claws in the late game?

So I've decided that it's time to make another brute. I have quite a few brutes at 50, but I don't have a single claws brute (I had a claws\dark once, but I deleted him early in life, regrettably). I started a claws\inv brute today and while getting him spun up (ha!) it occurred to me that while he'll perform well in the early-mid game, the lethal resistance in the late game may be something of a problem for him (especially for /inv since it has no damage boosting power). For those of you who've taken claws all the way, is this something that you've run into or noticed and if so, would you do it again knowing what you know now?

The whole smashing/lethal mob resistance thing is a bag of bovine poo. You'll do fine with claws. They're awesome for both AoE and ST. And you don't need a damage boosting power in your secondary since you have one in your primary.

it is not poo, it is significant. I lost it with a HD failure but I used to have a screenshot of headsplitter against a Freak Tank with the attack itself dealing less damage than the Armageddon proc in it. I will cop to only having I think 80% damage slotted into the power at the time, but the point is it is not total crap. Taking lethal weapons against robots or other heavily resistant enemies can be very frustrating.

On the other hand, claws is one of the best lethal sets available. You can slot both chance for buildup procs into your attacks thanks to focus and follow up. You don't have to pause to use build up since claws gets it in focus. You can slot the Achilles Heel AND thanks to follow up, you can slot more purple procs than most weapon sets allow. You also have some knock for mitigation. All of this gives claws an edge against lethal-resistant foes.

By the way, Carnies take 5-10% bonus damage from lethal. As a late-game enemy that many hate, you may find them to be right up your alley. Circle of Thorns have very few (just the etherials who don't show up late game in preference for demons) who are lethal resistant. The Rularuu you can devastate any of them but the brutes. Malta, only the titans and gunslingers will give you any trouble. Council/5th column it's only the robots and wolves you'll have trouble with. Arachnos and longbow is quite frustrating though.

I have fought beside many claws allies against a variety of enemies, and I assure you, you will enjoy the set late game. I have my own coming up. I have high-level broadsword, axe, dual pistols, and dual swords. Only broadsword has disappointed me in performance.

Claws has never really disappointed me. Facing something that resist your attacks is just called game balance.

I love claws. I had exactly the same thoughts as you about smashing/lethal and it kept me from playing certain sets for a long time. I finally decided to just play claws/sr and it is the best brute I have ever made. Anything that has resistance to your attacks dies in 10 seconds instead of 5. It is not a huge deal at all and I only notice it personally on robots and they still die very quickly.

The best advice is to not let anything keep you from playing what you want to play and just play whatever you think will make you happy.

I still have VERY bad altitis and even I can't stop playing my L50 Claws/SR Brute. He just rocks.

I can't get enough of claws4broots. It's delicious. Don't sweat the lethal resistances, they are not a big deal.

Thanks all for your input. Just about all of my brutes are smashing, fire, or energy damage types and was just wondering if I'd go nuts in the 40+ game with robots and stuff that are pretty resistant.

Indeed. It seems I was in a rush.


And yeah, you'll suddenly start loving carnies.

Between Focus, Shockwave, and Energy Torrent...most mobs are to busy flopping around on the ground like fish to even get a chance to attack my claws brute anyways. So who cares how long it takes to kill them!

Seriously though, Spin is ridiculous whether it's lethal or not. I have energy, fire, or Psy damage procs in all my attacks which helps a lot, and taking either Gloom or Energy Torrent helps too. The only time I even notice it is when fighting some robots like the Malta. Most the time entire mobs just melt.

Klawz4brOOtz!!!

I have 2 Claws now and still don't have SHockwave

Can't say enough good things about EViscerate though.

Claws is excellent 1-50. I have a nearly kitted-out claw/inv scrapper, and a 50 claw/sr brute who rocks even though she is still stuck in her leveling build (legacy fitness and no follow-up). Sometimes I notice something is taking longer to kill, and then it's dead.

I'm actually leveling a claw/inv brute because I liked the end result so much on a scrapper, except for all that wasted +hp staring me in the face.

No shockwave or Evis in my build. Soft capped Claws/WP brute. straight single DPS/tank build (but yes, I have AND use, spin)

late game? Lethal resists or not, nothing is surviving the blender that is - CLAWS

Yeah I've been pretty happy with my claws\inv so far, definitely what I expected in terms of flow of fury . Getting spin early really is a god send.

Claws are good but I can't get my Claws/SR Brute past 180dps on a pylon running FU-Focus-Slash-Swipe.

I should probably cram in more recharge -- to run FU-Focus-Slash or FU-Focus-Evis (w/ -RES proc) -- but it's expensive and hard in an already tight build.

I would suspect the BF-AV chain on DB, or DM's chain (Smite-MG-Smite-SL) would deal higher DPS at same sort of medium-purpled kit-out. Also Iggy has been getting stupid DPS (300+) out of a SS/Fire/Soul brute using a chain of something like Gloom-Haymaker-Burn-Gloom-KO (see pylon thread in scrapper forum).

So it sort of depends what you're after.

Claws/SR. It's like playing a rotary saw in a force field.

made a Claws/FA Brute, me likey a lot. :3

My only problem with Brute Claws is it seems to live or die on the uberness that is Spin. A power which, somehow, escaped the Brute Claws adjustment that happened just after the set went live. I've always had a sinking feeling that that oversight was just that, an oversight, and the sword of Damocles hangs over it (and if that wasn't an oversight, I'd love to know the rationale for lowering the damage in every single power in the set except for that one).

Reminds me very much of the situation Dominator Psionic Assault had before it was adjusted. The set was considered good, but only for the strength of a single power in it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Brute Claws. I think Brute Claws is the ultimate incarnation of the set. I might not mind Spin being brought down if every other power in the set was brought up to make up for it, much as happened with Psi Assault (Psi Assault is a much better set now than it was then). The current situation just feels inelegant and poorly balanced from a design perspective, but I don't think anything needs to be done about it, Brute Claws is the best Claws in the game. It just tweaks my sense of design a bit.

WARNING: I bold names.

Went with Claws/WP myself, though Claws/SR is a darn fine choice. SR is my favorite melee armor set, and you just have to love the 1 inspiration godmode the set brings (heck, with just fully-slotted SR and Combat Jumping, 1 small Defense inspiration puts you at 44% defense!) No other set in the game can quite pull that off. And where SR really shines for Brutes is it neatly avoids Recharge Slows for the most part. Combine the recharge discount of Claws with Quick Reflexes...yeah, Claws/SR is awesome.

The thing they did with Brutes Claws that I like is made it slower and heavier hitting (slower recharge means more damage as you know). It's still fast, but not so fast that it feels too "clicky" (my one complaint about Stalker and Scrapper Claws).

WARNING: I bold names.

I just started a claws/dark, but have never played the pair before. Wish me luck!

I compare my Claws Brute to my Claws Stalker. The Stalker has to click way more attacks to kill anything, nevermind whole groups (or at the very least it feels like it). I keep rolling and deleting Claws Scrappers because of the "clicky" feeling (though it's not as bad as the Stalker). The Brute? Oh, it's clickier than, say, my Super Strength Brute, but nowhere near as bad as the Stalker and definitely better than the Scrappers.

Keep in mind this feeling of clickiness is subjective, and possibly pure perception rather than mathematical reality, so YMMV.

WARNING: I bold names.