What's the most recent build/set up that you've discovered?

nitrous - my knowledge of the game mechanics is much greater than my ability to make tidy posts involving multi-quotes, so I'll respond to your inability to use the Geth Scanner. Firstly, you're not alone in that, and you have my sympathies. If I was in your position I would probably favour either the Hurricane with Barrage Gear, or the CSMG with the Expert Package. A CSMG at V should be just about usable on Gold with a character like the Paladin as his cooldowns are faster than the time it takes to empty its mag.

We all overheat those guns from time to time, even at higher levels, so just bear in mind that popping a TCP will cancel the animation - just don't start firing immediately as the mag has to refill. It's in those kinds of circumstances that I might find myself plonking my Shield down, depending on where the enemies are.

I should also acknowledge what DistigousForest said about the Arc Pistol - along with the Talon, it and the Executioner Pistol can be great fun, and the Eagle can do a reasonable job too. Executioner Pistol combined with Energy Drain shenanigans can give problems off-host though, so I'd go with the Talon or Arc Pistol until you feel you're getting the hang of things.

I used to run him 66606 but I suspect there's some kind of bug with SF where the last two ranks are a bit iffy, depending on which option you choose (sorry I can't remember the specifics) so I'm running 66446 with the Fire Shield option. If I knew in advance that I was only ever likely to use one of those SMGs I would max weapons Passives rather than Health, but as I said earlier I'm a compulsive Boinker. One day hopefully you will be too.