Why, excellent choice of power sets, my good man!
Two things I'll note without commenting as much on the defense as it has been ages since I've built for positional defense on a meleer.
Consider dropping the botz from super speed and putting the winter's gift there instead. You save a slot and you lose four points of -KB. In my experience the first four points you get do 99% of the lifting from there on out. In a build where you're trying to squeeze out every bit of goodness you can, that kind of sacrifice can be well worth it.
On a similar note, the last two IOs of mocking beratement are a tough sell. In terms of hasten's permanence, that last 7.5% bonus is barely worth one second. Obviously it has an impact on your other powers as well but when you have hasten nine seconds off perma the diminishing returns are already hitting you hard. I don't feel that perma hasten is worth it unless it's almost incidental to the number of recharge bonuses you have. A gap in hasten when you're already swimming in global recharge does not realistically matter for a meleer. Thus, if you save two slots there too, you now have three discretionary slots.
Also, you have so much global acc I'd drop the endmod/acc/rech from consume and replace it with another endmod/rech. Crap, this is more than two things.
I thought of another thing: Something other than reactive for interface would probably be good since there are plenty of options now. Reactive is in no way bad, but since you already do loads of fire damage, why not make it negative or toxic or something instead?
Why Cardiac?
Neither of those sets are particularly endurance hungry and FA in fact gives consume which will put you to 100% every minute (or less with adequate slotting).
As a brute the extra resists are on the low side. I think you'd get a lot more out of something else.
Thank you all for the replies! Assorted comments below.
Quote:
I've actually been running the incarnate trials with just Mag 4 slotted so far to help me deal with knockdown. Unfortunately, I get knocked back kind of a lot. Both Marauder and Nightstar have attacks that put me on my back about once every 30 seconds. I think I've read that around Mag 12 is needed to prevent that. Do you happen to know? I'm not crazy about burning the slots, but it is kind of embaressing being the Brute who is constantly being thrown around all over the trial. |
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Consider dropping the botz from super speed and putting the winter's gift there instead. You save a slot and you lose four points of -KB. In my experience the first four points you get do 99% of the lifting from there on out. In a build where you're trying to squeeze out every bit of goodness you can, that kind of sacrifice can be well worth it.
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Quote:
| On a similar note, the last two IOs of mocking beratement are a tough sell. In terms of hasten's permanence, that last 7.5% bonus is barely worth one second. Obviously it has an impact on your other powers as well but when you have hasten nine seconds off perma the diminishing returns are already hitting you hard. I don't feel that perma hasten is worth it unless it's almost incidental to the number of recharge bonuses you have. A gap in hasten when you're already swimming in global recharge does not realistically matter for a meleer. Thus, if you save two slots there too, you now have three discretionary slots. |
Quote:
| I thought of another thing: Something other than reactive for interface would probably be good since there are plenty of options now. Reactive is in no way bad, but since you already do loads of fire damage, why not make it negative or toxic or something instead? |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Bunny Anomaly
Why Cardiac?
|
Ah, I didn't even notice the steadfast -KB you had. I thought you only had the two which is why I suggested eliminating one. I have no experience with more than one -KB IO but people say three is the magic number if you're going with more than one so you were probably right in the first place.
I agree with your selection of cardiac. Endurance management is not a foregone conclusion when you have a single good power for it on a three minute base timer. Clearly /FA is also a resistance heavy set, so really it's good all around for this combination. If this were a scrapper perhaps musculature would be a slightly tempting alternative but on a brute? Why not shore up defenses instead? The damage boost would be maybe half as potent.
I'm running spiritual alpha on my /fire brute as it boosts both recharge and the heal.
I'm not sure that 12 pts will protect you from Nightstar and Marauder (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), but there are plenty of occasions on iTrials where 4 pts is just not enough. Self-destructing ACU's, for example; 12 pts will protect you from those (4 pts won't). For BAF AVs, try not to let them hit you so much 
.
I took a stab (katana! stab!) at your build to see what kind of numbers I could get using a more balanced approach to positional defense (my fire brute is built for typed, not using katana). Gave up 27% recharge compared to your build, which is a pretty big chunk. Melee at 46.1 with a single DA, 32.6 Ranged, 32.9 AoE. Improved recovery and +100 hp (all those erads), some other nice perks. Might give you some ideas, anyway.
Code:
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General Notes:
Melee > Ranged > AoE
FC > E > EN > FC
You'll either want 4 KB Protection, or 12+, never 8. I'm personally happy with 4.
I almost always prefer Rebirth + Regen over Barrier, but I probably have higher defense numbers and/or other tools, but less recharge.
Some of the new alphas may be worth a look.
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Code:
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If you look at it, you'll see that most baddies do either 2 or 3 knockback, or 10. 2 or 3 is most everybody, and 10 seems like the default number for AV's. So 12 points will protect against almost everything, and 4 will do fine against most stuff.
The oddballs are things like 'specialist' knockers, like CoT mages, or the explodey bots. Those usually have mag 5 kb, and will bat you around a little.
I personally don't mind it so much. Makes things more interesting.
Hi all,
I've built plenty of Controllers and Dominators, but never a melee character. I've recently been playing a Katana/Fire Brute and really like the way the character plays in incarnate trials. My goal is to add some more survivability to her, close the knockback hole, and keep her damage relatively high.
My current plan for the incarnate path is:
Alpha: Cardiac
Destiny: Barrier
Interface: Reactive
I built the character using Tier 4 Destiny Barrier as the low point of performance for calculating defense. That should put AoE defense at the cap for most normal gameplay. Melee/Lethal are in the low 50s after 1 Divine Avalanche, crossing the incarnate cap with 1 purple inspiration, or for about 30 seconds worth of Barrier every 2 minutes.
I'm unsure about my Ranged defense. At the low point of Barrier, it sits at 22%. How important is raising this? More or less important than AoE? I'm especially concerned about incarnate enemies more so than normal ones, although Malta Sappers might be an occasional issue, if they get me before I can activate end drain reduction in Consume.
I'm aware of how expensive some of the sets I have slotted are. I'm prepared to chase many of these using incarnate trials.
Also note some powers are slightly underslotted (Build Up, Fiery Embrace, Stamina, Hasten, etc). My plan is to purchase Enhancement Boosters for each of these from the Paragon store. This will put Hasten at 9 seconds from perma.
Thanks for any feedback you can provide!
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Joan: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Gambler's Cut -- Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(3), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Hectmb-Dam%(5)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(7), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(9), S'fstPrt-ResKB(11)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(13), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(13), Sciroc-Dam%(15)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 6: Blazing Aura -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(21), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(23)
Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), HO:Lyso(23), HO:Nucle(25)
Level 10: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Dragon's Roar -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(25), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(27), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(27), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(29), Mocking-Rchg(29)
Level 14: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 16: Plasma Shield -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(31), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam(33)
Level 18: The Lotus Drops -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Armgdn-Dam%(34)
Level 20: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(34)
Level 22: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(36), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(36), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Aegis-ResDam(37)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(37), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39)
Level 28: Burn -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(40), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(40), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-ResKB(42), Winter-ResSlow(43)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(43), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(45), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(45), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(46), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(46), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Ksmt-ToHit+(48)
Level 44: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 49: Temperature Protection -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GA-3defTpProc(50)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
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Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run