The Fire/Shield scrapper would do fine, as would any other scrapper, really. Might I suggest a Kheldian? A Warshade or Peacebringer (assuming the 5th has access to them) would be a nice addition, able to fill many different rolls, especially with dual builds.
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A third shield-user (like the proposed fire/shield scrapper) would work very well for the melee-centric team. All four existing characters are most efficient when played right in the middle of the fray so they get the most out of Grant Cover, Fulcrum Shift, Transfusion, and the oodles of PBAoE attacks, and extra shield stacking would both increase the collective defense and melt plenty of faces.
Another interesting possibility could be a sonic/elec defender. It's a weird pairing, but it'd add lots of +/- resistance to the otherwise defense-oriented team, along with stacking short circuit with the blaster to completely sap all the enemies in the area on the opening volley.
Rule number six of an empathy defender is NEVER underestimate a blaster's ability to die. I don't care if he has CM, Fort, both RAs, bubbles (both FF and Sonic), and is fighting next to a Storm defender with hurricane on. If there is a way to die in that situation, the blaster will find it.
Rad/Sonic defender. Some more protection, a lot more damage.
... ok, my first thought was "Jim Beam". I'll admit it.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
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@Boltcutter in game.
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Plant/Therm Controller
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The team so far is:
Tanker - Shield/Ice - Experienced defensively minded player
Scrapper - MA/Shield - Expienced Defender, happy to embrace a damage dealing role for once
Blaster - Elec/Elec - New player, but quickly learning where he deals the most damage
Defender - Kinetic/Rad - An older player, who's just returned to game. Good fundementals, but lacking knowledge of newer sets/enemies
We've gotten to level 10 or so, and our solid early damage, and agg management has been very successful; we've run into few problems so far. Now we're adding a 5th player. He's a very experienced player, with talent for almost any role (a little too defense light for tanking).
I was considering suggesting
Fire/Shield Scrapper - A good addition to AoE offense, and a defensive boon to this melee based team.
I'd love to hear your suggestions.
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I suggest a controller. Will get you damage mitigation and more buffs/debuffs. Not to mention its the only AT you don't have and it'll provide balance that way.
Not sure of the best primary (controllers aren't my forte) but would recommend a secondary with non-targeted heals (like empathy or thermal). Only heal you have currently relies on a to-hit check and will center around the enemy target. Great for the melee toons. Not great for the blaster who will be more likely to be out of range of that heal. Also might want to consider a rez power.
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Plant/Therm Controller
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I had been considering a controller. Containment seems like our biggest issue. Otherwise it's taunt alone keeping mobs grouped. And though I like the idea of plant control, it offers little in the way of damage or grouping effects.
As for thermal as a secondary, it unfortunately leads to the character-concept destruction of fire shielding. Love the effects, hate the graphics.
I suppose that without the Sheilds, the set is still formidable, mostly healing which is so mundane. Otherwise, you're just doing it for forge. Sonic seems a more interesting alternative.
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Only heal you have currently relies on a to-hit check and will center around the enemy target. Great for the melee toons. Not great for the blaster who will be more likely to be out of range of that heal. Also might want to consider a rez power.
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Actually, the blaster is set up to essentially follow "blapping" tactics. He's got Electric/Electric, a very melee focused set. The whole design of things is to be in the middle of combat, with the shields working together to protect everyone and the kinetic's AoE effects hitting everyone. With proper agg management we don't think we'll need healing. Transfusion offer everything we'll need in the way of healing. I don't mind more defense, but something less reactive would be interesting.
I recommend a fifth of bourbon.
But hey, if it would make you happier go with the other suggestions.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Only heal you have currently relies on a to-hit check and will center around the enemy target. Great for the melee toons. Not great for the blaster who will be more likely to be out of range of that heal. Also might want to consider a rez power.
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Actually, the blaster is set up to essentially follow "blapping" tactics. He's got Electric/Electric, a very melee focused set. The whole design of things is to be in the middle of combat, with the shields working together to protect everyone and the kinetic's AoE effects hitting everyone. With proper agg management we don't think we'll need healing. Transfusion offer everything we'll need in the way of healing. I don't mind more defense, but something less reactive would be interesting.
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Not saying that a blaster can't move in closer and transfusion can't keep y'all healed. It can very very well. Just there are times that it can be very useful to have a heal that doesn't depend on an enemy being close by. Then there's still the rez issue. But was just my suggestion for the secondary. Which one were you thinking?
I think a troller would work also.
Depending on set selection you'd get more buff/debuff to boost what looks like nice damage already, and pile on some controller and more damage.
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Plant/Therm Controller
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This, or an Ice/Thermal
eh... well, primary doesn't really matter. I think /thermal would be a great addition to the team though:
Heals, Shields, Buffs, and some good debuffs later on
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I had been considering a controller. Containment seems like our biggest issue. Otherwise it's taunt alone keeping mobs grouped. And though I like the idea of plant control, it offers little in the way of damage or grouping effects.
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Okay - Plant offers a lot of damage for a controller, actually. Seeds of Confusion, Carrion Creepers, and so on. You're correct in that it's not so good at clustering and grouping enemies, however. Not awful, but not fantastic.
Illusion offers great damage, but it's possibly the worst Controller set for clustering and control, since it's raw chaos with a lot of pets, and has utterly no immobilize powers.
Fire is similar - very good damage, but the controls in the set aren't that great. I think it's still a possibility, though, because a lot of Fire's work is done up close in melee range, which is where your team excels at.
Mind does reasonable damage for a controller, and is very good at locking things down. That said, most of Mind's controls don't freeze stuff in place, just neutralizes them. However, given you have a Kin on the team for Speed Boost and Transfusion, a Mind controller on your team would be able to get massive milage from Telekinesis as a positioning tool. If it's group clustering you're after, it doesn't get much better than good use of Telekinesis. That said, Telekinesis is a rather tricky power to use; it depends on the individual skill of the player joining you.
Gravity isn't bad, and might be what you're looking for. Decent single-target damage (from Propel, etc), and very unobtrusive graphics. Gravity's control potential comes from the fact that its pet, Singularity, doesn't really do damage - instead it adds even more control powers. Gravity also has Wormhole, a ranged foe group teleport, which can be very useful for repositioning enemies in the middle of combat - it seems that positioning and clustering of mobs is a priority to your melee-centric team. However, most of those tools come only later in the build.
Finally, we have Ice and Earth. These two powersets are very similar. These two, for my money, are the best pure control sets - they have a lot of excellent control powers that are easy to use, and a lot of the gems are available very early on. That's a strong advantage over late-maturing sets like Fire, Gravity, and to some extent Mind. It's very hard to mess up as an Ice or Earth controller. They don't do as much damage compared to their brethren, but I don't think damage-dealing is a high priority for a controller on a team like yours - you have enough firepower elsewhere. You might want to take a long hard look at Ice and Earth.
As for secondaries... I agree that Sonic buffs sound like a good idea, pun intended. I think /Radiation might work well also, though - the debuffs could be quite useful.
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I recommend a fifth of bourbon.
But hey, if it would make you happier go with the other suggestions.
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Glad I'm not the only one that thought that when I read the title.
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Finally, we have Ice and Earth. These two powersets are very similar. These two, for my money, are the best pure control sets - they have a lot of excellent control powers that are easy to use, and a lot of the gems are available very early on. That's a strong advantage over late-maturing sets like Fire, Gravity, and to some extent Mind. It's very hard to mess up as an Ice or Earth controller. They don't do as much damage compared to their brethren, but I don't think damage-dealing is a high priority for a controller on a team like yours - you have enough firepower elsewhere. You might want to take a long hard look at Ice and Earth.
[/ QUOTE ]Let me second this, especially Ice/*. The AoE immobilize has very good range. The single target hold is in my experience one of the most effective. Ice Slick is a wonderful power at the lower levels for damage mitigation, and stays effective against anything that doesn't have exceptional KB resist.
As for secondaries, one word. Debuffs.
If it were me, I'd add a Controller, any powersets.
An earth storm controller would give you a lot of solid aoe controls, stacking debuffs to defense, runspeed, and dmg resistance and mob positioning all in one nice neat package. You'd be a serious force multiplier, and would really help eliminate the need for team defense considerations.
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Fire/rad controller - it also favors a melee-centric playstyle and brings additional team damage with Accelerated metabolism and enervating field, a heal and a rez, significant -regen, and hot feet and choking cloud for damage, slows, and holds.
Or something you almost never see - Fire/force field: extra defense for everyone to throw you way over the softcap.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
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Personally, I'd say Plant/EMP Controller.
Strangller + SoC = Funtimes for a Scrapper.
Currently my GF & I are running a 'Troller/Scrapp pair. She's Plant/EMP, I'm Katana/Fire. All of Plant/ AoEs (Vines, Strangller, Creepers) have a reasonable radius for their effects. And between the two of us, we've been going through stuff reasonably well. This pair is in their mid 30's now.
Just my thoughts.
Thank you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
I would say either go with an Earth/(storm or emp) controller or a FF/sonic Defender.
The controller would help you lock down mobs and the defender is simply a great addition to any team!
Good hunting
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See, I'm leaning away from the controller option. I like the flow of the team so far, and I'm thinking that additional damage is gonna be a greater boon than control.
I'm curious about the Kheldian option, but my experience playing a peacebringer is that it's a lot of knockback. Are Warshades a little less chaotic?
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And though I like the idea of plant control, it offers little in the way of damage or grouping effects.
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Wrong and wrong. The AoE immobilise of Plant is the most damaging of any control primary. Creepers do good damage too especially since you have a kinetic on the team already. As for grouping, Plant gets one of the best very early. Seeds of confusion makes everything run toward each other if they decide to melee, and the immob then keeps them there.
I agree with the people saying you need some more control on the team. Especially if you play much of the content in the MA, which often rewards having a variety of abilities at your disposal.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
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I'm thinking that additional damage is gonna be a greater boon than control.
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Something to think about when considering the controllers.
Just because a controller may not generate high dps, that doesn't mean it doesn't enhance the dps that the team generates. The debuffing secondaries will create a great deal more damage (by proxy) than any single dps AT. Force multipliers are better than force additives. The Hard control primaries offer better defense than ANY scrapper secondary. A held spawn doesn't generate damage, and they cover the whole team.
Suggesting that a scrapper will contribute more to a team than a controller will is shortsighted.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
I hear the forum clamoring for control, and I agree that for pure efficiency, you can't beat a controller. I've got a couple favorite toons that are controllers. Earth/Storm is sick on crowd control. And I am curious about the prospects of stacking Choking cloud and hot feet, though that's a late game combo.
However, you have to admit that there's something satisfying about a battlefield that's more mobile. I like when tactics are more complex and movement in battle involves more variables. For me, the standard 3 point battle plan of the farmer is kinda dull.
1. Gather enemies
2. Keep them there
3. Kill them
I like chasing down fleeing enemies. I like leaping to the blaster's aid when he draws too much agg. I enjoy tagging a runner with my Nemesis staff as he gets to the corner, and watching him die in the target window because his body is out of sight. I like when I hit somewhere square with a Crane kick and knock him clear over the nearest railing.
Ultimately, I think that a controller's effectiveness can often make a battle feel boring. Don't get me wrong. It's fun for the controller to look at a battlefield and know that no one is gonna get out alive. That he's gotten so many options for lockdown, he could Easily hold off an unexpected ambush for minutes by himself. I'm just a little tired of enemies all standing around, held in place by spammed immobilizes, trying in vain to determine who to shoot next, and waiting for their turn to die.
The most fun I've had in this game are when my team is damage heavy and defense light. It makes combat feel that much more visceral. That's why we opted for Kinetics rather than a more defensive oriented Defender set. Unless there were a controller set that was really focused on melee, with more PBAoE effects, then I just feel like something with more burst damage is gonna be more fun, for the whole team.
Grab a controller, just to round it out.
I suggest Plant or Illusion if you want something unconventional and fun to watch.
And I figure a team of each of the 5 ATs is good luck.
The team so far is:
Tanker - Shield/Ice - Experienced defensively minded player
Scrapper - MA/Shield - Expienced Defender, happy to embrace a damage dealing role for once
Blaster - Elec/Elec - New player, but quickly learning where he deals the most damage
Defender - Kinetic/Rad - An older player, who's just returned to game. Good fundementals, but lacking knowledge of newer sets/enemies
We've gotten to level 10 or so, and our solid early damage, and agg management has been very successful; we've run into few problems so far. Now we're adding a 5th player. He's a very experienced player, with talent for almost any role (a little too defense light for tanking).
I was considering suggesting
Fire/Shield Scrapper - A good addition to AoE offense, and a defensive boon to this melee based team.
I'd love to hear your suggestions.