I am so on the fence about defenders. I sorta want to try them but I'm not sure I have the patience to put up with everyone telling me either how to play them or that I am doing it wrong. They get so much of this.
I spent most of my time soloing because of afk reasons, and street sweeping because... well I just liked it. So when I tried making an empathy defender, I wasn't too impressed with it the first time around. But later when Water Blast came out (and I'd learned a lot more) I rerolled her... and holy moley the difference was amazing.
I got her to 19 in one sitting. And this was solo street sweeping, mind you... no PLing, no double XP, not even mission completion bonuses. Maybe a charge or two of that temp power that granted patrol XP. Last I left her she was in the mid-20s... and man could she kick some butt. I remember once, with a few insps, taking on a +5 Warrior boss and his posse. She won too... an
Emp. The knockdown and slow from her Water powers was enough to make the difference.
That's the kind of strength that debuffs and controls offered. I never played defenders or other support types much, but every time I heard someone underestimating them, I'd smile and think to myself, "Pay attention to a good one and you might just learn something, kiddo."
Come to think of it, that's something I'd like to do differently next time around... play support more. And street sweep my emp defender all the way to 50, too. Just cause I
can.