Wobegone

Sure, I suppose. I just think some folks get too caught up in labels, like 'fighting', in a genre in which mixing and matching disparate powers is quite normal.

Right. Which is what I do. To be clear, I'm not advocating a change...merely disagreeing with the idea that a character need take a punch or kick in order to be tougher and harder to hit, even if it's from a pool power called 'Fighting'. It's entirely possible I'm just a strange cat with strange ideas...but I like to imagine being a bit tougher and harder to hit, beyond primary and secondary powers, that's reflected in a mutation or an improvement on armor.

For what it's worth, curbing power creep is a compelling argument for me. This is not a compelling argument for me. Seems pedantic to me. My Mutant is naturally tougher, no boxing or kick needed. My Technology character's armor makes her tougher, no boxing or kick needed. In this instance, I don't mind 'wasting' a power in order to make my Mutant or Tech character tougher and harder to hit. I could see your argument being more relevant if I'm also taking Cross Punch. Yes, I do run into situations where I have to make difficult power choices, but that's fine.

It's a public subforum called Suggestions & Feedback. I'm assuming that means feedback from the player base, but I've been wrong before. As for my own feedback: While I agree that controllers could use some help with early to mid-level solo play (IMHO), I'm not sure this is the answer (for me). I disagree that AoE holds are useless on low level teams. Yes, the duration isn't an issue, but the mitigation it provides can be valuable. I wouldn't like this change.

This is such a strange complaint. Aren't most secondaries late bloomers on Scrappers?

Also: Heat Loss. Anguishing Cry. Envenom. Freezing Rain.

Um....why? I can't think of a single circumstance in which a flyer character of mine would rather drop to the ground if stunned rather than float around. Kinda baffled by this suggestion.

My biggest problem with some solo claims is they're often made with the assumption of a level 50 fully Incarnated, fully IO'd character doing level 50 content. My Dark Defender for instance is quite capable of soloing level 50 content at max difficulty in respectable times. She's soft capped to all damage and has excellent resistance to numerous damage types. However, when I solo her at lower levels, I need to tune down the difficulty a bit. It's possible to solo +4x8 at lower levels, but it takes for friggin' ever with some enemy groups, which includes generous inspiration use. I imagine it's the same for any squishy character. There is absolutely no comparison to the many Scrappers, Brutes, or Tankers I solo sub 50. Incarnates make a huge difference in solo capability.

There's no doubt that a fully built Blaster (or any character nowadays) is quite sturdy. I have...doubts...that an equally built Sentinel is less durable.

Claws is great. Dual blades is great. So is Energy Melee, War Mace, Titan Weapons, Dark Melee, and Katana (these are the primaries I'm most familiar with). Quibbling over the best for leveling is kinda silly. I've soloed with all of those primaries and they're all solid. My advice is pair one of those with either Willpower or Bio and play every solo arc you can for the Merits. Add in a few TFs (solo or with a team) and you'll level pretty fast while you're piling up Merits. You'll have a couple grand when you're finished. even with 2x XP. Then you just need to decide what to do with the Merits. That question is better answered in the Market forum I guess, but I'd buy cheap yellow recipes in bulk, craft them, and convert to Rares.

You should have stopped here and left out the quotes. I do understand anxiety and get where the ops wife is coming from. In this case however, I think @MTeague is correct. Despite a bit of anxiety, I ventured into the PvP zones on my badger late at night and got all of them unmolested on Torchbearer. I saw exactly one other person and they seemed to be badge collecting themselves and we left each other alone. So, my advice to the op is find a time late in the day and badge hunt on Torchbearer (or another quiet late night server) and you should be fine. Edit: I should note late night for me was after 11pm West Coast time.

It takes a minute or two to open up Long Range Teleport, and a few minutes more to open several other zones. I just don't see this as a problem at all. Once you memorize certain exploration locations it's a breeze.

I can see how this might seem so for anyone who didn't play before Issue 17. Vigilance gained a damage buff for a solo Defender, or with one or two teammates. So, from my perspective, the damage remains the same for teams of 4 or more and Defenders get a damage buff otherwise.

I just wanna get a baseline here. Are you talking solo leveling Defenders organically or power-leveling them to 50, loading them with IOs, then soloing?

Like all belief systems, Pacifism has shades of grey. It's a moral philosophy after all. The most extreme version of this is absolute pacifism, which precludes any form of violence, even in self-defense. Another example of pacifism is conscientious objectors like Desmond Doss, a World War 2 medic who refused to kill enemy soldiers and didn't carry a weapon. He won two bronze stars, was injured 4 times, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. My suggestion would be a Mind/Empathy Controller. The problem of course is that your single target hold and sleep do damage. but you could say the damage is non-lethal. It'd be pushing the boundaries, but you could simply come up with your own code of honor and call it something other than pacifism.

The first place I remember seeing it was on MUDs in the mid 80s. Edit: I think I played my first MUD in 1987.

You didn't. And I didn't claim you did. However, In what world is this remotely true without IOs and/or Incarnates? In other words, meta builds (IMHO). Yes, there are a handful of builds where the above might be true with just SOs or generic IOs. Yet your one example of a weak solo build included 23 procs and Incarnates. I don't know about you, but I consider that pretty meta. Look, I know you're kinda getting attacked on all sides, and that sucks. I don't mean you ill-will. I'm not angry or bitter. But you seem uncommonly stubborn when folks give evidence that they don't, and likely won't, make builds I consider meta. And I don't think they're necessarily the minority of the player base. I think the above quote is a gross misrepresentation of the playerbase at large, and gives the impression, to me, that you likely make that statement with the assumption that everyone is using IOs and/or Incarnates. I could be wrong though.

I can kinda see where people get this idea. The following are just from this thread.

Just want to emphasize this as perhaps it's getting lost in the current conversation. Arcane isn't some Greek God of Gaming cuz he can solo a +4x8 with an Ice Controller. He can because he has lores, a giant nuke, defensive buffs, mez protection buffs, recharge buffs, end buffs, etc from Incarnates. And yea, sure, a bunch of procs. Edit: Not to mention unlimited inspirations.

Unhelpful as NPC hitpoints also increase with level. Sure, Incarnates can increase DPS, IOs do as well. Stacking Recharge arguably is the most important factor for increased DPS. Min-maxing is fun for me. I'm not alone. This is entirely subjective, at best. Personally, I think it's a garbage statement. Speak for yourself.

The benefits depend on the rank of (defeated) foe. It'll still work on Minions and Lts. The recharge isn't enhanceable. It ignores enhancements. City of Data says: Player Teammate (alive), Self. CoD says: "Ignores enhancements and other boosts". I'm assuming that means procs, but not entirely sure. Seems to be the same regardless of Archtype. With the number of respecs we get, you can see if it gets any use. However, few level 50 teams need additional +Recovery and -End Cost. So highly situational. I could see it being quite beneficial when Incarnates aren't available though. Plenty of high level builds rely on Ageless.

Groovy. Nuts!

Well, there's easier in that it makes it possible to do a task. And there's harder in that it takes more concentration and effort to do a task. So, chaining inspirations is both easier and harder depending on the point of view. That's all they're saying.

Bio also gets Resist Slow and Resist End Drain early, and additional +End/+Recovery late. My choice would be a Claws/Bio Scrapper.

If speed was a factor I'd probably go with a */Bio Scrapper or Brute. If speed wasn't a factor, I'd agree that an SR Tank would be the safest and easiest. I think a /Bio or /Regen Sentinel would be just fine as well.