Mr_Grumpums

I love my Wilpower/Super Strength tanker, but Taunt is its main attention-getter. To have Fissure AND Taunt would be heaven for a pure tanker, especially with Tremor to keep enemies nearby occupied.

Super Strength has great damage for a tanker, but it mostly gets attention with its taunt Aura, Taunt (which I put on almost all my tanks if only to pull enemies away from the squishies when I'm too surrounded to move), and Footstomp, which it gets at level 38. Level 38 was a looooong wait, even though it was worth it.

I recently made a Stone Melee/Willpower Brute, and I fell in love with Fissure. I took it in the 20s after getting both Quick Recovery and Stamina, and I use it with impunity to bounce enemies in their heads.

I love my DM/DA Scrapper. It's not any kind of "Ultimate build" or anything, but its exotic damage, solid resistance, sweet heals, Dark Consumption, and "weird" powers like Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom make it a lot of fun to play, and a very effective soloer against just about anything short of an AV.

As a Tanker, though, I'd admit that I don't think I'd like it. The mezzes aren't strong enough to keep anything other than Minions occupied, and there are only so many enemies that Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom can affect in the first place. The Knockback Protection hole will require at least one expensive KB protection IO, and possibly two. It seems like aggro management would take some of the fun away from the set.

The strongest Dual Pistols sets I can think of are:

DP/Mental Blaster - Drain Psyche and World of Confusion are nice powers that lend extra protection, and Psychic Scream is a micro-Nuke in and of itself that carries a pretty nice AoE Stun.

DP/Radiation Corrupter - You get a self-heal, a self-buff, and lots of debuffs that make enemies as weak as kittens. Cryo or Toxic Ammo will add even more debuffs, and Fire plus Scourge will help make up for the damage difference between a blaster and a corrupter.

DP/Kin Corrupter - huge damage boosting, plenty of heals and recovery, and built-in unrestricted Super Speed and Super Jump. Not much synergy here, but I guess there doesn't need to be.

Honestly, I wouldn't make a /DP defender, just because the damage output is so low that soloing can be a real struggle.

Heh. a DM/Shield that's IO'd to the gills is a very neat character to see. My friend has one, and she says that she's almost always close to the damage cap. Soul Drain, Against All Odds, and Fury are a nasty combination, especially since she and my Fire/Kin Corrupter team a lot. Her brute one or two-shots everything, except for the huge number of enemies she wipes out at once with Shield Bash.

Honestly, the only reason she likes teaming with my Corr is that I don't mind playing support and letting her go bananas on anything in her way when on missions.

It's hard to make ANY Earth troller or any /Kin troller that isn't at least effective for mezzing the crap out of enemies and buffing a team into an engine of destruction. That being said, neither set has much in the way of actual attacks, just defense debuffs, attack buffs, heals, endurance recovery, and (oh yeah....) control. Rocky is a great pet that can weather a lot, and the /Kin buffs and heals will make it pretty-much unkillable, but it won't be doing the kind of damage that Fire imps do just because there are THREE imps versus ONE rock golem.

Soloing it still possible, especially after picking up some epic pool attacks so that you can put those /Kin buffs to use. It's just a long wait to get all the powers you'll need.

My Earth/Storm and Earth/Thermal controllers are solid on teams and solo, but I never made an Earth/kin because I already have a Fire/Kin corrupter, and it spoiled any other kinetics build for me.

Black Hole from Dark Miasma, which just makes me mad whenever I team with someone who uses it.

Time Bomb from Traps, which is nearly impossible to use and doesn't to much more damage than Trip Mine. Trip Mine can be stacked, though, and only blows when enemies are right near them.

I wouldn't PvP anything with DB. I like the set, but its animations are too long, its damage is too well-resisted, and melee characters tend to be at a disadvantage in PvP.

I love Touch of Fear. It's a good way to take out annoying enemies like Malta Sappers or Death Mages who hinder you from building fury or slow you down, plus removing enemies who deal such high damage that they're annoying to deal with. Also, it can be slotted cheaply with IO sets that have pretty nice bonuses. It has multiple uses, and can even Fear an EB if you put enough recharge into it.

I don't know that I'd like it very much in an AoE-heavy power set like Fiery Melee, but for a ST set it's a great help.

I'd say that a Claws/WP Brute would be able to burn through the game on par with a SS/WP brute, only it gets its AoE at lv 8 instead of lv 32. While Spin doesn't have as much damage as Foot Stomp, you also have Eviscerate, and your attacks activate and recharge much faster, which means you gain Fury faster.

I love my Claws/Elec Brute to pieces. It isn't as super-durable as a /WP or /Invul Brute, but it gets a Damage Aura and Quick Reflexes. With Focus, Shockwave, Mu Lightning, and Static Discharge, It can attack escaping or ranged enemies while staying in a place to throw down an AoE in a big mob immediately after. Also, it never runs out of endurance when fighting thanks to Power Sink.

I saw this thread and thought you all might have a good answer for my problem.

I made a Traps/Sonic Defender last night and cranked it up to lv 17 before falling asleep. I found that it was mostly easy to use (and NASTY! It's a shame that Acid Mortar can't follow you, since it makes whatever mob you're fighting die extremely quickly.), but I get hit extremely hard every time I try and lay down Poison Trap in or near a mob, and pulling usually results in only one enemy getting the full effect. How do you all set Poison Trap when on a big team without getting killed?

Also, how much of a help is stealth or invisibility to a Traps defender?

I think that I'd rather play an Ice/Psy than a Mind/Ice. There are a lot of secondaries that would fit a Mind dom better than /Ice, like Fire or Energy.

An Ice/Psy has lots of slows and -recharge, a solid pet in Jack Frost, and good damage. It also has Drain Psyche, which is a huge asset to any dominator who can go into melee with the ease that an Ice/Psy can. Also, Mind Probe, in my opinion, is a VERY cool-looking power that gives a very "psychic" vibe.

I love my Energy/Energy Blaster. It was originally an Energy/Elec, but I found that /Elec didn't mesh with how I play. Then I made it a Rad/Energy with the same name, and I found that I liked both sets, but not so much together.

Then I made an Energy/Energy, despite the warnings that kept me away from it for years. I like it a lot, and the KB management is relatively easy as long as you remember to aim for walls, objects, corners, whatever is nearby that will keep the enemy your KB distance as short as possible when there are melee or AoE centered characters on the team.

The KB has plenty of uses, though. Bouncing multiple enemies away from a controller who has made a few too many friends is easy. It also makes going into melee safer, since you can walk up and clobber something with Total Focus before it completely stands up. Heck, Power Thrust and Power Push alone will let you juggle bosses! It also makes using the snipe in the middle of a fight viable, if tricky. My Energy/Energy can wipe out a lieutenant with Power Push and Sniper Blast.

I'd go SS/WP or SS/Elec.

SS/WP is the all-around performer in PvP, tied with Claws/WP, more or less. Great protection with minimal cost and plenty of damage to throw around. I always see a SS/WP as the incredible Hulk of the Brute world.

SS/Elec has extra damage, the pretty electric animations, and added recharge with a click heal and Power Sink instead of Fast Healing and Quick Recovery. Its biggest problem is Grounded, which only gives you your KB and other protections when you're on the ground.

I already have a SS/WP Brute, and I found it to be so strong that I got bored.

Meh.

I made a thugs/poison, played it to lv 41, and then got sick of it and rerolled it as a Thugs/Pain. While Thugs/Poison is great for killing single enemies, and later an effective group killer, I didn't think it was as much fun at lv 41 as my Thugs/Pain is at lv 24.

Blinding Powder, definitely. I can't think of any situation in which you'd want to summon a pet as a Stalker (short of summoning a Shivan when fighting an AV) which couldn't be better solved by using Blinding Powder on the enemies before starting the fight.

Also, Confusion IO sets are pretty nice, and not terribly expensive.

A good rule of thumb for any character with Storm Summoning is find out which powers you have that can Stack debuffs. After that, it's Math, IO bonuses, and personal preference.

This is definitely a ranged toon. You've got only one power (Thunder Clap) that forces you to go into melee, and since you can't stack Thunder Clap with an Ice Blast Power, you might as well skip it anyway, since it isn't as good a stun as Flash Fire or Stalagmites.

I would skip Thunder Clap, Frost Breath, and Bitter Freeze Ray. Thunder Clap relies on you being in Melee, has a long animation, long recharge time, and a lower magnitude of Stun compared to other AoE Stuns. Frost Breath does very little damage and has a long activation time, and Bitter Freeze Ray is actually a worse power than Freeze Ray due to its VERY long animation (It's easier to stack holds by just putting plenty of recharge into Freeze Ray).

Going for Leviathan Mastery as an Ice/Storm Corr would work thematically, but Mace offers a defense toggle that would stack with Hurricane's -ToHit debuffs if you aren't the type to try and softcap your ranged defense while having a resistance toggle. Mace also has Web Envelope, an AoE immobilize which keeps enemies from being knocked around. I haven't used Leviathan Mastery, so I don't know if its AoE Immobilize has -Fly Protection. Mu Mastery has Power Sink, which is nice for those who use a lot of endurance, and I personally think that its hold looks cool. Soul Mastery lets you get Power Boost, which will make your debuffs and knockback INSANE for a few attacks.

Travel power-wise, Super Speed and Steamy Mist will stack their stealth, giving you invisibility.

The single best Scrapper AoE power would probably be either Shield Bash or Lightning Rod. Making an Elec/Shield would give you both. They both have big damage and a large radius, as well as a knockback component.

The worst would be a low damage AoE with Smashing or Lethal Damage and a long recharge time. Take your pick.

I've seen great Mind/Earth, Mind/Fire, and Mind/Elec Dominators. Mind/Fire has the best ranged damage, and Mind/Elec probably has the best Melee Damage. Mind/Earth has solid Melee damage with extra control from Seismic Smash, Power Boost, and Fissure. I don't know how important more control would be to a MIND dom, but juggling an enemy with Levitate and Stone Spears seems like it would be fun. :P

An Ice/Ice Dom has stacking debuffs, a combination of ranged and melee damage, and Power Boost, but only has two AoE attacks in Ice Sword Circle and Freeze Breath. An Ice/Thorns Dom has a lot of AoE to throw around, and no knockback to make enemies fly out of Ice Patch or other Ice powers, making it a safe little AoE killer. An Ice/Psy dom will have stacking -recharge debuffs and one of the best PBAoE attacks in the game, but the first 37 levels before Psychic Shockwave will leave you with mostly ST damage.

Personally, I would make a Plants/Psy, Plants/Thorn, or Fire/Psy Dom if you're wanting Good control and AoEs. Nothing wrong with Ice at all, but Plant Manipulation has a lot more damage, and Fire Manipulation has even MORE damage and Imps.

Normally, my Claws/Elec brute has trouble with EBs, but Surge of Power makes killing them a lot easier. IT's also a good button to push when you can tell you're about to take a beating.