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I'd go scrapper for spines and BroadSword.
Spines for mass pokey pokey (ooo matron)
BS for swinging a big lump of steel with a weird starey eye (rularuu BS) and hacking stuff up.
Nothing epitomises scrappers more to me than the head splitter. A propper boom headshot moment.
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^ This. Why didn't I think of this 
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Played a scrapper to fifty, another to 40+ and a third is well on the way to 40. I though when villains was released that I'd enjoy brutes too. I loved the idea of fury and being able to scrap with tanker sets. My highest brute so far is probably 12. I just can't get the handle on why I dislike them so much, I actually prefer stalkers to brutes and I dislike them quite a bit too.
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Brutes can play like stunted not-Scrappers at first. Once you get a good head of fury going on a mission you're a juggernaut of destruction. Once you've got a bit of survivability and a decent attack chain you can solo the early game quite quickly, and contribute in teams (though your fury will be less impressive in teams at this stage in the game).
I've dinged a SS/FA, found it a very good intro to Bruting - fast and quick low level attacks, an early gem in Knockout Blow, passable shields and a fantastic self heal. Rage, a +acc/dam clickie at lvl 20 that's actually worth pushing Stamina back for, Consume a bit later for added endurance mitigation, some nice PBAoE later on (Burn, Footstomp) and a self rez to cap it all off. Does have drawbacks - needs knockback mitigation, and Tough from the fighting pool later on doesn't hurt.
I'm currently having a lot of fun with Elec/Elec - added bonus having energy component in your attacks, Chain Induction fixed so that it's quite devastating, a truly magnificent tier9 on the Elec Melee, quite fast moving and positional compared to (at least early-mid) SS/FA.
I have played a BS/Regen to 48, a BS/SR to fifty, and a DB/WP Brute to fifty. Currently on the go I have a WM/Dark brute, a SS/WP Brute and another BS/Regen scrapper.
Of the above combinations, I have to say I adore most DB/WP on my Brute, and when she got her Strength of Will, turned into a tank. I'm waiting the /Dark brute to warm up, though I imagine he'll be battered to death by something no char can survive; the Delete button.
BS/Regen I enjoyed much because it was always fun to outlive the Tank against an AV.
Super Reflexes... I plan to gut out and reroll my SR character, due to not enjoying the set anymore. She'll become a BS/WP I think. C'est la vie.
I took my WP brute against a WP scrapper when the set was still in testing, and with equal slotting and levels, the Brute won every bout, using only SO's.
Regarding one versus the other, I do admit I prefer to Brute than Scrap, but it's a very close thing. It's a great feeling to get lucky with critical rolls and crit four or five targets in a row, more with Headsplitter if very lucky (Headsplitter can be a very good AoE if you aim it right...). Conversly the Fury bar just pushes the whole team forwards at speed, especially in the later levels where everyone has nice rounded builds and knows their arcehtpe well. I've found Bruting works to my playstyle, that of grabbing a mob by the throat in my teeth and shaking it until it's limp and lifeless like a boned chicken... Wait... Oh yes! Forum post. Right.
Okay, I play my Brute like I do my WP/EM tank, dive in, grab aggro, batter until only a few stragglers remain for the team to mop up and then head-first into the next mob. Lather, rinse, repeat. Always repeat.
Personally, I've found Scrapping to be more of a mindset than Bruting. Boiling it down to it's most basic level, I would say:
Brutes go nuts because they have to (Fury, natch).
Scrappers do it because they can!
I actually read an 80 page thread on the U.S forums about Scrapperness and that prompted me from changing my newest project Fire/Regen, from a toon who was going to solo as many arcs as possible so I could view some of the games history/stories, into the typical scrapper who lives for the 6-second rule (how did I miss that first time?) and scrapperlock.
I would say that brutes are more survivable and do more damage, 800% damage cap anyone, but scrapping is a way of life! 
The US thread is called Awesome Quote. and is currently languishing on page 6 as I write this.
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Besides there is nothing more satisfying than critting on a Tier 9 power with BU on it, pretty much one-shotting most stuff. Brutes can't do that...so ner ner 
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True, but a full Fury Lightning Rod with BU? Bye-bye!
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Never had the opportunity to do so, but i'll take your word fot it 
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Thats all Ltns and Minions that you hit with it too........... damn I wanna play my brute now
"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!"
Having played both ATs to 50 I'd have to say I prefer brutes. Brute does more consistent damage over time IF you can keep Fury high - in a poor stop-start team scrappers will have an easier time and do more damage, but if you can keep the momentum going as a brute then you'll easily outdamage the scrapper over time.
My problem with scrappers is that criticals are purely based on luck (fury is far more predictable/controllable) - so often my critical comes on the final hit, where a non-crit would have been enough to finish the mob, so the crit is effectively wasted - but a brute on almost full fury (not hard to get/maintain) is effectively getting a critical on every hit guaranteed.
I can't really talk about survivability as my L50 brutes are /fire and /elec (my /dark brute at L35 seems more survivable than them), while my scrapper is /wp - so the scrapper feels more survivable most of the time against large spawns and because of HPT has as many HP as my brutes (although I hope to level my lowbie /wp brute more soon) - though when my /elec brute uses Power Surge he's the most unkillable of any of my brutes/scrappers for 3mins.
But in a like-for-like comparison with the same powersets the brute will have more HP and, fully buffed in a team situation, higher resists too (same 90% cap as tankers, while scrappers/stalkers are at 75% like all other non-epic ATs), so is the more survivable archetype. And of course in most situations a /stone brute in granite can out-survive most brutes/tankers/scrappers with the obvious exception of a stone/ tanker in granite. The powersets you pick really have a huge bearing on which brute/scrapper will suit what you want.
My recommendation would be to try a brute - if you find you don't like the pressured gameplay of keeping fury up then play a scrapper instead - I find scrappers much more "laid back" and unhurried, which can appeal to me sometimes (I'd argue that brute-lock is more pervasive/persuasive than scrapper-lock ). But these days if you like teaming and love to crit a lot on bosses/EBs/AVs (usual scrapper-fodder in teams) then tbh you may want to consider a stalker - sure, scrappers have better area damage, but stalkers should outdamage them in a full team against a single target.
But if you really want to kick out major damage then you want a blaster
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But if you really want to faceplant then you want a blaster
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But if you really want to kick out major damage and then faceplant, you want a blaster
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fixed 
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Oo, sounds interesting. I may have found my next alt.
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I forgot to mention, DB/WP also adds Brute-like tendancies because with 'Rise to the Challenge' (aggro toggle that gives +Regen for each enemy in range) you have an additional Brute-like incentive to wade into the middle of a group of mobs.
Beware of crying out, "No worries, my regen is awesome!" and Spartarring into a large mob and face planting in front of your team, much to their amusement.
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(Quoted for continuity only.)
I made myself a DB/WP Scrapper. Thus far, she's awesome, but she hasn't got to level 10 (quite) yet. She's a walking blender! I'm actually considering retooling one of my old RP toons to use WP since it may actually fit his concept slightly better.
As for the 'awesome regen rate' thing... I doubt I'd ever think my regen was better than that on my regen Scrapper, so I don't see that as an issue. Not that that would stop me piling into a mob group and getting planted. Scrappers do that every so often.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Brutes are what scrappers aim to be.
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But with so much more sophistication and style
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If by sophistication and style you mean slow? Then yeah....I guess I see your point.
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Brutes are eeeeeeeeeeeevil
Scrappers ftw!
Besides there is nothing more satisfying than critting on a Tier 9 power with BU on it, pretty much one-shotting most stuff. Brutes can't do that...so ner ner
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I retract this comment, Brutes are so much better than scrappers after playing one through the early levels
Early levels yes, later levels no.
Where as scrappers just keep getting better and better
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Early levels yes, later levels no.
Where as scrappers just keep getting better and better
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Well at 50, I can almost two shot a +1/2 mob on my Brute when I've got everything rolling nicely, which really only takes a mob or two, and she'll become far more effective when I get round to getting some IO's in there.
My Scrapper, however, is lucky to two shot a +2 Minion without a Crit, I'd need some more +Dam from IO Bonus' for that.
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Early levels yes, later levels no.
Where as scrappers just keep getting better and better
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Stop bragging about Focused Accuracy - it's not big and it's not clever
I doubt you're being serious, but just in case... I fail to see how a scrapper gets "better and better" but a brute doesn't.
All my nonscrapper toons just keeps getting worse and worse as they advance in level...really quite frustrating.
SingStar:
"Extremists LOVE to fish to get us annoyed so we break the forum rules."
CRACK68:
"The origin of life wasn't planned either, should all life be declared a bug and wiped out?"
Lionsbane:
"You know me.Ever the realist"
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Well at 50, I can almost two shot a +1/2 mob on my Brute when I've got everything rolling nicely, which really only takes a mob or two, and she'll become far more effective when I get round to getting some IO's in there.
My Scrapper, however, is lucky to two shot a +2 Minion without a Crit, I'd need some more +Dam from IO Bonus' for that.
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Yeah - my fire/fire brute used to two-shot all the minions in a spawn often (and the second shot was a tick of Blazing Aura after the FSC!) and my EM/Elec can go around one-shotting several minions in a row on full Fury. I'd like to think a Broadsword scrapper could two-shot or even one-shot minions with a crit on Headsplitter, but I never got mine that high - besides it still wouldn't be reliable - not like you can get crits to order like a Stalker can (my stalker has no trouble 1/2-shotting stuff - he can 1-shot lieuts ).
The only reason I'd play a scrapper now was for a powerset combination that I couldn't play on a brute/stalker (and there are precious few of those left) or for concept reasons.
For example, you are in a team of 7 ready to start a LGTF or an ITF. The team is very balanced: you have a tank, ranged, control and supports. What is missing is a melee AT. What would you go for: a scrapper or a brute?
Assuming all of you are the same level.
What sets is each toon? Who asked me first? Do I know either of them?
"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!"
Assuming both are good players and their powersets are good, a brute.
Add this to your sig max...
In this case Max is totally incorrect - Antibiotical
The suggested team make up cosisted of a tank and control, neither of which allow a brute to get decent fury, ofc the brute could run of and gain it, but a good tank tends to like having all the agro.
Id say scrapper as you know what ur getting off the bat.
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Brutes are what scrappers aim to be.
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But with so much more sophistication and style
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If by sophistication and style you mean slow? Then yeah....I guess I see your point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Brutes are eeeeeeeeeeeevil
Scrappers ftw!
Besides there is nothing more satisfying than critting on a Tier 9 power with BU on it, pretty much one-shotting most stuff. Brutes can't do that...so ner ner
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I retract this comment, Brutes are so much better than scrappers after playing one through the early levels
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Admit it - some Brutes beat you up until you agreed to say this
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Early levels yes, later levels no.
Where as scrappers just keep getting better and better
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Stop bragging about Focused Accuracy - it's not big and it's not clever
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But it sure as heck is effective
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Add this to your sig max...
In this case Max is totally incorrect - Antibiotical
The suggested team make up cosisted of a tank and control, neither of which allow a brute to get decent fury, ofc the brute could run of and gain it, but a good tank tends to like having all the agro.
Id say scrapper as you know what ur getting off the bat.
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Hmmm you weren't on the team when MaX tanked and I bruted, was a pure slaughter and mass death. I was at full fury most of the way through as it only took the alpha to put me there and my attack chain kept me there. On a full team herding is not needed for fury
"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!"
[ QUOTE ]
Add this to your sig max...
In this case Max is totally incorrect - Antibiotical
The suggested team make up cosisted of a tank and control, neither of which allow a brute to get decent fury, ofc the brute could run of and gain it, but a good tank tends to like having all the agro.
Id say scrapper as you know what ur getting off the bat.
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It's faster to build Fury if you've got aggro, but you don't need aggro to build Fury.
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Add this to your sig max...
In this case Max is totally incorrect - Antibiotical
The suggested team make up cosisted of a tank and control, neither of which allow a brute to get decent fury, ofc the brute could run of and gain it, but a good tank tends to like having all the agro.
Id say scrapper as you know what ur getting off the bat.
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A good tank and a good brute shouldn't have any kind of trouble playing together and having enough aggro for the tank and full fury for the brute.
I'd go scrapper for spines and BroadSword.
Spines for mass pokey pokey (ooo matron)
BS for swinging a big lump of steel with a weird starey eye (rularuu BS) and hacking stuff up.
Nothing epitomises scrappers more to me than the head splitter. A propper boom headshot moment.