biostem

As a sort of introduction to the controller archetype, consider giving gravity control a try - it's pretty straightforward to pickup and play, and has a more direct-damage component to it. Pair it with kinetics if you also want to be a buffing/debuffing powerhouse. If you plan to team a lot, I've also had great results with earth control/pain domination.

Try a dark blast/super reflexes sentinel.

It's one of those "plan vs reality" scenarios - Blasters have tons of ways to maximize their damage, and many tools with which to deliver it, but if you can't stay alive long enough to deliver it, then that's essentially zero damage dealt. Sentinels have the ranged damage with a wider margin of safety. Of course, they pay for that by having a lower ceiling...

I have a 50 fire/regen sentinel. I just cannot get passed the weird momentary repel of the really powerful ST blast and thought going without it hampered my damage output, so moved on to some other builds. I think my dark/SR and DP/Nin sentinels are my favorites.

I play whatever concept currently has my interest. It's fairly easy to find a tanker/brute/scrapper or other AT that is willing to take the 1st hit - they usually just need to know others have their back. If you don't want to play said "meat-shield", then try someone who can keep them standing and fighting. If you want a good compromise, try either a sentinel or a controller with something like FF or sonic that can provide you with some more protection.

So here's the rub - If playing solo, you want to be able to do a little bit of everything, which includes having some way of dealing with mezzes. Blasters do great damage, but have a narrower margin for survival. I really enjoy playing sentinels, and as @Sovera pointed out, they provide ranged damage and survivability. I've been on a bit of a /ninjitsu kick, since it has stealth, a heal, end recovery, and even protects you from fear & psionics. pair it with a primary like pistols, dark or electricity and you also get a hold. Now add to that some other utility powers from regular or APPs/PPPs and you've got it made...

I could see this helping out, though they may have to change its recharge and/or end cost accordingly...

From a purely practical standpoint, I usually try to fit some sort of flight power into all my builds. That being said, I also frequently take combat jumping. I sometimes take combat teleport, but would rather go with mystic flight over straight-up teleport. Similarly, unless I'm going for acrobatics or spring attack, or if by build won't permit another power pool pick, I'll also generally take mighty leap over super jump. I almost never take super speed, and would rather take the experimentation version of SS, unless I specifically want the extra stealth or am going for some sort of hasten - SS - burnout.

You might say people are 'dying' to get in on the action...

I would say go with a sentinel - something sturdy like invulnerability, or more flexible like bio armor. You should be sturdy enough to withstand moderate to heavy attacks and have the freedom to target and attack from range. You'd basically only need the basic cardinal directions for movement, some method of selecting targets, (like tab or a targetcustomnext bind), and perhaps a key for a self heal or other buff power.

Try a sentinel. You can build them for area denial if you combine some of the location-based powers with other controls or debuffs.

Because of how the game handles powers and they're interaction with other players, I tend to avoid PvP. What I would like to see would be some sort of "indirect PvP", where my team does mini-missions in the main zone map that sends waves of enemies at the opposing team's base, and they have to defend their base and try to overwhelm my team's via a similar process. Heck, maybe even allow buffing of the NPCs that are allied with you as well...

Maybe introduce a waypoint, reachable via the Vanguard base teleporter, that is way far north in the zone, as a compromise...

I wonder if the game can differentiate between upper body and lower body attacks, so only the latter could be disabled without having to completely rewrite the game code...

I love playing my sentinels; They feel like the perfect leadership AT - you can survive in the front lines, but don't have to worry about closing to melee range should you need to contribute elsewhere. I also feel that many of their blast and armor sets received some very nice updates/adjustments...

It's already bad enough that throwing around a lot of inf can make you more powerful, we don't need ways to completely bypass or trivialize power picks as well...

From my understanding, it has more to do with you or your teammates taking actions that would flag all of you as "in combat", thereby preventing you from switching. If that is indeed the case, then making sure none of you are in combat in any way, is paramount to being able to switch quickly. Maybe we just need some indicator that we are or are not in combat.

In general, there are 4 categories of enhancements. In order of least powerful to most powerful, they are: Training (TOs), Dual-Origin (DOs), Single-Origin (SOs), and Inventions, (IOs). You can only slot DOs if at least one of the listed origins on the enhancement matches that of your character, and SOs must exactly match yours. My general advice is to only use whatever drops until around level 22, at which point I typically start slotting level 25 IOs, (remember you can use enh's that are up to +3 above your current level). Unlike regular enh's, you do not outlevel IOs, so those level 25 ones will give you a consistent bonus throughout your character's career. They are also relatively easy/inexpensive to craft and use common salvage, so they are my go-to until I reach the level cap and start working toward set IOs or other specialty enh's. There are more extensive guides out there on how to earn the necessary influence/infamy/information to fully slot yourself up with those aforementioned IOs right away, so check these forums...

Antidisestablishmentarianism.

You can make your character a member of [insert enemy/hero group here], but you cannot represent yourself *as* that group or particular pre-existing character.

Even if it didn't, I wouldn't want to be beholden to some advertisers, who may threaten to pull their support should there be one too many spicy characters or should some high-profile player get into trouble or have some controversial take on some other site./platform...

Even filling all the ads in-game would not get enough views to be worth potentially losing that revenue, should the game become even slightly dependent upon it, if said advertiser(s) threaten to pull them should they not like how the devs or even a segment of the players behaved in or out of game...

Champions Online has had tentacle options since, IIRC, 2009, so I don't think that's the reason we don't have them here.

I've found the best approach is to use the "quick AS" while mid-combat, with the special stalker crit effect at 3 stacks. I also leverage the ATIO that gives their buildup a chance to instantly recharge, so I keep it on autofire. Regardless, play what you love - I was just going with the concept of the OP...

What about an ice/ice stalker? Blasters tend to be flashy and in your face, so how about someone more stealthy and reserved?