What brutes do you have?

Just for kicks, let's list all the brutes we have and list the reasons why you like/dislike the power combination you chose for them.

Disclosure: This is just for fun and perhaps could even help give other brute players ideas for
trying out whacky or unsual power combinations. So please no comments about "oh, that combination sucks", etc. I'll start.

Fire/DA: This was actually my first brute and to this day I still don't see that many people trying this combo. I'll admit that he was hard to play until I started using IO sets and started to figure out the quirks associated with DA. He is now pretty solid with excellent damage output (AoE and single target). Endurance can still be a problem for extended fights though, especially if you have to pop off several dark regens. Still, he is versatile enough for me to take him on any mission against any enemy.

ELM/ELA: My second brute. I was fascinated with AoE potential of Lightning Rod and it didn't disappoint though against single target it was a bit of a struggle. Survivability of ELA was a bit underwhelming though Energize did help improve that quite a bit. Still fun to dust him off for some booming LR action from time to time but that's about it.

SM/SA: I made this brute because thus far all of my brutes have been heavily leaning towards the offensive side of the fence. I wanted to try a tankish type brute and the result wasn't very impressive. While he is by far the most survivable of my brutes (except against psi), his offensive power was less than impressive. Maybe I was just used to AoE heavy brutes and SM didn't quite cut it in that department. Against single targets SM was more than capable but you hardly need the uber toughness SA provides when you're just fighting one target. My least favorite brute due to the poor power combinations.

SS/SR: I almost deleted this brute sveral times pre-level 32 (so-so survivability and no AoE potential at all other than Sands of Mu). However post-32 I fell in love with him. Foot Stomp and soft capped defense at level 41 made him a power house to the point that his debt badge progress bar stopped moving until I *had* to suicide him for the High Pain accolade. I thought the -def debuff from Rage Crash would be a concern but it isn't. It's just too easy to stack Rage with all that recharge. This guy is definately one of my favorites.

WM/SD: I just had to make this brute when their proliferated WM and introduced SD. Just the look alone would be worth it. I didn't go in with high expectations but this gal surpassed all of it by a mile. Of all the brute powers I've experienced, this gal feels the smashiest by far. All in all, great AoE capability, good survivability, the look, and of course the SMASH factor make her one of my favorites, if not the favorite.

Claws/Invul: This buzzsaw of a brute is a blast to play. Given that this combination isn't that end heavy, when she attacks, she attacks like the energizer bunny. Relentless. I just got her to 50 two weeks ago so the jury is still out on how she performs on TFs like LRSF, ITF or LGTF but damn, her hyperactiveness is just much too entertaining.

My next projects are DM/SD and DB/WP but until then, peace out.

Just three here. Btw, for the endurance problem using Dark Regen a lot try putting a Theft of Essence +end proc in there. I've heard it works miracles for the end cost and sometimes even gets you a net endurance gain :3

Mein Bruten:

SS/FA: My main brute and the only one I really play. Used to be SS/Elec way back when but got rerolled in the 20s because I was so frustrated with /Elec. Took too much damage, no way to regain it and endurance was horrible. I knew if I stuck it out the end problem would get better with CP and/or PS but I thought I'd prefer Fire Armour anyway.

I was right. Now long 50, fully accoladed and IOd, he's an absolute monster. I love the combination because it suits my brute playstyle of running in and smashing everything to bits (loveloveLOVE Footstomp) and my secondary largely being there to keep me going with Healing Flames and Consume. I like the damage boost from Rage and FE. Both sets benefit greatly from +rech so its a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned.

EM/FA: Was ostensibly made for pvp a while back (lol). Is IOd out and while I do enjoy playing him, especially 1 shotting all kinds of stuff with ET and TF its soooo slooooow. A lot of fun and looks really cool, I don't get around to playing him as much as I'd like. What's funny is with the recharge I have on him + the long animations on ET and TF, I can chain ET -> BS -> TF -> repeat.

The effect of which is that I kill myself faster than the enemies do >.>

And a DM/SD who is on the chopping block

War Hog: A DM/ELA Brute, he has an absolute beast of a build and has been my main since issue 8. Receiving the buffs to DM and Energize within a few issues of each other was a marked improvement. This Brute fulfills my need for single-target DPS and I love the look of Power Surge after color customization.

Crusher Plate: A DB/Invuln Brute that functions as my "tank" build. I twas nice when Invulnerability received buffs to its passives and had the -def removed from Unyielding, but the biggest buff was making typed defense ubiquitous in the IO system by pairing all bonuses.

Bad Bloodgeon: A WM/SD Brute that fulfills my need for AoE damage and positional soft-cap brokenness. Crowd Control, Shatter, Whirling Mace, and Shield Charge bludgeon swaths of orange numbers through spawns. It's also fun to use the weapon skins for costume customization.

My first Brute to reach a reasonable level was

SM/SD - Pretty heavy on end and I have yet to figure out a way to softcap her without gimping and losing the concept, but she's definitely fun. She's the Queen of Knockdown and SMASH and packs loads of fun.

DM/EA - I'm quite impressed with the tools of DM, wouldn't have believed that such an unimpressive (effect-wise) set could be fun. The secondary however is quite boring and thus I stopped playing him around lvl 25. I'm currently thinking about replacing him with a DM/FA, though I'm a little concerned with the survivability and I really like the concept of the DM which is based upon another of my characters

ElM/SA - While I have liked the Stone Armor Set throughout the whole ride (Rooted Regen ftw) and I generally like being tough, I can't say the same about Electric Melee. It's just missing the smash feel a brute should have - Though I really like Chain Induction (practically AoE with the damage and cost of a single Target attack, what more could you want?).

EM/FA - My most recent toon. Started a few days ago and lvl 36 by now. He's one hell of a fun brute and has always been from the start. I simply got Tough with lvl 14 and tried to get a little cheap defense from IO Sets and Combat Jumping (15% S/L). Fire's still a little Squishy, but the stun in Energy help A LOT with that. The other way round, Fire helps a little bit with AoE damage for Energy, and a Built up Energy Transfer with full Fury in the face of a Boss is always good for a laugh - so is stunning EBs (and I don't even have the power "Stun" yet). Currently playing on +0/x4 and having no real issues. Addicting, too. Edit: Also he looks REALLY cool with his Plasma and Fire colored auras and Plasma Pompoms.

Update: I've actually started the DM/FA project, and by now she's lvl 33 and amazing. A single target monster, as is inherent to Dark/, with enough AoE to drop all of the Minions and some Leuts until the Boss is dead. If there's no Boss in the mob, the Burst damage makes everything drop like flies. As for playstyle: My health bar harmonically oscillates and often I wonder how I just survived that situation. I'm running without stamina, so the End bar is pretty much the same, but without any problems in that regard. It's a boat load of fun. Especially since lvl 27.

I have the following Brutes

SS/Fire = Fun build made for farming really, this is my main brute

Energy/Electric = Fun build was my first brute.

SM/WP = Fun as well a little slower than the others but fun on SF's

AXE/Fire = Endwhore!!

Mace/Energy = Fun so far... very Pretty and Strong!!

Elec/Elec = Lots of AoE

I deleted a Mace/SR and DM/DA brutes a while back.. never could get into them that much.

You'll get a laugh out of this list, mainly because I can't stop making brutes ... I play with mids when I'm at work trying out different combos and then I just make them to see how they'll perform.

Unfortunately, there isn't enough time in the day to level them all.

- Dartaye, lvl 50 SS/WP - my first brute and one that I still use for everything, including the majority of my farming.

- Cataclysmic, lvl 50 BA/SD - my first shield toon; I've gone back and forth on whether I actually like this toon, IO-ing, stripping and now IO-ing it again.

- Cumbersome Llewthor, lvl 50 elec/stone - one of my favorite brutes, so long as i'm dual-boxing my kin; farms Nems real well too.

- Juiced Llewthor, lvl 38 elec/SD
- Spawn of Llewthor, lvl 25 dark/fire
- Damon Ferera, lvl 25 fire/SD
- Colossus Llewthorus, lvl 19 SS/Invul
- Electrifying Llew, lvl 16 elec/WP
- Thundering Llewthor, lvl 16 stone/elec
- Dartaye's Inferno, lvl 15 SS/FA
- October Thrash, lvl 9 claws/ea

And Silas, I know ... less brutes and more corrs

-Llew.

I have a thing for the melee play style in this game and as such I have a few brutes...

50 EM/WP... my first redside 50 and even though EM is far less than stellar these days, I still love her... just wish the attacks were not sooooooooo slooooooooooooooow. :P

50 SS/SD... after making a SD/SS Tanker, I wanted to see how a brute would perform... even with a sub par build and relatively cheap IO sets, he is kind of a beast. Was able to hold and survive the entire Ambush atop the mountain at the end of the "Consult the Oracle" mission on the ITF after the rest of the TF got silly, pulled everything and died.

25 SS/WP... a fun mid level romper. Haven't worked on him much lately, but he is always fun to pull out when friends need a bruiser for lower level missions.

25 DB/WP... kinda fun, but DB just doesn't do it for me. I love the visual effects but the set itself leaves me feeling underwhelmed.

15 Claws/SR... a lot of fun but neglected a bit by my constant RPing and altitis :P

I've also tried and deleted a number of other brutes, usually in the late teens and early 20s, just to see how the powers performed... and looked :P

I only have two, cause I'm a teamer and no one plays Redside :P

I Am Ghost: L36 SS/Invul: My Redside main that's in semi-retirement. He's pretty tough for being Invul. Not much lasts long against him. He slaughters bosses and Perma-Rage + Footstomp wrecks anything in his way.

The Armageddon Effect: L12 Fire/SR: Now this guy I like. A lot. Lots of damage, lots of "Avoided!" and "Defelcted!" pop up, which makes me feel like I'm cool. I cant wait to get this guy to SO's

So far the overwhelming theme for the majority of my fellow brute players is definately on the side of offense. Maybe not necessarily reckless but rather impatience when it comes to getting a chance smash someone (anyone, even teammates if that were allowable) with a lot of pent up aggression tossed in. I like it.

SM/Stone: My first brute, still in his teens. Just not enough smash for me

Ax/WP: Cannot say enough good things. Some early endurance issues, but the knockdown works will with the +reg of WP. Took fitness and fighting, but no patron powers.

DM/Eng: Enjoy it in it's own quirky way.

Elec/Inv: More a crazy robot build then a power build. Enjoying the AOE aspect

SS/Fire: I didn't take blazing aura (the damage aura) until after I had stamina. Basically a fun single target brute until 32 (footstomp). After that the whole game changes. Some endurances issues, but my axe/wp has kinda spoiled me. This completely killed my interest in my Stone melee brute. I just can't see how the stone melee competes?


I can see why SS/WP is so popular given my experiences with those sets.

Looking to do a shield or Dark armor brute. Maybe claw/DA and fire Melee/shield. That would cover most of the options.

Brutes were the last of the core villain ATs I really got into and after the first I was addicted to SMASH!!

Tsak Quortek (50)(Elec/WP): My first brute and my main badger, was a lot of fun. He's still my only toon with a Panacea proc. He gets the most frequent use out of all my brutes as he's great at both damage and tanking.

Faded Nightmare (50)(EM/SR): This toon was made after the EM nerfs so I don't know the difference gameplay wise. Was my first softcapped toon and defense toon to hit 50. Opened my eyes to that side of the game. Previously I was against defense type toons and only played resist sets. He's got tough and aid self for those moments something does get through

Shotgun Facelift (50)(SS/Fire): Made him to farm as a farmer is needed to IO anything in this game. Decent in PVE, could be better, but made to be a farmer. I've got lots of brutes for PVE

Svirfneblin Digger (50)(Stone/Energy): Made him originally for theme, underdark gnome and all. Stone melee for being underground and energy aura to emulate gnome magic. Ability to dodge and their invisibility powers. Wasn't sure how much gameplay he'd get as I had read the forums on how horrid EA was. But after I IO'd him, he became an absolute beast. Shoved two +rech procs in both fault and tremor and Energy Drain is up so often that the end drain of Stone Melee isn't even felt. I run all EA shields plus tough/weave. When fighting AVs and not many targets to sap for juice, I use conserve power. He runs at 208% recharge at almost all times while in combat due to how well the +rech proc does in PBAoE powers. Really did not expect loving this toon so much.

Khalil (50)(DM/Fire) Another themed toon, he doesn't get as much play as my other brutes. He does well as an alternative farmer, not as fast, but other farmers know how boring it gets using the same farmer all the time. Two heals, two end recovery, soul drain/embrace. He does decent damage, really no AoE other then blazing aura and burn.

Bleeding Dust (50)(DM/Stone): Haven't touched this toon since he hit 50, he's spec'd, but I've yet to IO him out. Got a bunch of 50s in line to get IO'd, I'll get to him eventually.

Exiled Dream (50)(SS/WP): Made him because I was annoyed at the end drain off my ss/fire farmer. A bit less overall damage, but can farm w/o worrying about end cost. I built for mainly pve so he performs well on SFs.

Armored Salamander (50)(Fire/Shield): Dragon themed toon, softcapped, went with mako as a patron for the breaths. Could be made more efficient with a respec, but he fits well with theme. Rarely gets any gameplay really.


Thats all my level 50's, see what I mean, addicted to SMASH!! More lowbies, so brute list will grow

50 Stone/EA: I found /EA entirely underwhelming survivability-wise, but unlimited endurance was very nice and the knockbacks/mezzes in Stone/ made up for it quite well.

50 Dark/Elec: A good all-arounder, though she feels a bit more like a very angry scrapper to me. One of my very few characters to run on x8 difficulty without IOs, and then the Energize change just helped.

25 Claws/WP: I'm still deciding how much I like this one. Claws is fun, but WP is so boring.

Not gonna trudge thru different servers to get exact levels:

Elec/Elec
Dark/Dark
Nrg/Nrg
DM/SR
WM/Inv
DB/WP
Elec/Shield

50 SS/WP: My first brute to 50, and the ride was great! I love this guy. He was a beast with just SOs, but he's even more amazing now with with a respectable amount of s/l defense and recharge bonuses. I'd say he's my main brute and badger, atm.

50 Elec/Stone: Back in the old days of Nemmy Farms and kins being begged to run, this guy was great. The ride wasn't particularly fun, though. I ended up deleting him a while back to make room for my next brute project.

33 Elec/SD: Fun toon but, because I started to make one on blueside, I scrapped this and re-rolled as a.......

50 SS/SD: Great toon, great ride. /SD is amazing and (at least for me) leveling one is a breeze! My 2nd favorite brute and in the top 5 of my favorite 50s. Needed a LOT of inf to get running, though. A SS/WP is much better on a budget.

50 Fire/Fire: Pretty fun, a fairly strong toon. I haven't ever had the inf nor the desire to invest heavily in him, so he isn't all that he could be. The ride to 50 was decent. I personally don't like /fire that much, but that's just me! YMMV.

Here's a few of my favorites I've completed. I have a LOT more, but didn't feel like posting them all:

Elec/Elec: My main. Sits on 33% melee defense and then has some recharge thrown in. It's been through 8 respecs now.

SS/Elec: My other account has this one. 39% S/L defense, incredibly end-hungry, and incredibly quick. (albeit about 33% slower than my elec/sd/blaze scrapper)

Mace/Stone: If I need extreme survivability, I can grab this. IO's solved the need for a kin, so I actually can run faster than some 'normal' players.

DM/SD: My AV Killer/Pylon soloer. Needs a little tweaking still, and some accolade work done.

Well, I have a couple of Brutes, but they arnt my favorite AT in the game.(Blastphemy, I know.)

I am a Defender Worshiper.I eat them, sleep them, and cant stop making news ones.

Anyhow, I have 2 that I built out of concept.

First one, is a remake of my old Tanker, Stom Thacher, which was a FA/SS Tanker.I made him into a brute, with a meaner, and angrier look, and he is acctually rather fun.His concept is that he is a Biker, and a half Demon, with a sever attitude, and anger problem.(He hits frickin HARD!)

Then I have a Axe/SD Cybornetic Brute, that I also made for concept, that uses a Kinetic Cybornetic Suit with a Shield, that slowly ampliphies his physical abilities through a kinetic phase shift accelerator,(My excuse of why his damage increases in a fight.) and im currently questing for my Ritki Axe.I hate hunting down raids.....jerks... Its the final piece to my Costume, and it doesnt really look like a Axe, but more like a laser edged Techy weapon.

Im not sure ill be making any more Brutes, but you never know.

Most of my brutes are 50. A few are in the late 40s.
Fire/fire
Claws/inv
EM/SR
SS/SD
DM/DA
DB/Inv
Elec/WP
I only keep the ones I like. My fiery aura and shield defense are my faves.

EM/ELA: My 1st toon to hit 50. Made in I7 and really hit stride when IO's launched. This toon got Io'ed the old fashioned way... By selling Wing Recipe drops back when they went for 10-30mil each. Never played after I took a year off from the game. So I dont know how much better energize could make him. Frankly dont want to see what the nerfs to Em/ did to him either. Attack chain used to be ET>BS>TF repeat. Now ET takes so long to animate I'd fall asleep before the damage hit.

SS/FA: Great all around toon. AOE is awesome. ST more than enough to get the job done. /fa can be so squishy sometimes but you got the great heal and you do a ton of damage. This toon hit 50 in the coolest way I can imagine. KO blow for the kill on Statesman on a RSF... Ding! Even if he isnt my favorite brute that will always be my favorite level up moment.

Dm/Wp: Easy mode for soloing. Gets a bit dull with no AOE but feels very powerful.

Many many others that are all lowbies 30 and under at the moment

Edited for clarity

Off the top of my head..

Lord Darvek, SS/Elec/Mu. My first villain 50 and only level 50 Brute, lots of fun but a challenge at times, especially in ITFs. He can tank, but only just, but Foot Stomp makes for some good quick mitigation on a team. Only running on default IOs right now, except for FS which is fully kitted with Scirroco's Dervish.

Lazerate, Claws/WP. Level 33 and is near enough a blender on legs, doubt I'll be leveling them any further as all I have left to look forward to power wise are things to improve survivability, of which he already has buckets of. Silly fun, but not much to look forward to. Works very well as both a Tank as main damage dealer, specialising in cutting down larger groups with Eviscerate and Spin (not getting Shockwave). Planning to only run on default IOs, but currently just on normal SOs.

Voltrage, Elec/Fire. Currently level 28 and lots of fun but feels alot squishier than my other Brutes, which can be annoying when you're near enough forced to solo on the default difficulty. Not really tried teams, so can't say much about it. Only running on SOs, doubt I'll level them high enough to really consider IOs.

Overstriker, DM/Fire. Just at level 25 (I can smell that Soul Drain it's so close..), but WOW is that a crazy Brute. With the shields mostly running as IOs mules and mez protection, it's all up to the two heals to keep him alive. It's an utterly insane combo which you have to be very aggressive with in order to stay alive, and if the gaming gods smile upon you, will literally be unstoppable due to the two endurance siphons along with the quick recharging heals. Silly fun solo or in a team and, with an IO build all planned out, quite powerful too. Planning on getting Soul Mastery for some AoE damage and debuffs.

I have been playing brutes for a very long time and I have quite a few of them also. They are my favorite AT to play overall and I can’t wait for GR so I can invade Paragon with them.

Gruumch, SM/SA, level 50 – this is my oldest brute and my first 50. I made 50 with him 6 months after I started playing almost 4 years ago. He is a lot of fun and definitely a tough cookie. There isn’t much he can’t handle and I still play him pretty often for strike forces.

Much Payne, SS/Invuln , level 24 – I made this one shortly after making Gruumch, but he has been sitting neglected for many years on Pinnacle. I recently moved him to Virtue and plan on leveling him up sometime soon, he is currently in his mid 20’s.

Loc-motive, EM/Elec, level 50 – I really enjoyed leveling this one up 50. I made him before EM was nerfed and the amount of damage I could put out was just crazy. After the nerf he sat unused for a long time till Elec Armor finally got a buff and he is pretty fun to play again now.

Kunundrum, FM/DA, level 50 – I found this combo to be a real chore to play and it took me forever to get to 50. Endurance was a real problem and I always found myself empty about the time fury was really rolling. After IO’s came out and I spent a considerable amount on him he is much better now.

Arc Overkill, Elec/FA, level 50 – I started this one intending on making a farming brute. What I ended up doing instead is playing the market and getting field crafter for the first time. I did eventually get to 50 when I wasn’t buying and selling stuff.

Bubbagimp, WM/EA, level 50 – I created this guy after reading the strong and pretty thread just to see how bad the combo really was. I was pretty successful, but probably more to the fact of how many brutes I had already played to that point. Just before I reach 50 both sets got buffed and I softcapped my defenses. At this point he became extremely tough and I found myself tanking those +4 boss farms with him. He is still one of my favorites.

EternalTorment, DM/WP, level 50 – I don’t think I have found anything that can kill this guy. This combo is definitely CoV on easy mode. I have yet to IO him out, but have thought about it so I can take on AV’s.

Temporal Void, SS/WP, level 40 – I thought I would enjoy this one as much as the DM/WP, but I found it to be kind of boring. I know it is one of the best farmers, I just haven’t been able to finish him yet.

Crazee Payne, DB/Invuln, level 42 – This is one I am currently leveling. I really enjoy the play style of this one and can’t wait to start putting IO’s on it.

DedMeat, DM/DA, level 24 – Another project I am leveling again after he spend a couple years on Pinnacle gathering dust. This is a concept character and so far pretty fun.

As you can see I like playing brutes and have a lot of them. I have managed to level a couple of heroes, but always go back to brutes. When GR comes out I will be able to enjoy hero side stuff with my favorite AT finally.

Mein Brüts:

EM/Dark
Made in the heyday of energy melee's fast and furious almost broken goodness, this still packs a punch. Energy melee always has the stun chance, predictable in two, somewhat reliable in three, with crazy burst damage. This works great for mitigating /Dark's lesser defensive values, killing or stunning most everything. Add in a toggle stun, and you can keep 3 bosses stunned at once. Fear on top makes this my favored brute SMASHtroller. Careful, as this is has the most masochistic play at times, with a toggle that hurts you and a heavy hitter that hurts you, both used consistently. Oh, and get +recovery pronto. I run 10 toggles, so endurance is always in need.

Fire/Fire
Burny. Fiery embrace gives bonus damage to fire attacks, so having a primary full of fire helps. And burns. Did I mention burning? This build burns things well. Not too tankerly, you can still take armies of enemies that think they can best you and hold their feet to the completely unproverbial fire. Oh, and if you can get an immobilize down, buildup+fiery embrace+burn is gold.

Elec/WP
Electric's AoE's benefit most from up close mob packing. As does willpower's +regeneration. So, pack them in and they all die faster as you die slower. It works.

War Mace (or pipe wrench, club,shovel,sledge, whatever you choose)/WP
This one's in bloom still, but it's great for the 'ordinary person who's just crazy about bashing stuff' vibe.

Dark/Stone
This one's still in infancy, but I foresee good things. +Endurance to augment stone's costs, and a heal to layer atop its very good protection. Plus I love how dark/ looks with stone armor turned into shadowy onyx crystal armor.