First time brute EM / Elec, Where'd I go wrong?
By
beyondtrial,
Posted on: 2007-01-16 04:49 in Brutes
I can help you with your slotting a bit. I don't slot my Brutes attacks for damage. I've done some testing and having damage slotted in your attacks makes such a minor difference when you have full fury that it really is a waste of slots. If you struggle to keep your fury high (maybe you are teaming with a slow team) then by all means slot for damage. Are you going to be PvPing at all with this Brute? If so I would put another Accuracy in the attacks and maybe a recharge reduction.
You will be way over the fly speed cap with three SOs in fly and one in Swift. Two in fly and one in swift is just over the cap IIRC.
I personally don't like Build Up for brutes for the same reason as I don't like slotting for Damage. BU only really comes in useful when you're struggling to build fury or at the start of fights, again it comes down to personal preference.
What lvl are you at the moment? Lightening Field will be a real drain on your end until you get stamina especially if you are planning to run static shield, chraged armour and grounded all at the same time. I would consider getting it later. Some people will see it as endurance efficient due to it doing constant damage to the mobs around you at a cheaper end cost than your attacks but I always find I struggle to run my shields and aura pre stamina.
One last thing, I always like to take Taunt on my Brutes as I find it great for keeping my fury high when I'm in a big team. Well worth considering.
Currently this little experiment is lvl 8 (and a half) and thus far has proven highly enjoyable to play.
Never really considered PvP when planning it out, though it could well be possible in the future (even if the only reason I'm in the PvP zones is to get my hands on the temp powers and the accolade which requires one of the badges from a PvP zone IIRC) I tend to build for PvE, I can always respec at a later date into a more competative build.
And you're right LF is a bit of an End hog, so I tend to only use it when doing solo missions as it allows me to herd up 2 or 3 of the small groups together, quickly building Fury and softening up the ones that I'm not smashing into the ground (gotta love the knockdown on Air Sup' comes in handy for stopping those nasty Lt's and bosses from hitting me in the face while they get up 
)
My main concern was taking Conductive Shield so late, though I can always drop Build Up and shuffle a few early powers round to get it nice and early if need be (yay for Vet reward respecs, the perfect solution to my regular stupid mistakes)
Thanks for the advice on slotting as well, will have to play around and see what I can do about that.
Hi,
Glad you like the Brute AT :-) My pers. favourite.
Regarding the slotting, my brutes are slotted for damage, but this is a personal matter, kinde depends on your style.
I find it hard to keep fury high in teams (unless I play my stoner), so I like to hurt'm without fury. But when you have a full fury bar, it makes sence to slot it different.
Lightning field has 3 end red slots on it, even on my lvl45 SS/ELA brute :-)
Aid self is great, but it's tricky when you play a resistance defense. I mean, every time you use it and it gets interrupted (which is likely to happen in fight), U only achieve one thing ... end usage but no heals. press it 3 times in a row and ur end bar will melt like snow in the sun :-(
Tried aid seld, but switched back to tough on my SS/Ela brute. On my FM/EA (defense base) brute I luv aid self!!
Like U suggested yourself on Conductive Shield, swap it with BU... It's a great defense imho
Just my point of view :-)
Fury Green -lvl45 - brute SS/Ela
Franky Green - lvl17 - brute EM/Ela
I'm also of the don't slot brutes for damage opinion. The build I have gone for with my em/inv brute is one that just keeps going from mob to mob, builds up the fury and hits everything he tries to hit. For that reason, so far, I have slotted his attacks with 2 acc, 1 end red and one recharge. Fury builds up rapidly and gives the damage you need.
@Romanov
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Estoque, Bastinado, Spidermonkey, Chic Doyle - The Militia
Miss Teen, Dead Reckoner, Dee Dee Diablo, Kaneko
I slot brutes for damage, but they're the last slots that go in. Mostly its nice for your big hitting ST attacks, which will be the first ones you lay on an AV before the fury builds. Is also nice in the AoEs, as there's no such thing as too much AoE damage
BU can be usefull to overcome a tohit debuff. Thats the only time I use it, but I do use it
"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!"
You ask where u went wrong but, you dont mention the problem that you are having... Makes it difficult to help you bar general advice.
The trick with brutes of certain templates is to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. Its also a good idea to think about if a primary and secondary will pair well. Also you must consider how you want to play the brute, agressively or more tactically.
Without you telling me what the problem you were encountering (having used both sets but not together), I would say that come energy transfer you will become quite squishy. The main drawback being ET takes health points, and electric armour isnt great with smashing/leathal resists (without tough or power surge), added to this u must take an interuptable heal and have no area damage mitigation tool (e.g. footstomp). Compound this with the fact u have no defence (which would have helped a bit with the interruptable heal) and u might feel a little squishy.
The plus side, u have lightening reflexes to recharge both ET and total focus; Id pick up hasten (I always do 
), to compliment that. U will have power sink which will counter the absolutely massive end drain of total focus. It has an end drain the same cost as footstomp and on my SS/elec brute even with power sink I slot 2 end reduction in footstomp.
With all this recharge and the massive damage potential of energy melee (as u already recognise), + lightening field you will be both a single target and area attack expert. U will do tons of damage but u will need to recognise that on a big team it might not be the best idea to run out into a large space with scattered mobs and have them all shooting at you.
On my energy melee/inv (on a side note I think the -health of ET is ofset nicely with uninteruptable dull pain), I have taunt. You might think, pff taunt, not on a brute! However if u do any PvP you must see how irritating taunt is when u just want to play a "heavy stalker" and kill the squishy but no! The tank taunts u and you are effectively rendered useless. Taunt is effectively a placate for your teammates.
You wont have any trouble gaining aggro with an aura, but you are quite squishy to lots of ranged mobs. Using taunt to pull them round a corner in range of ur lightening field and then bang away with your big hitters. The lack of an area damage mitigation tool (e.g. footstomp and lack of whirling hands) wont matter when u are killing them so fast they cant hurt u enough. Dont take whirling hands, take taunt instead.
If u think "pulling" is too slow then u will be reminded that you are squishy to ranged mobs which choose to not run into melee range. If your team doesnt let you pull the mobs then no matter - just refuse to take the alpha, you can still steal aggro with taunt. Taunting 5 +3 mobs will almost instantly give u full fury, then just run into the middle of them and use your big hits (assuming someone else took the alpha strike).
Get build up, its an 80% damage increase and a ToHit increase, trust me even at full fury you will notice the difference when u activate it, and extra accuracy is a bonus.
As for slotting on my EM I went 3 acc in all attacks (I only play relentless and sometimes higher than that, and there is a big difference in reliability with 2 and 3 acc, especially when u need to kill something or you would have to retreat, also you will be accused of yellow inspration popping in PvP which is a bonus). 1 end in all attacks except ET which has a small end cost for the recharge and damage potential. 2 end in total focus, and 1 recharge. 1 recharge in ET and the only damage I slotted was in ET 2 damage ( u could go 3 acc, 3 dam but I like to have ET & TF recharge at the same rate). I went sparce on damage SOs because I needed the accuracy and end reduction, not having access to power sink on my em/inv.
Id try to consider swapping an end for damage in total focus, after u get power sink.
Learn to fight mobs to your strengths and you will be the most damaging brute possible (execept possibly a fire/fire brute with fiery embrace and build up, wont be able to judge for myself till I lvl my lvl 8 up a bit; just added that disclaimer for the inevitable arguments that might start flying my way).
About damage slotting, on my SS/elec I have 2 acc (have perma accuracy from rage), 1 end and 3 damage (KO blow has recharge instead of end, and infact I have 2 HOs in KO blow anyhow). So thats my take on slotting brutes. I guess I could try slotting recharge in haymaker and footstomp but thats the only attacks that could possibly benifit from not slotting damage.
Id miss stun from energy melee out too, total focus does the same job; if u want to stack disorients its a bit too situational.
Oh and lightening field is a gravy power, conductive shield is an ASAP power, build up before lv30. The whole "you are the most damaging brute possible" thing relies on you taking hasten, Id take it at lvl 6. It will improve your aid self recharge which Id take at lv 14. Travel power lvl 24 for bloody bay.
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I can help you with your slotting a bit. I don't slot my Brutes attacks for damage. I've done some testing and having damage slotted in your attacks makes such a minor difference when you have full fury that it really is a waste of slots.
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erm NOPE :P
doesn't make minor diff, can make a lot of diff at start of building fury, plus it's getting your fury up there as well
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I personally don't like Build Up for brutes for the same reason as I don't like slotting for Damage. BU only really comes in useful when you're struggling to build fury or at the start of fights
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*cough* COT death mage stacked -acc....*cough* Minx & any /sr......
also you might want to consider for even post stamina, 5 slotting shields, 2xend reducts and 3xresist, you should notice the diff, EM wise would slot at least 1 end reduct in ET and TF at least, and swap the recharge on TF and ET for extra acc, lightening reflexs should do you well with EM
and consider changing assualt (can be quite end heavy combined with everything else running) to hasten, and make it 3 slotted
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I only play relentless and sometimes higher than that
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erm correct me if i'm wrong but isn't relentless the hardest diff setting cov side ? 
and SS/ to EM/ there's a diff on the slotting to be considered, with SS you tend to 6 slot rage with 3xTohits and 3xRecharge so can get away with less ACCs slotted
personaly ON ET & TF i would go 3xAcc, 2xDam 1xEnd neither ET or TF is exactly end light....
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I can help you with your slotting a bit. I don't slot my Brutes attacks for damage. I've done some testing and having damage slotted in your attacks makes such a minor difference when you have full fury that it really is a waste of slots.
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erm NOPE :P
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erm YEP:P
I'm not sure how much of a difference hasten/lightning reflexes make, but the main thing I do with every brute I play is slot 2 Acc, 3 Rech, 1 end, for the first few attacks. You need to build and maintain fury and slower, higher damage attacks run counter to that. If you team a lot (where fury is easier to build by getting beat on) then slotting for damage straight off makes more sense.
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I personally don't like Build Up for brutes for the same reason as I don't like slotting for Damage. BU only really comes in useful when you're struggling to build fury or at the start of fights
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*cough* COT death mage stacked -acc....*cough* Minx & any /sr......
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yeah, plus always nice to have in PvP zones.
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personaly ON ET & TF i would go 3xAcc, 2xDam 1xEnd neither ET or TF is exactly end light....
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That's got to be PvP slotting of some sort, right? 2 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Rech on both, since I can only afford to spam both when I have speed boost on me anyway.
EDIT:- take a /kin corruptor and a length of gaffer tape...
Synaesthetix:if your mum wasn't already dead I would go kill her for bringing
you into the world
yes and no lol
extra acc dont hurt none with -tohits in pve and also nice when i go pvp for a change of pace etc
I'd say a few things.
1. Fly just isnt a great brutish travel power full stop imo and the fact it grounded doesnt work with it on make it an even worse choice.
2.HASTEN!!! You can never go wrong with hasten and since you should really get SS anyway hasten will come along with it.
3. Leave lightning field out until high levels (i.e after stamina)
4. Health pool is great forget about travel at 14 get health instead. Replace lightning field with aid other/stim and then use the mayhem mission temps for travel powers until later and get aid self at 14.
5. Aid self ideal slotting is - 2x +Health, 2x Rech Rdx, 2x Int Rdx (if thats how long it takes to activate)
6.Power Surge is your GOD power why havent you put resistance in it?? 3x Rech Rdx 3x +Resist
7. With hasten you can forget about the rch rdx in attack
TF should look like this imo
3 acc 3 dam or 2acc 3dam 1end rdx
Infact thats the same for all attacks except for energy punch which should just be 3acc 3dam
8. I prefer to put 4 end mod in stam I find it is just that little bit extra that counts this is up to you
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This is all my opinion an just the way I would do it.
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8. I prefer to put 4 end mod in stam I find it is just that little bit extra that counts this is up to you
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0.03 extra end per second is pretty much nothing. That's the equivilant of an end red in something as tiny in end cost as CJ. It's MUCH more efficient putting an end red in an attack. (Attacks get more benefit from end reds than toggles, too.)
hmm no conductive shield until 41? your serious gonna have problems in both PvE and PvP :P. Instead of fly, get speed instead, hasten is very useful for you. Why do you have assault? It only buffs your attacks with about 3+ dmg diffrence and eat ur end. Drop ball lighting and assault for tough instead, becuse you can never have too much res
Okay, after running my poor scrapper ragged I decided that it was time to try something a little more in tune with my regular play style (suicidal charges into groups of mobs, followed by lots of hitting things powers being used).
The Brute seemed to fit the bill perfectly (me and tankers don't get along, too much getting hit and not enough making things fall over quickly for my liking) and after teaming with a friend that seems addicted to the Energy Melee sets (both the blaster one when we teamed on CoH and the Brute and Stalker ones on CoV) I decided to give it a try, along with the Electric Armour set just because it looks, well, ace
So I humbly ask that you far more experienced members of the Brute community cast your critical eyes over the proposed build below, pointing out my no doubt numerous glaring errors
Level: 50
Archetype: Brute
Primary: Energy Melee
Secondary: Electric Armor
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Energy Punch==> Acc(1) Dmg(9) Dmg(19) Dmg(27) EndRdx(40)
01) --> Charged Armor==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(5)
02) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(2) Dmg(9) Dmg(19) Dmg(27) EndRdx(40)
04) --> Lightning Field==> Acc(4) EndRdx(5) Dmg(17) Dmg(17) Dmg(31) Acc(37)
06) --> Build Up==> Rechg(6) Rechg(7) Rechg(7)
08) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(8) Dmg(13) Dmg(25) Dmg(29) EndRdx(40)
10) --> Static Shield==> EndRdx(10) DmgRes(11) DmgRes(11) DmgRes(13)
12) --> Swift==> Fly(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14) Fly(15) Fly(15)
16) --> Grounded==> DmgRes(16)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18) Heal(25) Heal(39)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Total Focus==> Acc(22) Dmg(23) Dmg(23) Dmg(29) Rechg(37) EndRdx(50)
24) --> Lightning Reflexes==> Fly(24)
26) --> Aid Other==> IntRdx(26)
28) --> Aid Self==> IntRdx(28) IntRdx(34) Heal(34) Heal(34) Heal(36)
30) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(30) Rechg(31) Rechg(31)
32) --> Energy Transfer==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(37) EndRdx(46)
35) --> Power Sink==> Rechg(35) Rechg(36) Rechg(36) EndMod(43) EndMod(43) EndMod(43)
38) --> Power Surge ==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39)
41) --> Conductive Shield==> EndRdx(41) DmgRes(42) DmgRes(42) DmgRes(42)
44) --> Mu Lightning==> Acc(44) Dmg(45) Dmg(45) Dmg(45) EndRdx(46) Rechg(46)
47) --> Ball Lightning==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50)
49) --> Assault==> EndRdx(49)
PS. Please note that I left Aid Self until the 20's due to trying to fit in all the usual stuff like my travel power (yeah, I know Grounded doesn't work in the air but I don't intend to be doing much ariel combat, hopefully stuff will be too busy inspecting the floor at point blank range to fly away) and Stamina. Also, with the impending double Exp weekend I should be more than capable of making it there quick enough to avoid it being too much of a problem. Hopefully.....