Best is relative in this game. Realistically, many combinations of Tanker will do fine solo. If you asked me to throw out a combo for a soloing Tanker it would be Shield/Fire Melee, Shield/Super Strength or Fire/Super Strength. However, for some unsolicited advice, I would go Scrapper or Brute if you're going to primarily solo. Those ATs do substantially more damage and have more than enough survivability.
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Tankers are slow solo. Go Brute or Scrapper.
@FloatingFatMan
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Alrighty, what's a good set up to balance both survivability and decent DPS? The only brute I currently have is claws/reflexes and he's strong, but overly squishy
Try a Claws/Will Power Brute.
The other option I like is a Willpower/Electric tank
You guys and your completely safe tankers, scrappers, and brutes. Abandon caution and go blaster! Sure face plants can be frequent and the learning curve for survival is steep but what a rush when your damage capped and laying foes low in short order. 
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
Have you looked into any global channels? I am certain Exalted must have a global channel dedicated to people looking to team.
Turning to your original question:
I find Mace to be an excellent tanker powerset due to some good single and small group attacks. You could go a sturdy route with most primaries, or take a more offensive approach with either shield or fire.
Scrappers and Brutes are a good option as well. Either should be able to solo fairly easily after single origins (level 22). Perhaps avoid shield on brute (it's upsides are more evident on either scrappers or tanks). That said, I have a 50 axe/shield brute which I am completely happy with.
Reflexes isn't squishy, just give it time to develop. Notice that AoE attacks will be your bane until a relatively high level (which would be less true on a tank). Willpower takes forever, in my opinion, to blossom since it lacks a self-heal. On the contrary, fire is great at low levels and becomes a deathfest in the 30s.
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@sermon
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I've said before, as others have - blaster would be my recommendation starting out. Learning 'active defense' (as opposed to toggles) hardens you for the tougher content, and learning to accept the occasional faceplant makes it less likely that you'll get frustrated with squishier archetypes. Armor and shields are great, but pop-up blasting and around-the-corner nuking are also fulfilling in a visceral way. 
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Dunno about brute, but I had a really good time playing a claws/will power scrapper. I typically ran him on +1/+8 missions, had lots of fun with that rascal all the way to L50 pretty quickly and almost entirely solo.
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Originally Posted by Rapthorne
Alrighty, what's a good set up to balance both survivability and decent DPS? The only brute I currently have is claws/reflexes and he's strong, but overly squishy
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------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
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SR REALLY blooms in the 30s, but can be painful before then. All scrappers and brutes have good damage output, but /WP and /Invul tend to be the best out of the box sets. As a new player I would suggest /WP. |
Originally Posted by Rapthorne
Alrighty, what's a good set up to balance both survivability and decent DPS? The only brute I currently have is claws/reflexes and he's strong, but overly squishy
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The people on the scrapper boards are really friendly and helpful, even if you are not playing a scrapper. Brute players and stalker players regularly go there for advice also.
For solo play, nothing beats a Scrapper or Brute though.
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The SR/Fire Tanker I tried last night was an absolute joyride.
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
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Warshade or Mastermind!
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Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan
Tankers are slow solo. Go Brute or Scrapper.
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total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
There really is no such thing as a "good DPS tanker," at least not prior to the late 20s to late 30s. If you want high survivability and good DPS, you're basically looking at a brute. That being said, my electric/electric tanker is pretty close to what you're looking at; Lightning Reflexes helps significantly with DPS, and electric melee gets reasonably good DPS with a seldom-resisted damage type.
I'm going to try and keep my thoughts contained and not ramble on... As you've asked for a Tanker suggestion (and then maybe a Brute/Scrapper one)...
But I will just offer a slightly more philosophical response...
Anything and everything can solo well. It really is just a matter of what strategy fits into your preference for fun - What you'll enjoy doing the most.
That preference for fun may not be known yet by a specific player... but, if/when you find it... it is glorious!
I happen to love soloing as my Electric/Electric Blaster... and that is how I started the game (I feel like I lucked out).
I find it thrilling and rewarding, yet not too challenging. All of that, of course, is entirely subjective.
Soloing as different ATs can be very different experiences.
Anyway... besides the concept of picking what you might enjoy the most for solo play... You may want to examine your strategy and see if there is something more you can do that is negatively impacting your experience (more/better inspiration use, change of difficulty settings, change of expectations, a different approach to initiating combat, a different sequence of attacks, etc.).
Best of luck and keep poking, asking, looking, trying! 
As for a Tanker... I have a Shield Defense/Super Strength Tanker that I love playing. I can't say that I always feel the strongest/sturdiest, but I solo a lot and take things out nicely. It doesn't hurt that I just simply love the character and enjoy playing him, regardless, hehe.
@Zethustra
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and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
You can solo with anything even an empathy/whatever defender. But for the safest fast soloing go brute, scrapper, or tanker.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
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My empathy/beam rifle defender seemed mighty squishy.
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Originally Posted by TerraDraconis
You can solo with anything even an empathy/whatever defender. But for the safest fast soloing go brute, scrapper, or tanker.
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My Willpower/Super Strength tank floored anything that got in his way. I had to up the difficulty just so I didn't fall asleep!
...I forgot what experience means.
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Originally Posted by Rapthorne
Okay, I am loving CoH so far, however I often find myself having no choice but to solo.
My solution to this is simple: Make a tanker, however I have no idea about what's a good tanker combo. So, my question is: Assuming lots of solo play, what is the best tanker power set? |
First of all, why do you say that you have no choice but to solo? I am assuming you know how tells and global channels work? I know that if I was playing on my main server (Protector) and someone posted in a channel I visited, or sent me a tell saying that they were a new player and couldn't find anyone to team with I would more often than not be willing help them out.
Alternatively if you're new and you're having trouble finding people to play with, Virtue or Exalted might be a good place to make characters. Both are high population even at odd times- I've seen the help channels booming on both servers well after 2 AM Eastern Time.
The moral of the story is: You shouldn't feel like you have to play any certain Archetype because you're having trouble finding people to play with, especially right now with so many people making new characters due to all the new goodies. If you want to solo, that's a different conversation, for which I would agree that a Scrapper or Brute would probably be better for you than a Tank.
Okay, I am loving CoH so far, however I often find myself having no choice but to solo.
My solution to this is simple: Make a tanker, however I have no idea about what's a good tanker combo.
So, my question is: Assuming lots of solo play, what is the best tanker power set?