DodgerTA's Rad/Rad 2.1: A (revised) Twink's Guide

DodgerTA · 01-25-2005 11:42 AM

This version of this guide fixes a couple of errors from the recent guide and takes into account the recent changes in Choking Cloud and Phase Shift. It adds some supplementary information and tactics. Also, all Brawl Indexes have been updated to match the scale used by the Brawl Index Database and all numbers included are BASE UNENHANCED numbers.

I am including stats here not only for Rad/Rad but all the Ancillary Power Pools for Defenders as well. All info was obtained through empirical tests on the test server, and is accurate in so far as I've been able to reasonably determine. So here goes:
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PART I - RADIATION EMISSION
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The powers in the radiation emission primary are diverse and powerful. There are a few disadvantages, but all in all it is probably the most versatile of the defender sets.
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Radiant Aura

A solid AoE heal, RA heals for ~13.2% of your HP in a 20-25ft AoE centered around the caster. Even if you don't want to be known as a healer, I recommend you take, and slot, this power. It will help you personally a lot in later levels.

Endurance Cost: 19
Base Heal at 50: 133.86
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer:8s
Activation Time: 3s
Heal Index: 13.16 % of current HP max without accolades
Recommended Slotting: 3 or more Heal, 1 EndRdx
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Radiation Infection

The single most important power in the radiation line. Provides a 33.3% base debuff to enemy accuracy and defense. NOTE: With this build, slot ToHit Debuffs rather than Defense Debuffs. You WILL NOT NEED to enhance its defense debuff.

Endurance Cost: .66 Endo/sec
Base Effect: 33.3% Acc and Def debuff
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer:10s
Activation Time: 4s
Recommended Slotting: 5 ToHit Debuff, 1 EndRdx
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Accelerate Metabolism

The single most eclectic buff in the game, this is a must-have gem. It provides: a 30% increase to endo recovery, a 30% reduction in recharge times, a 50% reduction in status duration (status effects on you last 1/2 as long), and a 25% damage buff as well as increasing Run and Flight speed. Four recharge slots and perma hasten will make this permanently available. Three recharge slots will give a short downtime but allow additional endo recovery.

Endurance Cost: 24
Duration: 2m
Recharge Modifier: .3
Base Endo Rech: .501 endo/sec
Recharge Timer: 8m, 35s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 4 Rchg, 2 EndRec or 3 Rchg, 3 EndRec
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Enervating Field

This is the '2' in your 1-2 debuff combo. Enervating field provides a ~35% base debuff to enemy damage and a 42% base debuff to enemy damage resistance. Interestingly enough, this damage reduction works out to the same amount of resist Tough will give you, only since it's damage debuff and not resist, will work against all damage types. The resistance debuff increases your own damage output (and that of anybody hitting any of the affected targets) increasing your total damage output by 37.5%, even if your damage is already 'capped'.

Endurance Cost: 1.48 Endo/sec
Base Damage Reduction at 50: 34.3%
Base Damage Increase at 50: 37.5%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 10s
Activation Time: 1s
Recommended Slotting: 3-6 EndRdx
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Mutation

An excellent combat resurrection, Mutation raises the target hero with full HP and Endo and provides the following benefits for one minute: A 1.0 recharge reduction (cutting any power not slotted for recharge's timer in half), a 100% increase in endo recovery, and a 50% increase in damage, as well as a large accuracy buff.

Endurance Cost: 56.5
Damage Buff: +50%
Recharge Buff Modifier: 1.0
Duration: 1m
Recharge Timer: 3m
Activation Time: 3s
Recommended Slotting: 1 Rech
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Lingering Radiation

This buff provides a base 50% reduction in enemy movement speed and attack rate. Slow enhancers can be slotted, but only modify the movement speed debuff. With hasten, this can be stacked to bring enemies down to the attack rate minimum cap (25% base attack rate) and movement debuff cap (10% base movement speed).

Endurance Cost: 23
Duration: 30s
Recharge Timer: 25s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 2 Slow, 1 EndRdx
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Choking Cloud

This power has a 50% chance to hold any enemy in its area of effect for five seconds. Every five seconds it rolls a new to-hit roll on every enemy. Hold Duration enhancements will allow most mobs to be perma-held with this power, although there will always be enemies missed occasionally.

Endurance Cost: 6 every 5 seconds
Base Hold at 50: 5 seconds
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 90s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 4 Hold, 1 EndRdx
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Fallout

This power uses a friend's corpse as a bomb with a small radius of effect. The animation looks much like Mutation. The damage is excellent and is available once every five minutes. Best use I've found for this power is situational: if a tanker (usually one with perma-unstoppable) is herding, and dies from taking too much damage at the end of Unstoppable's cycle (or just for pulling more than he could chew), you're left with an awful lot of pissed off mobs right around him. Target him with Fallout and most of them will die. This does damage comparable to an alpha-strike power (nova, atomic blast, etc) but can ONLY be targeted on a fallen teammate.

Endurance Cost: 25
Base Damage at 50: 222
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 5m
Activation Time: 4s
Brawl Index: 17.0667
Recommended Slotting: Not recommended, however, anything less than 1 Acc 5 Dam is a waste IF you decide you want this power.
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EM Pulse

A very solid, HUGE AoE hold. This power holds most mobs it its for a base of 45s. It is a magnitude 2 hold (will hold Lt's) and has a 50% chance of adding another magnitude 1 hold (for Mag 3, allowing it to hold bosses). Using it turns off your endo recovery for a while, so be careful with it.

Endurance Cost: 30
Base Damage at 50: 47.41
Duration: 45s
Recharge Timer: 5m
Activation Time: 2s
Brawl Index: 3.6448
Recommended Slotting: 3 Rech, 3 Hold or 2-4 Rech
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PART II - RADIATION BLAST
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The Radiation Blast secondary is likewise one of the most versatile for Defenders. It has excellent capacity for single-target AND AoE damage, as well as a built-in defense debuff and (in most powers) an innate accuracy bonus. I personally do not slot accuracy because I never need it, and we'll see why in a moment. Defense debuff numbers are best-guess since accuracy is so hard to measure adequately.
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Neutrino Bolt

A very fast, low damage power, a bolt from the hand. Its DPS is fairly impressive alone because of the quick recharge, but even with its quick casting time, it will lower the DPS in an attack chain more than any other attack. It has a built-in 10% defense debuff which lasts five seconds.

Endurance Cost: 4
Base Damage at 50: 21.68
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 4s
Activation Time: 1s
Brawl Index: 1.6667
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc
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X-Ray Beam

Lasers from the eyes! A decent damage power that can and will help you in the low levels. It has a good range as well as an innate accuracy bonus (+10% - 85% base acc) and a built-in 10% defense debuff which lasts for 5 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 6
Base Damage at 50: 36.14
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 4s
Activation Time: 1.7s
Brawl Index: 2.7778
Recommended Slotting: 6 Dam
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Irradiate

The bread-and-butter of the AoE build, Irradiate is a small self-centered explosion of radiation which does approximately X-Ray Beam damage in a Point Blank AoE radius (About 20 feet), and couples it with a 10% innate accuracy bonus (85% base acc) and a 30% defense debuff which lasts 15 seconds. With Radiation Infection and Irradiate, enemy defense is lowered so much you'll rarely miss even unslotted for accuracy. A very fast activation time (~1s) makes this power even better.

Endurance Cost: 22
Base Damage at 50: 3.6 * 10
Duration: 5s
Recharge Timer: 20s
Activation Time: 1s
Brawl Index: .2778 * 10
Recommended Slotting: 4 Dam, 1 Rech, 1 EndRdx
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Electron Haze

A billowing green cloud that deals very decent damage, EH is a cone attack with knockback. The knockback is unreliable (5-10% chance). It does better damage than your other 2 AoE attacks, but is slow to activate (2.5-3 seconds of animation lock) making its cone nature harder to use. It carries a 10% innate accuracy bonus and a 10% defense debuff which lasts for five seconds.

Endurance Cost: 18
Base Damage at 50: 48.79
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 16s
Activation Time: 3s
Brawl Index: 3.7500
Recommended Slotting: 5 Dam, 1 EndRdx
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Proton Volley

The niftiest sound in CoH. This power fires four large green balls of radiation toward your target for superior damage. It has a 20% base accuracy bonus and a built in 10% defense debuff which lasts for 5 seconds. Slotted with 1 interrupt reducer, the interrupt time is ~1 second, after which you can move around freely and the attack will still go off as long as you have a Line of Sight to your target when it completes.

Endurance Cost: 17
Base Damage at 50: 25.29 * 4
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 12s
Activation Time: 6s
Brawl Index: 1.9444 * 4
Recommended Slotting: 4 Dam, 1 InterruptRdx, 1 EndRdx
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Aim

This provides a large accuracy (66%) and damage (50%) bonus for ten seconds. This is a must-have, it gives you the ability to land Irradiate on just about anything, and increases the damage of the first 2 attacks after that you use (Or any attacks you can cram into 10 seconds) and has great synergy with Choking Cloud.

Endurance Cost: 5
Duration: 10s
Recharge Timer: 90s
Activation Time: 1s
Recommended Slotting: 1 Rech
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Cosmic Burst

Lime Cream Puff of Doom! This power is high damage and a Mag 2 foe disorient. With a single disorient enhancement and Hasten/AM a +3 boss can be just about perma-stunned. You may consider sparing a slot in this power for accuracy if you rely on it to stun things for you all the time. It has no innate accuracy bonus, but provides an innate defense debuff of 10% for 5 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 12
Base Damage at 50: 76.62
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 20s
Activation Time: 3s
Brawl Index: 5.8889
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 5 Dam or 1 Acc, 4 Dam, 1 EndRdx or 1 Acc, 4 Dam, 1 Disorient
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Neutron Bomb

You make a giant ball of radiation and launch it like a catapult in a high arc towards your foe. It splatters on the ground and explodes in a big mushroom cloud. Fun to watch. This is your ranged targeted AoE attack. This does slightly less damage than Irradiate, but has a faster recharge and, as stated, range. It has an innate accuracy bonus of 10% and provides 10% defense debuff for 5 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 18
Base Damage at 50: 32.52
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 16s
Activation Time: 4s
Brawl Index: 2.5000
Recommended Slotting: 5 Dam, 1 EndRdx
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Atomic Blast

A very situational power. While it does extreme damage (enough to kill many +2's or even +4's in some cases with Enervating Field), it's rare that you'll need this unless you're running out of endo - you'll often do nearly as much damage with a couple rounds of Irradiate + Neutron Bomb, and Atomic Blast WILL drop your toggles and leave you with no Endo and very little endo recovery. On the upside, most things that weren't killed by it will be held for a few seconds, giving you time to either pop a CaB and drop Irradiate/Neutron Bomb or run away. It has an innate accuracy bonus of 30% and a defense debuff of 30% that lasts 15 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 24
Base Damage at 50: 41.56smashing, 72.28energy, (54.21energy * 1-3)
Duration: 10s
Recharge Timer: 6m
Activation Time: 3s
Brawl Index: 3.1950s + 5.5556e + 4.1667e
Recommended Slotting: 4 dam, 2 Rech
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PART III - ANCILLARY POWER POOLS
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The Ancillary Power Pools allow you to take your defender several different directions. All of them give you a couple powers which work well with the Rad set; I chose Dark Mastery, but any would be a good choice. The Psychic set has the least natural synergy with Rad/Rad, but there is still some (stacking holds)
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Electricity Mastery Pool
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Electric Fence

A decent-damage Single-target Immobilize. Damage-wise this is similar to X-Ray Beam with a faster activation, but is a DoT attack. IF you take this, add it to your attack cycle instead of Neutrino Bolt. Also, this power has -knockback.

Endurance Cost: 11
Base Damage at 50: 7.22 * 5
Duration: 22 seconds
Recharge Timer: 4s
Activation Time: 1s
Brawl Index: .5556 * 5
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 5 Dam
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Thunderstrike

A good-damage power with a small AoE, which often disorients foes. When the AoE is present, this power deals only very slightly less damage than Total Focus, but disorient is not guaranteed.

Endurance Cost: 34
Base Damage at 50: 93.95 + (24.98 AoE)
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 40s
Activation Time: 4s
Brawl Index: 7.2222e + (1.9204)s
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 5 Dam
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Charged Armor

Probably the best looking of all the armors, it's a bit understated (foot long sparks that rather occasionally show coming off you) and fairly quiet. A standard Ancillary Pool armor which provides resistance to smashing, lethal, and energy (the three most common forms of attack throughout the game).

Endurance Cost .39 Endo/sec
Base Dam Reduction: 30%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 2s
Activation Time: 1s
Recommended Slotting: 1 EndRdx, 5 DamRes or 6 DamRes
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Power Sink

A very good power which drains endurance from the mobs and gives it to your favorite charity: you. Slotted for drain, this can suck a large mob nearly dry.

Endurance Cost: 9
Base Endo Gained/Mob: 20
Base Endo Drained: 30
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 2m
Activation Time: 2s
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Dark Mastery Pool
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Oppressive Gloom

A fairly impressive PBAoE disorient toggle which damages you and disorients the mobs around you. You will take damage for each mob in its range each tick (about 2 seconds).

Endurance Cost: .12 Endo/sec
Base Self-Damage at 50: 3dam every 2s per mob in range
Base Disorient Duration: 5s
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 8s
Activation Time: 4s
Recommended Slotting: Not Recommended, as its job will be handled by Choking Cloud, but if you wish to have this power, slot 1 Disorient.
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Dark Consumption

A good way to refill your endo, Dark Consumption will be useful in fights against bosses or AV's, but is most useful fighting multiple opponents. Its range is rather short.

Endurance Cost: 1
Base Damage at 50: 24.46 + 5% crit chance (double damage)
Base Endo Gained/Mob: 40
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 2m
Activation Time: 2s
Brawl Index: 1.8889
Recommended Slotting: 1 Rech, 1EndRec
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Dark Embrace

Not horrible looking since the new Dark Armor animations, it's a bit loud and looks like a cloud of dust hanging around you. A standard Ancillary Pool armor which provides resistance to smashing, lethal, negative energy and toxic damage.

Endurance Cost .39 Endo/sec
Base Dam Reduction: 30%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 4s
Activation Time: 3s
Recommended Slotting: 1 EndRdx, 5 DamRes or 6 DamRes
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Soul Drain

This power ROCKS! It's not quite a self Fulcrum Shift, but it's close, and provides an accuracy buff. This has great synergy with... everything, and works wonders with Choking Cloud. With Hasten + AM, 4 SO Rech will allow it to come up just about as fast as Aim with 1 SO Rech - sufficient to use at the beginning of most every fight.

Endurance Cost: 23
Base Damage at 50: 30.58 + 5% crit chance (double damage)
Base Damage Increase per mob: 12.5%
Base Acc Increase per mob: 12.5%
Duration: 30s
Recharge Timer: 90s
Activation Time: 3s
Brawl Index: 2.3509
Recommend Slotting: 4 Rech
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Psychic Mastery Pool
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Dominate

An excellent single-target Mag 2 hold. Does decent damage for a hold, and is Perma even before Hasten or any Rech is added.

Endurance Cost: 13
Base Damage at 50: 36.14
Duration: 20s
Recharge Timer: 16s
Activation Time: 2s
Brawl Index: 2.7778
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 2 Rech, 2 Hold, 1 Dam or 2 Hold
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Mass Hypnosis

A Targeted AoE sleep, Mass Hypnosis lets you sleep an entire mob spawn, and does not cause any aggro.

Endurance Cost: 18
Duration: 30s
Recharge Timer: 90s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 2 Rech, 4 Sleep
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Mind Over Body

A mess of pink circles swirls around the outline of your body. It's happily not too annoying, and fairly quiet. A standard Ancillary Pool armor which provides resistance to smashing, lethal, and psionic (the three most common forms of attack in the late game).

Endurance Cost .39 Endo/sec
Base Dam Reduction: 30%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 2s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 1 EndRdx, 5 DamRes or 6 DamRes
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Telekinesis

An Auto-Hit AoE toggle hold which pushes foes away from you. Can be excellent for herding (as you can hold all Lt's and Minions, guaranteed) but is an end hog.

Endurance Cost: 3.58 Endo/sec
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 60s
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 4-6 EndRdx
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Power Mastery Pool
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Conserve Power

A great way to save on car insurance. I mean endo costs. Cuts them all in half. Can be up about 3/5 of the time.

Endurance Cost: 11
Effect: 50% reduction in all endurance costs
Duration: 90s
Recharge Timer: 10m
Activation Time: 3s
Recommended Slotting: 6 Rech
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Power Build Up

Two Neato Keen powers in one! Build Up and Power Boost for one low price. Can be up about 1/4 of the time,

Endurance Cost: 15
Base Dam Bonus: 80%
Base Effect: +150% effect to all secondary effects and heals
Duration: 15s
Recharge Timer: 4m
Activation Time: 3s
Recommended Slotting: 6 Rech
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Temporary Invulnerability

The standard Tanker power. A direct clone. A standard Ancillary Pool armor which provides resistance to smashing, and lethal (the two most common damage types).

Endurance Cost: .39 Endo/sec
Base Dam Reduction: 30%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 2s
Activation Time: 3s
Recommended Slotting: 1 EndRdx, 5 DamRes or 6 DamRes
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Total Focus

A great attack, Total Focus does Extreme damage and stuns pretty much whatever you use it on.

Endurance Cost: 34
Base Damage at 50: 33.94 Smashing + 86.9 Energy
Base Disorient Duration: 15s
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 40s
Activation Time: 4s
Brawl Index: 2.6092s + 6.6806e
Recommend Slotting: 1 Acc, 5 Dam or 1 Acc, 4 Dam, 1 Disorient or 1 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Rech, 1 Disorient
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PART IV: BUILDING THE BUILD:
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This is not just a guide for my build. I'm providing three different builds here: 1 up to 29, a Respec build from 30 to 39, and a Respec build for 40+
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From 1 to 29: It's hard to get all the powers you want, because all the great rad powers are stuffed in the beginning. However, play it something like this:

Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Radiation Infection /HitDeb
Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Neutrino Bolt /Acc
Level 2 : Accelerate Metabolism /Rech
Level 3 : Neutrino Bolt: 2 Dam
Level 4 : Irradiate /Dam
Level 5 : Radiation Infection: 2 HitDeb
Level 6 : Enervating Field /EndRdx
Level 7 : Enervating Field: 2 EndRdx
Level 8 : Radiant Aura /Heal
Level 9 : Neutrino Bolt: 1 Dam, Irradiate: 1 Dam
Level 10 : Assault /EndRdx
Level 11 : Irradiate: 1 Dam, 1 EndRdx
Level 12 : Hasten /Rech
Level 13 : Radiation Infection: 1 HitDeb, Hasten: 1 Rech
Level 14 : Super Speed /RunSpd
Level 15 : Accelerate Metabolism: 1 Rech, Hasten: 1 Rech
Level 16 : Swift /RunSpd
Level 17 : Accelerate Metabolism: 1 Rech, Hasten: 1 Rech
Level 18 : Health /Heal
Level 19 : Accelerate Metabolism: 1 Rech, Hasten: 1 Rech
Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec
Level 21 : Stamina: 2 EndRec
Level 22 : Proton Volley /Dam
Level 23 : Stamina: 2 EndRec
Level 24 : Aim /Rech
Level 25 : Neutrino Bolt: 1 Dam, Irradiate: 1 Rech
Level 26 : Hover /Fly
Level 27 : Hover: 1 Fly, Stamina: 1 EndRec
Level 28 : Cosmic Burst /Acc
Level 29 : Cosmic Burst: 2 Dam

This should serve you more-or-less well in the early game when slots are at a huge premium.

From 30 to 40: You're beginning to get some slots, but still not enough for all the wonderful powers you'll get.

Respec at 30 into something like this... you're starting to see your build emerge. Order of slots aren't important for a respec build because you don't lose slots when exemplaring down, only powers. Often the build is limited by how much endo it has; this will help conserve lots.

Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Radiation Infection /HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,EndRdx
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Neutrino Bolt /Acc,Dmg
Slot[03] Level 2 : Accelerate Metabolism /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[04] Level 4 : Irradiate /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Enervating Field /EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx
Slot[06] Level 8 : Radiant Aura /Heal
Slot[07] Level 10 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Swift /RunSpd
Slot[09] Level 14 : Super Speed /RunSpd
Slot[10] Level 16 : Proton Volley /Dam
Slot[11] Level 18 : Health /Heal
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Aim /Rech
Slot[14] Level 24 : Choking Cloud /EndRdx
Slot[15] Level 26 : Stealth /EndRdx
Slot[16] Level 28 : Cosmic Burst /Acc,Dmg
Slot[17] Level 30 : Lingering Radiation /EndRdx

Then continue Building to 40:

Level 31 : Cosmic Burst: 3 Dam
Level 32 : EM Pulse /Rech
Level 33 : Proton Volley: 3 Dam
Level 34 : Proton Volley: 2 Dam, Cosmic Burst: 1 Dam
Level 35 : Neutron Bomb /Dam
Level 36 : Neutron Bomb: 2 Dam, Choking Cloud: 1 Hold
Level 37 : Neutron Bomb: 2 Dam, Choking Cloud: 1 Hold
Level 38 : Hover /Fly
Level 39 : Hover: 3 Fly
Level 40 : Hover: 2 Fly, Choking Cloud: 1 Hold

That'll get you used to tactics later on. At 40, of course you figure out what you want to do for Ancillary Pools.
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PART V: THE GOAL BUILD
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I chose Dark Mastery, so my final build looks something like this:
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Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Radiation Infection /HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,EndRdx
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Neutrino Bolt /Acc
Slot[03] Level 2 : Accelerate Metabolism /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[04] Level 4 : Irradiate /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Rchg,EndRdx
Slot[05] Level 6 : Enervating Field /EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx
Slot[06] Level 8 : Radiant Aura /Heal,Heal,Heal,EndRdx
Slot[07] Level 10 : Swift /Run
Slot[08] Level 12 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[09] Level 14 : Super Speed /Run
Slot[10] Level 16 : Proton Volley /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,IntTime,EndRdx
Slot[11] Level 18 : Health /Heal
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Aim /Rchg
Slot[14] Level 24 : Choking Cloud /Hold,Hold,Hold,Hold,EndRdx
Slot[15] Level 26 : Hover /Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly
Slot[16] Level 28 : Cosmic Burst /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[17] Level 30 : Stealth /EndRdx
Slot[18] Level 32 : Grant Invisibility /EndRdx
Slot[19] Level 35 : Neutron Bomb /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[20] Level 38 : Phase Shift /EndRdx,EndRdx
Slot[21] Level 41 : Dark Consumption /Rchg,EndRec
Slot[22] Level 44 : Dark Embrace /EndRdx,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[23] Level 47 : Soul Drain /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[24] Level 49 : Mutation /Rchg
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PART VI: PLAYING THE BUILD
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You'll be using most of the same tactics from lvl 1 onward. Open the battle with Radiation Infection, and Enervating Field.
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You'll take less damage less often this way. Although it will be greatly more effective at lvl 22 than at lvl 1, it's a tactic that will serve you well in the beginning. You will get hit about as much and for as much damage as any tanker at the low levels, but can heal yourself as regularly as you like.

After you get used to that, you'll learn to use terrain to group up your enemies, clearing line of sight, and drawing aggro onto your terms. The key here is tight groups of enemies; any outside your debuff cloud will be doing their full unmitigated damage to you. This is unacceptable. Think about this:

A minion will hit you about half of the time. If he does 100 damage a shot, that's 50 damage a round on average. If he has nine buddies, that's 500 damage a round on average.

Your maxed-out RI + EF + LR combo can reduce that damage a lot. Stack 2 LR's on them and their attack rate goes down to 1/4. That means 100 damage every 8 shots instead ot 2 - 125 damage per round average.

Then your maxed-out defense will take that 125 damage and reduce it. Because instead of hitting half the time, they'll hit 1 in 20. 100 damage a shot becomes 100 damage in 20, per attack. And since they only attack once in 4 rounds (because of LR) it's really 100 damage every 80 attacks.

Then EF reduces that damage by 35%. 100 damage becomes 65 damage per 80 rounds.

You've reduced 500 damage a round from ten opponents to a mere 8 damage per round.

As long as you can keep them clumped together. If you can't, well, you're just as squishy as the rest of the squishies.

After you reach the goal build (lvl 48+) you will toss up RI and EF, waltz into a mob with Choking Cloud running, then hit Aim + Soul Drain and then cycle Irradiate and Neutron Bomb till all Lt's and lower are dead. Then you'll switch to Cosmic Burst-Proton Volley-Cosmic Burst for finishing off the bosses. If there is some kind of sticky debuff or DoT that prevents you from using Proton Volley, use Irradiate + Neutrino Bolt while Cosmic Burst recharges. If the debuff is being generated by a boss (like a Death Mage's Darkest Night), it'll go away when you hit them with the 2nd Cosmic Burst. You can then start the Cosmic Burst-PV-Cosmic chain as they will be disoriented again just before you use your Snipe, every time.
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PART VII: TIPS AND TRICKS
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Your toggle debuffs are a constant tick, which will interrupt all interruptible attacks all the way from embalmed cadavers exploding and mortificators rezzing baddies up to Sky raiders laying forcefield generators and crey medics healing.

If you put target something and move behind something you could jump over to gain line-of-sight, you can cue RI, jump, and when you land, RI will go up but will often draw no aggro. Then you and your buddies can enter the area safely under stealth.

When teaming, always anchor your debuffs on Lieutenants or, preferably, Snipers (who will never run away) if engaged near them. Single target guys (like most scrappers and some blasters) will almost always kill bosses first. Likewise, AoE guys (most blasters and some scrappers) will kill the minions first. Lt's are usually the last to die. You will appreciate the results of training your regular groups to do this when you get to fighting Nemesis soldiers, whose Lt's give out Vengeance when they die.

Always make sure AM is up before a fight. Having Perma-AM isn't always the wisest choice because sometimes you will need to recast it at crucial points during a battle, often depleting yourself of endo as AM and HAsten wear off at the same time and you need to have endo left over to recast AM. Running out of endo will often be lethal for you, so I recommend you don't put up AM unless you're about to run into battle. Knowing you'll have it for the full two minutes from the beginning of every fight is priceless.

I'm looking forward to seeing comments and suggestions.

NOTES ON PHASE SHIFT:
Phase Shift's recent fix (so you can't turn on toggles while PS'd) was NOT a nerf to toggle defenders. Phase Shift can still be used to absorb an alphastrike.

Have PS and Super Speed on, walk to the center of the mobs, and turn off SS. All the mobs will shoot you. AFTER this, turn off Phase and put up RI while their attacks are recharging.

The power most affected by the Phase Shift change was Choking Cloud, which now takes longer at the beginning of the fight to hold the mobs (since it doesn't easily grab everything until after your RI+Irradiate goes off).

Phase Shift+SS is the preferred method to go Invis when CC is running because PS turns CC's effect off without making you wait for it to recharge and need to activate it again. The power Invisibility will also do this, but leave you vulnerable to sniper attack and mobs that see through invis. In this way, Phase Shift can be used as the on/off switch for CC.
___________________________________

___________________________________
PART VIII: APPENDIX: USEFUL SUPPELEMENTARY INFORMATION
___________________________________

Defender Unslotted Brawl Damage at 50: 11
Defender Brawl Index Scale Damage at 50: 13.0077

Power Recharge Formula: New Recharge = Old Recharge / (1 + (sum of all rech modifiers))
Common Recharge Modifiers:
Mutation: 1.0
Hasten: .7
Speed Boost: .5
Adrenaline Boost: .5
SO Rech Enh: .333
AM: .3
Quickness: .2
DO Rech Enh: .167
TO Rech Enh: .083

Endo Recharge Formula: New Endo Recharge = (Max End / 60) + (Sum of All Rech Buffs)
Base Endo Rech: 1.67 endo/sec
Common Endo Rech Buffs:
Adrenaline Boost: 4.175(unconfirmed)
Recovery Aura: 1.67
Speed Boost: .933
Quick Recovery: .556
Stamina: .506
AM: .506

Power Endo Usage Formula: New End Cost = Old End Cost / (1 + (sum of all end cost discounts))
Common End Cost Discounts:
Conserve Power: .5
SO EndRdx Enh: .333
DO EndRdx Enh: .167
TO EndRdx Enh: .083
___________________________________

Dauntlass · 01-25-2005 12:54 PM

Wow. Like you need more stars, but 5 for you!

Dark_Tempest · 01-25-2005 04:15 PM

WOW, great post. Its so nice to have these numbers at my fingertips!!

6 stars dammit!

People sometimes tell me I'm both pessimistic and paranoid but I think that's just because all you optimists are out to get me.

Dark_Tempest · 01-25-2005 04:15 PM

WOW, great post. Its so nice to have these numbers at my fingertips!!

6 stars dammit!

People sometimes tell me I'm both pessimistic and paranoid but I think that's just because all you optimists are out to get me.

Miwa__ · 01-25-2005 05:05 PM

And, reposted here into this thread is my build for rad/rad. The difference is pool choices and I have EMP and ABlast
----------------------------------------------------------------

Excellent writeup, and great description of powers, uses, and why you'd want to slot things they way they are.

I humbly offer my final build, after much testing and playing. Like DodgerTA's 3rd build, this is a final respec build, and not an intermediary build (tho' it works well from 40 on, when all the AoE's are slotted up)

Archetype: Defender
Primary Powers - Buff/Debuff : Radiation Emission
Secondary Powers - Ranged : Radiation Blast
Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Radiant Aura /Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal
Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Neutrino Bolt /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 2 : Radiation Infection /HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,HitDeb,DefDeb
Level 4 : Accelerate Metabolism /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,EndRec,EndRec
Level 6 : Enervating Field /EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx
Level 8 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Level 10 : Irradiate /Rchg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 12 : Combat Jumping /Jump
Level 14 : Super Speed /Run
Level 16 : Hurdle /Jump
Level 18 : Swift /Run
Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Level 22 : Aim /Rchg,Rchg
Level 24 : Stealth /EndRdx
Level 26 : Super Jump /Jump
Level 28 : Cosmic Burst /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 30 : Acrobatics /EndRdx
Level 32 : EM Pulse /Rchg,Hold,Hold
Level 35 : Neutron Bomb /Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 38 : Atomic Blast /Rchg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 41 : Dark Consumption /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Level 44 : Dark Embrace /EndRdx,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Level 47 : Soul Drain /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg
Level 49 : Mutation /EndRdx

This build is a much more 'conventional' build, as it includes the 2 top tier powers in both primary and secondary sets, for those of you who like these powers. Because of how tight a Rad/Rad build is, there are concessions made in this build, the biggest being no Lingering Radiation. I could see adding in LR, and removing Mutation.

EMP is just too good to leave out. It's the best AoE hold in the game, and is very useful if you team much, or are in situations that are less than pleasant (such as soloing groups with more than 1 sapper). Atomic Blast is very useful for taking out groups of red minions (which take more than 1 or 2 cycles of Irr+NBomb), or when herding. I used this build to either herd stuff myself, or in combo with a DM/Inv scrapper. He could herd up half the board, and I could boom it. Rinse, and repeat.

This is also a non-phase shift build. Phase shift just got one nerf (the 300' toggle nerf), and it takes too long to activate to save you any better than SuperSpeed would. So it's used to sneak up, drop debuffs, and then either run away, or drop and have everything hit at once. SS+Stealth works well enough for the sneaking up part.

I slotted up Dark Consumption, as it's damage and end recovery are extremely welcome features for my normal attack cycle.

I have Soul Drain, and Aim slotted with an extra recharge, as I dont like to wait when running from mob to mob in PI. If you think this is overkill, move the extra recharge out of Aim, and switch one of the recharges to damage in Soul Drain.

I have Irradiate and NBomb slotted for the maximum recharge, while still killing oranges in 2 cycles (without Soul Drain). Putting more damages in will not let you kill whites in one cycle, so you might as well get the 2nd round off as quickly as possible. Note that my build is an end hog, and running more than 2 cycles starts to be an end problem. If you don't like that, swap out 1 of the recharges in NBomb and Irradiate for EndRdx. I may actually do this myself, because Soul Drain lets me kill in 1 round, and with all the toggles I'm running now, a little more end would be nice.

This build is designed to drop oranges in 1 cycle of Irr+NBomb. Positioning is everything, so sneak in, and carefully position such that you are as centered as possible, then start RI, EF, Aim, Soul Drain, Irradiate, NBomb, and finish with Dark Consumption. This will drop oranges, with +2 SO's, and leave you with a full end bar to boot.

NB and CB are used to pickoff stragglers, when your AoE's miss things. NB has the range, and CB has the punch. CB is also excellent for dealing with LT's. I have 1 acc slotted in CB, because I'll often use it outside RI. RI takes so long to cast, in fast moving groups, and against 1 or 2 minions, I don't even bother.

This build also will NOT get you around the shard. If that is your goal, you may be better taking Flight over Leaping, and slotting up Hover. Hover will give knockdown protection, but have fun lining up maximal Soul Drain and Dark Consumption usage (you'll also increase the distance to the outside mobs in a group, and stuff like dragoons wont move). You'll get one more power choice by choosing Hover, but you'll have to come up with 5 more slots for it.

One more note about EPP choices. If you have lots of respecs laying around, I'd choose the Power Mastery pool from 41-46 (go with PBU and TI), and then respec into Dark when you get to 47 for Soul Drain.

archtypeO · 01-27-2005 09:27 AM

This is one of, if not the best guide's I've seen on these boards. Completely helped me figure out what I wanted to do.

jackofnotrades · 01-30-2005 05:39 PM

This is indeed a fine guide, and will be most helpful to me as I continue building my rad/rad. Voted 5 stars.

Reddy_Kilowatt · 02-02-2005 01:04 PM

Decided to Start a new Alt, this guide convinced me to try my first Defender.

Crit Reactor on Freedom

Thanks

Reddy Kilowatt

Children of Data
2nd SG on Infinity

Earth Tech
Desert Princess
Bloody Decker
(and that is only some of the ones on Infinity)

GOTerpsPvP · 02-23-2005 05:19 PM

I recently started a Radiation/Psionics Defender, and I found this information quite helpful.

Thank you for the excellent post Sir!!

Rad/Psy must not be that popular. I don't see many posts about that combination.

DaBruuzer · 02-26-2005 07:05 AM

Incredible post! I have recently started a Rad/Rad but with a different focus entirely. Recently got my wife a computer, and together with another couple, we have decided to create a foursome that we will exclusivley play together. Since my wife can tank all the mobs and hold agro, and I can debuff the crap out of them, while the other couples' 2 blaster take 'em down, this works perfectly.

My question is, how would you build my Rad/Rad, considering I will be taking NO (or very few) powers from my secondary. I intend to only play support/debuff. So which pools, etc. would you guys recommend? Thanx in advance!

_Toxa_ · 02-26-2005 09:52 AM

Well if you're going to skip your secondary powers in favor of better group utility, then I'd say the Leadership pool is perfect, with toggles that increase defense, damage, and accuracy for the whole team. Recall Friend and Teleport Team from the teleporation pool would also be useful, as well as Stealth/Grant Invisibility/Phase Shift from the Concealment pool (recall friend/TP team + Phase Shift is a great combination... or superspeed and stealth will do instead of phase shift)

"There's villainy ... and then there's supervillainy. The difference is performance."
-Doc_Reverend

TheRatBaron · 03-07-2005 05:14 PM

just a quick question...if you are going to take NO or few secondary powers---why arent you playing a ???/rad CONTROLLER!!--it sounds exactly like what you are looking for--total support and you can take ALL your secondary(which is your rad defenders primary)--just a thought---why waste 1/2 a class--also that group looks made to order for a controller.

Agent_33_NA · 03-08-2005 03:23 PM

Awesome info! Really appreciate the time and effort put into this. My first attempt at a Defender was/is Rad/Rad and since the free respec I've wanted to break him out again and try some new things out. This guide has been extremely helpful in motivating me to do so.

DodgerTA · 03-09-2005 07:50 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Incredible post! I have recently started a Rad/Rad but with a different focus entirely. Recently got my wife a computer, and together with another couple, we have decided to create a foursome that we will exclusivley play together. Since my wife can tank all the mobs and hold agro, and I can debuff the crap out of them, while the other couples' 2 blaster take 'em down, this works perfectly.

My question is, how would you build my Rad/Rad, considering I will be taking NO (or very few) powers from my secondary. I intend to only play support/debuff. So which pools, etc. would you guys recommend? Thanx in advance!

[/ QUOTE ]

If you want to play support/debuff, not taking anything from your secondary is a BAD idea.

Irradiate is one of the best debuff powers in ANY secondary, and it does AoE damage, as well. Base defense debuff on Irradiate is the same as on Radiation Infection, so taking Irradiate (and using it) is like being able to add an extra 3 Def Debuff SO's to Rad Infection. It also has the advantage of not being a toggle power, so this part of its debuff can't be dropped by somebody killing your anchor (although it needs to be reapplied every 15 seconds).

Aim will allow you to insure that Irradiate lands on everything.

Cosmic burst is an excellent control power which also does excellent damage, letting you take Sappers and other problem mobs like Rikti Mesmerists out of the fight.

Atomic Blast is a fantastic AoE hold that does damage as well. Six-slotted, it will hold everything in its radius for thirty seconds every 3 minutes. Alternate using it with EMP. Hit Aim before using it and get a bit of a damage boost as well (after all, anything that happens to die isn't a threat anymore).

Ladioss_Sopp wrote a fantastic guide on slotting secondaries for team utility rather than damage contribution:
The Defensive Defender's Guide to Secondaries

Techsupport_NA · 03-23-2005 07:46 AM

Us radiation emitters need to check out the new chances to Chocking Cloud and Lingering Radiation on test now. The first is supposed to have faster and more ticks, the second is said to debuff enemy health regeneration now too...

Brilliant Guide btw

TechDefender Rad/Ele Defender
D'20 Gladiator DM/SR Scrapper
Cyclonite Cat Fire/Fire Blaster
[url="http://www.dutchfurs.com/~taross/w/screenshots/Ferretgal/Ferretgal.jpg"]Ferretgal Claw/Inv Scrapper[/url](Virtue)
@Cyclonite Cat
(Names changed at GM 'request')

Star_Bolt_Prime · 03-28-2005 08:33 PM

Thanks for a great guide Dodger! 5 stars to you!

I deleted my rad/rad awhile back, and have always regreted it. He had a bad name anyway, one of those with a number in it because I never expected to play him for very long. Turns out I liked him, ALOT, even if he was a bit gimped at the time.

Here's my new revamped build. Critiques welcome!

Archetype: Defender
Primary Powers - Ranged : Radiation Emission
Secondary Powers - Support : Radiation Blast

01 : Neutrino Bolt endred(01)
01 : Radiation Infection endred(01) thtdbf(3) thtdbf(7) thtdbf(11) thtdbf(21) thtdbf(27)
02 : Accelerate Metabolism recred(02) recred(3) recred(7) recred(11) endrec(39) endrec(39)
04 : Irradiate endred(04) dam(5) dam(5) dam(9) dam(9) dam(27)
06 : Radiant Aura hel(06) hel(45) hel(46)
08 : Enervating Field endred(08)
10 : Stealth endred(10)
12 : Hasten recred(12) recred(13) recred(13) recred(15) recred(15) recred(19)
14 : Super Speed endred(14)
16 : Proton Volley endred(16) dam(17) dam(17) dam(19) dam(21) inttim(33)
18 : Hurdle jmp(18)
20 : Health hel(20)
22 : Stamina endrec(22) endrec(23) endrec(23) endrec(25) endrec(25) endrec(31)
24 : Hover fltspd(24) fltspd(33) fltspd(34) fltspd(34) fltspd(34) defbuf(37)
26 : Lingering Radiation endred(26) slw(39) slw(40)
28 : Cosmic Burst endred(28) dam(29) dam(29) dam(31) dam(31) dam(33)
30 : Aim recred(30)
32 : EMP Pulse recred(32) recred(40) hlddur(42) hlddur(43) hlddur(43) hlddur(50)
35 : Neutron Bomb endred(35) dam(36) dam(36) dam(36) dam(37) dam(37)
38 : Atomic Blast recred(38) recred(40) dam(42) dam(42) dam(43) dam(50)
41 : Conserve Power recred(41) recred(45) recred(45) recred(46)
44 : Temp Invulnerability damres(44) damres(46) damres(48) damres(48) damres(48) damres(50)
47 : Power Buildup recred(47)
49 : Mutation recred(49)

_Slim_ · 03-30-2005 09:46 AM

Excellent post...

I really want it to be deleted, there's enough Rad/Rad out there already. But I can see why, rad/rad is the ultimate defender (in my opinion). Debuffing/Holding/Healing/Damage what more do you need

5 stars

Question: is it really necessary to 6-slot hasten, I've noticed with AM my hasten could probably be 5 or even 4 slotted.

Cobaltix · 03-30-2005 04:40 PM

Hey Dodger,

Great update to the guide, looks like you'll have some more updating to do for Issue #4

Anyway, my question is, my Rad/Rad is L14 and I am looking to make him more of a team player and as such want to add Leadership into my build. I notice you pick up Assault at L10 in your L1-L29 build but then Respec out of it.

My question to you is, if I wanted to add Leadership to my build (primarily for Maneuvers and Tactics), where would you "Trim the Fat" so to speak?

Thanks for all the advice!

Sign It : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes

DodgerTA · 03-31-2005 10:58 AM

If I really wanted Leadership, I'd get rid of Concealment for it. I use Phase Shift somewhat, but I hardly ever use Stealth anymore... and I never really used Grant Invis.

Gray_Scale · 04-08-2005 02:08 PM

This is a fantastic post! Great work!
This sort of detail is exactly what I needed to see in a guide.

Matchstickboy · 05-13-2005 02:24 PM

SOLID GUIDE!! 5 stars!!

The only items I would say defferently would be concerning slotting.

The hold on EM Pulse is so long that hold enhcmts are a waste. I highly sugest 2 acc and 4 rechrg

I would sugest that LR is almost good enough out of the box. 1 acc 1 slow

EF is an end hog, but mobs die so quickly that I found that anything more than 2 end redux wasteful.

After saying all of that, I will say that it really comes down to play style. YMMV

-Match

Miwa__ · 05-13-2005 03:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The hold on EM Pulse is so long that hold enhcmts are a waste. I highly sugest 2 acc and 4 rechrg

[/ QUOTE ]

EMP already has a high base accuracy, and typically you'd always use Aim before it, so adding acc is wasted.

Recharges can be added to taste, but I find that 2 is plenty, I rarely needed to use EMP. (rooms full of drones notwithstanding )

Matchstickboy · 05-16-2005 08:28 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The hold on EM Pulse is so long that hold enhcmts are a waste. I highly sugest 2 acc and 4 rechrg

[/ QUOTE ]

EMP already has a high base accuracy, and typically you'd always use Aim before it, so adding acc is wasted.

Recharges can be added to taste, but I find that 2 is plenty, I rarely needed to use EMP. (rooms full of drones notwithstanding )

[/ QUOTE ]

with 2 acc and tactics I still miss stuff(I typically go after +3 or better). I don't like to miss. heh

-Match

Rogue_Scorpion · 06-07-2005 12:12 AM

One of the most comprehensive guides I've seen on the forums. Very well done. 5 stars~

MotionBlur · 06-08-2005 07:22 AM

If I'm playing a rad/rad focusing on solo play, would it be worth it for me to choose the leadership pool for self buffs, or should I just stick with flight, speed, and fitness?

Also, How playable is a build without radiant aura or mutation and fallout for solo play. I was planning on respeccing into them when I hit the AV heavy portion of the game.