It depends on the powersets + AT. For example, any Dominator guide from more than a couple weeks ago is going to be questionable, due to the very recent revamp of the AT. On the other hand, most Defender guides will be quite fine going back as far as the introduction of Inventions, and maybe purples if those are your thing.
I'd ask in the AT sections for advice once you decide what to build.
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those generated by Mik's and the like may as well be written in binary
[/ QUOTE ]That's why you copy the block, and then import it into Mid's (not Mik's 
) Hero Designer. It's pretty simple to use.
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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That's not what I meant - I can look at them all I want (in or out of the program) and they still mean very little to me.
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I'm not entirely sure which archetype I'm going to make into my main, but I do know I really love the option of solo play (which CoH understandably doesn't appear to cater to) for my first main character, which, from what I've gathered means a scrapper of some sort. I'm still wrapping my head around optimal slotting and such, and would -love- to use some build guides (those generated by Mid's and the like may as well be written in binary) as a jumping off point - but I'd hate to start a character built around a strategy that isn't viable because of a change or twelve.
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Actually, you can solo with just about any Archetype/powerset combination in CoX. Some of them will do so slower, but it's possible to do it. Scrappers tend to be the most "self-sufficient" on Hero side; Brutes the most on Villain side. But "squishy", low-damage Defenders have been known to solo Arch Villains that are geared for a team to take down. You have "Superpowers" in this game, and that means if you have the experience and the build for it, you can reach some very impressive levels of performance.
You get that experience by playing through the game though. There are no "cookie cutter" builds in this game. You can have two players on a team with the same AT, powersets, and powerpools, and they can both play entirely different because of power-selections and enhancement slotting; yet both builds will be just as viable. Find what you enjoy doing in the game and go do that. Don't be concerned if you need to "try on" a few characters before you find the one you most enjoy. (As a side note, lack of this hands-on experience is also what makes characters power-leveled in AE suck so badly and have people avoid teaming with them .)
You mention Scrappers above, but don't sound too enthused about it; mostly citing "soloability" for the choice. If you can tell us what you most enjoy doing in MMOs* we can give you some opinions (or likely several 
) about what to look into for a character.
* -(Hitting for large amounts of damage in single hits, doing lots of AoE, staying in the back and seeing the whole fight, being in the thick of things, being the center of enemy attention, going un-noticed, being hard as nails, being always at risk of defeat for a single error, etc)
Recommendation: ALTITUS!
Forget about trying to figure out what is 'best'/optimum for now. Read the descriptions of each AT and then pick what sounds most INTERESTING to you. After you get a few levels under your belt you can then make a better decision about what to roll next, since you'll know a little bit about that AT+powerset combo, as well as likely having seen several people play other ATs.
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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[ QUOTE ]
<snip>
I'm not entirely sure which archetype I'm going to make into my main, but I do know I really love the option of solo play (which CoH understandably doesn't appear to cater to) for my first main character, which, from what I've gathered means a scrapper of some sort. I'm still wrapping my head around optimal slotting and such, and would -love- to use some build guides (those generated by Mid's and the like may as well be written in binary) as a jumping off point - but I'd hate to start a character built around a strategy that isn't viable because of a change or twelve.
Thanks
Edit - Mid's not Mik's
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OK - I'm gong to skip down to the point I bolded in your post -
Where did you get the idea that this game doesn't cater to solo play? This game is very solo-friendly, and *ALL* ATs and powersets can solo, just some faster than others.
Scrappers are a good first choice if you like to stand in melee, but blasters or defenders are better if prefer to stay out at range some of the time.
As far as guides go, how dated is too dated really depends upon the guide in question, we can't offer a guideline there.
My best advice would be to head down to the various AT fprums and ask there. I generally lurk in the Blaster forum and I know folks there have a much better handle on things and respond really quickly to any questions about blasters.
For general guides, I would look to Zombie_Man's Guide to Guides, which he keeps updated as new issues release.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
Not solo friendly? Crap. I've been doing it wrong.
I work odd hours so I solo a good 80% of the time. Some are slower than others, but every AT you make can theoretically solo. How you play, how you slot and what you take ca play a huge role in that, but there is no powerset combination that can't be made to be effective.
I have an Empath Defender (most from other games consider this a healer) that can street sweep large groups of Even con foes.
I've got an Illusion/Kinetic Controller that I play as a Scrapper. At level 29, she's a perfectly viable character. Because she's so far from the norm, she actually doesn't team well.
I have a guide for new players that explains a lot of stuff in varying degrees of detail. One of the things I did for each powerset was to include my impressions from having played or watched it being played. No numbers, no math, just impressions.
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My first short story (detective fiction) came out in Jan-2012. Other stories and books to follow, I hope. Because of "real writing". COH was a big part of that happening.
I know I could post this in the guides forum, but.. it's not a guide, it's a question, so I flipped a mental coin and here I am -
I've noticed a lot of the build guides on these forums (it's even worse elsewhere) are rather dated, going by their patch (issue) number. I'm a decidedly new player to CoH/V and I'm attempting to learn the ropes for myself without badgering whichever supergroup I join with a million questions that have already been answered (though, I admit, this one probably has too..) so, my question is -
Just how dated is -too- dated?
I'm not entirely sure which archetype I'm going to make into my main, but I do know I really love the option of solo play (which CoH understandably doesn't appear to cater to) for my first main character, which, from what I've gathered means a scrapper of some sort. I'm still wrapping my head around optimal slotting and such, and would -love- to use some build guides (those generated by Mid's and the like may as well be written in binary) as a jumping off point - but I'd hate to start a character built around a strategy that isn't viable because of a change or twelve.
Thanks
Edit - Mid's not Mik's