Here's a link to what's currently the best Character Builder available. It's the most updated and most polished at this time:

http://zeus.jrq.ch/trcb/

Advice: Try to think of what style of character you want to play (w/o thinking of a class) and then try to build it with the builder from the top down (lvl 50 to lvl 1). Example: you want to build an "AFS-monk." Basically a can of melee woopass with hefty Logos ability and perhaps some healing ability. You're gonna want a melee medic. So pump up your h2h and concentrate on your tier 4 abilities. Fill in the in-betweens as needed, but armor-wise you'd probably want to focus on motor assist (to make hasty escapes). Frighten would also be smart to add some distance to enemies. For a pure melee build, Guardian is where you want to look. You could call the Guardian build a monk also, but I've always looked at monks as having healing ability. Anyways, just some examples.

Also, during the last few patches more onus was placed on the Health stat. This means points in Body are important again. Regen is no longer the total king of the hill, although I still believe Spirit should always be Higher than body, especially if you expect to fling a lot of Logos. Try to remember to set your Attributes to cater to the style of play you like. Do them AFTER you finish your skill build. Example: if you've put points into tools, bioarmor, or medic abilities... then spending Attribute points in Body is kind of redundant. Or, if you build a toon that requires a lot of COOLDOWN skills, then dont waste attribute points in Spirit since quick regen isnt necessary. In this case, mind would perhaps be the smarter way to go.

Another smart move is NOT to spend points on crafting at ALL. You can simply make a crafting Clone at lvl 30 that can have all abilities maxed out to pump 5. The other option is to make many new characters and level each one to lvl 7, then you can pump 5 in one crafting ability for each character. The latter option is probably the most wise if you intend on taking advantage of crafting for your main character and getting a jump on the economy. Choose crafting abilities that will complement your main obviously i.e. shields for that AFS-monk. Your main can provide the mats, recipes, etc. your crafter provides the skill. Swap through the footlockers and you're done.

Lastly, although you can always respec with a Clone as long as you have Clone points, you will NOT be able to keep your same name. If you expect to have a long history with one particular character, make sure to take care in how you build him/her.

And do not feel you should build a toon any particular way. TR doesnt punish as much as other games do if you've got an "odd" build. IMO, there's a place for every type of build in this game. Just learn how to implement it most effectively. Realize you also have a Clan behind you that can provide advice as well as equipment you wouldnt normally be able to find/craft yourself. Dont feel obligated to have to do it all yourself.

Enjoy your build...

p.s.
To cross-reference with the NCSoft "Career Planner" check here:
http://www.rgtr.com/game_intel/caree...r/classes.html