Brute solo/duo Difficulty Adjustments

Hey guys,

I've been gone almost a year and just came back a couple days ago. I see a lot of changes, first and foremost CLAWS 4 BRUTES! WOOT!

Anyways... =D

One of the major changes is the difficulty adjustments. No longer do you just select a 'Level' of diff and go.. It got all complicated =P

I tried to do some searching for a while (Site is REAL slow for me atm) with little luck. So on to my questions..


I am playing a Claws/WP Brute. I will be Soloing and sometimes Duoing with a DM/WP Brute.

I have no idea how to adjust the difficulty stuff now. At least, I need to know what is OPTIMUM.. I saw it mentioned that going to -1 and then a higher X factor is good. Is that the way to go now?

While my character is low level for now, being a new roll, I wanted to state that I am a fairly good player. I don't need things toned down for my lack of skill I should say. Not trying to boast, mind you.. Just setting the stage here.

1) In general, what's a good difficulty setup for a solo brute
2) If it differs by level (just asking for general info, i know it will differ on many factors), what level ranges should i try what diffs
3) Will I need to adjust the settings when I am duoing


I know the best way is to experiment - And i fully plan on doing this. BUT. For the sake of not trying to reinvent the wheel, I'm looking for standards you all have come up with to use as a starting point here.

Thanks in advance for any assistance. It's great to be back.

Acidon

This is such a tough question to answer because it varies....

You asked about Claws/WP so everything Carnifax said is well-reasoned and applicable.

In the bigger picture....

Resistance sets in general start out better than Defense sets, with Defense sets surpassing in the late game (my opinion only; react accordingly). Setting the level to -1 is probably better for every build in the early game. At level 1 I usually start at -1X2 No bosses and adjust as I level.

With defense sets I adjust my settings in leaps and bounds whereas resistance sets are more of a smooth curve. I usually go to X4 as a max until late 30s. I adjust the levels to make things a challenge prior to that. Im sure I could do -1X8 at say 32 with most of my brutes but then salvage and recipe storage becomes an issue.

If optimization is really an issue, find a copy of Herostats and run that while paying attention to your Xp/Min.

As of rule of thumb, if youre mostly single target damage, you want to up the level slider more than the # slider, if youre mostly aoe, you want to up the number slider more than the level slider....

To recap....It depends.

Thanks a lot guys.

This is exactly the type of information I was hoping for. A set of general recommendations that I can adjust based on my own abilities and build, plus the logic behind them.

I appreciate the prompt and thorough replies, guys.


The only other thing I'm really wondering at this point (which i can easily figure out later on in-game I suppose) is how my solo settings will effect things when I am duoing with my friend, who will most likely have the same solo settings.

Any info on that would be appreciated as well. Or I can figure it out later on when it comes up. Just curious mainly - and the fact that I like to be prepared.


Thanks again,
Acidon

Hey guys,

I just wanted to update a bit on the situation.

At 6 I adjusted my difficulties to -1, x3 + solo bosses. I love it! As said above, the inspirations flow like mad. On that note, I also would love to see those binds you mentioned on the conversions.

At 8 now, and still a great setup. I'll adjust as I level to keep it at my own person sweet spot. When I do end up duoing with this char, I will have to see how that effects things and adjust if needed.

Below level 15 you absolutely want bosses on. Especially at very low levels like 1-5. A level 1 boss only has about 12 more HP than a level 1 lieut, but double the exp. It's not until the 20s that bosses start doubling and more the HP of lieuts and getting really nasty hard-hitting powers. Until then, they are squishy bags of exp and inf just waiting to be crushed.

As you get higher, you might want to turn bosses on/off for specific missions. For instance, I find that the paragon protectors with those tier 9s are so spectacularly annoying (not hard, just annoying) that I turn off bosses for crey missions. And many people have no issue with COT once bosses are turned off since the ruin/agony/death mages are the worst offenders.

Yup, I know the strategy, I just don't have the reflexes to pull it off. =)

It's why I'll never make another character that uses regen. Sure it's a great set (both for stalkers and scrappers). But when mine dies, she almost always has at least two clickies available, plus eye of the magus, plus a bunch of insps.

I have the reflexes of a bowl of jello: I wobble a bit in tune with the activity around me, but I'm really not in control of the situation.

So I prefer to just not deal with those bastards unless I have a team to do it for me. =)