I agree with your assessment. The first time I used adrenaline was when I played the Northern Raiders start as all 3 brothers had high starting fatigue and I figured I needed all the help I could get while fighting my way south to friendlier towns. I found them so useful that I now try to find 2-4 high fatigue Bro's to give adrenaline during a play through. I do agree that they are more useful early but still found them useful in many situations later game. I gave up killing frenzy to have it but all my other front liners have it so it is still up almost continuously. Those that I am able to make battle forge get used every battle those that are nimble get used for situationally in the late game (nomads, goblins, beasts).
Very early game when you have minimal armour to equip your expendable brothers in, Adrenaline will have a lot of value, as you'll tend to have an excess of fatigue. However, this also competes with Fast Adaptation, which is highest value on your brothers with lowest melee attack. On the other hand, Colossus scales as you level of hp, so it's value increases as the game goes on. I would say if the brother is expendable and low melee attack, grab FA. Otherwise, you can consider Adrenaline at level 2. Gifted or Dodge are really strong perks in the next tier, so all are valid considerations at 3, though as you mentioned Dodge and Adrenaline don't synergize well. Nine Lives and Colossus are often worth considering fairly early on as well, though perhaps these should be prioritized more highly on brothers with long term potential.
I never use Nine Lives. If I have a squishy endgame bro, like a Swordmaster, I give him Steel Brow. SB avoids injuries that 9L does nothing against and also increases longevity of your bro. 9L is so often a dead perk and you lost the opportunity to get something that improves damage output or some other stat.
@@ouwesoksgaming 9L is no more of a dead perk than most others, when you think about it. Most perks only come into play occasionally. While hopefully 9L won't proc often, when it's useful it's value is far greater than other perks. The online community seems to love Steel Brow, when in many senses it actually has significantly lower value and use cases than 9L.