So I'm new to the game. I played several years ago when it first came out, but I haven't really touched the game much since. I played some of the f2p, really enjoyed the game, and decided to sub. I'm very interested in getting into some of the alerts later in the game so I'm wondering if I would be better off picking a tank or support character instead of a dps? Or, being new, I should stick with dps since I will be playing solo most of the time until I find a SG?
One other question I have, should I pick freeform no matter what build I'm making?
Thanks in advance for any advice and if you have any other for a new player, I'm all ears, especially build advice

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Comments
Build wise, Hybrid can be viewed as the "best" role since it has it's fair share of healing and damage potential as well as the most versatile passive slot in game (takes any passive).
Ranged/Melee Role, Support Role and Tank Role in comparison are just various extremes of Hybrid Role, each with their respective ups and downs.
Generally, I find that people are willing to form teams when levelling, for general purpose. As a gold player (subbed player) you do have the ability to create self sustaining DPS/Tanks/Support toons etc.
If you have any concepts or power sets you'd like to use, feel free to mention them, if I cannot assist in making a build based on your preferences, I am certain someone will be able to.
Few little bits of advice for new players:
* Turning off your travel power in combat is better for energy management overall, as attacks cost less.
* When inside an instanced mission you can use SOCRATES (Crime Computer) to exit a mission, so long as your name tag is not sporting a red background (this means you are in combat mode). This works for all instanced missions.
My Characters on PRIMUS
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Do you deal well with stress and frustration? Think about a healer.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
I've played a lot of different roles through the years of gaming. I played CoX from Beta until it closed and loved playing support. My favorite was a kinetics/electric defender (if you're familiar with CoX ATs that will make sense). I also spent about a year as a tank and occasionally a healer in Star Wars ToR.
If I go DPS, will I have any issues finding a team for Alerts? In other MMO's I've played (CoX included) dps always have issues queueing and/or joining teams
No. The queue doesn't care what you are, it just throws you in with the next 4 available players and off you go. People here don't really care what you are either, groups generally don't look for specific roles, just 5 people of anything.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
In a nutshell play whatever you find fun.
The worst possible team for a typical alert is 5 tanks.
The best (arguably) has 3 or 4 DPS, 1 or 2 support, and 0 or 1 tanks.
That said, with freeform you don't really have to think trinity. I like DPSers who can survive everything that comes their way, self-heal and still keep pouring out damage. I like hybrid characters, and not necessarily using the hybrid role either -- I think people underestimate support role sometimes.