drone:
warts leg on sword. up it when you have stats free on the drone
torso with decent armor - prefer AA and stats
gun is preference - I use a elec/phase gun for damage but you can use the Nova gun with armor for even more tankiness.
i am level 50 and still using 2 fraggers (one is +7, the other is +6), but one has spectral nova / repair drone / napalm strike, the other has napalm strike / +3 inhibitor bots / +3 something else, all my strikes are maxed. If i'm shadow pass levelling I can clear almost entire rooms with one napalm.
I used 2 x Jung's until I could use my fraggers - they are solid guns you can use for a long time. take a look in the market for Jung's that have been augged with engi mods or something useful - you can pick them up for cheap.
as you progress keep looking for AA/Accuracy/Stamina gear.
#1 Advice - conserve as many stat points as possible for end game. ONLY use points for gear and try to avoid putting points in willpower.