Erratic1

Tell me you did not seriously try Z Boson or Xi Baryon. More seriously, being based on comics, you are allowed to create your own particles and names for them. For real world physics, do not forget adjectival forms of names, like Fermionic, Baryonic,

That is the data chunk. It is not meant to be human readable, but can be imported by others to show a build.

Well, he flew through the Protean arc, melting things pretty quickly.

I cannot believe Flamewar was open.

Hmmm...would I have started the FM/EA brute last night had I seen this first? Doesn't the logic for FM hold for every other damage set: Tankers get more area, Scrappers get more single target damage? I had decided I was going to make an Energy Aura brute, partially because Tankers don't get EA and partially because I had not played the set on a brute since Live. For primary, Battle Axe, FM, and Katana were considered, and theme came to me for FM. Of course, low level Brute play is always fun. I've got my eye on Dark Mastery (which Scrappers don't get), in particular Tar Patch. Took some flack on the forums over the years for not loving every AT having the sake powersets due to proliferation, but really feeling justified in that view just now.

Thought about this on the drive to work this morning and find myself in agreement with @Yomo Kimyata to the extent there is no overriding consideration greatly favoring one AT over the other--lean Scrapper for damage, Brute for survivability.

Figuring out where to put ATOs is activity? Is that not a one time activity?

Electric is weak for everyone. I try and try to play it, I am drawn to it, and it invariably disappoints (not as much as say Kinetic Melee, but really....). Electric is a one-trick pony: Lightning Rod. Its a nifty trick but still a singular one. Damage. 525 damage, followed by 525 damage, followed by 673 damage (or thereabouts)...at level 40, with two IOs slotted (the +3 Defense ones) and everything else SOs, solo play. Blasters have to use their T9s with Build Up or snipe for high damage, Brutes have to get a head of steam going, and Scrappers...just have to keep swinging and the magic happens. And as noted above, you get more reliable in churning out the damage. Now, back to my baby Brute....

Pointing to surviving a Pylon (something Scrappers, Dominators....well, any AT can do) as some sort of hallmark of survivability is a notion a person can buy into if they wish. Actual missions, taskforces, and trials are what the game is comprised of. Maelwys gave a quite clear and concise statement on the state of Brutes vis-a-vis the latter game. Doesn't mean you cannot have fun levelling one, playing TFs, etc. But you're not there to tank, and certainly you don't do the best damage--other ATs have those preserves exclusively. You're along for the ride. If you're fine with that, no problem.

The notion Brutes cannot be built for both survivability and damage is erroneous, as demonstrated by dozens upon dozens of builds posted in these forums. No sacrifice has to be made to achieve one at the expense of the other.

Electric is better in a Brute than on a Scraper. Electric is not better than Energy on a Brute. It is different, with other benefits and negatives.

To expound on this, there are foes which lower defenses. Defense sets have various levels of protection against that. Resistance sets do not. You take Weave on a Residence set only for IO slotting reasons.

Short answer: No. Longer answer: Depends on the content you are going to play. On their own, none of the armor sets gets you to a place which cannott be improved upon by having at least one of Toughness or Weave. If you plan to push further than SOs, both powers, on top of their obvious benefits, offers valuable slots for IOs as well. Electric or Energy you should fully enhance the powers of the set, then get Toughness or Weave to further push your Smash/Lethal resistances in the case of Electric or Weave in the case of Energy. For content as you level, at normal difficulty, you won't need IOs or utterly maxed values of defense/resistance. Those become your focus as you push difficulty settings (which you can start early, but are not obligated to ever do).

Energy is a wonderful set. You will want to up your defenses up to a good value (35%+) quickly to really enjoy its protective benefit and to make use of its scaling +Rchg when foes are near. To that end, even if you are not planning to IO out your build (until later or at all) it is still worth purchasing the two +3% Def IOs and slotting them. Not something you need to do immediately, but as you move into your 30s.

Because I only have active presence on two servers, with most of that tilted towards one. In addition, to the extent there is a crossserver community, I have a global name which spans servers. Others may operate differently.