MA/INV for all content

[the mauler]

I've been scouring the Brute forums looking for inspiration to guide me in creating Martial.Law, a MA/INV  Brute. I wanted her to be able to do all content as well as be as survivable as possible, as I solo quite a bit. Thanks to all the build masters out there especially Hyperstrike who provided that inspiration. Using a build I found for the SS/INV posted by Snarky I modified it a bit to come up with this build. Please take a look and let me know of any holes. Thanks for your comments.

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1859;771;1542;HEX;|
|78DA7594494F535114C7FF8FBE828532542850A050CA58B0A555DC184D44A186E11|
|91212B64D8527BCA4294D5B54BE856374E7BCF04B2888B8D2955BA7C4ADA0891ADD|
|D5D3777AE052D297B4F9DD339F7BEEBDC68D49F7FB7773E7A1D55D4C2573B9C485E|
|C7ADE741AC9156B09F435078C64366F255391B9E4F58031119EBEBC5843F276DB2E|
|619829D38C944C1213D97CCECF8A49F3AA99CE9991E9F4B5F554DACC26AF58292BB|
|F01F7FCDA1AC53293192BBD526F2FE2D6CA6A9E56B5F66A21639ACB8D62B56C6673|
|AB56C63795B1962253146765236124737933BBC195B6532DA3F4DB1CA43F0DF2159|
|CC0470710D351854F029F19747C11F8CA701CCF195EE24898365AFA7554E3249B54|
|234892211D2DE866E8460F430CBD0CAF8A5194300E0DBFD9FB18FE08FC65A8C53F8|
|62D6AC1A1E676E0A66E6BDCB8C5D080DB0277189A7097A103F71836C9D7A984D19C|
|30B492ED02C33665AAC181895E83E12A5BD38A90C008433B4605BE71822D7271290|
|9AA5C767343C53A4BAD74D85D92A495D2D4A9B67598952DFFC5D0022F57A5916DBD|
|52152D0AF4E1352D1AD5CD6C94090464020199404026F0210478D4CDF4E011E7EBC|
|233865E3C167822F094A10F09D861B68B5740CDDD2CBD7649AF7DF62049D22F4D3B|
|A811AFEAE4C5B856B23DCDD08FA8408C8166601FB5FD99B4C9BE74639A330D62462|
|02E7089618726EA53DBF5E17B957D6E87B02BB0277086271AC25981730C6FC8B753|
|DBBF0005BDF3A08852EE90E41E91DC23525F905AF0AB27CF6F5FCD988B4C4AF096E|
|AEC51EBEC819B4FD509D40B3408343284D124E061D821DFA0BAC341292F2CE58D49|
|7963529E87CA1B509D06C4694C9C62E2141327970718569C304C678C0F30851B553|
|5A3747EF8BA924F44D544D0CBD10C3A95515513C543DEF9B87EF8E12974E950BF82|
|2DA4DB30576658BC8C1C625E5715A4D1D863B7F6F06344F23017BA775433CC9A1F6|
|51AE245ADF45CCDF00DFB79D4F93E173252A1F4680579AC82FC5405F97805B9AB89|
|1E50455E986D867DBDF6050FCA05F096097C2D6582785B99E045B04CF01FC4A3F34|
|0|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

[Uun]

I've mained a MA/Inv scrapper since I3. There are a lot of ways to slice this and I've lost track of how many times I've rebuilt it. 

• You didn't slot the Unbreakable Guard +hp piece. I would swap this for one of the pieces in Resist Energies.
• In Crane Kick, slot the Overwhelming Force kb>kd instead of the Sudden Acceleration. You'll pick up some recharge.
• Slot the Guassian's +bu proc in Focus Chi.
• In RPD and Unyielding, replace one of the Reactive Armor pieces for the Impervium Armor 6% psi resist (or swap the sets for the psi defense bonus). 
• I would consider 6-slotting Armageddon in Dragon's Tail. You lose 3% E/N def but pick up 6% psi/tox res, 10% recharge and 15% acc.
• Assault is meaningless on a brute. Take Tactics or a travel power.

[Zect]

You do realize that ageless gets significantly weaker over time? You do not, in fact, have permahaste or anything remotely close to it. After just 10s, your global rech drops by 40%. Mids does not correctly calculate recharge time when rech bonuses are not permanent.

 

Brutes should not take musculature, or assault for that matter, unless you really know what you are doing. The design of brutes is that they have a low AT damage scalar, which is compensated by the damage buff from their fury mechanic. A side effect of this is that +dmg% bonuses on brutes are, pound for pound, weaker than they are on other AT's; +10% damage on a brute adds less damage than it does on a tanker (Brute damage scalar: 0.75, tanker: 0.95). If you want DPS, take alphas that contribute rech, def or res (e.g. agility). Then, take slots devoted to rech, def and res set bonuses and invest them in damage procs instead.

 

Brutes on typed defense armors should always consider splitting their Brute's Fury ATIO 3 and 3, getting the 5% SL def bonus twice. It is the most slot-efficient SL def in the entire game. For example, in your case you could drop the Underwhelming Farce slotted in storm kick. Slot storm kick and CAK with 3x Brute's Fury each (proc out the remaining slots if possible) and complete the 5x hecatomb you have in crake kick (what is it with forumites and going out of their way to avoid extremely powerful set bonuses?). This is far more efficient than putting 4 slots in resist physical for a mere 1.25% SL and EN def.

 

More generally, the most slot-efficient sources of typed def are:

• SL: Brute ATIO, blistering cold
• EN: Hold, ranged ST, and pbaoe sets
• FC: Winter IO's, aegis
• Psi: None. You get 5% from 6x apoc, and that's it. Get resists instead.

This suggests a general layout for a typed defense armor: ATIO's and blistering colds in melee attacks, aegis or unbreakable guards in resist toggles, and an epic blast/hold/taoe with such sets as basilisks, T-strikes, or winter IOs (an epic blast such as fireball or dark obliteration would also vastly improve aoe potential). You have no epic blast or aoe necessitating heavy investment elsewhere to get the bonuses you need. For example, you 6-slotted dragon's tail for 3.13 EN def and 6% FC res. 6-slotting a high-dps epic blast such as gloom with superior winter's bite would give 5% EN def, 5% FC def, and 6% FC res - the same res and 3x as much def. Sets such as bombardments and basilisks offer rare combos of rech and res that are otherwise extremely difficult to get for armored AT's while opening up new tactical possibilities - they should not be overlooked.

 

If you are not taking an epic with a good blast/taoe, then you should fully exploit the potential of energy mastery powers by slotting heal procs and endurance procs. An invuln brute with energy mastery can fit 4 heal procs (panacea and 3x power transfer in stamina/supe conditioning/phys perfection), invaluable on a high-mit, low-sustain set such as invuln. Phys perfection is extremely weak (only 20% regen and 12.5% recovery - an epic blast with 2x apocs already gives 16% regen). It is only worth it if procced out or if it makes the difference between being eps stable and not.

 

When using 4x shield wall make sure to include the proc in one of your sets instead of slotting it separately in CJ - this saves a slot. For example, your tough hide could be slotted def, d/e, d/r, proc because tough hide does not need end as an autopower. As a PVPIO, shield wall can be boosted +5 without losing enhancement value when exemplaring. Boost boost boost.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Zect

[the mauler]

Thanks much for the comments! I will work through the suggested changes. She's not quite 50 yet so I have time to accumulate the funds that are needed.

[didraedimus]

This looks like very interesting info.  Since I don't spend a lot of time on the forums, TLA's are a major challenge to me.  Can someone post a translation key so I can understand Zect's post?  I'm pretty sure ATIO means archetype invention origin, but not sure.  Does SL mean smashing and lethal, while EN means energy / negative energy?  CAK?  FC?  ranged ST?  taoe=targeted AOE?  Reading the forums carries a steep learning curve - this is not a crack at Zect, I've seen much worse.  Any help is appreciated.

[Zect]

1 hour ago, didraedimus said:

I'm pretty sure ATIO means archetype invention origin, but not sure.  Does SL mean smashing and lethal, while EN means energy / negative energy?  CAK?  FC?  ranged ST?  taoe=targeted AOE?

 

You are correct.

 

CAK = crippling axe kick, the Martial Arts attack.

FC = fire/cold damage, always paired together as a defense or resist IO set bonus.

ST = single target, as opposed to aoe. Ranged ST are single-target blasts.

 

Fortunately, this is one of my better days. At my worst I refer to the toe proc and assume people know that means Touch of Essence: chance for +endurance.

[PLVRIZR]

11 hours ago, Zect said:

At my worst I refer to the toe proc and assume people know that means Touch of Essence: chance for +endurance.

 

And I thought "toe proc" was the martial arts kicking attack with chance for putting your foot up the arse of the AV 😄