Archery / Sonic or Sonic / Archery

So, as the title implies: Archery / Sonic Corruptor, or Sonic / Archery Defender? Which would be more effective both solo and on large teams? Which would be more effective endgame?

I love my /sonic corruptor, the -res helps magnify scourge. Also, /archery doesn't do much to take advantage of defender's higher debuff values, so I'd be inclined to go the corruptor route. The corr damage mods should give it that little extra "Oomph." The AoE in archery makes widespread scourging on teams possible.

For supprt, Sonic resonance won't carry a marginal team on its own, but with good players and/or other buffs, the rare +res combined with the highly effective -res will take any team from "okay" to "Smooth as gravy." Squishies will love the anti-mez, and playing any support set with mez protection is wonderful. (Solo especially.) Defenders will get better numbers on both buffs and debuffs, neither of which effects can be enhanced. Still, I find the difference between mods to be none too game changing, so my personal leaning is Corr still.

...Also, Rain of Arrows @32+Scourge.

*edit* As to the endgame, depending on who you play with, it's common for other players to get a lot of extra +defense, so bringing +res to this is awesome, and takes the teeth out of bad luck rolls. Being tougher after getting hit makes a lot of difference in tough encounters. That said, sonic resonance doesn't develop that much later on. Liquefy is the last big power of the set, and though it's awesome, you will not be able to use it that often, so you'll usually be using the same tools you had from it mid-game.

This really depends on your goals at 50. Do you plan on grouping more or soloing more? Personally, I'd go Defender, as you're going to bring a lot more -RES to the team which will probably make up for the (small) difference in Archery damage.

Defender Numbers (Corrupter Numbers)
Sonic Siphon -RES: 30% (22.5%)
Sonic Barrier +RES: 20% (15%)
Sonic Haven +RES: 20% (15%)
Sonic Cages: ~1 magnitude difference
Disruption Field -RES: 30% (22.5%)
Sonic Repulstion: ~1 magnitude difference
Clarity: ~3 magnitude difference
Liquify -DEF: 35.7% (25%)
Liquify -ToHit: 35.7% (25%)
Liquify -Rech: 28.5% (20%)

You'll bring about 30 more -RES to the team as a defender, as well as higher resistances to everyone else.

I usually solo from levels 1 through 32, and then begin teaming. At level 50, I'd be almost exclusively on teams.

It should be noted that sonic resonance is somewhat limited solo, but it can certainly be done. I might even do a solo build, and a team build kept separately. Solo, sonic resonance completely loses access to 2 shields, one mez clearing power, and two ally toggles. That's 5 out of 9 powers- gives you a lot of flexibility in a solo build, but also limits you.

It was brought up earlier that defenders get better sonic numbers- the resistant improvement is additive, so it's not that huge. The -res can be multiplicative, one a team.

The difference between the few will not be glaring- the biggest way it will show is when solo. You get all the attacks early as a corrupter, sonic/ gets all of its powers early. The biggest solo tools in sonic resonance are sonic siphon (right off the bat) and your big sonic bubble. Because Sonic/ brings you so few solo tools, I'd personally go for the /sonic, so that I get the more solo-friendly arrows early. That said, the defender does fare better late game, when it picks up its full arsenal. This because the corr can't improve its debuffs numbers, ever, and the defender can get pretty good damage once it accesses all its attacks and throws down all of its debuffs. (You'll need a team/pet anchor for that.)

Eh. I soloed a Force Field / Dark Blast Defender from level 1 through 32, so I'm pretty sure I could solo just about anything.

I solo'd a Grav/FF Controller...to 50.

So, it seems that Sonic / Archery Defender is the best bang for the buck, so to speak. Hrm. Too bad about Snap Shot...