Don't you just hate this?
By
Aroku,
Posted on: 2009-07-25 10:55 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
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So I really enjoy City of Heroes, and I've gone back and forth between being a subscriber and not playing it, but I always have this dilemma. I can never stick with a character. I don't know what it is, but I just can't. I know it's possible, I just need some help. So, if I list my playstyle below, could you help me out? If you could suggest something that fits it and actually describe it, that would be so awesome!
1. I like being valuable to a team, but not to the point where I can't even solo.
2. I'm fine with any type of combat really, ranged or melee.
3. I like having a little strategy involved in my character. If it's always going to be the some button combination over and over, that's no fun.
4. Having a Plan B is always nice. If something goes wrong, I don't want to be repeatedly screaming "I'm screwed! I'm screwed! I'm screwed!!"
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help, just ask the question and I'll respond ASAP
Thanks for all answers!
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(Quick-Reply!)
I'd say that you should try.. a Sonic/Electric Blaster.
1. Sonic Blast is incredibly valuable to any team- Resistance Reduction is one of the most noticeable stackable debuffs in the game, so you'll be a huge asset to any team. And you're a blaster, so soloing is still fun as well.
2. Sonic is sort of a mid-range attack set- works best from about 20-40 distance away. Electric Manipulation has lots of high-powered melee death in it, plus good utility too. This lets you play both range and melee, which leads to...
3. The same button combo over and over won't work. To live the most and kill the quickest, you've got to adapt your strategy on the fly. Enemies far apart? Fire a few ranged attacks to soften them up and then rush in to joust off a few brutal melee hits, finish them off with an AoE when your defiance is up! The wonderful thing about blasters is that they require a lot of quick thinking to succeed- making sure you get the most out of your inherent while trying to stay alive through maneuvering rather than toggles.. it's very intense!
4. Sonic Blast and Electric Manipulation both have a couple Plan B buttons. Siren's Song can save your [censored] when things get out of hand, Screech can disable a pesky LT (and debuff him and give you a good defiance boost!) for long enough to erase him from the fight, Thunder Clap can give you a much-needed moment of respite in the middle of the fray.. there are plenty of different Oh Crap Buttons in those sets - pick and choose whichever you like best!
Give it a shot! 
I just made a Bot/TA MM, and for some reason I just love it. I'm only level 3 and I enjoy it. Usually the levels 1-6 are completely terrible (not level 6 itself, getting to it).
I tried a sonic/elec blaster and just couldn't get into it. Sorry Chompie.
Ah yes, Trick Arrow. Oh, how I love Trick Arrow. I hate that a lot of teams won't take a Controller or Defender if they're trick arrow because they can't heal. But I love when they do, so I can show off how much I bring to the team.
This started as a QR, I'll have you know. :P
From the OP's question, having skimmed the thread, I'd offer the following:
All classes have at least one or two powersets that fulfill your criteria to varying degrees. You'll find fans of each making some neat recommendations that you should follow up on. But, I would temper their advice with the following:
Defenders, Corrupters, Controllers, Dominators, Tankers: These classes are rather team-oriented. Playing them with even one other person, then having that person leave and playing solo, you will notice a distinct difference in their flow. Fair warning.
Scrappers, Tankers, Brutes, Stalkers: The melee classes tend to be pretty focused, without quite as much versatility in their powers as a class with a support/utility set. There are sets with some interesting "oh s***" buttons and whatnot, but be sure to give some real thought to your primary and secondary here. On the upside, these are the not-so-squishy classes, if you want to have some good protection.
My recommendations would be to try the following:
Blaster: Choose a primary you like, with either an Ice or Mental secondary. I'd suggest Sonic/Mental, myself, for the overlapping cones and Siren's Song. Going Ice/Ice is good too: it may err too much on the side of mob control, but can be pretty rewarding.
Defender: Try Trick Arrow, Dark, Radiation, or maybe Kinetics primaries with whichever secondary you find most interesting. Storm is cool too, though somewhat more challenging to direct. I'd stay away from the other primary sets at first, since you may find yourself too busy re-casting shields to try out the rest of your bag of tricks when grouped (which is why Kinetics gets a maybe, since it has Speed Boost) (oh, and Empathy is maybe more team-centric than you indicated you want to be).
Controller: Each Control primary has its trade-offs, and the only one that you might not like is Gravity (it's a love-it or hate-it set). I'd recommend Plant first, then Mind or Earth, with a note that Fire does the most damage if you try the others and feel they don't have enough. Recommendation of secondary is same as that for Defender's primary.
Scrapper: Dark Melee is the most "unusual" primary, but may not give you what you're looking for. I'd recommend Claws, since you can choose to build for single-target or AoE, and you get a ranged attack (basically, the set's variety is good). IF(!) you like the combo system, I'd more recommend Dual Blades, but some folks don't enjoy how it works. The other sets are by no means inferior picks, either. For secondary, Dark again is the most unusual, and I'd recommend either it, Fire, or Shield as they have more variety than the other sets (and yes, Shield means picking a primary other than Claws or Dual Blades; like I said, all the primaries are pretty good here ).
Tanker: For primary, add Ice Armor to the list from Scrapper secondaries, then pick the secondary that most appeals (and give Ice Melee a look; the added control can add a bit of utility).
Brute: Same as for Scrapper and Tanker, where the sets are there.
Corrupter: Same as for Defender.
Stalker: Pick your preferred primary, then try Ninjutsu for your secondary. This is definitely the most bag-of-tricks secondary for the class.
Dominator: Same as Controller for primary, and pick whichever secondary you like, with Mental Assault maybe being in the lead by a nose.
Mastermind: This entire class will be love-it-or-hate-it, but having said that, I'd say Thugs first, followed by Necromancy and Ninjas as a second-place tie (these latter two require getting your minions into melee, which ups the challenge slightly). Secondary is same advice as Defender primary, though add Poison to the list as it's a real mix of abilities.
Oh, and to add: for Defender or Corrupter blast sets, probably Dark, Radiation or Sonic for the blast set, in that order. Dark has utility and a cool secondary effect, Radiation is a very complete blast set with a cool secondary effect, and Sonic has utility and a cool effect BUT some folks don't care for it.
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I just made a Bot/TA MM, and for some reason I just love it.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, it's got just about everything you asked for 
I was gonna suggest (Bots or Thugs)/Anything MM 
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
I've tried thugs, and for some reason, i just can't get into them. Maybe it was me being /Pain, but for some reason I was just not enjoying them. Zombies, however, I have enjoyed before, but right now I think I'll stick with Bots/TA as my main.
@ WhyNot, thanks for the great answer. It will definitely be something I refer to very often when making a new character.
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Sounds like you should get something to 50 and try a Kheldian or Soldier of Arachnos, those are the closest things to 'hybrid' ATs in the game.
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I made an Arachnos soldier with one build being a Crab, the other being a Bane. I can switch builds to suit my mood and break the monotony with some variety. Also, they have many tools available and you can choose a smattering of defense, offense, and pets as you desire. Melee or range? Why not have both
I love my Crab/Bane.
The downside, of course, is you need to get a villain to 50 first.
Hey, you're welcome. Glad you found a combo you're loving, too. One hint regarding the bots, if you're planning to take Flight as your travel power it's almost worth taking Group Flight just to watch your bots use their jet boosters. Try it out sometime on the test server (or if you're about to respec, etc.).
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So I really enjoy City of Heroes, and I've gone back and forth between being a subscriber and not playing it, but I always have this dilemma. I can never stick with a character. I don't know what it is, but I just can't. I know it's possible, I just need some help. So, if I list my playstyle below, could you help me out? If you could suggest something that fits it and actually describe it, that would be so awesome!
1. I like being valuable to a team, but not to the point where I can't even solo.
2. I'm fine with any type of combat really, ranged or melee.
3. I like having a little strategy involved in my character. If it's always going to be the some button combination over and over, that's no fun.
4. Having a Plan B is always nice. If something goes wrong, I don't want to be repeatedly screaming "I'm screwed! I'm screwed! I'm screwed!!"
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help, just ask the question and I'll respond ASAP
Thanks for all answers!
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I was going to say Epic Villain, SoA but do you have lvl 50 Villain?
You can make either Soldier or Widow and have two builds for each branch! Change playing style when you feel like it. SoA is very valuable to ANY team and they can solo well past lvl 24.
I spent the most time on my Widow. I have both Fortunate/Night Widow and I change my build depending on my mood and team's setup. If the team needs some melee, I'll use NW and if the team lacks Psi dmg and control, I'll use Fort.
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.
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I just made a Bot/TA MM, and for some reason I just love it. I'm only level 3 and I enjoy it. Usually the levels 1-6 are completely terrible (not level 6 itself, getting to it).
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There's just something about having a dangerous robot (or a whole army of them) at your beck and call to wipe out your enemies that never seems to get old. You could have a Hello Kitty Aura secondary and a Bots MM will still be incredible fun from Break Out on up.
I tend to run toons up their levels until... I start a new toon because I had some "killer awesome idea" for the costume or toon concept, etc. My last four toons (that made it above 10th say) keep stalling out about 40 to 45. However, the last one AND my current are Bots MMs, and I'm still not sick of the set.
Ele/Dev Blaster
I was in the same state, then i rolled Ele/Dev. It does a little of everything, not alot of anything. It can team, solo. It has room for pools, or you can pick every power on the list and still have fun. I loved playing the character so much, i got 3 friends playing it, and they love it.
My second 50 wasn't quite as fun, but is still great. You cant solo untill you are 50 with it, but in teams of scrappers and tankers with maybe some troller or blaster backup, Fire/Shield Scrapper is a strong pick. Lots of damage that parties love, some self buffs/buff other powers that make melee teams fantastic.
[ QUOTE ]
So I really enjoy City of Heroes, and I've gone back and forth between being a subscriber and not playing it, but I always have this dilemma. I can never stick with a character. I don't know what it is, but I just can't. I know it's possible, I just need some help. So, if I list my playstyle below, could you help me out? If you could suggest something that fits it and actually describe it, that would be so awesome!
1. I like being valuable to a team, but not to the point where I can't even solo.
2. I'm fine with any type of combat really, ranged or melee.
3. I like having a little strategy involved in my character. If it's always going to be the some button combination over and over, that's no fun.
4. Having a Plan B is always nice. If something goes wrong, I don't want to be repeatedly screaming "I'm screwed! I'm screwed! I'm screwed!!"
If there's anything else you need to know in order to help, just ask the question and I'll respond ASAP
Thanks for all answers!
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Try a blaster with a controllery secondary like /ice. You have the high damage of the primary, along with a wide variety of tools in your secondary. I built my fire/ice blaster to be versatile. His damage is admittedly slightly less than a fire blaster concentrating on damage (he still deals out a lot of damage though), but he has a wide variety of abilities and tools to allow him to fit into many situations. For example, once on a CoT cave map, myself and a scrapper wound up split up from the rest of the team and grabbed the aggro of a spawn (meant for 8 people). I kept alternating between attacks and control/debuff.... laying down an ice patch near the scrapper, immobilizing many mobs, scattering them with a rain, tossing an Aid Other on the scrapper once or twice. It was a long and protracted battle and both of us were amazed we survived. It was also incredibly fun.
Arc ID#30821, A Clean Break
The only problem with defeating the Tsoo is that an hour later, you want to defeat them again!
"Life is just better boosted!" -- LadyMage
"I'm a big believer in Personal Force Field on a blaster. ... It's your happy place." -- Fulmens