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Ah, the old melee cannon! Sentinels have an even higher scale for melee than Blasters do. Like I wrote, I think the rationalization falls apart when looking at other pairs of ATs.

I don't use Detonator, (Mastermind Traps secondary), so is it possible to to Detonate anything that appears in the player's pet window (e.g. Acid Mortars)? I feel like this is how it was on the test server (at one point) but I don't know if it still applies now.

"Stay the course" definitely feels like the most likely path. As noted, there would be a loud (negative) reaction to pretty much ANY change except a blanket buff to Brutes. As much as I like the (current) Energy Melee changes, my initial reaction to those was closer to "Waaah, not what *I* wanted" than not... and I don't even think I was particularly vocal about the changes. I can imagine that if new melee (and possibly armor) sets are introduced that the Brute variants would get something unique (relative to other ATs)... but even this sort of approach would inevitably lead to some comments along the lines of "Another nerf? Why can't Brutes just get what ____ got?" Even though nostalgia dominates player feels about the game, I'd like to believe that a majority of folks bitter about the Brutes' current place in the game will eventually channel those Brute feels into another AT (most likely Scrapper or Tanker, as noted above) that "does whatever, but better" in the player's mind. Then maybe a particularly strong-willed dev could rework the AT (without changing primaries/secondaries) into something folks can be excited about. Not really relevant to the Brute discussion... but as much as I love Blapping, if I wasn't already used to the damage scales being what they are I would think that the Blaster's melee is probably too high.. at least considering all the survivability tricks Blasters have access to. This is not me calling for a nerf to Blasters, the comment is made more from looking at the damage scales as they are and being able to rationalize just about any ratio between ATs... but I'm not sure any one rationalization would make sense when applied to a different pairing of ATs.

My hot take on Triage Beacon: It's a fine power to use while leveling up but less important at higher levels (certainly at 50). Keep it where it is, as it is a natural power to respec out of as a character levels up.

I realized I goofed on some of the proposed enhancement slotting: Epic Indomitable Will does not take Resistance pieces. This is not the first time I forgot this! As it takes Defense pieces, I'll have to make some adjustments.... and try to turn things to my advantage. With room for another (6th) defense power, I can opt to turn the franken-slotting of Unleash Potential into a 6xPreventive Maintenance for 8.75% global recharge. At this point I think I can sacrifice a LotG 7.5% global recharge (using a Defense slot to hold the Shield Wall global Resistance piece) and still have the margins to drop Expedient Reinforcement for Singularity. I kinda hate losing the Defense boosts from Unleash potential, so I am still thinking this trhough. I'm thinking about minimize some slotting on Singularity, leveraging HOs. EDIT: I had realized that I could skimp on Range for Wall of Force (to keep it closer to the range of Buckshot), and I could get better-ish enhancement values using an attuned 5-piece Decimation (even with a lower level cap) as the 3-piece Gladiator's Javelin in the Burst T1 attack... which allowed me to franken-slot the Singularity (and save another slot) more to my taste. The net Global recharge bonuses will scale lower; I lose a little on the Singularity's (slotted) recharge but I get it slotted with more control. I also get to keep my franken-slotting and Defense emphasis for Unleash Potential! Oh, BTW... the Singularity is showing a Boosted Soulbound Allegiance Accuracy/Recharge piece. That was just a placeholder. I'll be using a common Essence of Curare Accuracy/Recharge piece from the Hold category at level 50+5 instead. No need to burn INF on that.

I won't argue against trying to mechanically use Fury to directly increase damage in some way, except that is (to my eyes) always what its been... but in terms of gameplay I've only ever seen a Brute played the same as a Scrapper (probably 90%) or a Tanker (maybe 10%). Apologies for comparing against the original ATs from CoH, but the timeline is what it is. I don't think there is another way to play a Brute... as there is no mechanical reason to (EDIT) not push every character as fast as it can go. I don't think there *is* another way to play a Brute! I realize that it can be tempting to point at Scrappers and Stalkers, but those two AT have enough different powers in each primary that there is room for obvious variation, even if (by some arbitrarily chosen metrics an optimized-for-that-metric build of) each may be comparable. I'd prefer that Brutes got a role not filled by Scrappers or Tankers, and preserved their primaries and secondaries. I don't think it is productive to start from a place where the idea is that the AT has to be better than another AT. The Tanker buff (at least the AoE-related one that is sometimes called the 'Brute nerf') was to make Tankers better at tanking, which had the side effect of making them able to fit (and ultimately defeat) more enemies at once... again, this is a somewhat arbitrary metric. Ultimately this is just my way of saying that I'd prefer an AT that offered both a different sort of playstyle and not just "this one gets the same powers but at a different level" or "this one gets the same powers but has different caps". I'd rather not have wholesale changes to the powers or caps, even if they would have to be tweaked to accommodate whatever the Fury mechanic ends up doing.

Thanks! I'm still not 100% sure on my final slotting, as I am testing the different interactions of powers as I play. I'm a long way from perma-dom, and at least you can see from my proposed sets how I intend to get to it. If I could convince myself to NOT franken-slot Wall of Force, I'd end up with slightly more options of what sets to use where... I hate that this choice is restricting me, but I love the extra damage it brings at such a low level. Right now, I'm looking at my (current) choice to have the ATO 6-slotted in Wormhole. I absolutely love the stun effect that it applied to the grouped targets, but I'm not liking that the post-teleport scatter that sometimes occurs. So I'm considering using 5-slots of Absolute Amazement with a 6th slot for Sudden Acceleration KB->KD. This would have a sort of cascading effect on which sets I use to get five 10% Global recharge (I'd probably not use Ragnarok in Ignite) but I have to pick a good home for the ATO. Choices!

I appreciate all the replies from folks talking about what they like about Brutes, and what they use in their builds. It is pretty easy to find posts about how "Brutes was nerfed" associated with some talking them down because, by some arbitrary benchmarks, "others are better." Fury is what *I* don't like about Brutes! That is to say: to me, building up that self-buff always felt like it was more effort than it was worth, given other build options. I'm also somewhat non-plussed about how I see many Brutes played on teams... where they just sort of assume they'll always have aggro... and when they don't they don't seem to perform as well and the squishier teammates can start to take a lot of grief... put another way "bad tanking" but I digress. I've played since launch, so I remember pre-CoV when Scrappers essentially made Tankers somewhat superfluous in most content. It came as no surprise to me that when Brutes could go/start blue-side that many folks would gravitate to them... my thinking may be wrong, but because it was so much easier (less investment) to make the Brutes "tougher" *and* for those willing to push the value caps, as tough as Tankers, it was kind of a no-brainer (especially for AFK-like play). I don't have a suggestion for Brutes, but I can suggest something different that would make me more interested in Brutes (with a Fury mechanic). I'd be interested if Fury wasn't tied to either making the Brute hit harder (the current damage buff) or survive better (as is sometimes suggested). I'd kinda like a melee class that applied an enemy debuff (in PBAoE) sort of complimenting how Sentinels (now) work. This sort of things ought to be somewhat acceptable to those seeking MOAR damage and would give Brutes a pretty good role on teams. Obviously if Fury was detatched from the damage buff, some rebalancing of offense is probably necessary.

I want to say that I think I've seen a reverse of this with certain PVP pieces, where I could slot the level 10 version at level 7 (similarly for a few other sets that don't start at level 10), but I had to wait until level 10 to slot an attuned version. Furthermore, I seem to recall that this isn't true of ALL PVP sets. I do know that I've had to wait until level 10 to slot ATOs. I rarely use Winter pieces at low level so I'm guessing they are like ATOs. My memory is a little fuzzy, because I don't always bother with slotting enhancements at those levels.

Hard agree. The initial thread about the lost player (and happened to include a commonly-made suggestion that hasn't really been implemented except in extreme circumstances, mostly dating back several years) is, by my reading, free of any sort of negativity. A second thread was started, by a different user, asking for some "official" clarity on the topic of NPC memorials, as this is something that hasn't been implemented (see above) despite many people asking for it over the years. In that thread an "official" response is laid out making it clear that the general attitude is that there won't be NPC memorials going forward, and that it is not focused at any individuals. A third thread is started that accuses the second thread of being a trollish invitation to dismiss the idea of the first thread, and that the "officials" are collaborating with trolls. That thread gets locked, with an explanation. A fourth (this) thread gets started with (I believe) the rationale being: (a) someone didn't get what I wanted from the first thread, (b) everybody got a reason why in the second thread, (c) somebody didn't get validation that the second thread was targeted directly at them by trolls in the third thread, and (d) there out to be a way for the reason to be changed (see second thread) so that what was wanted from the first thread happens and the validation never received in the third thread is achieved. Page 1 of this thread was textbook sealioning, including immediately after being asked to "give it a rest". I can understand some folks are upset, but it reads like some of them are just looking for reasons to be upset.

-Resistance applied to an enemy, is treated as unique-by-source (for most things I can think of, including %-Res from procs), so teh different sources can stack, but consecutive applications from the same source will simply 'reset' the clock on teh duration of the debuff. The debuff is coming from an applied %proc, not any given power, so different players all using the same proc is just extending duration (if the attack hits and the proc fires). AFAIK, the Fury of the Gladiator , Annihilation, and Achilles' Heel %-Resistance can all stack with each other. They'll also stack with -Resistance from powers. My experience has been that %-Resistance is a better force multiplier than it is for solo play. So my team-oriented characters and Masterminds (or characters with a LOT of pets that do damage) will often try to include at least two attacks with the Annihilation piece (it goes in ranged AoE powers) to try to 'sustain' some -Resistance for the allies/pets/henchmen.

Plants is IMO OP for a few reasons: Seeds of Confusion having a rather large AoE (plus target cap) on top of a base 1.0 accuracy is just crazy good for a low-tier control. Vines and Roots have the more-typical base values, but it is easy to shrug that off when (a) they are no different than other similar Control powers, (b) so much of the set kinda doesn't draw aggro to the character... a Sleep, the Confuse (kinda), Spirit Tree, Carrion Creepers and Fly Trap. As @Maelwys noted Marine Affinity's Shifting Tides does some great things depending on what else the player has in it (pets, pseduopets, henchmen, allies) and because of the way Plant Control works, it seemed like a no-brainer test case for me to try Marine Affinity. I hadn't planned to put %damage in it, but I almost always test... and I found that the %damage was still able to be applied after cast, including if the anchor was defeated. My Controllers are always looking for just a little more damage, so that's how I ended up with the slotting in Shiting Tides I shared above; it is weirdly similar to Carrion Creepers. Plant/Marine ended up being a lot more 'fire-and-forget' than I expected.

Casual observation, based on lower/mid 20's content and the second build progression posted above. For solo -1x3, I'm finding a pretty reliable "opening move" to be: Power Up Wormhole (5-slotted with the ATO) The cone AoE attacks and/or controls. I use this as a Wormhole macro to group the enemies where the cones will hit them (modulo knockback): /macro_image "IceBlast_Aim" "WORM" "powexec_location forward:25 Wormhole" Damage dealing is a little slow at these levels solo (with fewer slots available), so often both Power Up and Wormhole are available when I get to the next spawn. Even with minimal slotting in the Targeting Drone (and the -1 enemies) the ToHit chances are pretty healthy.

All true, but... ...If a power's effect is going to apply any sort of net buff (to damage, to control) then it needs to get a "balance pass" which sometimes means that the power that could be granting the buff gets 'gimped', relative to similar powers. For this sort of proposed interaction with Wet, it would me more trouble than it is worth. I mentioned the "Fire attacks may do less damage to Wet-affected critters", because once the game started to include such interactions like "Wet allows for Hold/Slow/Immob/KD/whatever when used with XXX, from anybody" players would naturally start asking for all sorts of other effects based on attack types... because Pokemon. Ultimately my opinion was that it was a cute idea, but not a sustainable one to implement... unless TPTB were ok with a straight-up buff for (some combination of) characters.

IMO: Below level 20, you shouldn't have to worry too much about whatever +Res or +Absorb you are getting from the ATO. If you can tank rooms of Vahzilok in Posi 2, you should be fine for everything else at low level. When I want to slot nearly complete sets of the Tanker ATO, I use the first two attacks I take for them. When I want to %proc, I pick one of them (usually Might of the Taker's %+Res) to go into the AoE attack as a franken-slot that I'll be using a lot and also has a reasonable chance to proc). There are still 5 other pieces in that set can be used to get the 5% Melee positional defense. This is just my take: I won't argue that +Absorb isn't good for Tankers, but I do think that %+Absorb is not the kind of choice that should make a Tanker build. As Tankers have generally few powers to slot their ATOs, this is why I generally use the weakest attack power to hold it. (If the build was also going to chase Winter ATO 5-slot bonuses, I suppose I might make a different set of choices, but I digress). Tankers are probably better served by having more Regeneration (which tends to be a constant, across levels) than %+Absorb. The %+Resistance is (again IMO) the kind of thing that is really useful, but it shouldn't be relied upon for most content. Something as simple as bad timing can mean you don't get it! As I wrote above, I usually franken-slot that piece into an AoE so that when I'm facing multiple enemies in melee I stand a good chance of getting some more Resistance, because there is no such things as 'cascading Resistance failures'.