Brute Help!

Just back from a 3 year hiatus and looking to finally make a Brute.

I really want to make a SWAT like character and use WM(Police Baton) and SD (PPD Riot Shield) but not really sure if that's a good combo.

I noticed that Shield Defense is pretty much all Def and I was never real partial to Def on fighter types.

I want to get the pros and cons of the primary (WM) and secondary (SD) and if they work well together.

How is it for teaming? Soloing? And arena?

Primaries I'd consider are BA, Claws, DB, FM & SM and secondaries would really only be WP.

Any help would be great help and much appreciated. Thanks!

WM is a good set like any other set. It has some knock up and knock down which comes in very handy. It also hits very hard. I have a WM brute and he was much fun to play. More importantly (IMO) you've thought up a good theme for a character and power sets that thematically work with what you are trying to accomplish, so you should have lots of fun.

Go for it.

WM/SD is a good combo and there is some synergy going on, as KD's help prevent the defense failcascade SD is so known for. SD provides you the AoE efficiency WM lacks, as well.

Put a Force Feedback proc into Crowd Control and Shield Charge should be up very often.

Okay, cool. I was worried I was going to make a below average brute. He's great fun so far and the theme really makes me want to play him.

I also fooled around last night and made a Kinetic Melee/Willpower Brute and gotta say, he's pretty fun so far.

Anyone have any insight on that build?

Thanks!

i tried a kin/will brute thru to 20, and parked him. That knockback, even though it is manageable, it is not good. Especially with a WP brute, cause it knocks them out of your area and so your health regen will suffer. It might work for another defense type, and add damage mitigation, something that has no PBAoE aura, or anything that requires mobs in close for effects. Since I normally play Will or Invul, it is not for me. Maybe Super Reflexes....?

One caveat about Shields: it's a bit on the squishy side early on compared to sets like Willpower. Just make sure to load up on Lucks before each mission. Swing by a contact, an arena or Architect Entertainment and fill your insp tray. Popping even 1 small Luck makes you incredibly sturdy; it's great for enabling you to jump in and be lead brute on a large team.

As you get higher level, a combination of slotting up and layering on additional defense will make you a lot tougher. At level 50, the only thing that is serious kryptonite to my brute is Devouring Earth--when they drop a crystal eminator it basically allows them all to ignore defense.

One thing I strongly recommend is for you to monitor your defense on screen: click the Powers menu, then click the Combat Attributes menu, then right click on your key defense attributes and select "monitor". That way you can instantly see if you're being debuffed. Very handy.

Nice tip Sardan, i will experiment wit this myself.

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up parking the Kin/WP brute and have been playing the WM/SD brute non stop. WM is really kicking A and taking names, I like the attack chain so far. Also, haven't really run into too many problems with SD so far and I will be sure to grab purps before I enter a mission.

I have the same combo as a tank, and was very satisfied with it. I feel a brute would be awesome as well.

Its nice having High & Superior attacks so early. Really helps out when Rage starts building up. One shotting minions or some Lts is never a bad thing

A friend of mine built a WM/ELa recently, and the wonderful thing we both noticed is that WM is full of KD and mitigation goodness. Plus it hits like a truck. I think a fury and AAO backed WM would definitely put the hurt on mobs.

We were dual farming, and of course, he completely upstaged my shiny new km/wp. KM looks and sounds cool for a moment, but lacks in several areas. I certainly think WM/SD would be not only great for a concept, but it would be a versatile PVEr too.

Can't speak for WM, but SD is decent. Mostly defense with some resists it's also good for offense adding an AoE attack and an attack boost through Against All Odds.