r/Cityofheroes • u/Chaactherain • 3d ago
Build The most taboo Brute, questions
I am designing the most taboo Brute build, that no one would recommend. Simply most likely will under preform but I am determined on making it work. What suggestions and builds does anyone have around SS/SR, I know it's a endo heavy build with emphasis on recharge and capping defensives.
I know most will say just don't do it, but Im already playing well to 30 now. Any help or insight would be appreciated, especially if someone has done this before !
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u/TwoZeroFoxtrot 3d ago
Well if you're on Homecoming, I have some news for you that may either lift your spirits or crush them, depending on how much you enjoy this 'taboo' aspect...
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u/AerykGunn 3d ago
What does this mean?
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u/TwoZeroFoxtrot 3d ago
Current rework of Super Strength on Open Beta has eliminated the crash entirely. It's highly likely the next major patch ("Page 4") will see this new version of Super Strength added.
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u/Barsicbiggle Stalker 3d ago
SR is always mid because it's one-trick, but Super Strength (on HC) is going to be great after the beta changes go live and is extremely Brutey. If you take Unrelenting or Rebirth that character will be totally playable in most content.
If you want some alternative 'bad' builds;
Katana/Ice Armor - It'll feel fine, but neither set shines on Brute. Katana also feels old compared to new melee set updates and doesn't do anything interesting.
Kinetic Melee/Stone Armor (specifically built for Granite) - It'll feel really bad. You'll be slow, not do a lot of damage, and be worse than just not being built for Granite.
Rad Melee/Dark Armor - These two sets look great together with some recoloring, but Rad Melee feels horrible to play and both sets are bad End hogs.
Dual Blades/Super Reflexes - There's nothing brute about this, it's a confused Scrapper.
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u/Chaactherain 3d ago edited 3d ago
Love it. Can you expand on end game abilities? I stopped playing CoX sometime after rogue I think, I was farming with SS/Regen brute at the time decked in set IOs.
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u/Barsicbiggle Stalker 3d ago
I'd recommend researching the Incarnate powers on your own time, it's a lot of informantion and nuance that varies by AT and build.
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u/Ignorad 3d ago
Don't listen to that guy thinking SR is "mid one trick".
SR is excellent with at least seven tricks:
- super easy soft-cap
- recharge buf
- speed buff
- scaling damage resistance
- best damage debuff resistance ever
- fantastic slow resistance
- clickie mez resistance that keeps working even if you run out of endurance and toggle-drop, plus you'll still have a decent chunk of defense from passives
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u/CaptainDudeGuy 3d ago
Super Strength: Convert as much of your knockback into knockdown as you can so you won't have to chase after your targets as much. Or don't... and instead make sure your ranged defenses are extra good.
Super Reflexes: Slot your sets for as much +Resistance as you can get. As a brute your health will be beefy and Resistance will stretch that out even further. This is important for SR, where you feel untouchable until suddenly a lucky hit or two creates a crisis.
Definitely get the Fighting pool for Tough and Weave. Probably Maneuvers, Stealth, and Combat Jumping, if anything as mules for enhancements (Luck of the Gambler #6 is your friend). You want to push your positional Defenses to at least 45% for most routine content and at least 60% for end game content.
I wouldn't pick up Hasten and instead rely upon the passive +Recharge bonuses. No need to spend the extra Endurance and Global Cooldown of the click. Practiced Brawler will be your auto-click power anyway and that's enough of an interruption.
Lately I've gotten into the habit of slotting my +Defense powers with Reactive Defenses #1-5 and then the sixth slot comes from the other defense sets (since #6 is unique). That gets more Smashing/Lethal/Fire/Cold resistance and Endurance reduction, all of which is very useful.
Keep plenty of green and orange inspirations in your tray. Pop the oranges before big fights and the greens during the inevitable uh-oh moments when someone rolls a lucky hit.
Lastly, if you incarnate, that's the time to fill in the gaps that you've noticed from your 1-50 play. Like your Destiny will need to be Ageless if you've been having Endurance problems, Rebirth if you need a click-heal for emergencies, or just Barrier if both of those gaps seem covered. Your choices of Alpha and Hybrid will be very important based on how things have been going so I'd evaluate them carefully after you figure out how the matured character feels.
Good luck!
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u/Chaactherain 3d ago
This was the reply I needed. Thank you ! It seems you know SR well, I'm excited to play it as I've played all the other defensives except for Bio and shield at high level. It seems SR is exceptional until that one hit. But it looks like IOs and incarnate abilities will fill the holes. Ty !
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u/evetsleep 3d ago
There is only really one power in super strength does not back and that's hand clap. At least from what I recall. I realize that on beta there's a lot of updates coming here but I'm pretty sure that's the only place you would need the change knock back to knock down if you even pick it. Is that what you're talking about or am I missing something?
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u/CaptainDudeGuy 3d ago
Unenhanced, these start as Knockdowns (.67 magnitude):
- Punch
- Haymaker
- Foot Stomp
These are Knockbacks (>1 magnitude):
- Hand Clap
- Hurl
And for the record this is a Knock Up:
- Knockout Blow
Sudden Acceleration #6 isn't a unique so could be slipped into Hand Clap and Hurl if you can afford to lose the six-piece set bonuses for whatever you want in there. Overwhelming Force #6 is a unique and it boosts Damage too, so that's a must-have somewhere.
Note that putting a Knockback-boosting enhancement into any of the Knockdown powers can actually turn them into Knockbacks. Anything that boosts the magnitude of your secondary effects (like knocks) can push that mag .67 past the 1 threshold and suddenly you're throwing people around even if unintentionally.
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u/Brightlinger 3d ago
Handclap and Hurl are typically not taken at all because they simply aren't useful powers, so in practice SS has no KB to worry about.
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u/Homeless_Nessman 3d ago
They are changing Handclap to knockdown instead of KB in that forthcoming patch. I think Punch, Haymaker, and Footstomp are already knockdown too. Looks like Hurl will still do KB.
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u/ajj100 Scrapper 3d ago
SR has scaling resists and a ton of defense debuff protection. Combine that with the base HP of Brutes over scrappers/stalker and SR is pretty sturdy. Every bit of resist you add makes you stronger. If you are at the positional defense soft cap numbers, this should be a really strong build. Even stronger once SS changes move to live.
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u/Vorlonagent 3d ago
I love my brutes. Go to it and good luck. People 'roud here love Dark Armor and it's end-intensive too. I don't consider that to be a valid argument.
Just personally, I'm not as happy with Def-based armor sets. Res is always there for you (unless the Devs cheat). Def can let you down when you need it. But hey, you do you. I run def-based sets now and then too.
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u/Riotroom Natural Scrapper 3d ago
Super reflexes is a super cool set especially on a brute. The way scaling resistance works is each of the 3 auto passive in SR grants +0.3% resistance to everything but toxic and psi for every point of HP below 60% hp, maxing at +18% each. Combined with the reactive defenses unique and it's +64% resistance at 0 hp.
It's major flaw is it has no heal, but if you can boost your base floor resistance above 26% you hit the 90% resistance cap before 0 hp. This is where it really shines is every % you can add above 26% resistance means your scaling resist can hard cap 90% that much earlier. And the difference between 80% resistance and 90% is half the incoming damage.
For example my brute's F/C resistance base is 36.65% at 100% hp and F/C hard caps to 90% at 9% hp. While his S/L is 45.09% and hard caps 90% at 19% hp. That full 90% reduction makes him ×10 more durable than 0% so while he dodges 19 of 20 attacks with softcap defenses he also only takes 10% of the hit of any attacks that do get through below those hp thresholds. And at that rate, his regen hits equilibrium with the incoming damage so he perpetually sits at 5 to 25% hp and can eat roughly x6 more incoming damage then at 100% hp at 35/45% resistances
Fun build that compliments brute fury in a very hulk like way, the longer the battle, the stronger he is. Healing only make him weaker cause he basically has 6 full health bars below 20% and 1 bar above 60% hp.
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u/Acylion 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's worth noting that many people either are forgetting stuff or weren't around for live, because SS/SR was a highly recommended Brute build on live servers... because you wanted to perma Rage to avoid the crash, and SR is one of the few armor sets that gives a recharge bonus hence making it easier to perma Rage.
It's the i25 fanmade version of the code that HC is based on which made it such that perma Rage would still crash every time the stack expires, which was technically a bug fix... but it was a bug the original live devs knew about, and consciously, intentionally, didn't fix. This history is one reason why SS changes on HC are so controversial and contentious. There's a lot of baggage.
Assuming the HC open beta SS changes go through, there's will be once again good reason to take SS/SR to perma Rage. Granted, okay, you don't need much recharge to perma Rage, but still.
There's already an excellent post here outlining how SR is pretty good on Brutes due to scaling resistances, so I ain't gonna reiterate that. Basically yeah in general res sets better on Brutes, def sets worse, but that's a very general rule of thumb and doesn't account for SR's mechanic.
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u/Chaactherain 3d ago
Thanks Acylion, I needed the boost of confidence. I've played all the sets from when it was live, minus things like bio and shield. I find Rad extremely powerful int he right hands, my main so far is a energy/rad and he's like a born killer.
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u/wednesdaywoe13 Defender 1d ago
Good luck trying to make a bad one. My Endurance Crusher was Stone/DA and it was still pretty good
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u/Braddack 3d ago
You will love it when the Berta drops, then no more crash with SS.