i'll talk from an elec/ela Brute point of view.
I have 2 build on my brute one is S/L Def heavy for when i'm asked to "tank"
The other one is a recharge heavy build.
Of the 2 I love the recharge build most because even if I get hit a bit more, my recharge is so high that I can almost perma-energize ( 5 sec downtime I think). Also, the recharge makes LR, power sink and thunderstrike recharge fast enough to add control to the attack chain with the -end and KD.
One thing I notice people forget (or don't realize) is that power sink recharge very fast when built correctly so it can be used as an offensive power instead of an "oh **** out of end" power. This means that your enemy will be forced to use their low end power which tends to hit for less damage. With a recharge time of 25ish seconds, added to the -end of your attack and lightning field, you should be able to keep a full mob at 0 end or close to.
The +def build however (38% S/L def before darkest night) is great for tanking but I sacrificed so much of my attacks for it that it takes forever to kill a Lieutenant or Boss so I don't recommend it for soloing.
Thanks for the response Hawk.
I think Im going to follow our advice and work towards recharge. Looks more fun at a minimum. Things are trucking along and he is a lot of fun to play. Chain Induction continues to be a mystery to me, it actually seems to be firing off less and less and I dont know if Im just not seeing it, or there is something to it I dont understand.
Chain inductions is pretty good when viewed as a single target attack with a chance to jump.
Remember that your target needs to stay alive after chain induction hits for the lightning to jump to someone else so if you kill your target ( or any subsequent jumped target) the chain stops there.
Also there is a limited range for the jump to be possible and I found it to be somewhat a short range ( I think it's around 10ft but don't quote me on that)
Ahh, I had started to guess those properties of Chain induction, but had not known it for sure. Hmmm, it should be used before Thunderstrike then. Which is what I have started to do.
Lightning Clap Im unsure of. I like KB mitigation, but it seems almost a bit counterproductive to ELM's strength of AOE until death, yours or theirs. lol.
Anyway, Im liking it so far.
I never picked Lightning clap. It could be a good power for some set bonus but I always found better power to use.
For a Elec/Elec I recemmend you pick up combat jumping and atleast 1 KB IO, using Lightning Rod is a sure fire way to get knocked down and Immobolized in a large group.
So after finding my frustration level is too low for my blasters right now, I have tried another scrapper.
I went Elm/Ea. There doesnt seem to be much talk about Electric Armor and the guides for brutes dont go into IO's. Im wondering what direction people go with it. Recharge for Energize and general speeding up of the damage machine. Regen to supplement Energize or the always popular Def. Defense seems like I will need a bunch of Oblit sets as there is so much AOE and not many single target attacks to slot with Deaths.
Im loving Electric melee, but not Electric armor yet. Its a young toon of lvl 22, and I have slotted for offense at this point, so I should not expect much from the defensive side yet. Still, Im wondering what direction to go with the build, or atleast be planning for. Is tough and weave needed?
Thanks for any help.