Werner

I think the difficulty on S/L farms will be the 75% resistance cap and lack of healing, but it'll probably do pretty good. I'm curious to hear. I can't tell you how the SJ/SR Brute build plays in practice since I'm only level 32 on her. She's regular soft capped at that point and able to be team tank other than her poor aggro control, so... not that great a team tank. Her damage output is sad at that level, too. Admittedly I'm comparing it to her regular teammates - a Blaster and a Mastermind. And hopefully it'll be better once she has her end-game chain up and running (Shin Breaker -> Rib Cracker -> Heavy Blow -> Shin Breaker -> Rib Cracker -> Crushing Uppercut).

Not bad. I'd grab the last few percentage points to get to 59%+ defense to all. Mostly meaningless in regular content, but it'll make a big difference in incarnate content, and one of the big advantages of Super Reflexes in my mind is how easily it can incarnate soft cap. The smashing/lethal resistance is quite impressive, but I'd spread the love around to other damage types. Even if you care most about smashing/lethal, you're going to hit the hard cap if you're even a little bit injured, and the rest is wasted. I'm a fan of Melee Core on Super Reflexes, but I feel having such a high base smashing/lethal resistance combined with the scaling resists wastes much of the benefit of Melee Core. I'd need to do too much math, but I'm guessing you won't need the endurance from Ageless and might benefit more from a different Destiny pick. I'd probably go with Rebirth Radial to make up the the lack of healing in the build. I'd probably do that even if it requires an extra slot or two or three devoted to endurance recovery, because healing is such a core part of overall survivability. But I know once momentum gets going, Titan Weapons can burn a lot of endurance fast, so it's possible I'm leading you astray. You do need some way to get hit points back, though, and some moderate regeneration isn't what I'd consider sufficient. I'd find room for Unbreakable Guard +7.5% max hit points. I'd probably also try to get more hit point set bonuses. Not the highest priority by any means, but another layer in your layered survivability. With knockback protection of 10 and knockback resistance of 10,000%, I wouldn't bother with Blessing of the Zephyr. And without the need for that, I wouldn't personally even take Super Jump, and would take maybe Assault or Tactics? Not sure what I'd take. And most people don't want to give up their travel powers, even with the ability to use rocket packs forever for almost free. I always stick Celerity +stealth in Sprint so that I have a stealth power for those rare occasions I'm not Scrapperlocked. Only semi-relevant since she's neither Titan Weapons nor a Scrapper, but I'll post my planned SJ/SR Brute build to give an idea of what I've prioritized and how I got there - 59% defense, much lower base smashing/lethal resistance, slightly lower toxic/psionic, but much higher energy/negative and fire/cold. A lot more hit point and regeneration bonuses. Scrapper is a little tougher to pull the survivability off with, but a TW/SR Scrapper is going to do a boatload more damage - a good trade. I'll eventually slot out my TW/Bio Scrapper to fill that role in my stable of heroes. Well, my Super Strength/Fire Brute does a boatload of damage as well, but nothing too impressive single target.

Easily fixed by customizing the look of your powers. There's no need to run around as the puff ball of doom anymore.

That's how I look at it too. I'd take it on a Scrapper. Much better alpha strike capability than a Brute, and a better boost to sustained DPS as well.

What that calculation misses is that while you're firing off Build Up, which takes 1.32 seconds out of your chain, you do 0% damage. That's why I used 23.68 seconds instead of 25 seconds. Build Up cycle = (10s * 420% + 23.68s * 340% + 1.32s * 0%) / 35s = 350.0% As mentioned earlier, the utility of Build Up does go beyond a simple sustained DPS calculation, but so does the utility of Assault.

Oops, yeah, Fury damage buff is twice the Fury number I think. So, 50 DPS base would be 50 * (100% + 100% + 140%) = 170 DPS for 35 seconds = 5950, and with Build up 10 sec * 210 DPS + 23.68 sec * 170 DPS = 6126, which is 3% more. Heck, you'd do better running Assault with its measly 10.5% buff for 50 * (100% + 100% + 140% + 10.5%) = 175.25 DPS * 35 sec = 6134. And it would be easier. And you get a little obscure mez resistance. And it benefits the whole team. OK, now I'm more convinced I made the right choice skipping Build Up on my Brute.

Now that you've jogged my memory, that's what I remember too. Like you, I don't know how true it is currently, but I doubt it's changed.

Oh how I love that part!

It may or may not be a mistake, but I'll explain my thinking. I'd take it on a Scrapper. But on a Brute, let's say I'm running around at +170% damage from slotting and Fury. Let's say I do 50 DPS raw, 135 DPS with slotting and Fury. Go like that for 35 seconds, and I do 35 * 135 = 4725 points of damage. Now let's say I use Build Up every 35 seconds. Brute Build Up is +80% damage for 10 seconds, with 1.32 seconds Arcanatime cast. So for 10 seconds I do 175 DPS = 1750 damage, for 23.68 seconds I do 135 DPS = 3197 damage, and for 1.32 seconds I do 0 DPS. That's a total of 4947 damage. It's more of course, but it's only 5% more, and it takes my attention away from other things I may need to pay close attention to. That ignores a fair bit of situational utility, mind you. The +20% to hit can be very useful sometimes. It frontloads some damage onto a Brute that usually needs to ramp up. During that ramp up it will have a more significant effect on DPS. (Edit: I'd also want to take a look at the chance for build up proc in build up and how that compares to pure recharge, or what happens if I do both and lose a slot somewhere.) Maybe I'll respec into it at some point. It would be easy to drop Vengeance, say, and lose a little bit of recharge. Or maybe Soul Transfer, and try to not die. But I'm going to go without Build Up for now. I skipped Rage on my Super Strength/Fire Brute with similar reasoning. Mine's a general-purpose AoE damage machine with mitigation not specifically focused on Fire, so not strictly a farming build, but it's only barely slower than top end farming builds, so I felt like the reasoning worked out well in that case. But there's a big difference - I hate Rage. and I like Build Up. We'll see. It's not often needed. Most people would probably be happy enough with 8. But I like covering my bases for the rarer cases. I don't want knockback to be one of my weaknesses, and I'm willing to compromise slightly elsewhere to get that level of protection. A good alternative I would consider is 8 points and Hover. Hover at least makes it less annoying/dangerous to get knocked back, and it's only going to happen rarely anyway. I'd be willing to run it with one or two Endoplasms only, and just tune the rest of the build for sufficient recovery. I'd at least experiment with that. It might end up six-slotted, but I'd see how few I might be able to get away with while still having an effective power.

I really liked my Fire/Shield Scrapper. I assume Brute would be as good.

Not that I'd ever try to talk anyone out of my favorite secondary, Dark Armor, but... OK, I've maybe run a dozen iTrials ever, not many more task forces than that, and my own Super Reflexes is only level 30 right now and a Brute, so please take my opinion with a huge grain of salt. But I think Super Reflexes may be underrated for incarnate content. It's simple to incarnate soft cap defense, and it has huge defense debuff resistance. My planned build is sitting at 45% smashing/lethal resist, 39% energy/negative, 35% fire/cold. On top of that there's I think 37% scaling resistance - 30% from the Secondary, 7% from the IO? You'd only see that top end the moment before you eat dirt, but I'd consider 37% scaling the rough equivalent of 18% fixed, so let's call that 63% smashing/lethal, 57% energy/negative, 53% fire/cold. I'm planning Melee Core, which situationally pushes that past Scrapper hard caps for a couple minutes. I'm planning on Rebirth, but you'll probably see teammates with Barrier, which is also going to situationally bump up that resistance. And it's getting high enough that orange inspirations will start to make a meaningful difference as well. So in the modern game, I think you can expect rather high resistance on a top end Super Reflexes running top end content. In the current game, I think the major weakness of Super Reflexes is more likely to be the lack of a self heal than a lack of damage resistance. I'm hoping Rebirth will address that weakness. Long cooldown, though, so we'll see. Less of a concern on a big team, probably. My only real data point is a friend running roughly the same build as I'm going to use for myself. And he does seems squishier on +4x8 incarnate arcs than I remember my Katana/Dark Scrapper being. Not squishy mind you, but squishier. But maybe I have rose-colored memories of my own survivability, plus he's a "newbie" - only started playing when Homecoming appeared, and is more into first person shooters than MMOs. He's been unable to report what's killed him the few times he's died.

Although I switched to Oppressive Gloom on my Brute, I ran Cloak of Fear on my Scrapper. I never tested this, but my understanding from others was that even though Death Shroud means that the feared minions could attack you, they would do so at a reduced frequency. Also, my Scrapper was initially intended as an AV soloer, and sometimes for that I found it useful to turn off Death Shroud and use a crowd of feared and helpless minions as Dark Regeneration fodder for the duration of the fight. Unlike Oppressive Gloom, it shuts them down almost completely like that, no wandering out of range and attacking you with ranged attacks before running back in. And of course it doesn't drain your own health like Oppressive Gloom. I don't like the high endurance cost, though. And nothing I just said is disagreeing with you - Cloak of Fear is situational. I also think Soul Transfer is skippable, as I prefer to never die, but if I do die while solo, it's nice to get right back in the action without a trip to the hospital. I took it on my Brute, but I think I skipped it on my Scrapper.

LOL! Yes, it's true. 🙂

Dual Blades does very good damage in PvE. I don't PvP, so this is only an educated guess, but for some common Dual Blades attack chains, that damage output is dependent on a combo system, and I doubt you'll often land a combo in PvP. I would guess that PvP is about the biggest single attacks you can get that are not dependent on previous attacks in any way.

The last time I tried to make a sucky character, I grabbed a primary and secondary at random from those I'd never tried. I ended up with a Titan Weapons/Bio Scrapper. He was a complete failure at sucking. 😉 I only learned later that it was a well-known great combo.

Thanks! I played a Scrapper version of this in the old game, and it was my favorite toon, and a good AV soloer, but I wanted to take advantage of the 90% vs. 75% resistance cap on Brutes vs. Scrappers for incarnate content. So I'd also leveled up a Brute, but hadn't earned the influence yet to make the build by the time the game shut down. I'm almost certainly giving up AV soloing with this version due to low damage output. But that wasn't my goal for the original Brute - it was to solo all the Mot arcs on +4x8 under Scrapper Challenge rules (no temps, no insps, no deaths). I got the Scrapper through all but the last arc. Not sure the Brute will be able to do it either, since what killed my Scrapper was defense debuffs, and a Brute will suffer from that just as badly. But the resistance caps will help, as will the extra hit points giving me more time to respond, and the extra resistance the new game has in general.

Thank you! Fixed previous post.

That's fair. Tier 4 Cardiac in those numbers. 62% without incarnate powers.

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Alexei: Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Katana Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Gambler's Cut -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(7) Level 1: Dark Embrace -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-Max HP%(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(9), StdPrt-ResKB(11), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(11) Level 2: Death Shroud -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(17) Level 4: Murky Cloud -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(19), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(21) Level 6: Combat Jumping -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(A), ShlWal-Def(21), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(23), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(23), Ksm-ToHit+(25), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(25) Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(27), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(27), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Hct-Acc/Rchg(31) Level 10: Obsidian Shield -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(31), Ags-Psi/Status(31) Level 12: Super Jump -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 16: Dark Regeneration -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Erd-Acc/Rchg(33), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(33), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(34), ThfofEss-+End%(34) Level 18: The Lotus Drops -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(34), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Erd-Dmg/Rchg(37) Level 20: Cloak of Darkness -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(37), ShlWal-Def(37), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Rct-ResDam%(39), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(39) Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40) Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(42) Level 28: Weave -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(43), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(43), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(45), Krm-ResKB(50) Level 30: Maneuvers -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(45), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(46), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(46) Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury(48), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Erd-Dmg/Rchg(50) Level 35: Oppressive Gloom -- HO:Endo(A) Level 38: Soul Transfer -- AbsAmz-Stun(A) Level 41: Tactics -- HO:Cyto(A) Level 44: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 47: Superior Conditioning -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 49: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(17), Prv-Absorb%(19) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(45) Level 0: Born In Battle Level 0: High Pain Threshold Level 0: Invader Level 0: Marshal Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1601;749;1498;HEX;| |78DA6594DB6E12511486F730432B144A81B6D0B3C51E282D08DA7ADB547B480F981| |A8D1A1343C6764B89480960D25EFA0026B5AD31D19ED55B1FC017F1C627D0564DD4| 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My Katana/Dark Brute will have energy resistance at 65%. I sacrificed some smashing/lethal resistance to focus on reducing holes rather than reinforcing strengths. And Melee Core will hard cap (90%) all but toxic resists when fully-saturated. Scaling damage resist from the IO will lower that requirement a bit some of the time. So will Barrier Core.

Dark anything sucks? Hahaha hahahahahahahahaha! But a lot of people believe it, and it probably WAS their experience, so I can't blame them. And I don't feel that Dark/Dark has that much synergy (edit: this thread changed my mind, has decent synergy). Dark Melee is decent single target plus a heal in a game where AoE is usually king. But that heal goes very nicely with power sets that don't have one. Dark Armor CAN suck super bad, and it can also be incredible in the end game when built right. Leveling can be pretty painful, and if you don't know how to build well with IOs, that pain may never go away. So it's no surprise that a lot of people would think it sucks. But add some defense with, say, Katana and a ton of set bonuses and pool powers, and crank up that resistance, and get that full heal down to every ten or fifteen seconds, and it can be SO good. Except against defense debuffs. But that's a weakness it shares with a lot of sets.

I agree with "yes but". The defensive attack is Divine Avalanche, and it's melee/lethal defense, so you'll soft cap melee defense very early. That's always nice, and should smooth out the leveling process. But in an end-game IO'd and incarnated build, where Super Reflexes can easily get incarnate soft-capped defense (59%) to all positions with extremely high defense debuff resists, that defensive synergy drops by the wayside. I'll second Katana/Willpower as long as you don't get hung up on "Willpower" not sounding like a cyborg. Easy to play, easy to level, gives up nothing at the top end. That would be my go-to recommendation for Katana. My personal favorite is Katana/Dark though. I've leveled that combo as a Scrapper to 50, a Brute to 50, and another Brute to 44. Third time's the charm? Not as easy to play. Endurance sucks hard while leveling. But it's so nice when it's all done. Other than defense debuffs. Those are your weakness. About your only weakness once you have a high-end end-game build, but a major one. Maybe that's why I'm leveling up a Street Justice/Super Reflexes right now. We hatesss defensse debuffss, yesss we do.

Haha, and my pimped-out main is a Brute. I feel so dirty!

My first and only ITF, I think? I think I brought my Katana/Regen because I thought it might be a challenging combination for the ITF. Or maybe I just wanted to be on my namesake so that it was clear who I was. I died a fair bit. I remember feeling squishy. I remember having no idea what I was doing and having to be told. But it was a lot of fun.

White Fugue Arachnos Widow I need to sort out a backstory. Teams with Sonata, a female Widow with the same look. I used inhuman proportions for maximum creepiness rather than a complicated costume.