LF advice on an alt

I have a lvl 40 AR/Dev blaster. He is my highest lvl toon. I am wanting to roll an alt and have tried tanks but I cant get used to melee. I really really like to play from a distance for two reasons. 1. My pc even with graphics turned down runs slow on large teams with a lot of effects. 2. I dont really know how to play melee as far as should I just run in the mob and start a fight or let a blaster pull them to me. I am willing to give melee a try again with some good pointers on a team oriented toon. I have tried trollers which are not to bad and have toyed around with Defenders. I love to play on teams b/c I get bored soloing. I'm not interested in another blaster b/c I'd like to have two different concepts so I don't get bored with the game. I haven't played around with villains much b/c honestly, I hate the lowB zone. I have tried a brute and again, same reasons stated above and have a corruptor(cant remember the set atm) that I kinda like. Villains just isn't my cup of tea.

I have a grav/RAD troller @ lvl 5 I'm starting to get into a bit, but I wouldn't mind trying a fun, very team oriented defender. Any ideas?

I'm going to try to limit myself to answering one question you didn't ask... plus the one you did.

For a team oriented defender: Rad/Sonic is very good at everything. Most of your key powers come early, you do good damage, you make your TEAM do good damage, you have pretty solid team defense, I have nothing bad to say about Rad/Sonic. Other good recommendations are Dark/Whatever (I like Dark/Psi and Dark/Ice based on personal experience) and for your "pure teaming" experience, Force Fields or Sonic.

Melee Support Toon: The Scrapper.

The Scrapper is a wonderful toon. The Scrapper lets you run into combat, attacking enemies, debuffing them and enables you to protect squishier toons.

The Scrappers debuffs also come in handy VS AV's and EB's.

What is this debuff? -HP

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On a serious note, pulling is useless in 99% of this game. If you want to try a melee toon, roll a scrapper. They're strong enough to do crazy stuff, they hit hard enough to make bosses cry, and a team of scrappers turn you into a lawnmower.

With the whole melee hesitation you seem to have, if you're a tank with everyone at full hp and end, or close to, run in. If you're a scrapper with everyone at full hp and end, or close to, or even just most of the team, run in.

If you're a softcapped Spines/SR, ditch the team and run +1 x8

What he said. ^ The entire job description of Tankers and Scrappers is to run into the mob and start killing things, with the rest of the team follows. Blasters don't need to pull, they just line up their AoEs and let rip while the mobs are distracted.

It's easier than it looks.

Melee characters are easy to play.

Step 1) Enter melee range
Step 2) Hit your enemy in the face
(Repeat Step 2 as many times as necessary)
Step 3) Choose next target

Repeat Steps 1-3 until there is nothing left to target.

There's a little more to it than that, based on what AT specifically you are playing. The above would be for scrappers and brutes, tanks and stalkers work a little different.

Just remember, if they are not red or purple to you, you are probably tougher than them. A melee character's job is to: A) Kill stuff, and B) Keep the stuff you are killing's attention so the ranged characters can kill stuff.

I do agree that melee characters are easier to play sometimes, maybe even most of the time. They are great because they are easier to get started on. Once you get in the groove with your scrapper or tank you will feel like you can take on anything, but you can still learn a lot more to become a better player, I can't count how many scrappers who have two or three 50 scrappers and think they know it all when they really haven't learned anything more than the basics, to make them a better team player.

Scrappers are great toons to start out as, especially if you want to do melee. That's what I honestly started on. They are great for soloing as well which gives you some time to understand your powers at your own pace.

If melee isn't for you though, it's understandable. Dark dark defender is a wicked character to play! they are really more of a hybrid class of their own. You got some amazing debuffs and lockdowns with some nice Dots and AoEs. Plus they are very ranged...but some people like to tank with them lol Rads are pretty nice support characters and controllers can get very difficult. Controllers may not seem like it, but they are probably doing the most work on a team.

I have a plant/kin troller and I don't ever get to take a breath while playing her lol trying to keep up all my kin buffs while keeping the mobs locked down is harder than it sounds lol

I would pipe in with a 'try melee' vote. They are quite different from blasters, and to be honest, I really like being durable and having status protection. Granted, the current blasters are a lot better than when I started (you can do something while mezzed), but still being durable really makes you feel super at times.

Oddly enough I actually am not that fond of scrappers, though I quite like brutes and tankers.

I used to play on a low end machine, so I'd say "dont play melee" - its horrible to be in the middle of a group unable to target a nearby enemy due to lag.

Similarly with a Rad/* Defender, those enemy-centric toggles aren't much use when the lag kicks in if you cant targetenemies quickly and efficiently.

I'd recommend a Sonic or FF Defender. You can buff the team entirely through the UI, ie you dont need to watch the 3D game display at all. If you get hit by lag, your Dispersion Bubble/Sonic Dispersion is still rock solid, as is your Disruption Field if you're Sonic Resonance.
I'd go with Sonic Blast for a secondary, simply because its the most powerful set due to the -Res you can stack with it.

With both sets, it pretty much possible to sit out a single spawn without doing very much at all, and still contribute hugely to the team.

Do try a scrapper sometime, you'll be surprised at their power once they get SO's, but make one for mainly solo and small teams. They totally rock at that, and thrive on the lack of framerate issues.