All I can say is, Containment is the worst thing that could have ever happened to Defenders.
It makes Controllers overpowered because it gives them "close enough" to the same buffs Defenders have PLUS amazing damage on top of that.
It's really not fair, if you ask me.
But, you can tell me this one, since you like to compare ATs that share powersets with each other... can one Blaster keep a full team as safe as one Force Field Defender?
Thanks for the reply. 
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But, you can tell me this one, since you like to compare ATs that share powersets with each other... can one Blaster keep a full team as safe as one Force Field Defender?
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No. But can you name another archetype that is bad at using its secondary?
Tankers? I'd say they do about as much damage as Defenders. Just up close.
I have a personal theory that this game only really has TWO roles:
Support and Damage
ALL ATs can do enough damage to solo.... at a snail's pace at least, but let's look at the ATs and where they fit into these two basic roles:
<ul type="square">[*]Scrappers - Damage, little to no Support.[*]Blasters - Damage, little to no Support.[*]Tankers - Support with minor Damage.[*]Defenders - Support with minor Damage.[/list]
Now this comes from just what I've seen these ATs do. Scrappers and Blasters are basically just "stuff killers". And Tankers and Defenders are basically "Support that can also kill stuff", but kill stuff slower than the "Damage" ATs.
That leaves Controllers. Now what did they USED to be? Well, their primary is Control, which is, Survey Says....
Support!
And their secondary is Defender Primaries, which are, Survey Says.....
Support!
So, while all the other ATs have one major role to fill with a minor one thrown in on the side, Controllers had TWO Support roles. The extremely minor damage that they did originally was thrown in there as a necessity so that the Controllers COULD play solo if they wanted to... so it was POSSIBLE.
Then what happened? Controllers got Double Damage.
Which means that now their primary did Support, in the form of stopping enemies from doing ANYTHING... PLUS "good" Damage, and their secondary also did Support, ALMOST as good as the Defender Primaries.
So, is it any wonder that Controllers are overpowered?
Tankers and Scrappers have a weakness - They have to be in melee.
Blasters and Defenders have a weakness - low hitpoints.
Controllers.... don't. Sure, they also have lower hitpoints, but guess what? Enemies don't matter when you can STOP THEM FROM DOING ANYTHING.
Controllers are just simply overpowered, and that's the truth.
/Rant over.
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Tankers? I'd say they do about as much damage as Defenders. Just up close.
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Except that's not true. Just about any tank I can think of can outdamage a FF defender, most of them quite convincingly. Plus many tanks have damage in their primaries (blazing aura, icicles, burn, shield charge, etc.)
Defenders without -res (or a suitable self +dmg buff like kinetics) in their primaries do subpar damage. Fortunately (or unfortunately) only FF and empathy lack that capability.
Or in short:
Why are Controllers so Awesome? Because they have their own Awesome PLUS Defenders' Awesome.
And you can quote me on that, because it's totally not fair.
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Tankers? I'd say they do about as much damage as Defenders. Just up close.
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Except that's not true. Just about any tank I can think of can outdamage a FF defender, most of them quite convincingly. Plus many tanks have damage in their primaries (blazing aura, icicles, burn, shield charge, etc.)
Defenders without -res (or a suitable self +dmg buff like kinetics) in their primaries do subpar damage. Fortunately (or unfortunately) only FF and empathy lack that capability.
[/ QUOTE ]
Do you know WHY they do more damage than Defenders? Because in general melee damage is higher than ranged damage. I know people will roll their eyes about this, but it's true. A club to the face in this game will do more damage than your typical blast.
The theory is that Defenders can shoot from RANGE and thus are safer because range = protection.
In reality, Defenders already do a decent enough job at keeping themselves alive with their own primary powers, so they don't NEED the range.
But if we DID get a damage buff, would anyone play Blasters?
It's a hard balancing equation, and I'm glad I don't have to do it.
[ QUOTE ]
I have a personal theory that this game only really has TWO roles:
Support and Damage
ALL ATs can do enough damage to solo.... at a snail's pace at least, but let's look at the ATs and where they fit into these two basic roles:
<ul type="square">[*]Scrappers - Damage, little to no Support.[*]Blasters - Damage, little to no Support.[*]Tankers - Support with minor Damage.[*]Defenders - Support with minor Damage.[/list]
Now this comes from just what I've seen these ATs do. Scrappers and Blasters are basically just "stuff killers". And Tankers and Defenders are basically "Support that can also kill stuff", but kill stuff slower than the "Damage" ATs.
That leaves Controllers. Now what did they USED to be? Well, their primary is Control, which is, Survey Says....
Support!
And their secondary is Defender Primaries, which are, Survey Says.....
Support!
So, while all the other ATs have one major role to fill with a minor one thrown in on the side, Controllers had TWO Support roles. The extremely minor damage that they did originally was thrown in there as a necessity so that the Controllers COULD play solo if they wanted to... so it was POSSIBLE.
Then what happened? Controllers got Double Damage.
Which means that now their primary did Support, in the form of stopping enemies from doing ANYTHING... PLUS "good" Damage, and their secondary also did Support, ALMOST as good as the Defender Primaries.
So, is it any wonder that Controllers are overpowered?
Tankers and Scrappers have a weakness - They have to be in melee.
Blasters and Defenders have a weakness - low hitpoints.
Controllers.... don't. Sure, they also have lower hitpoints, but guess what? Enemies don't matter when you can STOP THEM FROM DOING ANYTHING.
Controllers are just simply overpowered, and that's the truth.
/Rant over.
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Your theory is full of holes.
* Scrappers - I have a SR scrapper on which I've taken the presence pool. In a pinch, she can tank on teams which doesn't have a true tank. I've used my regen scrapper much in the same way in the past. My spines scrapper btw, is almost entirely ranged.
* Blaster - I have an ice/ice blaster and an AR/Dev that are both good at providing great damage mitigation with hard/soft controls. Slows, knockbacks, holds, stuns and area denial pets like caltrops and gun drone allows either of them to be a pocket controller. Also, blasters have the third most hitpoints after scrappers and tanks...this myth that blasters are a low hitpoint AT needs to die.
* Tanker - my Ice/SS is a major damage dealer and is spec'ed for such. She solos invincible setting mission easily and can solo any elite boss and some of the weaker AVs.
* Defender - You have Rad/Sonic and Storm/Sonic defenders posting videos and screenshots of soloing AVs and GMs. Not all defenders lack damage.
* Controller - My ice/emp won't impress anybody with her ability to do damage. Even with the fire app, damage isn't that impressive.
PK, you ought to go play more and stop spreading stereotypes of what ATs can and cannot do. CoX is interesting *because* ATs can transcend traditional MMO roles not be pigeon holed into them.
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Tankers? I'd say they do about as much damage as Defenders. Just up close.
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Do you know WHY they do more damage than Defenders? Because in general melee damage is higher than ranged damage.
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I don't know how to respond. You contradicted yourself.
I've played plenty. Just because there are exceptions to the rule doesn't mean they don't apply as generalities.
If you want to prove me wrong, take a Stone/Ice tank and show him doing more damage than a Fire/Mental Blaster.
In GENERAL, these things are true. There are always exceptions to any rule.
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Tankers? I'd say they do about as much damage as Defenders. Just up close.
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Do you know WHY they do more damage than Defenders? Because in general melee damage is higher than ranged damage.
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I don't know how to respond. You contradicted yourself.
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No I didn't.
50 cents is "about" as much as 65 cents, but 65 cents is still more.
[edit]: Just saw the name Pinball Blizzard! Very nice!
If you're 35 with that build, you dont have Bitter Ice Blast yet, and you have 3 slots in Ice Bolt, so I'll wager its not 3-slotted for damage. So your single target attack chain is sorely lacking at this point, and doesnt need to be.
If you want to solo, get all three major single target blasts and six slot them soon as you can.
You could lose a few slots in Aid Other, I reckon.
Dispersion Bubble could use a few more slots. Bare minimum is 3 Def SOs and 1 end redux. The Red Fortune IO set is even better.
The extra slots in superspeed are for set bonuses?
Is Aim six-slotted for set bonuses? If not, 3 Recharges is all you need.
Maybe put another slot in Hasten? You want Aim, Repulsion Bomb and Ice Storm back up as soon as possible for best damage output.
You've picked the lowest damage primary here, and the third worse soloer in my opinion (Empathy and Sonic are even worse) but you do have access to two good AoEs in your secondary. Frost breath does 1.4 scalar damage instead of 1.0, and Ice Storm does Blaster level damage, and can be fired off after Repulsion Bomb to get some decent ticks in before the enemies run out of it. Repulsion Bomb gives you a third AoE. Thats way more than any Controller AoE damage output.
I would drop Manouvers for now and get Frost Breath. Freeze Ray and your bubbles are safety enough, and you have the Medicine pool to patch up anyone between fights, or to turlte up in your PFF and heal yourself while solo.
I agree that Controllers have really encroached on Defender territory since containment. But to make a fair comparison, you have to take and slot the best damage powers available to you. Defenders still beat even Fire Controllers for AoE damage output.
Oh, and be aware that Freakshow resist cold damage. Thats a very pertinent fact for a level 35 /Ice Defender.
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Thanks for the reply.
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But, you can tell me this one, since you like to compare ATs that share powersets with each other... can one Blaster keep a full team as safe as one Force Field Defender?
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No. But can you name another archetype that is bad at using its secondary?
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The problem isn't defender damage. It's that force field has very little to help you solo. FF's job is to keep the rest of the team safe, not you.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
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Defenders still beat even Fire Controllers for AoE damage output.
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Are you counting the nukes?
By the way, thanks for actually being HELPFUL. I wish I could say the same. I guess I'm just getting bitter after seriously playing a Scrapper for the first time and finally seeing what I've been missing. 
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I've played plenty. Just because there are exceptions to the rule doesn't mean they don't apply as generalities.
If you want to prove me wrong, take a Stone/Ice tank and show him doing more damage than a Fire/Mental Blaster.
In GENERAL, these things are true. There are always exceptions to any rule.
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Nice one, you picked the lowest damage tanker secondary verses one of the highest aoe damage blasters. never mind that blasters have 1.2 damage modifier (I think) PLUS can get stacking damage boosts with every attack, vs a tanker who has a .65 damage modifier I believe, and doesn't stack damage bonuses with every single attack.
That's already an unfair comparison. That's like me taking my ice/mace tanker and saying "See, I do crappy damage because my Illusion/TA controller out damages me, and will do even MORE damage in the 40's".
By the way, I notice my illusion/TA controller doesn't out damage my defenders. Rather, my controller keeps up with my defender damage... barely.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
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Nice one, you picked the lowest damage tanker secondary verses one of the highest aoe damage blasters.
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That was the POINT. I was talking in generalities and Fury was trying to get into specifics. So I got into ridiculous specifics.
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vs a tanker who has a .65 damage modifier I believe
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I believe that's true as well.... which is I think the same damage modifier that Defenders have.... so does that mean I was right earlier when I said they do "about the same damage"?
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Nice one, you picked the lowest damage tanker secondary verses one of the highest aoe damage blasters.
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That was the POINT. I was talking in generalities and Fury was trying to get into specifics. So I got into ridiculous specifics.
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vs a tanker who has a .65 damage modifier I believe
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I believe that's true as well.... which is I think the same damage modifier that Defenders have.... so does that mean I was right earlier when I said they do "about the same damage"?
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Yes, and no. Melee does do more damage then ranged attacks at base. How do I know? Because my level 18 ice/mace tanker does roughly the same damage as my level 32 TA/A defender (before I light oil slick that is). Once oil slick is burning, it's no contest who does more damage.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
So then I was ALSO right when I said that tankers do more damage than Defenders BECAUSE they are melee.
As I said above, they do "about" the same as Defenders, but more.
Like 50 cents vs 65 cents, which are both nowhere near a $1.20.
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Nice one, you picked the lowest damage tanker secondary verses one of the highest aoe damage blasters.
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That was the POINT. I was talking in generalities and Fury was trying to get into specifics. So I got into ridiculous specifics.
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vs a tanker who has a .65 damage modifier I believe
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I believe that's true as well.... which is I think the same damage modifier that Defenders have.... so does that mean I was right earlier when I said they do "about the same damage"?
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That wasn't your point. Your point was some weak attempt at controller nerf herding and some rambling discourse saying that ATs are supposed to fulfill certain roles.
When I pointed out examples where I've seen a number of character break out of the roles you set, you back up your point by choosing one of the highest damaging blaster variants against one of the lowest damaging tanks saying that somehow that proves your point. Should I be as childish and ask whether or not your electric/dev blaster can outdamage my fire/ss tank?
I don't know how long you've been playing, but I've been playing long enough where I don't worry about "roles". All the characters I play and the ones my friends play do damage and can do support; many can do both equally well. When I build teams, I ask people to bring what they want and we'll make it work. This notion of support versus damage is nonsense in my opinion. Sure, there are characters that can be built to be pure support or pure damage, but most fall into areas in between and many can do both.
I never said that any of them were pure support or pure damage, except the original incarnation of Controllers. I believe I said as much in my OP that they were all mixed with major and minor specialties. Now you are trying to put words in my mouth.
The conversation is over for me when someone starts to fling insults like "childish" and "rambling" and starts accusing me of inexperience. I've said my piece, and have nothing more to say to you.
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So then I was ALSO right when I said that tankers do more damage than Defenders BECAUSE they are melee.
As I said above, they do "about" the same as Defenders, but more.
Like 50 cents vs 65 cents, which are both nowhere near a $1.20.
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Can't remember the exact damage scale for controllers anymore (and trying to read CoD is sometimes an exercise in frustration). I think it's something like either 0.3 or 0.5 though. I know it's low. really really low. The main reason they got containment was to boost their damage pre-pets since their damage was too anemic. I remember my first attempt at an illusion controller back in issue four. Took me forever to defeat anything cause half my damage from Spectral Wounds kept vanishing after a few seconds, and my only other power that did damage did barely any. And spectral wounds doesn't do THAT much damage either. Once I finish this mish on my crab I'll log into Bowtroller and check how much damage it does currently.
... Or I'll get logged out due to my modem resetting it's self, and check once my modem finishes rebooting.
At level 27 my illusion/trick arrow controller does the following damage:
Spec Wounds
Attack Types:ranged, psionic 64.02 psionic damage on target -12.94 psionic damage on target after 10.00s 9delay Ignores buffs and enhancements)
39.04 psionic damage on target Only against immobilized, held, sleeping or stunned targets
Blind
33.72 psionic damage on target
33.72 psionic damage on target Only against immobilized, held, sleeping or stunned targets
This is my personal damage mind you. PA boosts my damage considerably while it's out. I can't keep it out constantly though, and they have a tendency to vanish mid fight. So right now those two powers are my main damage source most times, unless I confuse an enemy. I'll get Oil Slick at 35, but wont be able to light it until the 40's. So really, my defenders can easily out damage my controller. Heck, my tanker does almost as much damage as my controller (pre-PA) at a lower level.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
Okay, back onto the topic at hand, FF/Ice build. Since Ice blast is one of the most controlling secondaries (for those who say about "pure" controlling) which contains 2 holds along with a slow in pretty much every attack, including the AoEs. Also, the AoEs do Blaster damage, so they should out damage most other AoEs by other secondaries.
However, you have what FF as your primary which brings out some key powers for teaming and key powers for soloing. The shields themselves are team only, PFF is great for soloing if you get into a tough situation. Repulsion Bomb will be great for your AoEs, set an AoE, Repulsion Bomb to keep them in place and then use your other AoE and then let the slows of the AoEs go after them.
Also, for your power pools, you've picked very team oriented powers. Maneuvers is great for keeping up your defense for those hard enemies and for yourself, but doesn't really do anything for your teammates with your bubbles and your big bubble. Assault will raise your (and your team's) damage.
Your blasts, to me, seem under enhanced for damage with only three slotting your tier 1 blast. Increasing the slots will allow you (either via sets IOs, generic IOs, or SOs, etc.) to increase your damage on them. The more you slot them, and for damage, the more damage you can do with them, recharge them, and make them from running out of endurance for other powers.
You've also taken Aid Other and Heal Self, to which you may find a better solution by taking the fighting power pool, increasing your Smashing/Lethal resistances and increasing your defenses with more personal toggles. Sure your epic will help with the damage resistances, but straight up personal defense is always a plus.
As far as low level play goes, you only have 2 attack powers other than your temp and brawl until level 22, which is one of the holds. Which means solo, it'll be really difficult to deal damage with only the Tier 1 and 2 powers to rely on. Do-able, unknown, but the facts remain.
Hasten helps with getting attacks up and ready, especially long recharge ones like your AoEs including the Ice and Dispersion Bomb. However, it does little for the complete package if you have a decent amount of attacks at that level.
As far as your epic attacks, they don't do very good damage either, so when you hit epics, you're going to be knocked down a peg again. I'd suggest maybe Dark, jump in the middle, raise your damage, and then go into the earlier AoE fest that I mentioned.
I say this as a consideration towards how you have it currently belt (minus the nuke AoE that I'd suggest getting as well). You'll be a great asset to any team, however, with that build you're simply not lending yourself to your damage potential at the moment. Force Fields is soloable, and safer with Ice Blast with the holds, but you must also keep your attack powers in mind and slotted to how you want them.
I've considered slotting my Dark/Elec for Endurance Mods to keep enemies completely turned off to attacking as an extra form as defense. Sure, it'll be safer if I finish it, but I'll also not be enhancing myself for damage, and thus making my damage contribution less.
Force Fields is an interesting creature, and if you plan it right, you can knock all of them into a corner with Force Bubble, use Dispersion Bomb to keep them from attacking for a moment, then start the rest of your AoEs, holding those who could be a problem.
Sure, Force Fields is about the same (without number crunching) as the Controller version, but a usual non-damage AoE hold, AoE immobilize for somewhat low damage, and a few other usually non-damaging mitigation tools, you're doing the single target hold thing like them, but then can deal more damage with the AoEs and out of the box better damage than a Controller. You can instantly deal some damage to them while Controllers have to wait.
As I said, nothing wrong with your build, but what your asking of it, that seems to be the problem in my opinion. It's a great team build, but you won't be going anywhere fast solo or dealing much damage for the team. But hey, in my opinion if you're keeping everyone else alive, they can do the damage for you. Think of yourself as a /FF Mastermind, but you don't have to control the pets and you can actually focus on dealing damage.
Defending - it's a frame of mind.
50s: Bla- Arch/Mental Cont- Mind/FF, Earth/Cold, Ill/Therm, Earth/Rad Dominator- Plant/Psi, Elec/Earth Corr- Fire/Storm, Arch/Sonic, Rad/Kin, Beam/Sonic, Psi/Time Stalker- Elec/SR Def- Storm/Dark, Emp/Psi, Dark/Elec, FF/Arch, TA/Ice, TA/Elec, Kin/AR, Cold/DP, Traps/Psi Scrap- Fire/Shield Tanker- Dark/Mace, Ice/Kin Brute- Claws/WP, SS/Energy, BS/Elec
One final note to the OP. If you want to solo, I strongly recommend Repulsion Field. It's one of the best "shields" you'll ever have as a Defender. It's an autohit knockback aura centered VERY closely around you. It'll cut down the damage coming at YOU substantially and can also be used offensively in a team situation to save people. It will also free up your "hands" to do other things, like blast stuff.
I'll leave the rest to others, good luck.
Some opinions on the topic.
Basically, the short version of my advice to the OP would be "Don't solo. PuG instead."
Force Fields is designed to fix nearly everything that's wrong with a pickup group. You can't fix "We're doing a mission five levels old, on heroic." You can't fix waiting ten minutes at the mission door while the leader tries to find that magical eighth person.
But damn near any stupid move in the middle of a fight is survivable, with Force Fields.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
I finally got my Force Field Defender to level 35.
I had long been skeptical of Force Field Defenders because everything they offer seems to be done better by a Controller. I was hoping that I was wrong, so I built this Force Field/Ice character.
On the plus side, my team is very safe when I'm around.
On the minus side, the character may as well not even have a secondary. Blasts? Are you kidding? This character is roundly out damaged by every simarly-leveled Controller I've ever played. I'd hoped to at least be able to solo occasionally, but the character has trouble killing more than 3 blue minions at a time. It's deeply embaressing to have a secondary ostensibly designed for damage and yet to be outdamaged, outlived, and outenduranced (a word?) by my Controllers using a pet and a Defender secondary.
In the hopes that I've done something monsterously wrong with my build, I posted it below. Is there something that can be done to save this character or is it just time for the mothballs?
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Pinball Blizzard 2: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery
Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Deflection Shield (A)(3)(3)
Level 1: Ice Bolt (A)(5)(19)
Level 2: Personal Force Field (A)
Level 4: Ice Blast (A)(5)(13)(15)(17)
Level 6: Insulation Shield (A)(7)(7)
Level 8: Aid Other (A)(9)(9)(11)(11)(17)
Level 10: Hasten (A)(19)
Level 12: Dispersion Bubble (A)(13)(15)
Level 14: Super Speed (A)(21)(46)
Level 16: Hurdle (A)
Level 18: Health (A)
Level 20: Stamina (A)(21)
Level 22: Freeze Ray (A)(23)(23)(25)(25)(29)
Level 24: Maneuvers (A)(42)
Level 26: Repulsion Bomb (A)(27)(27)(31)(31)(33)
Level 28: Ice Storm (A)(29)(31)(33)(33)(34)
Level 30: Aim (A)(34)(34)(37)(39)(39)
Level 32: Aid Self (A)(43)(43)(46)(50)
Level 35: Bitter Freeze Ray (A)(36)(36)(36)(37)(37)
Level 38: Bitter Ice Blast (A)(39)(40)(40)(40)(42)
Level 41: Electric Fence (A)(42)(43)(45)
Level 44: Charged Armor (A)(45)(45)(46)
Level 47: Shocking Bolt (A)(48)(48)(48)(50)(50)
Level 49: Force Bubble (A)