SR is rather squishy until IOs in my experience, but after you softcap, it's amazing.
Goodbye. Not to the game, but the players. Goodbye. Everyone, remember to have fun. That's all I can say.
Quote:
#1 I see you are using Do/SOs. Have you partly out-leveled them? An SO gives 38% when it is +3 but at -2 it is only giving 22%. That is an enormous hit to your defenses and attacks.|
Originally Posted by Le Blanc
HELP!! My "Brute" keeps going down like a freaking blaster. What is the deal. I made a Claws/SR because I really wanted a Brute with the Rularu Talon. Ok, I have him now and he is soooooo weak! I don't feel "Brutish" at all. My damage is way less than my Hammer/WP Brute. He dies WAY more than him as well. What am I doing wrong with this guy? He just hit 21 and I dropped all his slots into Stamina.
Here is his info... Swipe 2Dam 1Acc Strike 2Dam 1Acc Slash 2Dam 1Acc Follow Up 1Dam 2Acc Focus Fighting 3Def Agile 3Def Practiced Brawler 1Rech Dodge 3Def Swift 3Run Spd Health 3Heal Stamina 3End Mod I just picked up Stamina, so I was going to get the Ranged Toggle at 22. I just couldn't afford it before. I fear I should have gone WP as his secondary. But I have a Kat/SR Scrapper who is DEADLY!! So I thought it might be good for a brute too. It appears I was wrong. If I have just built him wrong. lemme know. I have several Vetspecs I can use to respec him. Thanks for any suggestions. |
I recommend that you buy cheap set IOs. You can get crappy sets for less inf than SOs with higher bonus and they won't expire on you in the middle of a mission. At the very least, put in Accuracy IOs. Those are the ones that kill you when you level and they expire =)
#2 Take either swipe or strike not both. Get Spin, it is one of your best attacks. You will drop groups much faster, and single-targest at the same speed. This uses less endurance, AND you take fewer hits = you feel tougher.
#3 Pull two slots out of swift and one out of stamina, put one end mod reduction in your top 3 attacks instead. Put an end red in sprint and use that instead of the extra slots in swift (turn it off during combat as needed).
#4 slot some Def/End (Karma, Serendipity, etc) IOs instead of the pure Def you have now. anything level 18+should do, but 20+ is ideal. You should have only a small drop in total Def if you do kismet def/end, serendipity def/end, serendipity def. But the drop in end usage will be very helpful and it should cost you less than buying new green SOs at level 22.
#5 do all this and you can skip stamina for a few levels and get either combat jumping or maneuvers for that power pick instead to give you a bunch of across-the-board defense.
I'm also wondering if it is better to take the melee and ranged toggles rather than melee and AoE, then add combat jumping, and maneuvers and put off the aoe until later. There are lots more single-target attacks than cones. Might help some. But then again a lot of melee attacks are pbaoe, so I'm not sure.
"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
Quote:
Melee set PBAoEs like footstomp check melee def, ranged set pbaoes like short circuit/inferno check aoe def.
|
Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
But then again a lot of melee attacks are pbaoe, so I'm not sure.
|
Culex's resistance guide
Quote:
First, I'd suggest you get the Mids Hero/Villain Designer from the Titan Network. It's a big help for creating characters.|
Originally Posted by Le Blanc
Swipe 2Dam 1Acc
Strike 2Dam 1Acc Slash 2Dam 1Acc Follow Up 1Dam 2Acc Focus Fighting 3Def Agile 3Def Practiced Brawler 1Rech Dodge 3Def Swift 3Run Spd Health 3Heal Stamina 3End Mod |
I don't have an /SR brute so I can speak from direct experience, but on general principles I have a few comments.
If you're using DOs, your Melee defense is only going to be 25% and your ranged defense 21%. That means you're going to get hit a lot, especially by ranged attackers who have -Def component in their attacks (basically, anyone shooting guns at you). You've also got no AoE defense at level 21, so if you're getting killed by AoEs that's a big part of your problem.
Your build will get a lot tougher at higher levels when you use SOs (or better yet, common IOs or IO sets) and you pick up AoE defense with Evasion and Lucky.
Your Katana scrapper probably has Divine Avalanche, which gives a 15% melee defense buff, which is a big advantage.
For all those reasons, that's why your scrapper seems so much tougher -- there's a huge difference in survivability between an incomplete level 21 brute and a level 50 scrapper with maxed-out positional defenses with SOs or IOs.
You might want to move some of your slots around. I'm not sure that putting four slots into Swift and Health is your best investment at level 21. The biggest problem with brutes is usually running out of endurance, and that means slotting endurance reduction in attacks.
I'd suggest getting to level 22 and pick up Evasion. If you don't already have Ninja Run you may want to get the Martial Arts pack. Then do a respec, moving slots from Swift and Health to attacks and slotting them with endurance reduction. If you're having serious end problems you might want to slot end reduction in your toggles as well. Then outfit your character with level 25 common IOs (they're relatively cheap if you get a bargain on the market, or you can craft them yourself if you have the salvage -- and they never wear out).
Using Mids will help you figure out what to do from there, especially if you're interested in slotting IO sets and all the defense bonuses they provide.
Your problem is you are not lvl 45+. SR is a very slow bloomer. But once it does, wow. I am currently having the same issue with my mid 20s SR. Sometimes it makes me want to pull out what little hair I have left. But I know once I get to that magic 45% def to everything and also have that massive DDR in place I will be damn near unstopable (pending bad luck on the RNG). So far at 26 it is getting better. I am chewing fewer insp to stay alive and now mostly have to work on that damn blue bar instead of the green bar. Numina uinquie will help with that once I can slot it.
SR can be a pain to level but once you are done, it can be much more rewarding than many other sets.
Oh and yea. Get rid of those extra slots in swift. Quickness when you get it will be just fine in most cases. And as others have said, pick up spin, drop a damage slot on your attacks and put in recharge and let fury take care of the damage in low levels. My normal slotting is Acc first, then end redux, then recharge and last damage for brutes.
Quote:
This is why I have never been able to play SR. I just hate leveling one.|
Originally Posted by HelinCarnate
Your problem is you are not lvl 45+. SR is a very slow bloomer. But once it does, wow. I am currently having the same issue with my mid 20s SR. Sometimes it makes me want to pull out what little hair I have left. But I know once I get to that magic 45% def to everything and also have that massive DDR in place I will be damn near unstopable (pending bad luck on the RNG). So far at 26 it is getting better. I am chewing fewer insp to stay alive and now mostly have to work on that damn blue bar instead of the green bar. Numina uinquie will help with that once I can slot it.
SR can be a pain to level but once you are done, it can be much more rewarding than many other sets. |
I am sure is awesome once you get there, but this game is about the journey and if that journey is bad then I just can't play the set.
Quote:
Claws/WP is amazing, pure and simple. I've got mine to level 39 now and she's nearly unstoppable. It's the fastest leveling Brute I've built yet and I'm not even trying to IO her out.
|
Originally Posted by Le Blanc
I fear I should have gone WP as his secondary.
|
Quote:
50 is just the begining of the journey for me.
|
Originally Posted by Gruumch
This is why I have never been able to play SR. I just hate leveling one.
I am sure is awesome once you get there, but this game is about the journey and if that journey is bad then I just can't play the set. |
Well, I got hit with a bit if insperation (the mental kind not the green pill) and made a Claws/WP. LOVE HIM!! I might keep the C/SR around and try him out later. I love the idea of him, but I kinda agree with those above about the journey being that much of a pain. Not really for me. But this C/WP is a SHREDDER!! Really loving him. And I got the name I wanted on the first try. Very happy about that too. So all is well again in Bruteland. But thanks everybody for the suggestions. I might try him later when I wanna be challenged more.
Le Blanc 50 Dark/Dark Scrap
High Huntress 50 Archery/NRG Blast
And a goatload of others. On a goatload of servers.
Official Rickroller of Hero Con 1
I would suggest picking up some control mitigation, maybe Intimidate from the Presense pool. You have no mitigation in Claws, and you have nothing but Defense mitigation in Super Reflexes. You really need something else, ANYTHING else to hold you over until you can softcap your Defense.
Try buying some Stun Grenades from the Market. Get Sands of Mu or the Blackwand if you have those Vet Powers for the -ToHit. And you may have to rely more on slotting and less on Fury since you may have to take on smaller spawns. (And Vet and Temp powers will help with that since they don't rely on Fury)
Of course, you've already come up with the best solution. 
You could have gone with another Primary, like Dark or Energy instead of another Secondary. It's about Set compatibility more than SR being the problem. But if you do feel like going back to your SR, hopefully my suggestions will help.
(And I plan on trying a Claws/WP Brute soon myself... )
Claws and SR just don't synergize very well. That's not to say they don't work together, just that they don't augment one another or cover for each others weaknesses.
On the other hand, your comparison point, Mace / WP works pretty well together as the mitigation in mace gives you pockets of time in which to let the HP regen of WP work for you. Also, of course, WP is playing the game on easy mode. Toggle up and go.
SR comes up in modules, rather than incrementally upgrading across the board. The highly specialized protection each defense power grants can force you to make some tough decisions, and to be more tactical in the foes you engage and in what order. (short version: if you have a DEF hole open vs Ranged or AoE, go after ranged & aoe using foes first).
SR also benefits greatly from using purple inspirations in the early game; your higher base DEF allows you to temporarily boost or even softcap yourself into unhittable range if you need to for tough fights.
Also, the scaling resistances of the passives mean you're actually a bit tougher when injured, so you shouldn't freak out right away if you happen to drop some green along the way.
SR can be frustrating to play up until the 40's unless you modify your playstyle to accomodate it's late-blooming nature. It's a greedy set and you need all the powers (except Elude, once you softcap via IO's) for it really work. Technically Quickness isn't required, of course, but its such a nice power you really will want to take it; the global recharge is very nice. Practiced Brawler starts off inconvenient, but after slotted a little bit to be effectively permanant it offers strong effect protection.
After all the pieces in the puzzle are in place, SR is really powerful in PvE. You can softcap it easily, and its very reliable thanks to the ultimate level of DDR in the game. There have been many many times when missions have gone to crap and my /SR character was the last one standing, fought on alone, and survived.
HELP!! My "Brute" keeps going down like a freaking blaster. What is the deal. I made a Claws/SR because I really wanted a Brute with the Rularu Talon. Ok, I have him now and he is soooooo weak! I don't feel "Brutish" at all. My damage is way less than my Hammer/WP Brute. He dies WAY more than him as well. What am I doing wrong with this guy? He just hit 21 and I dropped all his slots into Stamina.
Here is his info...
Swipe 2Dam 1Acc
Strike 2Dam 1Acc
Slash 2Dam 1Acc
Follow Up 1Dam 2Acc
Focus Fighting 3Def
Agile 3Def
Practiced Brawler 1Rech
Dodge 3Def
Swift 3Run Spd
Health 3Heal
Stamina 3End Mod
I just picked up Stamina, so I was going to get the Ranged Toggle at 22. I just couldn't afford it before. I fear I should have gone WP as his secondary. But I have a Kat/SR Scrapper who is DEADLY!! So I thought it might be good for a brute too. It appears I was wrong. If I have just built him wrong. lemme know. I have several Vetspecs I can use to respec him. Thanks for any suggestions.
Le Blanc 50 Dark/Dark Scrap
High Huntress 50 Archery/NRG Blast
And a goatload of others. On a goatload of servers.
Official Rickroller of Hero Con 1