RSRobinson - Great post .. though sometimes it's best that the uninformed remain as such, lest the nerf bat cometh before Christmas this year.
My own experience with AR, Fire, and Ice is that Fire is the superior AoE build. The reason is that the Fire has two fast-damage AoE attacks are given early, slotted early, and effective.
With AR, Flamthrower is at 18 and Full Auto is at 32. That means you'll have to grind thru most of 10-20 without any AoE.
Ice gets Frost Breath at 2 and Ice Storm at 12. Ice Storm is not an effective spell when we have no way to hold the pack in place until they die. Mobs in Boomtown and Dark Astoria now scatter when you walk near, and they jump/scatter even more during combat - Devs' new anti-AoE tactic?
Now Fire gets Fireball at 2 and Fire Breath at 8. We now have two attacks that do not require a provoke tanker or controller for AoE hold/immob. Finally we can punch in 2 attacks without waiting for recharge and execute entire pack of white con minions, and repeat.
I tried compensating for Ice Storm's suckiness with Fire Sword Circle from secondary, and it did even more damage than Fire Breath! The problem is that it has a long "act" and is a small radius PBAoE - Meaning all the mobs that did not die will have a field day. My Ice/Fire is tons of fun, great in a group, but it simply cannot compete with my Fire/Devices blaster for pure efficiency.
The AR/Dev is a lot of fun also, mainly because I can run missions in a relaxed manner. Snipe, burst, slug - 2 mobs dead ... chat with friends on channels, and move onto the next pair. In a way I find this to be most enjoyable, as xp becomes secondary to socializing with friends.
