Huntsman build is... kind of fun, but an AR blaster is going to blow it out of the water. I was liking my Huntsman character for a long while, but his anemic ST output was really a downer with all the EBs (AVs on teams) he was fighting in the 40s. On the other hand, the Blaster isn't going to have all the team buffs and defense from your primary powers, either. You can build for defense with a Blaster, of course, but SoAs have all those built in powers that give them a lot of it before IOs or pool powers.
I would think you could make a Blaster or Corruptor similar to a SoA by digging in to the Leadership pool a lot, but of course the numbers from those (for end use, etc.) would not be as good. The Corruptor would get better buff numbers from Leadership, though. Traps has a lot of Huntsman-ish powers, too, so AR/Traps might be a good way to go. Of course, the Blaster is going to do more damage out of the box, and the Munitions Mastery has Surveillance, which is also an SoA power.
Kind of go with what you want to be able to do with the character, and/or concept: whatever keeps you happy for the character and playing the game.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
If your goal is to use a gun, AR is likely best, If your goal is good single target damage that plays well both solo and on teams the bane is an easy win.
the numbers on ar's two single target attacks are 67 for burst, 102 for slug both entirely lethal
The bane has more single target attacks more variety in damage type and more ways to add additional damage and very comparable damage in the attacks. Poisonous ray does 111 points of toxic damage, Mace beam does 55 divided between energy and smashing. You have build up adding 80% of your base damage and you can gain an easy 40-60% in -res debuffs bringing your peak additional damage up to 252 percent of base verses the AR blasters 250 of base. Your debuffs add to the entire teams damage
OK i cannot find any postings on this subject and im new to the forums, i have to ask this question because im thinking of making one of the two. i do have a lvl 50 crab but because of the legs i don't want my wolf second build However, im leaning towards making a blaster or corruptor equal to a hunts minus the pets.
1) now the question... are hunts and ar blaster/corrup basically the same - the pets? please shed some light on this for me.
2) hunts +bane powers v.s crab .. which is better for solo and teams (pve)
thank you.