Welp...they certainly get KOd more than most any other AT in the hands of players unfamiliar with their strengths and weaknesses. Like any other character, you can utilize the Invention Set system to really shore up your defenses.
I don't think playing a blaster is any more difficult than playing any other AT. Care to clarify what difficulty is worrying you? If it is the death thing that has you concerned, that may be a result of poor tactics and play style more than anything else. Every AT can be killed, and every AT can live so long as the appropriate tactics are applied. I recall a certain granite armor tank noob on a recent ITF that was regularly gutted in a matter of seconds, and blasters that lived through the whole TF unscathed.
If you are looking for durability and damage, maybe look at
playing a scrapper. I think a poor player is just a poor player, no matter what AT they are playing. Don't be swayed away from blaster's because of some people touting they are difficult.
If anything, playing a defender is more difficult. Most of the primaries make you more of a buff/debuff specialist than anything. Your secondary matters, but you will likely spend more time in your primary power set than blasting. If you play a blaster, the only bacon you generally have to be worried about is your own.
As far as the concept you outlined, I think he would be a better blaster than defender. There doesn't seem to be any kind of buff/debuff component to the him at this point.
As Storm_Devil said, the IO system can be used to plug holes in all ATs, so don't worry about KB and such.
Bottom line- a poorly played alt will faceplant regardless of AT/powersets.
Words to the wise aren't necessary- it's the stupid ones that need them.
"You're right...I forgot...being constantly at or the near the damage cap is a big turn off. Definitely not worth it."
- Vitality
IMO blasters *are* tricky to play. Anyone can go in there guns-a-blazing, but a good blaster knows when to blast and when to hold back a bit. When you have buffs, a really good tank or players that really know how to work with damage then you can feel free to blast. On teams that are less optimal, I tend to pick and choose my spots.
However, the most important determinant in choosing an archetype is what ultimately would bring you the most amount of fun. If you think a blaster would fit your concept best then that's what you should play.
I've played two blasters to 50 and neither had their second debt badge upon reaching 50. I soloed on rugged and teamed with SG mates, avoided PuGs. Neither blaster died alot...it's all about how you play.
Please note however that I did pick two of the more "safer" builds available: AR/Devices and Ice/Ice. Both builds have quite a bit of mitigation in them.
it can really depend on the combination of sets and your play style. I rerely die myself. I find that most defender are just as much of an aggro magnet if poorly played and can drop just as fast. It really Boils down to which sets are good for your instincitive playstyle. If you wanna kill enemies then play a blaster, if you wanna make the others have a better time killing without killing nearly as much yourself play a defender.
If you dont like Dying then I would say you may wanna try Either Energy Blast or Ice Blast weather blaster or defender. Be careful of the Melee Attacks in most blaster secondary sets, They Do more damage than many of the corrsponding ranged attacks but you are also taking a risk at allowing enemies into melee range of you. Moreoften than not ranged combat is safer, work on knowing when its safe to throw that melee attack if you wanna melee.
Energy has a bunch of Knockbacks in the set and Ice has 2 Holds in the set and minor slowing side effect. These can Help Survivability a lot.
The other Key as others have stated is to know when to hammer and when to not. I suggest Energy myself due to the early Single target attacks ( all 3 Key attacks available by 6 for blaster and 10 for defender) and all the knockbacks in the set. Ice does not give you your 3rd Basic Blast till 18 for blaster or 28 for defender.
Blapping (A Blaster attacking melee as if they were a scrapper) and Using AOE's in poor ways are the usual causes for Dying Alot. Sets Like Energy/ and Ice/ can offer Good single target attacking. Those single target focuses can be verry good at controling aggro. Both also Have AOE's for when ya wanna play with them.
Ice and devices have good damage mitigation as secondaries. Either would be good when paired with Energy Blast or Ice Blast.
Once you establish a real feel for blasting, and select a powerset combo that suits your play style, you should not be faceplanting on a regular basis.
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I am a bit torn right now between making a defender and a blaster. Right now the character I am planning on making is a kid who's powers manifested as a teen and killed his girlfriend, making him run to a monastery where he learned to control his powers.
I am torn because I'm concerned about how difficult playing as a blaster is. Reading through the guides I see that blasters tend to die a lot and I don't like dieing 
Is being a blaster really that tough or is their lack of durability exaggerated. Thanks in advance for the advice
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Blasters are a bit more consistent with your backstory after all who would believe a defender accidentally killed anything ??
(I Kid I kid, dont want a lot of upset defenders like the insp vs defenders thread caused)
My theory is that blasters are REALLY EASY in the first 24 levels or so, and that they require a change in playstyle (definitely after level 30.) People overreact.
It _is_ tricky playing a blaster in the high levels- and the solo tricks aren't the same as the team tricks. But I think people get suckered in by the low levels, where you're almost as tough as everyone else and you do WAY more damage.
Also, when you're reading guides, some of those people got scarred badly by the pre-issue-6 world, where Scrappers were fifty times tougher than Blasters instead of, like, six or eight times tougher.
Blasting _is_ unforgiving in the upper levels. On the other hand, a Blaster does juuust about twice the damage of a Defender on the same team.
... you could make one of each. You have at least eight slots per server.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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insp vs defenders thread
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Oooo that was fun.
*gives Another_Fan a tray's worth of large purples*
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I am a bit torn right now between making a defender and a blaster. Right now the character I am planning on making is a kid who's powers manifested as a teen and killed his girlfriend, making him run to a monastery where he learned to control his powers.
I am torn because I'm concerned about how difficult playing as a blaster is. Reading through the guides I see that blasters tend to die a lot and I don't like dieing Is being a blaster really that tough or is their lack of durability exaggerated. Thanks in advance for the advice
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Blasters are a bit more consistent with your backstory after all who would believe a defender accidentally killed anything ??
(I Kid I kid, dont want a lot of upset defenders like the insp vs defenders thread caused)
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Obviously not a defender, they kill things on purpose 
Kidding asside, Blasters are there to do damage, and they do so with gusto. Nothing can keep up with a full tilt blaster for damage. Unfortunatly, they give up a lot of toughness for that privilage. I didn't find my blaster to be too hard to play, though getting dead doesn't seem to phase me as much as it seems to bother other people. I would reccomend something with some controll, and /ice and /devices are very nice for this. My favorite blaster is my fire/ice, all the damage of Fire with most of the control of Ice! Make your friends jealous as you use rain of fire to actually kill things instead of scatter them!
It really depends on what you want to do with the character during level up and post 50. Ive found them both to be equally effective, efficient, and just plan fun while maintaining two different styles of play. From what ive been told by my friends who ive refered to the game, they start out with a defender and then get really turned off by either A) its not astounding damage or B) its lack of effectiveness on teams in the early game. Then they go to blasters which is a much simplier style of play, shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and when everything is dead try to ask a question or two, and prefer that. However, Ive found defenders to be the best later game character out of all the ATs. their ability to buff/debuff everything to hell and back, making teams unstoppable or making enemys fall at your feet is amazing. Not to say that a blaster is "easier" to play by any means, just that a defender is that much harder because of what they do. Blasters are a bit more noob friendly with the potential to be amazing, while defenders are a little more complex in how they play to be equally as amazing but have a greater effect on team play.
Ex. a bubbler, being able to soft cap the entire team improving the survivability of squishy blasters allowing them to do even moar damage not having to worry about dying or getting mezed(for the most part). in return, it is doing less damage than said blaster but still be just as awesome.
in short: both are good, if you wanna do damage and alot of it make a blaster. If you prefer teaming, having the ability to give some good support while still being able to do decent damage, make a defender. Whichever one you choose wont be a disappointing.
Positron's i13 letter: We are trying to make PvP more accessible to new players, while giving experienced PvP'ers the advantage that comes with formulating tactics around the new systems we're putting in place. PvP from now on will be on our priority list. If something isn't working out, we'll be in there tweaking it and making it work, for the entire future of the product, not just Issue 13.
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My theory is that blasters are REALLY EASY in the first 24 levels or so, and that they require a change in playstyle (definitely after level 30.)
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That is a theory much like gravity is a theory.
Blasters can be difficult to play well, and not die a lot. Defenders can be difficult to play as well though. Do a little searching and you'll find horror stories about badly played defenders (stormies seem to get the worst rep).
Blasters tend to be the first to faceplant when things go wrong, true, but dying in this game is more of another mez than anything so I wouldn't get worried about it. Between the debt reductions, rested XP, various anti-debt powers and the ability to combine Insps into wakies, death is really a slap on the wrist, if even that.
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Blasters can be difficult to play well, and not die a lot. Defenders can be difficult to play as well though. Do a little searching and you'll find horror stories about badly played defenders (stormies seem to get the worst rep).
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you'll also find stories about about defenders soloing everything in the game short of hami and stories of defenders being freaking saviors of teams
Positron's i13 letter: We are trying to make PvP more accessible to new players, while giving experienced PvP'ers the advantage that comes with formulating tactics around the new systems we're putting in place. PvP from now on will be on our priority list. If something isn't working out, we'll be in there tweaking it and making it work, for the entire future of the product, not just Issue 13.
Blasters are seen as the squishiest At because we have no "natural" defense ala debuffs, forcefields, armors, etc, etc
We have to activley defend ourselves by picking our targets, knowing what power to use for what, and when to strike.
Fortunatley, we hav ethe best damage in the game, and its pretty easy to blow up any threat
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Blasters can be difficult to play well, and not die a lot. Defenders can be difficult to play as well though. Do a little searching and you'll find horror stories about badly played defenders (stormies seem to get the worst rep).
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you'll also find stories about about defenders soloing everything in the game short of hami and stories of defenders being freaking saviors of teams
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No need to get all defensive, I was just trying to illustrate the point that defenders can be as difficult to play well as blasters.
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My theory is that blasters are REALLY EASY in the first 24 levels or so, and that they require a change in playstyle (definitely after level 30.)
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That is a theory much like gravity is a theory.
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... you'd be amazed at how many blaster keep going with a playstyle that has stopped working and requires change.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
I do not like playing defenders because of their slow play style and lack of huge damage out put. Yes they are capable of doing amazing feats but it just isn't for me.
Defenders can do many things Blasters can't. Playing a Blaster is like playing with fire, you know you're going to get burned, but it's just so much fun. 
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
Having played two lvl 50 Blasters so far, I would say that if you're up to the challenge, the results are satisfying in the long run.
If can overlook the fact that they have near to 0 defense from the start, they are a tremendous asset to teams, dishing out devastating damage that no other blue-side AT can dream to compare. I won't lie to you and say that you'll get faceplanted alot during your career as a Blaster. But that's just a minor setback in my opinion. Once you become familiar with the playstyle and manage your survivability then you'll be having lots of fun with this AT.
Blappers (Blasters who play like Scrappers, hence "Blappers". They play with close range AoE) on the other hand, are a whole different challenge and provides a different kind of fun
My take on blasters vs. defenders.
Blasters are a lot of fun to solo & on teams. Depending on which blaster, I really like to team w/them, but I can solo (and quite safely & quickly) w/all of them. My Fire/Ice is an AoE killing machine on teams, but can stealth/hold/kill-really-fast his way through any solo mission, and at close to range def cap, he's pretty damn hard to kill. Similarly, my Ice/MM & Arch/Fire can solo & team equally as well, though not being as IO'ed up, they're not quite as studly as my Fire/Ice. My En/En otoh, I primarily like to solo, and is very safe & efficient at it. I'm not super fond of teaming w/him, because of the KBs (on large teams, I like AoE's a LOT, and ET is just more difficult to use well on big teams than, say, Fireball). Not to say I don't, but all things equal, I'd rather just solo with him.
I *hate* soloing my defenders. All of them. They are all awesome on teams and will make any makeup into safe & efficient killing machine. I can solo w/all of them, and very, very safely (my Son/Son w/his epic shield & IO set-generated defenses can tank for most mishes), but their killing speeds are almost equally slow. Actually, they're not, but they feel slow compared to all my other toons, i.e. scrappers, blasters & controllers (post-pet, anyway). Even my tanks can solo *fast* past a certain point (say post-Foot Stomp/Frozen Aura/Shield Charge, etc), but my defenders never really get that way, even at 50. Having said that, much of this is out of design--I build all my defenders for teaming, never as "offenders", so I simply choose not to solo them.
So my answer to anyone asking which to play between the two is, play both. They're both a lot of fun to play, but for different reasons, at least for me.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
Torn between Blaster and Defender?
There's an easy way to solve that - choose Corrupter!
But that means you'd be evil! Only for a short time though lol.
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
I am a bit torn right now between making a defender and a blaster. Right now the character I am planning on making is a kid who's powers manifested as a teen and killed his girlfriend, making him run to a monastery where he learned to control his powers.
Is being a blaster really that tough or is their lack of durability exaggerated. Thanks in advance for the advice
I am torn because I'm concerned about how difficult playing as a blaster is. Reading through the guides I see that blasters tend to die a lot and I don't like dieing