Story Archer

Interesting on the Psi pairing - I never even think about it as an option. My Defender is Kin/Sonic and my Corruptor is Fire/Kin.

I don't see how it's anything other than a Fire/Kin unless you're talking about soloing. On a team it's a no-brainer. In addition to all the damage you deal with your own attack powers, all of the extra damage that everyone else deals because of you, (due to the effects of Siphon Power/Fulcrum Shift and Speed Boost) is essentially damage that YOU added to the team, damage that you dealt. I can't think of another force multiplier in the game that comes close. Unless you're talking about purely solo play, which I'd guess most Corruptors don't do most of the time, a Fire/Kin Corruptor has to be the most damaging power combo in the game.

I kind of liked Cross Punch over Power Crash because it recharges a little faster, deals a little more damage and allows me to drop a +Rech FF proc into it. Is there something about Power Crash I'm missing?

I'm not that experienced with Brutes, but I've run a ton of Scrappers and Tankers. I know I really want to see what /Rad feels like on a Brute but I'm unsure as to my primary. At the moment I'm torn between Claws and Energy Melee. I have a Claws/SR Scrapper and I really enjoy her. I like having the ranged attack in Focus and Spin is a terrific AoE, but /Rad isn't exactly hurting in the AoE department with a couple of mini-nukes to throw around and I plan on having a ranged attack from my Epic. I've never played Energy Melee before but I've always wanted to, which is why it's a little ahead right now - that and thematic reasons, of course. I can tell that Whirling Hands is meh but since /Rad comes with those nice mini-nukes, I figure I'll be relying on it less than I otherwise would be. I'm also taking Cross Punch in the build I've put together so that would help a little bit in that department. I guess the question is, is there any reason why I wouldn't want to play an EM/Rad Brute, and since I don't get to play Brutes much, would this give me a good sense of what the AT feels like? The only other Brute I've run was a Staff/Electric and I've enjoyed her, but I haven't gotten her past L30 yet because I keep finding myself drifting back to Scrappers for more damage or Tankers for more survivability. Also, any advice from veteran EM players if I do go this route? TIA!

I didn't see this mentioned, but it always seemed to me like SS/SR (or SR/SS) was the only 'bad' power combination for melee types, because one of the core powers of the Primary (Rage) specifically counteracts the Defense provided by SR. It would theoretically be a bad combo with any Def-based set, but the other sets at least have some bells and whistles like higher resists and/or healing/absorb to help mitigate the negatives caused by the conflict.

In my opinion, this is one of the (very few) power set combinations that are just bad. Not bad individually, both SS and SR are very popular and very effective, but in this specific case they actively work against one another, specifically with the way your Rage crash gimps your defense. I'd suggest pairing SS with any Res based armor set OR anything other than SS combined with SR.

Beta Decay's ToHit DeBuff is so small that enhancing it really doesn't accomplish anything - it's not the point of the power, just a nice cherry on top. I'd recommend either throwing an End Redux or an Achilles Heel proc into its one slot and moving on. As far as Irradiated Ground goes, I suggest an ACC, and END Redux and up to four damage procs when you can get them. At least while you;re working your way up to 50.

Incarnates aren't affected by global recharge bonuses, are they?

That's actually my biggest hang-up on taking the KB/KD IO... that it's breaking up IO set bonuses, especially if I'm already trying to fit +Rech procs in there from FF. Edit: Could the KD proc from Ragnarok theoretically mitigate some of the KB by superseding it? I'm not sure how that interaction works.

I actually saw this with a Brute once - they had taken Shockwave, Focus and Energy Torrent. With FF +Rech procs in all three attacks, they would just stand back and hammer groups at range, keeping them at distance with all the KD. Very cool.

Regen isn't what it once was. My Dual Blades/Ninjitsu Scrapper is by far the most fun I've had playing a melee toon. It's a defensive set like SR - but in exchange for a (fair) bit of your DDR, you get higher resistances and a whole host of really cool toys to play with, including a self +Heal, a self +End, and built-in stealth ability. Can't recommend it enough - final build is linked below, but a more levelling friendly build can be posted too if you decide you're interested. [Veil of Blades].mbd The numbers below are without Incarnates or any temporary powers. Gonna be hard-pressed to find better defensive numbers on a Scrapper, and this doesn't include a nice little heal that comes up every 20 seconds or so.

This is ALWAYS the deciding factor for me when it comes to Hasten. I don't like 'clicky' defenses to begin with, so if I have a defensive power that I NEED to auto-fire (like Practiced Brawler), I'm less likely to take it. I've been told that I could theoretically keybind other click powers like Hasten to my basic move commands, but I haven't been able to figure out macros / keybinds yet.

Or, at the very least, a way to keep from repeatedly banging your head on the keyboard waiting for your attacks to recharge while grinding through the lower & mid levels. I don't think it'll be needed in this build, but I'm also playing with a Claws/Rad Brute right now and all of a sudden Hasten is looking a lot more significant with Particle Shielding and the mini-nukes that come with it. The problem is that I'll basically have to give up Fold Space to get it, so I'm trying to see if I can get by with FF +Rech procs in Focus and Shockwave for now.

Thanks for the clarification. Your stance is kind of the reason why I made the OP in the first place. I find my Scrappers to be extremely survivable late-game, everything I'd need them to be as long as I'm not trying to specifically Tank. I feel like the damage difference between the Scrapper and the Brute is generally much more noticeable than the survivability difference (although, it bears repeating that I have much less experience with Brutes). I also feel like the single-target damage difference between the Brute and the Tanker is nowhere near as noticeable as the difference between their survivability and AoE damage. Hence the question 'why a Brute'? I've been trying to figure that out myself by experimenting with which powersets might benefit the most from a Brute's unique niche but it seems to be a fairly short list. I had a discussion with a friend recently who proposed an interesting 'fix' for Brutes, which would be instead of (or in addition to) a Brute's generic boost to damage increasing with their Fury, granting them an escalating critical chance that starts off basically nonexistent and also increases with their Fury so that, in the rare instances that they are fully maxed out, they're critting at just as high or higher a rate than Scrappers. Honestly, that feels really thematically appropriate to me and would help them out a lot with sustained damage vs. tough single targets without unbalancing them the rest of the time.

Quick question regarding Claws since I've got some knowledgeable people about: how necessary is the KB/KD IO for Shockwave? Assume I'm running content that is at least +2, will that generally be enough to mitigate KB to KD, or do I need to get the IO if I don't want to be sending guys flying all the time? I see the mag listed in Mids as being KB: 1.82 but that doesn't mean much to me.