Has anyone tried Energy Melee / Bio yet?

[SmokenBongs]

Hello Brute Community!

I'm wondering if anyone has tried out the new Energy Melee paired with Bio? From what I hear it would be a very good and damaging (single target at least) combo.

 

I have very limited experience / knowledge on both, so I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to share there experience.

 

What are the limitations of the combo?

Any thoughts on why most ppl seem to be opting for Energy Armor or Willpower with it?

Any build advice or build shares that could be provided? (I'd like to be a wrecking ball that is still tough, but when it comes down to it will prioritize dmg first)

[Erratic1]

10 minutes ago, SmokenBongs said:

Any thoughts on why most ppl seem to be opting for Energy Armor or Willpower with it?

 

There is a lot of dislike of Bio's visual effects.

 

Got an SS/Bio myself and do not see any reason why EM/Bio would have any problems.

[SmokenBongs]

2 minutes ago, Erratic1 said:

 

There is a lot of dislike of Bio's visual effects.

 

Got an SS/Bio myself and do not see any reason why EM/Bio would have any problems.

The minimal effects setting makes Bio's look fine for me. My character concept is one where I was exposed to some radiation from a star and gained powers. Some biological coupled with some energy is very believable concept wise.

 

I wish I was better at making builds and new what it took to put an Energy / Bio build together.

[Saikochoro]

24 minutes ago, SmokenBongs said:

Hello Brute Community!

I'm wondering if anyone has tried out the new Energy Melee paired with Bio? From what I hear it would be a very good and damaging (single target at least) combo.

 

I have very limited experience / knowledge on both, so I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to share there experience.

 

What are the limitations of the combo?

Any thoughts on why most ppl seem to be opting for Energy Armor or Willpower with it?

Any build advice or build shares that could be provided? (I'd like to be a wrecking ball that is still tough, but when it comes down to it will prioritize dmg first)

I have only tried the combo on test so far back when I was testing the changes. It is indeed very strong in the single target damage department. 
 

If possible I like to pair energy melee with a secondary that can heal. Using energy transfer a lot can bring your health down fairly quickly if you have no ways to heal yourself. Willpower, energy aura, and bio armor all have ways to mitigate this easily (so do some other armor sets).  That said, I pair energy melee with shield defense on tankers for maximum BAMF status even though shield doesn’t have a heal (panacea, power transfer help here). 
 

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with EM/Bio on brute. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Saikochoro

[Erratic1]

12 minutes ago, SmokenBongs said:

The minimal effects setting makes Bio's look fine for me. My character concept is one where I was exposed to some radiation from a star and gained powers. Some biological coupled with some energy is very believable concept wise.

 

I wish I was better at making builds and new what it took to put an Energy / Bio build together.

 

I could toss together something I might like (haven't touched EM since live) but that might not appeal to you. My best suggestion is to look at a couple of builds involving EM regardless of secondary and Bio regardless of primary and see if there is anything that is being avoided. Another thing is you get a free respec every 10 levels so that allows you to try out powers you are unsure of and if you end up not liking them respec'ing out of them. However if you mis-slot or take a power you don't like I would suggest living with it until you have a final build in mind or until you have enough of a change in plans to warrant using the respec. I typically aim to do around level 30 and then again at 50--two used of the 5 you will get for free.

 

There are some opimizations which might allow you to drop a power on the Bio side but frankly all of them are good and work, including the T9 (unlike with a lot of other sets). On the EM side, some people have a thing with any attack with a long animation, but like I said, try them out and plan on using  a respec in your lowish 30s.

 

Edit: You might consider grabbing Cross Punch (since you're likely going to be getting Tough and Weave anyway) as an extra AoE attack.

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Erratic1

[Saikochoro]

22 minutes ago, SmokenBongs said:

The minimal effects setting makes Bio's look fine for me. My character concept is one where I was exposed to some radiation from a star and gained powers. Some biological coupled with some energy is very believable concept wise.

 

I wish I was better at making builds and new what it took to put an Energy / Bio build together.

I can try posting a EM/bio brute build later tonight hopefully. 
 

My bio build philosophy:

-Build to be in offensive 100% of the time. 
-Build for high recharge (keeps the offensive focus of the set and helps get your defensive clicks back faster)

-Focus on resists for s/l. Cap s/l resists if you can. Don’t try to softcap s/l defense even though it’s possible. You have to give up a lot to do that. 

-Focus on on defense for e/n/f/c. Softcap e/n if possible, but get to 40% at least. Can always take barrier destiny to cover the last 5% since you won’t need recovery or recharge from ageless. 
-Use ablative before the fight, dna siphon after the fight on the dead bodies, and parasitic whenever it’s up.

-You can use dna siphon as an attack instead if you’d like, but I generally don’t slot it that way.

 

Then I just slot the attack set how I normally would regardless of secondary. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Saikochoro

[SmokenBongs]

47 minutes ago, Saikochoro said:

I can try posting a EM/bio brute build later tonight hopefully. 
 

My bio build philosophy:

-Build to be in offensive 100% of the time. 
-Build for high recharge (keeps the offensive focus of the set and helps get your defensive clicks back faster)

-Focus on resists for s/l. Cap s/l resists if you can. Don’t try to softcap s/l defense even though it’s possible. You have to give up a lot to do that. 

-Focus on on defense for e/n/f/c. Softcap e/n if possible, but get to 40% at least. Can always take barrier destiny to cover the last 5% since you won’t need recovery or recharge from ageless. 
-Use ablative before the fight, dna siphon after the fight on the dead bodies, and parasitic whenever it’s up.

-You can use dna siphon as an attack instead if you’d like, but I generally don’t slot it that way.

 

Then I just slot the attack set how I normally would regardless of secondary. 

 

Your philosophy appears to match my mentality with this character... the best defense is OFFENSE! 

I appreciate the tips and look forward to seeing your thoughts on a build for this concept. 

[Saikochoro]

Alright here is the build I used on test that worked out well.

 

Highlights:

- S/L resists at 86% in offensive.  If you have 6 enemies around you evolving armor will cap out your S/L resists.

- E/N defense at 41%.  I take barrier destiny to cover the last 5%.

-I honestly don't worry quite as much about f/c/t/p.  They each have some defense (not toxic) and resists.

-Ablative and dna siphon both recharge in less than 30s so their buffs can be perma.  I personally use ablative before going into a mob and dna siphon once they are dead for the regen/recovery buffs.  Parasitic aura has greater than 50% uptime.

-Hasten is 5 seconds short of perma.

-TF and ET both hit extremely hard.  TF has the purple set & proc due to having higher base recharge and better proc rates.  Bonesmasher and energy punch are also good.  You have gloom for any ranged needs.

-I pulled in power crash for your AoE, but this can be switch with whirling hands if you prefer as it would take the same exact slots/IOs.

-Note I have fury set to 85%.

 

The Build:

Spoiler

This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: Energy Melee
Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Energy Punch -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(43), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(46)
Level 1: Hardened Carapace -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(3), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(3), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5), GldArm-3defTpProc(5), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(7)
Level 2: Bone Smasher -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(11), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mk'Bit-Dam%(43)
Level 4: Inexhaustible -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 6: Environmental Modification -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(7), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(9), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(9), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(49)
Level 8: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 10: Adaptation 
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(13), Rct-ResDam%(13)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Ablative Carapace -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(17), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg(42), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(42), Prv-Absorb%(43)
Level 18: Total Focus -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hct-Acc/Rchg(40), Hct-Dam%(40), TchofDth-Dam%(42)
Level 20: Evolving Armor -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(21), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(21), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 22: Tough -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(23), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(23), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(25), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 26: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(27), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(27), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(46), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(47)
Level 28: DNA Siphon -- DctWnd-Heal(A), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx(29), DctWnd-Rchg(29), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(36), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 30: Power Crash -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Arm-Acc/Rchg(31), Arm-Dam%(34), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(36)
Level 32: Energy Transfer -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(34)
Level 35: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Parasitic Aura -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal(40)
Level 41: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Gloom -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Apc-Acc/Rchg(48), Apc-Dam%(49)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(47)
Level 49: Super Jump -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury 
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 1: Energy Focus 
Level 10: Defensive Adaptation 
Level 10: Efficient Adaptation 
Level 10: Offensive Adaptation 
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany 
------------

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Saikochoro

[Psyonico]

I rolled a Bio/EM tank after the changes and he's a lot of fun.  Bio's got solid mitigation and EM's got great ST damage.  I would assume that damage would be even better on a brute.