There are tons of fun power set combination options in City of Heroes, but some that stand out above the rest. These are a few fun combos for the Brute.
Super Strength/Fiery Aura
This is what I consider to be a staple Brute (and Tanker) combo. Both Super Strength and Fiery Aura are highly damaging powersets individually, but the synergy here lies in Foot Stomp and Burn. Foot Stomp is a solid damage PBAoE attack that also knocks everything down which allows you to keep your enemies in your Burn patch, which is a highly damaging DoT power. The cooldowns of both abilities are similar and with enough recharge you’ll be able to use them frequently and just melt everything around you. For single target damage, you’ll have the tried and true Knockout Blow. There are only two catches with this build: the Rage crash sucks and you won’t be able to pull off the Stomp+Burn combo until 32.
Dark Melee/Dark Armor
For the edgelord in all of us, the DM/DA Brute is both a highly damaging (at least in single target) and survivable combination. Dark Armor is one of the toughest armor sets in the game, though it has some significant holes (that you can plug with IOs) as a tradeoff. The set has significant resistances to the game’s more exotic damage types, such as Toxic and Psionic, but the star of the show is the set’s heal, Dark Regeneration. Dark Regeneration heals you for each target around you that you hit and the heal is massive enough that you can go from basically dead to full health with two targets. At endgame, if enemies can’t kill you before Dark Regeneration comes back up, well, they basically can’t kill you.
Dark Melee contributes to this combination in a number of ways. One of the tradeoffs Dark Armor makes for being so tough is that it’s a huge Endurance hog. Dark Regeneration is the most powerful heal in the game and it will also cost you around 30% of your Endurance each time you cast it, which is rough for a Brute in particular, as you’ll always want to be fighting. Dark Consumption, a power in the Dark Melee power set, gives you some much needed Endurance management by refilling your Endurance in the same manner that Dark Regeneration refills your health. Beyond that, you have one of the most potent single target attack chains in the game with high DPA attacks such as Smite and Midnight Grasp. All of your attacks also debuff enemy to hit chance, meaning it will be harder for your enemies to hit you, which goes well with the whole idea of staying alive in between casts of Dark Regeneration.
Street Justice/Willpower
This build is both thematic and effective. If you’re the type who just wants to play a street level melee character, Street Justice deals a ton of damage and looks cool doing it. Willpower is an armor set with diversified layers of defenses, consisting of regeneration, defense, and resistance. It’s incredibly passive, however. You’ll basically set it and forget it. But maybe that’s what you’re looking for.
Broadsword/Shield Defense
BS/SD is another thematic combination that also happens to be pretty good. If you want to go for a sword and board build in City of Heroes, but you don’t want to be a Tanker and have your sword hit like a noodle, the Brute is a great middle ground option. There are two flavors of this concept, in my opinion. Damagewise, this combo works better on a Scrapper, due to the way Shield Charge interacts with Fury, it’ll deal more damage. However, if you’re like me and you’d like to be able to deal damage and also soak damage/hold aggro in a team setting, the Brute’s inherent single target taunt on its attacks help out in this department.
These two powersets don’t have a whole lot of gameplay synergy outside of Parry (which helps you easily cap some of your defenses), but if you’re looking for a classic combo and you want to wield a weapon with your shield, Broadsword is a solid choice.
Titan Weapons/Electric Armor
Titan Weapons deals absolutely insane levels of damage if you can keep its Momentum mechanic going, but its longer cooldowns and steep Endurance costs can make this a bit difficult at times. Thankfully, Electric Armor has both Lightning Reflexes and Power Sink to help out. Lightning Reflexes will give you a passive 20% Recharge buff across the board and Power Sink will allow you to regularly steal Endurance from your enemies, keeping the carnage rolling. Lightning Field is a nice bonus here as a damage aura to amplify Titan Weapons’ ability to just kill all the things.
Got your own Brute combos to share? Post ‘em in the comments below!
