Energy Aura

EA needs the buffed version that protean uses, or at least the version of Energy Drain that he uses.

I have to admit this thread intrigued me since my newest toon
(and only new one since GR's release) is a KM/EA Brute in Praetoria.

Since I work a ton I don't get the chance to play as much as I would like,
I have had some time to notice that I can tell EA is gonna be on the squishie side the higher I get....
and combined with the KM I have noticed they suck end like a ****.
(More than the usual toon to lev 14 it feels to me)

It is the first time I have ever tried a EA toon of any sort.
I got it mainly for the way it looks....
I will probably keep it a while also....
but I doubt if I ever attempt another, LOL

After 4 years on the game, about 20 lev 50s..... and toooooOoooOoo many alts deleted in my memory....
EA is not for someone who wants a sturdy defense

I have been thinking about making a Dark Melee/Energy Aura Brute. He will be all ghost/assassin/stalker in terms of theme, but he will be a brute. How does this build look? I figured I'd go with the DM primary so that Siphon Life could make my life easier on survival with the flaky defenses. Also I'll be playing to level 22 as a Villain then I'll probably "tip" over to Hero and avoid all the toxic and psi that I can avoid.

Lewis

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Silent Strike: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- (A)(7)(7)(13)(36)(39)
Level 1: Kinetic Shield -- (A)(15)(15)(19)(45)(46)
Level 2: Smite -- (A)(3)(3)(13)(34)(39)
Level 4: Shadow Maul -- (A)(5)(5)(11)(34)
Level 6: Power Shield -- (A)(17)(17)(19)(46)(46)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- (A)(9)(9)(11)(21)(21)
Level 10: Entropy Shield -- (A)
Level 12: Hasten -- (A)(36)(36)
Level 14: Super Speed -- (A)
Level 16: Hurdle -- (A)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- (A)(40)(40)(43)(45)(45)
Level 20: Health -- (A)
Level 22: Stamina -- (A)(23)(23)
Level 24: Energy Cloak -- (A)(25)(25)(27)(50)(50)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- (A)(27)(31)(31)(37)(37)
Level 28: Energy Drain -- (A)(29)(29)(31)(37)(40)
Level 30: Dampening Field -- (A)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- (A)(33)(33)(33)(34)(39)
Level 35: Combat Jumping -- (A)
Level 38: Boxing -- (A)
Level 41: Tough -- (A)(42)(42)(42)(43)(43)
Level 44: Energy Protection -- (A)
Level 47: Taunt -- (A)(48)(48)(48)(50)
Level 49: Superior Conditioning -- (A)

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UnicyclePeon,


You'll want to drop Dark Consumption at lvl 18 and get Stamina earlier instead. After you get Energy Drain at lvl 28, DC will be completely outclassed by it and un-needed. I'd get Health at 18 instead and move Stamina to 20.


I'd also recommend dropping Energy Protection and Superior Conditioning. Both are completely useless on an EA Brute. Energy Protection might as well be nothing at all, and Energy Drain, once again, means that Superior Conditioning is very un-neccessary (yes, it's that good). Since you are getting tough, go ahead and keep Dampening Field since it will stack decently with Tough, granting you just shy of 30% +res to smash lethal, which will help soften up some of those big hitters that may slip through. Plus, it makes a decent IO dump for any bonuses you may want to aquire (Steadfast anyone?).


Edit:
Also, I would highly suggest that you drop taunt. You truely will NOT need it. In fact, you won't want a large amount of aggro bearing down on you all at once anyways, especially on a large team. Too much "direct" aggro can be brutal on an EA Brute, and if being the "tank" is your goal, this is completely the wrong secondary for you. The dev's make that clear by give you a "cloak" along with ZERO damage/taunt auras (Energy Drain is a horrible taunt aura and is wasted when used as one)


Instead of those two passives, I'd HIGHLY recommend that you take Weave and maybe even try to fit in a fully slotted Manuevers. Getting your EA Brute closer to the soft-cap will be much better than anything those passives will ever do for you. Furthermore, adding Weave and Manuevers will give you at least "some" protection to Psi attacks, which is the bane of all EA existance. I also notice that you don't have Overload. I will say that alot of people do really love that tier9 power and take it, and for good reason. Sometimes, it will be your ONLY true protection from Psi, in that it will greatly boost your hitpoints, allowing you to take ALOT more damage when facing Psi or Toxic enemies. In fact, because that is what "I" primarily use it for, for PvE purposes I slot it with 3 Rech and 3 Heal. For PvE there's no need to slot for increased Defense in that power. The base defense it will grant you is more than enough to cap you to all other damage types anyways, so you might as well get the most you can out of the HP buff, and use it when psi and toxic is being tossed around like candy. Coupled with the moderate defenses you'll get to psi from Manuevers, Weave, Energy Cloak, and CJ, and Overload can definitely help you withstand psi and toxic damage for a good while. The crash isn't horrid either.


Anyways, I have a lvl 50 DM/EA Brute, and I have to say, it's the BEST pairing with EA that I've found so far. DM greatly helps in filling the holes that EA has. It's still not the "best" combo out there, not by far, but it's definitely a solid one and I highly recommend it. I honestly cannot recommend any other primary for EA except possibly Stone Melee, simply because EA really can be that weak in late game.


EA still needs ALOT of help to bring it in line with other defensive sets, but for now DM, and to a lesser extent Stone Melee, can serve as decent crutches until we get that long needed fix/buff.

Got to agree with most of DarkMaster's post.

A DM/EA Brute - especially one taking Stamina as well, ALREADY has a more Endurance than they know what to do with. Dark Consumption, Energy Drain, and Stamina make any additional Endurance boosting - like Superior Conditioning, or the +Recovery IO in health - almost criminally redundant.

Actually, that IO is a bad choice. If you are going for a single IO, at least go for Numina's Unique... But I think Regenerative Tissue's +Regen Unique would serve this character better in total.

Weave will help a lot, I highly suggest picking it up. That alone should take help your overall defense immensely.

As a personal suggestion, put the +3% Def IO in one of the Auto powers - Dampening Field, for example. Sure, you'll loose one point of resistance, but I think that would be a more optimal arrangement...

Speaking of which, if you can stand farming it up (It's what, 35 Hero/Villain Merits?), there is a second +3% Defense Resistance IO in the PVP set. While the Teleportation protection is redundant, it might be worth the effort. Combined with CJ, your existing defenses, and Weave instead of taunt... all together, this should get you at least up to 20% Psionic Defense, which is about the point where Defense starts actually meaning something... Not to mention just shy of 30% Defense to all positions, which is even better vs. most psychic attacks.

Snag Overload. It is that good, and Energy Aura often needs to rely on its god-mode power to keep going.

All together though, this will be a very solo-oriented character. Dark Melee does not lend itself to large teams, and Energy Aura is the same. You can build up a significant amount of protection with this (insanely expensive) build, although you will still find that anything that gets through is going to cut you down fast.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies. Sorry it took me so long to respond.

I won't take Overload on principle. I won't defend this principle or even say what it is, because it is based on emotion and preference, not reason.

As for everything else, I'm open to the suggestions.

The reason I had taken both Dark Consumption and Energy Drain is that I wanted the set bonuses from Dark Consumption. I am currently level 23 and I enjoy having Dark Consumption, but perhaps I won't need it after I get Energy Drain. Of course, my Energy Drain won't be well-slotted for some time, but I might respec and readjust slots.

I will need to pick up the lost smashing/lethal defense from dropping Dark Consumption and it's set bonus. I guess I could pick up Flurry and throw another Kinetic Combat set at it. I have 7 full sets in my base. Or I guess I could use Smashing Haymaker instead since I only need the 1.88% to equal what I lost. Or I could throw the slots on Boxing and work that into my chain. Actually, when I19 goes live and Stamina becomes inherent, I could pick up Air Superiority. Hmm.

But again, I'll have to try it out. I'm an endurance *****. I'm nervous about trying to maintain weave (or both weave and maneuvers) with only one of the 2 drains.

As for Taunt, again, I did it for the set bonues. i guess maneuvers or weave are better. I wanted to avoid the end cost of them. I also like taunt for pulling groups away from other nearby groups (more for when I'm teamed, I realize my stealth doesnt suppress on this guy).

I'll think about the suggestions and see if I can work them in, and/or try them on as I level up.

Thanks,

Lewis

I have a lvl 50 Spine/EA Stalker.

/EA is decent but not great. I would take willpower and ninjitsu over EA any day.

I was trying to farm at +6 in newspaper mish. The first two went well against CoT and Councils. The third mish is Carnies. Well, my spines did a lot of damage on carnies (lethal) but man, there were two Master Illusionists and I completely forgot I have zero psionic resistance. I died in 7s. lol I wasn't even paying attention to my health 'cause I forgot EA has a huge hole in Psi damage.

I don't plan on filling that psionic damage hole with sets. I don't think Energy Aura is worth the trouble to be honest but you can try to add as much psionic defense or resistance if you want.

The aoe heal is little with just one or two targets. My complaint on the heal is that it takes a while for the healing to kick in. Brute can probably enjoy the healing more than Stalker.


I see Brute Energy Aura as a unique stalker-like build. You get an unsuppressed stealth. I've seen Fiery/EA Brute jumping from mob to mob without being seen. It was funny.

PS: I hate that replusion aura in Stalker.

PS2: Type defense from sets is freaking expensive. Good luck.

I run a KM/EA brute, and he does pretty well all and all. Yes, I have CJ and Maneuvers, old habits from my fire tank. He is solo-centric, or if in teams, he's not tanking. I use him as a surgical strike system, rush in, do damage, get out. Those "You have 5 minutes until the PPD arrive" missions are a snap.