Tribes: Ascend - Class Poll, Discussion and Guides

The Brute is a Heavy class adept at fighting in fairly close range fights. It has no clear role but it can do many things. I like to think of the Brute as a slower, tougher, meaner Soldier.

To me, my role is to disrupt and annoy the enemy team as much as possible, which translate into getting a boatload of kills. I may not capture the flag but if I end the game with 20 kills and a perma-busted enemy generator, I feel that I did my part. I'm here to fan the s***! If technicians are running after you instead of defending the flag and repairing their base, you're doing it right!

Armor Type: Heavy
The brute is a Heavy, which means you have 3x the HP of a light, but you're 3x as slow. It also means that tactics are different. Some locations are preferred and different kinds of tricks have to be used in order to win fights.

Primary Weapon: Heavy Spinfusor
The Heavy Spinfusor is the most powerful fusor in the game. It does 980 damage on a direct hit, which 1-shots Light classes, and 700 on a near hit. The splash range is large. However it takes longer to reload and the disc moves a tad slower than with the other Spinfusors. It takes some time to adjust but take my word for it, it is one powerful cannon. It has more Burst/Instant damage than the others but over time, due to the reload rate, it will deal less damage. Which is why fights are ruled by a few decisive shots and may degenerate into Shotgunning, Grenades or even Melee.

With the +20% vs armored upgrade, you deal 1600 damage to base installations and since the spinfusor does drop with range, you can snipe them easily. Keep that in mind.

Point of note, it shoots the disc vertically and it looks badass!

Secondary Weapon: Automatic Shotgun or Nova Colt
I though the Shotgun was a gimmick since Tribes is about moving way too fast for this kind of weapon. However, it turns out I was wrong, I will clarify later in the guide. Statwise, it does a decent amount of damage, up to 400 per shot, fires quickly and reloads quickly. Also, it's a hitscan weapon, meaning that if you click your mouse on your target, it's a guaranteed hit, unless he's out of range.

Unfortunately I haven't tried the Nova Colt. The XP cost is too high for me to consider it, at least for now. I hear it's great for longrange, which is great to replace the spinfusor but considering my playstyle I would rarely need it. My aim is terrible so I avoid precision weapons. (My strategy with the Tech is to lure people to my turrets because I can't hit them with the smg )

Belt item: Fractal Grenade or Light Sticky Mine
The Fractal Grenade, or the Disco Nade, is a green ball that shoots lasers in a 10 meter radius for 5 seconds. It deals 450 per hit and is great for many situations. Bear in mind that it's near useless outdoors because it takes time to activate and by then everyone has run away. However, if you're inside the base it works wonders. Simply put, you can use it for three things:
A. Clear out a room. Throw it in a room full of people and rake in the kills.
B. Block out a portion of a room or an exit. You can use the grenade to control where your enemies will jump, which will help with your Spinfusor shots, OR you can bump them inside the radius of the grenade.
C. Last resort ''I hate you!'' manoeuvrer. If you're about to die, throw your grenades everywhere. I have too many Aftermath accolades to count.

I haven't tried the sticky mines. They are most likely useful for taking out the generator. The heavy spinfusor does a poor job at this. I find the fractal grenades are too useful to be replaced by anything.

Pack: Energy Pack or Heavy Shield Pack
The Energy pack is unlocked by default and provides you with extra energy, which is never bad.
The Heavy Shield pack is a wonderful tool that completes the Brute. When activated, it slowly drains your energy and is able to absorb quite a bit of damage in exchange for more energy. I don't know what the rate is but something like 70 energy is enough to completely absorb a Light Spinfusor shot. (You not hurt me! KABLAM!) If used properly, the shield can make you last much longer than you usualy would without it.
The Shield should only be activated to absorb an incoming shot. It turns off after being hit. Think of it as a block button. Also bear in mind that if you start using your shield you will run out of energy very quickly if you jetpack at the same time. You have to choose between your Jetpack and your Shield.

Perks:
Most perks can be useful to the Brute but I use the following.

Safety Third: For a third grenade and a larger radius
Potential Energy: P-E converts (without reducing) explosive damage (not bullets) into energy. This is great for two things. First, spinfusor boosting: If you're travelling and you run out of juice you can spin yourself for extra speed AND fill up 3/4s of your energy bar. Suddenly you're not so slow anymore. This perk is awesome on a Heavy because you have a lot of health to convert to energy. On a Light class this trick would not work.

The Second function of this perk is to combine it with the Shield back and basically triple your health.

Example:
A fight breaks out, your HP and Energy are full, someone shoots you. You shield the hit and your energy falls to 0 but your HP is untouched. The next shot hits you, you lose health and suddenly your energy is back to 80%. The next shot comes around, you shield it, absorb most of it so that only a small portion of your health is affected and in return, you're refunded around 20% of your energy. This can go on for a while and in the meantime, you're popping heavy spinfusor shots and throwing fractal grenades.

Strategy: This is where all the gizmos from above come together.

Just like real estate, the same rule applies to the Brute.

Location Location Location!

You may be super tough and heavily armed, if you're fighting outside against a pathfinder bunnyhopping around, he will have the advantage and will probably end up killing you. It takes a while and it's very aggravating. This is why I play the Brute indoors as much as possible.

If you must fight outdoors, fight intelligently. I'm saying this because I just finished reading Ender's Game and I keep asking myself: How would Ender gain the upper hand in this crapfest?
Outdoors, you desperately lack mobility, to a point where it's lethal. You must find a way to remove that advantage from your enemies, either by finding a somewhat confined space or by climbing a hill. If a lighter class has it in for you, climb the nearest mountain. This will have two effects, the first is that as he is following you, you will be higher vertically so his jetpack will not be as useful and shots will be easier to land. The second is that once he reaches the top, you will be on equal ground, his jetpack will be low and if you have to run, the altitude will translate into a lot of speed.

If you're fighting indoors, even the most mobile class will be restrained by the walls and the ceiling. This is YOUR playground. This is where you are strong. And THEY ARE WEAK!!!
Indoors the shotgun becomes very useful. The spinfusor is good at taking out enemies on the ground and away from you while the shotgun can hurt people who are in your face or flying over you. This is also where you whip out the shield. Let's face it, you're too slow to dodge attacks properly so you might as well absorb them. The sheer amount of HP/Shield you have makes you very likely to win any kind of back and forth slug fight.

Tips and Tricks:

- Use your shield
- Use your spinfusor on the ground to gain speed and energy
- If you're outside, get to higher ground
- Finish off enemies with the Shotgun
- If you can land a shot behind an enemy, they will fly towards you and you can melee them. (This worked only once, when I discovered the move by mistake but it was awesome )
- If you're about to die, drop all your grenades