Erratic1

Scrappers have a 10% base with a 2ppm +50% for 3.25%, so 53.5 sec at 10% and 6.5s at 60%--average 15.42% over time, though of course a sensible scrapper will have arranged things for big hits to get the benefit of the +50% proc. Stalkers will have 10% base chance + 21% (on a full team) for 31%, all the time, along with focus pushing crits and critical strike from hide. Question is Scrapper AoE capability versus Placate/Assassin Strike when team sizes get down to 2 to 4 members. Also have to factor in the ability to hide is a definite survivability gain.

Perhaps, but (a) are they better at single target than Scrappers and (b) how do they compare to Brutes and Tankers?

Not sure one should discount: ATO which puts you into hide, proc'ing at 5 times per minute Having Placate in every offensive set Gaining 3% chance to crit per party member on top of the base 10% chance A focus mechanic which builds to a guaranteed critical strike Crit hitting from hide Or...if these things are not meaningful to Stalkers, you won't mind Brutes getting them.

Does /loc say how to get to me? What barriers are in the way? What path to take? "Here" making people look at the map (or hit click my name and hit [F]) gives them more to go on.

Were you just on Exelsior contemplating this? In any event, I have a Mind/Energy Dom. I would not skip Telekinesis. It is too wonderfully useful for squeezing a group of foes together into a nice ball your team can AoE down.

I guess we'd better treat you right.

Mid's is wrong. City of Data 2.0: Power 'Consume Psyche' (Brute_Defense.Psionic_Armor.Consume_Psyche) I also made a short video, if need be, showing one of my Brute's standing in the middle of six foes, using Consume Psyche, and the recharge counter leaping to 38 seonds, which is 5+6*5.5, meaning the power hit all of them.

FWIW, I decided to give Savage/Psi a go. I was worried there would, even with Fury amplifying DoTs, Savage might feel like it had a lack of oomph. Turns out things melt quickly enough that is not the case (Freakshow melt quickly enough they do not get to do their last second heal). In fact, the playstyle actually balances right on the edge of being too twitchy hectic. Another benefit is maintaining stacks of Blood Frenzy combined with Consume Psyche results in really stretching your endurance budget. Hoping Savage Leap combined with Aura of Insanity synergizes well but will depend on how well AoI hits.

Consume Psyche, which Brutes and Tankers get is PBAoE. Scrapper and Stalkers get Devour Psyche, which is 90 degrees.

My soul is screaming in pain at the thought of using unslotters to remove enhancements from unused characters. Respec unslots everything, and unless you respec a whole heck of a lot more often than I do on a character, you probably have some on just about every character you've ever made. And for the cost of using 15 unslotters to get less than a quarter of your enhancements unstuck, you could just buy a respec recipe and make it (or of course run the trial for free to get one).

There are in fact two ATOs, one of which ups Critical Hit Chance passively (and meaningfully) and I am certain that neither of my last two Scrappers have their proc ATO in their T9s. Indeed, you can read the discussion here where discussions of the placement of the proc is definitely not in a T9. And that before we get to the fact that you have your T9 nowadays at level 26, which is 1.1% of the experience requirement towards level 50. Maybe on an offensive set with fast recharging attacks you have incentive to place in a T9, but that is not universal. As for getting the ATOs, 200 merits will get you there at a merit vendor. 200 merits is a pretty easy target to hit. Yes, and the Brute misses hits too. Resistance based ones might. Defense based ones, not really.

Worse levelling experience? In what way? You can slot the ATO whenever you feel like and on a Defensive armor set, you become sufficiently hard to hit plenty quickly.

The planet has 8 billion people. You can count on someone, somewhere doing anything you can imagine.

Thanks everyone for the input. Going to mull it over a bit before leaping in. Will update.

My signature Brute is an SS/Bio. It is a very solid choice. And likewise I am trying for one of each AT on both blue and red sides. Wish me luck as I have a Dom who might actually make it to 50.

Made a Katana/Psi Brute after the last big patch, taken him to 50, and...its okay but Katana just doesn't provide the feel I am wanting. I went with it because I was wanting to avoid the usual and obvious offensive sets and ones I had recently used on other melee characters--so SS, Claws, and EM are definitely off the table. I am leaning towards SJ, but am open to other suggestions. I don't have a BA or DM character I am deeply invested in. SM could be done. If I confine myself to choosing between BA, DM, SJ, and SM, any thoughts on which would be most enjoyable?

Yes.

So first it wasn't true. Then after argument it is true but not relevant. Except, the starting point was the following: I said it was what I would like to see. There is no rule that says Tankers have to be able to deal damage at all. They could be just invulnerable targets which taunt. Would you say to someone who said that sucks, "There is no rule, blah, blah, blah?" Nothing says anything you say is true either. Had enough of this and going to bed.

I never said all sets had taunt. Was speaking about the ones that do. And again, a spectrum like said: Tanker Survive the best, Taunt the best, and deal (in theory) the least damage--Brutes Survive second best, taunt second best, and damage third best, Scrappers/Stalkers Survive the least (not that it does not allow them to solo +4x8, solo TF, etc), taunt the least, and have the best damage. Now I used the word "best" with regard to which ATs and which singular AT did not get the word "best"?

Fine, so you found one armor where there is a difference. That utterly makes a difference in the spectrum of things. 🙄

You're right, they don't. I get to thinking of them as the same (largely because I rarely play them--only have two). And Punchvoke only works on what you are hitting, unlike say splashing aggro on anything nearby that you are hitting. Lower resistance caps are only meaningful in that, with a similar build, a Brute is going to push past 75%--that is a tall order for a Brute playing a Defense set, say like Super Reflexes. Heck, my Regen Tanker, has not, at level 50 and with IO sets fully slotted, reached resistance cap, and that is with Tankers getting more resistances/defenses than any other melee AT--something Brutes DO NOT GET. As for newest sets, has there been some sort of proliferation going on that I missed? Is there some set Brutes get that Scrapper do not? Psi Armor has a Mez field, but it works the same for both ATs so far as I am aware.

So you're ignoring the existence of Stalker and Scrapper all together? They do damage, they have armor sets, they get Taunt. Why are you ignoring that they exist?

Yeah, but Corruptors/Defender do not exist on a spectrum of others doing their combination of things--they are the buff/damage (or damage/buff) ATs. Brutes exist in a realm of Scrappers, Stalkers, and Tankers and are not the best at anything in that grouping.

A couple of things that get missed when arguing full steam about things. I think in most teaming, at least while levelling and in a lot of post-50s content, you simply don't care who shows up. Some part of my argument about roles is based upon what has been said to justify nerfs of the past and role protection (i.e., if Brutes had to be nerfed to safeguard Scrapper role on a team, then why is there absolutely no consideration for Brutes?). As goes actual play...I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have specifically not gotten a spot on a team with someone explicitly saying they were holding a spot for a particular AT/role, though, more often I have seen teams fold far sooner than they should have because when things got difficult with a given combination of ATs some would rather not try working outside the box and adapting to what they have on team. As goes Scrapper ATO, I don't have a problem with it. It serves a particular purpose--making Scrapper's damage gods. Moreover, I am not asking for Brutes to do more damage (despite some muddle-headed claims otherwise). I am fine with Brute damage. What I would like to see if a definite something which Brutes bring to the table which is either their own or is better than what can be had elsewhere. As mentioned somewhere (maybe this thread), Corruptors and Defenders occupy more of each other's roles than any other ATs in the game and yet it works because Defenders do have better buffs--not overwhelmingly but notably, and Corruptors do better damage in a notable way while still bringing good buffs. You literally cannot say Brutes are best at anything in the game. The best you can do is partially compare them one AT at a time. But I also see this is not a hill the developers feel a need to climb and nothing I expect is going to happen.