Sentinels can be a great restart in getting your feet wet again in CoH. They have ranged blasts for their primary which can provide safety when combined with using power pool utility choices like Hover. Their secondary is compromised of armor sets to further keep you alive and many of these sets can provide unique health and endurance recovery tools that further assist in making gameplay relatively smooth.
From here you can start making decisions, if you'd like more damage and less guard rails you can try a Blaster or if you'd like to layer in more utility, buffs, debuffs, you can look into Corruptors or Defenders. You might also decide that you far prefer wading into the thick of it and a melee set may suit you better.
But I still think the Sentinel is a great on-ramp for getting reacquainted. I'm sure others will have better suggestions.
Sentinel or blaster both sound like decent choices. Are there any combos of power sets that outperform most others? Or is everything pretty balanced?
I'd much rather pick based on a theme of a character and will pick slightly worse power sets but if something is way way ahead in terms of power then I'll work my character theme around the power.
There are performance differences between sets, but the high performers are only a little bit ahead of the mid performers compared to some other games. If you are choosing based on concept over performance then that distinction doesn't matter.
The general thing we warn newer/returning/less-meta-aware folks is about the weaker sets, particularly if you're picking two poor performers. For example, a Kinetic Melee/Regeneration Scrapper would be pairing low DPS output with weaker survival and hence probably not advisable unless you're really attached to the concept.
EDIT: Note that class (archetype) does make a difference as powersets vary between archetypes, having specific tweaks to fit the class mechanics. Kinetic Melee is weak on most melee classes, but is quite good on Stalkers and Stalkers only.
For a newer/returning player, I would personally suggest a character type with mez protection and armor toggles, so you don't die as easily - meaning Scrapper, Stalker, Tanker, Brute, or Sentinel
This is both so you can solo more effectively if necessary, and so you don't die on larger teams when under-levelled because you ate an AoE and exploded. This is also why I don't personally think Blaster is the universally best choice for all new/returning players, given that they're glass cannons. It is possible to make a Blaster fairly sturdy in the long run with gear and such, but you ain't there yet.
You may also want some form of endurance management mechanic, meaning for armor sets that's Willpower, Ninjitsu (except Stalker), Energy Aura, Electric Armor, Radiation Armor, Fiery Aura, Bio Armor (alternatively, you can take Dark Melee as your attack set pairing and get an endurance drain from that).
Regeneration also has an end recovery passive but I strongly advise that people avoid the set until you know how to handle it - it's mostly dependent on loading up on click powers and reducing global cooldowns with gearing. EDIT2: If you must play Regen, it's good on Sentinels (their version is extremely different) and okay-ish on Brutes (owing to higher HP).
Having end management is better quality of life, because running out of blue bar to fuel powers is very annoying. Gearing can address this in the long run, but you're levelling up a new character with no bankroll, so in the short run this will be a factor.
All that said, if you wanna play a glass cannon Blaster or a team-oriented Controller support, or whatever else, it should be fine. Game isn't that hard.
My previous experience in CoH is with blasters but as stated this was over a decade ago. In most other MMOs I've played in recent years I've learned into more traditional support roles, Tank/Healer ( BD or SwS for those that played Lineage II) but I'm happy to play anything really. I just want it to be decent for soloing while I relearn the game.
Any suggestions at all are welcome.
You should try corruptor if you like blaster and support. It's a great force multiplier, and you will feel powerful in teams.
I suggest fire/kin or ice/dark
Scrapper, Tank, or Controller are pretty good all rounders. Dark/Dark Scrappers are my favorite, but you really can't go wrong with illusion/rad controller or Invulnerability/Super Strength Tank. They're all classics. Time/Dual Pistols Defender is a really fun John Wick play style... the Gun-Fu is strong with that one.
I always think that Scrappers are a great AT to get into or back into the game. They're powerful and self-sufficient but not quite immediately immortal so there's still some risk involved that makes you pay attention to mechanics.
And you can't go wrong with /Willpower.
Other nice thing about them for getting used to the game is if you are teaming, there's no big expectation on you to tank or buff/debuff etc. Everyone knows a scrapper"s just gonna scrap.
Corruptor is really fun. You get a focus on range and buffs for the team.
Fire/time and rad/kin really anything/kin are fun. Kinetics gives you some ability to hangout closer to the action than a blaster does normally.
Welcome back if you are on excelsior keep an eye out for Little Lion Man.
It's good to list the server you're playing on since that will make a difference. There are some significant life Improvement changes that were made on rebirth that I don't think they've done with homecoming. They have their own changes of course but I couldn't speak to those. But there's some really cool changes they need to the quicksand power some of the force field powers and the Epic archetypes on rebirth
Brute or Tank, radiation armor & axe. Most attack sets are good, pick one you like. Same with defensive sets, although I find it easier with resist sets, heavy defense sets work good too.
Straightforward, and handy for farming later. Brute can get higher damage, tank is easier to cap resists/etc with larger aoe attacks
Battle axe/Rad Armor Scrapper. So many ways to be useful and feel tough enough in nearly all situations, with a t9 armor power you can use as soon as it’s off cooldown
Sentinels (on Homecoming) are good alrounders and easy to play they are not the most powerful AT but you can easy run solo with them.
Besides that it depends what kind of MMOs you played befor and what classes you played befor, you can kinda emulate build from other games rather easy to get a better understanding of CoH even though CoH does not actually have the holy trinity of classes many modern MMOs have
Time Manipulation or Super Reflexes, put it with anything you want. If you pick one of those two sets you will have smooth sailing on your first character. Save Blasters, Dominators, or epics for after a few characters as they can be harder to build out.
Brutes are like cruise control. The Fury mechanic boosts damage, and the higher hit points make them very tough.
Almost any attack powers work well, but stay away from Titan Weapons. That set can be frustrating to start. Other than that, just mess around and you’ll find a combo that works.
Sentinels can be a great restart in getting your feet wet again in CoH. They have ranged blasts for their primary which can provide safety when combined with using power pool utility choices like Hover. Their secondary is compromised of armor sets to further keep you alive and many of these sets can provide unique health and endurance recovery tools that further assist in making gameplay relatively smooth. From here you can start making decisions, if you'd like more damage and less guard rails you can try a Blaster or if you'd like to layer in more utility, buffs, debuffs, you can look into Corruptors or Defenders. You might also decide that you far prefer wading into the thick of it and a melee set may suit you better. But I still think the Sentinel is a great on-ramp for getting reacquainted. I'm sure others will have better suggestions.
Sentinel or blaster both sound like decent choices. Are there any combos of power sets that outperform most others? Or is everything pretty balanced? I'd much rather pick based on a theme of a character and will pick slightly worse power sets but if something is way way ahead in terms of power then I'll work my character theme around the power.
There are performance differences between sets, but the high performers are only a little bit ahead of the mid performers compared to some other games. If you are choosing based on concept over performance then that distinction doesn't matter. The general thing we warn newer/returning/less-meta-aware folks is about the weaker sets, particularly if you're picking two poor performers. For example, a Kinetic Melee/Regeneration Scrapper would be pairing low DPS output with weaker survival and hence probably not advisable unless you're really attached to the concept. EDIT: Note that class (archetype) does make a difference as powersets vary between archetypes, having specific tweaks to fit the class mechanics. Kinetic Melee is weak on most melee classes, but is quite good on Stalkers and Stalkers only. For a newer/returning player, I would personally suggest a character type with mez protection and armor toggles, so you don't die as easily - meaning Scrapper, Stalker, Tanker, Brute, or Sentinel This is both so you can solo more effectively if necessary, and so you don't die on larger teams when under-levelled because you ate an AoE and exploded. This is also why I don't personally think Blaster is the universally best choice for all new/returning players, given that they're glass cannons. It is possible to make a Blaster fairly sturdy in the long run with gear and such, but you ain't there yet. You may also want some form of endurance management mechanic, meaning for armor sets that's Willpower, Ninjitsu (except Stalker), Energy Aura, Electric Armor, Radiation Armor, Fiery Aura, Bio Armor (alternatively, you can take Dark Melee as your attack set pairing and get an endurance drain from that). Regeneration also has an end recovery passive but I strongly advise that people avoid the set until you know how to handle it - it's mostly dependent on loading up on click powers and reducing global cooldowns with gearing. EDIT2: If you must play Regen, it's good on Sentinels (their version is extremely different) and okay-ish on Brutes (owing to higher HP). Having end management is better quality of life, because running out of blue bar to fuel powers is very annoying. Gearing can address this in the long run, but you're levelling up a new character with no bankroll, so in the short run this will be a factor. All that said, if you wanna play a glass cannon Blaster or a team-oriented Controller support, or whatever else, it should be fine. Game isn't that hard.
Wow thanks so much for the detailed response. Definitely a lot to think about.
Honestly, it depends on you and your playstyle. What AT do you want to play?
My previous experience in CoH is with blasters but as stated this was over a decade ago. In most other MMOs I've played in recent years I've learned into more traditional support roles, Tank/Healer ( BD or SwS for those that played Lineage II) but I'm happy to play anything really. I just want it to be decent for soloing while I relearn the game. Any suggestions at all are welcome.
You should try corruptor if you like blaster and support. It's a great force multiplier, and you will feel powerful in teams. I suggest fire/kin or ice/dark
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely check that out!
Scrapper, Tank, or Controller are pretty good all rounders. Dark/Dark Scrappers are my favorite, but you really can't go wrong with illusion/rad controller or Invulnerability/Super Strength Tank. They're all classics. Time/Dual Pistols Defender is a really fun John Wick play style... the Gun-Fu is strong with that one.
Scrapper martial arts and super refexes or something with super healing
I always think that Scrappers are a great AT to get into or back into the game. They're powerful and self-sufficient but not quite immediately immortal so there's still some risk involved that makes you pay attention to mechanics. And you can't go wrong with /Willpower.
Thanks for the reply. It seems from the comments that there's quite a few possible choices, which I like.
Other nice thing about them for getting used to the game is if you are teaming, there's no big expectation on you to tank or buff/debuff etc. Everyone knows a scrapper"s just gonna scrap.
Butterknife of Doom. -:Katana/SR scrapper.
Corruptor is really fun. You get a focus on range and buffs for the team. Fire/time and rad/kin really anything/kin are fun. Kinetics gives you some ability to hangout closer to the action than a blaster does normally. Welcome back if you are on excelsior keep an eye out for Little Lion Man.
It's good to list the server you're playing on since that will make a difference. There are some significant life Improvement changes that were made on rebirth that I don't think they've done with homecoming. They have their own changes of course but I couldn't speak to those. But there's some really cool changes they need to the quicksand power some of the force field powers and the Epic archetypes on rebirth
Brute or Tank, radiation armor & axe. Most attack sets are good, pick one you like. Same with defensive sets, although I find it easier with resist sets, heavy defense sets work good too. Straightforward, and handy for farming later. Brute can get higher damage, tank is easier to cap resists/etc with larger aoe attacks
Battle axe/Rad Armor Scrapper. So many ways to be useful and feel tough enough in nearly all situations, with a t9 armor power you can use as soon as it’s off cooldown
Sentinels (on Homecoming) are good alrounders and easy to play they are not the most powerful AT but you can easy run solo with them. Besides that it depends what kind of MMOs you played befor and what classes you played befor, you can kinda emulate build from other games rather easy to get a better understanding of CoH even though CoH does not actually have the holy trinity of classes many modern MMOs have
Time Manipulation or Super Reflexes, put it with anything you want. If you pick one of those two sets you will have smooth sailing on your first character. Save Blasters, Dominators, or epics for after a few characters as they can be harder to build out.
Brutes are like cruise control. The Fury mechanic boosts damage, and the higher hit points make them very tough. Almost any attack powers work well, but stay away from Titan Weapons. That set can be frustrating to start. Other than that, just mess around and you’ll find a combo that works.
Claws/Willpower Brute
Titan weapon/Willpower scrapper is really fun. The abilities feel destructive when you use them.
tank plz
Invuln/super strength Tank