Kinetic Melee: worthwhile for a Brute?

Hello all,

I'm about to create a new character, and since I've never played a brute and I've never rolled up a kinetic melee toon, I'm considering combining the two. Is that set considered weak? Frustratingly unplayable for a brute? I took a look at the guides, and there were none for KM brutes, which I didn't think boded well...

Thanks for the feedback.

It's a newer set, and there aren't a lot of dedicated melee guides that are up to date anyway. It's honestly pretty hard to go wrong with any combination of brutes or scrappers.

KM can put out some pretty decent single target DPS, if you can handle how power siphon works. I like the set better on scrappers, because concentrated strike has a chance to refresh power siphon when it crits. It's lacking in a bit in the AoE department: Burst is okay but I hate torrent. It also has a ranged attack, which is nice for runners but really isn't that great of DPS. The first three attacks in the set are your bread and butter, and concentrated strike is great just for the change to refresh power siphon, on scrappers.

All of the attacks in the set have some great secondary effects like -damage, knockdown, and stun. The set also does a bit of energy damage which can be nice against targets who resist smashing.

I played one to 50, then mostly stopped. It just wasn't that entertaining.

I played a kin/sr to 50 it was fun.

I had not used those sets before and after 50 the toon just grew dust. To me there are other combos that are just more fun to play post 50. In fact I just stripped all the good IO sets out of it to fill slots on my dark/dark brute im leveling now.

I have a 50 KM / EA Brute and I've had a lot of fun with it.

There are lots of posts on KM. A common theme is that many find it "slow" due to it's elaborate animations. The number crunchers assure us that it is not all that slow objectively, but it is a common perception.

The split smashing / energy damage is handy, particularly against targets with a lot of smashing resistance or more rarely a lot of energy resistance. Very few opponents have both (short of temporary god mode powers), so you'll generally get some meaningful damage in situations where a single damage type set can be stymied.

The t9 hit does a lot of damage but has a longish animation. It is satisfying to see the big numbers it puts up, but I only use it vs tough opponents when teamed as it is a common scenario to start the wind up and the target is wiped out before I finish otherwise.

Power Siphon works differently than build up but lasts much longer. You need to really work your attack pattern and timing around it, but if you do the pay off is worth it. I've found Power Siphon to synergize nicely with Fury on my Brute as both are building mechanisms and if you build up both simultaneously your damage peaks very high. Using the small fast hits to build up to (5) pips of Power Siphon and then throwing the t9 is particularly devastating. You may have to switch targets rapidly to yield the most effect from it; like build up on a lt, then unload on a boss and so forth.

The AoE, Burst, is great. It very reliably does knockdown making it a big help in damage mitigation.

I like the ranged attack, personally. In addition to adding an extra tool to your arsenal, it is a good set mule for ranged IO's, some of which have nice set bonuses. It's DPS isn't fantastic due to its middling animation time, but it does a nice chunk of damage and also knockdown. If you get good at using it, it can allow you to engage targets without moving and as part of an uninterrupted attack chain, which helps it's effective DPS. Ill often taunt a pack on to me and engage them with Burst, and then target a mob that has hung back to shoot at me with my ranged attack, then re target a mob near me that has stood up without a pause. It's also handy for flyers. With a Brute's "pokevoke" it's like a single target taunt that does damage.

And on that subject, compared to a Scrapper KM, you'll have access to Taunt which I personally like. Challenge is basically useless, but Taunt is a useful control tool, and also a good IO mule. The Taunt sets have solid set bonuses.

Don't take Torrent.


Like any attack set though, it's going to combo to be better or worse with various secondaries.

The -damage from KM is mild but every little bit helps. The knockdown helps mitigation also. Thus KM can help to boost the survivability of a squishier secondary a bit.

You want Power Siphon up as often as possible, and your attacks are a bit more toolboxy than some sets so you want the right tool to be available at the right time, so you want a lot of Recharge. If you pick a secondary with has a lot of clicks that also benefits from a lot of Recharge you have a good synergy on your hands, a curve to build into.

Personally, I found KM to pair well with EA both thematically and functionally. YMMV.

I agree with the last 2 posts: its a fun ride, but I dont like it after 50. The attack string is easy to do, the power from PS caps, and the addition of IO's really didnt make a significant play-style difference. Oddly, I felt more pigeon-holed than the combo system of Dual Blades, and I dont even use it o.O Go figure...

Edit: and clunky

I think it is a fun combo. I have a km/wp at 50 currently with a good amount of inventions slotted. I feel the set is the love child of energy melee and claws. It is definitely more fun than the EM/SR that I poured money into only to realize I couldn't stand it EM... but I digress...

Worthwhile? Define it. Is it fun? Hell yes. Will you see numbers that make you want to cry? Probably not. Due to the way damage mechanics work, brutes probably see the least return out of the +damage the set provides. With that said, a scrapper will be a better choice for a min/maxxer than a brute.

I have a few toons with it, and I will say you absolutely mustn't listen to anyone who says the set is slow. If you're quick-fingered you can attack dead enemies (that is, if you kill an enemy with Smashing Blow and had Body Blow queued, you would attack so fast that Body Blow would hit the dead enemy; try it!).

I hate to say it, but point-and-click power users aren't going to like this set because it truly takes some fast finger work to get it speedy. I'll post a video of how quick it can be, if you like. (Seriously, ask me to make a video, I love doing it.)

Long story short, it's a fun, balanced set with nifty animations and pretty outstanding ST damage. Burst is a great form of AoE and mitigation and Focused Burst just looks cool.

I don't like Kinetic Melee because it doesn't really have any shining advantage against any other particular powerset, except for EM (and KM is arguably a modernized version of EM).

ST?

FM, DM both do good ST, except one has much better AoE and doesn't require much recharge and the other is the premiere utility/survival set.

AoE? Claws, DB, SS, FM are all better while all also having solid to very good ST.

Mitigation? SS, SM & WM all have incredibile mitigation ability, with varying levels of AoEs and heavy ST damage.

I also don't like that it "punishes" you for going outside the set for attacks (FA, Patron Pool, Epic, etc) and interferes with PS stacking.

Thanks for all the input! On balance, I think I'll roll a KM scrapper, maybe with Energy Aura once that goes blueside. I browsed around this forum a bit more, and since I don't have a steamroller toon I can use to grind quickly, I think I'll roll a SS/FA and see how I enjoy that. Thanks again to everyone who replied.

Not really.

Yeah roll a Scrapper, and play/get addicted to your SS/FA in the meanwhile.