I was just going to chime in, then I read you're going "premium more often than not"?
Do I take that to mean that sometimes you'll be resubbing, but not every month? Not sure what vet status you have, but if you're premium, I think you'll need to be on the 8th tier of reward tokens or pay $2 monthly for an invention license.
I have a build for my fire tank that I just posted, but it's expensive. Not massively so, 2 of the three PvP io sets are cheaper than purples. Well, actually all three are, as I've gotten the Panacea Heal, glad proc and Shield Wall proc with alignment merits.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=277820
Obviously, given your criteria, my build wouldn't be right for you. But there may be some pearls in there that you might not have thought of. I always like looking at other builds because some folks think of IO sets to use in ways I hadn't thought of. Your mileage may very.
I'd actually reworked my build to have more defense and a touch more resistance because of the incarnate trials. No VIP status, no trials. : (
"Most people that have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
@Ukase
Indeed, nice summary, and thanks all for your help
Oh, and the Cardiac Alpha is not an option, as I will go Premium more often than not