magikwand

I see, is there a list of which MA powers will have alternate animations?

I like that ground punch footstomp more than the current footstomp. It is pretty cool.

So the MA Dragon's Tail alternate will be what? The current footstomp?

Fire is great. Sometimes it is good to make something different and give yourself a change. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Fiery Aura may take some getting used to, but it can be effective. You may have to slot carefully to avoid serious end problems that might happen from running several toggles + SM being somewhat end heavy, as I understand, but it can be good.

Also, SM seems to fill in the gap for mitigation that makes FA problematic for some. I say give it a go.

I find tough helpful to prevent you from being a one trick defense pony. Yes, I understand the scaling resistance mechanic involved in SR, but I still prefer reducing/avoiding incoming damage before it gets to that point of despair. If you have endurance issues, it might be better left off unless you are in a particular battle with a heavy hitter. On mine, I normally leave it on.

I am not exactly thrilled at the prospsect of this new fog be gone magery, but I suppose I still have a few years to warm up to the idea of it.

To those who want to get veteran rewards in a way other than originally designed, please stop. I have been here almost two years now, and I enjoy the game immensely as is. The Vet powers have never been game breaking and only offer a minor perk. Some of my characters never even use vet powers/bonuses. If you want veterans bonuses, there is only way to get them. Stay and play!

Even though this is just a game, I would be upset at my job of 3+ years if a new person came in and was granted the same accolades I had been given just because he coughed up some cash.

Hopefully the devs/sales team will not accept such bribery. I like the idea that some things in the game not being manipulable. If the devs/sales team cave in to such requests, it will be a huge slap in the face to all of those people who stayed around for so long.

Long Live Vet Rewards! (in their current iteration)

In my build, I didn't want to sacrifice travel, taunt, or RotP, so I kept all of those and went with fiery embrace. I don't have issues with accuracy at all, so I contemplated and found that the stronger +dmg FE offered was more valuable with the fiery melee primary. Most builds would probably benefit from BU though. Perhaps even more that FE.

Bottom line- in order to make your brute feel like a god (or just competitive in the very least, you are going to need to use IOs. In order to get familiar with IOs, I would mirror what others have said by using mids. It is either that, or wasting tons of money in game and time. I don't like using mids myself, and I normally have tons of inf in game to play around with, so I learned through trial and error how ti make an effective build.

If you rely on SOs on a lvl 50 fiery aura brute, you will likely be outclassed by most other secondaries. I am not being hard on Fa/ because it is my favorite secondary for brutes, but it is just the truth. It's a hard knock life for us, and in order to be a good FA brute, you have to be twice as good as other brutes.

Great thing about it- when you get it all sorted out, you look like a rock star. I have been the only brute (and or tank) on many TFs/farms with my /FA and people are amazed at what she can do. While teaming with other brutes, I am often asked "Do you want me to lead?" just because of FA having a less that stellar reputation. I laugh to myself and then just show them how solid FA can be. It has the potential for greatness, you just have to be devoted to finding it. I always say this: Fiery Aura doesn't suck; but many people who use it do.


Also, learn to monitor your combat attributes window from time to time. In theorizing what would maximize my efficacy and survivability on my fiery brute, I found this invaluable. Learn which attributes you need, and in what priority.

I would make sweet cyber luv to a spines brute.

I love bof, but worked it out of my build a long time ago and never looked back. FCS and GFS are my main attacks alongwith burn and fs.

I don't use mids myself- but I can tell you my fiery aura brute has neither CJ nor accro. Of course, this means you have to break coin on some IOs to fill kb wholes and utilize burn to fix occasional immobs. Learn to monitor combat attributes in game via the tab on the corner of your powers tab.

For me, the must haves for Fire/fire (as far as outside pools go) are:
- stamina; even with consume, you will likely need this to keep your end consumption in check
- hasten; as a fire brute, recharge is your best friend. Don't leave home without it. Recharge makes your attacks available more quickly, as well as making healing flames available as swiftly as possible
- tough and weave to increase survivability
- a patron immob that will allow you to take advantage of burn as a potent attack

In most scenarios, unless you have a seriously tricked out build, you will never be the tankiest of brutes. That said, focusing on increasing dmg output will help you out more than anything else. I find that picking up tough helps out tremendously in the survivability department. Some will say to skip weave, but I find it it great as a place to toss a LotG recharge to add 7.5% recharge to your build.

With fire/fire, you have both Build up and fiery embrace, and both are great ways to make sure you are pumping out Max dmg. If you haven't heard the expression "kill them before they kill you" I want to introduce you to it. Fire's greatest strength in game is its dmg potential. Take advantage of that and learn to capitalize on it.

Also, some of fiery melees attacks are DoT, but that doesn't mean the attacks don't hit hard at the start. All powersets have a secondary effect. Dark melee has -to hit or acc (I forget which). Energy melee has increased likelihood to stun. Most psi powers affect recharge negatively. Fire, regardless of AT, has a secondary component of more dmg. Again, I urge you to capitalize on this. People can say what they want to about different sets being numerically superior for whatever reason, but I love the killing power and speed of my fire brute. For me, it is thrilling, fun, and just lethal.

Generally, don't worry about slotting attacks with +dmg enhancements. Fury will take care of +dmg slotting, but if you can't land anything, you won't make any progress. Thus, the recommendations of +acc enhancements. Because brutes tend to be heavy on endurance in general, slotting at least one -end cost enhancement in most attacks or toggles proves to be beneficial.

In the late game, especially if and when you start tinkering with IOs, I find the most important thing to build for is +defense and +recharge. The current build I am running has 142.5% recharge (with Hasten, of course). I usually log out in Ouro, so that gives me another 10% rech bonus.

Another thing that is pivotal to your success and survivability is using inspirations. Don't be afraid to pop them. Use them pre-emptively, or before things start to look too hairy. My fave insp type for my fiery aura brute is anything purple. Oranges are ok, but resistance on a fiery aura brute isn't the worst, so I find it more effective to boost defense through purples.

My fire/fire is my main. I can help you out and point you in the right direction. What specifically do you want to know?

Ultra Violet-

When she makes her descent on the compound in the end of the movie and hacks thousands of men to bloody chunks.

I love it when she enters the security checkpoint, walks onto the weapons detector and the computer scans her and says:
"Number of weapons found... MANY!"

I don't care for either sets in particular, so it is no big deal for me. I would be thrilled if MA got footstomp animation in trade for dragon's tail though. OMG! Great idea! I doubt it will happen, but still the thought is cool.

So, I am guessing there will be nore ginormous mallet to make the set replete.

I might have to re-roll my ill/ff as ill/cold. Oh, the possibilities.

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Do you think they will add dark blast as well? Although with power color customs, you could turn energy into a dark blast I suppose.

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Well, at the moment, no. It certainly should come in the future though.

Who else is pumped about Rad blast finally coming to blasters?

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Assault Rifle / Trick Arrows!!

...

What?

*goes to reserve "Redraw McGraw"*

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Haha- I have been waiting to make a dark archer for a minute now. This is just great.

OMG Glee! I almost let out a girly yelp sitting here in class. Wow! I am super excited about i16!!!

I would advise against posting this same thread in the scrapper forums as it is against the rules to do just that. If you post here, most brutes will likely say brutes are "better". If you ask there, most will likely say scrappers are "better". If you only want to worry about damage, roll a scrapper. If you can deal with the fury mechanic and a little aggro control that comes with it, roll a brute. The damage is comparable to the nth degree (when a brute has fury), so it all comes down to whether you want the Ferrari or the Freight Truck. Both have tons of power, one just needs to get the momentum going.

Energy Melee x 5

Welcome back to the game/boards.

First off- what sets are you asking about? It seems you are asking about fiery melee/ super reflexes and fiery melee paired with war mace. You seem to move your secondary and primary powers back and forth in your discussion and it makes it hard to follow. Particularly with sets like electric or fire or stone which can be found in either place. Remember, we like to state the primary set /secondary set to avoid possible confusion with some other ATs.

If you are talking about Fiery aura for a secondary, you should go back to the drawing board. I would hardly say fiery aura is the regen set for brutes. Fiery aura has decent resistance to dmg. Most are able to slot fiery aura dmg resistance to S/L well into the 50% range. Whereas with Regen, the only resistance offered is not going to get you near those numbers. The only thing fiery aura has in common with regen is a strong self heal and a complete lack of intrinsic defense.

If you want something along the lines of regen for brutes, look into willpower. A lot of people have noticed that the regen lvl can be made into something similar to the regeneration powersets passive regeneration with IOs, and you have decent resists and defenses to boot. The healing component of willpower is critter dependent so it works better when you are surrounded with mobs.

If you want something with strong healing capabilites along with a click heal, and something fiery- I suggest going Fiery melee/ willpower with aid self. You will discover you really don't need a click heal with willpower, but if that is your thing, there is plenty of room to build it in.

DM/SD

Utility and hard hitting primary powers that blend well into your secondary. The heal in DM will help tremendously as there is no heal in your secondary.

A + dmg aura, strong defense capability and defense debuff and stackable, ally buffs make shield defense a very team friendly set. You can bill yourself as a brute that buffs .

It has been my impression that SR is really only super when you have the full set. It makes for a tighter build, but the trade offs are well worth it. I am sure you have plenty of recharge in your build, so drop an attack somewhere and grab it. As it has been stated, SR relies on defense and defense debuff resistance to perform.

Go out and get LUCKY tonight. Hell, don't wait til tonight. Get lucky now... If you don't have a freebie that the devs were handing out, you may have to pay for it. It will be the best 10 bucks you spend getting lucky- I can almost guarantee it.

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I was thinking last night.. I know this is way out there.. But I think Brutes should get Claws. What do you think?

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Are you kidding? That is what this whole thread is about! Claws for brutes...
NAO!

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You do know I was using sarcasm.. right?

Anyways...


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I know now!
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Brutes are better. Period.

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Because these are the brute forums and to speak otherwise would be heresy...

Just kidding.

I suppose the person you quoted just likes brutes better.