StratoNexus

If I call for RA (which is rare, I normally just use it and catch most peeps), I usually call for RA on the baddies. I can't imagine not being close to my melee oriented teammates (not to mention my need to be near the enemy).

The fact that you have to use a power you choose is not a bad thing. Like Blaze. Like Firebreath. Like summoning MM pets.

I have to keep using Blaze in order to keep damaging enemies. I must drop Freezing Rain every 25 seconds or so in order to keep debuffing enemies. I constantly keep reapplying Focus to an enemy in order to juggle and damage them. I must repeatedly use Gravity Distortion to lock down mobs (and for bosses I usually have to keep two stacked). I have to Fulcrum Shift every other spawn (or every three spawns). Most of those things take as much or more time than applying Speed Boost.

I keep CM applied to my allies so they can't get mezzed. I keep Fort on my allies so they kill faster and die slower. I use Tesla Cage to lock down a pesky enemy.

I do not want to log in, push one button, and then spend the rest of my night just moving around while enemies auto-die and allies are auto-buffed. I want to do stuff and push lots of buttons. Some of those buttons will activate attacks. Some will activate controls. Some will activate debuffs. And, yes, some will even activate buffs. I'd rather ID and O2 Boost be two minutes, because one minute is harsh. But I like Speed Boost at the two minute timer.

Ironically, I recently made a post about scrapper playability in three tiers of leveling.

If you are interested.

As people here have mentioned, once you can slot better enhancements, defense sets get better than they are at level 9.

Aye. I never built for it specifically, but I was getting some boost from the bug (I have ~69% heal enhancing in Health on my Fire/Fire/Flame). I lost about 4 HP/sec, which is not as bad as the 7 HP/sec the OP lost.

There was a bug where the amount of heal enhancing you had slotted would increase the the amount of regen the Numina proc granted. That has been fixed. I am not sure if it actually went through to live pre-I17. If it did perhaps the other procs are now fixed as well (regen tissue most likely).

Other procs are similarly bugged and will likely also be fixed in the near future. (maybe these are now fixed on live?)

Link to some extra information. Castle's post after Catwhoorg's is also relevant.

Fiery Aura may be on his list. Castle knows he wants to make Consume recharge in 60 seconds and deal scale 1.4 damage.

OSA has been passed on to programming. OSA seems to operate fine almost all the time now. I'd like to get that "almost" out of the sentence too, but since it is has been so hard to track down and the gain at this point would be minimal, I think I'd rather the programmers spend time on other stuff and only worry about OSA if they stumble across something that may be the problem.

Too much. I prefer level 25 common IOs (and then level appropriate commons as you rise above 22), cheaper over the long haul.

I disagree and the following is true. FS is actually the overrated Kin power, not SB.

I definitely listed target caps being added and specifically mentioned it affected Burn quite a bit.

While it is true that Ice Patch is less effective than before target caps, I do also find that since it ticks so fast it often actually effects more than 5 targets.

I have not had any pet end issues on my Demon/Storm, but I do not have the lvl 32 upgrade yet, so maybe once the AoE heal comes into play?

Hurricane and Freezing Rain mitigate a ton of damage for me though, so I do not believe I will often see the AoE heal being spammed normally.

Most people do not realize that travel in missions eats up a far chunk of mission time. Guess what Speed Boost does besides +recharge and +recovery.

Having FS active and double stacked works much better with SB than without. It lets your team run to the next spawn faster. It gets their AoEs up faster (because people who claim to be able to function great on their own without +recharge and +recovery do not actually know what speeding through a mission is if they think they can wipe spawns that fast without outside help). FS makes you kill spawn A so fast, that you need SB or else you get to spawn B with some key powers still recharging. Not to mention you will get more Freezing Rain and LR and Forge, etc.

On a moderate to large team, if Kin A uses all the powers they want except Speed Boost, while Kin B uses only Speed Boost, team B will be more efficient every time.

It is your choice how to play. But Speed Boost is really stupid good. You will vastly increase your own reward gain by using it liberally. Making gods of destruction is fun, IMO.

TL;DR:
FA possibly having issues is not the result of some misguided nerf, but rather the result of the constantly changing nature of MMOs and has more to do with overall game changes than anything specific that was done to FA.

You keep saying that the devs nerfed FA and it became underpowered. This is not really how it went down. FA was not very strong one day and then after a nerf it was very weak. It is an accumulation of things that have gotten FA to where it is today.

Adding fear to Burn lowered the offensive punch, but FA was still considered a good set after that (unless you also had Ice Melee, in which case it was still stunning). The GDN did not touch FA's mitigation, but decreased the damage of Burn and increased its recharge (the damage was changed for both versions of Burn (only one pet exists), but blasters kept the quick recharge which Brutes picked up as well when I6 came out) and lowered the duration of the Fire damage buff in FE to 20 seconds (it used to be 30, IIRC, which Brutes still have). Target caps were also introduced in I5, which affected Burn quite a bit. The aggro cap, of course, limited how well the bigger offensive punch of FA could be utilized. ED hit FA hard. Villain content is less forgiving, Brutes have less HPs and lower base values. Content in general hits FA weaknesses more (more webnades, more KB, more slows, etc. are added to enemies) I7 increased the effectiveness of defense, which was a relative negative for FA. Burn was changed again, having its recharge changed to 25 seconds (this was a slight buff for tankers, but a big nerf for blasters and brutes). Healing Flames got an excellent buff. I9, inventions were a nice add for FA. +HPs, +recharge, +regen, and KB protection were all very good for FA. I13 I believe is when they added more defense to IOs, which lowered FAs relative status. Scrappers have even fewer HPs, a lower resist cap, and lose some aggro utility on top of the lower base values. Mob AI is occasionally tweaked to reduce the chances of speedy collapse and collision detection has gotten a lot better (although you can still get stacking sometimes). More armor sets give us more to compare FA with.

Storm lends itself to being controllery and since you like that I'd recommend sticking with Psy. Dark mastery is an amazing combo with Storm and for solo efficiency you cannot choose better than Dark. However, you will probably feel plenty fast on a Storm/Ice to not need to worry about the extra Dark mastery brings.

You are incredibly overkill on Holds. 4 hold procs, 3 hold powers. Psy or Electric comes down to personal preference, but the cheap purple set and the proc in WoC is fun (WoC without the proc is just a visual aura, to be honest). Power Sink is nice though, and you may have end issues, so Electric is a consideration once you level up.

I'd honestly consider ditching Bitter Freeze Ray. It has a great animation though, so I can see not wanting to part with it. Ditching it and picking up Hasten would give you a big boost though, getting your best powers back so much faster.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Winter and Woe: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(3), Dev'n-Hold%(5), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25)
Level 2: Ice Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(11), Dev'n-Hold%(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(7)
Level 6: Steamy Mist -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(7), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), ImpArm-ResDam(9)
Level 8: Freezing Rain -- LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(A), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(11), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(17), LdyGrey-DefDeb/EndRdx(21), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(31), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(31)
Level 10: Aim -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(29), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 12: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(13), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(13), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(15), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(15)
Level 14: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 18: Hover -- Srng-Fly(A), Srng-EndRdx(19), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(19), Flight-I(25)
Level 20: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(21), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(23), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(23)
Level 22: Ice Storm -- AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(27), Posi-Acc/Dmg(31), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 24: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 26: Tornado -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(34), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(46), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 28: Bitter Ice Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(36), Dev'n-Hold%(36), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 30: Freeze Ray -- G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(36), G'Wdw-Hold/Rng(37), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(37)
Level 32: Lightning Storm -- Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 38: Blizzard -- AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(40), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(40), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(42), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg(42)
Level 41: Dominate -- G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(42), G'Wdw-Hold/Rng(43), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(45), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), ImpArm-ResDam(46)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(48), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(48), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(48), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(50), CoPers-Conf%(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 4: Ninja Run

When talking of leveling up, I am pretty sure SD has a much nicer ride from 1-36 then SR.

Regen is probably the nicest from 1-20, although Fiery is pretty decent as well. I also like Invuln very much from 1-20. Dark, Elec, and Willpower fall into the next tier for me at the lowbie levels. Shield and SR would be the worst in the lower levels, although with True Grit, AoE defense, and some Sm/Le resistance, SD is better than SR.

20-40 things change. Regen stays excellent whereas Fiery starts to really drop off (especially in the 30s). DA, Willpower, Elec, and SD really pick up in the early 20s, all of those sets have completed their basic protections at this point except for WP, which has to "suffer" with getting QR instead of HS (DA may have some slotting issues until late 20s, early 30s, IME). SR benefits greatly from SO level enhancers but does not complete its basic protection until the 30s. Invuln doesn't really gain much until 28 and finishes off the basics in the 30s (there is a minor downward trend here for Invuln relative to the early game, but, unlike Elec and Fiery, it rises back up after Invincibility and Tough Hide). Electric drops off quickly in the 30s, much like FA.

In the late game, while it is easy to point and say that SR has more defense and better DDR, the value of bowling every other spawn onto its backside and giving yourself and (if you have one) your team time to defeat them while they cannot respond should not be overlooked. While Elude is very good, it has a much harsher crash than OwtS and is usable less frequently.
SD and SR are on par, or at least very close mitigation wise and SD has more utility. I'd put both of them below Regen, DA, and WP. Regen stays a steady performer as does Invuln. DA and WP can really shine. Fiery and Electric have mitigation issues in the late game in exchange for other things, which varying people see with varying opinions.

Rating the sets in the end game on just SOs I would go:
DA=Regen=Invuln=WP=SD>>SR>>FA>>>Ele.
My favorite scrappers to play are
Invuln>>>>>FA>Regen>SD>>WP>Elec>>>SR>DA.

My Claws/Elec/Blaze scrapper is still eminently playable, even if I cannot attempt the same feats of crazy I can on the Kat/Inv/Body scrapper I still run on SOs (which is not the Kat/Inv scrapper I normally run).

Put one SO end reducer in Hack and re-compare. AAO will look even more appealing. (~45 DPE for Energize vs. ~44 for AAO at best). Of course, most players are probably not at saturated bonus very often.

Energize costs 10.4 end every ~60 seconds, AAO costs 12.6 over 60 seconds. I wish Energize had zero or a negligible endurance cost. The power would be much more interesting that way.

Strictly PvE, my PvP experience is outdated (and was never the best anyway).
I prefer Fire/MM. Better on fast moving teams. I prefer the functionality of Aim, Blaze, and Build Up (Concentration) over Caltrops (Caltrops is amazing, btw) and more AoE powers than I need.

I prefer Concentration+Breath+Scream+Ball to Full Auto+Flamethrower (Buckshot, Ignite, M-30, Trip Mine, and *shudder* Time Bomb).

It is slow compared to most other possible combinations.

If you solo your defenders as fast as your scrappers, that means you are playing your scrapper slower than needed, not that everyone else is playing their defender badly.

Edit: To be honest, I almost feel bad I responded to this. Nothing in the OP or my post was complaining about defender solo speed. The desire to IO out a character is not necessarily because the character needs IOs to function, but just something you can do for fun and to give yourself some little extras.

Sure, you can do it that way.

Those events can also be done other ways.

While better design tools is always a great thing, I am of the opinion that we get fewer new powersets more because of art resources than power design resource issues.

We get fewer proliferated powersets due to designer preference/bias and possibly marketing issues.