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My Kinvul is a beast of a brute. I recommend it.
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Originally Posted by Texan08
I just recently returned to the game after a very long break. I'm wanting to build a concept character but I also want it to perform well. I'm looking for advice on the following set pairings, pros/cons that sort of thing.
KM/EA SS/EA KM/Inv Thanks for any advice! |
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."
I'm really leaning towards SS/EA for concept, but I've read so many bad things about EA.
Is this not a good combo for someone that doesn't have a ton of influence to spend?
Will I regret not going SS/Inv over SS/EA?
I appreciate any advice, Thanks!
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EA really isn't that bad as long as you don't compare it to anything good. The set fulfills its basic core functionality of making your Brute harder to kill than a squishy, and spices it up with some nice endurance management tools, a stealth power, and a not-completely-worthless heal. If you have lots of other Brutes to compare with, either your own or those of others, you may find that your /EA Brute seems a bit squishier, but operating in a vacuum, you will most likely enjoy your performance. Besides, with IO sets out there on multi-billion Inf toons, even the toughest SO Brute will seem squishy compared to somebody.|
Originally Posted by Texan08
I'm really leaning towards SS/EA for concept, but I've read so many bad things about EA.
Is this not a good combo for someone that doesn't have a ton of influence to spend? Will I regret not going SS/Inv over SS/EA? I appreciate any advice, Thanks! |
As long as you don't have epeen issues that demand that you always play *THE* most potent set on all your characters, /EA should be fine. Who knows, maybe eventually EA will get a solid round of buffs to bring it up to the level of WP and Invuln.
TEH WERDZ ON SKREEN HURTZ MI BRANE!
Interestingly enough, I just started an SS/EnA brute. He's only 5 at the moment, but I love the character concept and the combo seems interesting. I may have to rely on Footstomp to survive more, but still...
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Originally Posted by Texan08
Will I regret not going SS/Inv over SS/EA? |
You'll probably regret going EA after a while.
Maybe not at first, since you wont have anything to compare it to as it's your first character in a while. After a point, though, you'll get tired of your secondary being so utterly useless and you'll start looking at every other Brute secondary with envious eyes.
In the end though, it's entirely up to you. You may find you actually like the set.
No way to know unless you dive in head first and try it out.
If you feel not liking and having to reroll a character is too great a downside, I suggest going with a safer bet until EA gets some love.
"Through Avarice evil smiles; through insanity it sings"
Forum Troll Rule #1: Anyone who disagrees with my point of view is either a fanboy or an idiot.
I'm a proud carebear.
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Ya know what's funny? I pretty much did the same thing with my SS/Invuln. He's sitting at 30 right now... has been for quite a while. It's my first attempt at Invuln... and hearing how ubar the set it, I was pretty disappointed that he wasn't doing better at that stage... so I left him and finished leveling my Elec/SR. lol.
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Originally Posted by Faolon
You'll probably regret going EA after a while.
Maybe not at first, since you wont have anything to compare it to as it's your first character in a while. After a point, though, you'll get tired of your secondary being so utterly useless and you'll start looking at every other Brute secondary with envious eyes. |
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EA can get the following from taking all the defense/resistance powers it has access to, plus Tough, Weave and Combat Jumping:|
Originally Posted by Texan08
I'm really leaning towards SS/EA for concept, but I've read so many bad things about EA. Is this not a good combo for someone that doesn't have a ton of influence to spend? Will I regret not going SS/Inv over SS/EA? I appreciate any advice, Thanks!
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S/L Def: 34.8%That's not bad at all, really. Throw in a Steadfast 3% and you get a nice bump to all those defenses and it shouldn't break the bank. Make it a Hasten build to keep Conserve Power & Energy Drain going, as well as Footstomp, KOB & Rage.
E Def: 41.3%
N Def: 31.2%
F/C Def: 38.3%
Psi Def: 14.7%
S/L Res: 29.6%
E Res: 14.9%
N Res: 11.9%
F/C Res: 0.0%
Psi Res: 0.0%
Tox Res: 14.9%
To avoid set costs, add in Maneuvers. That will be another 3.75% defense to all if fully slotted. With Weave, Maneuvers, the Steadfast 3%, and all your other powers, you should be softcapped to E/F/C. S/L will be close at ~41.3%. Negative will be at ~37.8% and Psi will be ~21.3%. A single purple insp will softcap S/L & Negative, but it'll take two for Psi, which still isn't bad.
Thanks for all the replies.
After playing the last couple days I've changed my mind once again.
I've narrowed it down to SS/Inv and SS/Fire
I know SS/Inv is pretty solid all around but I have a few questions on SS/Fire.
I've read that SS/Fire is an amazing farm build but how is for an all around PVE build.
I enjoy grouping and enjoy AE dmg. Will I be too squishy for the aggro I would get from the AE dmg?
Also I would be taking the flight pool for concept reasons. Would it gimp me if I didnt take the leaping pool?
Hover provides the exact same benefit to defense as combat jumping, but the downside is you can't use foot stomp because you're not on the ground.
I prefer hover because it makes you invulnerable to movement slows like caltrops.
I also can't stand "must be near or on ground to use" powers.
I like kinetic melee because the damage debuff to the enemy just multiplies the strength of your resistance and helps on any attacks that will get through your defense. Siphon Power also gives a very nice damage buff and a little to-hit buff. It can't hurt.
I've been leveling a kinetic melee/energy aura brute that is at 31. I do wish I had positional defense instead of specific damage types because of holes int he build, but it feels much stronger than the last time I tried it. It also performed much better in Praetoria than willpower, especially against the syndicate(sword masters for one) before they were adjusted somewhat.
Energy Aura is endurance heavy and does require a pretty tight power selection in order to get close to or capped defense to anything.
I like it, but it's not my favorite. I'm trying things out still. I've played the game over 27 months and still don't have a really great 50 for farming to build up alts and such.
My first 50 was an energy melee/invulnerability brute, who felt awesome, but my wp/ss tanker now takes the cake from him. I used to farm the mother mayhem mission with all the psionic enemies with him.
I'm actually now trying to pick the best secondary for a kinetic melee brute. I tried a scrapper, but fury is too addicting and trumps crits easily.
I'm currently working on a kinetic/shield brute for the positional defense and pretty good resistance. It's great so far even though he's not level 10 yet and mostly unslotted.
I originally overlooked shield because I would rather not deal with recharge slows and a click mez protection power, but it has advantages and recharge slows can be dealt with.
I recommend playing around with quite a few of your top picks for secondaries and primaries, at least to level 20 or so when Stamina changes the game for you. You'll have a good idea how it will be right around then.
Of course, Stamina becoming inherent will probably make it much better even before 20 if we get it earlier.
Also, try shield defense. It's rather cool and has some power.
I just recently returned to the game after a very long break. I'm wanting to build a concept character but I also want it to perform well. I'm looking for advice on the following set pairings, pros/cons that sort of thing.
KM/EA
SS/EA
KM/Inv
Thanks for any advice!