new brute quandary. can i get some insight please?
By
Blue_Centurion,
Posted on: 2010-08-29 16:16 in Brutes
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Ok, let's chat. |
Originally Posted by chief_beef
Recently I was diagnosed with a(nother) case of alt-itis. This time around the recommended treatment is a brute. The problem is deciding what combo to use. I made a claws/elec brute which is only at 15. Seems ok but until I can get stamina I'm having some serious end issues. I've also been entertaining the idea of a fire melee brute. Almost made a fire/elec instead of the claws. Indecision abounds. I believe what I'm looking for is what I've seen called a "buzzsaw build." The options I'm torn between are as follows:
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| claws/elec (started) |
Electric armor wants all the shields as maxed as you can get them, MAX RECHARGE on your energize, and the damage aura. Then slot for +defense and global recharge.
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| fire/elec |
However, doing fire damage is sooo nice.
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| fire/fire |
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| ss/?? thinking fire armor again. +rech proc in footstomp being a good part of the allure. |
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Which of these seems well suited for my goals? Am I looking at the wrong powers for such a purpose? I do have the means to equip high end io's although I don't see myself dropping a bil+ on any 1 enh. Thank you very much in advance for any help. |
Have fun!
Thanks for the advice mauk2. Your "let's chat" line made me laugh. I appreciated the enthusiasm.
I forgot to ask in my original post...are brutes "expected" to take taunt like tanks generally are?
Also, are the new tanker epics looking more appealing to brutes or are people sticking with patron sets? I know that's probably more of an opinion thing but I just thought I'd look for a little info before I get there. I've mostly played scrappers and squishies so my experience is limited with these sets.
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Adding S/L defense to any of the resist sets is going to make a ton of difference for your survivability. It's like the creamy defense frosting on the delicious resistance cake, with a decent heal on top. From my own experience, no attainable amount of +rech in electric armor is going to trump ~30% S/L defense, and I've never tried to build a fire armor brute for recharge.|
Originally Posted by chief_beef
With the big thing nowadays being +def via set bonuses am I going to be struggling and/or selling myself short if I go with a resistance based set? Or will all that resistance plus def bonuses give me good survivability? I don't need to be able to function as a tank in extreme situations I'm just trying to avoid a multitude of embarrassing ground-kissing scenarios. Whilst cranking out (hopefully) obscene damage of course.
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I'd recommend claws/electrical or claws/fire. Electrical armor will be tougher, fire armor will do an absolute ton more damage. Electrical also has the advantage of being capped to a much more common damage type, in my experience. From 35 on, my claws/electrical armor brute leveled solo at +2/x8 in the RWZ, and that was with no IOs at all. Fire armor is easily capped to fire damage, but so what
It's just not that common. On the other hand, the new Fiery Embrace is a monstrous damage buff to all your attacks, and Burn is freaking amazing now. Slot your damage aura with 3x dam/end IOs and a single acc/dam/end IO; it's one of, if not your most efficient attacks, even with only one mob in range.My own experience with claws, over a lot of brutes since it was released, is that it's a murder machine. I have a really hard time rolling or playing brutes that aren't claws, now. Take or leave FU, it's pretty optional on brutes with their abysmal base damage so if you don't like it don't feel bad about skipping it. Two of my claws brutes have it, two don't, and two are still on the fence. Spin is awesome, eviscerate is awesome, shockwave is. . . an acquired taste but definitely helps keep me alive in tight spots.
Taunt is nice for a set mule but not required, Perfect Zinger is great in there. Some folks find that it helps them gain fury in teams, I find that if my fury is slow gaining I should go find another fight in the mission and leave the current one to the rest of the team
My brutes are in love with the Soul Mastery pool because Gloom rocks so very hard, and Darkest Night is always nice. On an electrical armor brute with its bottomless end pool, DN is a godsend. However the APP with Superior Conditioning appeals to some secondaries; my invulnerable brutes are eyeing it up with lust.
OK, I have made BOTH a claws/elec and ss/fire. The claws is at 28 and the ss is at 34. I've been working on mids to get a couple builds together. I think I'm pretty close with my ss/fire. Here's where it is currently. The one thing I'm not liking is that punch isn't slotted at all. I'd like to enh a little to round out my ST attack chain better but I just can't seem to find any more slots to put there.
So without further ado....
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Super Strength
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Punch -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam(3), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(11)
Level 2: Haymaker -- T'Death-Dam%(A), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(7), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(31), T'Death-Acc/Dmg(37), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Dct'dW-Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal(5), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 8: Knockout Blow -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), T'Death-Dam%(9), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(9), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(11), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), T'Death-Acc/Dmg(37)
Level 10: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 14: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(36)
Level 16: Plasma Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(17), S'fstPrt-ResKB(17)
Level 18: Rage -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(37)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 24: Consume -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(25), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(25), Oblit-%Dam(36), Oblit-Dmg(46), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 26: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(27), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(27), RctvArm-ResDam(34)
Level 28: Burn -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-%Dam(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(40), Oblit-Dmg(40), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(40), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(31), LkGmblr-Def(31)
Level 32: Foot Stomp -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Armgdn-Dam%(34), FrcFbk-Rechg%(34)
Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Rise of the Phoenix -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Oblit-Dmg(39), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(46), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 41: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(42), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(42), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42)
Level 44: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(45), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Posi-Dam%(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(48), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 4: Ninja Run
Any suggestions, advice, etc.? Thanks for reading.
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Originally Posted by chief_beef
I forgot to ask in my original post...are brutes "expected" to take taunt like tanks generally are?
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I'd vote no. It's hard for a Brute to actually absorb all the punishment that a Tanker does. At least for the secondaries you are considering, until you really IO out a character you won't want the attention of a whole spawn.
Taunt is useful for making sure you have some (but not all) aggro for Fury, and occasionally to save a teammate. You should expect your teammates to hold some aggro or deal with it some how. Red-side generally plays a bit differently than blue and this is one of the ways it does.
the ss/fire brute is a great time. been playing it a lot for a couple weeks. time to finish the claw/elec.
I liked SS a lot on my /shield and /fire, but lately I've been getting extremely annoyed at having to constantly stop for the rage crash. I'm currently leveling a Brute that has superb survivability, good AoE, and NEVER, EVER, EVER has to stop. Claws/WP. I'm looking forward to the "toggle and kill" playstyle. Claws is fast enough to keep it from getting boring and has enough AoE damage to make up for the lack of shield charge or burn/fiery embrace. Won't do quite as much damage, but it'll be a load of fun to play.
Most brutes do not take taunt. It is a useful tool, with many applications, but it wastes a power choice and in truth Brutes do not need it. The only possible desperate need is when you are in a large group and people keep hogging your agro. Then taunt will circle them around you for more fun.
A comment was made above about Brutes not taking the damage tanks can, so no taunt. There is a lot of truth to that. There is also a lot of truth to Brutes being the premier meat shield in the game, the only one redside for a very long time, and many builds (Stone, Invul, when tweaked a bit, Willpower when outright built out like a billionaire can do, and Dark/dark also taking a few billion to set right) will tank very seriously. Stone and Dark will generally only work at 38+, and Will shines as a easy tanking experience in mid 20s to mid 30s when the tweaks need to be seriously done. Invul Brute makes a fun redside tank for everything except Psi missions, although you will sacrifice some damage output for a solid tank build. Of these 4 that I mention only Will and Stone would generally take taunt, even tanking.
The general rule for a Brute is to run in first, survive the alpha while it pegs your rage bar, and smash. Working with a good Dom can spoil you, cause they hardly need you except for mop up. This run in 1st tactic will work with almost all PUGs, no taunt needed, right up until the team can no longer handle the spawns at all. Smart squishies use the brute as a ghetto troller, getting all the mob attention, then doing their thing.
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With i19 on the way and a bit of a slot-crunch coming since you'll have 3 new power choices but no new slots Taunt makes a lot of sense for a Brute. It's a very handy tool for certain Brutes, especially those ones which like enemies close to fuel their buff auras (WP, Inv and Shield).|
Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
Most brutes do not take taunt. It is a useful tool, with many applications, but it wastes a power choice and in truth Brutes do not need it. The only possible desperate need is when you are in a large group and people keep hogging your agro. Then taunt will circle them around you for more fun.
A comment was made above about Brutes not taking the damage tanks can, so no taunt. There is a lot of truth to that. There is also a lot of truth to Brutes being the premier meat shield in the game, the only one redside for a very long time, and many builds (Stone, Invul, when tweaked a bit, Willpower when outright built out like a billionaire can do, and Dark/dark also taking a few billion to set right) will tank very seriously. Stone and Dark will generally only work at 38+, and Will shines as a easy tanking experience in mid 20s to mid 30s when the tweaks need to be seriously done. Invul Brute makes a fun redside tank for everything except Psi missions, although you will sacrifice some damage output for a solid tank build. Of these 4 that I mention only Will and Stone would generally take taunt, even tanking. The general rule for a Brute is to run in first, survive the alpha while it pegs your rage bar, and smash. Working with a good Dom can spoil you, cause they hardly need you except for mop up. This run in 1st tactic will work with almost all PUGs, no taunt needed, right up until the team can no longer handle the spawns at all. Smart squishies use the brute as a ghetto troller, getting all the mob attention, then doing their thing. |
The -Range is also pretty handy for encouraging things to get closer (and to stop paying attention to that Scrapper and to hit you instead for that lovely Fury).
It's not a must-have but it's effectiveness out of the box can make it a useful pick.
Recently I was diagnosed with a(nother) case of alt-itis. This time around the recommended treatment is a brute. The problem is deciding what combo to use. I made a claws/elec brute which is only at 15. Seems ok but until I can get stamina I'm having some serious end issues. I've also been entertaining the idea of a fire melee brute. Almost made a fire/elec instead of the claws. Indecision abounds. I believe what I'm looking for is what I've seen called a "buzzsaw build." The options I'm torn between are as follows:
claws/elec (started)
fire/elec
fire/fire
ss/?? thinking fire armor again. +rech proc in footstomp being a good part of the allure.
I've been into scrappers lately and want to try a fury building machine now that they're not confined to the dismal Rogue Isles. What are the thoughts on these combos? With the big thing nowadays being +def via set bonuses am I going to be struggling and/or selling myself short if I go with a resistance based set? Or will all that resistance plus def bonuses give me good survivability? I don't need to be able to function as a tank in extreme situations I'm just trying to avoid a multitude of embarrassing ground-kissing scenarios. Whilst cranking out (hopefully) obscene damage of course.
Which of these seems well suited for my goals? Am I looking at the wrong powers for such a purpose? I do have the means to equip high end io's although I don't see myself dropping a bil+ on any 1 enh.
Thank you very much in advance for any help.