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I find the Yin TF to be extremely variable because of the Freaks/Council that can rez/go untouchable. I've duo-ed it well under 10 minutes with a couple of Blasters, our key was to split up and nuke necessary enemies.

I crave more examples, just in case what's viable for you is also viable for me.

I definitely remember doing a LOT of street sweeping (in Brickstown, FF, and then PI) at certain points. I don't explicitly recall the changes to XP-granted, but I remember debt being a terrible obstacle. I still feel a twinge whenever I see the University in Funders Falls, as that was the area I had done sooo much street sweeping in! Larger spawn sizes was always one of the reasons to spend time in Hazard zones, assuming they wouldn't murder you.

I... guess? The map-herding via Unai was a thing in Issue 1. Kheldians were in Issue 3. To the point made by @Greycat... There wasn't that much of a reason to rush to level 50 in the early days of Live. The biggest motivator for me was the extra power picks and all those extra slots. We didn't even have the same considerations for Enhancements back then.

The *only* reason to rush to 50 was that HEATs got unlocked by having a level 50. Obviously this wasn't a thing *until* HEATs showed up. I'm still not entirely sure what the motivation to rush to level 50 is on Homecoming. I can sort of appreciate a player wanting to see what a full level-50 kit can do, but I've never really bought into the argument that goes like "I'm bored with pre-45 content... so instead I want to run level 45+ over-and-over-again."

Easy check: turn off all aura, do a Takeoff in a PVP zone against some critters and look for the TAUNTED!

Since Penny Yin TF was mentioned.... No matter the AT, when I solo it I do it at +0x1, and rarely engage more enemies mobiles than necessary. My (lvl 50) MMs don't take much longer than (lvl 50) Blasters/Scrappers/Stalkers/Tankers, but they do take longer. I've soloed it with other ATs, but those are the AT I'll choose for a quick 40 merits/Notice/etc. The main source of attributable variation among ATs is due to damage/resistance type mismatches, but the Yin TF has a combination of rez (Freaks) and transformations/untouchables (Council) that can add minutes to any run.

For Soldiers, I almost never take a Patron pool unless I am playing a Crabbermind (because of the final pet). Otherwise I find that the pre-Patron powers can do everything I want and demand all my slots. For the Widows, I usually take a Patron pool because the extra AoE powers tend to help with larger spawn sizes. Mu is the set I prefer, mostly because of the animations.

Takeoff also has a somewhat long recharge time that makes it somewhat inferior as a reliable control/threat power. I do tend to take Force of Will on Tankers, in mission I will (if I remember) use Takeoff to knockdown enemies just to make a statement.

I have sets I keep going back to for concept/animation reasons, but I keep getting reminded how underwhelming I find them. I don't really find them unacceptable, but I find them to be low-performing (for my tastes for the AT). Sometimes those sets shine on other ATs, sometimes those sets offer "one great trick" that gets a lot of attention but doesn't rock my world. The old, linked posts about differences in clear times measured in seconds between melee types... not particular persuasive to me, although the relative difference between melee sets does align with my personal perceptions.

For me... it's all about the factions that end up with strong Psi Resists that make it more painful to play than other primaries. This is *hard* for me, as I generally like all of the Psi animations for all ATs.

I've used Infiltration as a character's travel power, usually on really tight Blaster builds where I was going to otherwise "run out of pools" and needed some end-build mule powers for LotG, I might have a character that has a Kismet +ToHit in it (if taken at low enough level), but otherwise it is muling a Winter's Gift Slow Resist or a LotG.

The influx of new level 50s (from Mapserver, from ToT) usually signals more market activity.

From my perspective, the increased PBAoE radius for Tankers (on HC) more than makes up for whatever "fun" Tankers could derive from herding enormous numbers of critters. I was playing a Tanker since Launch day, and except from being able to easily survive hundreds of Rikti Monkeys (after first expansion) it was usually more fun just to play a Scrapper.

I put rare salvage in the personal vault of each character. I have two racks in the SG base for rare salvage... I keep this 'buffet' stocked. If I need a specific rare piece that I don't have, I just AH some pieces that I don't need.