Best AT for a soloist starting with nothing?

[MoonSheep]

33 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

I think you're paying too much attention to the height of the bars in the chart.  Look at the actual times.  The main thing I get from his testing is that all three ATs clear Trapdoor at very close to the same average times.  Scrappers and Tankers are the same average and Brutes are all of 7 seconds behind (on his newer post in the AT forum) out of 5 minute runs.  That's like 2.5% difference.  It's in the noise.  Yeah, there are outliers showing more differentiation but if you want to speak about the AT as a whole... there's apparently little difference in clearing a map like that once you have tricked out an IO build with procs and Incarnates.  Whatever built-in differences there are to begin with between Brutes, Scrappers, and Tankers get sanded down to just about nothing by that. 

 

The Pylon times show much more what you'd expect from the four melee ATs clearly indicating Tankers are dead last in ST damage and Scrappers/Stalkers are top.  No surprise there.

 

In any case, nobody rolling up a new Brute, Tanker, or Scrapper is going to see anything close to what's shown in these charts for Trapdoor.  Not for a long time and possibly never depending on how they are playing.

 

 

you’re absolutely right and the graphs have been distracting us from the archetype where we should be focusing the hate: masterminds

[Dao Jones]

49 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

After that, I would ask about your play style.  Do you prefer ranged combat?  Is maximum damage output your goal?  In this game, you can easily solo with a defender; it's just slower.

I’m play style agnostic enough that I’m flexible. Maybe a slight preference for range only because in my distant memory I recall hating having to chase mobs, but that’s solvable with sufficient mobility. (And it looks like at a minimum we now get the Fitness pool for free, so that’s good.)

Edited February 14 by Dao Jones

[Coyotedancer]

You can solo with just about anything if you're patient and willing to play with difficulty settings... but my go-to ATs for that are melee types (Stalkers, Scraps or Brutes typically, though Tanks are also a pretty safe option and VEAT Widows are fun-) or Sentinels. Blasters and Corruptors are a little more fiddly than I usually want to deal with. Peacebringers likewise. After you've gotten a feel for the game again, a Mastermind might also be a fun choice, but I wouldn't do that right off the bat. They're not the easiest things to wrangle.

[Clave Dark 5]

Stalkers, because it's also so much fun to walk around and just look at stuff without worrying about being seen (most of the time, there's a very few that do see thru their stealth).

 

Tanks are just indestructible very easily.

 

Sentinels are also solid, my one that I've made (so far?) was practically a tank himself.  Just be sure to dress your new toon like Ned Flanders...

 

Edited February 15 by Clave Dark 5

[Sovera]

8 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

Hello Homecoming people! I only recently found out that CoH has been alive and well for ~5 years now, and am excited to dip my toes back into a game I don't think I've played since... Issue 10?

 

As a fresh newbie I'll be starting with a completely blank account, and while I'm not opposed to opportunistic grouping at heart I just enjoy the solo journey. I've been researching builds and ATs for the last few days and... so much of what I'm finding is either 3+ years old, or assumes you're building a new character with millions of Influence laying around to kit them out.

 

So I'm hoping you experts and vets might advise an old dog on some new tricks? Specifically, I'm looking for advice on an AT that provides:

 

1. The tools needed to solo most/all of the game's 1-50 content. (Obviously the end game assumes extensive farming for the right gear, but by then I'll remember everything I've forgotten over the past ~17 years.)
2. A reasonably smooth leveling curve without excessive need for sugar daddy slotting.

 

At a guess I suspect the answer is probably either the new Sentinel AT, or a Brute, but I'm curious to hear if there's an edge case out there worth exploring. (I recall Ill/Rad or Ill/Kin Controllers being sneakily one of the most powerful and easy ATs in the game if you didn't mind the slower pace, but not sure if that's still true anymore.) I can experiment with the powersets to find the one that feels right for me, but would like to at least narrow my search within an AT(s) that aren't going to leave me hanging on my way to 50.

 

(And just to be clear: I'm definitely not looking for Influence handouts. Weirdly enough I genuinely enjoy the "starting with nothing" experience.)

 

Thanks in advance! Also - if my Google-fu was weak and this has been answered elsewhere please feel free to point me wherever.

 

I'd say Tankers. Surviving comes first, not damage. If we survive we can whittle an enemy. If we die we are travelling to the hospital. Brutes and Sentinels are good starters too.

 

As others have pointed anything will work since you can tweak the difficulty settings. Tankers just get a lot of options to boost their resilience early on which allows to pump the difficulty up earlier.

 

The P2W vendor has a host of goodies that you can grab such as free gear, free travel powers, double XP (buy the double version and ignore not getting influence for defeating mobs since you should be selling Merits for cash), and, above all, the Amplifiers. Amplifiers will turn you into a demigod so buy all three and stack them eight times while at level 1 when they are cheap since they get super expensive later on.

 

Try to get a teleporter as soon as you can (costs 1 million) because you can use it between missions to pop to a base and fill up on inspirations. Having several rows of greens and purples (Lucks) will do a lot to make the early poverty stricken game palatable. Eat one or two purples if in trouble, use teleporter after the mission to buy more inspirations. Yes, inspirations drop but are random and even if you can combine them it's best to start prepared.

 

Don't waste too much time playing with generic slotting though. Try to stick to storylines to the end to get the Merits reward, sell the merits, make money, start buying stuff. If you go to the respective forums you can ask for a starter build once you want to meddle with IO gear.

 

You can use Ouroborous to have an uninterrupted playthrough of a storyline without leveling too far that the contact stops giving missions before you reach the end.

 

Don't try to solo Taskforces right away since you will have a hard time with the Arch-villain end bosses which can brick a run if you can't defeat it by yourself.

 

Selling Merits is extremely easy so don't recoil even if you don't want to craft and sell, and remember anything you buy as IOs can later be sold or transferred to an alt so it's not wasted money.

 

Teaming is the bread and butter of the game and it is incentivized by only having benefits. Can do straight from level 1 too. But soloing is a perfectly fine option as well.

 

Check the guide in my signature for many tips you might need to refresh your memory or new things that were added.

[biostem]

On 2/14/2024 at 11:46 AM, Dao Jones said:

• The tools needed to solo most/all of the game's 1-50 content. (Obviously the end game assumes extensive farming for the right gear, but by then I'll remember everything I've forgotten over the past ~17 years.)
• A reasonably smooth leveling curve without excessive need for sugar daddy slotting.

If you want the widest margin of survivability and general ease of play, I'd go with a tank.  They really don't give up that much damage and you'll be warmly welcomed on teams later, (if you choose to team later, of course).

 

From a general fun standpoint, I prefer sentinels.  I feel like they can just about do it all, but require a bit more tweaking of your build and more care when selecting pool or other such ancillary powers.  Still, they get some of the best versions of the various armor sets and their APPs/PPPs, (Ancillary or Patron power pools, respectively), provide some quite interesting options.

 

If you want to live more on the edge but want maximum damage output, go with a blaster.  The devices or tactical arrow secondaries provide some good tools if you want want to strictly stay at range.

 

If you are comfortable with, or have an interest in learning about the various binds/macros and slash commands, give Kheldians a try, though I suggest sticking with a tri-form, (human, Nova, and Dwarf).

 

If you want to essentially be your own team leader, but don't want to mess around with masterminds, give a "Crabbermind" a try, (basically a soldier of Arachnos taking all the pet summon powers and toggles that buff them).

Edited February 15 by biostem

[PyroNugget]

seeing ALOT of answers--and i agree with most of them,but i don't see anyone explaining WHY said this/that is going to do what you asked so here goes mine.

 

1 BIO/MACE  or BIO/AXE tank    BIO is simply THE best when you have no money and have forgotten"oh yeah! this needs some________ to work"

RUN in efficient mode  and you don't have to worry about that END bar--- it heals good(REGEN) all by itself(is actually a hybrid smash/lethal RESIST/fire/cold/eng/neg DEF set) and is all around GREAT without heavy investment.other perks are ablative armor shield and an ugly AoE dmg aura.Downside to Bio is the minimal FX only  go so far.(recommend the FIGHTING POOL(boxing or kick,tough and weave...also combat jumping from leaping for more DEF stacking and mobility is always helpful)

 

WAR MACE just makes you smile as you KRUNCH--bad day at work?..war mace makes smiles happen

the new IMPROVED battle axe--pretty much the same as mace but with a new pony trick CYCLONE--pulls them all to you--very handy

both are END hogs on their own but BIO handles it without  breakin' a sweat.

 

2. MASTERMIND   BOTS/TIME   buffs/debuffs heals for all.can go along nicely with SOs (old school single origin enhancers like the old days)

now BOTS/COLD is freakin awesome end game,little harder to lvl(lack of heal) BOTS/EA(elec affinity) is a personal fave

and i didn't see it but if you are going to solo A LOT  BOTS/TRAPS-- traps as a set across the board doesn't flow well with teams.but solo it is just fine and the buffs/debuffs are great.

for the most part THUGS can be swapped for BOTs in any of those too.

 

you mentioned ILL/RAD controller and yes--it was a beast and still is--but even on old live--you HAD TO SPEC a certain(expensive) way!-- phantom army must be perma!  and that doesn't start till lvl 35 even if you're rich!--and now there are new candy flavors to that ILL/DARK  ILL/TIME  ILL/COLD  they are all monsters--but they require a lot of money to work as soloing giant monster champs.

 

number 1 and 2 will get you from 1 to 50 on just SOs and you wont feel weak,or a burden ,or like you're not up to snuff.--teams,especially LOW LEVEL teams love tanks--and area heals like TIME has.

[Nostromo21]

15 hours ago, dtjunkie said:

If you are going to primarily solo stuff, you will have plenty of influence if you just follow these steps:

 

1.) Do content like story arcs that provide reward merits

2.) Go to a merit vendor and use those reward merits to buy enhancement converters

3.) Sell the enhancement converters on the auction house. Right now you can get about 70K per converter without much of a wait.

 

This is the simplest way to make enough money to fund your toon all the way to 50.

 

With that said, for soloing I think Brutes and Scrappers are the best bet based on your criteria, with brutes having a smoother go in the early levels and scrappers outperforming brutes later on.

 

 

You can also buy cheap 25-30 melee set recipes (uncommon), craft them, use the converters to make a rare anything until you get something worth 1.5-2mill in the AH. And you can get 15 enh convertors just by visiting all the exploration badges in Atlas which takes a couple mins. That easy.

 

If you don't mind some complexity, you can also start a Kheldian or Arachnos now without needing a level 50. I love my Peacebringer - free flight from level 1! :). Warshades get free teleport and stealth, but need decent investment in enhancements to solo effectively with. Hey, you get 3 forms and types of classes in 1 - melee, ranged and tank!

Widows and Soldiers take some time/levels to get going, depending on whether you end up specialising in melee or ranged. I do love my Fortunata!

 

I've also loved most of my stalkers, corruptors and masterminds. You can't go wrong with controller if you go Illusion/Dark (my main for a long time) or Storm. Very recently I finally tried a dark/ninja blaster which has been the only blaster I've ever not felt completely squishy with - just dinged 33 and still having a blast! I think corruptors have the edge in versatility and fun factor for soloing over blasters though.

 

Any tanker will make you feel godly in this game! I really enjoyed my Psychic/Shield.

 

Defenders are also highly underrated ranged heroes which excel at buffing/debuffing in parties.

I don't like pure melee classes as a general rule, with only a few exceptions.

I don't have a lot of exp with Doms, but I hear mostly good things about them, if you prefer the control style of play.

 

I hope you enjoy whatever you pick, just remember - if you're not enjoying it, this game is an alt-o-holic's wet dream! ;)

 

Edited February 15 by Nostromo21

[KITANYA]

18 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

Hello Homecoming people! I only recently found out that CoH has been alive and well for ~5 years now, and am excited to dip my toes back into a game I don't think I've played since... Issue 10?

 

As a fresh newbie I'll be starting with a completely blank account, and while I'm not opposed to opportunistic grouping at heart I just enjoy the solo journey. I've been researching builds and ATs for the last few days and... so much of what I'm finding is either 3+ years old, or assumes you're building a new character with millions of Influence laying around to kit them out.

 

So I'm hoping you experts and vets might advise an old dog on some new tricks? Specifically, I'm looking for advice on an AT that provides:

 

1. The tools needed to solo most/all of the game's 1-50 content. (Obviously the end game assumes extensive farming for the right gear, but by then I'll remember everything I've forgotten over the past ~17 years.)
2. A reasonably smooth leveling curve without excessive need for sugar daddy slotting.

 

At a guess I suspect the answer is probably either the new Sentinel AT, or a Brute, but I'm curious to hear if there's an edge case out there worth exploring. (I recall Ill/Rad or Ill/Kin Controllers being sneakily one of the most powerful and easy ATs in the game if you didn't mind the slower pace, but not sure if that's still true anymore.) I can experiment with the powersets to find the one that feels right for me, but would like to at least narrow my search within an AT(s) that aren't going to leave me hanging on my way to 50.

 

(And just to be clear: I'm definitely not looking for Influence handouts. Weirdly enough I genuinely enjoy the "starting with nothing" experience.)

 

Thanks in advance! Also - if my Google-fu was weak and this has been answered elsewhere please feel free to point me wherever.

 

If you are on Everlasting i'll help you out! 🙂

[cranebump]

Echoing the tank choice. Fire/Dark is a good combo, with some nice AoE's. It's got a heal, and 2 Endurance siphons. You can swing it to fire farming later on, if you wanted to (I am far from a build expert, and my own version of this set farms well [or well enough, anyway]). 

 

For ranged, I'd go with a Sentinel for soloing. Just about any combo (I haven't done 'em all, but every one I've done has been effective enough for default play). 

 

I'd also like to throw in a vote for stalker, since you have invis and a big alpha strike. Great for walking through collect mishes where you don't feel like clearing everything, or for smashing an end boss. I don't run these guys much at all, which is weird, because I like scrappers, and I tend to give them stealth via power pool or procs. (hmmmm...makes a brutha think he needs a new stalker toon, other than that ONE he ran to 50).

[Psi-bolt]

18 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

Any of the melee classes are fine choices, choose the flavor which appeals.

This is correct.  The differences for a new player not trying to ultra min/max is minimal.  Any of Tanker, Brute, Scrapper or Stalker will be fine.

 

Sentinels are also a fun choice.

[ZemX]

22 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

and while I'm not opposed to opportunistic grouping at heart I just enjoy the solo journey

 

Because you said this, I will caution against going Tanker your first time out.  I am a huge Tanker fan myself and what others are saying is true but it is also true that Tanker is one of the ATs you might find burdened with team expectations more often than some others.   This isn't a rigidly conventional tank-heal-dps game, but it's often enough still the case you will load into a mission with a team and they'll all look in the direction of your tanker as if to say, "Well...?"

 

Not that this can't be fun too.  You dive head first into a group, and don't die, and then.. you keep doing it.  You lead the team around.   That's not EVERY team, mind, but it's many of them.   Just something to be aware of and a point in favor of a less "responsible" AT like Scrappers, Stalkers, or Sentinels.  Any of those will have very good survivability with very little heavy expectations placed upon you while you get familiar with things.  Stalkers might be the epitome of this as your teammates might not even know you're doing anything at all let alone wondering if you're doing it well.  "I saw the Stalker hit somebody... I think? Or maybe it was just a trick of the shadows!" they might recall.  But that will be about it.  Though you might rarely be asked to run to the end of a map and click on a garbage can or a computer terminal or something like that if you're running a Task Force.  It's a living.

 

I've never played a Sentinel, but it strikes me as low pressure, safe, and aligned with your ranged preference.  It is a Blaster with training wheels.  You can enjoy the Blaster lifestyle without enjoying the design of the floor tiles quite as much.

[Dao Jones]

7 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

Not that this can't be fun too.  You dive head first into a group, and don't die, and then.. you keep doing it.  You lead the team around.  

 

My first main in Live was an Inv/EM Tanker. I actually really enjoy tanking in MMOs - it's my preferred role. I strongly suspect that I will eventually roll a Tanker (or Brute) even if it's not my first character, if only because I like diving headfirst into fights and keeping groups alive while I round up mobs for them to blast.

 

Hmm. My initial resistance to rolling a Tanker was mostly due to how slow they were to level back on Live (low damage). But since they've gotten a big buff on HC maybe I'll reconsider. (I was leaning to Sentinel, but maybe I'll look at Tanks and see what's what.)

[Sovera]

25 minutes ago, Dao Jones said:

Hmm. My initial resistance to rolling a Tanker was mostly due to how slow they were to level back on Live (low damage). But since they've gotten a big buff on HC maybe I'll reconsider. (I was leaning to Sentinel, but maybe I'll look at Tanks and see what's what.)

 

That and, of course, Fire Armor 😆 Fire/Ice Melee is a great starter. I'm waiting on Page 7 to come out to do a Fire/Elec Melee that will nuke the game from playing in the test server.

[cranebump]

47 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

Because you said this, I will caution against going Tanker your first time out.  I am a huge Tanker fan myself and what others are saying is true but it is also true that Tanker is one of the ATs you might find burdened with team expectations more often than some others.   This isn't a rigidly conventional tank-heal-dps game, but it's often enough still the case you will load into a mission with a team and they'll all look in the direction of your tanker as if to say, "Well...?"

Ahhhh...yeah, forgot about team expectations. Tanker might be better after getting feet on the ground.

[Ironblade]

19 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

I’m play style agnostic enough that I’m flexible. Maybe a slight preference for range only because in my distant memory I recall hating having to chase mobs, but that’s solvable with sufficient mobility. (And it looks like at a minimum we now get the Fitness pool for free, so that’s good.)

 

Well, I would definitely try a sentinel, then.  I have a water/regen sentinel and regen is better on a sentinel than a scrapper since the sentinel version gets an absorption shield.

[Dao Jones]

34 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

 

Well, I would definitely try a sentinel, then.

This is where I’ve pretty much landed, as it both feels like a good fit for my play style and is also the only AT (other than VEATs) that didn’t exist when I was playing prior. (Although I’m already thinking about alts, as is the way.)

 

Question for you (or anyone reading): given I won’t have optimal slotting AND I like not micromanaging my defenses would you have an opinion between SR, WP, and Regen?
 

All three look like they’ve been well adapted to Sentinels, and all three look like they’re fairly sturdy with minimal investment and low levels of “clickiness”. I’m not sure how much my primary sways my secondary choice; at a glance it seems like the synergies are more “nice to have” than “if you take A, you should really take B”.

Edited February 15 by Dao Jones

[Erratic1]

The only caution I would offer as goes Tankers is that while they are tougher, starting out they are not that much tougher. Tougher is tougher but where the problem manifests is that damage dealt per endurance spent is lower for Tankers when it comes to single target attacks. The improved area of their area attacks require you to have enough enemies to make up for other melee ATs dispatching things more quickly. But as I previously noted, you are not, starting out, that much tougher.

 

Not a problem if you're not racing someone, which as a solo you are not. 

 

 

FWIW, I have a Bio Tanker designed to live in Offensive stance with Assault up who somewhat bent the above thinking a bit at lower levels.

 

And on the upside, unlike on a stalker or Ninjitsu scrapper you won't have to fear your evil twin on that one story arc.

[Erratic1]

29 minutes ago, Dao Jones said:

Question for you (or anyone reading): given I won’t have optimal slotting AND I like not micromanaging my defenses would you have an opinion between SR, WP, and Regen?

 

Bio.

 

No, really. Bio. Just set a stance and don't change it.

[Ironblade]

2 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

Question for you (or anyone reading): given I won’t have optimal slotting AND I like not micromanaging my defenses would you have an opinion between SR, WP, and Regen?

 

Um....  no opinion?  They're all good.  I've taken SR to level 50 on a tank and a scrapper, regen to 50 on a scrapper and sentinel and I've taken willpower to 50 on a tank.

Personally, I like regen because I like having something to click (besides inspirations) in an emergency.

 

Also, I'll say Erratic1 isn't wrong about bio.  I never change the stance and it's a really good set too.  You have the OPTION of some management with the stance, but I never do.  It's like my dual pistols blaster can change ammo types but never does.

[PeacekeeperKara]

I'm a huge fan of Invulnerability/Super Strength tankers and just make the classic superman archetype. Especially if you're not swimming in infinite money. 

[FupDup]

5 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

All three look like they’ve been well adapted to Sentinels, and all three look like they’re fairly sturdy with minimal investment and low levels of “clickiness”. I’m not sure how much my primary sways my secondary choice; at a glance it seems like the synergies are more “nice to have” than “if you take A, you should really take B”.

If those are the only three options for consideration, SR is probably the best choice of the bunch. Just make sure to pick Master Brawler instead of Practiced Brawler. 

 

If you're open to other choices, Invuln and Energy Aura are both pretty simple sets that translate very well on Sents. However, Energy might take slightly longer to reach "maturity" because it's more defense reliant. Electric Armor is another pretty simple armor but it doesn't have as high of a performance ceiling as some of the others (still good, just not crazy good). 

[Sovera]

15 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

This is where I’ve pretty much landed, as it both feels like a good fit for my play style and is also the only AT (other than VEATs) that didn’t exist when I was playing prior. (Although I’m already thinking about alts, as is the way.)

 

Question for you (or anyone reading): given I won’t have optimal slotting AND I like not micromanaging my defenses would you have an opinion between SR, WP, and Regen?
 

All three look like they’ve been well adapted to Sentinels, and all three look like they’re fairly sturdy with minimal investment and low levels of “clickiness”. I’m not sure how much my primary sways my secondary choice; at a glance it seems like the synergies are more “nice to have” than “if you take A, you should really take B”.

 

Fire armour.

 

Wait, nvm, you speak of Sentinels. Then it's Bio all the way. The only reason not to go Bio is if you absolutely hate the aesthetics, otherwise it's sturdy AND increases damage AND has a heal AND has an endurance tool.

 

One you didn't mention is Stone Armour. Also zero clicks, very strong defenses AND resistances, comes with built-in recharge, a damage boost, regeneration (instead of a heal) and recovery (instead of an endurance clicky). That's the second best in my opinion. It only sins for being hefty in endurance demands due to being so toggle heavy.

 

SR is good and easy to softcap early. I remember being softcapped by level 20 which means you're just unkillable. It does not bring heals or endurance to the table though (it does have an absorb), and when you later on fight enemies with defense piercing powers you're basically naked.

 

WP is a good allrounder. Instead of a heal it has regen and it brings more recovery. It works, it just lacks a bit of oomph for those times when its needed, but inspirations can take the place of the oomph if you see that you're in trouble.

 

Regen for a Sentinel is the best version you will find, and it's apparently good but I've never played it myself.

 

 

Edited February 16 by Sovera

[drbuzzard]

6 hours ago, Dao Jones said:

Question for you (or anyone reading): given I won’t have optimal slotting AND I like not micromanaging my defenses would you have an opinion between SR, WP, and Regen?
 

All three look like they’ve been well adapted to Sentinels, and all three look like they’re fairly sturdy with minimal investment and low levels of “clickiness”. I’m not sure how much my primary sways my secondary choice; at a glance it seems like the synergies are more “nice to have” than “if you take A, you should really take B”.

 

 

I've played them all to 50 (a few times in some cases). SR is the most durable of the 3, but it takes more investment to really get good, so I'd probably favor one of the other 2. Regeneration is what I would prefer over willpower. They both fairly similar though in effect. I think regen is easier to get good on the cheap. 

[ranagrande]

I am currently going through everything mostly solo on a petless pool power only mastermind who isn't allowed to buy anything.

 

I wouldn't recommend it, but it should serve as proof that literally anything can work.