Hah, I was going to suggest SM/WP as a great single target brute. OK, since SM and SS are out, I've heard good things about Dark Melee but I haven't played it myself. If you can wait a few weeks for i16 to go live, I'd say Claws will be fun. High sustained DPS and will be a good Fury-building set.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
Quote:
Yeah, i'm looking forward to claws and will be rolling a Claws brute once they come out. My first char i liked was a claws/ scrapper. Can't wait for that. Just in the mean time, want something else to work on.|
Originally Posted by Sardan
Hah, I was going to suggest SM/WP as a great single target brute. OK, since SM and SS are out, I've heard good things about Dark Melee but I haven't played it myself. If you can wait a few weeks for i16 to go live, I'd say Claws will be fun. High sustained DPS and will be a good Fury-building set.
|
Thinking I might try Dual Blades. Just not sure which combos work well on DB.
Anyone have a guide for DB?
Super Strength/Energy Aura
Electric Melee/Energy Aura
A fun solo-friendly Brute? Fire/Invul would be a good choice. Decent ST damage, some AoE capability, and amazing resists to S/L.
Seven years of heroism. Seven years of friendships. Seven years of saving the world. Seven years of virtuous selflessness.
You will return, for you are the mighty City of Paragon, the City of Heroes.
how about WM/EA i've herad tahts STRONG and PRETTY =P
According to what you wrote, I think you could like Dark Melee.
It's more single target oriented, with great utility powers, and a very good dps. Due to Siphon Life, Dark Consumption it's a fun set to level with too and makes alot of secondaries shine.
If you dont want to roll a /Shield toon, you can pair it with /Super Reflexes or /Energy Aura. DM ToHit debuffs and its self heal in Siphon Life, gives you a great synergy with the defense based sets.
DM/Elec might be a good choice, too. Siphon Life covers a huge hole in elec, the damage aura adds up the AoE damage while you chop away at the foes, and it's got a good T9 godmode power. You'll be all but unkillable against anything throwing energy attacks your way, and if you fit in Tough, you'll have really good S/L resists also. There's also evidence that /elec is getting a huge buff come I16.
Plus you've got unlimited endurance with Power Sink and Dark Consumption.
You might be skewed with WP's out of the box performance, but if you stick with it here a a few amazing brute combos:
DM/SR : Late bloomer but what a bloomer
DM/ELA : Great complimentary combo with SL
DM/FA : Very fun and easy combo to play, two heals, two end rocovery powers. Buckloads of fun.
DM/DA/Soul Brute : The quintessential Dark/Dark/Dark Brute. THank god with i16 you will be able to change the visuals as it gets VERY boring to stare at a ball of smoke that smokes everything. This is also an amazingly fun set.
EM/ELA : Yes EM (energy Melee) was nerfed, but it is STILL an amazing Single Target Damage Set
WM/Ela : WM was buffed recently up to very very repectable levels and works well with ELA
WM/SR : The other side of the mirror comapred to ELA but also a fast and furious build (SR's PB might be slightly annoying with redraw but nothing dramatic)
Stone/Dark Armor : Oppressive Gloom + Fault !!!
(I know you said no SM but this build is particularly amazing so I had to put it here)
Lots of others come to mind but these kind of stick out for me. Withthe upcoming claws though, Claws/ElA, Claws/SR and Claws/FA are brtues I intend to make.
Based on your information...my 2 most fun brutes I run are:
Mace/Shields: I LOVE Shield Charge. You have to wait until level 35 to get it but totally worth the wait. And as for Single Target AND some AoE loving Mace rocks! Clobber, Shatter, Jawbreaker and Pulverize do awesome single target damage. If you find yourself in a situation where AoE is merited then Whirling Mace, Crowd Control and Shield Charge are PERFECT. Not much makes you feel the SMASH as much as Mace.
Dark Melee/Super Reflexes: Like another poster said...it takes awhile to come into its own but once it does, WOW! With the right build and IO's you WILL solo AV's. If that isn't single target awesomeness I don't knwo what is 
Dark Melee just makes every set better. All of them.
One of my most fun brutes is a Dark Melee/Energy Aura. The to hit debuff in Dark Melee really helps out energy aura's lower than SR numbers, and with two endurance drains available as early at 28 you're never out of endurance (in fact, I've considered dropping dark consumption because it never gets used).
It's a single target brute, but with a small purple insp from time to time you can easily take alpha from an 8 man team. If you use IOs you can probably soft cap the most common damage types.
Weight training: Because you'll never hear someone lament "If only I were weaker, I could have saved them."
Quote:
Except you'll be crying for Endurance :P
| Stone/Dark Armor : Oppressive Gloom + Fault !!! |
Seven years of heroism. Seven years of friendships. Seven years of saving the world. Seven years of virtuous selflessness.
You will return, for you are the mighty City of Paragon, the City of Heroes.
Quote:
Not with a little bit of IO slotting, doesn't take much.
|
Originally Posted by Neutrino_Siphon
Except you'll be crying for Endurance :P
|
Dark Armor is like that kid you knew in school that didn't know when to shut up, and no matter how bad he got beaten down, he got right back up again and kept on talking.
Quote:
Eh, true. But that's not really until higher levels unless you can afford to continue updating the IOs.
|
Originally Posted by _Deth_
Not with a little bit of IO slotting, doesn't take much.
|
Seven years of heroism. Seven years of friendships. Seven years of saving the world. Seven years of virtuous selflessness.
You will return, for you are the mighty City of Paragon, the City of Heroes.
Quote:
My Dark Melee / Energy Aura Brute is currently my favorite melee character. As far as the above quote, I use Dark Consumption as an attack / aggro manager. Also, without spending a huge amount on IO sets, my Brute is softcapped to Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, and Energy. He's over streakbreaker to Negative. Psi is his only defense hole, but it's high enough that he can softcap it with 2 small purple inspirations when necessary.|
Originally Posted by TheBruteSquad
Dark Melee just makes every set better. All of them.
One of my most fun brutes is a Dark Melee/Energy Aura. The to hit debuff in Dark Melee really helps out energy aura's lower than SR numbers, and with two endurance drains available as early at 28 you're never out of endurance (in fact, I've considered dropping dark consumption because it never gets used). It's a single target brute, but with a small purple insp from time to time you can easily take alpha from an 8 man team. If you use IOs you can probably soft cap the most common damage types. |
I highly recommend Dark Melee / Energy Aura for what you're looking to do.
Quote:
well, with the uniques, level is irrelevant, as they work the same at all levels. I was lucky, got mine early.
|
Originally Posted by Neutrino_Siphon
Eh, true. But that's not really until higher levels unless you can afford to continue updating the IOs.
|
Dark Armor is like that kid you knew in school that didn't know when to shut up, and no matter how bad he got beaten down, he got right back up again and kept on talking.
DM/invul. You will love it.
Quote:
I've heard that, but I don't see the reason. /INV post 28 thrives on being surrounded. DM is single target. DM's heal and endurance recovery benefits ANY Brute, so I just don't see what being /INV instead of WP brings to the table, other than better alpha soaking for large teams. |
Originally Posted by Louis_Cipher
DM/invul. You will love it.
|
Which I guess is a consideration in the original post.
Weight training: Because you'll never hear someone lament "If only I were weaker, I could have saved them."
Quote:
I think SS/EA could be good- but ele Melee would be terrible for ST damage. DB is certainly fun. It has a few hard hitters and I just get lost in the animations. Some love them and some hate them, but I find the set very satisfying.
|
Originally Posted by Bookkeeper_Jay
Super Strength/Energy Aura
Electric Melee/Energy Aura |
Words to the wise aren't necessary- it's the stupid ones that need them.
"You're right...I forgot...being constantly at or the near the damage cap is a big turn off. Definitely not worth it."
- Vitality
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Javelin_NA
Mace/Shields: I LOVE Shield Charge. You have to wait until level 35 to get it but totally worth the wait. And as for Single Target AND some AoE loving Mace rocks! Clobber, Shatter, Jawbreaker and Pulverize do awesome single target damage. If you find yourself in a situation where AoE is merited then Whirling Mace, Crowd Control and Shield Charge are PERFECT. Not much makes you feel the SMASH as much as Mace. |
This!
currently reading: A Mighty Fortress (David Weber)
DM/Invul
Took me a long time to go redside after release. I tried a bunch of chars and my favorite as far as most fun is an elec/shield brute. Not the toughest, not the most damaging overall, but nice aoe burst damage in a very fun way. Just my 2ยข as "fun" is purely subjective.
DB/EA. Do eet!
Fire/Fire
Good Damage, two BU's
my Level 50 Fire/Fire is a AV monster, the amount of damage output is insane with fury maxed
good AOE's
and if you take a Immob like Web Envelope you can add burn to that too
So, rolled an Elec/Elec. The Squishy factor made him more exciting to play than any other brute i've tried. Plus i'm looking forward to /elec's buff in i16.
Love the AoE, and ST damage isn't too horrid with enough recharge. Made a st chain of CB>HP>CB>anything. Did a lot of solo grinding. Now i'm working on a melee def build. Best i've managed to get is 43%. Runnin Titanium Coating, Obliteration, and ToD. With weave and combat jumping.
Has anyone made a soft-capped melee or s/l def build for elec/elec? While still retaining some decent recharge.
Hey, i'm unsure of what to roll for my next brute. And just want to hear of some other's experience with their brutes.
I don't want some tricked out AE farmer, as I dont like 8 man ae farming where everyone wants the brute to do all the dirty work. So, I guess to sum it up, I dont want an AoE only brute.
I'm more for ST damage. I like running Sf's. I like soloing or small groups (2-4)
I admit, i'll use AE to level as I dont feel like grinding for weeks again, but after that I dont want to be stuck as an AE farmer.
Currently run a SM/WP brute. I love the smashey feeling.
I don't ever plan on making a /stone defense, or /sd.
And I want to try something other than /wp, as I have two 40+ WP scrappers, and my 50 wp brute. Not too fond of the idea of another SM or SS, as SS is too much like SM.