Brutes & Scrappers after Going Rogue?

In a hypothetical situation where said stalker has always X (4? 5? can't remember) teammates within their crit range, yes.

Needless to say, I'd sooner win the lottery than run into such a team ingame ; and seeing as I've never even bought a lottery ticket nor do I intend to ever do it, I mean that as an extremely unlikely scenario. YMMV, as always.

As far as Scrapper/Stalker popularity goes, they simply fill different roles: while the Scrapper is purely damage focussed, the Stalker has the benefits of a repeatable, decently reliable (it doesn't hit everyone, but is up often and not many enemies can counter Fear) mass control alongside their on demand crits, as well as their team scaling crit percentage (which can easily outpace a Scrapper's crit rate); the trade-off being the lesser survivability if something goes wrong.

As for Brute/Tank, Brutes do just fine in the role assuming a) they get some buffs generally in the form of defence to softcap, and b) the team (yes, team, not just the Brute) controls the aggro such that the buffers don't die. When the refuse hits the rotating blades, a Tanker will always be a better choice for getting the situation back under control. It just happens to be that, assuming control is maintained, the Brute can also put out strong amounts of damage.

And as for Defender/Corruptor, I pretty much think that this is a moot point, as I've always built Controllers and Masterminds as my buffers instead, because I prefer those playstyles. I'm actually more curious as to whether the VEAT and Mastermind population coming blueside will be in large enough numbers that it'll affect the number of Controllers and Defenders.

Still, just as there's a solid population who prefer Tankers above all other melee, there's a contingent of players who simply love Defender playstyle, and will not abandon their chosen AT.

Main differences between the two:
* Brutes can be buffed to higher levels of survival; usually only a concern on teams
* Brutes can gather and maintain aggro (can be good or bad depending on your outlook)
* Scrappers don't have to maintain Fury to do damage (multiple Brutes don't stack well)
* Scrappers don't generally pull aggro like a Brute (lower survival usually not an issue as a result)

So in a nutshell:
* Brutes can do more damage and be more survivable, but only with lots of buffs
* Brutes have to compete with eachother, Tanks, and mezzers to maintain fury and do damage
* You can only have 1-2 Brutes on a team before Fury is an issue, but you can have as many Scrappers as you want
* Scrappers don't have to compete with anyone to deal damage in full

Brutes and Scrappers fill different roles for me when I'm recruiting for a team. Brutes fall under tank/damage, while Scrappers are just damage. The two can coexist without interfering with eachother. Bonus damage is never wasted on a team, so there's no reason not to add a Scrapper into a damage slot. When I form a team, I want some of each of these categories:

Tanking:
Brute
Tanker

Support:
Controller
Corruptor
Mastermind
Defender

Damage:
Blaster
Dominator
Scrapper
Stalker

To me, comparing Brutes to Scrappers is like comparing Tankers to Blasters. There's no reason one will replace the other because they fill different roles.

And as I said before, I doubt any AT will disappear. But I do think current trends will continue. Tanks, Defenders, and Stalkers will still be unpopular ATs regardless of which side we're talking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.

It would seem clear to me that there are enough varying opinions that no AT will vanish. Some might take some hits, but I doubt they will be big as ATs are already of differing popularity.

As for myself, I used the free server switch to free up a slot for a stalker to replace one of my scrappers since I think the stalker AT suits the idea of the guy more. Anyway, I've just never loved scrappers all that much and will be happy to have the brute or stalker option blueside with which to replace them.

I find Brutes to be better than scrappers at replacing the Tank AT, if needed, and providing damage against tougher enemies like AVs. Fighting an AV will allow a Brute to easily obtain 85-90% Fury.

Im intrigued at how the final fight of the Barracuda SF will go.

Another 6 ATs to figure out gadgets for, even if they repeat the existing ones.

The stalker gadget of super stealth certainly doesn't fit a scrapper, and the dom one of a super AOE hold is much more suited to a controller than a blaster.


The Defender could get the corruptor mass kill of the held ambushers, but thats really more a blaster move.

It's already been stated by the devs that Brutes are the Scrappers counterpart. Masterminds are the Tankers counterpart.

Comparing Villain ATs to Hero ATs one on one is a mistake. Villain ATs are more like two Hero ATs crossed with each other:

Brutes = Scrappers + Tankers
Stalkers = Scrappers + Blasters
Dominators = Controllers + Blasters
Corruptors = Defenders + Blasters
Masterminds = Defenders + Controllers + Their Own Unique Animal

Or as I like to put it:

Masterminds are Tankers that play like Defenders
Brutes are Scrappers that play like Tankers
Stalkers are Blasters that play like Scrappers
Dominators are Controllers that play like Blasters
Corruptors are Defenders. That play like Defenders. With a better Inherent.

I would also say that Tankers, Stalkers, Defenders, Dominators and Masterminds are the specialists. They have a very specific style and strategy that some players may not like. So in that sense I think they will be slightly less popular overall than their counterparts. But they're likely to be the "cult classics", their supporters will stick with them and not change, because it fits their personal style.

Brutes, Scrappers, Corruptors, Blasters and Controllers are more the generic types. They fit more different concepts and thus would be more widely used. For the most part, though, they aren't going to be quite as capable as the specialists in their specialized area. (With some exceptions, Blasters are better at damage dealing than Dominators, though, but I call Dominators the specialists because of their more precise fighting style. A Blaster could be a Blapper, or a ranged fighter, or any combination of the two, so you have more options)

Of course, Masterminds are popular just because of their uniqueness, but I still think they are an AT that requires a specific style of play, and a lot of investment by the player, in setting up keybinds and such. But the above is just a general sense of things, I think.