Invul or EA for Claws

Hey guys,

I'm going to roll a new I16 Claws brute and I want some opinions on what secondary ppl would recommend. I have a few ideas but I'm leaning towards INV or EA as I haven't really dabbled with those sets before.
Here's my criteria:

-mostly played solo
-be able to solo AVs
-not be too too expensive (~500mil)
-not be /ELA or /SR as I have lvl 50's in those already

So what do you guys think? Right now I'm leaning towards INV but I'm at work without access to Mid's so I'm kind of struggling.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I planned on /EA for my claws brute. She's level 11.5 right now. Her mitigation sucks.

Really sucks.

A lot.

No, really, I can't stress this enough: EA Really Freaking Sucks Large Battleships Through Straws Kind Of Suck.

It's like blaster a without any range using combat jumping as its only mitigation.

At 12 I'll be getting DOs and Combat Jumping. At 14 I'll get Power Shield instead of SJ. I'll be riding out my temp movement power for as long as I can. I currently have Kinetic Shield and Dampening Field with 3 TOs in each plus an end-red in KS.

If she continues to be as grossly pathetic as she is now after level 12, I'll be deleting her and going with something else. Maybe SR. I don't want another WP brute. I've already got 2 at 50.


EDIT: Yes, it will be better after I add SOs, energy cloak, tough and weave. Quite a bit better. I'll probably get a steadfast +def unique and slam it into Dampening Field when I log on tonight. That'll help as well.

Other things to consider:

-EBs or AVs with psi damage may eat you alive with EA
-Invul peaks with a few foes in range, something that probably won't happen in EB/AV fights
-For normal play, EA has freedom to move about while Invul is better to simply surround yourself
-Invul might be better to tank with
-EA can skip stamina
-Invul has no FX option to see your costume better
-EA has a stealth armor that makes it hard to see your costume

I choose to make a Claws/EA because I wanted freedom of movement to run about, lining up cones and knocking foes around. It's also concept that he's a hunter, not a tank. He'll be sturdy but he's meant to move around fast and by the time you realize he's attacking you it's too late.

I just made a Claws/Energy brute too, haha.

On my planned build, stats will be around:
Smash: 37.3% def
Lethal: 37.3%
Fire: 32.8%
Cold: 32.6%
Energy: 38.2%
Negative: 28.2%
Psionic: 6%

Defence seems pretty horrid on Energy Armor, although I opted not to take Weave. In comparison, my SS/SR brute is softcapped to Melee/Range/AoE despite only half-completing her build.

Guess I should play it like a Hunter, as Leo_G suggested. :3

Can't go wrong with either one I think.


Working on my first "real" Brute on a Claws/Energy myself.
Was kinda lookin forward on a claws/stone also but come to find out the devs hate claws... ;-)
really though... no Shields--- no stone???
what gives

Defense sets I think in general are a bit slow starting. I think it's just how it works. However, I've tried EA multiple times and have never managed to get one out of the level 30 range.

Of the two I'd pick Invul. It was my second consideration when trying to decide what to pick to go claws myself (lost out on visual appeal to ELA, but I'd say it'd perform better in general than EA or ELA).

My claws/ea is now 16. I promised myself I'd get it to 22 and SOs before deleting it if it still sucks then.

By 22 I'll have CJ and a steadfast on top of SO slotted EA, so I'll bet I find it usable at that point.

Someone somewhere said it was just like SR leveling up. This is flatly untrue.

With FF and FS, you're covered against ALL incoming attacks that have a melee or ranged positional component. In the low levels, that's practically everything.

With Kinetic and Power Shields, you're getting less value and are covered against less attacks. Taking the first 3 powers in each we get:

EA Values:
S/L 12.75
E: 16.875
F/C: 15
N: 10.5

S/L DamRes: 7.5

SR Values:
Melee: 13.875
Range: 19.5

S/L/F/C/E/N .33 points of DR for each HP below 60% health

I was considering /inv for my new claws brute as well. I've got to imagine that once you hit 28 and get invinceable, added with the great new difficulty slider and tons of mobs around, hitting that defense softcap wouldn't be so hard. Then with the solid resists and near perma dull pain added to that, you'd be pretty unkillable.

End of the day I went /WP, I love willpower. =)

I was going to go Inv., but I already have a level 50 Inv. brute. My EA brute is stuck at 32. She isn't much fun to play. So I went Claws/Fire instead. Am I insane or could that be good as well?

FA's mitigation sucks. But claws has shockwave at 32. And focus at 18. Something my EM/FA never had.

Fiery Embrace+Followup+Fury buffing Spin/BlazingAura/Eviscerate/Shockwave/Burn?

Daaaaaaamn.

EA gets better with sets, to a point I find absolutely amazing. So long as you slot it up EA won't be so annoyingly painful to play. No, it's not as "comfortable" as SR or Invuln until it's well slotted up, but I find EA to become absolutely jaw dropping once it's fully outfitted.

It takes time, patience, and deep pockets to achieve EA's full potential.

I do admit that I'm looking forward to energy drain. I can handle that type of heal.

I have a soft-capped build designed... but it has some issues regarding recharge.

Would be nice if EA got a sort of Lightning Reflexes-like power. If not I'd settle for a weird power that would add a block chance per ewach enemy you drain in combat with the power. Wouldn't add defense, but an actual block chance that would increase with each opponent you drained to a total of 10.

I don't know about that, Leo. Council fire off a lot of energy. Hellions use fire. Freaking snakes pile on the toxic. Sure, the majority is S/L, but there's plenty other types being tossed at you villain side early on.