FupDup

To answer the OP's question, I don't really have much in the way of a specific power combo. In terms of AT's, I favor Sentinels over other AT's. Yeah they don't do the most DPS, nor can they tank the most damage, but they've got a good blend of everything in a single versatile package. I normally like "all rounder" characters like Soldier 76 in Overwatch, The Soldier in TF2, or medium/heavy mechs in Mechwarrior games. Sentinels are the COH equivalent of that. It boggles my mind how this game existed on live for so long without Sents because of just how gigantic of a hole this was in the AT roster. I am theorycrafting some Scrappers though so they might be a second runner up. I had a Huntsman VEAT I used to play a few years ago too but he's long retired.

Sentinel blast sets get some unique changes in a few places, like Beam Rifle gaining an chain AOE attack (arguably "best" version of BR because of that) and Assault Rifle getting flipped upside down (gets aim, ignite is replaced by single-target incinerator). All of them have their usual mezz attacks like Tesla Cage turned into strong damage attacks (while still keeping the mezz). They all lose sniper attacks in the process though. Besides that, the different secondaries and AT modifiers might make a set have more synergy with one AT than another, i.e. debuffs from blast sets are stronger on Corr/Def than Blaster, so those sets may have better synergy on a support AT than a pure DPS. Same goes with armor sets. For example, Sentinel SR gains a passive 30% (enhanceable) recovery, toggle mezz protection (Master Brawler), and a clicky absorb shield (also Master Brawler). Sentinel Invuln is also bonkers because it gets passive +10 max endurance and passively refreshing absorb shield, both in one single auto power. Sents get the best variant of Regen hands down (still kinda meh but a lot more playable). So basically an AT/build is more than just the sum of its parts. There are synergies and individual differences (when applicable) that can complicate 1:1 comparisons.

An alternative to that would be to fire either an explosive bullet or shotgun shell, which achieves the AOE effect with only a single recoil motion.

Funnily enough, this already happens if you've got Dual Pistols and the ninja run stance. I don't know if it's possible to do on weapon sets that don't dual-wield though, because technically you can't have a sword and rifle in a different hand at the same time under the current system (only one OR the other).

For the Buddy Cop badge, you have to save Detective Hopp in various Dark Astoria story arcs. First in Heather's arc, then later in Dream Doctor's. The problem is that he also appears in a mission from Praetor Duncan, and if I save him there then he doesn't show up in Dream Doctor's mission. If I save him in Heather's mission, but don't get near him in Duncan's, then he appears in Doctor's mission as expected. I did check all corners and wipe out all baddies, but the "???" never appears in the mission objective display if I saved him in Duncan's mission (unless I replay Doctor's arc in Ouros). Is this intended? Am I not supposed to save him in Duncan's last mission? Madame Bellarose is a similar DA character that can be found in three separate arcs but she doesn't disappear if you find her all three times.

Compromise Idea: Apply the same "Fighting Synergy" idea from the attack powers in the pool to Tough and Weave. Allow them to be taken without any prerequisites, BUT they are drastically weaker (lower values and/or higher end costs) if you take them alone. So if you took Tough by itself, it might have only 1/2 the usual resists at a higher end cost. If you took Weave by itself, the defenses might be only around 1/4 of what they normally are at a higher end cost. If you took the usual triplet (Kick/Boxing + Tough + Weave) they would be equal to where they are now. If you added on Cross Punch and/or an extra T1 attack they might even be a little bit stronger? This would also open up the possibility to make Kick or Boxing give different benefits to Tough/Weave just like they do with Cross Punch. So one of them might lower the end cost and give a small protection bonus while the other only gives stronger protection but in a larger amount, so that there's a little bit of thought to choosing which one you want to use as the prerequisite (or both if you can spare the power picks). Alternatively we might just give a bump to how effective Boxing and Kick are so that they're less of a "waste." Boxing for example could really use a higher magnitude for its effect because it rarely works even against minions (compared to Kick which is very consistent at KD'ing against LT's and many bosses). Or really we don't need to do anything here since Tough and Weave are already strong powers as it is, even with the one "wasted" power pick factored in to the equation. And IMO, I kind of like having powers that take few/no slots so that I can dedicate more slots elsewhere.