magikwand

People generally expect you to post your own build so they can critique that one.

If you are waffling on EM, but want something that is roughly equivalent in theme and ST-ness, try Kinetic melee.

I think most people would rather give input on your build or review it instead of you just demanding someone post one.

On top of that, patience is a virtue. Waiting less than two hours doesn't really give people much time to respond to your original request.

Oh yes- to answer one question of yours; yes, it is that rare. I have never seen one.

Stalling until 38 for AAO is like waiting until 38 for Rage. Why put off one of the defining powers in the set? I suppose if you are going to be powerleveled to 50 without pause this won't be an issue, but AAO is simply too good to not be taken as soon as it becomes available.

Cross posting is, amongst other things one can do in privacy with one's own hands, frowned upon on these boards.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=242597

Welcome back! At the risk of being curt, I will just tell you that there are tons of f/k builds in this forum, even with i18 in mind. In fact there are probably more than there need to be...

I would also urge you to not really make big changes to your at the moment, i19 will bring perhaps one of the biggest changes ever to build options. Fitness will be inherent! So planning a build with that in mind would be advantageous.

I was going to say energy melee/energy aura, but I think I would rather roll a /energy aura instead of /stone armor. The thought of playing /sa is shuddering, personally.

I agree with the above poster. Leave brutes alone! Stop calling for nerfs! Brutes have already been "balanced". If you want to play a scrapper, play a scrapper. If you want to play a brute, then play one.

A friend of mine built a WM/ELa recently, and the wonderful thing we both noticed is that WM is full of KD and mitigation goodness. Plus it hits like a truck. I think a fury and AAO backed WM would definitely put the hurt on mobs.

We were dual farming, and of course, he completely upstaged my shiny new km/wp. KM looks and sounds cool for a moment, but lacks in several areas. I certainly think WM/SD would be not only great for a concept, but it would be a versatile PVEr too.

I agree- the devs need to do something about that bar. It just serves as a constant reminder that we can't do what we used to do. If we are doing 100% of what we are allowed to do with the new fury cap, it should show as such on the bar. True enough, by not allowing the bar to seem full, it does have an adverse affect on bruting. Sure, it is nitpicky, but the devil is in the details.

Call me crazy, but I don't think softcapping your /FA is the absolute best way to go about increasing survivability. Adding a notable amount of defense is a great idea, but when you go to the point of sofcapping, you will note that certain key powers will go underslotted. Key powers like Healing Flames, no less. I have seen a few impressive builds that boast S/L softcap on /FA, but I don't think I would give up what those builds require me to change.

Call me crazy, but I think recharge is perhaps more important as a build focus than defense on a /fa. Remember that defense debuffs run rampant in the game, and /FA has naught in the department of defense debuff resistance. It does have, however, recharge debuff resistance baked into temperature protection. Not much, but it is a bit and very helpful. With that said, you might find yourself in a situation where all of your carefully planned and sacred defense is cut into the red, and you are a wide open door for attacks. I suppose the easy way to cut it is to build for recharge and defense, but I would not downplay the importance of recharge in a /FA build.

It would be pretty tasty. Too bad the only elec melee toon I have been able to level to fifty is my elec/nin. I tried EleM a few times on a brute and it just wasn't doing it for me.

Elec/shield is an aoe monster. I am glad you are enjoying your first foray into bruting. It is quite addictive. With fury, two tele nukes, and a fantastic +dmg aura, things are always interesting.

@ Tommy Atomic
Brutes do what they have always done. Most brutes I see are capable of tanking and bringing DPS at once. Brutes stack notably better than tanks, but not quite as well as scrappers. Unless the team is going to split into three or four different groups and steam roll a map (which is extremely unlikely... this is blue side we're talking, right? ) having too many brutes can be a bad thing for fury. Stacking tankers is pointless as they will likely bring (unneeded) crowd control and they don't bring additional damage.

If I am on a brute and join a team that of 8 that has more than 2 other brutes, I will probably swap to a different and non brute toon. I am a slave to fury, and I refuse to do mediocre damage and compete for aggro to fuel my fury.

/Fire really isn't that squishy. If you expect invulnerability levels of mitigation from a set geared toward damage, you will be upset of course.

/SD is durable, but not until you pour lots of cash in to soft cap positional defense.

I would say if you want a good leveling build, that is smooth from low lvls to high, you can't go wrong with /invulnerability. Sets like /SR or /SD get good late game, after you get all of your toys. Invulnerability is a solid performer from 1-50.

Hey there and welcome to the brute boards!

I am a little excited as you have chosen my two most favorite secondaries as something you might roll for your new brute.

My advice is to roll both, and don't delete either. Seriously. Both are fantastic and good in different situations. For me, it almost rolls down to what kind of enemies I am going up against. If I am running up against enemies with tons of +to hit or accuracy, I will probably run with an /fa so I don't get shredded. If I am running against some baddies that are not quite as accurate in their attacks, I might grab the /SD. Nothing ruins your day like defense getting eaten through like it isn't even there.

The only thing that dissuades me from saying SS goes hand in hand with /SD is the rage crash. Sure, it is manageable, predictable and even negligible. Rage can easily be made perma, but every now and then, it might crash and catch you with your pants down. At least with /fa, your resistances and heal will help you off a bit better than /sd will.

Maybe I am just an oddball- but I don't think SS/SD is soft cappable without considerable monetary investment. It will be a tight build and very expensive. I would even be willing to say that the /fa will become uber before the /sd with similar funds.

Nothing will get attention like a SS/SD so be sure you are ready for instant and perma hate. If you are half slotted, and not capped to defense in all three positional vectors, and dry for inspiration, you might end up in a bad situation. (I know, a lot of conditions... hehe). SD is pretty much the most aggro hungry brute secondary available, so you will be pulling aggro off of other brutes whether you want to or not. Also, you will probably peel aggro off of tanks somewhat regularly.

I could go on all day about these two combos, but I will say that they are both incredibly versatile, engaging and fun for me. I think you should roll and keep both, but honestly, work the /FA up first. Personally, shield defense is unplayable until you are softcapped.