You forgot the additional advice that: any AV you cannot solo, simply call in your pre-Issue 3 BS/Invul Scrapper buddy to help out, and you're set! 
Anyway, I remember helping you with Nosferatu, etc. & those were fun fights. I was surprised to find out how long the solo AV fight takes an Ill/Rad Controller, but it's understandable now considering you didn't have Headsplitter-like damage available like the times I duo'd with you.
Did you ever run into Giovanna, a <Carnies> AV? I just fought her for the first time Friday.
Glad to see you finally got this info down, friend. Just had to do one of those, 'First post!'-type of replies, even though in general I hate them 
Hehe, yep true. I needed your help for Nosferatu among others.
Giovanna I havent faced yet. I'll do her arc after I fight Requiem (Whom I hope to solo, even though he now uses Warshade abilities).
And yes, you're right about us not having headsplitter-like damage. We have a lot of single target DPS, but our real strength is just being able to survive more easily against an AV we never come into melee contact with. The damaging process takes a looooooooong time. I should've demo'd my fight with Dominatrix. It was probably the slowest thing ever. EVER!
What about Madame of Mystery, Diabolique, Malaise, Mother Mayhem and the Kronos Titan (technically a Monster)?
Ooh! Ooh! Nerf! Nerf! 
Aw... who am I kidding? This build owes much of its current AV soloing ability to the "nerf" Illusion received in Issue 2. I wouldn't mind a few more of those... I've personally soloed every 40+ (non-TF) Archvillain in the game with my Illusion/Radiation Controller, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I actually soloed all of the 40+ story arcs, and I think it's fair to say that the majority of my login time in that level range was spent in battle with one AV or another. Most of them were +1 or +2 to me at the time, though there was the odd even or lower level opponent. I've taken down many of them in their Issue 3 incarnations as well.
This guide is pretty solid. I have a very similar build, except for some minor differences in slotting, a maxed RI, and flight. Hover can make a huge difference in AV battles, although you certainly don't need it for all of them. Sometimes I reslot to fit the mission.
Some comments and additions...
Terra is a joke. You can even hold her for the whole fight if you feel like it.
Baphomet is like a big Envoy. I swear he must have ADHD or something... he just can't stand still. 
He's not a jumper like Nosferatu or a runner in the traditional sense. He just ignores a lot of aggro and heads wherever he feels like. Other than that, and the complications that could arise if he jumps off the cliff into a pack or three of enemies, he's not overly difficult.
The Psychic Clockwork king was the first Issue 3 AV I soloed. His Psychic Wail is dangerous and might one-shot you and/or your pets, depending on your level and accolades. Otherwise, his power level is pretty standard for an AV.
I don't see why some Ill/Rads have such a problem with Anti-Matter. His radiation debuffs are all warm and tickly! He can only use his most painful attacks on you if you're up close, so... uh... don't be. You get to fight him up to 3 times on Tina's watch, and the only time I died was in the non-story arc encounter. He spawned in the corner of a lab corridor where I didn't have enough room to maneuver, and I messed up when trying to pull him out into a nice open space.
Neuron isn't very difficult either, and he comes back for more punishment many, many times over the course of your career. For some reason, his Tesla Cage didn't last very long. It's only dangerous because it drops all the toggles.
Nosferatu was really, really hard in Issue 2... by far the hardest AV I fought. It took me many, many hours and capfuls of debt to come up with a strategy to beat him (which involved a trayful of blue, a lot of very careful pet placement, hopping around, and knowing just how many blasts I could squeeze out of my poor endurance bar and still make it to the end). In retrospect, it was good that I ran into him early, because the tactics I learned from those fights made every subsequent AV seem weak by comparison. He's not as tough in issue 3, despite the increased hit points and regeneration, so long as you pick up the Primal Forces epic or slot up some other non-psychic epic attack. Power Blast does maybe twice the damage of Spectral Wounds to him, and/or Conserve Power will keep you going for the long, painful battle to beat his heals. He now has an Immobilize attack (Tenebrous Tentacles), so it might be a good idea to stay airborne or at least perched above him for the battle if you can.
Nemesis... well, you get to fight 3 different versions of him if you do all the missions, so there's plenty of time to practice. Heavy rad debuffing is useful, but it won't save you from attacks because his force bolts have an inherent accuracy bonus. Judicious use of pets, terrain, and Lingering Radiation takes care of most of the running and PFF problems. Think of him as a really big Fake Nemesis. Heck... most of them probably are. Only Rex had the balls to own up to his name.
Don't try to solo Madame of Mystery until you're absolutely sure you have the damage and endurance management to at least match her regen rate for a protracted fight using regular tactics. It might be a good idea to try a practice run first until you're comfortable. Then all you have to do is put that Psychic Cleaver thingy that Cadao gives you on autofire and face her as you would any other AV. You've got 500 charges, but they go fast... I have no idea how you'd go about beating her without it, since it's the only thing that can actually do enough damage to hurt her.
Infernal most certainly is soloable. He often looks scary when you first fight him because he's Maria's first mission, so with his level fixed at 48 he could be well be +2 or even +3 to you. Seriously... any +2/3 AV is a tough fight (although I can confirm that Infernal's Issue 2 incarnation was soloable at +2). And the non-arc mission has him next to one of those scary demon summoning portals (with AV hit points, no less!). The trick to that one is to pull him away from the portal first, and then just use regular anti-AV tactics. That was the battle in which I learned the fine art of pulling with pets (a tactic I first tried against Anti-Matter), and I admit I did die a few times before getting it right. He doesn't do that much more damage than regular AVs. A lot of it is ranged AE, however, so it might help to find cover and keep your Phantasms a bit spread out where he can't hit them all. The second time you face him, he feels almost like a little puppy compared to his girlfriend.
Speaking of whom... I rate Diabolique as the 2nd hardest AV I fought solo... or at least 2nd most frustrating. Her force attacks have an accuracy bonus and knockdown (so you can't heal in the middle of her combos), she Phase Shifts, and she runs all over the $#@$ map (did I mention that she's a speedster, too?). In the story arc mission, that's a royal pain, because she spawns in the cramped corridors of Orenbega and can even pull you into her boyfriend if you're not careful. I finally managed to beat her by forcing her into a dead end and using my pets to block her in. That battle was mostly hard because of the terrain, and because she was +1 to me at the time. My second encounter with her at even level was honestly the most exhilarating battle of my AV-soloing career. I figured that if she was going to be annoying and fly around anyway, I'd just join in the fun... We had a fantastic aerial dogfight above a graveyard with all these little ghosts cheering us on. At least, I pretended they were cheering us on...
Mother Mayhem can be a bit tricky because her AEs can easily wipe out your pets if you're not careful. Keep your Phantasms away from her and close to you. You'll be doing a lot of healing this fight.
The Kronos Titan ambushes you when you come out of a door mission, so you're in for a horrible, painful death if you're not ready for it. There was a great moment in that fight where I was flying away from this 40-foot tall monstrosity with a huge swarm of hero-seeking missiles heading my way... and I didn't get a screenshot of it. 
I wanted to try to get him to missile me again on round two so I could snap a picture, but it was a timed mission and I decided not to risk it. Standard anti-Monster tactics (death from above! 
) work against him.
Requiem is cool now, because he's a Warshade, and Warshades are cool. Uh... that's all I have to say about him.
The rest of the AVs not on the list (Black Swan, Malaise, Giovanna, Vanessa... did I miss anyone?) are nothing to write home about. Standard AV tactics work just fine.
A few parting remarks...
In my opinion, the keys to AV soloing are pet control and endurance management. Conserve Power is a cheap way of getting out of having ot learn the latter. It's not that I don't recommend taking it, but I'm an old fashioned type who believes you should learn the ropes without it first.
Pet control is an art and a science. There's no way to get around having to master it if you want to face the harder AVs in single combat. Learn to judge their range. Learn where to summon pets and how to move them. It's often helpful to have your pets airborne. There are some AVs against whom you want to spread your Phantasms out (e.g. Infernal), and others that demand clustered pets (e.g. Mother Mayhem). Sometimes, you want to keep your pets away from you so they pick up aggro more easily (e.g. Anti-Matter), and others where you want them close by to heal. Some battle must be fought from the air (e.g. Kronos), while others you want to go out of your way to keep on the ground (e.g. Siege/Nightstar). Consider the terrain carefully: There are often summoning locations from which you can place Phantasms so they won't be on the receving end of the AVs' more dangerous attacks.
Battles against even level AVs now easily run up into the 20-30 minute range for the weaker ones (assuming you aren't killed or forced to retreat), and potentially much, much longer for the hard ones. Soloing the mission with both Siege and Nightstar, for instance, took more than an hour in Issue 2 and is now a ridiculous multi-hour marathon that lasts longer than most TFs. It feels kind of like you're fighting Hamidon himself instead of a bunch of rogue androids. They were beatable at +1 in Issue 2, but I wouldn't recommend soloing their Issue 3 versions unless you're higher level than them and blessed with saintly patience. Or insane.
To anyone wishing to take up the AV soloing gauntlet, kudos and good luck to you. With Issue 3 live, the golden days of AV soloing are over. Instead of becoming more challenging, it's just... tedious. The devs seem dead set against it, and some people keep crying NERF! I wouldn't have a problem with that if they kept the super-epic enemies to TFs, but there are literally dozens of AV battles in the 40+ missions--they show up more often than regular bosses in newbie missions. It's just sad that the amazingly rich 40+ content has been reduced to either forced grouping or hour-long solo battles...
Hehe. You brought up many points I missed. Sounds like you were even more deadset on soloing all the AVs than me! Just yesterday I fought Baphomet (Poor guy was conning white to me)... Asked the mission owner if I could solo him just for fun, but the darn scrapper jumped right in... Grrr...
Diabolique I didn't try to solo either. At that point, I was vying for Portal Jockey for a friend (He posted earlier in the topic :P) and he got to come along on most of the dual-AV mishes with me.
Not sure HOW you soloed Siege and Nightstar... With Power Blast and Conserve Power I'm sure they'd be a piece of cake now, but Pre-Issue 3, they were just unbelievably tedious... Especially since their main means of running (Flight) isn't hampered AT ALL by Lingering Radiation.
Nemesis... I bet I could've beaten him with a fully slotted Rad Infection. If it had eaten through his PFF, he wouldnt have been able to heal for anything. But unfortunately, my Rad Infection wasnt enough, and so my slow whittling turned into a slow whittling then him going PFF and healing back a bit chain of events which just pissed me off. Lingering Radiation didnt help much there... PFF's recharge isnt that slow... But maybe if I'd spammed it. Again, something I would've required COnserve Power for.
Nosferatu wasn't that bad on the Regen side. On the contrary. He was actually the weakest AV I'd yet seen on the resistance and regen side. But when my PA dropped, he immediately targeted me and my phants... And one shot of Gloom (Even with a Radiant Aura healing for 300-something in the middle) took my phantasm down to 1/3 life. Again, probably something Rad Infect could've helped with... :/
Madame of Mystery was laughable on the damage side. She was weaker than the MINIONS in that mission. But, her resistances were the same as Hamidon, and due to the Rock bug, my Psychic Cleaver disappeared after I used it (Looked like me throwing a rock...). Otherwise I might've soloed her too.
Kronos killed me on my ambush, and I had to bring a team along since friends wanted the badge. On the ambush, I rezzed and ALMOST had Eye of the Magus activated before he came back and re-slaughtered me. ;_;
Man, Infernal just pissed me off the first time since he was +3. I had to bring in two friends to beat that one of him. I guess I was so initimidated by his first incarnation that I didnt even bother with the second. Now I wish I had.
Thanks for your commentary, you helped bring alot of stuff I couldn't really put into words to light.
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Not sure HOW you soloed Siege and Nightstar... With Power Blast and Conserve Power I'm sure they'd be a piece of cake now, but Pre-Issue 3, they were just unbelievably tedious... Especially since their main means of running (Flight) isn't hampered AT ALL by Lingering Radiation.
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The mission in which I soloed them was the story arc one in a warehouse when you face them both together, not the ones in which they spawn outdoors, so the running wasn't a huge problem. Their ranged attacks aren't super strong, so I was just slowly whittling away at them. Given all the bad things I'd heard about them, I was expecting the battle to be much harder than it was, but it turned out to simply be... well... long.
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Nosferatu wasn't that bad on the Regen side. On the contrary. He was actually the weakest AV I'd yet seen on the resistance and regen side. But when my PA dropped, he immediately targeted me and my phants... And one shot of Gloom (Even with a Radiant Aura healing for 300-something in the middle) took my phantasm down to 1/3 life. Again, probably something Rad Infect could've helped with... :/
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Nosferatu's basic regen isn't that bad, and I didn't have RI that heavily slotted when I faced him on live (Issue 2). The problem with him (besides his quirky AI) is that every few minutes he goes through his mass healing routine and eliminates minutes of hard work. If you don't consistently load up the damage, the battle basically starts over again.
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The mission in which I soloed them was the story arc one in a warehouse when you face them both together, not the ones in which they spawn outdoors, so the running wasn't a huge problem. Their ranged attacks aren't super strong, so I was just slowly whittling away at them. Given all the bad things I'd heard about them, I was expecting the battle to be much harder than it was, but it turned out to simply be... well... long.
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Well, an even level Siege I DID whittle down to 1/3, but like I said, he went all wacky and flew around gathering minions to [censored] over an hour of hard work...
Nightstar was a bit different. With most AVs, since they're mostly humans, I can supplement spectral wounds to add in extra damage. But since Nightstar resisted this damage, I couldn't beat her regen without being +1 to her.
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Nosferatu's basic regen isn't that bad, and I didn't have RI that heavily slotted when I faced him on live (Issue 2). The problem with him (besides his quirky AI) is that every few minutes he goes through his mass healing routine and eliminates minutes of hard work. If you don't consistently load up the damage, the battle basically starts over again.
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The mass healing didnt matter to me, since it basically consisted of a Dark Regeneration. Since the only enemies I had within his range for that were Decoys and Decoy Phantasms, he basically recovered no health. Nah, my problem was definately his damage. I bet perma-PA would've made the battle FAR more viable.
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The mass healing didnt matter to me, since it basically consisted of a Dark Regeneration. Since the only enemies I had within his range for that were Decoys and Decoy Phantasms, he basically recovered no health. Nah, my problem was definately his damage. I bet perma-PA would've made the battle FAR more viable.
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Well, his damage was only part of it... every time he hits you, you have to run and heal and mess up your rhythm. You can whittle him down easily enough, but anytime you stop, he can regenerate quite quickly. Just the short time it takes to reposition yourself when he hops over to visit you can mean considerable lost damage and potentially the loss of a Phantasm. Nosferatu also has a massive self heal (that gives him around 8k health a pop every couple of minutes in Issue 3) in addition to his draining heals. I don't think you'd have the damage to beat him with perma-PA unless he was -1 or -2 to you, or if you fought him at a high enough level to have both Power Blast and Conserve Energy.
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The mass healing didnt matter to me, since it basically consisted of a Dark Regeneration. Since the only enemies I had within his range for that were Decoys and Decoy Phantasms, he basically recovered no health. Nah, my problem was definately his damage. I bet perma-PA would've made the battle FAR more viable.
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Well, his damage was only part of it... every time he hits you, you have to run and heal and mess up your rhythm. You can whittle him down easily enough, but anytime you stop, he can regenerate quite quickly. Just the short time it takes to reposition yourself when he hops over to visit you can mean considerable lost damage and potentially the loss of a Phantasm. Nosferatu also has a massive self heal (that gives him around 8k health a pop every couple of minutes in Issue 3) in addition to his draining heals. I don't think you'd have the damage to beat him with perma-PA unless he was -1 or -2 to you, or if you fought him at a high enough level to have both Power Blast and Conserve Energy.
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That's a good assumption. Power Blast makes me FAR more able to solo AVs now. The energy damage is higher than Spectral wounds at a six slot, and it doesnt heal back. I'm loving it. I'm way better at AV soloing in I3 than I was in I2.
Excellent guide. One question, and it concerns Radiation Infection. As probably the Ill/Rad's most versatile debuff, have you explored the options available to you by six-slotting RI?
Consider first, six slotting RI with 3x Def Debuff and 3x ToHit Debuff. Keeping this active will bring most AVs' to-hit chance back down into the realm of reality for you... you'll see AVs missing you with moderate frequency, especially when you factor in defensive skills such as CJ/Hover, Hasten, and/or Stealth.
Adding these slots to RI also allows you to unsocket all of your Accuracy enhancements. In essence, you can swap out every Accuracy enhancement in your damage skills in favor of a Damage enhancement, giving your Spectral Wounds and Phatasms a bit more punch (I'd personally throw a 3rd recharge into Phantom Army). You can sacrifice at least one of the Accuracy enhancements in Lingering Radiation in favor of a Slow, or you can save the slot all together. Finally, you can afford to skip Group Invis completely, since you'll be getting an equivalent-or-better defensive buff through your ToHit Debuffs in RI.
I haven't done any AV-soloing on my Ill/Rad yet, but she regularly fights +3 and +4 Freak bosses at level 34 with a high level of success. RI is the key... it keeps me alive when the boss gets an attack at me, and it lets me cram damage into all of my combat skills while still maintaining accuracy.
Yep. This is true. However, I didnt have any slots to spare, otherwise I would've slotted RI out most likely. Plus, relying on a toggled anchor debuff for all your accuracy is iffy. Not every mob will be in the toggle area, and you wont always have it on due to pets killing the anchor. That's why I dont rely on it solely.
But you are right. Against JUST an AV, slotting up RI and taking out Acc in favor of damage is a viable strategy. One that is worthy of recognition :P
I'd even venture to say it would allow you to solo even more AVs since damage is the one thing that can keep us from doing it. Defense never stops us...PA is invincible. But when we just dont have the offense like me against Nightstar even con, we sometimes fail.
I hope I'm not messing up your guide, but here's some observation and tests I have done on solo-ing AVs with a DM/Regen scrapper.
So far I have only done Bobcat and Requiem solo, and for regens, we only need the new and improved, Issue 3 Moment of Glory.
That's right folks, perma-MoG, and just wail away. No other tactics required other than to watch your health bar. Keep Dull Pain handy if required. Jump/fly away when your health gets too low for the ocassional hits that do get thru.
Took me about 45 mins on average to bring each down.
Perma-MoG works, but at the same time you've reall gotta be careful.
I didn't solo Anti-Matter, used a friend with a Grav/FF Controller. Combined we took him down.
P.S. I was a Fire/Kin.
P.S.S. Hi Darke, Told ya I'd post in your topic.
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Perma-MoG works, but at the same time you've reall gotta be careful.
I didn't solo Anti-Matter, used a friend with a Grav/FF Controller. Combined we took him down.
P.S. I was a Fire/Kin.
P.S.S. Hi Darke, Told ya I'd post in your topic.
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Hehe.
Hope you enjoyed it, and welcome to HTS (Soon HDS! )
Well, just got done soloing Post-I3 Requiem. He was easy, even with his new Warshade powers. Unfortunately, it was not a fair fight. My Phantasm had 2 Dam/Acc and 1 Dam/Range Hamihancers, and my Power blast the same. He just couldnt stand up to all that damage. :P
Very fun though. Requiem is probably my favorite Archvillain in the game.
Hello Darke! I would just like to say that i've read your entire guide and wanted to give you props on it. I think it is extremely informative and very solid. I don't think i've ever wanted a controller more, i am a die hard scrapper! But after reading this i just had to go out and make one for myself Keep up the good work!
*watches the all-nerfing Eye of Statesmon swivel toward Illusion/Radiation controllers*
Fun read.
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Nemesis... I bet I could've beaten him with a fully slotted Rad Infection. If it had eaten through his PFF, he wouldnt have been able to heal for anything. But unfortunately, my Rad Infection wasnt enough, and so my slow whittling turned into a slow whittling then him going PFF and healing back a bit chain of events which just pissed me off. Lingering Radiation didnt help much there... PFF's recharge isnt that slow... But maybe if I'd spammed it. Again, something I would've required Conserve Power for.
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Yeah, Most of the Nemesis AVs are just Really tough Fake Nemesis.
They Are:
"Nemesis Rex", an alt-reality Nemsis who conquered his world, and appearentlly got lazy without any heros to fight- AV-wise, he's mostlly a pushover. I managed to Solo him with my Claw/Regen scrapper, despite Claw's relativly low damage output.
The second one is named "Nemesis" and is (Spoiler) a powerful decoy Nemsis made to fake his own death. While he doesn't deal much more damage than Rex, his HP total (and thus Regen) is much higher, meaning I needed to call my broadsword friend to take him out.
As for the last one, "Nemesis?", he's apparentlly the real deal- he has the HP total of "Nemesis", and his staff blast isn't single target- its a large-sized cone blast that deals *heinous* damage- he managed to take out me and my broadsword friend, so we had to call in some people from our SG to finally take the ******* out.
And now you know your Nemesi!
...Nemesiseses?
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
Bump for info's sake. ^_^'
Great guide... it has had me dreaming of the day when I could attempt it.
However, with the current decoy bug, do you think I could still manage to battle Terra, my first AV?
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Lingering Radiation - 2 Accuracy, 4 Slow
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Very odd slotting, considering the endurance cost of the power, and that slow enhancements only work on runspeed, and not attack speed, and I think the runspeed slowdown caps at 2 enhancements.
What is your logic behind this?
Great Wall of Prophecy, reveal to us God's will that we may blindly obey.
Free us from thought and responsibility
We shall read things off of you.
Then do them
Your words guide us.
We're dumb
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Great guide... it has had me dreaming of the day when I could attempt it.
However, with the current decoy bug, do you think I could still manage to battle Terra, my first AV?
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Terra's a weakling by all accounts.
I'm surprised... People using the Guide. =D
And on Lingering Rad... Yeah, 3 slots is fine for it. 1 Acc, 1 End Redux, 1 Rech Redux.
I've since changed my build alot. It has gone through many transformations, and I'm not sure how much more effective it's become at Archvillain soloing (Besides the Hami-O's). I've six-slotted Blind, picked up Superior Invisibility, and learned the extended Magic of PowerBoost. Oh, and Flash was dropped as well...Really, an AOE blind just isnt very effective. Having a heavily slotted Radiation Infection does wonders as well.
Revisions: Use Power Boost in conjunction with EMP and Lingering Radiation throughout the AV fight. They will go down nearly TWICE as quickly with the massive -Regen, and the Power Boost beforehand will heavily boost the -Regen effect. Holding an AV is also very possible, though Deceiving one is effective as well. A friend said he soloed the Infernal portal by deceiving Infernal to do it for him. Very handy. =D (Oh, and Infernal himself is quite soloable as well. He's very manageable as long as you keep him in check).
Really, I'm not so sure if my opinion holds much weight anymore for the below 45 crowd... I've got over 45 Hamidon enhancements now, and AVs are childs play unfortunately. To those who arent 45 yet... stick to my early guide, minus the Lingering Rad thing, atleast. You've got far more tools to work with than I did at that level. The -Regen is priceless in the fight against Archvillains. Use it as much as you can.
Keep soloing. ^^
Nice guide, thought I'd share some of my experiences...
My Illu/Rad soloed: Anti-matter, Neuron, and Bobcat. He pretty much duo'd the rest with the Solo ones being Even, Duos usually +1 or +2 - this is all Issue 3. I highly suggest a six slotted RI, and 3 recharges iN PA.
My current hero is a Fire/EM Tanker, and he has soloed: Portal Adamastor, Nemesis, and tonight, Chimera. The Chimera fight was the hardest, but I'd say right now there is an AI Bug - if you get him to pull out his Bow, then go back into Melee range with him, he keeps it out for a while, leaving you with a risk-free period of time to squeeze in some damage.
The Fire/EM is a ton more fun at soloing AVs than the Illu/Rad... Illu/Rad just feels so hands-off - about the only Inspirations I seemed to ever use were CaBs - with tha Tank I'm right in the mix - EM is perfect for it with its high single target damage, and the stacking Disorient effect can take the AV out for a few seconds. Then there is Burn, which it couldn't be done without - doubt I would have the damage for it.
All of my AV fights have taken about 30 minutes, and a full tray of Inspirations - its just a ton more interesting this way now... I pay a lot of attention, and plan accordingly, and am able to solo a very challenging enemy, I hope they don't increase the difficulty again... I've fought these AVs about 15 times a piece, this Fire/EM Tank will be my 4th 50... this whole soloing AVs thing is damned fun, and enough to keep me playing!
Anyone recommend another AV Killer? How does Fire/Kin do? Fire/Rad? Any Scrappers still viable? I have an Ice/Kin Troller, who I doubt will ever be able to solo an AV, smae with a Katana/SR... might be time to really focus on another server.
Thanks for eight fun years, Paragon.
From personal experience Fire/Rad controllers aren't that good at soloing archvillains. They don't have any way to manage aggro like Ill/Rad can with Phantom Army and pretty much every archvillain worth a dime can take out a swam of Fire Imps with one AoE.
Terra is doable because she has boss-level magnitude, though you'll have to manage your toggles properly so you don't run out of endurance with RI, EF (and possible others like tactics) and throwing out char whenever it comes up. All she needs is one or two solid hits and you're going down. I didn't solo Terra, but I know I could have if I'd been more patient.
The only archvillains I've soloed are Anti-Matter and Neuron, but those fights were hardly fair considering I was L50 and they were L48. Even then Anti-Matter still got the best of me with a nuke not once but twice. Stupid heal-needing Imps.
Darke, just out of curiosity, was there room (endurance wise) for tactics in such a build? I'd think you could do without a few of those accuracy enhancements and instead slot for 3 damage on PA instead of 2 damage and 1 accuracy.
First off, I'd like to say that I have soloed most of the archvillains IN THE GAME. VERY few of them were "easy", and NONE of them went down quickly. Archvillain soloing is an art that takes a loooooong time, a specialized build, and for the harder AV's, skill. I'd also like to say that I just soloed the new Tyrant on live in about 30 minutes, and he DID go down, so Archvillain soloing can still be done.
He was fun and easy and generally laughable in every way. Basically just a smash form of Bile. Have fun in the Zig with Upstart, Dreck. I'm sure he'll be QUITE happy to see you...
Might be possible with a 6-slotted Rad Infection with all Defense Debuffs. Not sure. You can try. 
), and the extra life and end are just good to have. Eye of the Magus can help you too. I suggest bringing along health or endurance inspirations (defense too if you want) just in case, but other than that, you should be fine. Have fun soloing archvillains, and to all those out there who think we are overpowered, know that it takes a long time, and a lot of work to solo an archvillain, and that it doesn't come easily or without effort.
I'd also like to state that I have alot of experience with my Controller. He is level 50, and with around 870 hours of time logged in, he took AWHILE to get there.
So without further ado...
The Build
The preferred build for soloing the Archvillain is an Illusion/Radiation controller. It is undeniably the best build to do it with, since it has a lot of damage, and a much reduced risk factor due to the Phantom Army. Taking into account the type of damage the Illusionist does is also very important. Dealing primarily Psionic and Energy damage, the Illusionist can solo most archvillains without fail -with a few exceptions, but I'll get to that later.
Here is my build for soloing Archvillains. It includes only the basic needs. Anything unincluded can be considered optional or unimportant. Be sure to read in the parentheses. I put footnotes in there that are important)
Illusion Control
Spectral Wounds - 1 Accuracy, 5 Damage
Group Invisibility - 1 Recharge Redux, Atleast 1 Defense Buff
Phantom Army - 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Redux
Phantasm - 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage, 3 Recharge Redux
Radiation Emission
Radiant Aura - 6 Heals
Radiation Infection - 1 Endurance Redux -OR- 1 To-Hit Debuff -OR- 1 Defense Debuff (This power needs no more than it's initial slot for Archvillain soloing purposes. The enhancement doesnt matter either)
Accelerate Metabolism - Atleast 4 Recharge, and 1 or 2 Endurance Recovery (I had mine set at 4 and 2 for the duration of my soloing career, but that was before I got Conserve Power. Conserve Power allows me an extra recharge for permanent AM)
Enervating Field - 1 Endurance Redux (Again, no more than the initial slot is needed.)
Lingering Radiation - 2 Accuracy, 4 Slow (This is what I have it at now. But for the duration of my career, I didnt even HAVE this power. Without it, AV soloing is much more difficult, but still possible. Be aware, it has a significant endurance cost, so unless you have Conserve Power, you will constantly need to micromanage your endurance if you plan to take this power)
Speed
Hasten - 6 Recharge Redux (This is undoubtedly the most important part of the build. Without it, everything falls apart. In other words, you NEED this if you want to solo archvillains.)
Anything else is up to you. I had Combat Jumping on, but that's very little extra defense, and it was unslotted. Consider any other powers unneeded, or optional for the fight, but know that you will be so endurance heavy you probably wont have much room to use anything else.
For those with Epic Pools...
Primal Forces Mastery
Conserve Power - 6 Recharge Redux (Absolutely awesome. You become god with it on.)
Temp Invulnerability - 6 Resistance Buff
Power Blast (In lieu of Spectral Wounds) - 1 Accuracy, 5 Damage
Power Boost - 2 Recharge Redux
The Strategy
This part is fairly simple in MOST cases. But again, some Archvillains (Namely, most of the Praetorians) require a bit more micromanagement of your actions to take them down.
Step 1: Summon 3 Phantasms while Accelerating Metabolism every time it comes up.
Step 2: Immediately after all three are out, cast Group Invisibility, and if you have Concealment, Grant Invisibility on each Phantasm. If you have Epic Pool PFM, cast Power Boost, THEN do Group Invisibility (Again, Grant Invis. if you have Concealment pool).
Step 3: Summon the Phantom Army right next to the Archvillain. These guys will draw his aggro all the time while they are out.
Step 4: Run in to where the Phantasms will all be in range of, and attacking the Archvillain, and cast your debuffs (Enervating Field, Radiation Infection).
Step 5: Every 15-20 seconds, use Lingering Radiation if you have it. If not, occasionally attack with Spectral Wounds or Power Blast when your endurance bar allows it. Do NOT use Blind. It has too low damage, can only hold for a tiny amount of time, and has a larger endurance cost than Spectral Wounds.
Step 6: When the Phantom Army drops, you will be the Archvillain's primary target. Get ready to blast Radiant Aura right after He/She does it.
Step 7: When the Phantasm Decoys draw his/her attention after he/she attacks you once, keep them healed if she attacks them.
Step 8: When Phantom Army cycles back up, Repeat Steps 3-7 while recasting buffs occasionally when needed, as well as keeping three Phantasms out until the archvillain is dead.
Step 9: Brag to your friends and Supergroup about soloing an AV.
Step 9 is *ahem* optional. ^_^' Anyway, that's my BASIC (keyword: Basic) strategy for most archvillains. That strategy will work against most of the Archvillains you will be soloing. Some require extra strategy, which I will address in the next section.
The Archvillains
This is where I will list the Archvillains that are possible to solo, with footnotes for each one, as well as a level of difficulty (Level 1 Threat meaning weakest Archvillains, Level 5 Threat meaning Archvillains that are EXTREMELY difficult to solo)
Envoy Of Shadows - Basic strategy works against this guy. He's a pushover, and he is the first Archvillain possible to solo to my knowledge. Some say they've taken down Doc Vahzilok back in the day, but that requires a different build. Hopkins might be soloable as well. Not sure.
-Level 2 Security Threat (You need +3 Green enhancements to solo him, but he isn't special in any way, and requires no extra strategy)
Terra - Now, I didn't actually solo Terra, but I've heard other Illusionists and even FIRE controllers have done it, so I can only assume she is weak. Try my normal strategy against her, should work fine.
-Level 1? Security Threat (Sounds like a pushover, NOT SURE though)
Psychic Clockwork King - Eh. I didn't bother soloing this guy. From what I'm told, it's possible with several different builds. Mine too, most likely.
-Level 1? Security Threat (Give it a shot, have fun.)
Countess Crey - Ooh. Big bad Vanessa Van Dorn gonna take me down... Psh. Yeah frickin' right. She was a pushover. Just not capable of enough damage to beat me and my Phantasms. She went down fairly quick for a woman who controls the most prominent villain group in the city...
-Level 2 Security Threat (No big deal, watch your health bar, keep your Phantasms healed, you'll do fine)
Bobcat - Purrrr. She killed me the first time I faced her, but I reworked my strategy to beat her. Surprisingly tough little kitty.
-Level 3 Security Threat (Went down slow, but still soloable with my little *chuckle* "revised" strategy)
-Strategy: Everything is basically the same as my basic strategy, except when the Phantom Army drops, you need to be up above her, with her view of you blocked by the ledge you're standing on. This way, she wont start attacking you that much when PA drops. Also, when she gets really low, she loses it and goes straight for you once or twice. When she's at 1/5 health, I'd seriously advise you to only be near enough to where your phantasms will still attack her, and only go back in range to cast Lingering Rad.
Shadowhunter - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *breath* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, the Woodsman of our world must be the weakest member Freedom Phalanx has, because this guy was pitiful.
-Level 2 Security Threat (Goes down somewhat slow, but after that initial "Heals all his life back with Earth's Embrace", he'll never do it again. Be sure to keep your Phantasms with Accelerated Metabolism, since he will use effects on them occasionally. Otherwise, basic strategy will take him down)
Anti-Matter - ... ... ... This guy ****S ME UP BAD. I only beat him the second time I saw him, and even then, it was so close I BARELY won at all. The first time I faced him, I didnt solo him. The second time, I had souped-up Green Enhancements, and he still killed me halfway through the fight. I quickly ran back to him though, and finished him off. Took a solid hour, and it wasn't easy at all.
-Level 5 Security Threat (He is BY FAR the hardest of the Archvillains possible to solo, since his radiation powers slice through any defense you may have. Keep him debuffed, and keep your phantasms healed, and you might pull this one out of the bag. But just as a warning, don't expect to be able to do this guy at all. Give it your best, but don't be annoyed if you cant beat him alone. Try it once you're a level above him, and see how it goes.)
Neuron - Eh. Still haven't soloed this guy. I bet I COULD'VE, but I was pretty apathetic the last time I faced him, and the time before that, I was on a team, so had no chance to try. Based on his damage output, he's nothing to be afraid of, but his Tesla Cage presents a problem if he ever hits you with it.
-Level 3 Security Threat (Heavy resistance, but probably soloable)
Portal Adamastor - Laffo. This guy is almost as pitiful as the Adamastor of our world. Technically not an archvillain, but still fun to solo.
-Level 1 Security Threat (Fun and easy)
Bile the Technophile - You don't HAVE to face Bile in the mission he appears in, but I did because I wanted to solo him. Psh. What a pushover.
-Level 1 Security Threat (He's like a watered-down Anti-Matter in teenage-form with an angst problem, and a thing for GREEN. Normal strategy works on him)
Dreck - Leader of the Freakshow. Oh god, I almost pissed my pants on this one... ... LAUGHING! AHAHAHAHAHA!
-Level 1 Security Threat (See Bile)
Dominatrix - OH GOD, DOMINATE ME BABY! Too bad she sucked at it. It was like constant bondage, but instead of a mistress whipping you hard, you get a little girl giggling while she tries tickling you to death. Go back to S&M school, hun.
-Level 2 Security Threat (The only reason she warranted more than level 1 was because she has Hamidon-like resistance and healing. I fought her for a solid hour and 45 minutes SLOWLY whittling her down to nothing, while she kept spamming gravity holds and immobilizes and whatnot. I think she did overall like 100 damage to me. *snore* Normal strategy works, but try to stay BEHIND her so her hold doesnt hit, and keep her lingering rad'd, since she'll occasionally try to run.)
Nightstar - The only one of the AVs I had to level before facing. The only reason for this was because she's a robot. She resisted my supplemental damage from Spectral Wounds, so I couldn't dent her. She also resisted Phantom Army, so THEY couldnt dent her. Plus, to top it all off, she FLEW. God DAMN that was annoying. And my Lingering Radiation didnt slow down her flight speed AT ALL. Unless you're insistent on soloing every AV you can (In which case, level up after you get her mission), I'd just quickly clear her with a team.
-Level 4 Security Threat (GAH! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! Also, she does heavy damage, so watch out.)
-By the same token, Siege is unsoloable as well for us, unless you raise yourself a level. I whittled him down to 1/3 life at even level, and he just kept kiting me with his flight. Eventually he aggroed half the map, and killed me, and I got pissed off and called in a team.
Marauder - This guy rocks. Back Alley Brawler kicks [censored], and this guy lives up to his name. Soloable, with a bit of strategy...
-Level 3 Security Threat (Keep him Lingering Rad'd. This is ESSENTIAL.)
-Revised Strategy: The map I fought him on was one where you maneuver around some stacked crates and then come to a small little kitchen-esque room. You'll know it when you see it. Anyway, this guy CAN one shot you, so you'll need to pull off some tricks to make sure he doesnt.
The steps are all the same, but when you fight him, you need to judge when PA is about to drop. Keep him lingering radiated so he cant run fast, and then before PA drops, jump behind a crate just slightly back from the room. This will make it so he doesnt immediately one-shot you with his boulder throw after PA drops. Let your Phantasm decoys grab aggro, then when PA is up, cast it, and perform just like on any other AV until PA drops again. Takes micromanagement, but it worked, and he went down.
Battle Maiden - Gah. She was just lame. I kinda expected her to be though. She has very little backstory in Paragon, and her powers are technology-based, with little uniqueness to them.
-Level 2 Security Threat (Normal strategy works against her, just don't let her hit you very much)
Chimera - Well, Batman always wins when he has time to plan, and this PROVES that Chimera is a cheap knockoff. He had PLENTY of time to plan before I showed up, and he still got his butt kicked.
-Level 2 Security Threat (Normal strategy works, but he aggros you a BIT more than the other AVs. I suggest hiding behind something whenever PA is down (It's a graveyard, I suggest the walkway you come in on him at), otherwise he might just surprise you with a 2/3 of your life draining bow shot)
Psychic Babbage - He's the last easy Monster/AV you fight, and he is sorta nostalgic. Easy, but nostalgic.
-Level 1 Security Threat (Regular strategy works, have fun with it)
Tyrant - This guy CANT be the Statesman. He just cant be. Statesman would WHOOP HIS MONKEY [censored]. I soloed this guy just a few hours ago, and I KNOW he isnt that big or bad.
Level 3 Security Threat (He has laser eye beams... Wooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeooooooo... Anyway, normal strategy works for this, but I might suggest putting one extra Recharge Redux into PA in lieu of a Damage. You want them drawing his aggro a bit more. Also, I HIGHLY recommend having the Epic Power pool Primal Forces Mastery by this point, otherwise, you just may not have enough endurance or attack power to finish him off, since he drains VERY slowly. Almost Dominatrix-level slowly)
Anyway, those are the Archvillains I've come into contact with, and all of them are beatable solo (and unless otherwise noted) at even level. To answer a question right off the bat, NO, Infernal is not soloable to my knowledge. He just has too much raw firepower (Pun intended) even for us. Nemesis may be soloable, but at even level he went down to about 1/4 before he casted personal force field and then ran off and healed a bit. After that, I could never get him any lower. Barely won on a team.
Hmmm... Trying to think of anything else you might need to know... Ah! Having all the accolades helps a bit. I start off every AV battle with a Vanguard + Crey Pistol combo (After PA drop of course!
Also know that this worked in Issue 2. I fought Tyrant in Issue 3 and did just fine, and I have no reason to believe any of the other archvillains would be any different than him.