Which Hybrid for /Shield?

[roleki]

I finally unlocked all the Incarnate slots on my Axe/Shield brute, and am wondering which Assault Hybrid branch to pick up.  Between Fury, Against all Odds, and a steady diet of red insps, I'm usually north of 375% damage, but with the Chance for Build Up proc in... Build Up, I frequently hit the damage cap for 5 or 6 seconds every 30 seconds.  I usually go Core Embodiment (10% damage buff plus 5x stacks of +DMG) but is this a situation where I might be better served by going for the double-hit side of the tree?  

[PLVRIZR]

Kinda leaves Melee as the best applicable.  Either +Regen/+Resist or +Regen/+Def, whichever you need more.

[Yoru-hime]

I'd go for the double-hit if you think you're regularly going to be at or near the damage cap without it. Any +DMG above the cap is just lost. 

[roleki]

On 7/6/2021 at 11:26 AM, PLVRIZR said:

Kinda leaves Melee as the best applicable.  Either +Regen/+Resist or +Regen/+Def, whichever you need more.

 

Melee is intriguing, not exactly sure what the Incarnate Wiki means when it references Front-Loaded abilities; on the one hand it sounds like the T4 gives 3% resistance (all) per enemy within 10' (up to 9x) but the Front-Loaded ability note says 16.08 resistance.  I suppose I could check it out on Test, it makes it sound like you get 16% just by having the toggle on, no matter how many enemies are in range?  It's... unclear.

 

 

On 7/6/2021 at 11:35 AM, Yoru-hime said:

I'd go for the double-hit if you think you're regularly going to be at or near the damage cap without it. Any +DMG above the cap is just lost. 

 

This is another case where the wiki kind of shied me away; it states that Double Hit takes into account the Recharge and AoE of the triggering power, and Axe trucks a lot in AoEs.   Sounds like I am going to be spending more time on test than I would like. 

[Uun]

I don't remember who did the math, but the conclusion was that Assault Radial (vs. Assault Core) should be used on any AT with a damage scale less than 1.0 (Brute is 0.75).

 

As far as Melee Core, take a look at the in-game power details or CoD. I believe the front-loaded buff is replaced by the per-enemy buff. It's a really good power, not only for the resistance but for the regen buff. I haven't really tried Melee Radial, but I don't think you'd need that with Shield.

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=incarnate.hybrid.melee_genome_4&at=brute

 

 

[roleki]

Melee Core sounds like it would do the trick; one of the reasons I hadn't rolled a /Shield before is that I was hesitant to invest in a set that really has no backup plan.  Melee Core would at least shore up the resists some.

[AxerJ]

I just want to say I love your character names, Roleki!

 

And I'm also currently playing a stone/shield brute (who is constantly out of end 😭), rare to see other /shields, nice.

Edited July 8, 2021 by AxerJ

[BZRKR]

Specifically on a Shield character, who shouldn't get hit too many times in a row, Melee Core's +regen means that you are getting back more health in between hits. I use Melee Core on my Shield/Radiation Tanker (I know, Brute forum, apologies!) when I pull on MSR, and it works well.

 

As for backup plan, isn't the Brute's plan always "Smash the enemy before they smash you!" 🙂

[roleki]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:58 AM, BZRKR said:

Specifically on a Shield character, who shouldn't get hit too many times in a row, Melee Core's +regen means that you are getting back more health in between hits. I use Melee Core on my Shield/Radiation Tanker (I know, Brute forum, apologies!) when I pull on MSR, and it works well.

 

As for backup plan, isn't the Brute's plan always "Smash the enemy before they smash you!" 🙂

That's a good point about the +Regen doing more work between hits.  Ok, I'm sold, Gabacho will go Melee!