RiverOcean

Almost any villain can solo and a surprising amount of AT combos can solo right up to an EB, w/o breaking a sweat.

I'd have to SS/WP is the easiest and most user friendly. No set bonuses or complicated IO slotting needed.

Plant/ Dominators are often overlooked, but from lvl 8 onwards they can solo most content. Plant is the "illusion" of the villain crowd. Plenty of aggro grabbing pets, soft control, and - Defense (Earth/ is a close second here..IMHO..but opinons may vary).

Almost ANY mastermind..really 100% you have to be completely inept not to be able to solo with a MM. Go Bots/Trap or Bots/FF if you want a really easy ride.

Stalkers can level fastest by being very selective on the missions they accept. Stealthily sneaking to the end and killing bosses or grabbing glowies is one way to do it. Since they've been buffed you may also fight the traditional way if you want..but not nearly as fast.

oh and quite a few Corruptor combos..I can't possibly name them all.

I'm not counting VEAT's because they are complicated. Fun and interesting, yes. But complicated AT's tend to confuse and frustrate people.

If your farmer is a Kin or Rad you don't have to worry about speed. Ninja Run + Swift and any outside movement buffs makes for a very fast traveling character. I have Ninja Run on my Kin corrupter and she gets to missions just as fast as anyone else..if not faster.

I also have NR or a few melee toons and they have no problem traveling (In the rouge isles of all places). So yes..NR is a very good replacement for a travel power. Not as fast as SS but it will get you where you going without much trouble.

This thread is full of WIN. I mean really the best and cheapest entertainment I've had all week!

From experience I can tell you..it refills the end bar after a heavy end crash. I had the Mu mastery pool on both my mind/energy and fire/psi for awhile.

I'm trying to patient as well. However, it might not be a bad idea to launch out another booster pack beforehand to keep people interested. I'd follow that up with another free account activation weekend..then BAM slam it home with GR.

I mostly play villains....here are my votes redside for early bloomers...

Plant/Fire Dominator.
Claws/WP Brute:
Bots/Trap MM:
Fire/Rad Corruptor

Note: Stalkers aren't bad if you want to stealth newspaper missions and finish for the end-of-mission bonuses. Can be a fast and very efficient way to earn.

A couple of ideas off the cuff...

Thugs/Dark: A bad *** mystic and his gang of rough and tumble vampire killers.

Bots/Traps: A super tricky gadgeteer and his friendly robot minions.

TA/Ninja: A venerable martial arts master and his band of valiant acolytes.

Mercs/anything: You're the leader or a highly trained paramilitary organization with far reaching global powers.

All of these ideas have been done in movies, anime, and comics. You can basically justify almost any combination as heroic. As long as you cast yourself as the leader of a group of heroes. The pets are even nameable so you can give them heroic sounding names.

Ive been enjoying AE before and after the changes. I know people rant about XP..but many of my lowbie characters seem to level up faster in AE (solo) than it seems they do on story arcs. Maybe its the time I save running from mission door-to-contact-to-mission door.

Also, the tickets are nice. I can buy enhancements, roll for recipes, and get rare salvage with them. Whats to complain about?

I really like the idea of "universal slots" and of making our 50's even better! On top of that I want harder content! Perhaps could be tougher content that was only unlocked for "enhanced" characters. Maybe a special Zone that could also only be accessed by those 50+.

I like it...make it so!

You may want to consider using Wormhole in conjunction with Crushing Field. This creates a nice makeshift AoE hold that you can use while Gravity Distortion Field is recharching.

Also I've found this bind helpful for my Gravity Dominator and Controller:


/bind ctrl+lbutton "powexec_name Wormhole"

With this bind you can just hold down CTRL while targetting an enemy, then left-click on the spot you want them to appear. It's really nifty and makes using the power much easier.

Also you might want to slot accuracy and range as early as you can into Wormhole. The extra range can help manage the aggro the power can generate for you.

Grav/Traps....Wormhole meet trip mine, caltrops, poison gas traps, and acid mortar.

But isn't the real issue..not what Defenders can do solo, but what they can do teamed? Nothing in the game force multiplies the way Defenders do. It seems some people are asking for Corruptor level damage, with defender level buff/debuff. Sure that might be great solo, but teamed could very well be game breaking.

Granted, No Dev has ever stated this but it seems a logical reason why defenders damage secondaries are structured the way they are.

Either one is just fine. But Gravity/Earth becomes unexpectedly synergistic as the build matures. Especially after singularity. You have a very strong ST hold set combined with supremely powerful ST damage set. Boss killing will be your thing with this build.

Final Vote:

If you like to melee, Grav/Earth especially post singularity. Fun and interesting but one heckuva a rollercoaster ride.

Ice/Earth is much more utilitarian and brings much needed aoe control into the picture. Much more safe and a more even ride as you level.

Way to Hirsch..I I knew this was totally possible w/Earth Assualt.

I've been off for awhile on my grav/earth but can't wait to give him a try against AV's.