Brute Math is weird.

[venetiasilver]

I did a small experiment
Simple Slotting for Two near identical powers.
Martial Arts Brute: Cobra Strike / Crane Kick.
Since they have the same exact numbers it was interesting to compare.
I slotted one with  1 ACC / 1 END R / 3 Recharge / 1 Damage
The other was as; 1 ACC / 1 END R / 3 Damage / 1 Recharge
Seeing the results on the Yellow Number - I Barely got more than 25 points of Damage Difference.
Fury carries nearly 75% of Brute Damage and Damage Enhancements almost feel pointless.

[Maelwys]

Yes, Brute base damage scalar is puny.
That's why the optimal slotting for most of their attacks is "as many Damage Procs as you can fit; plus enough accuracy to hit the thing".
Some folk will go for 1-2 Acc/Dam HOs plus 4-5 procs; others for +Accuracy Set Bonuses plus Kismet and 6x Procs.


Prior to total min/maxing I'd still opt for procs over damage (assuming that you don't need any recharge% to make a decent chain)... below numbers assume 80 Fury:

[venetiasilver]

This mostly puts a big problem where no brute ever wants to complete a set to reach good survivability since any damage power you want has to be proc butchered.
But then your sacrificing also global recharge for procs, and procs aren't reliable enough on their own.

[Maelwys]

Procs are plenty reliable in the longer recharging powers.

 

Taking Crane Kick as an example (10s recharge, 1.67s animation time), each 3.5PPM Proc will have a 68.075% chance to trigger and a 4.5PPM Proc will have a 87.525% chance. And the longer the recharge, the better the chances get.... once it breaches 90% you can even begin to slot some recharge% into the power itself without negatively affecting the activation chance.

 

That said, personally most of my attacks end up with 1-3 procs due to the balancing act between chasing [raw damage potential] vs [set bonuses that grant additional Survivability and Global Recharge]. So it's typically only really the big hitting AOEs that actually end up being Procbombed.

Exceptions certainly exist however- some stuff like Superstrength Rage is simply too good not to exploit (in Rage's case the additional +ToHit can completely negate the need for any native attack accuracy slotting).

[EDIT] - Quick example from my BattleAxe/FA Brute:


Pendulum and Cleave are chasing Set Bonuses to get the build to >90% S/L Resistance and >45% Melee Defense and enough Global Recharge to keep the chain going.
However Axe Cyclone and Burn each have 4x Procs and ED-capped Damage (AC is rocking a few Utility Procs, whereas Burn is going all-in on Damage Procs).
Guess which two AoEs provide the backbone of the toon's damage output?
 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Maelwys

[Nemu]

On 11/5/2024 at 6:43 AM, venetiasilver said:

This mostly puts a big problem where no brute ever wants to complete a set to reach good survivability since any damage power you want has to be proc butchered.
But then your sacrificing also global recharge for procs, and procs aren't reliable enough on their own.

There are very few builds that can go all out on procs in every power. There's no value over proccing starting low recharge powers, those are better reserved for global set bonuses. Most proc builds are selective in which powers gets procced and depend on set bonuses to cover recharge/acc/endurance management of those powers. Higher end builds also build for slow resistance and 2 piece winter IOs are fantastic at offering enough base enhancement for attributes for acc/end and 15% slow resist. Your typical build that leverage procs will have maybe 3 powers that are heavily procced (at least 3 or more procs).