a mob rippin brute!

ok im just looking for what primary and what secondary i should choose aswell as the epic (hero or villain) i want to be able to rip up mobs i was thinking SS/WP/Mu or SS/WP/BM,tell me waht u think

SS/fire/soul is good at that.

Hmm good point, /fire is a bit squishy before you soft cap s/l. But one you get there you’re gonna kill anything before it can even touch you. :P
I guess I’d go with SS/elec/pyre then. I mean /WP is great and all in the really early lvls but it just offers NOTHING for offence and is only really average in terms of pre-IO survivability.
You could try */SD/pyre, i personally like claws/SD but just like /fire i think /SD needs IOs before it good.

Yeah, like ultrawatt said, it depends how much you're willing to invest in the build. SS/Fire can be built to be pretty sturdy (I've soloed a MoITF with mine), but not as sturdy as other secondaries with the same investment.

WP doesn't offer much for offense, no, but there's a lot to be said for not dying. I beg to differ about the 'average' survivability of a pre-IO WP. Against smash/lethal enemies who are NOT level 40+ longbow WP is well above average in its survival and its well rounded defenses in heightened senses mean there are very few kryptonite groups out there for you.

Elec is squishier than fire against most things but it does get the ability to say 'screw you' to several troublesome enemies (Peacebringer PPD, Malta Sappers, Carnies in general) to make up for it. Like fire it gets a lot better when you throw defense bonuses at it... but since they're both about the same cost to softcap you have to ask yourself which is more important to you: unlimited endurance (Elec) or unrivaled damage (Fire).

Fire is lousy in large mobs until you start throwing defense bonuses at it, as mentioned... then it becomes a primordial force of nature.

In summary:

WP = cheap, dependable, able to handle large mobs of several common factions on SOs. Elec = pricey, damage aura, recharge bonus, unlimited endurance. Fire = pricey, unrivaled damage output.

Well, let's look at the numbers. Before enhancing - Elec/Fire

Smash/Lethal: 26.25/22.5
Energy: 61.9/22.5
Negative Energy: 22.5/22.5
Fire: 26.25/67.5
Cold: 26.25/22.5
Psi: 26.25/0
Toxic: 0/15 after healing flames

Resistance wise they're very close to each other - electric armor ignores energy damage and fire ignores fire damage. Electric armor does get psi resistance so it does come out slightly ahead by base numbers.

Until their self heals are factored in: Healing Flames heals for more and recharges faster (40 seconds vs 120 seconds).

With similar numbers (except for one area of expertise each) and with Fire Aura having a self heal that comes up three times as often at base numbers how is electric armor NOT squishier than Fire Aura against 'most things' as I stated?

(Note: I didn't mention Electric Armor's god mode because like all god modes it's unreliable in general play. It's there, though, and it's a thing of brutastic beauty.)

You're downplaying the Energy and Psychic resistance advantages, end drain immunity advantage, and don't forget Elec can drain a spawn dry with Power Sink if things get too hot.

And Energize heals more than Healing Flames through the +Regen.

I may be, but I don't believe I am. Enemy groups that have fire damage usually have energy damage (Carnies, Council, Malta, late game Circle of Thorns). More have energy damage but no fire (Arachnos, Tsoo, late game PPD, the Rikti, Freakshow) than have fire but no energy damage (Longbow outside of a few Wardens, Cimerorans) so I'll give you that energy damage is more common than fire damage. Elec's area of expertise comes up more often. However, I didn't think I was downplaying it. I'd already listed several late game groups as 'problem groups' that elec all but ignores.

I've never noticed energizes regeneration bonus to play a factor is how long my electric brute stays on her feet, but that's anecdotal evidence instead of quantifiable. How large a bonus is it by the numbers?

I find the +regen makes Energize's heal about 50% stronger than Healing Flames' heal in terms of HP per activation.

Energy and Psychic are much, MUCH more common damage types than Fire lategame(add praetorian clockwork to your list). Unless you're doing specialized farms.

Praetorian clockwork have flamethrowers so if anything I'd put them in my 'mixed' list. Also they have -regen, which reduces Energizes healing by a lot if your numbers are accurate.

ive been looking into this hard and im thinking SS/SR
SS is amazing due to perma footstomp and perma rage
SR because if i can get tthe def softcapped then my survivability would be very nice,
but im also thinking possibly SS/Elec because elecs -end to enemies and rage's crash may be a match made in heaven

In the end it's the Defense penalty from Rage crash (which I think you can still work around by stacking Rage) that turns out to be the painful bit. ONce your endurance use is under control you'll barely notice the endurance crash side of things.

If you can softcap smash/lethal I'd say go for the ss/elec. Layering defenses is always a good idea - strong defense, backed by strong resistances, backed by a strong self heal would make for a hell of a brute. However, softcapping the SR to everything would make for a more rounded defensive character and be cheaper. Both are good choices if you intend to be serious about them (IO sets, etc).

SS/SR is ok, but I think any occasional Rage crash is detrimental to survival on a def based character. They won't happen often, but if it does happen (you forget to click rage again, hit a lag spike and it doesn't auto fire, or anything else) you are pretty well boned.

If you can softcap /fire or /elec to s/l defense you will be better off IMO.

And to echo a point made earlier, /WP is sturdy if built correctly, but it certainly isn't known for its damage potential. Mob ripping would pretty much require a secondary with a damage aura or + dmg aura for me.

for what you were saying about forrgetting to hit it,cant you make a macro to auto fire it as soon as it pops?

ok so i changed direction a bit and tried a BA/SR and it seems like it would be an awsome brute,perhaps not an aoe god but should be higly survivable and do alot of damage, here it is tell me what you think

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