What is the best starting character?

My friend is starting the game for the first time and was asking me what I thought was the best character to start with. I was thinking that a katana/will scrapper would be a good starter. Am I off base here? Just looking for ideas and options. While I don't want it to be an overly difficult character for him to play, I don't want it to be too simplistic and end up boring him either.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I'm going to say illusion/radiation troller, fire/radiation corruptor or a fire/radiation controller. Basically anything with radiation is going to be easy, just hit toggle debuffs and kill the non anchor enemies. On a team just debuff the big guy and go to town. Illusion makes it safer but slower in the early levels, corruptor gets the fastest kill speed with least survivability, and the fire troller gets a good medium with the controls and good damage.

Well, I think the question is, does your friend want to team a lot ot solo mostly?

Nothing says team invites like a Cold Domination using toon.

After playing for so long, I have to say that I don't think a controller would be an easy character to learn how to play the game with, solo or teaming. If someone has no idea how the game mechanics work I think they would understanding how the game assigns aggro, etc. Perhaps I'm wrong. <shrug>

Think that scrapper is the easiest to begin with. Latter he/she can try other classes and see what is best for him/her.
I mostly play defenders/corruptors/controllers but I wouldn't suggest anyone to start with them.
Also anything/WP is good.

I'm gonna basically repost what i posted in the last 'which AT to try first' thread.

If you want to play the game, play a scrapper or brute.

If you want to [learn the game, play a blaster.

Nothing will force you to learn how to avoid mez'ers, which mobs to take out first, and how to use 'kiting' and range to your advantage like a blaster would.

Scrappers are basically just run and punch/stab/kick/catch on fire/etc, and the same with brutes. especially once you get your mez protection toggle.

I'm going to cast my vote for dom or blaster, unless you'll be alongside him teaching the ropes as he goes along. I remember my noob experience quite well: without knowledge of slotting and end management, every other AT is just bad:

Controllers have too many toggles and end-inefficient AoE attacks (I remember thinking to myself, "why would I ever get a single-target immob at level 1 when I can get an AoE immob at lvl2?"... that toon (earth/rad) never made it past lvl18...)

Tanks and Defenders are too low damage, and the benefits of being a tank or defender really come from proper slotting, without which your tank is going to be sucking wind and taking too much damage: your defender will be all kinds of bad (WM/Stone tank shelved at lvl20, FF/NRG def shelved at lvl24)

Scrappers may work depending on your secondary (regen and WP will work very well), but without proper power selection and slotting your resist/def-based scrappers are going to be very squishy for a long time (BS/regen shelved at lvl22).

Now that we have villains, I'll try to extrapolate my noob experience to those ATs:

MMs are complicated. 'Nuff said.

Brutes may suffer the same fate as Tanks, maybe: fury will help. My friend tried Brute as his first toon when he got a trial account, and he took to it pretty well.

Corrs have similar problems to Defenders: not as much damage as blasters coupled with end management issues due to poor slotting.

Stalkers would either be frustrating for a new player due to constant faceplanting, or will create yet another stalker who believes the only constructive things to add to a team is to ghost a mission or AS a mob and run away until stealth is back up.

Blasters and Doms are damage/damage ATs, so regardless of power selection, they have one choice: do damage. True, w/o proper slotting they will faceplant, suck wind, and constantly miss, but a poor blaster/dom is not as bad as a poor MM/def (trust me, I've been all four). These ATs will also teach them spacing and about specific enemy types (you tend to be able to pick out mezzers in the group better if you play w/ toons w/o mez protection), skills that carry over to other ATs your friend will eventually play.

YMMV, of course: my opinion is pretty biased... the first two 50s I had were Blaster (AR/Elec) and WS (OMG blaster w/ shields and heals!!!)

There's nothing easier than a Scrapper. For sheer simplicity, something like Claws/WP. Very hard to mess up.

For learning the game, I'd say the right way to go is a Defender, Controller or Dom. Good starting points are probably the better-loved buff sets like Kinetics or Empathy while Mind and Earth control can provide an education as to the types and value of different forms of controls.

Doms can be hard to play, but I ultimately find them to be less frustrating than Blasters. They still need active defense and situational awareness, but they have more going on than just damage on top of damage. Plus, almost all of them get cool pets.

Kat/Regen, BS/WP Scrapper

I think you hit the nail on the head with your first suggestion. Katana/WP. WP seems to take care of itsself and katana is a solid primary, good damage, defense mitigation, and not too heavy on the endurance.

I would first ask, how experienced in MMOs is your friend. An experienced player of other MMOs who understands the basics of ATs and primary roles, then I would say start a defender or corrupter for learning the game. If they are new to MMOs and AT sytle toons, then a scrapper /WP scrapper is a good start, maybe even a SS/WP brute, so they can concentrate on the actual game dynamics and not just trying to survive long enough to see what the enemy is doing.

I would be very interested in finding out what your friend chose after reading this.

I was totally unable to get into scrappers for a long time, and I still have a hard time "getting" them. The first character I managed to get past 20 was an energy/devices blaster.

IMHO: The best toon to start with is one where the CONCEPT grabs you. You can always team with people who can help you out, carry you a bit if you're a bit weak at low levels, and so on. What's gonna make it fun enough for you to stick around and learn your options is that the character concept makes you happy.

Blaster. Your friend will appreciate almost ALL other ATs after being pretty squishy and learn alot about aggro and tactics. Convince him fire/fire if you really want to be mean.

As you know, you're going to get all sort of different answers and it also largely depends on what the player really prefers/enjoys.

My first thought is always Blaster. I am biased though. Although, I think of Blaster as my first character (It was my first beyond 17 and to 50, but my first character ever was actually a Brute. As was my second... and all the way to 17, before I started playing Blueside).

Playing a Scrapper right out of the box could damage expectations and not allow the player to understand and respect how tough things can be for other ATs.
Not that Scrappers are auto/instant-gods or anything, hehe... But they certainly can be a fire and forget approach (For the early levels, at least).

However, that can be okay. The toughest part is wanting the first characters to be fun and not turn them off. And you may have no idea if this player is a type that could enjoy the harrowing experience of being a solo Blaster.

Honestly, with two friends alongside... There shouldn't be much issue with anything he chooses.

If you just explain some of the extremes beforehand... Scrappers and Brutes are a bit of Fire and Forget... Blasters are a bit more of Glass Cannons who need to be smart/clever/careful... Doms, Cors and even Defenders to lesser degrees, but with less damage and the different aspects of their powers and team roles... Tankers and their team role... Controllers and their particular niche and team role (And maybe dependancies at earlier levels)... Master Minds and their uniqueness (The numpad binds are tremendous, in my opinion).

Any and all can be a good intro... More than anything it depends on the player and what sort of excitement they may enjoy best. What complicates things even more is that... Even that player may not know what they'd enjoy most.
So, it is tricky... and sometimes best left to chance!
Best thing I can suggest is to give some rough ideas about the ATs and their general roles, but then just let them flip through the different powers and see what tickles their fancy.
With two teammates around, nothing will be a terrible selection.

And then the beauty of Alt-ing comes into play...

Best of luck!

Wouldn't it be best to simplify the choices down to Melee, Range, or Control for playstyle? Once the friend chooses one of those, then choose powersets. :3

When I first started playing, the friend who got me into the game suggested I start out with a Scrapper. He specifically told me not to try a Controller until I'd gotten into the game. Then again, that was probably because he had chosen a Controller as his first character, and spent a huge amount of time soloing with a very solo-unfriendly build. His advice was that Controllers were more complicated, although if played right could be some of the most powerful in the game.

I had never played an MMO before, and I found starting with a Scrapper to be a fine introduction. However, I'd recommend that as soon as you're comfortable with the game, start making lots of other characters of all sorts of ATs. Within a couple months of starting the game, I was fiddling around with a Tanker, Blaster, Controller, and Defender (this was pre-CoV) and I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of the game.

I started with Blasters, and never regretted that move. They peak early, they're flashy and fun, and by the time you get around to trying a Scrapper alt you'll really appreciate the extra durability.

Scrappers don't really bloom until the early 20s, which can be a long way off for a new player.

I'd assume they won't be sticking rigidly and exclusively to this character until they hit 50. Blasters are a great way to get your feet wet.

The biggest problem with starting with a Scrapper or other high survivability AT is that when when you switch to something squishy it's almost like starting a new game. You'll constantly be thinking things like "hey, since when did these stun?" and "wow, I don't remember those being dangerous". If you start on a Blaster, Dominator, or similar squishy character then you actually learn what the various enemies can do and how to counter them. Then later you try a Scrapper or Brute and learn to ignore all your normal tactics and just charge head on into everything, but at least you know some tactics for when they are needed.