Erratic1

What follows is a quickie without a lot of deep thought put to it to convert it from Brutal fashion to something more Tankish. No doubt better exists...probably far better. It skips Jacob's Ladder because you are uncertain of it. FWIW, a trick to using Jacob's Ladder is to move away from a group slightly while targeting a foe on the edge then auto-follow [F] back to the group with Jacob's Ladder activated. But if you're spending more than a half second doing this then yeah...perhaps Jacob's Ladder is best dropped.

Working up a Electric/Stone brute (currently level 41) so don't have a Tanker build up my sleeve, but let me see what I can crib together from what I am doing with her....

During the last great snow storm my heater went out and the repairman could not make it to my house for 2 days because the snow was so thick. It is amazing when one can tell the difference between 53F and 57F, which I managed with a single space heater for the entire house. The previous big storm, 3 months before caused the central tree in my back yard to develop cracks running along the branch over my powerlines to both my and my neighbor's house. But hey...what's $7000 to deal with both events between friends? What makes you think those of us elsewhere do not know of ice and snow? And have you never heard of a sandstorm? Or a dust storm (which this region was famous for about a century ago)? Not all storms come with ice.

You're making the volcano goddess mad by denying her lightning. She just might roll you some pyroclastic flow (and there aint no ice in that)....

Think volcanic lightning and we can dispense with talk of Ice in favor of Stone/Electrical Melee. It's a storm which portends nastier things to come. I'll even give you a theme to work with.... Do NOT make the volcano goddess mad!

I think you focus a bit overmuch on Recovery and miss a few opportunities trying to raise Fire/Cold resistance. Focus does knockdown inherently and does not need KB->KD. Also, since Environmental Adaptation is your big Defense provider, it should be the one getting Enhancements, not Weave. I danced some enhancements and slots around but tried not to stray too far from what you had.

You are correct, Scrappers and Stalkers can pull that off but not Brutes. Well in that case Claws/EA vs Claws/Bio...given the OP's dislike of Bio I'd say go Claws/EA.

3 clicks (4 if you like to change stances--I don't but some do) of which 2 are purely, "Oh shit!!" situational and one which is best practice used (if you just ran into a large group). FWIW, I'd suggest Claws/Stone though certainly Claws/Bio and Claws/EA would both be awesome.

The danger is you will start making characters and want to play them all. Make them in game first then use Mids to decide a path for them.

If you knock them all down with Lightning Rod first the animation time doesn't matter because they aren't going anywhere or doing anything. Of course on a brute you don't really care too much because what are they going to do to you during animation...kill you? When Lightning Rod isn't up I teleport into a group with Thunder Strike queued up on the target I'm teleporting to.

Just remember to skip Proton Sweep (personally I'd dump Devastating blow too but some disagree). Cross Punch provides a nice substitute.

Rad Melee has its own slower, deliberate pace. It is not for everyone. I tried multiple times to make an Elec Melee character and none ever gelled properly until my most recent go on an Elec/Stone (brute). Even so, Jacob's Ladder and Thunder Strike are just barely on the edge of tolerable.

Your guy does not have Hover or a means of flight.... Aren't you generally on the ground?

Unless Clobber is going to one-hit kill the target and you are not going to be making any other attacks, what you open up with is immaterial. Add too the stated criteria for judging was, "...looking at the damage numbers in-game and especially the animation times...." In game the damage boost will be there from the second attack onward and damage per animation time while Clobber is fantastic every other attack in WM is on par with unmodified Claws (barring Whirling Mace which is woefully behind).

Did you factor in Follow-Up granting a 37.5% boost to damage and that the buff can be stacked twice?

Upthread I posted a costume for my Energy Melee/Shield stalker Super Chilled. Somewhere along the way I grew disenchanted with the cold aspect of his concept and reimagined him more in line with his underlying Energy Melee powerset as a super energized hero. One rename and bio update later and Super Chilled became Empowered. Now I have gotten around to giving him an updated costume:

You definitely need to share more often. Liked them all but really felt Northbound and Coin Miner were outstanding.

Radiation Melee is supposed to trigger the splash too but it also consumes the Contaminated effect. You know, I never tested it but presumably if other splash-qualifying attacks do not consume the effect then presumably you can hit the same target again for splash damage for the duration of the Contaminated effect. I know it lasts long enough on my Tanker that he can apply Contaminated with Radiation Siphon and have it still there to be consumed by his next use of Radiation Siphon, which he has recharging in 4 seconds.

Since my Rad Melee is a Tanker I was more focused on the heal, but the mechanic splashes damage when you hit a Contaminated foe with a Rad Melee attack. Is there any way to abuse that for fun and killing?

I am shocked and saddened to hear this. I only knew Heraclea through thoughtful, inviting, and informative forum posts. My sincere condolences to friends and family.

Yes, Inexhaustible boosts Regen like Health but unlike Health it also boosts Recovery and may be slotted with either Healing/Absorb or Endurance Modification enhancements. So you might look at it as a replacement for both Health and Stamina with the choice left to you on how much its base boost to both Regen and Recovery should be further improved. In my experience (playing an SS/Bio brute) Recovery does not need the help Recovery in excess of what you need to sustain your attack routines is getting you nothing beyond padding in case you face Recovery debuffs or drain--and you have other tools to assist with Recovery in DNA Siphon, Parasitic Aura, and Efficient Adaptation. The same could be said for Regen but the game far more focused on dropping your health than your endurance.

I am blaming @brasilgringo and hence @Player2 for driving my thoughts down a road which brought to mind a certain recently seen movie (on a fictional group I've long enjoyed): I do not even have intentions to make the character, though just for the costume I am greatly tempted.

On my previous best DM character (DM/Elec brute back on live) I tended to look at Siphon Life as a damage dealing ability with a healing perk. Both the damage and healing become more useful with high global recharge.

Rather than go for a total makeover my first thought was to stay in the neighborhood of the original:

😁 Perhaps the better word would have been Iconic.