Heya! Sonic is a great set where raw damage is concerned 
The -res affect of sonic's attacks will make it easy for you to solo at any time you wish, in fact you probably could solo easily with it right up to lvl 50
On the other hand, Psy blast does slightly less damage but in terms or range there is much more! You get a nice KB power (telekinetic blast) that would work nicely with the repel power in FF. Similarly, will domination and subdue work as good soft control powers and PvP wise fewer people will be able to resist Psi damage
Hope that helps a tad mate! Good luck
Id go with the Psy myself, mainly because of the KB and Will Dom/Subdue, they'll come in very handy when used with FF (Bassicly what Magey said but just agreeing 
)
But yes, sonic will probebly level faster solo.
The FF Sonic is going pretty well. I think the -res is really useful. I decided to forgo a travel power in the early levels in order to get the Medicine pool, this means I'm getting around with a combination of temp powers, sprint/swift and PFF. I originally got it in order to improve my solo ability with Aid Self, but Aid Other helps with teaming a lot.
After getting to 16, I'm suprised by how many people go "Yay Bubbles!" when I turn up.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
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I'm suprised by how many people go "Yay Bubbles!" when I turn up.
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I always do that bubbles pwn
thePhilosopher Martial Arts/Regen/Fire Scrapper
theRegulator Empathy/Energy/Soul Defender
Total Inertia Ice Blast/Kinetics/Psy Corruptor
Total Inferno Ice Blast/Thermal/Leviathan Corruptor
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I'm suprised by how many people go "Yay Bubbles!" when I turn up.
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I always do that bubbles pwn
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I'm making bubbles fotm 
Actually, fortatude with 3 def SO's gives MORE defense than what a force field defender can give... dont be ff
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Actually, fortatude with 3 def SO's gives MORE defense than what a force field defender can give... dont be ff
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According to nofuture.org.uk, which I think is the most accurate source these days ( correct me if I'm wrong ):
Fortitude gives 15% defence to all ( including positional and damage types ) as well as a 31% damage buff and an 18.75% to hit buff. 3 slotted that is 23.4, probably enough to make a defence based tanker or scrapper floor enemy to hits in most circumstances.
Deflection Shield is 15% defence to Smash/Lethal/Melee and 40% resistance to toxic.
Insulation Shield is 15% defence to Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative Energy/Ranged and AoE as well as an 86.5% resistance to recovery drain and endurance drain.
Dispersion Bubble is 10% defence to all ( including positional and damage types ) and protection to Hold/Immob/Stun ( about 2/3 tanker magnitude ).
If you add this up you get 39% defence versus all but Psi. Psi is 15.6%. You also get 40% res to toxic.
So the only defence that FF is worse than Fortitude for is Psionic, which I think only applies to a few holds, that everyone gets mez protection for anyway, all the Psionic attacks are either ranged or AoE. Also I think you can only put Fortitude on 3 people.
I like that the FF isn't that busy, provided you get into a routine with the FF applying. That means I can concentrate on blasting if I want to.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
My specs were from sherk silver
That's one thing I dislike about this game, no solid numbers.
nofuture.org.uk is based on some form of looking at the actually numbers that the game used in I7. So it is based on stuff before that. Sherksilver is updated by the community based on any information they have got around to putting in. Both have inaccuracies and are out of date to some extent but I would expect nofuture to be more accurate with something hard to measure such as a defence number.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
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Actually, fortatude with 3 def SO's gives MORE defense than what a force field defender can give... dont be ff
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Independant of what numbers a FFer can keep the whole team bubbled whereas you can only Fort half the team even if you time it well.
Edit: Just realised Unthing already said that hehe
thePhilosopher Martial Arts/Regen/Fire Scrapper
theRegulator Empathy/Energy/Soul Defender
Total Inertia Ice Blast/Kinetics/Psy Corruptor
Total Inferno Ice Blast/Thermal/Leviathan Corruptor
With my SR and ice tank Ive teamed with both sets separately, and my experience says bubbles bonuses are way higher.
Yar but fort gives you damage and acc, and empaths can buff you till your danglies fall off
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Yar but fort gives you damage and acc, and empaths can buff you till your danglies fall off
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Fortitude is a more offensive buff than the Force Field ones. The Force Field ones are better defensively. I fail to see what you are trying to prove. Empaths and Force Fields help in a different ways in a team. Having either is good, having one of each is better.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
If you get smacked harsh with loads of FF bubs on you, you will stay low for a while unless you have a self heal, with an empath he can just heal you back and give you more buffs etc =]
Your choice though, ive personally never seen force bubble be any help, especially in small areas such as caves
FF is actually pretty awesome from a defender and it's less attention intensive than Empathy allowing a FF Defender to contribute a bit of damage and secondary effects. Even from the perspective of a Mastermind (where my experience of Bubbles comes from) the defensive buff provided by Bubbles is pretty significant and the knockback effect of Force Bubble has many applications in crowd control if your team needs something pinned in a corner or the squishies get overrun by hard hitting melee mobs.
With Manoeuvres and you can get an extra 6-7% defence buff vs all. Fully slotted with SOs the combination of Single target bubbles, dispersion bubble and manoeuvres puts any team member in range of your dispersion bubble at something like +50% defence vs everything except Psi which is somewhere around 25-26%. <rough numbers based on memory>
In the close confines of caves where line of sight can screw with an Empaths' healing the single target bubbles are great "fire and forget" protection for team members.
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I'm making bubbles fotm
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I've already done that 
EDIT
Thought I better add something a little more constructive, I've levelled my bubbler to 40 then remade him, he's now level 27! When I join I teams I find that we can start fighting mobs 2 levels high than what they where before I got there. With a Combo of the Leadership Pool and the Bubbles themselves, it all works out rather lovely.
On another note I now have an Empath as well and play both the Bubbler and the Empath in PvP and PvE. I find them equally as useful and for different reasons, I wouldn't say that either is overall better than the other.
PFF, Mez Res, a 50ft Repel and a move that takes an enemy out the game for 30secs which you can keep on constant - all plus sides to the Bubbler that an Empath doesn't have. Obviously an Empath has its pluses as well.
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I'm making bubbles fotm
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I've already done that
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I said fotm, not gimped
I thinking of making a defender. I'm pretty set on FF. I like the idea of a blasting defender with well slotted attacks. I have managed to get a FF/Psi to 10 but I'm wondering whether I should try out a FF/sonic.
Has anyone got any comments on which I should go for?
Does the -res of Sonic Blast for defenders make enough of a difference to make you soloable, at least through the early content? I like teaming but toons I can't solo if I want to are always a bit off putting for me.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.