From my experience...which is probably limited compared to others gravity is only primary that seems to play/level slowly. Mind and Earth are probably the easiest primaries to start with, because of the multiple way to handle situations. That being said Plant, Fire and Ice are extremely effective also.
I currently have a ice/elec I'm working on but have played all the primaries but fire to at least 20. Ice needs minimum slotting to be effective because of ice slick, the same can be said about earth because of earthquake. Both of which I've used to take out all the EBs solo up until the mid 30s...some took multiple tries tho(with my mind/ice, only 50 dom I have, I solo'd most EBs in the 40s also).
As for secondaries I prefer single target with some AOE, so I have not tried psy or fire. In my personal opinion elec and ice are the best...again my personal opinion. I know energy is good now, but with ice or earth it may not your target out of range of your slick/quake.
Plant is a great beginner primary. It gets Seeds of Confusion at lvl 8 and with average slotting can be up every mob. Now you will meet some confuse resists later on in your career, but they aren't that abundant. You also get a sleep which is very valuable on certain TFs.
If your looking for a bit more of a challenge but a really fun primary go Mind. You get a lot of different mez types. You also get really good damage from most of your powers.
Earth is just awesome. However getting used to earth might take some time and I would seriously not try it for your first time out. It can lock down so many mobs. But if your not sure how to use some of them you can draw a lot of aggro really fast. Earth also gives lots of -def which makes slotting ACC in your powers easier, since you won't need as much slotting for ACC. Tho it is still good to have a nice amount.
For starting stay away from GRAVITY. It is not a bad set but for a new player it might be a bit frustrating to learn how to make an effective set.
For secondaries you can't really go wrong with any of them now. Some have interesting synergy with certain primary power sets.
Plant/Fire is a good combo that meets most of your requirements. Plant for seeds and fire for straight up damage while your mobs are tearing each other part makes for quick fights.
Earth/Psi or Cold would be great. You get lotsa -def from your primary and -rech from your secondary. Meaning mobs are easier to hit and attacking less.
Mind/Anything can take apart most situations with little fuss. On large teams you may not feel as powerful as some of the other primaries with their flashy graphics. But mind is one of the best all round primaries. (READ: I said feel!!!)
Good luck, hope this gives you some ideas.
I'm really new with a game, bought it just a month ago. I've really only played scrappers now. Got one spines/fa 50 and a couple of others 25-30.
"Late bloomer" is allowed.
I'd like to give a try to Doms now. I just can't decide prim/sec and hope you can help me. So far I've been thinking fire/fire fire/elec or plant/?
What I'm looking for: Build (prime/sec) mainly suitable for solo (/duo). Prefarbly having pretty/really fast gameplay. At lvl 50 being she should be able to kill at least elite bosses (or farm hoards of bosses) (can dom's btw do that??) A combo that doesnt require most expensive IO sets (purples and lots of rare chants) to be able to perform well.
What I'm willing to sacrifice: She doesnt have to be good at groups. I dont mind at all pressing more than 3-4 keys while playing
TIA!