Infinitum

It's always been there, back on live pre EM nerf my invul/em tank could outdamage most Scrappers because I took advantage of IOs and they didn't. That's why the EM nerf particularly hurt tanks - it slowed them down too much on that powerset. Beyond that you still have Fire/Fire/Fire that when you have the build up proc, build up, then firey embrace - then pop combustion (which brutes don't have btw) fire sword circle, fireball, forgot about burn, then target the remaining boss with greater fire sword and repeat the cycle - there is no mob left. Fire tanks have better damage and better overall survivability That's easier to attain than brutes IMO. I hit a death mage in PI yesterday with my invul/ss for 917 pts of damage. There again IMO invul is a set that performs better and easier to make stronger on tanks than Brutes. Tanker damage is there, if you can figure out how to get it. Kinda like brute survivability is there if you figure out how to get it. Both take work and planning. Both end up at the same point eventually. Or not you can choose and play anyway you wish - that's flexibility and balanced as far as I'm concerned. The suggestions wanting to corner the market for tanks as the only agro control would be irritating at best for people like me that play their brutes like tanks (that makes it tanking and an actual tank IMO) and serve no long term purpose because a team of incarnate controllers and defenders or blasters would still outdamage and control the mob better than any tank can.

If I'm leveling slow I go through the hollows storylines, I love them, and think its some of the most fun content in the game. If I'm leveling fast I'm doing it through AE I can get to lvl 30 in around 2 hours. Either way I have two approaches to slotting. I will either transfer tje 800 mil to properly set out to the max from another toon, or I will slot at lol 22 with IOs because with a good team not slotting till then isnt noticeable anyway following content lile the hollows and in AE it doesnt matter. If I chose IOs at lvl 22 I'm respecing at lvl 47 and transferring the IOs as handmedowns to the next toon. I rarely use TOs but they arent in my way either.

Yet you had all scrapper, controller, tank, defender, blaster STF. The problem with this line of thinking is you have to have xyz to do and and it's never been the case with this game. You aren't required to "tank" anything. I once ran an all kinetic defender team just for the heck of it, the enemy couldn't move and rarely could attack. It was awesome. That's not even remotely true. Maybe on farming AE missions brutes are more prevalent, but in the normal game/missions/tf, I'm not seeing any discrimination against tanks, or any increased number of brutes replacing them. If anything I've had a more than few teams still look for a tank while my brute was on team.

So basically make it where it wouldn't beneficial for any team to choose a brute because their inherant would become an AT penalty and also team penalty when the brute can't stay in the fight. Thats brilliant if you never want to play brutes again.

Shoot even if you nerfed Brute caps like they suggested, you still have the same defense soft cap across all ATs - then all you would see is SR brutes and Scrappers for the min maxers and still have the same percieved non existent tank problem. What then? nerf defense soft cap across all ATs to rub some egos? lol where does it end? With IOs you can make any AT unhittable now especially combined with incarnate. I actually JUST rolled a KM/SR scrapper over the same in a brute because it played better and was just as unkillable as a tank. I do all this in test before I roll out live. I have a blaster that I play the same way. That's part of the fun making a theme you have in your head work in game with sets and set bonuses. Sometimes it takes a tank to fill that theme, but is it ever required, or any AT? Nope.

The game is free, and supported by awesome people. I dont think the word inconvenience should ever be used regarding homecoming.

I have seen Scrappers tank, blasters tank, controllers, corrupters, Brutes, just about any AT tank stuff that you could not do before IO and incarnate content. People always bring up farming, and thats not a fair point because farming rarely translates to the rareity of content you would face in the game. Plus I have a fire tank that is faster than any brute I have seen clearing the fire farms. And hes also strong enough to tank any content in the game - but neither would be possible without IO Set bonuses and incarnate content. Its not a AT issue, well to me its a non issue, I have 4 tanks various builds and they dont have issue clearing mobs at all, and are not boring or unenjoyable to play. The only issue I have is rage crash occasionally making life difficult, but thats a different discussion. Pre IO brutes nor any other AT could pull off the tank roll, but even then there were all controller teams that everyone was screaming about being overpowered because their buffs and debuffs stacked and didnt "need" any other ATs on team. So no its not a brute issue, or a tank issue, or an AT specific issue. If its boring to you, play something else theres plenty to choose from and many many ways to slot and design, but dont fault rhe AT because people like me that spend a lot of time making a brute or any at strong enough to main tank, because its not easy getting there and building enough inf to accomplish it. Even as strong as my brute is I still get overlooked in the favor of a tank occasionally because tanks can do some things better still.

Out of the ones I listed what would you splace with follow through?

Yeah I was hoping rend armor could be the boss killer while the aoe takes out the minions. Thats my objective, I'm at lvl 28 now so I'll be able to see the attack chain in action soon. Thanks for the input!

Yeah, that's what I'm going for, do you think the attack chain would suffer with this setup?

I recently rolled a Rad/Elec brute which turned out to be very sturdy defensively and great offensively also. I have been wanting to roll a titan weapons brute for a while, so I literally on pines swapped the rad primary with titan weapons which gives me 6 slots to pick from in the titan weapons set. What I chose was 1. Defensive sweep 2. Titan sweep 3. Build momentum 4. Rend Armor 5. Whirling smash 6. Arc of destruction. Am I on the right track? Or what would you guys pick and why? Thanks!

Cool thing about free will is you can choose the team you play on, and when to leave it. I'm not goint to pretend to draw insight from what where when why or how that was happening to you, but its not the norm. Brutes arent the goto melee choice right now, and definitely aren't overpowered, unless you spend an awful lot of inf on them, but by that measure anything can be overpowered. Some are more defensive and some offensive, some in between. If you pick one of the sets to play tank on it takes you a heck of a lot longer for the durability to come to fruition than on a tank and more expensive also. That's the price you pay and you have to be ok with that going into it otherwise you may be tempted to abandon ship around lol 35 when nothing seems to be going right. Then around lvl 40 it starts to click and come together. At lvl 47 enhancements make you as strong as you need to be. I see brutes that don't know what they are doing get wrecked too.

Shadowstryke: Level 50 Science Brute Primary Power Set: Radiation Melee Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Contaminated Strike (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (19) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance (25) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge (36) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (36) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Charged Armor (A) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance (3) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge (3) Aegis - Endurance/Recharge (7) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (37) Aegis - Resistance (46) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance Level 2: Lightning Field (A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage (19) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance (40) Multi-Strike - Damage/Recharge (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (50) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 4: Conductive Shield (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (5) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (5) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (7) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (37) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime Level 6: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (50) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage Level 8: Radiation Siphon (A) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage (9) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/RechargeTime (9) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (13) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (36) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (46) Superior Unrelenting Fury - RechargeTime/+Regen/+End Level 10: Static Shield (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (11) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (11) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (13) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance Level 12: Fly (A) Flight Speed IO Level 14: Fusion (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 16: Grounded (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (17) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance (17) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% Level 18: Irradiated Ground (A) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown Level 20: Lightning Reflexes (A) Run Speed IO Level 22: Boxing (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus (45) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge Level 24: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (25) Recharge Reduction IO Level 26: Devastating Blow (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage (27) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Recharge (27) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (34) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (42) Superior Brute's Fury - Recharge/Fury Bonus Level 28: Energize (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance (29) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge (29) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal (34) Doctored Wounds - Recharge Level 30: Tough (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (34) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (37) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (40) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (42) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (48) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime Level 32: Atom Smasher (A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage (33) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance (33) Multi-Strike - Damage/Recharge (33) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (46) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 35: Power Sink (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (48) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge (50) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge Level 38: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge (39) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 41: Superior Conditioning (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 44: Physical Perfection (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery (45) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (45) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration Level 47: Hover (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 49: Afterburner (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint (A) Celerity - +Stealth Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Run Speed IO Level 2: Health (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (21) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (23) Miracle - +Recovery Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy (23) Performance Shifter - EndMod Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment Level 50: Resilient Core Paragon Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Rebirth Radial Epiphany Level 50: IDF Core Superior Ally ------------

You dont even need inspirations on Apex if you use a combination of the -dmg of void, the heal and regen of rebirth, and the melee hybrid incarnate. You have to go in with melee core on hybrid first, then when its down hit energize, rebirth radial then void and you should be fine staggering powers that way. You are correct though its pretty close to unkillabe, my current Main also.

With two exceptions, a Brute will have access to Mez protection by level 10 (as opposed to level 6 for a Tanker). I am not thinking it is going to make much difference that one picks up protection on their third DFB run as opposed to their second. Most people aren't even bothering with slotting enhancements at that point aside from random SOs which happen to fit in somewhere. true that, I don't start slotting until 17 or 22 then I revamp at 32 then IO out at 47.

We are the Paragon Defense Force Remade from victory server on live with fun filled action every night, and a huge coalition of 5 Super Groups in addition to the Paragon Defense Force Elite Guard our Alt/overflow group. I've seen lots of posts about people feeling like they are left out, or that the game is faster now, or their favorite AT gets no love. Join us, we aren't picky, and are incredibly easy going. In fact we only have 2 rules, be kind and have fun. We pretty much run daily task forces, and have players on both coasts so teaming is never a problem and as one of the leaders, if my team is full, and you can hang tight for a bit, ill stay on later than I originally planned to just to help you get some game time in if at all possible. We have a discord channel and operate some task forces by voice also. My whole family plays, wife and 2 boys 5 and 12, so bring your whole family we are extremely family friendly. I will post more members globals when I get on a computer, but you can usually send a chat to @Infinitum or @Aleriana if you would like to join our family. Join us and let's save the world every night!

That varies a lot and this is largely my opinion, but I prefer certain sets as brutes, and others as tanks - but I play everything with a tanker mentality. If I can cap resistance or get close with a brute by io and incarnate I roll that as a brute, if I can't and survivability is sketchy I roll it as a tank. My rad/rad, rad/Elec, and em/Elec are brutes. My invul/ss, invul/em, sr/kinetic, and triple fire are tanks. My goal is always a damaging highly survivable tank in the end.

I'm talking lvl 1 to 40ish I see a few stragglers get by me where if I were on a tank there would not be any. Most of the time no damage was done. Once everyone else starts getting optimized around that same time, it becomes a non issue at that point, but it is noticeable early on.

Agreed 100% my sg currently has a team 6 tanks 4 are fire tanks and its ridiculous how quick we melt missions. Ive never understood the tanks bring nothing to the table argument because I still see requests for tanks, and even get shaded from time to time because nobody has seen what my brute can do. Which brings me to my second point, I see brutes and tanks as the same AT just with different means to the end. Brutes are IMO a lot harder to level because they are squishier until you start introducing IO sets to their make up and also dont manage agro as well until you get more aoe reliability. Tanks are stronger out of the box and also maintain and manage agro much better while still outputting decent damage. Which brings me to my third point. On any good team either tank or brute damage isn't going to matter as much either way, but survivability will when it goes wrong and the pieces have to be picked up be either tank or brute and usually its easier with a tank honestly. My last point is just have fun, I've never seen anyone get kicked off the team because they were a tank, the 6 coalitions with us ive never seen that from them either. We all love to min max and then show off the crazy results. If your experience is boredom or exclusion keep looking, rhere are good people out here like my group that wont exclude anyone and figure out how to have fun. Its scary how much this reminds me of the discussions pre EM nerf, because I had a invul/em tank that was iod out and people on live forums were saying then how much tank damage sucked, and didnt believe what I was saying it was capable of. So a few followed me to pylon tests and were wowed. He wad good pre IO but was ultra after IO what made the dmg So good was recharge and ET bursting twice on 1 build up cycle, now you barely get one off the animation feels So slow. So IOs are there IMO to do things you normally could not because its fun to put effort and time into being more super powered. I mean why bother having IOs if you cant break outside of what your build was designed for - incarnates too for that matter. So nerffing brute resistance caps would really suck and eliminate a lot of effort put into 3 characters because people cant learn to find what makes them happy on here. I guess the point is if you are an SO based tank, dont expect to contribute as much on an uber lvl team. Get IOd and show out like they are. I do like the aoe absorption idea for tanks though. Dont nerf my brutes though because you cant find the easy button you are looking for.

https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Alpha_Slot_Abilities Links to the rest are at the bottom. http://imgur.com/a/kgH6dea That is what each lore pet looks like.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Shadowstryke: Level 50 Science Brute Primary Power Set: Radiation Melee Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Contaminated Strike (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (19) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance (25) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge (36) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (36) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Charged Armor (A) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance (3) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge (3) Aegis - Endurance/Recharge (7) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (37) Aegis - Resistance (46) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance Level 2: Lightning Field (A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage (19) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance (40) Multi-Strike - Damage/Recharge (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (50) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 4: Conductive Shield (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (5) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (5) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (7) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (37) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime Level 6: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (50) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage Level 8: Radiation Siphon (A) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage (9) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/RechargeTime (9) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (13) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (36) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (46) Superior Unrelenting Fury - RechargeTime/+Regen/+End Level 10: Static Shield (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (11) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (11) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (13) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance Level 12: Fly (A) Flight Speed IO Level 14: Fusion (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 16: Grounded (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (17) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance (17) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% Level 18: Irradiated Ground (A) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown Level 20: Lightning Reflexes (A) Run Speed IO Level 22: Boxing (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus (45) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge Level 24: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (25) Recharge Reduction IO Level 26: Devastating Blow (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage (27) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Recharge (27) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (34) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (42) Superior Brute's Fury - Recharge/Fury Bonus Level 28: Energize (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance (29) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge (29) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal (34) Doctored Wounds - Recharge Level 30: Tough (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (34) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (37) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (40) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (42) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (48) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime Level 32: Atom Smasher (A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage (33) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance (33) Multi-Strike - Damage/Recharge (33) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance (43) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (46) Multi-Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 35: Power Sink (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (48) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge (50) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge Level 38: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge (39) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 41: Superior Conditioning (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 44: Physical Perfection (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery (45) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (45) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration Level 47: Hover (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 49: Afterburner (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint (A) Celerity - +Stealth Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Run Speed IO Level 2: Health (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (21) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (23) Miracle - +Recovery Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy (23) Performance Shifter - EndMod Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment Level 50: Resilient Core Paragon Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Rebirth Radial Epiphany Level 50: IDF Core Superior Ally ------------

Rad is probably the overall stronger set at the moment. Elec is more purely a protection set while Rad offers other utilities. depends on what you are going up against, on test before I made either one Elec fared better against lvl 54 rikti and rad had trouble at times with a lot of them at once. Elec only issue is toxic and its not as prevalent as rikti and other types like rikti, so ultimately thats why I built Elec first - I do have rad rad in the works, because its great also. You cant really go wrong with either one.

that still wouldnt solve the supposed issue for tankers, just make brutes less rewarding for those willing to invest time to maximize them. Those 5 percentage points would make a big difference in how those characters would then play. The best suggestion I've seen is raising the agro cap and aoe radius if you are looking to make tanks more valuable. Nefing brutes to buff tanks isn't really helping tanks and is kinda like lowering the speed limit because one cars engine isnt running optimally.

Well this idea sucks because it would literally kill 3 of my best characters. Secondly not all brute sets can do what the same respective tank set can do, and even then can only do so with massive effort getting through the early game with what feels like nearly half the survivability of the same tank type. And then you have to fully and expensively IO the sucker out just to get it near tank levels with just SOs. That's a lot of effort of a lot of people that would just get pooped on. Now tank sets I think work better than their brute counterpart in both attack and damage are fire/fire and invul and SR. You just reach nothing can kill me levels easier and higher than the same brute and honestly the tanks I have output pretty good damage. The secondary sets that I prefer to roll a brute into a tank late game with are Elec and rad. That's only because I can reach tank levels of can't kill me with a heavy investment of time and strategy and sometimes frustration. But as a whole if brutes were made weaker baseline than they already are there is literally no reason to play them then. Being overpowered comes with a price. My tanks all play well skin survivability and damage and haven't really had any issues teaming, so I wouldn't know where to start telling you how to fix them because they don't really feel broken to me. In fact I view tanks and brutes the same way with tanks honestly being more fun early game and brutes being more fun late game but the gap on the late game isn't as vast as the tank > brute gap earlygame. Ultimately I view being a tank as a job not an AT and either of these can do it.

tanks have always been my main, since I1. I've had at least 6 lvl 50s through the years. Never once have I felt weak. Maybe I'm just stupid though.