Erratic1

You have literally just stated that it is fine for Brutes to have no reason to be on a team (whatever they provide being done better by other ATs) but that it would be wrong for other ATs to be in the same situation. Seems...oh, I don't know...contradictory.

And you should stop putting words in my mouth. To wit... I did not say Brutes were being called out did I? I asked a questiton: WHAT ARE BRUTES BRINGING TO A TEAM THAT IS NOT BETTER PROVIDED BY ANOTHER AT? Don't dance around things that were not suggested or shift focus. Answer the question. And here is more of you translating things I never said. Indeed, last time this came up I left the floor open for quite a bit of things other than damage. So stop trying to say otherwise. And yet if Brutes are proc'd to the gills...oh wait, doesn't work for them does it?

It is not just SS or Rad/SS that outperforms on a Tanker vs Brute comparison. Ston has a whole host of combinations documented. And again, it required a team pushing a Brute to his maximum (with a limited number of offensive sets) to outperform Scrappers and draw Brutes on the whole a nerf. In any event, going to drop that issue..... And when can your Brutes turn things up to x6? I tried upping the numbers on my most recent Brute (Fire/EA) and it was unhealthy in the 20s. Yeah, he no doubt finishes single targets faster than a Tanker (say my currently worked upon WP/KM Tanker) but a group beating on you, without the same level of defenses as a Tanker, is a path to a dirt nap. This is strictly on the solo front. Groupwise? Really depends on the group. This past week, on both the Brute and the Tanker, I held the door during the Freakshow ambush at the end of the Penny Yin TF in the reactor. The Brute had help (and retreated once or twice). The Tanker did the job solo. I did not even realize I was alone until suddenly the TF was over because Clamor had reappeared and been put down by the rest of the team while the Tanker held the door. Of course, that is what a Tanker is designed to do--tank. The obvious benefit to the team is they were all able to focus on killing Clamor while not being disturbed by the horde being kept entertained by the Tanker. Brutes do not bring that to the table. But they bring damage! Scrapper, Stalkers, and Blasters bring more. And in no way is Brute survivability, even those that can do +4x8, going to get you past the nastier AVs. Lord Recluse eats my +4x8 clearing SS/Bio Brute casually. Anything less than an AV anyone can tank with a team behind them. Controllers bring the obvious, control. Defenders and Corruptors are buffing? What precisely is a Brute bringing to a team? Substandard damage and even more substandard tanking ability. Yeah, if everyone were playing on +0x0, who cares? But that is not how people play. And it is not like the difference in damage is, a lot of the time, even remotely close. No Brute ever leaps into a spawn and <<BAM!!!>> they are all dead short of the foes being grey in color. Blasters do that, some as often as every 30 seconds. Brutes are single-target experts? Pretty sure Scrappers and Stalkers got that beat handily (see Pylon tests). In any event, this excursion down the usual path is over for me. I am not going to continue to drag the thread off topic. Edit: FWIW, I have one more Brute than I do either Scrappers or Tankers at level 50.

If you don't care, why do you keep ending up defending the status quo? That was the case before Brute nerfs and before Tanker buffs--all the melee classes could do +4x8. And yet both things occurred. So that standard does not seem to be the measuring stick. Not sure Tankers need wholesale nerfs and I am not sure the origin of the notion Tanker nerfs are coming. Currently (as in while I am typing this...well, parked in a place where he won't be attacked) playing a Tanker solo in a mission. Playing at 0x6 because it is not like the extra foes are anything but xp generation for him. Could probably bump the difficulty but volume is more efficient.

And reduced range and damage.

Was it baffling that Scrappers had to be the best at damage and incredibly edge cases (much moreso than the considerably more plentiful Tanker cases of outdamaging Brutes you defend) were the justification for nerfing Brutes? I'm pretty sure those were not even bleeding edge bulls, but bleeding edge builds backed by a team.

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.

If you are in combat and using your other attacks, the extra range of the snipe is useless on those targets. And.... ...if there are still targets in range to be fought, something at snipe range almost certainly isn't aggroed on you or your party. Otherwise it would not be sitting there waiting to be sniped. But I suppose there is some reason for, "Oh wait, hold on...going to ignore all the guys here fighting my party so I can snipe some guy down the hallway (and hope his death doesn't trigger his spawn to come running)." Most people are not relentlessly observing everyone on the team to see how efficient or not they are being. Its a kind of trust the other guy to be doing something useful thing and so long as they stay at a level where being less that optimal is not noticed, nobody cares. There is a fairly wide bit of latitude most people are willing to grant. "Oh, maybe he's hurt and trying to stay alive. Maybe that is why he is running away."

If you want to spend sniper's wind up time waiting for its damage, please be my guest at doing less dps. Sorry for assuming you would want higher dps.

And here I would have put Spiderman down for Super Reflexes since with his spider-sense he is able to dodge most attacks. Most attackers cannot land hits on him.

You can snipe all you want when not in combat. In combat, though, the power does not just sit there uselessly.