Balanced

There are no hidden files that I know of. It behaved very strangely when I first loaded the data from the build-block in your post, too--FFG wasn't in the build when it loaded, and none of the Traps powers showed as selected on the left, even though they appeared in the powers. It sounds like the same thing you're seeing, so I would guess that something changed between the version of Mids you created the file on and the current version. I don't think it was changing the FFG stats that did it.

Try creating a new file with a Traps/Dark, and see if it lets you fill it in the same. I opened a second instance of Mids and selected the powers in the same order; it doesn't take long, and it seems to work fine.

Good point. Both sets have a lot of really nice powers, so it's hard to make everything you want fit. Looking at your proposed build, I'd say Thunder Clap is probably the easiest thing to drop. I like the power, but its stun is minion-only, and I think you have plenty of tools to keep minions down without it. I think Freeze Ray will be more useful to you.

Another tip, since you're going to be flying: Flying above a mob can reduce the horizontal component of your knockback. Ideally, getting directly over a mob will turn it into knockdown. This applies to Lightning Storm, too--if you fly up a bit before casting it, it won't knock the mobs as far away. (Of course, that takes some of the fun out of it. )

1) Definitely slot for damage. Defender Ice uses the blaster version of the pets, so they do blaster-level damage, and you should make the most of it. Its base -40% run speed is pretty good, and as a Storm/Ice, you should be stacking it with Freezing Rain whenever possible. Freezing Rain + Ice Storm should floor their movement with no slotting. If Freezing Rain isn't up, slap Snow Storm on them to keep them in place.

2) Holds are very handy for defenders; you can't count on taking out a really troublesome lieutenant (or even a minion) in one shot on a defender. A hold can neutralize a mezzer or a Sapper up front, which is very nice. I'd recommend taking Freeze Ray, but probably to skip Bitter Freeze Ray. (BFR's animation is a bit long, the damage is lackluster, and the hold/recharge ratio is not that good.) If necessary, you can stack Freeze Ray pretty quickly on a boss once it's slotted up.

3) Blizzard is an excellent nuke for defenders. It's not PBAoE, it does great damage (like Ice Storm, it does blaster-like damage), and it has decent debuffs (these are a bit less than you might hope, again because it doesn't get the defender debuff multiplier). The downsides are that it does apply the nuke drain to your endurance, and that its damage is DoT; you should definitely hit the spawn with Freezing Rain first, both to ratchet the damage up still further, and to keep the mobs in the Blizzard for the full duration.

Oh, and Blizzard isn't a Storm/Ice's only -ToHit power. Hurricane has a major ToHit debuff; its base is -37.5% for defenders. One debuff SO, and it will floor the accuracy of nearly anything it touches, and the debuff lasts for 10 seconds after the mob is out of the Hurricane.

4) Playing a stormy is all about controlled chaos. If you want to play with the knockback powers, you need to practice with them and learn to use them effectively. You can circle spawns with Hurricane, for example, nudging them into tighter groups with the repel and debuffing their accuracy, or corral them into a corner where you can drop Freezing Rain, Ice Storm, and Tornado on them. With practice and thought, you can get a lot of soft control out of those powers; back in the days of Burn tankers, I actually had fire tanks ask me to use Gale, once they learned that I could knock stragglers into their patches for them. On the other hand, when things go wrong despite your best efforts, you can unleash a tide of chaos that may leave the mobs so scattered and disoriented that they can't finish you off.

Even if you never quite get the knack of knockback control, Tornado is great for use against KB-resistant targets, like AVs. It's autohit, does substantial damage if you can keep it on one target, and has a decent defense debuff.

Good ideas, on the whole. I don't like the exploitability of the Undefeated Champion, or the type of gameplay I think it would encourage, but I've long been a proponent of spontaneous non-contact missions.

The "On the way" idea sounds like fun, but it would have to be implemented very carefully, or it would end up being terribly annoying. You've accounted for timed missions--which would be the biggest single objection, I think--but what about when you have a team waiting for you? Or if you're just trying to get to the market to dump some stuff before logging? Going into the Options menu to switch it on and off frequently as your circumstances change would be a pain, and I suspect most people would end up switching it off and never bothering to reactivate it. At the very least, I would make it check to see if you have a mission set (even a non-timed one), and not trigger if you do.

The Life-Long Theme is another good idea, but the contact sorting part is probably more work than it's worth. If you're roleplaying it, you can just pick the contact accordingly. Guaranteeing that paper/radio missions that match your theme turn up each time is a nice notion, though. Ideally, it would go a step further, and each theme would have a set of arcs--say one for each 10-level range--that goes along with it, similar to the Kheldian arcs. Additionally, there should be a few themed street spawns that pop up if a character with the corresponding theme is in the area, the way Voids pop up when Kheldians are around. The themed street spawns would occasionally link to a themed non-contact mission, too.

My Dark/Dark defender's is

"Scary Skull Powers....ACTIVATE!"

My Ill/Storm's switches between "I need a drink." and "I need MORE AGGRO."

It sounds to me like a Dark/Ice might suit you. No damage buffs except for Aim, but solid resistance debuff, and very controllerish. I've been thinking about making one, but I'm already playing a Dark/Dark and a Storm/Ice, so it might be a bit much for now.

As others have pointed out, the multi-universal scope of the City setting leaves open the potential for nearly any backstory. There are alternate universes in canon that are different enough that Earth is apparently populated solely by Hydra creatures, or where all life has been wiped out. There's even an alternate universe in which an alternate version of your character brought about the end of the world. It shouldn't be a problem to set any grandiose character you want in one of those worlds.

I gather that the real problem is explaining how those characters ended up in the games Prime universe, why they don't have whatever world-shattering power they had back home, and why they're doing whatever it is that they're doing here. Is that about the size of it, Sam?

There are plausible answers to those questions, of course. I'll offer some possibilities for each below.

How did the character end up in the Prime universe?
Actual transportation isn't a problem; it's established in canon that both technological and magical portals can provide passage. Naturally occurring portals are also a possibility. Portal research is a big thing in Prime, which in itself could make it a nexus of sorts. So, why would a character go through one?

If Evil has already won in the character's native universe, the character could just be trying to escape, or looking for allies or resources with which to fight back.

Conversely, if the character is the Evil that has already won, he might be looking to expand his conquest (or rampage) to other worlds. For that matter, if he "won" by destroying the world, he might just be looking for a new place to live.

Why isn't the character as epic in scale as the backstory?
If the character was the underdog back home, there's no reason why he would be particularly powerful, of course.

If the character was powerful back home, it could have been due to access to resources he doesn't have on the Prime--troops, vast arsenals of tech, powerful ley lines, whatever. They either don't exist on the Prime, or he doesn't have access to them.

If the character's background power was purely personal, then it doesn't work the same because the "rules"--the laws of physics, magic, or whatever he uses--are a little different on the Prime. Not enough that his abilities are useless, but enough that he has to re-learn a lot of stuff.

Why is the character doing whatever he's doing? What's his motivation for engaging in heroism/villainy on the Prime?
He could be trying to build credibility in order to ask for assistance...or to betray everyone when his scheme demands it.

He could just need resources to survive in an unfamiliar world.

He could be trying to find a way home, and associating with powerful individuals because one of them might have the magic or tech he needs to get there.

He could be practicing or experimenting, trying to regain his former power.

He could be rampaging, just because that's what he does.

The point is, there are ways to make the stories fit. Most of my characters have backgrounds knit fairly well into the Prime setting, but I do have a refugee from a Brittanic Earth, where the sun never set on the British Empire...at least until the Hellions brought about an apocalypse. (Embarassing, no?) He's in Paragon Prime, looking for help or clues that might enable him to defeat the uber-Hellions and their demonic blight back in his homeworld.

I hoard temp powers, for the most part. I like opening the Powers window and seeing the huge list there.

I do use the ones that are fully replaceable, though, like Day Job powers and the weapons deal powers. Every now and then, it's fun to have my empath open up on a corridor full of mobs with a long chain of cones (Tentacles->Night Fall->Flamethrower->Plasmatic Taser).

Give him a break, guys--Bio's trying something different and challenging. He's putting time and effort into testing and justifying his stance on defender issues, and I applaud him for it. Not everything in the game has to be measured by xp/min.

As to build advice--definitely take the snipe. I found Moonbeam to be invaluable; range is your friend. Also, it will help with Elec's relatively lacking single-target damage if you lead off against tough opponents with it.

I also recommend Hover, for much the same reason. It helps keep you out of melee. It's even better now, since a mez won't drop you to the ground anymore. As a bonus, you can pseudo-stealth a bit with Hover, especially in warehouse maps; the ceilings are high enough that if you hover by the wall near them, you can often bypass spawns.

When it comes to ancillary pools, I definitely like Psi on my empath. The extra control offers a lot of additional safety against the nastier mobs in that level range. Dominate is a particular gem--well-slotted, it can do as much damage as one of your lesser blasts, and you can use it to preemptively neutralize mezzers and sappers. Telekinesis can be stacked with Dominate to shut down resistant threats quickly, but it's tricky to use; Mass Hypnosis would probably be more practical for you.

Thanks, RO!

The event was a blast, and--like I said in chat--it was also a wonderful reminder that there's more than one way to play this game.

Hang in there. I mostly soloed my emp/dark--my very first character and my first 50, started at launch--all the way through. The main exceptions were AV missions. There was no difficulty setting back then, so all bosses and AVs spawned in their base category, and I had to have help with AVs. I even soloed with him during the rather nasty period when all bosses were ramped up to be way more difficult and dangerous. I still occasionally solo missions on Invincible with him, just as a reminder that he can do it, and I've been flashbacking him through the Elite-Boss heavy content that came along after he leveled.

Make no mistake, empaths can solo. It's not quick, but it's entirely possible. You don't even have to sacrifice your team support capability to do it, though you might as well, since you're going to play solo-only. Unsurprisingly, I prefer balanced defenders.