Go Go Go!

Going from The Lord of the Rings Online to City of Heroes is a very distinct change of pace. Even in the most intense moments – say in the instance I closed out my last run on – LOTRO is measured and methodical, certainly on the defensively spec'd warden I've been playing.

City of Heroes is a very different experience. Especially on a Brute.

Brutes have what is perhaps my all-time favourite MMO class ability – Fury, a damage buff that ramps up as the character attacks or is attacked and ramps down when not attacking/being attacked. Chasing that damage buff by running from one group of mobs to the next with as little down time as possible is instantly addictive and fits in well with CoH's fast movement.

Fury is an ability that thrives on a recklesssly direct approach but it does still require some tactical awareness. Out of combat health regeneration is fairly slow in CoH, so there's a constant balancing act to be pulled off when moving from one group of enemies to the next – low health and high fury, or full health and no fury? That's early on. It won't be that long before End usage starts to be a factor as well, and probably sooner than on Time Raider since the brute's non-stop fighting style really burns up the blue bar.

(I'm far from invincible, and several times I've caught myslf reflexively looking for the in-combat heals that make my LOTRO warden so resilient.)

It's easy to succumb to the rush and just GO at full speed at all times. Brutes aren't as squishy as Blasters – the other death or glory archetype – but being melee oriented they don't have the luxury of positional play that ranged ATs do. For a Brute the best place to be is always in the centre of the fight, and that can be a risky place to be.

It's hell of a fun though.