Erratic1

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.

Don't blame me for your poor choice of English. Either you are asking for someone to heal or you're not. Either you are asking for control, or you are not. Yeah, in a lot of content, you don't care who joins and you make do--that is a selling point of the game. Then again, you do face content where people are more demanding, or say things (like what I just saw earlier tonight) asking for, "Holding a spot for someone who can XXXX". But apparently you never see this. Or is that not what you were saying when you wrote:

Ahh, so 12% more survivability it worth doing 30% or more less damage in your estimation? You find that to be worthwhile distinction.

Yeah, nobody in this game has EVER asked for someone to join their party provide buffs and healing. Absolutely never occurred.

🙄 Hit Points - Unofficial Homecoming Wiki Brutes have, at base, 1.4/1.25 = 12% more hp than a Scrapper. Powers and buffs (TFC, IO set bonuses) which increase health provide the Brute 12% more hp than the Brute. So if a Scrapper achieves 1600 hp, a similarly built Brute would have 1792 hp. Hence with Regeneration, the gap is 12% Defense caps for everyone are effectively the same--you reach a point where only 5% of hits land. So with Defense based armors, the gap is 12%. Brutes get higher resistance caps than Scrappers, which is why you see fewer Scrapper players running pure Resistance armors than Brutes, but they do exist (in which case arguably the survivability is a bit bigger, at least when merely considering incoming damage vs mitigation. What this means however is the Scrapper would have to heal more often. So long as the Scrapper can do so, they will survive, though the breaking point between Brute and Scrapper would greater than the above 12%. Does that work for you, or are you looking for a pillar of fire etching words into stone?

If you cannot back up your claim by giving names and pointing to posts, then just say you were making things up.

Who?

You do know you can fully delete (well, hide) a post via the drop down on the upper right side of a post (assuming of course you're not just being performative)?

If Brutes don't appeal, no need to play one. Life it too short to waste on things which are not enjoyable.

The Protean story arc is probably my favorite solo mission, so I do it on every character (even red side). While I know how the double's costume colors are chosent, I am not infrequently impressed enough to steal the the coloration for my character. But this time.... NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! What was he thinking? OMG, his costume is hideous. And he dyed his hair white?!?!? For those who want to know what my costume looks like from the front, it can be seen here: ]

You are right, against a single target a Brute, for the most part, is likely good enough. Not sure I want one as the sole tank on an ITF (though to be honest, I might have done that in the not too distant past...hard to remember). The hard mode people I am aware of tend to think as you do from what I have seen. Not sure if that involves building differently on the Brute or it emerges from how those doing so build as a group.

Tankers lost none of their survivability and only lost damage on a team to the extent they were reaching saturation--something merely jumping into the middle of a spawn does not necessarily equal, particularly if there are quick-fingered controllers about. Again, I do not think Tankers have generally been on a team because of trash. They are there as a punching bag for Romulus/Jurassik/Babbage/etc.