For just someone returning to the game after a hiatus looking for a "fun leveling build" I would probably recommend Willpower as your secondary.
For primary you have a lot of choices, and inherent fitness makes some of the heavier endurance primaries a bit easier to roll with, but I would probably recommend something like Claws, Dark Melee or Fire Melee.
Claws - Good ST & Very Good AoE, built-in rech and end reduction.
Dark Melee - Great ST, poor AoE, with utility/survivability tools
Fire Melee - Very Good ST, Very Good AoE - zero utility
If you're willing to slot very heavy for endurance early on you might also try Warmace or Stone Melee.
Its not that the other primaries I left out are all bad, in fact Super Strength is probably one of the best available to Brutes. The ones I left out are just not primaries I would recommend to someone just coming back for example, SS while amazing at L50 is not a very enjoyable ride TO 50 in my opinion.
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I actually really enjoy lvling up SS that was what i was going to recommend, as long as you like rage.|
Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus
Its not that the other primaries I left out are all bad, in fact Super Strength is probably one of the best available to Brutes. The ones I left out are just not primaries I would recommend to someone just coming back for example, SS while amazing at L50 is not a very enjoyable ride TO 50 in my opinion.
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It has really good mitigation without the awful awful end cost of stone melee. I also think it lvls up very well because rage helps you put off slotting acc (and dmg) into your attacks. So you can focus on end redux and rech.
Now it will be light on AoE until 32 but it isnt really until then that you need to start killing huge numbers of enemies in order to see your xp bar move.
I also would recommend willpower as secondary.
"I have ridden the mighty moon worm!"
-Al Gore
Fiery Aura is only good for farming, I'm cereal
@Caucasiafro
I'd also suggest SS/WP. It is the classic do anything well combo. WP makes up for all then endurance problems associated with the rage crash and the mitigation from footstomp helps the survivabilty of any secondary.
Plus with some investment Willpower can become basically unkillable in nearly all content.
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Rage is without a doubt useful for leveling, still the crash can be punishing at low levels - even for WP.|
Originally Posted by ultrawatt
I actually really enjoy lvling up SS that was what i was going to recommend, as long as you like rage.
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It's fine if you're prepared to deal with it, but as a returning player I was looking to suggest what I thought would be the smoothest ride to 50.
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Originally Posted by ultrawatt
Now it will be light on AoE until 32 but it isnt really until then that you need to start killing huge numbers of enemies in order to see your xp bar move.
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Claws on the other hand can have Spin, Eviscerate and Shockwave by that point - all of which are on 12-14s base rech. Spin you can have by L6, with FU to increase your to hit & damage by L8 - and no rage crashes to deal with.
Don't get me wrong, I love SS. I have a handful of SS Brutes that absolutely I swear by. It is, hands down, my favorite Brute primary.
But after leveling so many of them, and leveling a Claws brute - I think Claws is the smoother ride to 50.
Sweet, I have narrowed my choices down to a Claws/WP and a SS/WP. Ive tried Dark Melee on my old brute that was capped at 40 back in Villains and I liked it but wanted something new. I also wanted to try something new and I havent ever tried Claws (as it was only available as a Scapper when I played)
If someone(s) would be kind enough to post a sample (build) for each that would be awesome, I am mixing and matching and seeing where things go from there.
Thanks for the Quality responses guys/gals; looking forward to more 
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Originally Posted by Statesboy
Sweet, I have narrowed my choices down to a Claws/WP and a SS/WP. Ive tried Dark Melee on my old brute that was capped at 40 back in Villains and I liked it but wanted something new. I also wanted to try something new and I havent ever tried Claws (as it was only available as a Scapper when I played)
If someone(s) would be kind enough to post a sample (build) for each that would be awesome, I am mixing and matching and seeing where things go from there. Thanks for the Quality responses guys/gals; looking forward to more |
Claw/wp is very good on a brute.
Claw/inv is ASTONISHING on a brute, especially if you IO it out and take it Incarnate. (OMG)
For my money, though, possibly the best performing 'opposites attract' build on a brute is fire/willpower.
Fire melee does massive damage, and on a brute it's even better because the DOT damage is affected by Fury. Willpower is VERY strong on a brute due to the large base of hitpoints.
Fire melee has no additional mitigation, but willpower is strong enough to carry you through, especially if you invest in some simple, inexpensive sets.
Hoever, if you are set on a claw/wp or ss/wp, toss something together in Mids and put it up!
I'm sure someone would be willing to give you some pointers.
Hello there,
I am a long time returnee, I used to play back since launch to when Villains launched, left, came back, left, RL attacked, Beat down the RL Taskforce and now Im back.
I am a very big fan of in your face smash mouth characters and thus like Brutes, Scrappers or Tanks. Im sure other ATs can be smash mouth.
I see ALOT of END game "billions of influence and time spent" builds. Those are awesome, dont get me wrong, but if you left back say when Villains was new, and recently came back and wanted to level a new brute what would you make in Mids? I am curious to see builds people can come up with for a returnee who wants to level a few characters for fun, solo is my preferred playstyle but I group when people want too!
I am by no means sure of what to take and I want to have fun, and not die every 5 seconds.
Thanks for taking the time to read