Claw/? for General Content and Farming

[wheresmycow]

I'm looking for some advice on building a brute for both general content and farming.  Claw seems like a pretty good primary for both, but I'm stuck on picking a secondary and power selection.  I hear Bio is a pretty good secondary for both general and farming, but are there any other secondaries that can give me a high performance in both?  Also, any advice on power selection?

 

As for the IO selection part of the build, soft-capping my defences is my first goal right?  In the case of Bio, I'd be going for Smashing/Lethal defence soft cap for S/L farming right?

[biostem]

Well, bio armor is really nice for the offensive buffs it gives you.  I also really like claws for follow up and the fast recharging, quick attacks.  The ranged attacks are also a nice plus.  In general, though, claws suffers a bit from being lethal damage and having fairly low damage numbers, (but as mentioned earlier, bio armor can help mitigate that).

[Haijinx]

Claws builds put up pretty strong ST dps numbers and it has good AOE.  So not sure low damage is really a thing. 

 

For General content a set and forget secondary is nice, like WP or SR. 

 

But for Farming something like Bio or Fire is likely better. 

 

[Makobolite]

This is copy and pasted from this other guy's question

 

for Fire Farms. Literally /Fire is the best because of Burn and Fiery Embrace, it just does so much damage.

 

Your rotation will be prolly be Follow-Up->Shockwave->Spin->Burn->Ball Lightning. I haven't made a Claws yet, but some of my buddies run claws and it actually does more damage in each one of the attacks as opposed to spines, but spines having two auras and a larger aoe make it better since you're saturated in mobs.

 

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
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Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Claws
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Strike -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(3), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(3), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Ags-ResDam(34)
Level 2: Blazing Aura -- SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(A), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(11), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(15), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(19), Prv-Absorb%(19)
Level 6: Spin -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(25)
Level 8: Follow Up -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(25), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Hct-Acc/Rchg(27), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--Build%(29)
Level 10: Temperature Protection -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A)
Level 12: Taunt -- MckBrt-Taunt(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(31), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(31), MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(33), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(33), MckBrt-Rchg(33)
Level 14: Boxing -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(36), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 16: Plasma Shield -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 18: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A)
Level 20: Consume -- MckBrt-Taunt(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(37), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(37), MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(37), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(39), MckBrt-Rchg(39)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(39), LucoftheG-Def(48), Rct-ResDam%(48)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(46)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 28: Burn -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Acc/Rchg(42), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(42)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(40)
Level 32: Shockwave -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury(43), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(45), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(45)
Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 38: Electrifying Fences -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Ball Lightning -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(50), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 44: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Super Jump -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(7), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(31), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
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), Mrc-Rcvry+(13)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(15)
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment 
Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon 
Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany 
------------

 

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[wheresmycow]

I've heard that Fiery Aura was a little lackluster in general content, is that the case?  My priority is general content over farming, I should have mentioned that first, my apologies.

[crkohl]

3 hours ago, wheresmycow said:

I've heard that Fiery Aura was a little lackluster in general content, is that the case?  My priority is general content over farming, I should have mentioned that first, my apologies.

It depends how tanky you want to be. /Fire definitely trades some sturdiness for its insane DPS tools. It has no built in KB protection, no native defense, and more resistance holes than other resistance secondaries. With IO sets, you of course can cover these flaws, but you’ll never reach the levels of defense of other sets with the same investment. That being said, my SS/Fire Brute is an absolute blast to play, and with a solid team, you will be absolutely ok.

 

Frankly I think you answered your own question in the original post. Claws/Bio is incredibly sturdy in general content and an excellent farming set for S/L. I plan to run this combo on a Scrapper soon. I’ve heard great things about it from both people in game and on this board. I believe @Sovera specifically had experience running this combo with (in Borat voice) great success.

[Sovera]

38 minutes ago, crkohl said:

It depends how tanky you want to be. /Fire definitely trades some sturdiness for its insane DPS tools. It has no built in KB protection, no native defense, and more resistance holes than other resistance secondaries. With IO sets, you of course can cover these flaws, but you’ll never reach the levels of defense of other sets with the same investment. That being said, my SS/Fire Brute is an absolute blast to play, and with a solid team, you will be absolutely ok.

 

Frankly I think you answered your own question in the original post. Claws/Bio is incredibly sturdy in general content and an excellent farming set for S/L. I plan to run this combo on a Scrapper soon. I’ve heard great things about it from both people in game and on this board. I believe @Sovera specifically had experience running this combo with (in Borat voice) great success.

Still my fav combo in the game.

 

While I only played a /fire once and didn't finish leveling it I really liked how Burn filled both an AoE and ST hole. Sets with little AoE benefit a lot from it and sets with gaps or weak ST ALSO benefit from it.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Sovera

[wheresmycow]

Yea, I think I'll go with Sovera's Claw/Bio build in the end.  Thanks everyone!

[oOStaticOo]

Good ol' CEBR.  Can't go wrong with a Claws/Electric Brute and using the S/L Farms instead of Fire Farms.  Plus Claws/Elec is really good for regular content as well.

[Sakai]

My brute is a claws/Fire that I don'