SD/Electric Tanker or Electric/SD Brute?

Survivability is relative. A brute can do anything a tank can and do more damage while they're at it. However looking specifically at shield defense, its alot better on a scrapper than a brute, so that may be something to consider also.

Incorrect. Tanks actually have higher base damage than Brutes, but Fury puts them significantly ahead. On top of this Tanks have a 400% dmg cap (100% of which is base and about 95% of which is enhancement value, leaving them about a buffable 200%) whereas brutes have a 775% dmg cap (100% of which is base, 95% of which enhancement value, and about 150% of which is fury, leaving them a buffable 400%) even with a lower damage modifier brutes do significantly more damage and have a much better top end.

Why specifically is SD better on a scrapper than a brute?

I came up with a Electric/SD brute build in Mids, and I was able to softcap all 3 positions. Does SD somehow impede Fury generation?

1) damage modifiers. Against All Odds is going to increase the damage of a scrapper far more than a brute because of fury and lower base dmg. Shield Charge is also going to be hitting harder on a scrapper due to the base damage of it and it's damage cap not syncing up with brutes (shield charge is a pseudopet which means it has a 300% damage cap, which fury eats into quite a bit)

2) Brutes love Damage auras (blazing aura, death shroud, etc), Fury makes damage auras do great damage and not having a damage aura really hurts brutes

3) Scrappers lack taunt auras in alot of sets because their damage auras dont have a taunt component and AAO is one of the best taunt auras in the game and is therefore fabulous for scrappers.

Just to add a bit to this, I am going to give some slght explainations.

Scrappers have higher base damage than brutes, so a 10% increase to scrapper damage will increase the raw damage numbers more on a scrapper than on a brute. On top of this, Scrapper damage modifiers are higher, meaning that if AAO gives scrappers 12.5% damage buff for the first target, and 6.88% for every target after that, brutes are only getting 10% and 5.5% respectively. Since it's a lower percentage on a lower base damage, the differences add up quickly.

On the fury note, it makes the overall percentage of increase lower as well. Since brutes' fury makes their attacks go up by around 150% damage, and enhancements are about 95%, that puts them at +240% damage buff. AAdding on another 15% means just 240 to 255, not that noticeable. But a scrapper only has enhancements adding to damage. So it's 95% from enhancements and 19% from AAO, so it goes from +95 to +114, which is more noticeable.

Finally, with shield charge. Scrappers do 113 with SC, and brutes do 100 (at lvl 50). Normally, a brute will make up the difference with fury adding to the damage buff. BUT, sheild charges uses a psuedo pet, so it's damage cap is not the same as the brute's, even when a bruute uses it. So while a brute relies on it's higher damage cap to close the gap between scrapper damage, it caps out at +300 just like the scrapper does, and can't close that gap. This also means that if the brute can somehow cap himself, other AoE attacks can surpass SC in damage, but recharge much faster. The same goes with lightning rod, which is why scrappers get better mileage out of the overall combo as well.

This is the main reason I took scrapper over brute for it. Lightning Rod and Shield Charge are not only your main sources of AOE damage but also signature moves. They are simply ridiculously good for a scrapper

^ much better description of why /SD is so much better on scrappers than what I gave.

I disagree with the generality of this statement. Scrappers do get better AAO numbers than a tanker, but a tanker's Shield Charge does the same damage as that of a scrapper (according to Mids) and you'll have superior HP, defense, and resistance as a Shield tank over a Shield scrapper. So no, Shield should not be put away unless it's a scrapper. A Shield tank is a beast when played properly (don't get me wrong, they're not actually hard to play).

Now, when it comes to the Electric Melee / Shield Defense combo, I do agree that Scrapper is the best way to go. You're likely not capping your resistances without a lot of outside help anyways (thus a brute doesn't get as much benefit there), but you are still more than capable of softcapping your defense, while enjoying the 200.2 pt damaging Lightning Rod (133.5 for brutes, 141.5 for tanks). Now I may need some correcting on this, but I don't believe Lightning Rod nor Shield Charge will do critical hits for scrappers. So that sucks for Scrapper's AoE burst damage.

For additional fun, throw in Spring Attack for more teleporting AoE action. Damage for tanks, brutes, and scrappers are 66.73, 62.56, 93.84 respectively.

AAO still does wildly more for a Scrapper than a Tank. The only reason I would ever play SD on a non-Scrapper would be to pair it with Superstrength. There just isn't any other compelling draw. Scrappers will soft-cap defenses with Shield, have great DDR, and some resists as well, what more do you really need?

I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30))
Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.

Understatement of the decade... I sincerely hope you are joking.

On topic- if it is just between the two, I would roll the brute. The brute will do more damage than the tanker simply. The tanker will do more damage than the average tanker thanks to the wonders of AAO, but I personally would make the brute.

Of course, as others pointed out, the electric melee/shield defense toon of choice would likely be a scrapper due to the fact it does more damage than the other two.

Now I'm not discrediting shield scrappers. I just didn't think any shield should be put away unless it's a scrapper. Fact of the matter is, it's a great set for any AT.

Also, I could see a shield/dark tank as being pretty strong. Bruising helps close the gap a little for damage and you still have superior survivability. Tanks and brutes get a nice attack chain of shadow punch (SP)--smite--SP--gloom.

Sure.. or you could play the same build on a Scrapper with the brutal attack chain of MG -> Smite -> Siphon -> Smite amplified by AAO and supplement Dark's extremely weak AoE with your APP/PPP instead of needing to use it on Gloom to put out decent single target.

I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30))
Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.

Again, I am not saying a scrapper's damage isn't superior. I merely was mentioning another combo for a tank that could pair up with shield (in response to SS being the only set worth pairing on a shield tanker). Also again, I am only arguing against the notion that shield should only be played on a scrapper. It's a baseless argument. Fact is, some people like to be a tank and shield is a great set for a tank. It provides greater survivability and can contain aggro better than a scrapper. It won't kill as fast as a scrapper but it won't die as fast either. If you want to be a tank, a shield is a great option. Capped defenses, awesome PBAoE, ok resistances, good god-mode power that doesn't have a hard crash (it can also cap your S/L resistance and HP without outside help), it has a taunt aura that boosts your damage, and excellent DDR. If I were to make a tank, why wouldn't I consider shield?