Finally making a Defender

In my everlong quest to get out of the Melee only mindset after almost 7 years of playing.. i am looking for a fun Defender set to roll....here are some things i am loooking for

1. Ability to play solo and/or on a team but not to be a complete weak gimp solo
2. Fun Fun Fun

Thats really about it...so please all you Defender experts out there if you could guide me on a great first time defender build for an experienced melee player... thank you!!

@DaSlaya

Hate to sound like a broken record, BUT..

Anything Traps will give you what your looking for.

Link to my post about my build. Just bring it into MIDS and pick whatever secondary you want. It is just about the same slotting wise with all the powers.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=254063

Fun is really subjective, and I would advise you to experiment with the different Defender elements of support and decide what is more fun for you.

By different elements I mean buffing, debuffing, healing, and blasting(less time casting debuffs/buffs/heals=more time to blast). The primaries contain different levels of the above mentioned elements, and it's up to you to decide which is more fun for you.

You've played only melee types for seven years? I know just what you need: Storm Summoning.

It's fast, it's absolutely crazy and it's chaotic. It also requires a very keen sense of positioning if you want to play it well, but with seven years of melee, you know positioning, I'd wager. It does have a ton of knockback, but that's part of the fun. Just think where you're sending the victim and it'll be fine.

If you want something less mad, it's fine, but everyone should try Storm at least once.

I'm also a fan of Forcefields, but I don't think I'd recommend it as a first Defender to anyone. It's fun in its own way, but it basically caps out at level 22 and stays that way all the way to 50.

Hmmmm ...

Did an Apex this morning with Auroxis -- weird thing, that.

I'm currently digging Traps -- no ST buffs (I've done enough levels of FF and Kin to know that playstyle isn't for me). OMG levels of defender damage (lots of space for damage procs, lots of -resistance). Mez protection. Lots of defense. Some -ToHit. Some control. Some -damage. -Regen. 2 or 3 eminently skippable powers mean there's lots room to add in blasts and leadership powers. Low end drain (no toggles). No ******* around with toggled debuffs.

And, here's the crucial thing: Traps' playstyle isn't markedly different solo or teamed.

I'd definitely recommend one of the debuff focused defender sets. They all solo reasonably well and are a lot of fun.

Here's my $0.02 on each of the debuff sets:

1. Traps: A very tough defender and gets some mez protection (which as a melee player you know the value of). Powers tend to be on long recharges which leaves more time for blasting.

2. Storm: A nice set with a focus on positioning through knockback/repel along with a bit of team protection through resistance/healing and offense through lightning cloud/tornado/freezing rain. That being said, I personally find Storm frustrating to play on a Defender/Corruptor but a lot of fun on a Controller. YMMV.

3. Radiation Emission: Probably the most popular debuff set. Provides strong offensive debuffs with healing and a bit of control. I've never actually played one so can't really say much beyond that.

4. Dark Miasma: The Controller of Defender primaries. It provides some healing and defense/resistance and has a decent -resistance component in Tar Patch but it's primary focus is on protecting the team by controlling enemies and debuffing their hit chances. All in all a very nice set.

5. Trick Arrow: The games only pure debuffing set. VERY good offensively combining high levels of -resistance and a high damage attack/debuff power. The downside is that the damage mitigation it provides is somewhat limited compared to other sets. It does have what is probably the best AoE hold in the game but the long recharge means you can't use it every spawn. Like Storm I think Trick Arrow works better for a Controller than a Defender/Corruptor but unlike Storm I don't find it frustrating to play on Defenders/Corruptors.

Traps or TA. Let's you play the game and not buff folks every 60 seconds. If you want to have fun, look for powersets that aren't designed to buff others.

Now, I am IN NO WAY saying that those sets are bad or that you can't learn to play them and have fun. I am saying that if your main objective is to have fun "rigth out of the box with little assembly required," play powersets that allow you to blast away or set traps and blast away.

Sonic has the advantage of not being Kinetic. Seems like you could have any powerset and folks don't say a word. If they spot a Kin on the team, you get the occassional, "SB Please." It seemed worse some time ago and not as bad now.

I don't mind boosting others and buffing, especially before big fights. I didn't buy the game to pass out Speed Boost, though. There's a Kin on Virtue who specifically skipped SB because it annoyed him.

I vote for experimenting with different types to see what you like.

Another idea is when you team with Defenders look at there type, see how they play, chat with them as you go along and somone might inspire you. Doing this led me to making a Rad/Electric that is so much fun. She has no problem being in a big group of baddies and is soloing pretty well.

I hope you find something fun.

Storm/Sonic or Trick Arrow/Archery get my votes.

i appreciate all the input guys..the defender community sure is nice n responsive!! I am going to roll a Traps/Rad for my first attempt at defender life...cheers!!