Powersets that you won't play?

WON'T? That's a strong word. And I can't say for sure, because there were ALOT of powersets I thought I wouldn't ever play, have ended up playing them and liking them ALOT. Strom is the prime example of that. I HATED that set, and was very VERY annoyed anytime I wound up teamed with one. (This was way back at the begining of the game.) My RL buddy, dispite the fact I gave him SERIOUS greif for rolling one, ran one with me for a few months, and my tune started changing. Got to see what it could do in the hands of someone who knew how to use it. And was "forced" to watch it level up, and saw it for what it was, a pretty darn good and fun set.

I now have a lvl 50 Ice/Storm controller, that is one of my go to TF toons. So, Never ever play? There isn't any.

BUT, as of right now, I have no plans or inclunation to play the following sets.

Energy Blast
Dark Armor/Melee
Energy Melee/Armor
Warshade
VEAT. (I have a Crab, and will be sticking with that for now. The other kinds don't do anything for me.)

But, that's all subject to change with me on a whim.

Kinetics anything. I do have a pair of stagnant Kin characters (Dark/Kin corrupter and a Kin/Elec defender) stuck in their mid 20s. Never, ever going back to them again.

Can't ever see myself playing a Tank ever again (my original character was a tank, he got deleted eventually mid-20s because he was rubbish). Not my cup of tea.

A year ago I'd have also said Brutes and Scrappers but I've changed my mind on them. Mind you my newest, a Fire/Shield scrapper is rather dull. Great damage but just not very interesting to me.

The powersets that I don't particularly like are Empathy and Forcefields. I used to hate Thermal but I'm like it now I've gotten past the relatively dull heal/buff stage.

However, the largest problem for me would be ATs - I just can't get into anything that's not Controller or Dominator. I've tried them all but I've grown so accustomed to control that I can't stand not having control powers now.

It's amazing to me to see so much distates for Energy blasters. That is far and away my favorite blaster set (energy/energy).

It's fantastic for solo characters; knockback is not an issue solo -- and can be a real asset.

In teams, it's just a matter of situational awareness. Pick off the enemies not engaged in melee with teammates or line up your shots so as to pound the baddies into walls, still within the reach of the melee characters.

Not that it's a big deal; I just haven't run into the issues I see discussed on the forums all that much.

Never ever play? Energy blaster. The entire set revolves around annoying the hell out of your team.

Last night teamed with not one but two energy blasters on some Knives missions... it is indescribable how g-damn annoying they were combined with caltrops. And, while that is an extreme case, I tend to play AoE-centric characters, so anything with flagrant knockback is anathema.

I used to refuse to play Regeneration. Then I played three Regen Scrappers. I also said I would never play Katana, since I have Broadsword. Now I've started a Katana Scrapper. I wasn't really interested in Dual Blades for a while, but then I combined it with Dark Armor on a Tanker and loved it. I've also said I have no interest in Dual Pistols, but I bet I play it.

I haven't really played those Regen characters that often, though, and my Empathy Defender has been sitting around since release, almost, unplayed. I also found Electric Melee and Armor to be annoying. Although it was probably that I was trying to fit another concept. I've also really hated Electric/Kin. But as with a previous poster, I've got another Kin character that's okay, so again, it's probably the bash to fit concept.

The only reason why I don't care for energy blast is due to the fact that when you are on teams people hate you. Everyones equivalent of a good energy blaster is one that doesn't use his blast at all or hovering in the air and blasting and for me that gets old.

Someone said they didn't like Increase Density. I have to say you really don't know the up side of Increase Density.

First off its Clarity, or the Sonice version that can wake a mezed teamate. I'm not a fan of that power and if it only did that I probably wouldn't take it.

Second it grants really good resistances. With the current focus on defense many builds don't have maxed resistances and so added resistance can be very helpful to throw on a tank.

Third the slow is a nifty griefer power. But you have an antidote to it in Speed Boost.

Yes, you couldn't keep it on more than one or two toons very well. But its good to have to do the hard stuff. And in a pinch you can keep it on a toon or two. Its allowed me to get through stuff on small teams we probably shouldn't be able to.

The power is so good it just couldn't last any longer. But it does so many things well and lets you get through hard content. I usually keep it on my kins.

It is definately an optional power, but I think its better than Clarity and most Emps take that.

I don't think I can say I there's anything I won't play. Visuals generally don't bother me, animation times don't generally both me (I'm often mystified by my friends complaining about how slow some sets are...), sounds don't bother me (I always play with sounds muted and music playing)... sets that can't solo don't bother me unless I happen to be on a low population server and have trouble finding a team, but that's more a server complaint than a set complaint.

In fact, I often try powersets because I hear people saying they're bad. I like trying suboptimal combos and seeing how they work. I firmly believe any powerset combination in the game is playable. Some are definitely easier or harder, but I think they all can work at some level. (So far the greatest test of this opinion has been my petless Mastermind... they certainly push the limits of 'playable'.)

When it comes to ATs as a whole... well...

Blasters: One of the ATs I've had the hardest time getting into. I can't say I'm entirely sure why, though... just haven't gone that far with them. I have eight, my highest is 33. (Sonic/Electric)

Controllers: I have oddly mixed feelings about Controllers. Despite playing them a lot, and generally having fun, I can't say I ever am playing something else and think to myself, "I'd rather be on a controller." A lot of them collect dust. I have ten, three 50's. (Fire/Rad, Earth/Sonic, and Ill/TA)

Defenders: One of my favorite ATs. Most cases need a team to be really fun, but a few of mine can solo quite easily. I've done everything from a totally team oriented Empath to a very hands-off Force Fielder who spends most of his time happily blasting and a Dark who likes to herd. I have twelve, one is 50. (Emp/Electric)

Kheldians: Mixed bag. My main Kheld is a Warshade who spent a large portion of his life trying to figure out how to play, but he ended up being pretty powerful in the end. I haven't played Peacebringers as high, but they definitely seemed to be easier to play at low levels. I have five Khelds, one is 50. (Triform Warshade)

Scrappers: My first AT, a pretty reliable standard for me. Always fun on a team or solo. My Spines/Regen took a while to find his feet, but eventually became one of my favorite characters. I have ten, two are 50. (Claws/Invuln and Spines/Regen)

Tankers: Most of my tanks are somewhat slow at soloing, although not as bad as my most team-oriented Defenders. But since I usually take a team if I can find one, I'm generally happy. I enjoy taking the role of aggro sponge, and am willing to work however my team wants me to so I can be the most helpful. I have nine, one is 50. (Stone/Stone)

Arachnos: Still working on checking them out thoroughly, but my Night Widow and Bane Spider are both lots of fun so far. Although they're both built quite stalker-y, and I'm into Stalkers... I have four, highest is 48. (Night Widow)

Brutes: My feelings towards brutes have changed over time. At first I didn't like them, but over time I came to appreciate them more. I seem to enjoy them more on teams than solo. The biggest example of me finding a set I didn't enjoy was /Energy. I remade a character who had it and currently don't have anyone with it. I have nine Brutes, one is 50. (Stone/Willpower)

Corruptors: Despite repeated attempts, I mostly find myself disappointed by Corrs. I've seen others do great things with them, but I can't play them at all solo. On a good team I have fun with them, though. I have nine, the highest is 40. (Radiation/Kinetics)

Dominators: I'm very grateful for the changes to their damage. A lot of my middling characters became very enjoyable. Really, it solidified my feelings for Doms from 'okay' to 'fun'. I still need to rework my Ice/Ice though, as I never really figured out how to play them right. I have eight, one is 50. (Ice/Ice)

Masterminds: As is probably obvious, I have a crapload of characters. However, it just doesn't seem as necessary to me to make MMs. I think that might be because I want to try things I haven't tried yet and there are so few primaries... I'm sure I'll make a Demon Summoner ASAP when it's available. I seem to enjoy using my attacks more than most players I know. I've always felt I should be adding at least another pet's worth of damage. I have seven, one is 50. (Mercs/Poison)

Stalkers: If Defenders are my favorite hero AT, Stalkers are my favorite villain one. It's funny, since early on I hated Stalkers. A lot of my shifting feelings are thanks to my main Stalker who has, in my opinion, one of my best backstories. One of my strongest opinions on individual powersets is about Energy Aura. Although I felt like it was crap on my Brute who respec'ed out of it, I think it's a great secondary for a Stalker. I have nine Stalkers, one is 50. (Energy/Energy)

Overall, one of the things that keeps me interested in the game the most long-term is the vast number of powerset combos. My goal is to try every powerset on every AT at least once.

Dual Pistols. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but, the animations are just ridiculous and drive me crazy. I was soooo hoping for more of a Malta Gunslinger type feel: a little flash and fairly straightforeward. No joy.

There are some ATs I will never play. For example: Stalkers. I just don't like them or their mechanics at all. I can't stand Warshades or Peacebringers either. Also, I'll never play another Blaster again. I played one to 40 back around issue 2 or 3. I didnt get to 50 until maybe issue 12 or so. But NEVER AGAIN.

After that, there are some sets I'd never play as a primary, even though I do like them as a secondary. I could never play Kin, FF, Empathy, Trick Arrow, Cold, or Sonic Resonance as a primary. I LOVE them all as secondaries, and I tried several as primaries. I just can't do them as a primary. If they ever get ported, I doubt I could do Poison, Pain or Thermal as a primary either. I don't think I could play Dark Armor or Electric Armor as a primary. Bleargh.

There is one set I used to love but HATE now due both a power level reduction and (more important) a style/animation downgrade (IMO): Energy Melee.

Getting into sets I don't think I could ever play no matter what:

* Stone Armor
* Archery
* Regeneration

To go into these briefly, I hate the graphics of all the stone/earth armors in the game, except granite, which is cool. However, I can't stand the "need" for speed boost or teleport for a stone tanker. For Archery, I just don't like archery attacks from a thematic perspective or an appearance perspective. Not my thing (tho I love Trick Arrow as a secondary). As for Regeneration, I hate the mechanic of taking full damage then healing back. It freaks me the heck out. I tried it. I need mitigation, either through defense or damage resistance. I can't even team with a /Regen without freaking out, because I keep thinking they are about to be dead. Nope, that's just the way their HP bar works. Drives me nuts.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I used to hate Spines. I was gonna make Spines/SR back when the game first came out 6 years ago, until I saw that instead of subtle little spines, they were huge bananas of doom. However, when the power customization and metal spikes graphics became available, I no longer refused to play a Spines scrapper. I finally made my Spines/SR scrapper last weekend.

There you have it.

Lewis

I find it strange how many people say they don't like Energy Melee since it was tweaked. I didn't find it any less fun to play afterwards, myself. Sure, old Energy Transfer was fun, but from the first time I got it I knew it was way overpowered. It is still a mainstay of my attack chain. (Then again, like I said in my previous post, I don't seem to mind longer animations as much as most people I know...)

Willpower - too much is wrong with the set

Fire control - imps piss me the hell off. They do great damage but often get in the way of melee players. I can think of all the times I wanted to launch my keyboard across the room because of imps lagging me away from a target. (Devs please make pets non solid objects)

Dominators - I can never level one very far without wanting to scream at seeing the words "Too tired" on my screen all the time. Villains suffer without any form of recovery buff before level 20 and dominators seem to use more endurance than anything on the planet.

Warshades - damage is too low to justify the extreme knockback. They scatter stuff everywhere. I've also kinda lost my love for khelds as I've leveled other character. I absolutely refuse to take the ugly forms as I'd rather see my costume or display my costume to others anyway. A game that prides itself on customization really needs an option to hide the forms appearance.