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Katana/Willpower is a (the?) classic beginner's combo. It's easy to build, easy to play, and very survivable. Toggle up and go. About the only thing to remember is to hit Divine Avalanche every now and then. The combo also gives up nothing at the top end, so it isn't JUST a beginner's combo.
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Originally Posted by Impervious Fist
So I'm on a quest to become atleast alright with most ATs. I've had experience with most of them over 7 years. I started with Controllers, migrated to Defenders, than Corruptors, than Blasters. Now I'm stuck. I want to move to melee ATs next, but I don't have much experience with them. So is there any good melee Primary/Secondary that would be good to begin to get used to it a bit?
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"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
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Perfect answer. Danke.
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Originally Posted by Werner
Katana/Willpower is a (the?) classic beginner's combo. It's easy to build, easy to play, and very survivable. Toggle up and go. About the only thing to remember is to hit Divine Avalanche every now and then. The combo also gives up nothing at the top end, so it isn't JUST a beginner's combo.
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@Blaze Moon, Blaze Moon the 2nd
This is where something more interesting than my global and this sentence would be.
I should mention that you probably won't find it overly survivable from 1-20. Scrappers tend to be just another squishy in this range, and I think most of us focus on attacks during this period following the "kill them before they kill me" philosophy. By spamming Divine Avalanche, you probably COULD be pretty solid for a lowbie Scrapper, but damage output will probably still be your main mitigation for a while. I can't remember exactly how Willpower goes, but things typically get significantly better for Scrappers in the 20s, and drastically better in the 30s.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
Or if you want a smoother leveling up experience and are not averse to chasing Fury (meaning running from spawn to spawn with little pause, maniacally killing everything in your way), I'd suggest you start with a Kat/WP brute. Brutes have a much smoother experience from the very start because of fury enhancing their damage, while scrappers have to wait to have their attacks 3-slotted with damage SOs. On a brute, you can just put 2 end redux and 2 acc SOs in your attacks and be golden.
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Truth!|
Originally Posted by Exxar
Or if you want a smoother leveling up experience and are not averse to chasing Fury (meaning running from spawn to spawn with little pause, maniacally killing everything in your way), I'd suggest you start with a Kat/WP brute. Brutes have a much smoother experience from the very start because of fury enhancing their damage, while scrappers have to wait to have their attacks 3-slotted with damage SOs. On a brute, you can just put 2 end redux and 2 acc SOs in your attacks and be golden.
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At the top end, the Brute will be a little more survivable while giving up a little damage, though it won't be huge difference. But the early leveling experience should definitely go more smoothly on the Brute. Willpower also has Quick Recovery, which should help with a common lowbie Brute issue, which is that chasing Fury destroys your blue bar, but not chasing Fury means low damage output.
I tend to prefer Scrappers, but Brute might really be the way to go for your first melee.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
Lots of good advice. Could use alot of it. 
@Blaze Moon, Blaze Moon the 2nd
This is where something more interesting than my global and this sentence would be.
Depending exactly what sort of experience you're looking for, you might actually prefer scrappers over brutes. Since you're new to melee, you might prefer a scrapper so you can pay attention to the subtle little nuances of being first in the door, and how close you can get to certain spawns before they aggro, and knowing that you'll still be doing plenty of damage even if you take your time rather than constantly feeling rushed.
Brutes often seem to suffer from classic "scrapperlock" worse than some scrappers, and I suspect we'd call it "brutelock" if scrappers hadn't been around for a year and a half first.
"OMG something there just moved -- must go pound/hack/slice it!! The Fury Bar demands it!""
Fury can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be a monkey on your back if and/or when you want to stop and look around the battlefield, or when real life calls, or when you want to stop and say something in "team" or "sg chat" and can't (or won't) because of that fury bar hovering...slipping downward...downward....
Beyond that, the two AT's are pretty similar -- they both do a lot more damage compared to that other melee favorite, the tank, and both are more survivable right off the bat than a lot of so-called "squishies." Maybe try one of each to 10th or 20th level and see which you prefer?
Either way, welcome to the up-close, right-in-your-face fray! 
"But it wasn't anything some purples and oranges and lots of screaming in fear couldn't handle." -- Werner
30 level 50's: 12 scrappers, 7 other random melee types, 11 blaster/blapper/support squishies, two accounts, and a TON of altitis since 4/28/04
Hmmm.
If I was recommending a scrapper/brute 'first toon' for melee....
I'd look at:
BS/SD: Tons of fun, looks great, and tough as nails. The SD secondary is nice and simple. Plus, can you say 'iconic'? Sword and board is a classic. Throwing parries is easy, feels right, and blends right in while making you immortal. The huge taunt aura makes sure things stick like glue, and Shield Charge is pure awesome in a bucket-sized serving. The against all odds damage boost gets you serious damage output, and the plentiful AOE's and ST attacks give you lots of slotting flexibility.
Claws/wp: WP is set and forget, and Claws gets a completely usable attack chain, AOE and all, by level 8. Claws gets a ranged attack that does knockdown, one of the best damage adders in the GAME right in your attack chain, and the joy of the 'spinvelope.' Willpower loves a crowd, which is EXACTLY where you want to be to let Spin do it's magic. And willpower's taunt aura is weak, but present. Mobs don't run, but easily peel off to pick on the shielders and invulns instead of you.
Elec/Elec: These two synergize very well, look and feel awesome, and again, electric is a nice, simple secondary: Set and forget. The endurance drains in this combo may feel more comfortable to people coming from a control/debuff background. The crash and boom of Thunderstrike is awesome, and Lightning Rod is the bigger, meaner brother of Shield Charge, awesome served up in a bathtub. Electric armor lacks a taunt aura, but gets lightning field instead. Running can be an issue, but take and use Air Superiority or Boxing for some single target and soft control and it should play just fine.
Kat/wp: As mentioned, the ultimate in smooth rides. A little bland maybe, but hey, vanilla is the most popular flavor for a reason. Divine avalanche slots right into your attack chain and makes you immortal in melee: use frequently. Willpower is toughest in crowds but is completely comfortable without as well. Not very 'sturm und drang' like elec/elec, but that can be soothing, as well.
Things to avoid: Regen, fire armor, dark armor. All can be truly awesome, but all take a LOT more work. Micro-managing your survival means you get a LOT more bang for your buck, but it's way too much workload on top of learning melee fighting, tactics, and most of all, developing your combat awareness: What's going on in the entire battlespace?
Melee in CoH is all about battlespace management: Tankers have to learn this a LOT, but even scrappers/brutes need to develop some sense of 'where things are.' Is that next spawn too close? Is that approaching patrol gonna get here before the current fight is in-hand? Is the AV pointed at the squishies? Etc, etc, etc.
It's gonna be good times! Welcome to the brawl.
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I think you have 2 decisions to make before I can offer advice. First, which AT sounds most appealing. You have Brutes, Scrappers, Stalkers, and Tanks to choose from. |
Originally Posted by Impervious Fist
So I'm on a quest to become atleast alright with most ATs. I've had experience with most of them over 7 years. I started with Controllers, migrated to Defenders, than Corruptors, than Blasters. Now I'm stuck. I want to move to melee ATs next, but I don't have much experience with them. So is there any good melee Primary/Secondary that would be good to begin to get used to it a bit?
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1) Stalkers are kinda the odd man out due to being heavily built around the stealth mechanic. This can be great, especially if you plan to solo a lot, but often isn't great, especially when toughness is the trade off. Sure, you can mostly ignore the stealth aspect, and play your stalker as a glass scrapper, but it's not a good plan for a first melee alt..
2) Tanks are a very solid choice just due to the extreme survivability. In general, they will probably solo fairly slow compared to your other choices due to lower DPS and getting attacks later, but you don't faceplant if you make a mistake most of the time. There is something to be said for that. Another potential downside though, is that people will often expect a lot more out of you other than just, attack things, kill kill kill! If you put your old Controller mentality one a bit for these times, you'll probably be fine (Taunt and Guantlet are mezzes).
3) Brutes are another very solid choice. My only hesitation on them would be the exact same concenr a previous poster mentioned. Many players tend to fall into the trap of overly chasing Fury. Even experienced melee players.
4) Scrappers are also a great choice. They really are the basic melee type all other melee'ers are contrasted to. They do have the fragile problem (to a slight degeree) early, before their defenses gel, but not too bad.
All said, I'd probably recommend the scrapper. Best choice for a newcomer by a decent margin, in my opinion. After that, the others. Brutes and Tanks sorta tie for second, then Stalkers last is my personal advice. But, feel free to play the ATs that pique your interested.
Second, you'll need to decide what Type of defenses you want. There are basically the 3 different types (and a few that are really mostly hybrids), and they play a good deal differently. The 3 broad categories are,
1) Defense based
2) Resistance based
3) Or regen based (which I would include WP into, even though it has some def and res, too) Both regen and heal both also offer easy end management with QR.
The 3 different types all play different from each other. So if you find you enjoy, I'd recommend eventually trying all three.
For a beginning melee type, I'd go with the following choices for each broad category.
1) For defense, I'd say SR is a the best beginners chioce, and now you can take it as all for melee ATs, so regardless of the AT you choose, if you want a defense based alt as a new melee alt, it can be a SR. It's easy to puzzle out the build strategy, and if you want, easy to cap. And the immunity to debuff is nice. It starts slow, but just gets stronger and stronger as the level pass by. It gets a sharper rise in performance more than any other alt, it always seemed to me.
2) For Resistance based sets, I'd probably choose Invul, as it's just all around quite capable (but invul and stone are both more hybrids than anythign else) and if you dismiss Invul, I'd go witht he elec for the reasons mentioned above. Strong all around resistances, and some very nice and easy to use utilities.
3) If you want to survive first and foremost on Regen, pick willpower. It's not click based, so it's a easy regen set to play, and it gives ya a head start to both defense (to some attack types), and to Resistances.
Well, That's my advice. Hope it helps.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy whichever you pick.
So I'm on a quest to become atleast alright with most ATs. I've had experience with most of them over 7 years. I started with Controllers, migrated to Defenders, than Corruptors, than Blasters. Now I'm stuck. I want to move to melee ATs next, but I don't have much experience with them. So is there any good melee Primary/Secondary that would be good to begin to get used to it a bit?
@Blaze Moon, Blaze Moon the 2nd
This is where something more interesting than my global and this sentence would be.