That entirely depends on your playstyle, expectations and budget. Personally, I'd say that a SS/SD is better overall, definitively tougher, but a SS/FA should be able to crank out more damage.
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SS/FA is extremely popular for farming because of the great AOE damage. I prefer SS/SD since it farms very well, but is a bit better for actually playing the game.
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Originally Posted by Prancing_Pony
which is better for all round pve?
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Heh, a lot also depends on how much you wanna invest. Any toon can be given enough durability to handle general PVE.|
Originally Posted by Prancing_Pony
which is better for all round pve?
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FA is harder to get durable than shield, but FA does...SO much damage. (whew)
Slot a FA for max def+recharge and it's a true monster.
Do the same for SD and it's a true monster.
SD tends to be a bit stronger on burst damage, FA is a lot stronger on general damage.
SS/FA has worse status resists (no KB protect outside of IOs or Acrobatics). It does way better damage to heavily smashing resistant foes (thanks to Blazing Aura and Fiery Embrace). It has a self-heal, which is nice, but it needs it more, due to generally being a squishier set. SD is a layer set (defense, resistance, + HP, -dam from AAO). FA is resistance and healing, and that is it.
The big problem with SS/SD is the multiple END crashes (especially if you get Hasten, and what Brute doesn't love Hasten)? Rage/hasten/status effect prot all going off. Rage in particular is a pain in the butt before you get it perma, because in addition to causing 10 secs of little damage when it crashes, it torpedoes your defenses. So you need to know to duck out of combat until the debuff is off you.
SS/FA is all smash all the time, especially when you get Consume. SS/SD has higher highs but deeper lows. Both are fun.
which is better for all round pve?