Erratic1

Okay, now that I've given you the skinny, if you are stll on board with playing a Brute... A theme also involves one of the origins. For my most recent scrapper, I wanted to play Ninjitsu for the crit from stealth ability, and I had enjoyed War Mace on a previous WM/Shield character. But a ninja with a hammer? How to reconcile that? Ninjitsu already is verging on spiritual and hence magical territory. So I made him into a collector of mystic artifacts, less for the sake of it than as a means to flummox non-magical types with unexpected abilities. Ghosthammer is a thug, but a thug who became a henchman for an actual magical villain, learned the ropes, and then disposed of his former master in favor of pursuing his own ends. My Rad/Shield scrapper? He's got an atomic shield inherited from his hero grandfather and has the Technology origin. Bio? Are you a mutant? Perhaps you were modified by Science. You can build about either Defense or Resistance, but there are tradeoffs. Defense has the upside of not only preventing damage but also secondary effects like endurance drain as those require being hit to occur. Resistance has the perk of not having a lot of effects which lower its effectiveness, leading to a cascade to failure and massive damage coming in. It also resists said effects. Then there are mixed and layered sets like Bio, Rad, and arguably Invulnerability which mix and match between the two and bolster via other means (healing and absorb shields). While any armor and be paired with any offensive set and a workable character made, choosing a combo where the two sets support the other's shortcomings is where you get start to push things to the next level. Got an offensive set which is hungry for endurance? Pair with an armor set which provides endurance. Don't have a heal in your armor set? Grab an offensive set with healing. Battle Axe and Titan Weapons both will pair nicely with either Bio or Radiation Armor. Want a theme? Titan Weapon + Radiation Armor, take the Technology origin, and costume yourself as a mech. Or as a cyborg if you want to have some human bits showing. Or perhaps you're a bioengineered soldier from a post-apocalyptic alternate universe to explain your Science origin based Battle Axe/Bio character.

Oh gosh...Rad/Shield has high endurance demands (Rad) and no way to generate it inherently (Shield). That is your central problem. Shield is great in terms of survivability, once you push your defenses up, particularly by purchasing the two +3% Def IO enhancements. As memory serves, there is some limited endurance boosting and healing you can get via procs in the right spots in Rad Melee. In fact, I have a Rad/Shield Scrapper--Shield Charge is more potent on a Scrapper than a Brute because of the nature of the pseudo-pet it is implemented as. You want survivability and damage, go Tanker. Brute starts off great, not needing damage enhancements slotted to deal out damage early on. But then you plateau, especially as you have to start pumping enhancements into armor powers so you can survive. Tankers easily max out their survability and then can turn their efforts to improving their damage output. Moreover, they have enhanced area with their area attacks, able to hit more targets. And since you're going to survive, if you do make a Shield Tanker, you have more guys around you further increasing your damage via Against All Odds. Oh, and I did I mention being wanted by teams? Yeah, you came to the Brute forum and are being told to play a Tanker. It's a regular occurrence for good reasons (heavily denied when the matter comes up by the usual suspects doing so).

Do I really need to link all the incredibly common videos of Brits actually trying biscuits and gravy (or really any American cuisine) and loving it? I am sure there is at least an order of magnitude difference in such things despite there being five times as many Americans who could try British cuisine than vice versa. Edit: Guess I should give you a link to Brits just short of losing their mind over biscuits and gravy: Pretty sure the entire reason the British Empire existed was the desperate search for actually good food to eat.

I am not taking food naming instructions from people who are delighted by beans on toast. ABSOLUTELY NOT!

While it is probably not as ugly as say Rad Melee/Dark Armor, I will admit on my WM/Nin Scrapper, endurance was a bit of a problem until he got Nin power which gives you endurance. Dark Armor does about the opposite of providing endurance, drinking it instead. You have a couple of options: You can rely on the Epic Energy Mastery set to get you by until Incarnates come along. Before either, you will likely be a bit mana starved. You do not have to stick with Energy Mastery, it is just there to get you to where you're going (Tar Patch in Dark Mastery is a tempting choice unless you are truly sold on Energy Mastery). You can start slotting set IOs early with an eye toward Endurance Cost reduction. I would suggest going for the 2 pc Unbreakable Guard bonus in as many powers as you can--which with the Rule of Five, can get you to 12.5% global endurance cost reduction. Heck, make it easy on yourself and do not even worry about slotting more of than two of the set in any given power until later. You can also aim for the 5 pc bonus on from Reactive Defenses slotting into Weave and the 5 pc bonus from Preventive Medicine slotted into Dark Regeneration. Theft of Essence in the final slot of Dark Regeneration can also help. Also do not forget the endurance boosts from Performance Shifter, Numina's, and Miracle. A less cranky and bitter me would probably work on a build for you.

It is very tight range (like multiple guys right up on you).

I am certain I was not stranding around in combat waiting for the power to cycle in the combat log below: Mid's says Shatter has an arc of 45 degrees.

More the slotting.

Resistance sets certainly work on a Brute, but I would not say they are a better option over Defense and layered sets (Bio, Rad, Inv). Elec is a good set for Brutes--my first Brute was Dark/ Elec. As goes set pairs, there does seem to be some covering of weaknesses between damage and armor sets of like theme, but I have never let theat drive my choices. In fact, I've never made a mono-themed character. All have mixed sets. While Rad is a good armor set, you might lean towards one of your other choices as it strikes me as somewhat easier to mess up on than the others. Dual-Blades is the only offensive set I've never done much with and the rest are fine. Do whichever you want, though for raw <POW!>, Fire, Super Strength, and War Mace (and Battle Axe) are more satisfying. FWIW, my signature Brute (if one of half-dozen may be considered signature) is SS/Bio.

Back in the day, DM/Inv was a Scrapper standard for mini-tanking. I'll believe it when I see the much predicting proc nerf. Yep, the clicks are important. Besides, I thought Stone was the acknowledged toughest set.

No love for the fashion joke, eh?

He colored it all black because black is slimming.

A few meatheads in a nigh optimal situation of not having to move while running (potentially) more procs than the ranged dandies when usually it is the ranged ATs which get to just stand still and dps. Note to self: Start new Brute tonight named Count Procula

Something which could be dealt with by adjusting other powers upward, Fire Blast downward, or both. Nerf proc ain't happening, but the "problem" advanced is easily dealt with.

Oh gee, the usual suspects indirectly talking about ATs they admit they don't play and what is right and proper for them. 🙄 If there were any urgency to nerf procs the nerf bat would have swung by now. At this point the idea of a proc nerf is about as credible as Anastasia surviving the murder of the Russian royal family. I still have no idea what is thought to be gained by radically shifting the functioning of tons of players that would drive this supposed cataclysmic shift in the upper tiers of the game. So the perpetual fear of Tanker players, that the, "Bad Old Days" will return is at best a fever dream of overanxious minds.

You will (possibly) get one crit by attacking from stealth. That sets up the 2s window of boosted crit chance. Getting two attacks in that time seems dubious to me given the cast/animation times involved. Testing it on the Test Server is probably worthwhile.

So the Ninjitsu opening would be with Eagle Claw from stealth, enjoying a 65% base chance (can be increased) to crit, then follow up with a second attack which enjoys a boosted chance to crit. Not quite the joy of openning with AoE crit, but not shabby.

Endurance hungry is an argument in favor of Rad Armor, not against it. Moreover, there Rad has a +Rchg power, another thing which benefits SS.

Given Super Strength is shorted on AoE damage, taking Cross Punch is well advised, regardless of AT. Heck, I took Cross Punch on my Electric/Radiation Melee Tanker over Proton Sweep.

I think it is relatively rare--certain maps and situations. Been doing it in solo play on my latest Tanker because at a certain point it is faster to merge groups of foes and be hitting everyone with the occasional AOE than mostly relying on single target attacks on separate spawns (driven by damage per endurance considerations). He's not the first Tanker I've taken that approach on. I'm sure there is a sweet spot for difficulty setting and herding, but mostly playing it by ear as opposed to methodically figure out what it is.

Or at least dubiously suspicious given the need to protect Blaster/Scrapper team viability due to what has been stated to be edge cases has not translated to a similar need to protect Brutes, especially given hard mode content being introduced where for damage Blasters, Scrappers, and Stalkers are better choices, and you'd NEVER want a Brute taking for you. But that last point will be pooh-poohed as a minor portion of the game WHILE IT WAS ALSO THE CASE that Brutes outperforming required sufficient buffing as to also not the majority of situations.

Additional correction: In the hypothetical that you ignore actual gameplay where lower Armor values makes herding a greater risk for certain ATs and the fact that dumpster diving has long history in game (as does farming).

Correction: Brutes if you solo...only solo targets and not groups (majority of content).

I did not say or suggest it was. The discussion at that point was about how Brute damage caps were nerfed in regards to Blasters/Scrapers.