SweeneyTodd

It's up to you how to spend your merits, but here's my advice.

I think it's worth spending all your merits initially on getting two T3s for the level shift. Convert merits to threads, threads to salvage, and you'll get there pretty quickly.

Once you've got a level shift or two, the trials are IMO more fun and you will be more effective in them. That makes it easier to earn more Merits if you want to spend them on the fun cosmetic stuff later.

As for where to discuss Incarnate powers, the Archetypes & Powers general discussion is probably best.

I'd imagine Dispersion Bubble + Maneuvers + Enforcer's Maneuvers can still get your pets to the soft cap, maybe with some 5% Def IOs for your pets (I haven't done the math). I assume your concept still allows for Dispersion Bubble.

Thugs is pretty strong; it'd be hard to gimp it with sufficiently protected minions, even with your secondary pulling very little weight. You'll need to slot your personal attacks heavily for EndRdx (2-3 SO's worth) to have any hope of using them regularly, though. Mastermind attacks eat a ton of End.

As for how it'll play, read up on any Thugs guide and follow most of their advice for your primary.Your personal attacks will mostly be for flavor, but by skipping the shields you should have enough power choices to fit them in. You might consider taking Provoke, keeping your pets on Defensive Follow (bodyguard), as the relatively small damage you do from Pistols or Boxing would at least be useful in building threat.

This is all excellent advice, but the thing I'd like to highlight is global chat channels for your server. Finding a group when you're in the relevant LFG channel is much, much easier than any other method I know of.

8 man radio/tips missions give massive XP, even if you're at-level (and actually contributing; tagging along on a lvl 50 tip mission x8 is basically being PLed). Post-35, an ITF gives 2 levels in an hour to 90 minutes.

Without any special tricks, just being in large teams, it's not difficult to level quite fast. Not that you'll always have those circumstances, but I have characters I only break out when there's an open team on an LFG channel, and they've ended up in the late 30s to early 40s without much effort.

Thugs and Bots are usually considered the top performers. That doesn't mean Ninjas are bad, mind you. The set has a heavy melee focus and so requires more pet micromanagement than others do. Honestly, some people consider this a plus, especially with a secondary that's fire-and-forget like FF.

A lot depends on what archetypes and powers you've chosen, and how well they 'gel' into a team. That's the beauty of the difficulty adjustment feature -- you can find the sweet spot for your particular team.

Mr. Enigma is also right that enemies do get harder as you level. Pre-10 or so, they really don't do much but just attack. Groups like Tsoo, Circle of Thorns, and especially Arachnos have many more tricks up their sleeves.

The IO system is both fairly arcane to understand, and has the potential to make characters much more powerful. Those are both pretty darn good reasons to put them behind the paywall. (Remember, you don't have to wait until Tier Whatever to get Invention access if you're a VIP.)

As far as the market goes, there's no reason to think a huge influx of new IO users would magically increase supply but not demand. On its face it seems to me the opposite is more likely.

I disagree -- I think you can pick up Electric Control without too much trouble. Yes, it's not a 'beginner' set, but it's not terribly complicated either. Not that playing, say, an Earth/ controller wouldn't give you useful background, either. It's really up to you.