Okay, I'm sure this post is like 20 pages too late but I got bored after reading the first 10 or so.
I'm not quite sure what game some of you are playing, but I'll never out damage any other blaster or scrapper or tanker. I play a concept character, I like the juxtaposition of ice and fire. Unfortunately, I chose my power sets backwards. As an ice primary I love my holds. I live and die by them. I have two "AoEs" in my primary. Frost Breath and Blizzard. I have no snipe and I don't have an awesome nuke. In fact, I often make do with a ad-hoc nuke of frost breath followed by fire sword circle. Blizzard being unaffected by aim and buildup makes it more of an "Oh Phunk" power than a "Let's get it started!" power. My secondary is extremely lacking in anything interesting and worthwhile. Ring of Fire only gets used if I'm exemped to below 20. Fire Sword Circle is a finisher. If I don't finish them with that, I am on the floor because of the time I sit there like a "deer in headlights." And build up is a must have if it's in your secondary. Burn and consume are nice...on my fire tanker. But I can't up damage on burn. Consume is just a power I don't find worth the risk. Sure I get endurance back, but I have to be in the middle of a few mobs. Which is a place I'd rather not be as a character with no defense. A lot of people are saying "blasters do more damage because of AoEs". Well ice blasters certainly don't. Others are saying "oh you can aim, buildup, snipe and you've got one guy down". Well ice blasters can't. (And I'm only pointing out ice blasters because that's what I play and the ice primary set is certainly a different flavor of blaster). From my experience, most blasters aren't AoE blasters, and those that are, are often scared to use those AoEs in teams.
When I created this character I had a great concept. He'd lead the charge, stand tall, fire a bunch of shots off, and hope that he had nailed all his enemies to the floor. Now in reality, I cower behind a corner with invisbility, walk in very slowly, switch to stealth, shoot a mob, run back around the corner and freeze that single minion out of sight. Feels more like a villan than a hero to me. But I'm dedicated enough to work this blaster through the last ten or so levels. Then I'll put him away and move onto another concept character, but one that feels a bit more heroic (not that that's hard to do).
As for what this all has to do with this thread. I could careless about more damage (though it'd be nice), I wouldn't mind mez protection (even if it's insanely limited), or even a bit of defense (even if I see the floor in three shots instead of two). But any changes to the blaster AT should make me feel more heroic. I know there some characters that are the "silently, deadly ninja assassin" but I don't remember too many comic book blasters that ran for their lives every time there was more than one villan.
