Best defensive and offensive AT in CoX?

Vets - So after playing different ATs for years, what in your opinion is the best defensive and offensive AT (primary/secondary) in CoX? In my opinion, I think it's the SoAs (crab). If built right (and you have a ton of inf handy), the crab can be devastating in both AoE and ST damage. You also have room to softcap all positional defenses with decent resistance and have enough recharge to go perma-hasten. On top of all that, they have mez protection.

MFing Warshade, hands down.

Played right and built right, I've seen virtually every AT wipe the floor with anything that's thrown at them.

With the possible exception of Peacebringers, the poor bastards

I agree with Dechs. A tri-form Warshade, well built and well played, is something to see...or...play....

Oh, and one of my 20+ 50s is a crab...

My mind/Psionic Assault/Ice Mastry Dom feels pretty powerfull.

Damage is awesome, and well, now that she is perma dom (Which was really easy with mind) she esplodes the heads of all people, and on a defensive side she just holds things and smashes em to bits without really being in danger.

she just got her alpha unlocked but not slotted, and she still surpasses pretty much everything I have ever made...ever!

Brutes are what you want. SS/FA in particular is the pinnacle of damage-dealing, and can be incredibly hard to take down if built and played right.

The archetype that, not only do you enjoy playing, but that you also have the patience and determination to bring it through all content (1-50, incarnate, etc.), as well as invest in a build.

If you're talking about numbers and how good it looks on paper, I'd say either a Crab or a Warshade. While the Warshade would probably require more finesse, it still has a lot of tools that other archetypes are lacking.

As for my personal choice, I'd say an Arachnos Widow. Doesn't matter if it's a Fortunata or Night Widow, either can be the cherry on my cake. Or pie... hmmm pie..

Best offensive I believe is a Fire/Fire Dominator, if you're talking about sheer DPS.

Best defensive? Stone/Ice tank in Granite, hands down. You aren't going anywhere in a hurry, but that's okay, neither are your enemies, and they aren't going to kill you. Ever.

In the same AT? That one is a very tough call, and a legit case could be made for dozens of different builds.

Put me down as another vote for the mfing warshade. My purpled out warshade is a beast. Both Mires are no longer buffs with the level or recharge (200%) she has. They are crashless nukes. , that combined with three pets, perma-eclipse, and always having the rez up when things go south (lol barely ever) means she is not dieing and can farm ANY type of damage farm at +4/x8, and laugh in the face of anything short of hamidon (untyped un-resist-able damage). If they ever release an incarnate slot that gives defense/resistance to untyped damage . . . .

Oh and with Incarnate abilities a fire/fire/fire dom can tear things up without fear of face-planting.

I find once you get dominators enough recharge to be "Perma-doms" They're exceptional damage/defense-wise. Throw down an AoE Mez, go to town on your helpless victims. The mez approach also means you don't have to sweat nasty enemy abilities, either. Your weakness is missing.

Brutes are quite strong, in both offense and defense. With high caps, and an inherent begging them to steamroll, they are quite powerful. Their weakness is related to their secondary, and to their offense requires more specific positioning. (Melee being close, close cones, and close point blank AoE in many cases.)

Crabs are on paper tank-mages, all but immune to mez, with pets, almost unlimited AoE, incredible defenses, and debuffs besides. This is true in practice too, most of the time. Reliance on Defense with no DDR can be a hassle, but not too often. Their weaknesses are their endurance, their lower base HP, and their 'modest' burst damage abilities.

Blasters, especially those with buildup and aim, can destroy huge swaths at mobs at a time. Tricks like softcapping, huge +recharge, smart powerpool picks, and/or good inspiration usage make them able to decimate foes and live with ease. Their weakness is their lack of mez protection, and low HP. They require both more alertness and/or careful building to reach longevity to size up to their incredible damage.

Scrappers are easy- high damage, good defenses. Weaknesses relate to their secondaries, again, and their offense needs specific more positioning. (Melee being close, close cones, and close point blank AoE in many cases.)

Both Defenders and Corruptors can turn their medium damage into something incredible through debuffs and boosts. They also usually get limited mez and healing to counter trouble. Their weaknesses include moderate starting damage, low HP, and often lack of mez protection. There are also some secondaries that won't improve their offense as well, but these are better on the defense side, in most cases.

Controllers can have high mitigation, and use tricks to reach high offense. Their weaknesses are the low HP, often lack of mez protection, and the need to layer mez in many cases. To reach very high offense, they usually need to choose from a subset of available abilities. (Illusion/, Fire/, /Kinetics, /Cold, and /Radiation having some of the better tools for doing so.)

Masterminds are the force multipliers that bring their own force. My mastermind can do things in their sleep other characters can only dream about. An army of robots, ninjas, zombies/etc? Pu tthis with some good buffs/debuffs, and you can go crazy. Oh, yeah, tank mode if you want/need it. AoE Seems the only weakness, and a few secondaries offer less reliable pet/personal protection.

Huh. Must've listed just about all the archetypes there. Go Figure.

The more I mess around with IOs, the more I think those determine what plays best. Except with Peacebringers, or so I'm told.