Kinetic Melee/Willpower Brute or Scrap?

[Snarky]

I am going to take a side project Kinetic Melee and 50 it to give it a real chance and see if I like it.  I have palyed a number of them to 30s but tend to alt and they get forgotten

 

is this combo better on a Brute or a Scrapper?  I think Scrapper has a weird crit interaction with Kinetic Melee?  Is that good?  Does it mess up regular crits?  Would that make it better on a Brute?  
 

 

thanks for any input and ideas

[Heraclea]

I have a Kinetic Melee/Rad scrapper, and the crits and procs (both sets are easy to turn into 'proc monsters') all work fine.  If you're going Willpower I'd suggest Scrapper.  On a Brute you may be expected to tank, and Willpower's weaker taunt aura puts you at a disadvantage holding aggro.  How big a disadvantage that is tends to vary by playstyle.  On a Scrapper those expectations go away, although the Kin/Rad can tank in a pinch.  Provoke is just a free power pick of something else. 

[Solarverse]

1 hour ago, Heraclea said:

...you may be expected to tank...On a Scrapper those expectations go away...

Oh trust me, I have an EM/Regen Scrapper....errr...I mean Brute. I wanted a Scrapper, but EM is not a Scrapper primary. So I rolled a Brute and Scrapperfied him. He does not have Taunt, nor will he ever. Taunt gets Regen Brutes killed. Even IOed out, I am no Tank. So trust me, I understand the sentiment. 

[THEDarkTyger]

17 hours ago, Heraclea said:

 On a Brute you may be expected to tank

Can't say I've ever had anyone assume I'm going to tank. Or tell me that I should be the tank. And I play several brutes.

[Snarky]

I am not worried anout what people expect me to be. The good players know to inspect a Brute to see what sets they are rolling if they need agro management. 
 

i played on live. I was about 2 years late to the party and started on Brutes. We had no inherent health and taunt was a luxury few could afford. So we learned to do without. 
 

Redside Bruting is more art than science. And more Jackson Pollock than Leonardo da Vinci. If (big if and teams know this) you are trying to punchboke 17 mobs RQ then get there before the team and herd. Or in my style get there before the team and punch 1) any sapper of any type 2) the biggest boss preferably in the biggest cluster. Let the team figure it out as they roll in. You got a full agro bar

 

i love Bruting.  With the changes in Tanks i will be rolling one. Dark Melee Invul. Er Inv/DM. My Brute order is showing lol

 

now i want to build a Scrapper that fits how i roll. I do not like weapons even (especially) the ones that appear and disappear. So that leaves me a few sets to pick at. Trying to figure them out on a Scrapper is a new problem for me. The descriptions in the game when you click on the power appear to be unexited bersions from 15 years ago. Red Tomax no longer exists. So. I am relying on advice and testing

 

appreciate the help. Seriously not worried about team expectations. I can tell after one or two mobs whether a team needs me to gently remind them what i am there for. On Everlasting most of those vets run circles around my Brute literally and i just grind on. 

[Redlynne]

39 minutes ago, Snarky said:

Red Tomax no longer exists.

Actually, the City of Data is archived at the Internet Wayback machine, but they don't have ALL of the sub-pages archived.

[Coyotedancer]

I'm actually going to be... well, not snarky exactly, but a little cheeky let's say... and seriously suggest the combo on a Stalker.

KM Stalkers can be monsters, but for some reason they just never seem to get much attention at all when the set comes up for discussion like this.  It usually seems to become 'All About The Broots', and then everyone forgets that sneaky-sneak burst-damage types even exist. 

 

Granted, I'm biased about them... but I think KM Stalkers rarely get the attention they deserve. The character that's arguably my "main" here on Homecoming is a KM/Bio Stalker. My "unicorn" character? KM/FA. (If you PUG on Everlasting, you may have met them. Kaikara and her blue-side White Thorn "alter ego" are the former, while the Red Traveller is the later.) The very first Praetorian I ever made back on Live, when "gold side" was brand new, was KM/WP... Soloing her through those early, pre-"rebalance" days was actually FUN, and really won me over to the combination. Shade went on to become one of my favorite go-to TF and iTrial characters... So, yes. Biased about them, but it does come from experience. (And for the record, I've also had a KM/WP scrap, a Bio/KM brute and a WP/KM tank for comparison. Yes. I'm also a serious WP fan-girl. XD)  

 

That said, what advantages do the Stalkers have? The Stalker version of KM gets a regular build-up, which is really the big one for me. I've found I actually do prefer that over the somewhat gimmicky "wind-up" replacement the Tanks, Scraps and Brutes got. Also, Burst right out of Hide crits for some good AoE smashiness. (Throw the Stalker ATO Hide proc into the mix for added silliness. BU->AS->*proc*->Hide->Burst->Placate->And-We're-Off-To-The-Races as an opener is *great* fun. And painful for whoever's poor life choices put them in your Stalker's path...)

 

Over-all, with its combination of damage types, KM ends up hitting like a load of bricks on pretty much anybody, so you can't go too far wrong whichever one you pick... But I do think that it really shines on a burst-damage AT. 

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Coyotedancer

[Snarky]

 Nice thanks. I think i willl roll one this weekend and at least olay a stalker for a few hours.  Ever found a powerset and combo that ciuld keep me hiding. We will see