why aren't you playing a brute?

I love scrappers, I love to run right up to an enemy and punch them in the face or unload on them with a melee weapon.

I've got one level 50 brute, who I got to 50 right before VEATs were released, and that's it- the option to change sides or use any archetype on either side of the fence wasn't there when I made her, and if you wanted redside melee, stalker or brute it was.

I tried playing tanks, but couldn't get into them- DPS was pitiful, and I didn't like being responsible for keeping the team alive, or being blamed if anything went wrong, even if it wasn't my fault (Enemies being a high enough level that they would eat lowbies alive, before DFB made it possible to use SO enhancements on characters below level 22, or teammates pulling more than we could handle, or support falling asleep at the switch).

I see a lot of brutes being expected to act as defacto tanks by their teammates, and that's one turnoff to playing the AT now- I don't like to tank, and I don't want to get on a lot of people's $%*!lists by telling them "actually, I built this brute a lot more like a scrapper".

I generally consider concept first... but with the overall similarity of powers between Scrappers, Brutes, and Tankers, I rarely find that I need to go with one of those ATs over the others for concept reasons.

Next I consider mechanics. Which AT has the better mechanics for the powers I want. If I'm going Invulnerability, well, that is so much better on Tankers, it isn't funny, and I'm likely to make a Tanker. Shield Defense simply benefits Scrappers more than the other ATs... unless the concept I want can't be done on a Scrapper, then my Shield characters are going there... and so on.

My recently made character with Staff Fighting and Willpower went with Brute, simply because both those sets seem to favor Brute just a little more than they do Scrappers... and that's it.

I'm actually glad that there is this kind of flexability, even if it does seriously blend the lines between some ATs. And I look forward to the point were all possible sets have been proliferated over.

Because I'm not done playing my Mastermind yet and I can't exactly play every archetype at the same time.

Wild Streak - Lv. 50(+3) Beast Mastery/Sonic Resonance Mastermind, Amnesty - Lv. 50 Staff Fighting/Dark Armor Stalker

I don't like Scrappers as much as I like Brutes - But I have both.

I've never had a squishy feeling Brute, but I cannot say the same for Scrappers. Then again some of my scrappers are pretty sturdy.

I prefer Brutes to Tanks and always have taunt on my Brutes and always keep aggro management in mind, I just ... prefer to kill things first


Brutes are also more "buffable" than Scrappers, which works out better in the endgame - but it is definitely not the case that they need outside help to be able to "tank".

Because super strength

I am playing a brute.

18 actually, not including the ones I've shipped off to the retirement home - I mean Exalted. Or taken behind the wood shed.

I don't care that they do less damage than scrappers and are less tough than tankers. I love chasing fury, and can barely stand to play ATs that don't.

I have a couple of brutes, and I like them quite a bit.

I think I like scrappers a tiny bit more- something in me prefers the stability of always doing quite a bit of damage over sometimes doing not much and sometimes doing a whole heaping wagonload. And I'm really digging the stalker buffs that happened while I was away- stalkers are really good now, no longer one trick ponies deserving only of pity spots on teams.

I log in a brute when I'm in a certain kind of mood, the same way I log in my mind/kin controller when I'm in a certain mood. There's a rhythm to playing them that's either annoying, or tremendous fun depending on how I'm feeling.

I have several brutes, from my first incarnate (Claws/Fire) to my current mini-project (War Mace/Shield). Brutes are probably my favorite of the melee AT's, which, given how clustered the melee AT's are (I could be a tanker and be extremely durable and hit moderately hard, or a brute and be very durable and hit very hard, or be a scrapper and be moderately durable and hit very hard, or be a stalker and be moderately durable and hit very hard WITH MASSIVE BURST!), says a lot about the AT. About the only issue they have is that unlike Scrappers they need rage to do good damage, so at the start of a pull or on a slow moving team they'll have trouble matching the burst of the other AT's. Small price to pay for being able to take a hit from an AV and survive even if you aren't built for tanking.

The main reason I switch away from them a lot is that while they're fun, they can be a hassle in groups with knockback or AoE root happy members who don't let the melee AT's cluster them for melee AoE's. Much less of a hassle on my Corr who has very wide range AoE's and can fall back on his buffbot role if he's outmatched.

Why am i not playing one????

Looks at my main toon since Issue 6 ... brute... walks out lol

I do have a pair of brutes in the crew, and my WP/SJ in particular has been a lot of fun to play... but I'm just more of a scrapper at heart. I don't like having to chase fury.

I suppose to could finish leveling my DB/SR Brute.

One of my 2 Exalted Incarns is a SJ/Shield brute,who eschews the Zen of Scrapperlock for the awesome dark powers of SMASH. Damage bonus a-go-go and every Shield Charge like a nuke...