Options for a bruiser type melee DPS character?

[Glowyrm]

It's been years since I played CoH.  I need a little help.  I'm interested in a bruiser type melee character that focuses on DPS, not tanking.  What are my options, Brute and Scrapper?

 

Thanks!

[Apparition]

Welcome back to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.  Sounds like you want a Street Justice Scrapper.

[kiramon]

Brute will be expected to act as a tank (go in first) in most levels of regular gameplay. You probably want a scrapper as it’s expected much less. Stalker also is an option.

[Heraclea]

There are several melee primaries that fit this bill.  Street Justice is good, as is Savage Melee, which has a feral look to it. 

[Glowyrm]

Awesome, thanks guys!

[Oubliette_Red]

I'm enjoying a Savage/Dark Brute in Praetoria at the moment.

[Peacemoon]

Scrapper for pure DPS, Brute if you want some (limited) tanking capability. Stalker if you want the rogue type gameplay. 
That’s not to say Scrappers aren’t tough, but Brutes have a taunt effect on their melee attacks. (Tankers have one too, but theirs is an AoE taunt on every attack whereas Brutes is single target).

Scrappers can do critical damage, and % chance goes up based on mob type. From memory, 5% minions, 10% lieutenants, 15% bosses.

[Gulbasaur]

1 hour ago, Peacemoon said:

Scrapper for pure DPS, Brute if you want some (limited) tanking capability. Stalker if you want the rogue type gameplay. 

I'd say more "stalker if you want every combat rotation to be about combos" because of the amazing ATO enhancements.

 

Not that I disagree, but Stalker and Scrapper really differ in playstyle with higher complexity coming with higher damage (set for set - Titan Weapons are their own thing). Stalkers can hit for over a thousand damage, on demand but it's a more active style of play than Scrappers because of the way the ATOs add to the set. All ATs can tank with the right builds, but stalkers have a hard time holding aggro, meaning it's much more of a pure DPS class than scrappers. 

 

Brutes are, I think, too beginner friendly in that it has a positive feedback look that sometimes rewards antisocial play (teammates being alive is more important than fury generation and if you move on too soon the aggro cap causes the aggro to overflow onto the next highest threat, which is often the support sets). 

 

If you're just returning and just want to roll in and go hunt kill skuls, scrapper every time. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Gulbasaur

[Psyonico]

If I understand the definition of a "bruiser" then a Stalker wouldn't really fit the bill.  If the OP has no interest in tanking then a scrapper is the way to go.  IMO brutes are better, but I'm a little jaded

[Chance Jackson]

11 hours ago, Glowyrm said:

It's been years since I played CoH.  I need a little help.  I'm interested in a bruiser type melee character that focuses on DPS, not tanking.  What are my options, Brute and Scrapper?

 

Thanks!

Brute, Scrapper, & Stalker can all suffice, I play Brute often I've only once been expected to tank & that was against recluse on the MLTF/STF