Kelenar

Even though I do support the crusade to preserve the original meaning of the word 'ironic,' I do think the English language needs a word to express what it's used for a lot. Which is basically 'interesting and/or funny coincidence.'

I like Shockwave on my Claws/WP. I usually jump in, Spin, do a few ST attacks to soften lieutenants up, then jump backward and hit them with Shockwave to finish everything off if Spin hasn't recharged. I still have Eviscerate, but it only really gets used when I'm surrounded, Spin's down, and there's nowhere to Shockwave 'em. I'm considering dropping it. I'm usually reluctant to drop AoEs, but Spin is just that awesome.

My main once appeased the ghosts of the Circle of Jerks with the funky power of his boombox.

The combination is pretty darn good at a baseline. My frankenslotted DM/Elec has soloed energy-dealing AVs with minimal insp use, and can stand toe-to-toe with most smashing/lethal ones solo. With good resists, Energize, and Siphon Life, plus sapping mobs pretty quickly with Power Sink, survivability is pretty good, though not quite comparable to softcapped characters in most situations.

Between Energize and Power Sink, endurance just is not a problem 95% of the time. It can come up in extended fights versus single/scattered targets, but even then, problems are fairly minimal if you carry a few CaBs.

For maximum survivability, I'd go one of two routes--laying on as much defense as possible, or +Recharge to get Energize/Siphon Life up even more often (with some +HP accolades and IO bonuses on either route.) I can't open your build at the moment to get into specifics of it, but the one thing that strikes me is that the -KB IO is probably unnecessary in PvE. I can't remember ever getting knocked back on my brute when I wasn't doing something stupid to cancel Grounded, and you don't have Fly anyway. Since endurance is usually just fine, I might not bother with the proc in Stamina, either, but it could make the difference in AV fights, I suppose.

And for not enough money, well. With a build like that, you're probably talking billions.

More entertainment for those who enjoy a bigger challenge, pretty much.

I mostly use it for smacking high-defense enemies and -ToHit debuffers (Spectral Daemon Lords, I'm looking at you) to make them that much easier to hit, as well as smacking bosses that are outside of my Sleet/Snow Storm to keep them slowed down. There are cases where I don't get much out of it, like steamrolling teams... but debuffs have always been kinda at a loss there. I wouldn't call it vital, but it can be nice to have.

I play solely on Virtue, and in playing a few stalkers up, I've never really encountered any discrimination since the buff. Hell, the only real comments I've gotten were along the lines of 'Holy <pile of expletives>' after unleashing a wall of AoEs on my Spines/Regen.

There's a thread on this over in the Mastermind section. It looks like they're aware of the issue and trying to do something about it.

Now he needs a blast set where a lot of the animations are right-handed so he can shoot things out of it. It could be the world's most evil magician character. "Nothing up my sleeve... *EVERYTHING EXPLODES*"

Claws left off the other tip I usually see given to people more familiar with WoW, which is: Level 50 really doesn't matter that much. There are a few bits of content that are level 45+ only, but the content is pretty evenly spread out from 1-50. So don't really worry about rushing to the top level. It doesn't take too horribly long to hit 50 anyway, so most people play several (or in a lot of cases, a dozen or six) different characters instead of focusing on a single one.

And while archetypes are our analogs of classes, different powersets within an archetype can play radically differently. My Traps/Dark Defender, for example, does pathetic damage but can effectively turn a spawn into fuzzy kittens, while my Storm/Archery Defender can wipe most of a spawn off the map at once. So, don't be afraid to experiment a little with new powersets. If there's any particular role you enjoy, somebody on here can probably recommend something.