Scrapper. Any combination of primary and secondary, although Katana/Willpower is a particularly strong choice for a new player.
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@Starflier
Welcome to the game! There are a few things about this game that are severely different from other MMO's.
You CAN solo with any character in this game. Empathy and Force Field defenders are notoriously slow soloers as are [I'm told] Earth controllers. You will get very good results from a Scrapper or a Brute.
Major differences in this game: the benefits of buffs [self and other] are very, very large in this game. As an example, a Force Field Defender can lower incoming damage for the rest of the team by up to a factor of 10. (Not that force fielders are the 'best' Defenders out there, but it's very simple to explain what they do.) As a result there is no Holy Trinity in this game, at least not after about level 15- a good tank is so tough that the healing can go to the rest of the team, and there is lots of no-tank teaming, no-"healer" teaming ["healer" is kind of a dirty word, as many defenders have stories of dedicated healers taking the glory when some sort of actual defender did the work] and... well, everyone does SOME damage, and in many cases surprisingly good damage. One of the fastest teams in the game is eight Fire/Rad controllers.
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A scrapper's probably the best balance all-around for a new player. Decent mix of HP, Damage Output, Defense/Resist. And really no weird mechanics (Gauntlet/Bruising, Control, Defiance, etc) to learn. Just beat face. The crits come when they will.
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Originally Posted by Architect88
Im an experienced mmo player just new to this one. Just wanted to get opinions on which archetype would be good for an exp player that doesn't mind going solo quite a bit.
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Definitely Scrapper I'd say.
Easiest to learn and survive learning the game with a good solo capacity (as mentioned everything CAN solo, just that some a hell of a lot slower than others).
For simplicity I'd probably go with regeneration as a secondary set since it is the most newbie friendly of the secondaries.
I disagree. I feel that regeneration can be one of the hardest scrapper secondaries to play. It's not like Willpower where you toggle up and bash face. No. You have a self heal, a +Max HP click, as well as fast healing being a click. You have to micromanage quite a bit.
I suggest Anything + Willpower, and you'll be happy and sturdy.
Just to point out, it's a rare occasion where you have to go solo - and teaming is one of the parts where CoH absolutely shines. With no gear to you need to scavenge for, no bear ***** you need to collect and so on. The game is more dynamic and rewarding {XP gain increases as team size does} and it's a pretty safe bet that your teammates, the in-game help channel and the forums will go out of their way to help you get the hang of playing as smoothly as possible.
Scrapper/Brute I would say is the easiest. Blaster have glass jaws but if you play with a run and gun style then they can be fun to solo as well. Closest thing to a blaster on the CoV side is a Corruptor.
As for Regen as a set. I don't really mind it the click powers, most of the time I forget I have them unless I'm going up against an Elite Boss or Arch-villain. Hit Dull Pain before attacking, Reconstruction post battle and Instant Healing when attacking the end boss.
Willpower is has a bit from each of the three ways to mitigate damage other than simply taking out the thing doing the damage quickly. Dodge the attack with defense, resist damage from the blows that hit and heal that damage quicker than normal. But where defense and resistance is all about attack vectors and damage types, healing universal. Yes, you toggle up and forget but lots of toggles cost endurance that you may need.
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And don't be afraid to give in to altitis. Once you're comfortable with a Scrapper, switch to one of the other ATs. There's no need to rush to 50, you can SK up to that level any time you need to for a team, and there's plenty to do at all levels. So take the time to try out a bunch of combinations and find out what works best for you.
Amusingly enough, most of my characters are either between 15-20, or 30-40. Although that's changed with GR, since 20 is the starting point for side switching I'm moved a lot more up into the 20-25 range.
If you want to test out the game, a brute/scrapper can give you the best 'feel' for how things work.
If you want to learn the game, play a blaster. The fact your a glass cannon means you have to learn tricks and tips in order to stay alive, which will benefit you later when you start rolling alts left and right.
(they should really make a thread titles 'The things i learned while playing a blaster...')
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Word. Or actually most Defender builds too. I started on a Defender, but by blind luck chose one who had significant status protection (a Forcefielder, who gets good protection from 3 of the 5 primary status effects: stuns, holds, and immobilizes). Later, when playing other characters without status protection, I was shocked to learn all the types of critters that stun and hold and immobilize -- something that I'd completely failed to notice on my first character.|
Originally Posted by Arbegla
If you want to test out the game, a brute/scrapper can give you the best 'feel' for how things work.
If you want to learn the game, play a blaster. |
Scrappers are hardy adventurers and soloists, but they may give a newcomer a distorted idea of what's "hard," what's a standard amount of damage to do, and which mobs have which powers.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
The most advanced sets to play are Storm Summoning and Trick Arrow. Everything else you should be able to get the feel of pretty quickly as an MMO vet, but this game doesn't have the typical Holy Trinity. It is... different.
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Yeah, but you sure notice the critters that sleep... particularly when they immediately stun, or hold afterwards. |
Originally Posted by Sailboat
Later, when playing other characters without status protection, I was shocked to learn all the types of critters that stun and hold and immobilize -- something that I'd completely failed to notice on my first character.
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It's not as bad as it used to be, since being slept no longer drops your toggles. I'm not sure if the status protection supresses along with the defense, but even if it does, it seems like when the sleep ends the hold breaks, too. Still, it was incredibly frustrating to be chain held because a Rikti/Lost would use that sleep/hold combo on me.
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I agree with this, and disagree with starting as a scrapper. All the defense and resistance scrappers have would make it far more difficult to start with archetypes that don't have these inherently, like, well, almost all the other ones. And since this game is about the journey and not the destination, I'd go with a blaster.
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Originally Posted by Arbegla
If you want to test out the game, a brute/scrapper can give you the best 'feel' for how things work.
If you want to learn the game, play a blaster. The fact your a glass cannon means you have to learn tricks and tips in order to stay alive, which will benefit you later when you start rolling alts left and right. (they should really make a thread titles 'The things i learned while playing a blaster...') |
Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued
"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque
I have played all of the AT's to 50 (other than a Warshade, working on one, just can't get into it) and by far my favorites are Brutes followed by Tanks then Dominators, Blasters, Corruptors, Defenders, Scrappers and Controllers follow. I hate MM's with a passion.
I have found that even some of the classes play differently depending on the sets you choose. My Fire/Energy Blaster is just crazy, I can do all kinds of fun things with that toon. Everything dies before it gets a chance to hit me. For EB's and AV's I just keep Break Frees and Def insps on hand to deal with them. I can do things with that toon that the Elec/ice blaster only dreams of doing.
Same goes for my Brutes. The Elec/Dark requires a little more thought than the SS/Willpower.
Dominators are a little different. They are a hoot once you get permadom on them. Nothing like stunning/holding/immobing an entire group of mobs and just blasting away at will till they all fall over. Even Gravity is fun on a Dom. Singularity is a nice little pet that just stays quite and does what he does. Isn't crazy like the Imps and Gremlins, and does more than the Flytrap.
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Global @Pyre Flasher
My first 50 is a dark/dark/dark defender. Great toon to learn on.
Second - an Illusion/Kinetics controller - again, great toon to learn on.
Third - Earth/Kinetics controller - slowest soloer I've ever played. Even with Stoney, but I learned some great techniques for controllers.
Then I discovered scrappers. If you want a toon that is just "in your face with fists" and can handle itself really well with defence and resist damage, go scrapper. My personal fav is claws/ super reflexes. Fun little toon.
My next easiest play is a Will Power/Super Strength tank. Fun toon but not a lot of thought needs to go into playing it, which opened up a world to me. I turned off influence and played through as many arcs as possible.
This game is filled with great stories, which leads me to advise to read and play the arcs. A ton of work went into them, and they are worth the read.
Cheers and welcome to City of *!
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Dude, brute SS/WP. That is awesome on training wheels.
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Not that much to micromanage, really. The click heal is pretty obvious when it should be used. Instant Healing only really needs to be pulled out in exceptionally tough fights. Other than that, it's toggles, auto-powers, and one "OMGWTF!" panic button... The returns overshadow every other powerset. And this is after massive beatings with the nerf-bat.|
Originally Posted by runt9
I disagree. I feel that regeneration can be one of the hardest scrapper secondaries to play. It's not like Willpower where you toggle up and bash face. No. You have a self heal, a +Max HP click, as well as fast healing being a click. You have to micromanage quite a bit.
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That said, SR and WP are both very powerful sets as well. SR, when it's on it's ON. When it's off, it's way off. You live and die by the RNG, but, overall, it can be pretty damn awesome. WP is kinda the jack-of-all-trades secondary. Enough of a mix to cover the holes without being too powerful overall.
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Im an experienced mmo player just new to this one. Just wanted to get opinions on which archetype would be good for an exp player that doesn't mind going solo quite a bit.