Claws or Dual Blades

[Neiska]

Hello out there!

 

Just had a question! I am going to be making a cyborg sort of Brute, and not sure which attack powerset to go with - Claws or Dual Blades. Her secondary powerset will be Invulnerability.

 

Now as I understand it, both power sets are pretty quick which is good to build fury. Claws is more consistent, but Dual Blades has that special combination attack going from Empower, Weaken, Attack Vitals, and Sweep.

 

So which to go with? Does either of them function ahead of the other, and how much of an impact will Dual Blades combination attack have?

 

Thanks bunches in advance!

[Mr. Vee]

Claws is great fun and thanks to kb to kd IOs is better than ever with shockwave being less situational. Dual blades isn't for everyone - if you're like me and will chase the combos just because...reasons? then it's not the best set. If you can ignore those highlighted powers unless appropriate and stick with what you know is a better dps chain it's a fine set.

 

Personally I'd go with claws, and not just because it's one of my favorite sets but also because of shockwave being an extra mitigating power that's not combo-dependent. Invulnerable can be a rough ride at times on brute and the extra knockback will come in handy. Of course my invulnerable brute on live was fire/ so i had no mitigation period. You might be fine with just vengeful strike. Should also be noted it was my third toon so I was still clueless on what to take/how to build etc 😄

[Ball 01-10]

If however you’re like me, dual blades works great. I organise my attack icons so I can easily chain them together for the specials, as long as they hit it’s easy to get the specials to fire off. Because they’re so fast (especially if you three slot hasten and have it on auto), the combos are practically constant. I think DB’s strength comes from the speed of the attacks.

[Bill Z Bubba]

On 8/9/2019 at 6:14 AM, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

Of course my invulnerable brute on live was fire/ so i had no mitigation period.

If you can fit them in, the chance for KD procs are awesome in Fire's PBAoEs, and in Spin for Claws, which when coupled with the KB to KD proc in SW and the KD in Focus, the mitigation goes through the roof.

[Mr. Vee]

claws is pretty much set for mitigation. my fire/invuln was retired well before avalanche and overwhelming force existed 😄 

[Team7]

16 hours ago, Ball 01-10 said:

If however you’re like me, dual blades works great. I organise my attack icons so I can easily chain them together for the specials, as long as they hit it’s easy to get the specials to fire off. Because they’re so fast (especially if you three slot hasten and have it on auto), the combos are practically constant. I think DB’s strength comes from the speed of the attacks.

Can you share you attack chain?

[Ball 01-10]

2 hours ago, Team7 said:

Can you share you attack chain?

Easy to get them, they’re on Paragonwiki. 

[BrandX]

Blinding Feint > Attack Vitals Combo > Repeat.

 

Easy peasy.  It's DPS is as consistent as every other sets, people just feel it's bad, because they may miss an attack in the combo.  However, in the end, still averages out to the same.

 

The combo can also make use of 2 purple sets (so two of the purple damage procs) and two -Resist Procs in the Attack Vitals Combo.

 

I wouldn't even worry about Sweep Combo, though perhaps take the PBAOE attack for added AOE.

[Display Name]

On 9/25/2019 at 11:55 AM, BrandX said:

I wouldn't even worry about Sweep Combo, though perhaps take the PBAOE attack for added AOE.

Don't worry about PBAoE Knockdown?

[TheAdjustor]

Claws all the time every time, it's great.

If you want to watch your trays then DB.

[Hopeling]

3 hours ago, Display Name said:

Don't worry about PBAoE Knockdown?

Yep, don't worry about it. As a mitigation tool, it's not great: you can't use it on command since it takes three powers in a row to set up, and using it effectively means you're committed to taking and slotting 1K Cuts and Power Slice, which you could otherwise do without.

 

If you want to take those powers anyway, it's not an awful combo, but the knockdown isn't enough of a perk to be worth 6-10 slots and a power choice.

[BrandX]

7 hours ago, Display Name said:

Don't worry about PBAoE Knockdown?

Didn't need it to survive 4/8 content.

 

Didn't need it to solo an ITF without Incarnate abilities.

 

Nope, had enough survival that I didn't need to rely on a PBAOE knockdown with /WP.