From my own experiences on test, DB burns end very quickly at higher levels due to fast recharging and fast activation of its attacks. It pairs very well with WP due to Quick Recovery, and better when you have Stamina slotted. I think it'd work well in groups and larger mobs with /elec due to the the End draining effects, but I don't have enough practical experience with the other sets to make a better judgement at this time.
I'd still quite like to see claws for brutes, but failing that DB is the next best thing I guess. I quite like the idea of /dark - I gather DB attacks are relatively cheap like claws, but even so there'd still be a need for endurance management I'm sure. The AoE debuff combo and general leaning towards AoE attacks would work nicely with /dark's AoE powers.
Other than that I'm mostly considering the soon-to-be-super-prolific-combo of DB/Will as a reroll of my ninja-esque stalker (I just can't get on with playing stalkers for some reason).
I can't see any specific synergies with /elec beyond them both looking cool, but maybe that'd be enough for you? 
@Hakeswell
Union Ilservian, Evinlea
Defiant Expeditor, Hakeswell
Arc: 70119 Hellion Initiation
I would reccommend /dark or /elec this is because elec is a very good armor it has very good end and as Ly said DB burns up end pretty fast. Personally i am making /dark mainly because it has good all round survivability and the -kb can be sorted easily by IO's.
The reason i havent chosen willpower is because judging from its powers you will need plenty of other powers from Pool Powers, such as tough (added defense) and aid self AND ur transport power which would make it a very tight build as you will want most of the DB/ powers due to the combos. Hope this helps 
DB/Fire armor.
Fury, Empower, Fiery embrance, consume, uber heal, Burn, Blazing aura.
No one forces you to farm with it...
DB works really well with Fire, Electric and Dark armours, all tested on Brutes. Fire was the best survivor, Elec was the best attacker and Dark was... a massive end drain 
I'm still rolling a DB/Dark myself though, just going to leave the 3 auras until the 40s.
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
[ QUOTE ]
and Dark was... a massive end drain I'm still rolling a DB/Dark myself though, just going to leave the 3 auras until the 40s.
[/ QUOTE ]
+ recovery IO's for the win. I have a lvl 50 spines/dark scrapper that does not even have stamina YET.
Even with the 3 slotted Stamina, the auras switched off and without runnng CJ or Acro, just the 3 shields I run out of end very quickly. All DB attacks bar Feint are slotted with end reducers. Still, it'll be fun and "unkillable"
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
DB/Dark would have a lot of control powers. The sweep combo and weaken are both aoe/cone I believe, put that in with the auras and that would be great for a brute who runs into the middle of the mob and can mitigate a lot of aggro, and probs able to get full fury from running in.
DB/fire, main thing is I cant find a concept I like for it, always an issue with me.
DB/Elec sounds quite good too, though would have to try to find a concept, which is hard.
DB/Dark probs then, slotted heavily for end reduction and leaving end heavy toggles till late, replaceing acro with kb IOs would make it manageable I think.
Would be tight though I reckon.
Anyone got a basic build for a DB/Dark yet then?
Level 1: Nimble Slash
Level 1: Dark Embrace
Level 2: Power Slice
Level 4: Ablating Strike
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge
Level 8: Blinding Feint
Level 10:Obsidian Shield
Level 12:Combat Jumping
Level 14:Super Jump
Level 16
ark Regeneration
Level 18:Swift
Level 20:Health
Level 22:Stamina
Level 24:Murky Cloud
Level 26:Sweeping Strike
Level 28:Vengful Slice
Level 30:Acrobatics
Level 32:One Thousand Cuts
Level 35:Kick
Level 38:Tough
Level 41:Oppressive Gloom
Level 44eath Shroud
Level 47:Cloak of Fear
Level 49:Soul Transfer
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
[ QUOTE ]
...The sweep combo and weaken are both aoe/cone I believe...
[/ QUOTE ]
The sweep combo finish is PBAoE, as per the finisher Typhoon's Edge. Damned fine combo too.
As a related aside, when I was testing DB following the level bump on test, I found that with the odd recharge in the primaries, it's possible to have a permanent chain of the Power up, Sweep, and Attack Vitals combinations ad infinitum. These three golden combo's really hammered most foes until my endurance ran out, and if the power up combo missed, then I could easily use Weaken instead.
From my DB/WP experience on test (until level 28) and post level bump, as well as live till level 31 atm I can say that it is quite survivable. Tough and Weave will make it easier in the post 40s but are not really necessary to survive. The only times I died so far were when I aggroed more then one group (deliberately at times) or ran out of end, which isn't an issue anymore at 30 with both stamina and quick recovery.
Aid Self is certainly not necessary when you 3 slot fast healing, fortitude and rise to the challenge with heal.
As far as combos go though, both empower and weaken are quite nice in the early levels, but imho the sacrifice that you have to make is too great. Both Nimble Slash and Blinding Feint are not the best attacks that DB has to offer, the combos are pretty weak compared to attack vitals and sweep, and with hasten and a couple of recharge enhancements you can spam these two permanently, also both have a higher damage mitigation due to the knockdown effects of Vengeful Slice, One Thousand Cuts and Sweep. Empower and Weaken are probably more essential for the other ATs using dual blades, but we brutes have fury, and fury increases the combo damage.
Other sets that might work with DB would probably be elec and energy, all other brute def sets will probably cause massive endurance problems. Unless you want to play with 3 slotted rest of course.
I strongly disagree with the above post. 3 slotted rest is no alternative.
The rest is correct, though.
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.
On test when teamed I wasn't getting to do the maximum damage per endurance as possible as a means to save endurance. In one team because they were too high for me I kept missing a lot and so I am not talking about that team, its in another. It was because foes were so scattered I would only end up wasting a hit 10 on less. Outside of a mission solo I could drop my aggro cap faster than the team would from having foes scattered and seeing piles and piles of figures and words like weaken crop up so much in multiples was a thing of beauty.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
No one cares about damage per endurance lol.
[ QUOTE ]
No one cares about damage per endurance lol.
[/ QUOTE ]
I [i]do[i]. The sooner the mobs are defeated, the longer your endurance lasts into the next mob/mobs. Brutes aren't Tanks, so can't really soak damage to outlast their opponent. Brutes thrive by defeating foes quickly, and having a better Damage:Endurance ratio only aids this process.
It's a shame Energy Aura is out of the running. I made a DB/Fire Brute (RP concept, not sure how a build is only good for farming anyway) and immediately regretted it after chatting with another DB/EnergyAura and doing a little research. It seems that the Weaken Combo stacks really well with a Defense based toon...has anyone on test seen a combo for DB in regard to this? Energy Aura might be for Brutes, but I guess experience with a stalker /ninjistu/SR would be totally appropriate in regards to an answer.
Elec, Fire, Energy and Willpower seem to work really well - mostly due to the +endurance / +recovery powers.
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
Well I finally managed to get my connection back at home, rolled myself a DB/Dark, and have finally found a brute I can see myself lvling, and its the first one to get past lvl 6.
Dual Blades is the set I have always wanted to play, just a personal fave of mine in any game, guess it comes from being pretty much ambidextrous myself.
As for /dark, made the mistake of taking more attacks and less of my secondary, so found myself being very very squishy, even though he is only lvl 12, he will be getting a respec to balance him out and get rid of powerslice as it aint really needed till lvl 30ish anyways.
Finally feeling the fun that is the Fury Charge!
I can see db/dark as a very nice toon, though mostly picked for concept reasons. Though I can see it being a massive end hog when I get more of the toggles, /dark has enough powers that are skippable to make the most of dual blades.
[ QUOTE ]
No one cares about damage per endurance lol.
[/ QUOTE ]
You should do while your PLing your buddy toons.
Everything done right you have just enough fight duration to self to fight as many foes in the least amount of time. Fury increases Dam per End and the quickest way to build fury is to get hit. This in turn makes Brutes a support set like tanks but for alternative reasons being a villain.
Dark is an end hog if you run CoF and DS at the same time. It often makes sense not to though. I think DB/Dark would be awesome to play personally.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Aye Shannon, I can see myself running Death Shroud when I have corruptors around, but solo or in small teams, ile more likely run CoF. Cant see myself running OG, and it aint even in my build, seems counter productive for a brute.
Will probs be picking up tough though, and am going to try and skip acro and replace it with kb ios, just so I have one less toggle to run.
Atm though, DB/ anything is fun to play!
I have to say, my DB/Dark Brute is the squishiest Melee toon I have played thus far... it's worse than my Stalkers 
Still, the version of him on Test if great fun so I'll stick with it - until 22, at least.
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
From what I have heard, /Db is a bit of a late bloomer. You get your heal at 16 and have ok resists to most things, but its worth picking tough up too.
But then, I never really planned on being a tanker type brute with this guy. If i wanted to tank with a brute Ide have gone /stone.
Aye, Tough and Acro planned before 30 - the 3 auras are being saved for the 40s, along with the self-rez.
@Jay Leon Hart
Kerensky: this has nothing to do with underwear
Zwillinger: I put on my robe and wizard hat...
Synapse: I had to resist starting my last post off with "Yo dawg!"
Is it possible to leave out acro and just get KB IOs? Not sure about where these can be slotted, but an extra slot or two to save a power pick seems a good trade to me.
Well with i11 coming out, its time for me to make my DB/ brute that i wanted (was going to make a scrapper, but well, then i owuld have to go hero side).
My question is, what would be good to pair with it? Have seen lots about db/fire for farming purposes, but dont want that. /stone is also out as I doubt ile have a pocket kin around, and never been a fan of energy aura, so its /dark /WP /Elec or /invuln. Anyone help me with the synergies of these and what they will be like to play? Have had trouble getting excited about brutes in the past, but DB/ is something I have been greatly loooking forward to.
All comments and advice appreciated.