It wouldn't be so great in the early levels, but WM/SR is a very solid choice and easy to softcap on a lowish budget. With hero merits the way they are currently-- 1 merit for 5 random rolls-- prices will be coming down though, so any build without purples MIGHT be within your budget.
WM/Invuln and WM/WP are also solid choices for obvious reasons-- the armors have scaling protection from foes clumped on your toon and WM has some absolutely devastating PBAoEs. WM/Invuln is better if you want to go with some global recharge in your build, as it actually has skills that benefit from recharge. I like that Invincibility adds +ToHit as well, which means that even when Build Up is down you will rarely be below a 95% hit rate when foes are gathered on you.
WP has its obvious perks, which are superior recovery and very easy leveling. It's not as powerful endgame as Invuln or SR IMO, but the entire ride from 1-50 is much more enjoyable.
I wouldn't go with ELA personally-- the set is very squishy and will cause lots of redraw with Power Sink and Conserve Power being use regularly. It's without a doubt the squishiest set available to Brute right now, as the buffs to Fire Armor have made that set's squishiness well offset by its offense.
I enjoy my WP/SR, especially with the extra recharge to help out the slowish WP attacks come up more quickly. I wouldn't worry about status effects affecting your fury generation. Just keep attacking and piling into huge mobs and you should be good to go.
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@Starflier
Thanks for the advice guys, I think I will give WM/SR a go.
Granite, thanks for the link to your build. I noticed you took Pulverize over Smash, it seems a lot of WM builds I've seen go the other way and skip Pulverize. I'm not quite sure why, or what would be the better option for leveling. I realize your build is for a level 50, so you don't have your 2nd attack in there until level 12. Would you have any advice for a leveling build?
Thanks!
Granite has a very high amount of +Recharge in his build (85% IIRC) which allows him to swap out the faster Bash with the slower Pulverize in his build and still have a continuous attack chain. Most builds, mine included, take Bash instead because it's the quickest attack WM has to offer and is necessary to keep that continuous attack chain.
Also and maybe more importantly, Bash has a slightly higher DPS than Pulverize unless the build (like Granite's) has a great amount of +Recharge.
So for leveling you probably want Bash>Pulverize
Just to give a different perspective here is my WM/SR Brute's build, I focused on +Damage and +Regen after getting the soft cap. Not many people build for damage these days but with the long animation times of many of WM's powers I'm thinking that extra recharge might just go to waste so I focused on +Damage. I also chose +Regen (and +HP) because they work very nicely with SR's scaling defenses. Anyways, here's the build:
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Science Brute
Primary Power Set: War Mace
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Bash -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(13), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Mako-Dam%(19)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(3), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(3), RedFtn-Def(5), RedFtn-EndRdx(5)
Level 2: Jawbreaker -- P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(A), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Mako-Acc/Dmg(23), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(25), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 4: Focused Senses -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(7), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(7), RedFtn-Def(9), RedFtn-EndRdx(9)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 8: Clobber -- P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(A), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Mako-Acc/Dmg(29), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(31), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 10: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Health -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(15), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(15), RgnTis-Regen+(17)
Level 16: Dodge -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A), S'dpty-Def/Rchg(46), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), S'dpty-Def(50)
Level 18: Whirling Mace -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(34), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(36), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 20: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(21), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(21), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(23)
Level 22: Evasion -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx(43), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def(46)
Level 24: Agile -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A), S'dpty-Def/Rchg(42), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), S'dpty-Def(43)
Level 26: Shatter -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(31), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 28: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(40), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(37), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Oblit-%Dam(39)
Level 35: Quickness -- Run-I(A)
Level 38: Lucky -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A), S'dpty-Def/Rchg(40), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), S'dpty-Def(42)
Level 41: Superior Conditioning -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(45), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(48), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RedFtn-Def(48), RedFtn-EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 4: Ninja Run
Code:
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Perfect! Thank you very much Colossal, this is just what I was looking for.
I went with Shield. Back when they did the closed beta for Shield Defense, I made a SD/WM Tanker, and he got a level bump to 41 (and then I think 50. Don't remember...). It was a pretty fun combo, but I don't really like Tankers (no idea why I made one for testing... o_O), so I made him a Brute on Live.
Of course, I do have a WM/SR, as well, though he's on a different server that I play when Guardian goes down.
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Biggest Troll on the forums? I'll give you a hint:
What is your take on the WM/SD combo? Are there any end issues for you?
I have a 40 wm/sd brute and even with end costs everywhere he seems to suck end like crazy. :P
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Quote:
Yeh, for leveling.|
Originally Posted by Colossal
Granite has a very high amount of +Recharge in his build (85% IIRC) which allows him to swap out the faster Bash with the slower Pulverize in his build and still have a continuous attack chain. Most builds, mine included, take Bash instead because it's the quickest attack WM has to offer and is necessary to keep that continuous attack chain.
Also and maybe more importantly, Bash has a slightly higher DPS than Pulverize unless the build (like Granite's) has a great amount of +Recharge. So for leveling you probably want Bash>Pulverize |
At 50, my goal was being able to chain AOEs: Crowd Control, Whirling Mace, Shatter. With +2/+8 mobs around me, Shatter consistently hits 3+ if you target it right. I can run that chain pretty consistently with my recharge, tossing in Pulverize (which stuns I think) and Clobber as needed on harder targets.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Granite Agent
Yeh, for leveling.
At 50, my goal was being able to chain AOEs: Crowd Control, Whirling Mace, Shatter. With +2/+8 mobs around me, Shatter consistently hits 3+ if you target it right. I can run that chain pretty consistently with my recharge, tossing in Pulverize (which stuns I think) and Clobber as needed on harder targets. |
This is similar to what I do with my WM/EA. I use Crowd Control, Whirling Mace, and Shatter mainly and fill in with Clobber or Jawbreaker. I never use Bash or Pulverize at all. I have enough recharge that I can normally just cycle the 3 AoE's continuosly.
wm/ea that is all
One by one bunny's steal my common sense for banana's on Ebay.
Don't fall for the WM/EA trap.
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Biggest Troll on the forums? I'll give you a hint:
Quote:
I spent... 25 mil on my Elec/Invul for defenses. 5 million for common IO's and 20 million on the 3% Global Defense IO. He's unstoppable. You don't need billions of inf, just one well placed unique.
|
Originally Posted by Renegade Blade
/Inv seems to be a good alternative, but I've been reading alot of mixed reviews on the set. I don't have a billion inf to spend (yet) if that's what is required to be able to play this properly, and I hate being kicked in the psy-hole.
|
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
Quote:
EA was probably not the best choice to go with WM, but I made him back when the strong and pretty thread started to see just how bad it could be. |
Originally Posted by Kheldarn
Don't fall for the WM/EA trap.
|
I found out it really wasn't that bad after all and after IO's he become quite tough, but there are much better secondaries to pick.
I'm sort of thinking about the OP's question myself. I've got a WM/SD Brute that I made to go with a gimmick (he's not the Stig... but he IS the Stig's Scottish Cousin 
), but I've got another gimmick idea for a WM/Fire, so I'm thinking about that too.
Which of the two would probably work out better (up to common IOs at 50; I'll worry about sets and such when I get there)? I can imagine WM/Fire being an AoE monster, but not being too useful when he falls over if an EB/Hero so much as glances at him. Meanwhile I have to think WM/SD would be only slightly worse at AoE (shield charge, daaang) while being significantly more able to survive the onslaught of a tough single target.
Thoughts?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Renegade Blade
I don't know too much about /Ela, but it seems like this might make a decent pairing as well.
I'm not out to make a max damage brute, I want to be able to take on a group and put them down in a timely fashion. Thanks guys! |
I'd definitely go for Mace/Elec, Powersink, WM Knockdown will give you all the mitigation you need plus good dmg dealing. Mine is curently at lvl 40 (and unfortunately forgotten on EU servers) and at zero def did fine, will go back EU side to finish him sometime.-
I have a SD/WM tanker that just seems to be moving a bit too slow and was hoping for a little more oomph so I've been reading up here on the Brute forums. My concern with the WM/SD combo on a brute is knockdown/crowd control. Will it affect fury generation? If so, what might you suggest as a better pairing with WM/?
I've considered /WP, I like all the regen and resist/def this set provides, but I'm concerned about being able to take Alphas. Could I take Alphas and be able to regen enough health with my crowd control?
/Inv seems to be a good alternative, but I've been reading alot of mixed reviews on the set. I don't have a billion inf to spend (yet) if that's what is required to be able to play this properly, and I hate being kicked in the psy-hole.
I don't know too much about /Ela, but it seems like this might make a decent pairing as well.
I'm not out to make a max damage brute, I want to be able to take on a group and put them down in a timely fashion. Thanks guys!