you'd end up with very bad End problems, though. Brutes are bad enough for that as it is (not quite as bad as my dom, though 
). So you'd probably want /EA or /Elec as secondary for the End-replenishment powers they have. Something interesting I might try one day.
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Yes but Sar, the effect is the same before you take fury into account. That's not acceptable for a brute though. Fury makes a WORLD of difference. It seems to me that in some situations it's more important to do loads of damage in a short amount of time, then it is to be economic about your endurance use. In those situations slotting for recharge would be greatly superior to slotting for damage.
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I'll give it a go on the test server tonight and see how it goes - but most of the time you're going to kill things too quickly before your fury gets up to decent levels surely?
Dunno, but like I said I'll give it a go today and see how it pans out.
But before Power Sink I can't see it being effective, as End problems will be very apparent.
Yeah I'm Dark Armor so I don't get any kind of endurance recovery ;-)
I'm personally not at the lvl yet where I can effectively test this yet so it's only a thought, but it would probably only work in an environment where you have lots of single targets with a lot of HP. So when you run into a lot of bosses or even LTs, or what I was mostly going for: PvP. I think that while soloing it might actually be a little too much recharge. (I personally don't use total focus on anything lower then an LT for example)
But I think that in PvP it could have some interesting effects. Ofcourse I know very little about PvPing :-)
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but most of the time you're going to kill things too quickly before your fury gets up to decent levels surely?
[/ QUOTE ]You just need to keep moving and get to next group before you lose fury.
Aye, but pre-end recovery power (Power Sink for me) you're gonna run out of end pretty quickly.
That depends entirely on your slotting and toggle usage.
Not really Max, because most builds have stamina problems as is (which is why Stamina is a must have power for most ATs), and slotting for recharges and attacking twice as often in a given space of time, as well as constantly, will only exacerbate the problem further still.
I disagree. My brute is Energy Melee/Dark Armor, which is considered one of the more end heavier combinations. I can solo missions nonstop, and I only got stamina last night. Sometimes I would have to rest after accidentally fighting 2-3 spawns at the same time, but in general I could keep going nonstop. I simply didnt run my toggles (didn't have to), and had all my attacks slotted with 1 end redux DO. (except barrage and brawl) This way I could keep moving from group to group, never letting fury drop. This was WITHOUT stamina. Keep in mind that keeping your fury high is ALSO a way to reduce end useage. (IMO a very effective one too)
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Keep in mind that keeping your fury high is ALSO a way to reduce end useage. (IMO a very effective one too)
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I agree. Using more attacks per enemy is weak endurance-efficiency ^^
Slotting 3 recharges would be good for an AV but with the normal goings on in a PvP absolutely counter-productive. Fury is not optimal for PvP as it usually is.
In PvP, u find that on a single target if u do too much damage they run away, meaning u need the damage when u dont have fury; or u will be ganked and then no fury can help u. Only if an enemy decides to stand toe-to-toe will u get the benifit of your 3 recharge, and even if u win; the same enemy will most likely run next time.
Id say if an enemy feels 1 big hit after u have fury then they will still be looking to run even before its charged again.
Actually that sounds pretty logical. As I said I have very little PvP experience.
Ofcourse, with Hasten and 3 recharge slots in these powers, both TF and ET (to name 2 heavy-hitters) would have a recharge of about 8 seconds each...that might just be fast enough to get a second shot in before your enemy runs :-)
The truth is, your enemy can run regardless of your slotting, so while you make a good point I'm not sure if it really is too relevant. Because slotting 3 recharge will always equal the damage of 3 dmg SOs, and as soon as u start getting fury the 3 recharges will cause a higher damage output. Singletarget OR multitarget. The only downside is the endurance cost :-)
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As I said I have very little PvP experience.
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I have 275 PvP rating on my brute, but I may try this in PvE - been meaning to test if fury multiplies the base damage or the slotted damage. Which is a point I think ur overlooking.
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As I said I have very little PvP experience.
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I have 275 PvP rating on my brute, but I may try this in PvE - been meaning to test if fury multiplies the base damage or the slotted damage. Which is a point I think ur overlooking.
[/ QUOTE ]Fury is a damage buff, just like enhancers and all other buffs.
Yep, so it multiples base damage. I most certainly didn't overlook this
I play energy but I think its a good philosophy to remember for every primary: that evey missed hit is a lot of end wasted. All my attacks are slotted 2 acc. I just REALLY hate missing and wasting the endurance.
@Boerewors
Hey guys,
since I'm getting a bit more serious about my brute now then I was before, I started thinking about slots for attacks. Normally, the first slot I put on an attack is an Acc one. Then in general, the next 3 are damage slots, and the last 2 are either end redux or recharge enhancements. This isn't the way I ALWAYS slot attacks, just my general rule of thumb.
However, for brutes, isn't this is a bit of a gimped order? I mean the 1 (or even 2) acc enhancements to start with is still a good idea, every char needs acc, but it's the 3 DMG enhancements I'm referring to. Normally I add those, because it doubles the dmg per attack, so it doubles the DPS I get from that attack. However on a brute, where I will generally have a fury bar thats halfway full or more, it will add 100% damage, but it won't double my DPS. However, if I would put 3 recharge enhancements on there, my attack would be available twice as often, and therefore my DPS WOULD be doubled.
Am I missing something, or is it far more effective to slot your high-damage attacks for recharge then it is to slot them for damage? Because I see a lot of builds in guides that still slot their high dmg attacks for 3 DMG SOs and just 1 or 2 recharge SOs...shouldnt this be the other way around?