Erratic1

Did you mean an Ice/Rad Tank? If so the Tanker has both DoTs at level 28 as opposed to the Brute having to wait until level 35. How major the wait is as a factor is in the eye of the beholder.

According to Mid's the break-even point assuming Soul Drain hits 6 target's is 87 Fury--an amount which, from experience, sits right at the practical upper limit of where one would be able to sustain Fury (I typically assume 85 Fury when considering Brutes). However when Soul Drain is not up the break-even point is roughly 60 Fury--an amount it should take very little time reach and blow past. While I am greatly annoyed that any time Brute vs Tanker comes up the thread devolves into Tanker fans denying Tankers are remotely overpowered or displacing Brutes in the game but then will swagger into every build consideration to declare, "Its better on a Tanker!", I will say that while the initial consideration might suggest a rough parity between the two ATs it leaves out the consideration of Tanker greater AoE sizes and how often Soul Drain can be available. If raw damage is otherwise equivalent, hitting more targets favors the Tanker. While Soul Drain is not always going to be up hitting more targets by default somewhat makes up for it when not looking at fighting solo encounters. In addition, one is going to be slotting and building to minimize how often Soul Drain is not available. The final factor which favor's the Tanker is Icicles. Due to it being a primary Tier 6 power for a Tanker versus a secondary Tier 8 power for Brutes, the usual favoring of Brutes when it comes do DoTs is turned on its head since the Tanker will have Icicles available as a choice at level 12 whereas the Brute will have to wait until level 35 to get the power (contrast with Soul Drain where there is only a two level difference when the power comes available). So in this case I must agree, go Tanker.

I suspect you have opened yourself to a flood of requests.

I have been wanting to make an Invulnerability melee character and had narrowed down choice of primary to Staff or Claws. Guess it is going to be Claws with the above report in mind.

There were other arguments.

Devastating Blow comes out ahead when other people are not involved? I ask because one of my strikes against it was things dying while it was animating. Sure, nobody cares about rotations when things are dying quickly, but if I am having to remind myself not to use it then I might as well have something else I can use.

That should leave you in a very good place then. Edit: Should mention, I took my Elec/Rad tanker Spiritual as well. 🙂

Dare I suggest a character I've already posted about:

Don't think that can be changed.

Vanguard Projector Mark I? It had a separate section that deals with the field with one color being the inner radius and the other the outer radius.

That seems a little weird. I levelled up an SR/TW Tanker on actual SOs (primarily to challenge notions about Tanker using SR being squishy) and TW is far, Far, FAR from being modest in consuming endurance. Half his attack powers are double slotted for End Redux though. I have trouble seeing how the area buffs mean much when you're playing solo and everything is coming to you anyway short of herding, and in that case all the other melee ATs are not going to spend time herding but will just mow through spawn after spawn as they occur.

What is this Tank talk in the Brute forum? 😛 So what's the look?

I typically find one End Red is sufficient on many of my melee character but depending on primary some are hungrier than others. I do not have any experience with Martial Arts so I cannot say how it is but as example My EM/Shield stalker is definitely more on the endurance hungry side of things even if he is not the most endurance hungry build I have ever wrestled with. I tend to look at inspirations as more, "Oh sh#t!" items first and the occasional, "This will take a bit more" items secondarily than things to rely on and thusly build to minimize the need for them. But everyone has their own preferred approach.

Bill Z Bubba beat me to it, but a second End Mod in your attacks would probably help considerably. And yeah, I know, it can be a hard to find the slots sub-30. Since survival is usually less the issue and so damage does not have to be maxed immediately, I would say getting the second End Redux in an attack is higher priority than the third Damage SO.

How have you slotted?

I do not want to give a rushed reply which might turn out to be in error but have to say at first glance it looks like you are going to need to be using Power Sink so often it will interfere with the business of brutalizing things. You have a difference of 1.05 endurance per second between what you use and generate at rest and Energize will not be up for 18.48 seconds at a time. For comparison I have an Elec/Rad Tanker who has a 1.77 endurance per second gap with Energize not being up for only 9.6 seconds at a time. I would suggest a bit more global recharge and perhaps slotting Energize for a 5 slot bonus (sorry, that denies you 8.75% global recharge) and an actual Recharge Reduction IO so that the gap on Energize usage is reduced.

Less a response than to toss another view out, there is also Enhancement Sets - Unofficial Homecoming Wiki (cityofheroes.dev)

Brutes take more time (their protection sets are secondary versus those sets being primary for Tankers) and effort (the protections sets do not provide values as high as what Tankers get) to make tough. But they assuredly can be made to shrug off tons of incoming attacks. And on balance Fury means they are turning out respectable damage from the start. For Shield, like has been said upthread go Tanker. If you're pairing Energy Melee and Invulnerability...either can work.

And thirding here. I had been willing to put it down to having less experience building characters when I tried it on a brute after having successfully managed a tanker with it (and still am strongly inclined to give it another go just to make sure). By contrast Electric has never disappointed me, even when I knew far less about building characters.

I noticed while playing my newish Elec/Stone brute (who is basic IOs only--same as SO only except I do not have to replace enhancements periodically) that she is flat on endurance consumption. She ends fights pretty much at full endurance. The endurance recovery from the primary along with 3 slots dedicated to Stamina and slotting each damaging power with 2 Endurance Reduction means she will sooner run out of health than endurance. I am not certain that would be the case with another primary powerset given Elec Melee does periodically leech endurance from foes you hit. Yeah, Lightning Rod on a brute is about as inferior a choice as you are going to get short of grabbing Shield Charge but Mud Pots and Brimstone provide a very nice shower of orange numbers and it is not like Lightning Rod doesn't knock things down. The real perk of Bio is it does everything--heal, recover endurance, boost damage, up health regeneration. There may be no wrong primary to pair with Bio, just lesser shades of, "CORRECT!"

That's odd...I do not recall my widow, Arachno Lad, being an endurance hog and he's all SO (well, basic IOs...Why keep paying for replacements?).

Scrappers do better damage than brutes but the only time I feel their survival is comparable (ignoring easy content) is when looking at Defense reliant builds because the trick is the same: Don't get hit. For any build which is based on resistance or is hybrid Brute survives better. And as noted, Brutes NEVER have troubles with runners whereas I am regularly treated to complaints in the forums from scrapper complaining about runners. Moreover, a brute is not there to be just a damage dealer, its purpose is to be a damage dealer that survives. Most assuredly there are very survivable Scrappers and Stalkers. Add too I have seen some utterly stunning Tankers when it comes to dishing out damage. But if you have to take Defense sets on the Scrappers/Stalkers or build very specifically on the Tankers in order to make a damage juggernaut either way you have to confine yourself in ways you do not with a Brute because damage and survivability come baked in. Case in point, I have not played Invulnerability since my beloved DM/Inv scrapper, Vae Victis, made in the first month of release back on Live. I am contemplating StJ/Inv or Staff/Inv. Right there Scrapper and Stalker are out of the running despite Invulnerability cheating into defense via Invincibility because in my experience Invulnerability's heal on its own is not going to get me to the levels of survivability having gone with a full defense secondary would when faced with 75% capped resistances. Both Brute and Tanker can get to 90% with higher health pools. So why not Tanker? Brute plays smoother on the way up with less endurance starvation to get the kill when playing solo. Add too solo spawns are not 20+ and everything you are fighting will be close enough to be hit by area attacks. Love my Rad/Elec Tanker, but I know who disposes of groups quicker between him and my SS/Bio Brute. But that is not to try to convince you your view is wrong so much as to explain why I still very much find Brutes have a place in the game...well, at least my game. YMMV.

Yes, it is labelled Haste. Not sure why it says 0% on mouseover. I'd figure that to be a bug of some sort.

Pretty sure Rad/Fire is the new hotness in terms of Brute farming

Isn't that enough to offset the Resistance penalty for being in Bio's Offensive Stance? Seems like a marriage made in Heaven.