SS = Claws > stone is about where its as far as epicness imo. SS and claws are both someone tied and both have great synergy with WP, i LIKE SS more but thats just me. Stone, its got great mit but imo its got crappy end (WP should help with that of course though) and not great AoE. Really with any 3 of them you will do fine.
"I have ridden the mighty moon worm!"
-Al Gore
Fiery Aura is only good for farming, I'm cereal
@Caucasiafro
Seems just about anything can pair with with /WP - although I don't have much experience with that set past 20ish. It's a solid secondary though and you'll do well with it.
I like claws on a Brute too, but again haven't run one very far. Seems tailor made for fury though. SS seems to be everyone's "go to" primary, but if Ultrawatt considers them equals they probably are.
If you are looking for a decent mix of ST/AoE with mitigation, have you considered WM/? Maybe it's less epic without /SD for a damage buff though? Still it has all three of those parameters. Clobber has to be one of my favorite attacks thus far in the game, and CC is basically made of awesome once you start pulling really large spawns.
That said, I think you'd be stoked with a claws/wp build. I have one as an alt somewhere in her teens, I just don't get enough game time to really level many toons and have been concentrating on my one 50 lately.
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So by going with willpower you're source of staying alive is regen\resistance (and perhaps a little defense, depending on how you build it). With that being said, I find stone melee, which has AWESOME single target damage and fantastic mitigation works well with willpower as its knock up\downs and stuns allow you breathing room when you need it. Yes Stone Melee has a high endurance use, but that can be mitigated with stamina, quick recovery, and some smart IO slotting. SM\WP is one of my favorite combos. The single target damage with the 2 mallets and seismic SMASH do fantastic burst damage (and note...seismic smash is a mag4 hold too, claws doesn't have something like this) and Willpower is one of the few sets that can easily handle the endurance usage of the set (aside from electric armor and energy armor).|
Originally Posted by Supermax
Never played a brute past lvl 5, but this time I plan to. I've narrowed it down to WP, but I just can't decide on a primary. I'd rather not play a set I've played before, but I don't really have a choice, having played numerous scrappers and tanks.
My favorite toon is a fire/SS tank, and I guess I'm looking for something similar. That is, both good ST and AoE damage, with some mitigation. In the end, I've narrowed it down to claws or stone. But I don't want to level to like 40 just to realize that I should have gone with SS or something else to begin with. Basically, how is claws and stone melee on brutes? Which will work better with WP? And will I end up with a powerful toon, or will I be gimping myself for the sake of originality? Edit: Btw, I did try kin melee, but couldn't stand the animations, so that's out. Its AoE didn't seem good enough for my standards anyway, at least on paper. |
I personally haven't taken claws\willpower. Willpower benefits from a secondary that has some decent mitigation (primarily knock downs) because when you need a breather you can use it and slow down the incoming damage enough to regen it back (while keeping all your foes withing range of Rttc). With claws you don't have that. For mitigation you have focus, a single target knock down and shockwave, a large cone knockBACK. Problem is that shockwave likely will knock things out of RttC range, which takes away from your regen. Claws does have exceptional endurance usage and a good mix of single target attacks and a great AoE in spin. I think it would be fine after a little IO'ing out to get some defense in the build so you're not relying on mitigation. I'm not saying I don't think it wouldn't work..I happen to love claws, but for my first brute, I personally wouldn't do claws\wp.
stone\willpower will be endurance heavy, single target heavy (HIGH burst damage), with fantastic mitigation tools (single target ku\kd\hold, AoE kd\stun, and AoE KD).
claws\willpower will be endurance light, have decent single target damage with some multi-target attacks in spin (aoe), eviscerate (cone), and shockwave (cone+KB), but the mitigation tools are not as plentiful (which may or may not be needed depending on how you build it).
For a first serious brute I'd pick stone melee. It's more forgiving (as long as you can keep up with it's endurance usage) and it has that SMASH feel to it that defines many peoples view of brutes.
The Porcelain God - DarkKinetics Corruptor
Meat Juice - DarkDarkSoul Brute
Pretty and Strong - Do you really have to ask?
im also gonna recommend stone. its true its aoe is lackluster but i picked up dark detonation from soul and i do just fine.
i love that i can tear thru bosses/EBs with my ST attacks and by the time they are dead my aoe attacks have probably eliminated most of the minions. i picked everything from stone except hurl boulder. i kept fists so my attack chain can be more fluid and i can keep my fury very high
the knockdown is also an amazing boost to my effectiveness. alternating fault and tremor most things barely get an attack in edgewise and thats assuming they resisted the stun.
@Injenius~Virtue
Stonefather - 50 Stone/WP/Soul brute
Sable Affliction - Earth/Dark/Fire Dom
Wild Cipher - Beast/Time MM
Thanks for the advice everybody. I ended up making a claws/WP after all, even though it was a tough choice. Stone does seem to be good, and if I make another brute down the road, I'm pretty sure it will be that. But I really hate end issues, plus claws seems to have a better attack chain early on, which is important to me. The AoE at level 6 is also nice.
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Yeah that is definitely one of the great selling points of claws. I have considered making another claws brute (and picking what you did), but it's not my first...it'd be me 20-something brute that I've made since CoV launched (that I haven't deleted). I love me some SMASH!|
Originally Posted by Supermax
Thanks for the advice everybody. I ended up making a claws/WP after all, even though it was a tough choice. Stone does seem to be good, and if I make another brute down the road, I'm pretty sure it will be that. But I really hate end issues, plus claws seems to have a better attack chain early on, which is important to me. The AoE at level 6 is also nice.
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GL and hope you have fun with it.
The Porcelain God - DarkKinetics Corruptor
Meat Juice - DarkDarkSoul Brute
Pretty and Strong - Do you really have to ask?
Never played a brute past lvl 5, but this time I plan to. I've narrowed it down to WP, but I just can't decide on a primary. I'd rather not play a set I've played before, but I don't really have a choice, having played numerous scrappers and tanks.
My favorite toon is a fire/SS tank, and I guess I'm looking for something similar. That is, both good ST and AoE damage, with some mitigation. In the end, I've narrowed it down to claws or stone. But I don't want to level to like 40 just to realize that I should have gone with SS or something else to begin with. Basically, how is claws and stone melee on brutes? Which will work better with WP? And will I end up with a powerful toon, or will I be gimping myself for the sake of originality?
Edit: Btw, I did try kin melee, but couldn't stand the animations, so that's out. Its AoE didn't seem good enough for my standards anyway, at least on paper.