Energy Melee/Invulnerability...Brute or Tanker?

What's up guys. I've recently built myself a EM/Invul Tanker, and I'm loving it. But now with Going Rogue coming out, I'm wondering if brutes are better. I want to play on Heroes side since I like the game better, but I've heard people say that there will be no use for Tankers once going Rogue comes out because Brutes are so much better. I have a few questions

A) Is this just a matter of opinion?

B) Are the maximum caps for Damage + Defense different?

C) Does it have to do with epic powers?

D) Any other suggestions or opinions?


Thanks in advance.

Edit: Also, did they mention if we can get Hero badges if we switch a villain over to the hero side?

The main thing with Brutes and EM is that EM is a slow-recahrge set, so it'll be really really hard to build up fury without a recharge bonus. I've heard people say it's the worst set for brutes.

Brutes have a much higher damage cap than Tankers do, while tanks have better defense numbers out of the box... unfortunately, the advantage still goes to brutes. You can easily build for capped defenses with a brute... you can't build for +800% damage on a tanker.

Also, I have an invuln/Em myself, and i have to say that pairing a set who's main form of mitigation is "keep foes close" with a set that makes them wander away from you (stuns)... isn't all that great numbers-wise. It still works okay though!

That's a shame, it's such a fun build to play it's sad that it's known as "The worst build for brutes", but easier to softcap than its Tanker counterpart. Hopefully, I will be able to figure something out with this and let everyone know how it goes once GR comes around.

See, I think the whole Brute VS. Tank/Scrap debate is a bit wonky, because it really is situational. In a situation like a bunch of scraps and blasters vs an AV, then the tank will win, because they don't need buffs to be tough. I certainly wouldn't want a Brute for the STF simply because if all the AVs aggro, I *know* a tank will be more capable of holding the aggro and surviving than a brute that will be more likely to rely on a tier 9 and would definitely need better buffs.

On an all scrapper team, the brute simply won't be able to build fury. Sure, they could take the alpha and get a couple hits in, but once the scrappers start in, mob gone while fury is still low. Not that a tank would be much better, but at least they can handle extra spawns or possibly herd up a couple spawns to max out the scrapper's AoEs, while the brute may face plant with more than one spawn on him.

In a situation where buffs are readily available, though, the brute wins over both scrappers and tanks. Def/Res buffs are partially wasted on Tanks, because the same buff will have a larger overall effect on a Brutes. And brutes can really take better advantage of damage buffs like Fulcrum Shift than Scrappers could. A brute at the damage cap will out do a scrapper in the damage category. I've been there and done that myself. Only time the capped scrapper will hit harder is when he crits, and that just isn't consistent for DPS. Nice when it happens, sure, but the Brute will be able to do just slightly less *all* the time.

And then there's the fact of what job they are meant to perform. All ATs have a task they fulfill on a team, in their own way. Dom's and Controllers are damage mitigators, either by control and debuff or by control and dead mobs. Defenders and Corruptors are both damage multipliers, either by high buff/debuff and modest damage, or by high damage and modest buff/debuff. Scrappers and Stalkers are both *designed* to be Single Target elimination. Their job is to get in and get the boss/threat taken care of quickly, while the rest of the team works on the rest of the mob.

But tanks and brutes aren't parallels. The tank's job is to hold aggro to keep the squishies alive. For villains, that's the Mastermind's job. They hold aggro through chaos, by having extra bodies to get attention away from the rest of the team. Brutes have the job of mob elimination. They are designed to get large mobs around them and destroy them with fast hard hits. Know who else are designed to do that? Blasters. Brutes and Blasters are the parallel between hero/villain ATs, even though they do the job in completely different ways. Trying to get your brute to be as tough as a tank or as capable as a scrapper is a waste, because that is not what they are designed to do. They can do it, yes, but blasters can scrap, doms can blast, trollers can destroy entire spawns. One of the great aspects of this game is just about any build can fill any role on a team, if it's built and played right. Just don't forget what they are made to do in the first place, because that is always what they will do best.

(It'll be asked what job the EATs are designed to do. That's simple. All of them! They can do every job a team may need them to do, just not quite as well as the AT designed to do that job. Jack of all Trades, Master of none.)

~WP

BRUTE=Overpowered Scrapper
TANK=TANK lol

Brutes do more damage but can't take nearly as much as a tank can. So it's all your opinion.

EDIT: also ignore this crap about it being the worst build for brutes or whatever, unless your doing pvp you really don't need to worry about it. If you know how to play with your toon and your team, you can take on the world with any build.

The classic solution for building Fury with a low recharge set: Brawl. Especially now that it costs no endurance. I have high-20s EnMelee/Dark and EnMelee/Elec and they do fine.

Roll a fire/invuln brute. problem solved.

Waiting for the animations on EM is like watching paint dry. So boring and slow. Its the exact opposite of what a good fury generating set needs to be.

Honestly, until EM is "fixed" again its a broken set. Especially for brutes trying to keep up fury and still get to use their high damage attacks.

Fire melee does exellent single target and good AoE damage, and generates fury much better at high damage value then having to spam brawl...

Plus it looks cooler then having colored pom poms on your brutes hands.

I will have to say that currently EM is not a great set on a brute. It is fine solo but it is so slow as to be almost useless on teams... if I ET one more mob that dies during my wind up I will cry :P

And yes, my main 'toon is an EM/WP brute.

Currently I have a EM/Invul tank in the works (lvl28 ^^) and while he can take a fair amount of damage, recharge wise it's not to pretty (which I assume can be fixed later on with recharge bonuses, of course) still waiting to see how Energy Transfer/Total Focus work, although there's been a bunch of hate for EM tanks :( . I'd say stick with your tank, unless your fixing him up for PVP, in which case I'd go for Brute, which gives up to a +800% dmg bonus :O