Claws: AT and Secondary?

Well, I want to make a Claw character, and I've found there to be an -extreme- lack of guides in that regard.

So I wanted to ask a few questions.

First and foremost, what secondary (Aside from Willpower. I've got 5 already) would one recommend?

And two, scrapper or brute?

I want something durable, fun to level, and reasonably powerful that isn't Willpower. (I love Willpower, and I'm sure Claws/WP is amazing, but between SS/Will, MA/Will, Dark/Will, Kin/Will, and Mace/Will, I -seriously- need to branch out.)

Also, I don't particularly care for IOs or set bonuses as a core part of the build. I don't want something that only comes into it's own after you fill it with set bonuses and LotGs.

Brute claws tends to be a lot of fun. I enjoyed the hell out of my Claws/Inv brute, very sturdy, lots of killing, fast paced grinding, and fairly straight forward. Same can be said for Claws/SR.

For better minion munching Claws/Fire of Claws/Elec would work well.

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Originally Posted by NightErrant Well, I want to make a Claw character, and I've found there to be an -extreme- lack of guides in that regard. So I wanted to ask a few questions. First and foremost, what secondary (Aside from Willpower. I've got 5 already) would one recommend? And two, scrapper or brute? I want something durable, fun to level, and reasonably powerful that isn't Willpower. (I love Willpower, and I'm sure Claws/WP is amazing, but between SS/Will, MA/Will, Dark/Will, Kin/Will, and Mace/Will, I -seriously- need to branch out.) Also, I don't particularly care for IOs or set bonuses as a core part of the build. I don't want something that only comes into it's own after you fill it with set bonuses and LotGs.

Might I suggest Claws/SR Brute? Defense can be huge in developing Fury, and SR has it in spades. Fury only requires a hit check, not an actual hit.

Brutes have more HP than Scrappers, and their Defense Caps are as high as a Tanker (though, they can't get their on their own), so they are tougher. The longer the fight, the more dangerous a Brute is, but a Scrapper is deadlier from the start, especially when facing higher ranked targets.

I strongly suggest a brute, or an /Inv scrapper. You can really feel the difference with a taunt aura (brutes, /Inv scrapper) and without it (other scrappers) when Spinning like crazy.

As for the secondary, that depends on if you want to be more tanky or more meatgrind-y. For greater survivability potential, go /Inv or /DA. Other secondaries (ignoring /SD and /SA which you can't pick on a Claws toon) are more geared toward offense IMO.

If you go the /DA route, be sure to stuff a Theft of Essence +end proc into Dark Regeneration as well as a -KB IO somewhere as soon as possible. You don't need any more IOs than those two if that's not your cup of tea, but those two are essential for playing a /DA painlessly.

Purely on SOs, I would look at /elec and /regen. I think both are fairly efficient without IOing them out. /fire and /dark need IOs for KB protection unless you want to use Acro instead. /dark is end heavy enough to where you want at least the +end proc. /sr needs a little bit of IO investment just to make end usage on soft capping easier. I think /sr fits Claws the best, but you said you are trying to avoid IOs. I know /invul gets better with IOs, but it should be decent without them.

In terms of AT, I tend to push towards brutes these days, but I also prefer the feel of the faster recharging Claws powers on a scrapper.

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Originally Posted by Kristoph Defense can be huge in developing Fury, and SR has it in spades. Fury only requires a hit check, not an actual hit. Brutes have more HP than Scrappers, and their Defense Caps are as high as a Tanker (though, they can't get their on their own), so they are tougher.

Defense based sets offer no advantage over other sets in terms of generating Fury. The soft cap for def is 45% for all ATs. Considering how easy it is for a /sr scrapper to hit the soft cap, there's really no advantage there for a brute. In terms of the scaling resist that /sr gets, then yes.

I'll throw out Claws/Invuln. Been having a blast with my Scrapper, and the KD/KB in the set can be helpful when facing more exotic damage (I'm building to shore up those weak spots). He's quite tough just on SOs, and has been getting better the more sets I put on him.

I also like the lack of redraw, for the most part. Any sets with powers that you will use in combat often (like the heals for electric and fiery aura) bug me more on weapon sets, since they cause redraw. So I often try to pair my weapon sets with less clicky powersets.

But Claws is pretty fun, if you can get past being able to throw energy or something at enemies with your class. That threw me for a long while, heh.

Claws/SR is a fun set.

I don't think you can make a bad claws combo on a brute or a scrapper.

That said, to help you decide, the Brute does have more HP and Fury will mean more damage in longer fights.

The scrapper if I recall is a little faster and I think has higher base damage on a power or two.

I'd say it's a wash, just depending on the feel you're looking for.

Brutes do get a taunt aura in every secondary set, which might be nice, might not, depending, or may be irreverent, again on your preference.


That said, what to pair claws with???

Claws gains a lot, in my opinion, from leveraging Follow Up. Use it often, is my motto. So, in that case, Super Reflexes and Electrical Armour are great choices as they both get +Recharge powers. Energy Aura shouldn't be overlooked, as I see to recall hearing it will soon be getting a +Recharge feature added to it.
But hard to argue against Claws/Invul either. That combo was a blast. As was Claws/Regen. I guess as I said earlier, Claws will work awesome with any secondary, but SR/Elec/Energy get that little bit of synergy with Claws unique take on damage boosting.