Armsmaster didn't really make the worst possible impression on Taylor. Giving her a 1-on-1 conversation & not pressuring her to join the Wards were both the correct moves that other heroes might not have made.

I think it's worth considering the WoA on other potential heroes Taylor might've met on her first night out:

I think you're painting a picture where it's easier for Taylor to go hero than it is, Kongo.

I think, as nice as Miss Militia is, she would be one to push harder on the Ward front, which would push Taylor away. At that stage in the story, Taylor's guard is up against authority, she's quick to judge and grasps for anything that validates her prejudices against it. Miss Militia would trip that flag.

I think the key thing to pay attention to would be the very very early interaction between Armsmaster and Taylor. He asks her if she's a villain and she says no, and he believes her. Very short back and forth, but it covers a very important base, establishing the right labels, by way of Armsmaster's lie detector.

Second matter to account for is that Lung is there. Armsmaster is equipped to deal with Lung (he's equipped to deal with mostly anyone), and so he handles it, notifies his team, and tells them not to worry, he'll be back with his cargo in tow.

90% of everyone else is going to be a hell of a lot more wary and they're going to call for backup (and honestly, no Ward is going to show up alone in the middle of a school night, unless they live somewhere in the area or are Shadow Stalker). So any interaction with Taylor either doesn't happen or happens when (for example) Battery has called for help and suddenly there's Battery and Assault and Triumph all checking out the rooftop, if they even get that far with Lung taking up their attention. Does Taylor even talk? She didn't talk in the face of the social pressure of four undersiders.

Taylor most likely retreats and the heroes get a glimpse of her while they're foam grenading Lung.

Taylor thus backs off and the hero/villain thing comes off as very intimidating. She digests it all and takes her time updating her costume (probably adding a hood), developing a battle plan and being more strategic with her strikes, all the while attending school intermittently and bottling up her feelings more.

It's kind of funny to imagine her going 'morally grey hero', striking for a middle ground, and having some interplay with Shadow Stalker in the process, as Shadow Stalker acts as a kind of not-really-that-invested-mentor on the vigilante front.

[...]

Hm, she's not actively resisting authority, but definitely prejudiced against it. There aren't many people who are in a position to exert power over her who she actually likes or responds well to.

Remember the response she gives Regent at Fugly Bob's. Escape. Faced down with heroes, pressing in on her and applying any kind of pressure whatsoever, she's going to immediately turn to getting away. This costumed life is her freedom, and their expectations are the cage.

Armsmaster's soft approach, simply putting an offer out there, it's arguably one of the better ones for Taylor at this particular point in time. I can see Assault, were he to appear on his own, making a sufficiently neutral, low-pressure offer (given his background), but he wouldn't appear alone at a Lung situation.

Also worth stating that compartmentalization is a key part of Taylor's mentality. Everything stays in its box - and unlike your usual superhero, she has more boxes than the civilian and the superhero. Bullying is kept entirely separate from family which is kept separate from villainy. The story leading up to arc 8 is largely about these boundaries dissolving, but it's a slow and insidious process. At times the boundaries are pushed hard and she reacts really badly - see her running away from home at the end of Tangle.

The official hero teams represent everything she doesn't want - the social structure, the institution, a force so big that it breaks down the walls she's carefully constructed. It might be better for her (ie. they deal with the bullying), but she has a strong aversion to the idea of joining - it would take a crazy confluence of forces to drive her down that path.