A new AT.

I am a new player looking for a new AT to quench my noob power hunger.
I have a high level Ill/Rad 'troller but fear that continuing with just him could compromise my own enjoyment.
Now to the part where you can control what somebody else does.
I am looking for a more active AT. The problem I had was that Ill/Rad had only the toggles and pets. Sure it feels fun to not have to put a lot of effort into the fight, but feeling like a leech definitely does not sound like the heroic dream.
Most games I play range due to not liking to have to move my guy with that of the villain/victim. What AT and/or Power combinations would you recommend? All I want is to feel like more than a Leadership Totem. (I like char concept to be RP if possible:No plant/fire's for pure pencil paper excellence)

So make a Plant/Fire with a strong character concept.

My recommendation was going to be some form of Dominator, and out of personal preference I recommend Plant Control. It matures very early (you get your most useful power at level 8 and it serves you for the entire game), it gives you solid Area Effect damage (the AoE immobilize is more damaging than any other), and it has a lot of really solid utility.

From there, what you pick to go with it is up to you. I'd personally say go for a set with good ranged if that's your preference, even though Dominator Assault sets are designed to do their best single target damage at close range once things are locked down. You can get around that by being a bit more patient and going with an Area effect sort of approach.

In any case you will be a lot more active as a teammate and a soloist, and there's nothing that beats eliminating 100% of incoming enemy damage with a well placed AoE hold or Seeds of Confusion with Domination up.

Of course you wold say Plant/Fire :-) anybody else have any suggestions?

Plant/Thorn.

No, really, if you're looking for combination of RP concept and ability - well, quite a bit opens up, but it's really a question of what you *enjoy.*

If you're wanting to stay at range, of course, there are some sets you'd want to avoid - but playing a Dom (which, frankly, I enjoy) /Fire really is a good secondary. Good damage, you can avoid the melee powers if you want and not be gimping yourself. My Mind/Fire, for instance, was (still is) a beast.

Side note, while it might be easier (concept wise) to throw a certain pairing together (mind/psi, say,) if you hit something resistant to your main damage type... yeah, it'll be painful.

While you're talking range, did you like pets? You may have a mastermind combo that works for you - my first MM was a Bots/FF, and I felt.. well, a lot like you describe. Bubble them up, run leadership and be an observer. Switching to Thugs/Poison made me love the AT again. If you like range, you'll probably want to look into Thugs, Bots, Mercs or Demons, paired with a fairly active secondary like Poison or Dark (Traps is popular, but active in a different way - not for everyone. I like it, though.)

Of course, there's always Blasters, Corruptors and Defenders (or if you want to stay with buffing/debuffing, Controllers, as well.)

Personally, I'd tackle it from the other side. Come up with an idea for a *character,* and start working inward to see what sets would fit.

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Question:
I am choosing between two chars.
Plant/Storm 'troller
Plant/Fire Dom
Which do you think I should go with?

The dom would garner you less hate if you don't know how to utilize Storm "right" - it has more than a bit of knockback.

But both are good.

Okay, here is a little more information.
I love team play, but end up playing solo often.
As long as I can survive Solo and obliterate in team.
I am used to the feeling of a passive 'troller so the adaptation.
I don't know about damage for either the 'troller or Dom, but I have managed thus far with my ILL/RAD(lvl50)
I hear that 'troller have better control than that of the Dom, and was wondering if the /fire's damage outwieghs the power of /storm and stronger mag.
Thi is all opinionated, but due to my new existance in this community I have decided to listen to my elders. That's you.

Actually, even though there are variables to consider, I think most people would agree once you factor in Domination, even if it isn't a 'perma-dom' build, Dominators have better control. And better damage.

Controllers have better support skills. Debuffs, buffs, hears, etc.

That said, Storm, while quite hard for some to use well, really ups the damage output more than a lot of troller secondaries. Add in the resistance debuffs, too, and your whole will be doing more damage when you get a chance to team. Also, plant has -kb available to it, which makes storm a little more team friendly.

That said, if you want absolute control.. Go with the Dom.
If you want solo damage output. The Dom wins.
If you like the support/debuff angle, go with the troller.

If you want active - try a kin - sb should keep you busy

or find a KB heavy team and tank for them

oh and Madadh don't forget to factor in the crits 'trollers can get on their mezzes - those increase mag.

Outside of domination, controllers have better control. Within domination, doms win for control. I have a level 50 Plant/storm/ice and a level 20 Plant/fire. The dom is definitely more offensive based, but the controller was one of the more fun trips to 50. It becomes solo friendly fairly early and I can't recall what diff setting I tried soloing a Freakshow mission on. I know it ended up being around x4, or x6 and this was using SO type slotting in the 30s. I think both are equally fun, so I don't think you can really go wrong with either. My guess is you will want the dom more.

You may simply need to try both and then find out what one works for you best. Maybe both of them become fun. You could for a concept go with the dom as the evil twin, or have one be male and the other be female and they are Romeo and Juliet type lovers. I can see where one might have mostly green and some brown for colors and the other one has the inverse, or whatever color scheme you want to go with.

I didn't read anything in your (admittedly scanned) posts that tell me you're opposed to melee, so if you like to be active and move with your opponent - role a Something/Willpower scrapper.

I have Broadsword/WP scrapper that I love. One warning about Broadsword - the attacks are high damage so they have a longer recharge to make up for that. I use to joke that I could run through my attack chain, go throw my laundry in the dryer, and grab a drink before my attacks had recharged. And willpower is basically a click-n-forget defense set that is very balanced and provides good survivability.

My BS/WP scrapper was my first 50. My second was a mind/fire dom who is VERY fun to play as well.

A Fire/Dark Corr might be something to think about. good both solo/teamed, great damage and control. Ranged and tanky all in one.

I know the title says "A new AT." but I have been counciled into dom and have a personal preference of 'troller.

I never said I disliked Melee for the pure fact that I have not really played them. Not a single melee has made it past level 5. Well, other than my widow.

I do not really think melee is my place due to the small room between me and the villain/victim. And this scares me do to the trouble I am having with the idea of softcaps and such. This is the first game that I would have truly had to dedicate time to my defense. Other games I either had no control over it or I had a panic button for quick Def. I understand the concept, but slotting just feels like an enormous puzzle, especially when I probably have 100mil total among all of my chars.

I loved Ill/Rad due to my PAs ability to bypass my lack of defense. I have no money to spend so inf intensive builds are terrible for me.

I am also very fond of being told what to do. I enjoy reading what others say and taking into account. My favorite guides are the ones with the lvl by lvl information. As an uneducated member of a community that is so keen on the little fibers, it is nice to hop on the car. I am here to enjoy this game so it helps eliminate all of the boring statistical parts.

The greatest enjoyment I have of this game, is the feeling of control. That is why I dislike Cor and Blast. They just feel like a missile silo. I did not become a hero/villain to let the/my villain/victim get a quick and painless death. I want them to panic, to be confused, to fight each other. I am the definition of a Vigilante/Villain. The use of control helps feed the sadistic side of my concepts.

So back to the point, I am either going to choose one or go both.(Plant/Fire or Plant/Storm) Under the guise that I will choose only one of them, which one would you recommend?

As has been said a couple times, plant/storm is fantastic. I rolled one simply because I wanted to run with the concept of Plant/Storm/Earth epic for a nature powered character and didn't expect it to be as awesome as it is. It's more fun than a barrel of drunken monkeys with POWER TOOLS. Seeds of confusion aside (as it is an awesome power for mitigation and some extra damage to mobs) I can lock down spawns in a ridiculous way, and given proper planning obliterate them just as easily. It's also much more active than ill/rad as you mentioned you wanted something more intense I believe.

Just imagine dropping your AOE hold, AOE immob, carrion creepers, then busting out a thunder storm, tornado and ice slick on top of them. Extra bonus in having your pet out already so it will charge in and beat the tar out of things. And if that doesn't finish them off, Fissue and Siesmic Slam surely will. I'm not even purpled out, just some basic IOs and a couple of sets, and I can double stack thunderstorm, practically perma'd tornado, and with the defense granted by steamy mist and rock armor I'm very safe while doing so. If you're worried about the knock-around aspect of storm then rest assured that plant primary takes care of that without trouble. And honestly, there's really just nothing in the game as cool looking as Carrion Creepers.