Returning player- easiest ATs for returning newbs?

My highest was never above 18 so I still consider myself an utter newb despite having played for over a year (big-time altitis hehe)

So to get reacquainted, I'd like to try ATs that are perhaps a little easier to manage or are more forgiving of mistakes.

I have a rough understanding of most of the roles but for example, I've heard defenders (Kin/son) can really shine... but are they easy to get used to? I suppose any of them will be ok given patience.

Just curious if there is standard wisdom in terms of what ATs and powersets are easier vs more challenging.

Thanks!

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Defenders are tough solo, but you can't go wrong in a group. I'd say overall the, not easiest, but most acclimating, AT Blueside is the Scrapper.

It may not be the most forgiving, but it's the easiest to get used to, therefore translating into one of the easier AT's to use.

Plus they're the most fun.

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Blueside go Scrapper or Tanker. Scrapper if you want to solo well, Tanker if you want to solo slowly.

Redside (which is, in my opinion, more fun) go Brute, Corruptor, or Mastermind. Probably Brute or Corruptor. Dominator is kind of strange, and Stalker is just plain weak for most purposes. (They do excel at what they do, which makes them the only redside AT with a clear and unique role, unlike blueside, where specialization abounds.)

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Blueside go Scrapper or Tanker. Scrapper if you want to solo well, Tanker if you want to solo slowly.

Redside (which is, in my opinion, more fun) go Brute, Corruptor, or Mastermind. Probably Brute or Corruptor. Dominator is kind of strange, and Stalker is just plain weak for most purposes. (They do excel at what they do, which makes them the only redside AT with a clear and unique role, unlike blueside, where specialization abounds.)

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Stalkers have always soloed very well, they just didn't have a clearly defined role on a team. With the Stalker buffs allowing hidden status to come back faster, a higher damage modifier, and increased critical chances they can compete with and in some cases outdo Brutes on damage - it's just that more damage isn't often needed on a redside team.

I wouldn't say "weak for most purposes" though - if I were building a team I'd give them the same place as a 2nd or 3rd Brute. They essentially have the same "team role" as Scrappers.

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If all you're looking at is easy versus challenging, well, you're doing yourself a disservice. People who get to level 50 on a scrapper only know how to play scrappers. People who get to level 50 on a (shudder) pure healer only know how to play pure healers. And trust me, it shows.

So go Dark defender.

It's tougher to play, but you will learn everything you need to know about the game getting to level 50. Such as level 1's lesson, "heals are nice occasionally to keep myself alive, hell with you deadweights," and level 12's lesson, "care bear stare ftw," and level 38's lesson, "everything dies now." By level 50 you've tanked, you've controlled, you've blasted. You can switch to any AT you like and do superbly.*

Choice of secondary's up to you. Pair it up with a varied secondary, /Sonic or /Psy, for a really steep learning curve that'll leave you a pro at 50. Or pair it up with a powerhouse secondary, such as /Ice, /Rad, or /Archery, to have a strong level 50 damage dealer to build wealth for new alts. Or pair it up with /Elec /Energy or /Dark if your concept demands, though I don't really recommend those sets with Dark Miasma, they just don't seem to play right to me.

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* Fair warning: You may not want to switch to another AT. In that case, might as well roll a stormy and get yourself really addicted to defenders.

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I kinda disagree with what Rigel's saying. Not with his precise arguments, but the general thrust.

He's quite correct, Dark Miasma Defenders are awesome and do a lot. I've got a 50 Dark myself. I wouldn't say they can tank, but you're excellent support, can replace a controller in a pinch, and can do pretty good damage.

The thing is - it's a Swiss Army Knife of a character, and a lot of the powers aren't precisely intuitive in how they work and should be used. For instance, Twilight Grasp's description and short text still doesn't indicate that the power does -regen (though the detailed info/real numbers does).

I love my Dark, but I was level 50 before I knew what the hell I was doing. And I didn't powerlevel or anything; I played that defender off-and-on for at least two years.

I've got a better idea now, but my poor Dark still needs an extensive respec because there were some poor slotting choices made.

Maybe I just suck. I'm a slow learner when it comes to games. But that's my experience.

Scrappers and brutes are easier to grok, and much harder to get wrong. I agree the final play experience may be less rewarding. Indeed, nowdays I prefer to play 'technical' characters - my current defender is a Kinetics/Sonic.

But I started with scrappers. They were easier, which freed me up to learn about the rest of the game. I think for me that was the right choice...and it seems to be what the OP's asking for.

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@Acyl

VIRTUE
Blue: Realpolitik, Leading Lady, Glass Lass, Superball, Alec Kazam
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What is your playstyle? That's going to be the easiest way to level. Pick a powerset that you suits YOUR style. My faves are:

1) Ice/Rad Controller I can easily tank with this build. Awesome holds and debuffs.

2) Shield/Fire (or SS) Tank Loads of AoE goodness. After the Shield Charge it gets REALLY fun.

3) Fire/Shield Scrapper Same as above.

4) Dark/Dark Scrapper Just looks awesome.

5) You can never go wrong with a Fire/Kin though it don't get fun til 32.

6) And any controller with /Storm

I don't play with Blasters or Defenders as they don't fit my play style and can't ever level them past 4. lol. It really depends on how you like to play. Good luck and if you're on Justice look me up. Global is the same as my forum name.

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Blueside go Scrapper or Tanker. Scrapper if you want to solo well, Tanker if you want to solo slowly.

Redside (which is, in my opinion, more fun) go Brute, Corruptor, or Mastermind. Probably Brute or Corruptor. Dominator is kind of strange, and Stalker is just plain weak for most purposes. (They do excel at what they do, which makes them the only redside AT with a clear and unique role, unlike blueside, where specialization abounds.)

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Stalkers have always soloed very well, they just didn't have a clearly defined role on a team. With the Stalker buffs allowing hidden status to come back faster, a higher damage modifier, and increased critical chances they can compete with and in some cases outdo Brutes on damage - it's just that more damage isn't often needed on a redside team.

I wouldn't say "weak for most purposes" though - if I were building a team I'd give them the same place as a 2nd or 3rd Brute. They essentially have the same "team role" as Scrappers.

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I have the same problem with my stalker I have with my scrappers. I can outlive anything but a softcapped SR or a Granite brute, but I really suck at keeping other people alive. So I end up in "last man standing" situations a lot, simply because the situation went South and I couldn't prevent it, but could keep myself going just fine.

They solo beautifully once you figure out their playstyle though.

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Scrappers are easy solo, but get boring quick. Roll a blaster.

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'CoX for Dummies' would be a Scrapper, Brute or Stalker. Masterminds are a bit trickier but with similar results.

The nice thing about Scrappers in particular is that they're easy to learn, but also rewarding to master. Just look in the Scrapper forum at all that AV soloing pride.

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QR

The easiest from lvl 1 to 50 would be a Scrapper. I would say a Kat/WP scrapper would be the easiest to solo up from 1 to 50.

Other ATs like Controller can take some time before they are easy to play like lvl 32 when you get your pet.

For red side I would pick a Stalker over a Brute just becaues you don't need to run to group to group to do as much damage as you can. With a Stalker you can take your time and still solo fast.

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But I liked running to groups to group, gave you a motivation to keep going solo, and annoy your team mates as you wanted to speed through everything (which was fun as I could hold my own against that mob of eight, so they could help or not... eventually those enemies were going down.) Also I needed to feel the benefit of taking and slotting swift for run speed....

Easiest Archetypes Brutes for me, oddly heroside it's a tossup between Defender and Tanker (being able to outlive your opponent is not a bad thing.)

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Tankers are probably the easiest AT to play. To play them well is a bit harder, but still not any great challenge.

Scrappers are easy to play as well. If you want to level quickly solo with minimal effort this is your choice. You may get bored to tears though like I do on these guys.

Defenders are more challenging and interesting and employ more game mechanics, though their blast sets are not wonderful.

Controllers are where I'd go for the best learning experience. You get to learn pretty much all game mechanics here, with both the control and buff sets, but they are slow to start so don't expect to fly though the early levels like a scrapper or blaster.

Blasters are very easy to play at first, possibly the easiest, but they get much harder later in the game, especially to solo.

Villain side masterminds are the easiest. They may wow you visually at first but eventually most sets will bore you to tears. The only mastermind combo I've come up with that was fun all the way to 50 was ninjas/storm - because it actually requires you to be at the keyboard

Corrupters are what defenders should have been. They employ those buff/debuff sets so there's a bit to learn. Dominators employ the control sets so some to learn there though (but only controllers employ both)

Brutes are not difficult to play but can be very twitchy. You have to go go go to get the best out of them and it can be exhausting or exhilerating depending on how you look at it. You can get an adrenaline rush playing Brutes.

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It just occurred to me that if Going Rogue allows you to play Corrupters hero side, defenders may become obsolete.

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It just occurred to me that if Going Rogue allows you to play Corrupters hero side, defenders may become obsolete.

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No, they won't.

Everyone is making claims that one AT will make the other "mirror" AT obsolete. It is impossible for both Defenders and Corruptors to make each other obsolete.

They each do things differently and have a different focus.

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Main Hero : Annilixxion -- Lv50 Blaster
Main Villain : Menkaura -- Lv41 Mastermind
@Laxx
"You will bend to my will, with or without your precious sanity." --Dragon Mage

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and Stalker is just plain weak for most purposes.

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Excuse meh???!

I think from what the OP is asking, Stalker seems the best choice!!! He can take his sweet time to kill his foes and doesn't need to rely on team.

And Corruptor is not good for new players because most corrs excel in teams and some terrible for soloing (/thermal and /pain to name some).

I say blue side, Scrapper. red side: Brute/Stalker/MM

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What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.

An ice/ice blaster is very easy and very fun. Fire/ice is harder, but very fun. A anykindofsword/regen scrapper is fun and easy, because both sets have an attack that gives you mucho def. That means you have great hp and end regen plus high def, a great combo. I never have trouble staying alive as long as I remember to use my avalanche. This is a scrapper on easy setting.

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As far as the easiest playstyle goes, I'd say go with a scrapper. They're very straightforward to play.

As far as powersets go, I'd suggest katana/WP. Katana is a nice easy set to use, with good damage, nice secondary effects, and a good mix of AoE and Single target damage. Willpower is the easiest of all the scrapper secondaries to play. You just turn on your toggles and go to town. And despite the simplicity of the sets, if you ever get to the point where you're looking for good high-end performance, they can do that too.

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