|
|
 
Official Description: "Brutes love to fight, and as a Brute you revel in hand to hand combat. With strong offensive power sets to inflict pain and strong defensive power sets to take it, you're the best there is in a straight fight. Protracted battles only make you mad, and the madder you get, the more damaging your attacks become. You do lack ranged attacks, which could leave you vulnerable to hit and run tactics without some allies to cover you."
Primary: Melee
Secondary: Defense
Hit Points: High
Damage: High
Icon: Fist - The Brute is, like a fist to the face, direct and to the point.
Inherent:
Fury - As a Brute engages in combat, it unleashes his Fury. The longer he remains in combat, attacking and being attacked, the more damage he deals. Self +DMG, Special
The Brute has the following Power Sets to choose from:
The Brute is actually more like the Scrapper, from the hero side, than the Tanker. The Brute shares with the Tanker the theme of brute force over skill and precision, but not the Tanker's specialization with a particular role on a team. Like the Scrapper, the Brute is a generic melee fighter, and some Brutes may actually be pretty clever. As usual, I have collected a selection of "subarchetypes" that cover many of the choices in this archetype.
Tips for playing the Brute:
While solo:
The Brute's Inherent is, as with most villain Archetypes, integral to its fighting style. Although you can't take damage like a Tanker, the ability to literally draw power from your enemies means that, unlike Scrappers, you won't be avoiding large groups and trying to split them up. If you can keep on your feet throughout a fight, you will have enough damage to take out the last few before they can finish you off. You just have to be on your toes.
Fortunately, the Brute's higher hit points means that he can stay in the fight longer than Scrappers. His true problem is going to be Endurance, not Hit Points, he's got to keep swinging to build up Fury, and then have enough left to begin using the strong attacks. The secret is to hold back at first, using your weakest attacks, and conserve Endurance for later. Brawl is an excellent Fury builder, as is the first attack in your Primary set. Brutes are the one Archetype that can really make use of the low damage, high recharge attack that most Archetypes get as their first Power.
Once Fury has started to build up, it can be hard to slow down and let your hit points recover. You should treat any battle as a series of smaller battles, using each to build up Fury before you move to the next. Never draw all your enemies together and pound on them all at once, you don't have the defenses to handle that. Although you get more Fury the more foes are attacking you, if you build up Fury really fast but don't have any hit points left, you won't last long enough to use it. Build up Fury slowly but steadily, resting after each time you max Fury and come to the end of your HP and Endurance.
As with the Tanker, the specialized defenses of the Brute can make some fights tough, and others pushovers. If you can take plenty of damage, you can build up Fury. Use this to your advantage, if you are about to go up against something that can hurt you, like a Fire using Hellion Boss, take on some physical damage Minions first to build up Fury.
Beware of "smash" addiction. The temptation to continue fighting long after your HP is in the red, because you've maxed Fury, can be very strong. Respites can be a big help in this situation, as can Catch a Breath. Timing a quick Rest can be a good idea, too, you may lose a great deal of Fury if you rest, but you'll lose a lot more if you try and wait to heal without Resting.
Because Fury, unlike the Scrapper or Stalker's Critical, is not "true" double damage, but only raises base damage, the Brute gets more from Fury than from Damage Enhancements. This can make Damage Enhancements less important, Accuracy may be better, although it is not necessary to hit to build up Fury, and Endurance Reduction can be extremely important. Your weakest attacks, the ones you will be using to build up Fury, should be slotted for End. You can also use those attacks if you have plenty of Fury and HP, but are running low on Endurance. A simple Jab with a 300% damage bonus can do considerable damage to an Minion.
While on a team:
A Brute cannot absorb damage like a Tanker can, and so it is not possible to "tank" in the traditional sense. However, like a Tanker a Brute can draw a lot of attention. The Brute is usually the first into a fight, to start building up Fury, and once he builds up Fury the additional damage will draw lots of aggro. The Brute makes an excellent distraction, drawing fire away from more vulnerable teammates so they can move into position for a powerful strike. Once the other teammates begin to open fire, the Brute can clean up whatever remains.
With a Corruptor or Mastermind on the team to help heal or protect the Brute, he may actually be able to last most of the fight without taking serious damage. This will help with Fury as well, since he will be able to move on to the next fight right away. Be careful you don't overextend your teammates, though, if you rush off to the next group in order to keep Fury, you run the risk of getting overwhelmed, the same as when soloing.
Villain Archetypes do not have as much access to healing as Heroes, however, so you should not depend on "support" to allow you to tank. Keep moving, run from foe to foe, not standing still long enough for them to gather together. Let the Corruptors and Masterminds draw some of the foes off of you, split the foes up between you, instead of trying to take them all on. And when entering combat, lure foes to you instead of entering into range of a massive strike. Divide and conquer should be the strategy of the villain.
On some teams, where the damage being dealt is great enough to take out the foes before you can fight them, it may be hard to build up Fury. For this reason, it may not be the best idea to build a Brute totally around Fury. Slot your attacks so you can at least do reasonable damage with moderate Fury, and use your powerful attacks to help take out the foes. If there are more enemies than you can handle, you want to drop them fast, before they can do a lot of damage to you. Don't play the waiting game if the team is trying to push forward. (Which is sort of the converse of not pushing too fast when you CAN build Fury)
Remember that the Brute's role on a team is not to be a meatshield, like a Tanker, but to apply offense where it is most needed, like a Scrapper. Like a Scrapper, you can tank with the proper backup, if absolutely necessary, but your true role is as a primary damage dealer. If you can build up Fury, go for the Bosses and Archvillains/Heroes and take them down. Otherwise, take on the cleanup role and mop up the Minions. Even with moderate Fury, you should be able to take down most Minions easily.
It's also important to consider what other Archetypes are available when determining your role. The Stalker is the primary Boss killer, but needs you to act as a distraction to allow him to choose the moment to strike. A Corruptor is also a Boss killer, but needs his foe to be worn down to Scourge level first. If there's a Corruptor on the team, get the Lieutenants and Bosses into the red, and then turn to the Minions. And if there's a Mastermind on the team, you can choose your targets better and let the Henchmen draw fire.
|