backwoodsmutant

So my main back in the day was a SS/SD Brute. I loved the set's tanky, yet smashy, performance. Unfortunately with the "fix" to Rage, it seems like that combination is toast. Is there another primary that has a similar feel to SS that would work well with SD? Oh, and I also read some thread where peeps were talking about Shield Charge being considered a "pet" with a damage cap well below a Brute's normal damage cap. Is that still the case?