Nothing wrong with Lightning Attacks other than perception of whether they feel right to the concept or not.
Also - you might want to take a look at several of the ATs in the character build screens. There's a toggle that lets you look at the entire power progression up to lvl 40.
My recommendation? Study how the power progression goes on ATs that are close to your concept. Take note of when they pick up their block powers, attacks and defenses.
In fact - you might want to take screenshots of the AT power progression window on each AT you think might help you with ideas toward building your freeform and alt-tab from whatever image viewing program you use to look at them to the game and back to check against what powers are available as they come up when you're leveling.
Here's some examples of ATs I think would be relevant to your build. Check em out to see what I'm talking about.
http://i.imgur.com/LZyOEkz.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/MwmOdH8.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/gSp0srz.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/Y2d49wT.pngDon't follow the AT progression to the letter of course, since your character is freeform and gets powers and abilities on a slightly different schedule. But you may notice patterns that make sense.
Another point to keep in mind - For the first 10-15 levels, you can easily get by with only 2-3 attack powers. (In fact I've gotten up to that level on a couple of characters with only TWO attack powers in a couple of cases)
Get your defenses, stats, talents, primary and secondary stat boosts and equipment in order in preference over attacks if possible. The less dying you do, the less frustrating things are.
Speaking of spec trees - I REALLY wish the links were working. But they're not. So the best thing I can tell you is this - study the spec trees CLOSELY. The first tier will be based on your primary stat and is pretty straightforward. Look for tweaks that work to give you a clear advantage.
The 2nd and 3rd Tier of the Spec trees are where things get interesting. There are blocks of the spec tree that are CLEARLY meant for melee, others for tankers, others for pet wielders etc. Others are more subtle and give boosts that help more than one type of build.
Generally speaking though - there are Offensive and Defensive oriented Spec blocks that work for Melee, Ranged, Control, Pets, Tankers, and Support (Heals). There's too many for me to go over in total without making a fully dedicated set of guide posts for. Just look for the right boosts and pick the ones that suit the best.
Also - Do not double-up on the same type of Spec block in Tier 2 and 3! For example - don't take a defensive set in block 2 and then another type of defensive set AGAIN in block 3!
Here's another general tip I will give you that seems to work across the board in regards to the spec tree in regards to boosting Offense and Defense - look for boosts in one Tier that will STACK with boosts from another tier and magnify them.
Some basic Offense or Defense boosts occur in the first tier based on your Primary and secondary stats. This is my main Tanker character (an homage to Gipsy Danger from Pacific Rim). Note that he's taken 2/3 ticks of "Juggernaut" which boosts Defense based on his Constitution.
Next - look for Spec boosts that directly boost the Defense or Offense that you get from your Gear. Here, Joe has taken 3/3 ticks of "Fortified Gear" from the 2nd tier Spec tree. I chose Warden for my Tier 2 because it gives the best boosts to Durability for Tanker types.
Moving up to Tier 3 and I chose Vindicator, which is a good all-around offensive melee set of boosts. Here I want to point out the boost "Modified Gear", which gives a similar straight up boost to Offense that the earlier Tier ability gave to Defense. As before I've taken the maximum amount available - 2/2 in this case.
Okay - here's where the synergy comes in, and it's pretty sweet. Backtracking back down to the Warden set on Tier 2, Dynamo Joe has taken the maximum amount (3/3) of "The Best Defense". Which SERIOUSLY boosts his Offense.
Now - back up to the Tier 3 Vindicator set, and I've ticked off 2/2 of "Aggressive Stance". Which boosts Defense by 20% of the Offense Value.
Lastly at lvl 40, I took Strength Mastery, which in addition to a boost to Strength (and thus damage) also boosts Offense AGAIN.
The main synergy occurs because of "The Best Defense" and "Aggressive Stance". Those two Spec boosts cause the Offense and Defense numbers to feed on each other and boost each other up. You can see the results in the Offense and Defense stats above. Without taking those items, I think the Offense and Defense numbers would be at least 1/3 less. Maybe as much as 1/2.
The example above is for a Tanker. but there are spec blocks that are appropriate for ranged characters to take that have those types of boosts and synergies as well.
Hope that helps!
