Zakmonster

Broadsword is geared more towards massive single-target damage. In a team, you want to focus on the hard targets, like bosses and such, and deal with them. Leave the AoE to your teammates. What this means when soloing is that you want to have a few higher-level mobs, instead of many same-level mobs. Same principle applies to other sets like Katana and Psi Melee.

I played Champions Online when it first came out, thinking that it would be the next best thing in the superhero MMO genre, and also feeling a bit jaded with CoX at the point in time. A lot of what you said were actually what made me want to play CO in the first place - the action combat, the smoother movement, the updated graphics, etc. But idk, there's something about CoX that just appeals to me in a way CO never did. Sure the combat and graphics are terribly outdated, but the min-maxing and theorycrafting potential is as strong as it ever was (and stronger even compared to some current games), and that appeals to me. The sense of community and teamwork felt stronger as well. The community in CoX have also never been too concerned with the balance of power, in my opinion. Sure, certain MM powersets might be stronger than the other archetypes, but if you don't find MMs fun, then there's no reason to play one. And in a large group setting, the OP-ness of what you're playing matters less. As you get into endgame and start crafting and slotting IO sets, that balance of power also shifts again. Same for the AE grind. I've never enjoyed it, but I didn't have to engage in it. I could easily find a group who was willing to do story arcs or radio missions - we'd be levelling slower, sure, but we're doing what we find fun. Ultimately, CoX is a game that's about the journey, not the destination. There's no point spamming AE on your MM and hitting 50 in 3 days if you never had fun doing it, and don't have fun playing the character. One of my fondest memories of the game was making SS/invuln tankers with my friends, making all of them look like Trolls and roleplaying Trolls while running around in the Hollows. Those characters didn't even make it past 20 because they were silly gimmicks, but to me, they were way more fun than playing a dominator who could wipe out an entire screen in seconds (to me, at least). (Also note that I've really only truly enjoyed playing brutes, scrappers and tankers, in that order). Also, please pick your travel power by level 20. It might not matter before then, but trying to navigate zones like Independence Port without a travel power is a special kind of masochism.