It is simply not true to say that "there is no way to solder directly to the cell without damaging the battery". It is true that damage can easily caused if you don't do it properly. However I've also seen people damage batteries by vastly overheating the tags.

The catch if you're an electric flier is that there is no way to get a reasonable current through skinny tags and weedy spot welds. If you want a high power battery you have no choice but to solder it.

However if you're ham-fisted and/or can't bothered to learn how to do it properly I really would recommend buying your batteries ready built. IMO fully welded tags using the correct equipment with a trained operator is much safer than most people's soldering, tags or not, certainly for anything except high currents (over 25-30A).

Steve