Disclaimers: This is the Internet. As such, you probably disagree with me. If you do, great, post about it and maybe we'll talk, but don't nerd rage over it, you'll just look stupid. Also, my language can be abrasive at times. If you're offended, tough cookies. Finally, yes, my Rad/Kin is only 37 (I'm not old!). However, I've played around with it (and watched others at work, including a friend who had a Kin/Rad Defender back in the day) long enough to, if not consider myself an expert, at least enough to write out a guide while bored at work.
That being out of the way, welcome to a guide on playing a Radiation Blast/Kinetics Corruptor. There's plenty of guides out there, some on Radiation, some on Kinetics, and they're all good. There are none on the combination of these two, though, so that's what I'm here to talk about. I'm not gonna drag out numbers, you can look elsewhere for those, and I'm too lazy to reinvent wheels.
So stay a while, and listen.
Let's get the ground running with some general discussion of the sets. Radiation Blast is a high speed, relatively low endurance, low damage set, as exemplified by their first of two starting single target attacks: Neutrino Bolt is practically recharged by the time your done animating it, and costs nearly no endurance, but does only a bit more than a plain old Brawl. With three Area of Effect attacks, plus the 32 nuke, Radiation Blast is also fairly AoE-heavy. Radiation Blast also debuffs defense with every attack, though I wouldn't bother slotting for it or counting on it in any way. Just smile, nod, and move on.
Kinetics. Everyone loves a Kinetics-user on their team; Brutes especially will drop their pants and sing "Ol' Grey Mare" on the street corner to get a little bit of that Speed Boost candy. Not counting the to-hit check for the moment, Transfusion is probably one of the best AoE heals in the game, once you learn to hit the right mobs with it. Once you hit Transference you should never have an excuse to stay out of endurance for more than a few seconds, and Fulcrum Shift is, of course, the damage buff of the century. Due to the need to be close to your target for effectiveness in so many key powers, you're going to be living in melee range as a Kinetics.
Now here's why I feel they go together like peanut butter and Eggo waffles. Often times in games, you will come to a particular junction of character development: further reinforce my strengths, or try to cover my weaknesses? Nine times out of ten, I will try to cover my strengths. The strength of Radiation Blast is its speed, i.e. low recharge times. The strength of Kinetics is making everything and everyone faster. It all comes together rather nicely.
(If that sounds kinda flighty and philosophical, that's because it is. I actually just picked them 'cause I liked the physics theme, so sue me for trying to rationalize.)
Regarding teaming versus soloing. You CAN solo as this guy. But frankly, if I wanted to solo 24/7 I would have made a Brute or a Mastermind or something, and if I HAD made a Corruptor for soloing it damn well wouldn't have been Kinetics, nor would it have been an AoE-heavy primary like Radiation Blast. I mean, Speed Boost--arguably the single best buff in CoV, and one of the best in CoH--one of the defining powers in the Kinetics set, is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS solo.
With Neutrino Bolt and X-Ray Beam in the early game, and X-Ray Beam and Cosmic Burst from 20 or so on, you CAN solo. But you picked the wrong sets if you ONLY solo, frankly.
It's worth noting about now that the way I play and build this character relies on at least one respec at 24. I've personally respecced twice, once at 25 and again at 35. 25 was to move from the early game to the late game, and 35 because I'm a clod who took Repel at the 25 respec for some damn fool reason.
Right, let's talk powers. As I said, you can get the numbers and in-game descriptions anywhere, so I'm just gonna talk about why (not) to pick them and how (not) to use them. Also, for all powers that rely on a to-hit check, I recommend two accs for every power without an inherent accuracy buff; three if you absolutely rely on that power to hit (I'll mention these later).
Radiation Blast
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1) Neutrino Bolt (single target blast). Criminally low recharge time and endurance usage traded for criminally low damage. Some people encourage setting this to auto-fire by ctrl-clicking it; a good idea if you remember to turn it off while not in combat, less you make a horrible error later. Very worth taking in the early days of your career; personally, once I could reliably use Siphon Speed, I took it out. As far as slotting goes, two acc is of course required; anything else you can afford up to 5 should be damage. Don't bother with recharge enhancements, this thing recycles fast enough as is.
2) X-Ray Beam (single target blast). A higher-damage, slower, slightly more costly version of Neutrino Beam, except it's frikkin' laser beams out of your frikkin' eyes. Can't beat that for style, except with some of those nifty shark patron attacks. See Neutrino Beam for slotting, except this one I actually kept past 25.
3) Irradiate (point-blank AoE DoT attack). The first of your three AoE attacks; this one is a point-blank circle around you, which further enforces the Kinetics strategy of staying close to your enemies. Though the damage ticks seem small, they add up to total about an X-Ray Beam's worth of damage. The defense debuff here, though, is much more considerable and long-lasting than the single target attacks. I recommend taking it eventually, though like all AoEs the endurance usage is higher than average so depending on your early-game teaming amounts you might want to hold off. Slot it 2 acc and 3 power.
4) Electron Haze (cone attack). This is one of the contentous powers of the set for this combo. This is because its cone means you have to back out of the fight and maneuver to get the best shot, wasting time. The damage is quite good, though it does have a knockback component which can be annoying. I fought with myself over whether to take this for a while; in the end, I settled on taking it, but you might not want to. If you do, slot it 2 acc and 3 damage, like always.
5) Proton Volley (snipe). If you take this, you're a clod. You're kinetics, you're supposed to be in the thick of things, not far out sniping. Shouldn't really be pulling, either; if you wanna pull Siphon Power will suffice. Nice animation though.
6) Aim (short duration accuracy and damage buff). You've seen this and its sibling Build Up before, so I won't waste time describing it. I took it later--at 30--because I would only use it before a nuke or ghetto-nuke (AoE chain), and it didn't feel too useful early on. No opinion on slotting; I have one recharge in it and am perfectly happy. There are other things that need slots more.
7) Cosmic Burst (single target short range high damage blast (run-on run-on lol)). What you see is what you get: high damage on a longer recharge. The nice thing is that theere is a Disorient component guaranteed to stun Lieutenants and below; get some revenge on those Longbow Nullifiers and their Stuns of Death for me. I say slot this one 2 acc, 3 damage, and 1 recharge. Yes, even on a Kinetics, a recharge will help in this power, unlike most of the others.
8) Neutron Bomb (targeted AoE). Asplodes on your target, damaging him and his nearby buddies. About the same damage as X-Ray Beam. Totally kickin' rad animation. Not much else to say, really. Slot it, natch, 2 acc 3 damage.
9) Atomic Blast (point-blank AoE nuke). This is the really big gun, and part one of three of The Holy Trifecta (see below). Immense damage over a wide area around you, and as a great bonus, a fairly good Hold. So anything that didn't die is puking its guts out due to Chernobyl-level exposure. The problems are manifold, though they can all be mitigated: like all nukes, unless you set it off with no enemies nearby it'll drain ALL of your Endurance and kill your natural regeneration for about 15 seconds. Also, prior to slotting the damage is rather... not low, certainly, but the word 'disappointing' comes to mind. After slotting, though... hoo boy. Finally, the out-of-the-box recharge is quite high (as all nukes are). Slots are 1 acc, 3 damage, 2 recharge. Why one acc? Because if I'm not running Aim, I'm not firing my nuke, period. My personal testing led me to the conclusion that one acc plus Aim is enough in 95% of circumstances.
Kinetics
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1) Transfusion (targeted AoE heal). You're forced to take this, but that's okay, because I believe it's the best damn heal in the game. You target an enemy, and assuming it passes the tohit check, all allies in a distance around that enemy are healed, draining a small amount of target endurance. Note that, even though the green swirlies get bigger or smaller with the size of the target, the healing radius is the same for all enemies. Slot this 3 acc, 3 heal; it recharges fast enough, and you do NOT want to miss, and you DO want to heal as much as humanly possible.
2) Siphon Power (point-blank AoE damage (de)buff). Target an enemy and fire. Assuming you pass the tohit, the enemy's damage is debuffed, and yours (and any nearby ally's) is buffed. The buff is quite good pre-SOs, but not too noticeable post-SOs. I still take it though, because it's a good debuff for AVs, Bosses, etc at all levels, and besides, the alternatives are Neutrino Bolt and (ugh) Repel at this point.
3) Repel (toggle point-blank knockback). Anything next to you drains a little extra endurance on top of the toggle cost, and gets flung back like a damn mile; the knockback IS pretty far in my experience. Despite that, I NEVER ran it while actually playing the game; I only ran it to annoy the hell out of newbies in Mercy (which, let it be said, is one HELL of a lot of fun). There are arguments for taking them, but I won't put them forward 'cause I pretty much hate Repel. So there.
4) Siphon Speed (recharge, run speed buff). Later, you will love this buff like one of your children. It makes everything
better. However, pre-Stamina you just plain don't have enough endurance to support the recharge buff, and pre-SOs you can't reliably stack it, which I feel is vital to getting the best possible use out of it. Even though I took it early in my Respec build, I suggest not taking it until the 24/whatever respec. Slot it 2 acc and 2 recharge when you do, though, it's worth it.
By the way, some people argue Siphon Speed is good enough to be a travel power. I disagree, for two reasons: one, siphoning the wrong mob while travelling can be deadly, and two, it needs a tohit check, and three, no vertical mobility. Let's face it, CoV is a LOT more vertical than CoH is. (Okay, that was three. Sue me.) Admittedly, I use it to travel at higher levels because I have Fly when it doesn't work, and I'm willing to accept the consequences. But caveat emptor.
5) Increase Density (ally anti-status buff). It actually IS a nice buff, though it comes with a -run speed component (very minor). Stopping those status effects cold is nice. Problem is, I feel the duration is too short to keep replacing along with Speed Boost. Guess which one I think is more important?
6) Speed Boost (super awesome buff of cool things). +recharge, +regeneration, and +runspeed, and in vast amounts, all in one single-target two minute fast-recharging buff. Amazing power. Not counting godmodes, nukes, etc., you should NEVER see a bottomed-out endurance bar while using this. Except your own bar, pre-35. Ironic, that. Some day after getting this, watch your team's endurance bars without Speed Boost for a while, then give it to them and watch the difference. Slotting ideas vary; personally, I think two endmods is ideal. One, even mildly heavy-on-endurance characters can still tank in a protracted battle, and three is overkill, but two is just right. Admittedly, there is something to be said for overkill, so maybe three would work too. Your call, but I would do two slots, this build is slot-tight enough as is.
7) Inertial Reduction (point-blank AoE Super Jump). Gives a timered Super Jump to everyone nearby. Personally, I didn't take it because I like Hover/Fly too much to get rid of, but there are definitely arguments for taking this instead (namely, saving a power choice). Not much else to say, really.
8) Transference (targeted AoE endurance heal). Part two of The Holy Trifecta. Basically see Transfusion, only on a longer recharge, and it drains a TON of endurance and radiates it all outward in an AoE. Unslotted it gives 1/4 to 1/3 of a bar back; with two endmod it gives maybe 2/3 to 3/4, at a guesstimate. You should never have an excuse to stay tapped out for very long with this power. Slot it at least two acc and two endmod; two recharge on top of that would be super nifty, though more optional.
9) Fulcrum Shift (weird as hell damage megabuff). Part three of The Holy Trifecta. First, you fire it at a target. If it hits, you AND it radiate a damage-buff aura for your allies, and his damage is debuffed. Now, here's the trick: the target's (and ONLY the original target's) debuff aura can cause OTHER nearby mobs to emit a similar damage buff/debuff aura, with the exception that the auras can't chain further than this. So basically, any enemies in an AoE of your target are damage debuffed, and any allies in that large AoE are MASSIVELY damage buffed. Something like 200% for a pack of ten mobs, easy to achieve in a team. The orange numbers, they are so big! Mon dieu! Slot it three acc, three recharge, and never look back. (Well, maybe two of each. But I choose three.)
The Holy Trifecta
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(yes, I'm aware that this is an incorrect usage of the word trifecta--sue me, as always)
To be honest, the Trifecta is more a property of ANY /kin Corruptor, but I'm still gonna put it in words here. The Holy Trifecta refers to the three powers you should be picking up and heavily slotting between 32 and 39: your nuke (Atomic Blast in this case), Transference, and Fulcrum Shift (and, optionally, Aim, but then it wouldn't be a Trifecta, now would it?). The basic idea is:
0) Aim.
1) FS a large group.
2) Nuke, watch everything die.
3) Pop a blue pill.
4) If any mobs are left, Transference off of them.
5) Restart your toggles and get back to the fighting.
I'll leave you to imagine the amount of devastation this causes; I've seen it, and it was one hell of a thing, let me tell you.
Power Pools
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Let it be said first off that I don't really care about the Patron Pools much, so I'm not gonna talk about them.
Now then, the pools.
-Concealment: it can probably take a pass. Though Stealth or Invis is nice for beelining missions, I prefer gunning through them anyway, and in instances where stealth is A Good Idea (tm), I have the PvP stealths to support me for a while yet.
-Fighting: Remember what I said about reinforcing your strengths versus fixing your weaknesses? This pool would help you do a very
bad job at the latter. Pass.
-Fitness: Stamina is, of course, a must--though whether you take this at 20 or 22 is debatable because of Speed Boost being there, any later and you're a ninny. Three slots of Endmod in this. Incidentally, I took Swift and Health, Swift because I Fly and Siphon Speed everywhere, and Health because Hurdle is useless to me. Normally, though, I'd take Hurdle and Health.
By the way, regarding post-35 stamina. Even after getting Transference, I'm going to keep Stamina. I tried going without, and frankly, I just ran too close to tanking too many times, and it was too stressful. It's up to you, though.
-Flight: This is the pool I took for travel. Yes, Fly is slower than molasses--but it's slower than molasses
only compared to the other travel powers. It has the advantage that you can type while traveling, or alt-tab while traveling, and be assured that as long as you pay attention at the end of the road, you'll get there safe and sound. Also, Hover is super-cool. With Siphon Speed you move around more than quickly enough, and having tactical maneuverability (and the ability to Hover over meleers) is a benefit that cannot be stated enough. It is SO nice to be able to maneuver at will in large crowds. Plus, Knock(X) resistance.
-Leadership: This one is pretty much open to debate. Some love it, some hate it, and some couldn't give two sh**s. Personally, I'm going to take it, mostly for Vengeance. The frank fact of the matter is, teams that NEVER have deaths are an ideal, not a constant. I've seen Vengeance at work, and it is one HELL of a buff when something goes awry and that poor squishie goes splat. Assault and Tactics are nice, too, but mostly I'm going for Vengeance.
-Leaping: If I weren't a [censored] for Hover and Fly, I'd take this for travel. Combat Jumping for immob resistance, Super Jumping for an awesome travel power, and Acrobatics for Knock resistance and a little bit of Hold resistance. Nice.
-Medicine: unless you're truly desperate for a resurrection power, don't bother. You have Transfusion, for god's sake.
-Presence: if you take this I'm gonna find your house and bone your dog. The only people with any excuse for dipping here are Brutes, and they get Taunt anyway.
-Speed: I like and take Hasten, but I don't really like Super Speed in CoV. Too much vertical motion in this game. Flurry sucks, and Whirlwind also sucks, but at least it's cool looking.
-Teleportation: Recall Friend is nice, and no doubt Teleport is the fastest travel power slotted, but frankly, I don't like it. So there.
Now, my build. This only goes up to 44, 'cause frankly I don't have a clue what I'm gonna pick for 47 and 49. Probably a couple Patron powers. But that's pretty much up to debate, 'cause once you hit 44, the build is functionally complete anyway. Also, like all builds, this one operates off of guess work and thought as much as anything else, so modify to taste. Also also, some bits of this build probably don't even follow my own advice. Deal. Finally, this is a RESPEC build, and NOT ideal for 1-25 growth.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (
http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
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Name: Physics Graduate
Level: 47
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Radiation Blast
Secondary: Kinetics
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01) --> X-Ray Beam==> Acc(1) Acc(7) Dmg(31) Dmg(37) Dmg(40)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Acc(3) Heal(9) Heal(9) Heal(11)
02) --> Irradiate==> Acc(2) Acc(5) Dmg(13) Dmg(31) Dmg(37)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(4) Acc(5)
06) --> Electron Haze==> Acc(6) Acc(7) Dmg(13) Dmg(34) Dmg(40)
08) --> Hover==> Fly(8)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(10) Acc(11) Rechg(17) Rechg(17)
12) --> Swift==> Run(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14) Fly(15) Fly(15)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Cosmic Burst==> Acc(18) Acc(19) Dmg(19) Dmg(21) Dmg(25) Rechg(25)
20) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(40)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22) EndMod(23) EndMod(23)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Neutron Bomb==> Acc(26) Acc(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(31) Dmg(37)
28) --> Hasten==> Rechg(28) Rechg(29) Rechg(29)
30) --> Aim==> Rechg(30) Rechg(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(42)
32) --> Atomic Blast==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(34) Rechg(34)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35) Acc(36) EndMod(36) EndMod(36)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38) Acc(39) Rechg(39) Rechg(39)
41) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(41) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43)
44) --> Vengeance==> DefBuf(44)
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01) --> Power Dash==> Empty(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Scourge==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Note that once you get to 40 you start getting enough spare slots to flood a third-world country, so divide them as you will. The important part is dividing them intelligently as you grow, which I'll leave as an exercise to the reader (because I can't be [censored] to do it), with a few minor tips.
-SLOT TRANSFUSION ASAP.
-Slot the members of The Holy Trifecta ASAP.
-Try to divide your attack slots evenly, with some (but not a lot of) precedence to AoEs.
-Give one extra slot to Speed Boost, and two to Stamina, immediately.
-Slot Cosmic Burst ASAP once you get it.
Well, that's it. Four hours out of my workday done, and I was actually productive. How about that. Thanks for reading, and if you're here to troll, please go away.
), but I've got another gimmick idea for a WM/Fire, so I'm thinking about that too.
)