havent had any experience of EA but have got a DA brute to 50 (with DM as primary which i think compliments it best). All i can say was it was the hardest toon to play of any i've got to high levels. imo its certainly not good for using as a tank style brute, against big mobs you dont have enough resistance, no defence and the heal wont recharge quick enough... solo or duo its great fun! only when fighting big groups is it a problem. it is however a great fun set to play as with oppressive gloom, cloak of fear you have some ability to play the toon in several different ways.
the biggest issue with DA however is end usage, its terrible, especially if you run death shroud, i combated this by taking DM as primary due to its AoE end recovery which is damn nice. (as well as extra heal)
overall after that blabbering... DA is a fun set with several combinations to try and see what works, howeer it is fairly squishy for a brute and can be hard work at times
Helpful? 
DA is an Endurance hog, has low resistances and no defense, the heal costs 33% of your endurance bar, the mez auras make you generate fury slower. DA does not have an end drain.
EA is disliked by many for reasons I cannot understand as of yet, on paper it looks good and I'm enjoying it so far... on a level 14 Brute though, so I can't comment on how it does mid/late game from experience. Has an End drain, has Conserve Power (which is always a plus in my opinion), has a godmode which DA doesn't if you like that sort of thing. Doesn't waste* a power on a self rez. Also, it's a defense set which means you'll generate fury while avoiding the damage as things attack you. Finally, I hear the self stealth is bugged or something, in a good way - you can kill enemies one at a time without drawing agro from others nearby as long as you keep it on. Or so I've heard. One complaint I hear about EA is that it has no taunt aura (and on top of that the stealth reduces threat level).
*(Debatable if self-rezzes are a waste, but it is my personal opinion that a situation power that has "You are dead" as the condition is silly. The goal should be not to die in the first place. And yes, I am aware of its tactical uses in large teams...)
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havent had any experience of EA but have got a DA brute to 50 (with DM as primary which i think compliments it best). All i can say was it was the hardest toon to play of any i've got to high levels. imo its certainly not good for using as a tank style brute, against big mobs you dont have enough resistance, no defence and the heal wont recharge quick enough... solo or duo its great fun! only when fighting big groups is it a problem. it is however a great fun set to play as with oppressive gloom, cloak of fear you have some ability to play the toon in several different ways.
the biggest issue with DA however is end usage, its terrible, especially if you run death shroud, i combated this by taking DM as primary due to its AoE end recovery which is damn nice. (as well as extra heal)
overall after that blabbering... DA is a fun set with several combinations to try and see what works, howeer it is fairly squishy for a brute and can be hard work at times
Helpful?
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it is helpful actually thks. DA does seem to be the weakest of armor but some heroes do well and some villains so i think it comes down to the player. not sure- only a thought 
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EA is disliked by many for reasons I cannot understand as of yet, on paper it looks good and I'm enjoying it so far... on a level 14 Brute though, so I can't comment on how it does mid/late game from experience. Has an End drain, has Conserve Power (which is always a plus in my opinion), has a godmode which DA doesn't if you like that sort of thing. Doesn't waste* a power on a self rez. Also, it's a defense set which means you'll generate fury while avoiding the damage as things attack you. Finally, I hear the self stealth is bugged or something, in a good way - you can kill enemies one at a time without drawing agro from others nearby as long as you keep it on. Or so I've heard. One complaint I hear about EA is that it has no taunt aura (and on top of that the stealth reduces threat level).
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EA looks like the villains version of SR so i think itll do well. the lack of a taunt aura is a downer, so it does depend on the primary as well to taunt by damg.
thks for the quick replys they both have helped. but still looking at mids for ideas.
My DA brute kills things very fast, but I think its the fire melee. Basically I have to defeat all before I've taken twice my HP in damage or as close as I can judge and just Dark Regen to keep me alive.
I enjoy it but its nasty on the end.
EA is something I keep meaning to try but I think I'd prefer it on a scrapper instead, it never feels brute like to me (neither did Invul when I tried it and I cant put my finger on why for either)
"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!"
looking to make another brute
i have
sm/invul
nrg/elec
dont want to take sm or nrg again.
i want to take either da or ea, i might make both armors tbh but with i12 coming and the plan of making 7-9 new toons maybe 10 i dont want to have to much to work on now as i have a brute thts almost 40, and a lvl 7 corr. plus with the plan to save up inf for everything i have planned to make.
so im stuck with ea or da, both has a end drain which is good, da has a heal ea dont, but ea has a super kik a$$ tier 9 power though if its like invul i might not use it alot.
also i want a powerful primary with it, SS looks good but yet to be convised its a mega power.
im considering DA for the heal-fear and psi resis, though with invul im used to having no psi resis or hardly much, and EA cos it has a great tier 9 and ive seen EA do well
oh yer, ill be pve not pvp
any advise?