I'll be happy to take the Stormy, Ice Tank, and Fire Tank you kicked to the curb on each of my STF runs. I'll take all those "not the best defender/controller ATs" in the other 5 slots.
Storm/Dark Blast
Ice Tank/Ice Melee
Fire Tank/Fire Melee
Empath/Force Bubbles
Sonic Bubbles/Sonic Blast
Earth Control/Trick Arrow
Earth Control/Sonic Bubbles
Illusion Control/Empath
Without leadership EVERY team member could have ...
Resist: Capped (108%)
Defense: Capped (63% to 105%, not counting PBU)
Regeneration: 1000% (Scrapper Instant Healing) to 2000%
Recovery: 400% to 1200%
Tohit: +20%
Damage: +40%
Leadership on the 6 defcon could add:
Tohit: +100% = +120% (+ yet another 40% tohit for vengeance = +160%)
Damage: +100% = +140%
Defense: Vengeance! +40% = +140%
So 2 Tanks, 3 defenders, 3 controllers and all of them from your kick to the curb list. Yeap, I could make that work, and that's just the buffs, I didn't even touch what the debuffs and controls add to the team.
Of course none of that is "easy" to achieve without teamwork. It all relies on close coordinated teamwork. But if you can't stand short breaks before each major engagement to buff and make sure everyone is on the game plan, you aren't gonna be able to do this TF anyway.
You are right, a team with a large amount of those that I said would be lesser picks could work, and in fact thrive. You could do this TF without Tanks if you had a good enough team. I'm just suggesting the sets that I have found more useful, and in more ways.
Also, any team with 6 Defenders/Controllers should do well. I can just imagine 8 Stormies or 8 Forcefielders completing this TF. It would probably not be easy, but it is possible.
TW/Elec Optimization
There's actually a cool tactic force fielders with force bubble or stormers with hurricane can pull that makes Recluse quite a bit simpler. On the building behind Recluse and the towers, you'll find a narrow ledge. NOT the platform with the low wall around it, the little ledge just below that. It's wide enough to stand on, but that's about it. Have your tank pull Recluse to that ledge once the towers are down. Your FFer or stormie then positions himself (gotta be able to fly for this) so that Recluse is directly between them and the drop to the ground. Fire up hurricane or force bubble. When Recluse spawns his huge cadre of bane spiders, down they go! IT'S RAINING MEN! HALLELUJA! 
It takes a certain amount of attention and precision on the part of the tanker and the FFer/stormie, but it's not hard as long as you take it seriously and aren't screwing around taking stupid chances. Makes the bane spiders completely trivial.
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When he summons 20 or so +4 bosses, kill them extremely quickly.
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Nice guide.
About this part though, I've been to Recluse with all towers down about 8 times now, only failing once; and it was because of this (quote) tactic.
If you have a Kin, there is no need to attack the Spawned bosses, just make sure your kin is paying attention, and that he Fulcrum Shifts as soon as they Spawn, that last bit of damage boost will seal the deal if everyone stays focused on Recluse.
It's worked 7 out 7 times for me, I actually have it Macro'ed now, when I see Recluse's "purple dawn" about to take place, my team gets the "FULCRUM SHIFT FOR DA WIN!!!!!!!"
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There's actually a cool tactic force fielders with force bubble or stormers with hurricane can pull that makes Recluse quite a bit simpler. On the building behind Recluse and the towers, you'll find a narrow ledge. NOT the platform with the low wall around it, the little ledge just below that. It's wide enough to stand on, but that's about it. Have your tank pull Recluse to that ledge once the towers are down. Your FFer or stormie then positions himself (gotta be able to fly for this) so that Recluse is directly between them and the drop to the ground. Fire up hurricane or force bubble. When Recluse spawns his huge cadre of bane spiders, down they go! IT'S RAINING MEN! HALLELUJA! It takes a certain amount of attention and precision on the part of the tanker and the FFer/stormie, but it's not hard as long as you take it seriously and aren't screwing around taking stupid chances. Makes the bane spiders completely trivial.
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Thanks for the advice. If I happen to team with a Stormie, or Forcefield I'll try that strategy. I believe it should also work with Repel from a Kineticist, or perferably (cause we don't won't someone to die), a Gravity controller's Singularity.
TW/Elec Optimization
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There's actually a cool tactic force fielders with force bubble or stormers with hurricane can pull that makes Recluse quite a bit simpler. On the building behind Recluse and the towers, you'll find a narrow ledge. NOT the platform with the low wall around it, the little ledge just below that. It's wide enough to stand on, but that's about it. Have your tank pull Recluse to that ledge once the towers are down. Your FFer or stormie then positions himself (gotta be able to fly for this) so that Recluse is directly between them and the drop to the ground. Fire up hurricane or force bubble. When Recluse spawns his huge cadre of bane spiders, down they go! IT'S RAINING MEN! HALLELUJA! It takes a certain amount of attention and precision on the part of the tanker and the FFer/stormie, but it's not hard as long as you take it seriously and aren't screwing around taking stupid chances. Makes the bane spiders completely trivial.
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Thanks for the advice. If I happen to team with a Stormie, or Forcefield I'll try that strategy. I believe it should also work with Repel from a Kineticist, or perferably (cause we don't won't someone to die), a Gravity controller's Singularity.
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If it works with those, it should work with a FFer's repel field, though I don't have that power so I don't know firsthand. My concern would be that those powers don't have the sheer radius of force bubble or hurricane; I'm not saying necessarily that they don't, but I don't know for a fact that they do and I'd hate to see someone bollocks up a good STF run because I gave them the wrong advice. So yeah, repel or repulsion field or singularity, go ahead and try them. I just can't vouch for them out of direct personal experience.
This is a guide to help you to complete the hardest TF in the game (though not the longest).
The Team
The beginnings to winning this TF start with the team. Ideally, everybody will be 50, as you will get a lot of debt in these missions, especially the last one. There are many good ways to set up a team, so I'll just try and set up some good guidelines to go by.
The Tank: The best Tank for the job would be a Stone Tank, followed by an Invunerability Tank. Resistances are key for fighting the AVs in the last mission. All are +4, which means that they can cut through defense easier than resistance. In particular, Recluse has a huge accuracy buff from the yellow tower, which makes it very hard for him to miss. Combined with his large amount of +4 bosses, he makes it very hard for defense based characters to survive. Now, I'm not saying the other types of tanks couldn't go against him and suceed with sufficent help, I'm just saying that it would require a lot more help for them to do it. I haven't done the TF with an Ice tanker, but I suppose alternating Hibernate and Phase Shift, with Orange inspirations when neither is up could work.
The Damage: You'll want at least 1 Blaster or Scrapper to actually do the damage. You probably want more than that, though no more than 3, so you have enough slots for support toons and the tank. Any Blaster or Scrapper will do, as they basically all do the same task: Deal lots and lots of damage.
The Defender: The best defenders for this TF are Dark Miasma, Kinetic, and Radiation defenders. The they are the best because of -regen, and powerful buffing and debuffing potential. Empathy defenders should be considered because of their potential to help the tank with Recluse, and for Fortitude, CM (essential when fighting GW and other stunning AVs), and RA/AB. FF and Sonic defenders are good at improving the teams defense, which helps a lot with the high damage dealing AVs. Sonic can also debuff resistance, also helpful against AVs. The worst defender is Storm. The AVs like to run, and are very resistant to slows, though not knockback. Note however, that any Defender can be useful. Sonics and Forcefields can take the load off the force of the blows of the +4 AVs, and can make an invincible team. Stormies and Forcefielders are particularily useful for keeping the mobs off the towers. Leadership is very helpful to have on all support toons, as 4 or more stacked Tactics, Assualt, and Maneuvers can make a team far better all around.
The Controllers: Controllers are very importent to the Task Force. Their buffs and holds are essential when fighting AVs. The most importent things to look for in a controller are -regen and +recovery. The best controller for this TF is a radiation controller, because of their impressive debuffs and the amount of -regen they put out. Other controller types with -regen are /kinetic and /Trick Arrow. Fire/ Controllers would be the best for damage, and Ice/ and Stone/ would be the best for control. Illusion controllers have a big advantage that helps on teams with no tank, or a tank that can barely surive. Phantom Army is a power that summons three pets that can't be hurt, and have a taunting aura. They are good for taking Recluse aggro, and stopping other high damage AVs from hurting the team.
The Team makeup:
1-2 Tanks
1-3 Damage Dealers
3-6 Support Characters
Mission 1:
In the first mission, you will have to destory about 30 web parts, and fight on an AV. Just go through regular combat and destory all the web parts you see for the first part of the mission. After all the parts are destroyed, you will see a cutscene of Arbiter Sands talking. Go back up to fight him. He has a lot of men around him, and he's +1, so you will want to come prepared. Fight the minions first, and have the tank keep him busy. After all the baddies around him are dead, start pounding him. He should be easy. If he's not, you might want to seriously reconsider doing the rest of the TF.
Mission 2:
The title for this mission is Capture Dr. Aeon. The title is deceiving, you won't actually fight him. After going through a small portion of the mission, you will see a cutscene of him talking, and you will go to a different portion of the map. There you will fight 4 AVs, which I believe to be +2. The only difficulty you might have at this point if you have a good team is the psionic damage of some of AVs. Also, some of the AVs have powerful, and annoying nukes with mezzing effects. After you beat all four, find your way out of the mission.
Mission 3:
The villain respec mission. The first thing you'll want to do is fight your way to the door. It is very helpful to have a teamate who has Invis/TP so they can get the team past the mission. Inside, there is a group of villains trying to get there respec mission done, but they don't have to be fought. When you get the the final chamber, you'll want to clear the CoT first. Watch out for Tree aggro, as that thing can hit hard. After all the Circle of Thorns are dead, try to kill the thorns as quickly as possible. When they are down, start beating down the tree. Make sure the most survivable person gets the Nexus, as you'll need someone who can stay alive when your fighting Dr. Aeon.
Mission 4:
The first thing you will need to do is defeat the Real Security Chief. This can either take a few minutes or a long time, so be patient. When you finally find and kil- I mean "arrest" the real one, head on to the door. Ice Mistral is very close to the door, so try not to aggro her before everyone is there. She isn't that tough, but she is annoying with her Ice Storm and Blizzard slowing everyone. After her comes Silver Mantis I believe, who is generally easy, though she can still hurt hard like any AV. The next one is Wretch I think. He is your general AV, except for the end. Make sure to have everyone have mez protection though Dispersion Bubble, Clear Mind, or some other means. He does a Nuke that stuns anyone without protection (which is every squishy except for ones with the psionic epic power pool). The next AV is your standard one, so just beat her down like you would the rest of the Archvillains. Dr. Aeon, however, is a different story. Make sure you are fully buffed up, and that the tank (or whoever is the most survivable) has the temporary power that makes him harmable. Dr. Aeon summons lots of clones, and these clones are EB level. They have various annoying powers, and kill really deliver the hurt. Just ignore them, and concentrate on killing the AV. They will all die when he does, and he can still make more while your killing them, so don't attack them.
Mission 5:
Ok, this is the big one. I'll break it down by each AV, and tell you how to single pull them.
The Single Pull: Usually using a snipe, have a teammember use there longest ranged power on one of the AVs. Have the rest of the team besides the tank far back, so they can fight without attracting the others. Before the AV kills the member who fired the pull, have the tank taunt them away from him. The tank then pulls them back to the rest of the team, and the beatdown proceeds. If you pull two or more, run away and try again. Fighting two or more of the hardest hitting AVs in the game at the same time isn't worth it, and usually results in a team wipe.
Ghost Widow:
Ghost Widow is one the hardest Archvillains you will have to face. Her main powers to watch out for are her heal, which is melee range and very powerful, and her hold, which can hold stone tanks in granite. The strategy I usually to take her down is to have the tank (having lots of mez protection cast upon him) taunt her, and stay away from her. As long as the person she is trying to kill is away from her, she will spam her blast, hold, and immobilize. She will never heal, even if there are multiple people in melee range pounding on her. She does pack quite a punch if she ever looses aggro on the tank, so the tank must be constantly vigilant. Use the powers you would usually use on an AV, especially the -regen. Powers that debuff defense are also useful here, as she is a +4 AV. In fact, all the AVs in this mission are +4, so you'll want to have plenty of accuracy bonuses and defense debuffs for all of them.
Cap'n Mako
Cap'n has only one big power to get over: His Elude. Every time his health drops below about 25% he will use it. The version of Elude he has must have a either a very short recharge or no recharge. He can use it right after dropping it. Fortitude and Tactics are helpful here, as are any powers that increase accuracy. Shivans are especially useful against him, as they both debuff defense and do massive damage.
Scirroco:
Scirroco will be a lot easier than the previous AVs listed. He does deal more damage than either of them though, an in AoE form. Be very careful of his nuke, that he will use several times during the fight. It will stun any person without protection, so make sure everyone has some sort of protection. He also has several Tornadoes out, that can knockback and deal good damage, as well as stun you.
Black Scorpian:
Black Scorpian is the easiest AV in this mission by far. Compared to the others, he's a pushover. Just fight him like you have fought every other AV in this TF, and you should sail right through him.
After fighting all 4 of them, a cutscene will occur. Lord Recluse will appear and start being buffed by the towers. I'm gonna skip talking about the Flier (which gives a badge, Heat Seeker) and talk about him.
Lord Recluse:
Lord Recluse can be either very easy, or very hard. A good tank is very importent that this part. Have the tank buffed up with as many defense and regeneration buffs as you can, and have anybody with a good heal to follow him and keep him healthy. The tank must distract LR from the team taking down the towers, so that they won't be killed by him or his large amount of +4 bosses. The towers should be taken out in this order: Red, Yellow, Green, with Blue optional. The towers should be killed as quickly as possible, as LR can do 3000+ damage a pop to a tanker with high resistances, and extremely accurately with them up. He also will be nigh unkillable without taking out the green one. While fighting the towers, Arachnos repairmen will try to repair it. They can do so extremely quickly, so kill them when you see them. When the towers are down, its time to fight the hardest AV in the game. If you have Shivans and Nukes, nows the time to use them. Vengeance is a nice optional extra. When he summons 20 or so +4 bosses, kill them extremely quickly. His regeneration is still very quick. As always, buff up and beat down till he's dead. When's he's down, you'll get your choice of Hamidon Enhancements (currently not working), or a rare recipe. Also, you'll get the Peerless badge for beating him and the Saving the World badge for beating the TF. The Diplomat badge will come from beating all his subordinates.
Have a good time with your shiny new SHOE!
Extras: If you are having trouble beating any of the AVs, take some time and get Shivans and Nukes. These will make it far easier to fight them. Also, stocking up at Pocket D on inspirations will always help beat him. Mako especially can be lowered down a couple notches by bringing a lot of accuracy inspirations.
TW/Elec Optimization