Without_Pause

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I haven't done Claws/sr on a Brute, but I have zero issues with End on my Scrapper. Yes, Claws is End friendly. I fully accept sets like Axe being an issue. The amount of Blues which drop easily cover any remote issue on my Scrapper. I keep Conserve Power for when I'm dealing with End drain based mobs, and I only have it single slotted for Recharge. It would be swapped for Superior Conditioning on a Brute, so it should be good to go anyway. I think the easiest way for me to make a Tanker Brute using Taunt would be to just make a build for teams where I use Taunt instead of the Aim type power and have a build for solo where I skip Taunt. Outside of that, just make a Tanker. Ice/ice would be fine for damage. Honestly, builds don't start to come together until their 30s if not late 30s, so I would keep pursuing with the Tanker as well. Case point, my Dark/sr Scrapper felt 'set' at Level 37. Anyway, for armors, SR and EA help with damage due to +Recharge. Shield has Shield Charge and Against All Odds. Invul offers +ToHit. I should mention MA gets +Def in Storm Kick for Brutes and Tankers. Dragon's Tail can be made to recharge quick enough to where it by itself can be respectable AoE.

I was talking of those mentioned by the person who quit. Since I'm not in Closed Beta, I don't know what else was included. Interesting that they were looking into so many armors. I will say, the complete end drain aspect to T9 armors really needs to go away. It was removed from nukes. It is well past time to make the change for armors.

Define tanking. If on a team, are you planning on using Taunt? I ask because I have an actual higher level Tanker who has Taunt and in all honesty I use it in spots. I never take in on a Brute as merely taking alpha is enough. If you want a sturdy Brute to handle +1/x4, then practically you are looking at */*. If you've played all of the armors you will know which ones have fewer visual displays. Ideal sets for a Brute are essentially the best sets for a Brute outside of Stone, so SR, Shield, EA, and Invul. SR and Shield and auto fire their mezz protection. Invul has a single click. EA has two, but at +1/x4 I can't imagine needing those clicks much. My Claws/ea Brute solos on +1/x8 currently. He'll bump it up once I get the Alpha to T3. My Scrapper version is already there. I might pop it to +3 depending on the mission. RE: AoE size. If you are only soloing at x4, then a Tankers bigger AoEs isn't an advantage. By no means equivalent, but I found soloing on my Shield/fire Tanker slower than say any of my Scrappers. I would need to do more testing with my Brutes, but higher damage in a smaller AoE can make it feel like your pace is better. Again, this was hardly a 1:1 case as the Tanker isn't level 50 like the others although Level 41. The higher damage for non-Tanker ATs feels notable on harder targets. Sure, you are basically unkillable, but it just feels slower. Honestly, if you want a fast paced soloing experience at that diff level, a Scrapper or Stalker would be far better picks. I recently did some MJ arc missions with my Dark/shield Scrapper and it was like done, done, done, and moving on. For primaries, I'm a fan of Claws, but I favor it more on a Scrapper due to the crits covering for how Lethal damage can be resisted and Spin having a shorter recharge, or exotic damage types like Ice and Dark. Fire is better on a Tanker. Ice is cheat code for making a build durable. Ice with any of the Def based armors will be incredibly durable. Fury favors DoT as well. Dark is simply the least resisted damage type across all content, and it isn't even close. It also works wonders with SR and Shield due to their lack of heal. I will say Axe backed by a secondary which offers +Recharge and +End see EA is going to be super good. My Axe/stone Brute is certainly looking to apply for being my best overall melee character.

I could only partially understand a nerf to EA if it is being ported to Tankers, but I have a hard time even fully accepting that. I'll have to see what any changes to EA are as I have four builds at 50 across the four ATs who use it. If it's a bug, then fine, but considering Stone exists as one mere example, I'm not sure why EA would need to be scaled back. Radical changes to popular armors feels like all sorts of FAFO.

Making insane changes to where sets are unrecognizable and involving two of the more popular Res based armors is a hell of a thing to try with such a niche base of players.

A big reason to go Thermal Def for me was due to the higher numbers. I would be more inclined to go with a different AT if I felt like the higher numbers were less needed, see Kin or something which buffs Def as most people are already covering Def on some level. As always, you can hit a limit to how high a buff can go. Good luck hitting debuff limits.

I made this one, but I only played it to low level. I'm working on putting it on the Beta server and playing the final version there. Note, I would grab Ice Bolt early and respec out of it once you get the other blasts. There's no purples so it is on the cheaper side. I use the Sorcery pool so they were essentially done as a Ice wizard/sorcerer. |MBD;22951;1340;1788;BASE64;| |G6ZZAKyKx/lXLKSkJLigx4yXS5GuPc0mU34aB8Jc297vCb8sd1swEkOydPW1DgtIV51| |O5auXBdrCQOkreX9qb1U9u3fXTdesekTslwwnDCPA2b9fTV9txMxoPTGLca3u3FpLK2| |t39IVcWZhgSsOtQh4M95DeonyxBAawTFDCYZhpTIauq0qdO2AN60j7o3PEouiXCvFhv| |7gugqWz/q3gyWEKMn+B4HnfrcsEEJEGCPwShwK/jz0xssV589zpwkBDKl18LWDo7iKX| |X8kNb3UYhf+miE7glA1SoJ9NLHi/5yZkUPjudQIbKvoMotfsjvW4we2BYeSON3SRz+s| |3MqNq4zzmACOcS9j9dtoiib81woWpUZ1CUa/YFna4InIgP29yVCzniKXlVlMfyHV/mS| |8d7o0uOdT/C1tgWvikA9uL5J0mHNGtFbEp8n2j9fDuvMI9VRvOl+fRLW3VqpNY1Zs5M| |8bN9vvagudGJvs+LI7pJxLebxZdDDNan9f7JuJA8DAuM5egZ9ZL1b6bNf8Vf1J3/G6d| |BGTLuzm6t2Pyjc7PHcXUuEUOAsbeeoIjHLvuGbsZ78HqszffAT/hFGh1dv6Vv5Cm14U| |pUaT7en/54VuznOqA6gSMkLWC6ka2Ew0tuerck5an6SIZwWSl7ls9egNT7o3JpO2LEP| |/u/D/BQ9bNkPMMhNzaAtoSMEIGCGUNb2k+amBwqHpcQllCWS2U1aL4tJAvN7bh/y4VD| |zUoO1zDsDf2qbDJ7dbkKLkES1wlAZTECWY6LQUYQ/mnxLYv4yNrQs8x9QeXfK5xGwXu| |sO68zvJsO9ZtOXos0SewmgAKEeiqKaAkTtTt1PDsVOhSX+XHvpmQreF5/ZBdpeLF/ek| |jPG/8KjjsTtQOeifd6+wGPH8yUt4NWcAJHK7A4boKVbS+GLTpWro7coUuMGGYZYh1a5| |gPkBM3n2BKXi0BGCHA0tLQLHMYG8JdT5Wj2MLjia0Ehhcc67NaB6c5rraADcOOR5XVU| |WwXKGeY0W+XnS3EAxq4YbjpDVrYrJGgoqcEQ2Sv5OMfFdqNZLoO8Lj9ThEvCUOXVqtq| |ZEoqOLkVV0kAhQhPT0kBxQjPbSDFxGppxXygthg4nJJRjZKTTKclKyfClH2TSHiITOA| |Lpf3IZGboyFRCPlLIRwohsuSL6//uH05cMcQ+r0KRMxmwPeMoThmwXYHtfhy1PW64v+| |nXl+QMV+CGkl3IHCafL+VFMUJUwghKuqthz61nlHaGl9LwTuRwfz+lNLwHHig7ZOOc5| |Tp1Sd3VNqFzYmuD2nsPxEe9SREr2CJHUzjy2wH5On3FfpwLwdl90+q8vSl7JM53w2M3| |1yWpA5eugK4CjBG4YRKBNzSVePoLeWIBXCrNcHUV7Ge49CxQdYm31KoCgrqkXyebzhN| |Pow41reffOeCB4bETGxQt3ZiyZIfvRG1H+piZNOKNx4AzWXrczuNEQ6aJI+6r3SsKdL| |amvsgNk6nSkcWRK1bcvM8Djl2qMSxIbkUIYBK1BEsi8rneWw04dRwsB1xofu91E//wg| |R8EtHKTV1RIAcgCG3m1rdklSqoLbWuQD64IPU7y1uMKH31mI4/j86CN3QRVexWbGq7w| |XvAgkWwWB+3V241t6c/Xdoj+AIQhtT+zo3sK0tOF6oE5EGWVsP+LzT/Fftd7f/Ce/s2| |075wGF08KnC+xfa7vr0xcBoSzScF/bcde6lLM8KcYCj4g+K91acowpDu4QupoCUU/7P| |3ZCCZkj89E5nagG3nk7cWNLP6hAHTGlvnQC+b0AyWUOxo=|

It's been too long since I have looked Bill Z Bubba's build, and the one he posted generates an error in Mid's. I honestly did my build from the ground up with no outside influence just to see what I could come up with. I know one difference is their using purples. I have the coin, I just haven't switched over. I think it would be easy enough to look at the 2nd thread where he mentions the purples he slots to merge mine and his. Point is, when it's all said and done I have little doubt there are very few maps which will cause even my build an issue at my more preferred diff setting of +3/x8. +4 diff setting with how much certain mobs resist Lethal makes soloing less fun. The only difference in rewards is currency, and I don't lack that.

FYI, Res numbers become the following once you click on RoP: 72.2% S/L 46.5% E/N 32.8% F/C 47% T/P Also, I was wrong about rotating Melee and RoP. There will be down time, but honestly, even without those two powers you are rather difficult to kill. I essentially use them when soloing on higher diff settings and troublesome mobs. Say like +3/x8 Nemesis.

Do you have the latest Mid's? When I grabbed your build it said it was from an older version.

Should have been posted tomorrow.

1. I single slot Strike. You won't need it much for an attack chain once you hit 18. 2. I do ATOs in FU and Spin. I put the CS set in FU, and SS in Spin. 3. The End Reduc in Physical Perfection does you nothing since it is an auto power. You didn't even put the Heal IO from that set in there. There are a couple other sets which even offer a better 2-slot End bonus in the Heal sets if that's what you want. 4. 6-slotting Stamina like you have doesn't offer you anything. You are near 10% above Incarnate soft cap for AoE Def even without the 6-slot bonus. 5. As noted above, your Res numbers are poor. I would shift around slotting to boost those numbers up as you are over slotting at least three powers. 6. I don't see the +5% Res IO. 7. You really don't need Eviscerate. I can easily chain FU, Spin, and Shockwave. Nobody likely knows more about Claws/sr than Bill Z Bubba, and we agree on this point and #1. Here's my current build. I'm mostly at T3 right now. I soloed it pretty much to 50, so I'm comfortable with the build. In case you are wondering, Musculature Core, Rebirth Radial, and Melee Core. I can seamlessly rotate T4 Melee and RoP. Anything outside of those is simply whatever although I do like Reactive Core for Interface. I have been known to go for Void for Judgement, but Ion works for me since you don't really need the debuff. The point of my build is solo and PuG life. I honestly have never done starred content. |MBD;23595;1383;1844;BASE64;| |GypcIKyKx/lXLKSkJLigx4yXS5GuPVUnIj589gNiJ0nT6Z2ueNUQebJ09bUOC0hXp8x| |SHr0sLdBP6TP23PypZV/13qtz16y2RsS8xCgMtsCe7PzD/5qmhobGwLNiOmzEbG1x6b| |Jcewprfc+tKew0hxwm6LBMYKsUBZO/afs+Ol1QAmBYHABQYKAhZCw9Otn3a1cDavxCs| |NuGZlcU/U4h3u6DOQsslfxaI43TJYj8kQLvd956mYDfQ0QMSVGZYHeyfi5yxXn7vtuF| |4bcQ0XDxc4CROym+fC6pBc+JKMGZUqZAwiZLMEFbOOCrv5chRgnT3wjYaDUVutfIFPV| |geBznnzxeGGHu+cbK4qdnt9CCAdUGyQOlLvoYI2PtFo29YPjFmeRlvWRY1YiGuNoYky| |wTpbWW+X7pC56dL8TUVg2xesj/0oWrHGy9pDe7aRxRtQ+xtoee2+mUriv6fVUr9ImSu| |1fnQ4vX/7KEniRbQ9UYrbUxb5NT6luKeEzvCPj6ng4XfxJyV037JtpEcC5bVluCkZmX| |1P6ovX6pQSJ1xxNL0zkhHR/+31K+qUEjj2oiA6EhsaHs+IX8YzcXPltlIrg0+L4gZHI| |ZzQ3e+e+gwcfNEIQCZopt4e5rOEqYoy8rvocpo257D+KEl2BLqPt90P+Z3k/qGnBHbg| |m3BozjwcJt4HViK76N6/tjxtkbXKo4wZTG1FGUlskb124+iXQlMJ8ExUnZkdEAJhFcn| |z5aVzMkFWBzt2By+5fbThA8kbe4xgODkjBbC5rcVsMt4ZYgCBLLbJmp3uA2gtoUf7yf| |sNZ2CLUzCU2Stj3Q0R3+TSJ4JyiGh4ooTu05YD5wwqqu8mCfoT3VZyAbeAa+puyvbnA| |y+HeJYJ3QCbWX+cS7QyfUnCZQDBtfzzY+Ax4vxOCXIfaOAEc84ohJY/esY7I6j4cash| |eYCOal6goT8ohBZ8ZUwZS4XBIYJ8DiMkBJwpFdsk+p3HjhKXVdubRRWrSVF7ARbFVfV| |pzkHKjOkM0eWviQB3DDZcPlwORQaor+doJs2zlxAS+C96Kj6WGyRmdveOXypGWSoBil| |YzLpwATBSUCSWSaQLv6OOzJNeYAjbvn6eJG3L8WqClrz9HBIZgITwdQ17a7oCXIT6Zz| |NSdGKzM4rr4ENk16UrZMs6iSLHwCZAfWYf774xAQG3AjuSzmOG4d0JxRSHHGZJIRCig| |pcBpwlj9IWgZOHaucsJZwcJ6cOvwNemF1bw9LzCGlhZi8USgl9senvf1jo7RDLKi1sa| |Y3iKghZ8V80jEV5jUhCHCPmKGmnzM0FOg2TL2iBpXi2PdZsXDH7yhHZ/ALmo9oz7HEX| |mGVvKy3GjSc5f4/96BG4JlbBNbS9xP0/Dd8MNDaHEGLqLTSvhFcHJgh8gsrt14f5B3w| |iEl74F62k4TTDrOAApX5I/YTmlbDquMfSf+OB2s067k521V/8YQK6a1cWxXVSIactKv| |mcNRV9NVRF3NenimsTsm37heqmytyA8BCyS+ZJH9X8Vj8JElNTELajpLjWU9lYCzwAj| |Eag4NqEvuIqd4UVV9v0fmHRuY829rAHPni+zWtG7v76dXvxlJ+5dDnE2qzA8vR54sNs| |/VR3y5nfZ1TMNvIWmPhK9P9E8+9QL70vf3Tb//iXqXaI4aQOyc2FrL84eGpj5wYuRnO| |mc+1DnZNs+MmGhDfIHXLFn2tpcDPYoa6vj+LFmeiKF6euHJa4wpUSU99VLGUxTo83Vk| |7NpI7Wwmx7FfYq616UFa0NY0H+Tnfvpl9nY/+lwzG0kpFC7emm8qiOaPG0SedoT1yyX| |7w5n1Q/fj8dloA7X8/AOwjLOGlB2EyHN3ED|

It should be pointed out that Shield is a click mezz on auto. The benefit of SR is that it gets a +20% Recharge bonus due to Quickness so getting the click mezz to be perma is noticeably easier to do. I was swiftly reminded of this on my Level 41 Shield Tanker last night.

I know about Null. I've never looked beyond alignment changes or finding out what AVs I still need to take down for the badge. I went and looked at what Null can do after seeing this thread, and I can say it changes things I know nothing about. +90% of the time I'm using Null for alignment change. I think I've used it to check the status of the AV badge twice.

Can you post the data so people can simply copy/paste the build in? 1. You are slotting for debuffs which will have small numbers even if fully slotted out for it. 2. Dark Obliteration and Soul Tentacles are single slotted AoEs with no real Acc. I wouldn't take them unless you are putting in 5+ slots. Maybe 4. Maybe. ST has an partial Acc. I still wouldn't slot for Immobilization. 3. A Performance Shifter: Chance of End is better than the End Mod. 4. I wouldn't slot Fear in ToF. The bonuses you are going for aren't worth it. Slot for damage. Slot damage procs as you will. 5. Rise to the Challenge. You're best defense is Regen and not the ToHit Debuff. 6. Weave. This goes for other powers. Due to Enhancement Diversification(ED), you are getting little return out of slotting a power for a single attribute 3+ times. You are many times over better off 4/5-slotting a single Def based set into it. Again, this needs to be done for other powers as well. 7. You will get far more mileage out of 3-slotting Brute's Fury twice for it's bonus across two powers versus 4-slotting it in one. 8. You want Hasten 2-slotted with two Level 50 Recharges which have been boosted to 50+5. 9. I would slot Soul Drain for damage. If you want +ToHit, Tactics and FA are there for the taking. 10. I assume you want a durable Brute since you didn't even take Taunt. If you want a durable Tank, roll a Tanker.

I go there for what I need. I so rarely ever encounter GF to even be bothered to go get it fixed. I might encounter it once a quarter, but that's vastly because I solo a lot unless I do a TF. I rarely PuG. I know GF is annoying. It is why I am respectful of the players I team with. Odd how this thread wouldn't exists if the OP did the same.

I mean. The OP started a thread which hit 8 pages in two days. At no point is anyone joining them on the hill they are dying on. They got some sympathy at best. The vast majority of support via reposts and emotes for either side come on the side which is against the OP. If it were me, I would look at the situation and understand that maybe I was in the wrong if I were the OP. But hey, I'm not the OP. Also, if my time is limited, I'm not creating more accounts than allowed to multi-box and then spending my limited time doing the most boring thing this game offers.

Uh, oh. They brought out the red text y'all. GF is srs bizns.

EA is one of the best sets for doing harder content. It is on the busy side, but that's fine for a MM. I do think Sonic is a bit underrated, but I would likely only really do it as a Sonic/sonic Def so I can max out the Res/-Res.

Try playing /traps with GF. Like I said, I only use GF between missions. I can possibly see using it if I'm on a team and behind where the group is so I need a reasonable way to get my pets there. But seriously, claiming to be a casual player with four accounts is high comedy. More so when multi-boxing is limited to 3. As someone who has gotten heavily into board gaming, this feels so similar to what board gamers justify how many games they have, and it being a reasonable amount while someone having so many games unplayed. I have two accounts. I have roughly 30 characters on the main one, and I have characters who I hardly touch within a year. Four accounts and a casual? Oh, bless your heart.

Thinking you are in the right after no one really comes to your aid might.

The ones in this thread who do use it disagree with you.

F/C is below that on my EA Brute, but that's likely due to not using Purples. I'm soft capped to Cold, and it is used so little I would rarely notice it being enough of an issue to really go change it. The build is Claws/ea. A decent part of the time the mobs are on their butts. Point is, if I wanted to make EA as 'tough as nails', I don't think it will be that far behind Invul. I can Incarnate cap all Def outside of N/T/P, and N is soft capped with just the Alpha alone. Change up some slotting and some other stuff and EA is going to be very similar to Invul.