Hello, how's it going? I just got the Secret World last week, and I've been thoroughly enjoying the game thus far. The missions themselves are well done (especially investigation missions) and the setting is great. The abilities system seems highly unique as well.

I was looking for some feedback on my starter deck for the game. With the wide variety of weapons in the game, I decided to focus on Blade/Shotgun for now. I typically enjoy Tanking in most MMOs, and when I eventually get around to running dungeons I'd like to make sure I'm prepared for that. I noticed Shotgun seems to have a lot of good support abilities as well as solid AOE damage, so (though I may be wrong about this), it seems like a good second weapon for a tank. Plus, I think visually using shotguns and swords seemed pretty cool. I normally play with a buddy (Blood Magic / Assault Rifle looking into healing down the road).

So, I made the following "Starter Build" : http://www.tsw-builder.com/#17v11110...14116105403612

I'll mention my initial thoughts. I'd love to hear what abilities people replace the earlier ones with later as well.
Abilities:
-Blade Torrent: AOE Builder that seems generally solid. I noticed it pulls a lot of Aggro, which seems really helpful in dungeons.
-Dancing Blade: I'm not sure how well it scales (the channeling is annoying) but it's nice to have single target Consumer
-Out for a ****: Pretty much just the first Shotgun Consumer I found. I'm very open to switching it out.
-Surging Blades: From playing other MMOs, I know how useful Dash abilities can be. It seems like I need a bit of practice with it though, as it's easy to overshoot my actual target. I replace this with Balanced Blade sometimes.
-Martial Discipline: Seems to be an all-around solid Defensive Cooldown, and good in a solo pinch
-Breaching Shot: Seems like a powerful offensive cooldown, since (I think) Penetration is very important in this game. It affects the whole party too.
-Stunning Swirl: This ability (at least as a new player) seems incredibly powerful. Large AOE, super high damage and stuns enemies on a 25s cooldown? Does it scale well?

Passives:
-Immortal Spirit: Seems like a solid survival based passive
-Perfect Storm: Afflicted seems like a great condition, and Blade Torrent is my main builder
-Regeneration: Healing from Martial Discipline makes it even better. I may replace this later on though.
-Sharp Blades: 10% more Blades damage seems solid, though I may replace it if I get more shotgun damaging abilities.
-Fluid Defense: This was my first elite Passive, and it seems solid. A good defensive buff and some damage increases as well
-Dark Potency: With "Perfect Storm", this seems like a good combo. Does it scale well at higher levels?
-Elemental Force: I see this passive all over the place. Granted, increased crit chance seems really great.

I wanted to make sure I'm on the right track. I'd also love to know if there are any particularly good abilities/passives to pick up for the later game, especially for either weapon. I noticed the "Agitator" passive seems essential for tanking (350% aggro sounds amazing).

I was thinking of later building a more shotgun focused build for DPS, but for now this is what I have built. Thanks for any advice you can give!