Furthermore, Bruisers already from the start was the only class with 2 max expansive characters, Thor and The Incredible Hulk at 90 CP(well 130 CP at one point). And then Hercules being new character also cost 90 CP, its a very uneven distribution of cost to get good Bruisers.
Half of them cost max, and the others are not viable without their alternative costume. Furthermore, She-Hulk the cheapest Bruiser at 15, is also far better then Colossus(23) and The thing at 33. What I did, and what most other users did was clearly to use She-hulk and then save for Thor/Hulk.
And lets not forget something I come back to a lot. The Class in itself is far the weakest class, making the game be really uneven now with the power of Scrappers. There are many, many Scrappers and they don't really have such a big problem with facing Bruisers, while Bruisers have the worst counter class the Blaster.
This is really important to note why, because in some cases the Scrapper is stronger then the Blaster as they don't 2 attacks and carries that ability over to the next turn. But, Bruisers attributes are build around a very high defence and usually a high attack with low accuracy end even lower evasion. So they can tank right? Well problem is that the Blasters ability is to completely ignore defence and always Critical them. Instead of being a tanks, they become the most squishy class in PvP. People always talk how good Captain America is and especially how overpowered he was as he could guard each turn etc. But one of his real strength is really that, he is an Tactician that can tank. I don't use any of the Bruisers as Bruisers, My Thor is a Blaster so he wont get 1 shooted and so he can instantly kill Bruisers. My Hulk is a Scrapper so he can build up his stack quickly and again avoid being one shooted. Hercules is really strong definitely the strongest Bruiser without extra power from alternative costumes. But I don't use him, because while he tanks really good as soon as a Blaster comes he is dead.
This means when he will get a alternative costume, I would assume he gets a Scrapper one. Then I will probably buy it to have him as a Scrapper Tank, because that’s much more viable.
Lastly another important part is how bad their class bonus is. Blaster as mentioned got a great one as they truly are the rock-paper-scissor effect, Scrapper attacks twice and ignore evasion which is good as their counter is to the infiltrator with high evasion. Tactician gets another turn, which means more cost but they can then use it to heal etc, so a good utility. Infiltrator counter all the Tactician moves, deals 30% more damage and everything become stealth(but as I mentioned this mainly helps Spider-Man and Gambit).
The Bruiser gets more damage,defence and Accuracy if hit by a Scrapper or if they attack a Scrapper. This damage is very low, compared to begin able to ignore defence and always critical. The accuracy is low compare to--ignore evasion. The defence is arguably low to always countering, or to take 2 turns to use heals etc.
Some people argue that its balanced because the Bruiser carries over the stack. So after killing a Scrapper they can one shot a Tactician for example. Well, Scrapper also carries over, they do 2 attacks to the next target and wont miss + many Scrappers are build around doing many normal primary attacks. Infiltrator carries over their 30% damage and stealth attacks, which actually usually counters Bruiser more then it counter Tactician as it means they can attack pass the Tanking Bruiser or attack the Bruiser who cant counter attack. Lastly Tactician clearly carries over their bonus as they can first attack a Blaster to then attack anyone else or use any other ability.
The only good thing with Bruisers are in PvE, as they can build up a strong attack to gain overkill bonus points. + They can be used when there is no chance for a Blaster to pop up.
Bruiser really needs a Boost and I hope they will get one (Especially as it its swarming with Scrappers and the next PvP reward is a improved Scrapper Suit).
Still because all Bruisers expect She-Hulk got way overpowered Alternative Suits they do see a lot of play and Hercules is ok because his a new character so he got his “suit” built in.
She-Hulk:
Funny thing with She-Hulk is as I mentioned, She is the best Bruiser of the cheaper ones. Clearly by far. And also then the best 15 CP character. When I explained why Quicksilver is such a good character I did it from comparing him to She-Hulk. He is really, really good and She-Hulk is ok. If she gets a alternative Costume I think she will be a lot better then the The Thing and better then Modern Colossus.
She-Hulk is the first character you should buy at the lower levels, basically you should take her when you get that 1 free character of the 15 cost. To get a better Bruiser the user has to pay a lot more either a 90 one or get a 23/33 but + costume cost.
She is really good because she can frequently take 2 turns. Her second ability is a quick action and grants 2 more turns. Then she has a synergy with exploit stun. Her third ability is a stun attack and the fourth then exploits stunned target. So in the same turn she can first stun a target and then deal load of damage to them. The stun attack is also pretty strong. Furthermore, she actually uses the Bruiser class pretty good as she then can gain 2 stacks the first turn right away by taking 2 turns. And then the next turn instantly kill any other target.
She is an extremely solid early game character. And much more efficient to buy then to save for Thing or colossus. But clearly she cant compete in the modern PvP, she really needs a boost or a alternative suit. I could see a suit that for example gives 2 turns the first round or maybe something to do with the motion attack she has(inspired from Marvel Vs. Capcom 3) for example she could do increasingly more damage each turn as long as she attack each turn.
Colossus:
Colossus I found really weak in the game, even with his modern costume, which makes him start with his tank ability.
This is first of all, because his tank ability is pretty bad. It makes him tank single target attacks, which is so inferior, to the tanks that can cover AoE attacks. While he do take reduced damage which actually means she cant be one shooted by Blasters, he don't counter either. So his a lot worse then for example Hercules, who guard both AoE and Single attacks and has a really good counter attack and gains buffs. The only thing Colossus do good is that he is not so weak then against Blasters, but without the suit the user has to turn the shield on....so many PvP games he will die before it will happen. Without the modern he cant do anything and even with it he is not that good.
His first and third ability has a synergy, the first one gives the target exposed and the third exploit exposed. Some nice damage.
His ultimate is actually not half bad as it avoids most protective attack, but its also one of the few ground attack in the game, making characters like Storm dodge it. Furthermore while it do go trough protection it can still be countered. However, it do add Slow to, which can help I guess.
The real strength in Colossus and why he is played a lot, is in his ridiculously overpowered limited suit(expired now), which grants him or his allies a heal sometimes at their start of their turn. This heal is ridiculously its heals for a huge amount(even thought it got nerfed) and it also sets up a shield for 1 turn reducing all damage by 50% And I would say its probably at least unintended reduces some attacks further. There is attacks that normally go trough shields but this one cant be pierced as it flat reduces all damage, some of these attack then do lower damage then what they should do as they are piercing so... hard to beat Phoenix 5 colossus with them.
Colossus, I would not recommend getting today. Its far better to save the CP, he is not strong enough without any suit, with the suit the user can buy to day. Modern, he is still inferior to for example Hercules. Well for 23 + 32 = 55 CP I guess you still get a cheaper decent Bruiser.
Well, unless they boost Bruisers, I would say get the Scrapper suit. Modern Scrapper Colossus that is not so bad.
Thing:
The Thing...is bad. He is the worst Bruiser in the game. First of all his ultimate is horrible its a single target stun attack, compare to Hulk who got an AoE stun attack. But Thing also got lower chance to hit with his ultimate at the really low hit chance of 48%(Because Hulk gains + accuracy) , She-Hulk also got a single stun attack(same animation) and that one also got a low chance(56%) to hit, but its not as bad as Thing’s then further to hit with the stun effect is also a chance. Combine this two factors and the math clearly shows he will very unlikely stun anyone.
Then Things’s third ability is a weaker version of Colossus ultimate, it also is a ground attack and gives slow. Then his first ability instead exploit slow, but its a pretty weak attack.
Lastly he can also protect people, but just like Colossus he can only protect for single target attacks. However, he do instead gain a shield that takes soaks some of the damage and gains a new turn when attack. So its usually better then Colossus guard. Still it is not good enough compared to Tanks who can take all attacks.
As with Colossus Thing needs his alternative costume to be viable. He got one of those Future Foundation suits, meaning its better to combo with another one then to get the future buff. His buff is that each attack on him and after his turn on any ally, gives a defence increase buff, which stacks to 20.
However, as I have mentioned in other articles. Evasion > Defence, as most attacks can still one shoot the characters. Furthermore, Thing is a Bruiser so Defence means nothing when a Blaster attacks.
The conclusion for Thing is simple---- Get his Scrapper Outfit, then eh is actually pretty good. Furthermore Combo him with like Spider-man so they bot get super defences and the agent will become ridiculously hard to kill. Or some other character that really can benefit for more defence(meaning not a Bruiser).
Ok, now we are at the 3 expansive Bruisers who all are really good. Still because the games is improving the other characters its a necessity to get some suits on them I would say.
Hulk:
The Hulk is incredible strong. I like his Design, it has the Hulk feel to it. Hulk becomes angrier each time he attacks or each time he is attack (by both single and AoE attacks), this stack ups to 5 times. Each stack gives him a more attack and accuracy.
Its only the first attack that stacks, but of course its also his normal primary attack so he builds it up quite easily. The other 3 consume 1 stack. This is a really good thing with The Hulk. Other characters for example Quicksilver consume all his stack of Quickness that also goes to 5 etc, they are quite similar design. But, Hulk then keeps them but with one less. So doing a massive empower second ability attack, will still leave him with 4 stacks. Plenty enough to kill anything.
Hulks third ability is an AoE that lowers the enemies accuracy, pretty bad attack really and only has use when the ultimate is on cooldwon. The ultimate is also an AoE attack and has a chance to stun each individual target. So its a really good ability by default and then it usually kills everyone when Hulk has a couple of stacks. If they don't die then the third ability can be used to finish up as he still has stacks left.
Hulk is a really good character in PvE to one shot bosses. In long battles with 3 waves, he can be built to be ready to kill anything and everyone while scoring bonus points for overkill.
So hes great buy for PvE. In Pvp then he normal Hulk is slightly to weak in current PvP.
His buy able suit is the Wold war hulk(great comic btw)., its pretty good. Gives his allies the anger passive but it stacks to 3 times. What is really good with it brace yourself -_- is that it cane be bought so Hulk can be a Scrapper instead of a Bruiser. Yeah its a pattern here, Hulk is also better as Scrapper then as Bruiser.
It’s two reasons.
First of all, he gets away from the horrible one shooting by Blasters.
Secondly, in Hulks case its actually has strategic sense its not all about the weakness of Bruisers. As a Scrapper he will attack twice against infiltrators, which build his Anger much quicker so its a great class for him.
That's why I got the limited edition, avenger suit. Makes him a Scrapper and he can trigger his normal attack from coordinated attack/defence, which furthermore then makes him build his tack really quickly. Avenger Scrapper Hulk, is very good in PvP. War works pretty good as well but then its more about what team the user have with him.
Thor:
Thor is very similar to Hulk. The gameplay is basically the same, but Thor is better.
That’s about it -_-
Thor also builds a stack, with his Mjölnir. But it only goes to 2 instead of 5. And only increase power, but a lot of power then. The thing is that Thor does way more damage with 2 stacks then what Hulk does. So in a long PvE Battle Hulk can be better, but in PvP Thor is far better.
I would say that Thor is still better in most long battle as well. Because he can give one of the best buffs in the game, the strengthened, which increases damage with 25%.
Thor’s third ability gives him one stack and then gives him his allies the buff. That is one of the best ability in the game, and already with 1 stack he can usually kill most characters with his first ability. The second ability does meek damage but build stacks. And his ultimate is just a lot of damage as AoE.
However, he doe consume all his stack (2 at max so not a big deal) when using his first or ultimate. But he can almost always kill anyone or any boss in PvE with 2 stack and his ultimate can kill every enemy in PvP with 2 stack or at least make them be almost dead. Furthermore, the power boost is amazingly good for the users agent and the other character. In PvE it helps to make it quick and do overkill and in PvP it of course raises the damage output a lot.
Thor is very straight forward and very good. He kinda works in PvP without suits, but he become so much better with them. Modern, makes him start with 2 stack so he can do huge amount of damage right away. Its great in teams where everyone is a heavy damage dealer, so the opponent team cant really focus down a single target to reduce damage.
The other one I prefer more myself especially for PvE. The limited Avenger suit. Thor's Extra attack is the second one, so he builds stack. I used him with Captain America to get both coordinated attack and defence. Which usually means Thor will replenish his 2 stack each round, and then can do a massive ultimate all the time. Still it is situational based and the other one is good for just purely killing of 1 opponent.
Of course both this suits.... are better to make him a Blaster(well not a Scraper at least) as first of all he is actually really good with a Blaster. He can absolutely easy one shoot a Bruiser and as with the others he gets away from getting one shooted himself. Thor has very low evasion but high defence(as the other bruiser but yeah) so his biggest downfall is if the other team goes first and can kill him before he can.
Hercules:
Hercules is the newest well the only new Brusier.
He is sooooo straight forward in how he works. He is all about tanking. Hercules is very interesting design as he is the only character in the game(correct me if I am wrong) that does a different counter attack depending on the attack.
When Hercules tanks, If he is attacked by a melee attack he counters with his first ability, that lowers the targets melee damage by 40% for one turn a unique debuff that only Herculues can do (maybe Scarlet Witch) if he is bit by ranged attack he does his third ability am attack that instead is a 40% debuff to range attack also unique. Furthermore, these 2 abilities grant different buffs to him. Fortified and Focused, while when he start his tank ability he gain agile.
And then using his ultimate gives him Strengthened. So he gains all a 25% boost to, attack, defence, evasion and accuracy by using his different abilities. If he get lucky, he can get the 3 first in one turn. Then he furthers gain a freaking unique passive if he has all 4 buffs. Granting him another boost to all stats. Lastly, he also gains stamina when attacked, and this is always. For example the Thing gets stamina when attacked during his stonewall ability. Hercules simply always gains stamina.
This a patter in the game clearly, that passive abilities get reused but improved. As lastly His ultimate is basically an improved version of Colossus ultimate or Thing’s third ability. Its a Catastrophic attack, so it cant be protected or guarded etc. As with their attacks but it also ignore evasion. It don't have a drawback as their has with missing flying enemies. Furthermore, it gives him strengthened as mentioned, it has deadly critical so it can deal huge amount of damage and lastly it can also stun people. So its like a combination of Hulks ultimate with Colossus but improved.
Hercules clearly is the best Bruiser by default, he do cost max of 90 Command Points and its the newest(only new) so its a given. Then maybe the other bruisers are better whit alternative suits(mainly as they can stop being bruisers).
Summary:
The are some good bruisers when they stop being bruisers. The class desperately needs improvement, because I don't want Blasters to be weaker against them, more that hey should be stronger against Scrappers. Maybe the blaster could do some decrease in damage. Furthermore, its a very few bruisers, which affects the gameplay in two ways.
First its a limited way the user can utilize Bruisers, limited number of viable teams etc.
Furthermore, the PvP hero bonus is really edged towards Attack as its so few Bruisers.
I really hope there will be more bruisers soon. But. then without a better class in itself the character really need to be good or people wont buy him/her.
