Rad/Thermal Corruptor, the Soulforge build...


ADD_Boy

 

Posted

The “bad” healer.

After having played both an empathy defender and a thermal corruptor, I have to say I like the corruptor the best by far. In addition to serving as a “healer”, you have the opportunity to contribute a lot more offense to your team, which is fun. In my opinion, Rad has the best synergy with Thermal, both visually (because we ALL care about accessorizing) and in that it offers effective attacks that wont necessarily distract you from your primary role. I’m going to do this a little differently, posting level by level what to take and where/how to slot enhancements, along with my reasons for doing so. I’ll post the build in its entirety at the end of the explanations. Opinions may vary, but this has worked for me, and worked quite well.

1) Neutrino Bolt (ACC)

I’m going to spend a little more time on this power than most would expect, as I’ve found it to be one of the easiest and most useful I’ve ever had. Generally speaking you will have it “on” or “off” depending on your endurance issues. When “on” you simply keep it on auto-fire where it serves a number of useful purposes. First, (and possibly least) a constant stream of damage. Properly slotted, NB’s low endurance cost, fast activation time and fast recharge time allows for one of the best dps and dpe rates you’ll come across, especially if you start to factor in scourge. Secondly, it comes with a minor defensive debuff which will be automatically trained on whomever you are assisting at the time. One way to look at it is every time a brute lands a monster blow he otherwise would normally have missed, that’s damage you did. A third less-considered use that fits my playstyle is thus: often as a healer you catch yourself watching the team tray rather than the battle, selecting the targets for your heals; its not difficult to lose track of whether or not a particular teammate has broken LOS. NB does that for you - if you target someone and you don’t fire, chances are they are out of your LOS (or their target is - the concept is not infallible, just useful).
There are two scenarios I want to caution you about when using ths basic tactic, however. The first is the potential to draw aggro between fights because the teammate you are “assisting” is conning the next batch of mobs. I generally target the most reckless brute of the group and warn him ahead of time not to target unless he’s attacking. Secondly, if you get in a situation where you need to flee, the recharge speed of this attack can keep you frustratingly in harms way, so remember to target a teammate, even if fallen. Essentially, the use of this tactic personal preference, but I’ve found it almost set defining.

Warmth (HEAL)

Absolutely one of the set-defining powers, warmth is your AoE heal and is essentially the same as Healing Aura from the Empathy power set, with a smaller effected area (15' radius vs 25').

2) Fire Shield (RES)

One of the great things about this set is that, in addition to providing healing, it provides very nice resistance to most damage types, meaning you have to heal less; Thermal corruptors are capable of managing teams other AT’s might require two healers to keep up and running. It also frees you up a bit to do other things. One point - use down time to recast teammates shields rather than waiting for them to run out. If you start trying to put 14 shields on seven teamamtes mid battle, it could cost you far too much in time and endurance. Fire Shield protects against Smash, Lethal, Fire and to a lesser degree, Cold. Thermal shields stack VERY nicely with brute defensive powers.

3) Slot Warmth (HEAL, HEAL)

4) Cauterize (HEAL)

This is your targeted heal. It is essentially the same as its Empathy counterpart, except that its range is dramatically less (about 25' vs 80'). I rarely find the range difference an issue.

5) Slot Cauterize (HEAL, HEAL)

6) Recall Friend (INT REDUX)

Teleport is far and away the most team-friendly travel power and since this build is designed for team play, it’s a given. Recall Friend is far and away the fastest travel power in the game and you’ll find things move much quicker if teammates can sell/train as needed while you make your way to the next mission, only to tp them when they are done. It also has a myraid of in-mission uses, from gathering a scattered team, retrieving a foes body, or moving ‘drops’ like Dark Servant or Mortar into areas where they are most needed.

7) Slot Fire Shield (RES, RES)

8) Proton Volley (ACC)

Finally a real attack, right? Not really. While you may find some uses for it in combat later down the build, for now its essentially a tool for pulling, a tactic which can not be underestimated, especially in small groups.

9) Slot Proton Volley (DMG, DMG)

10) Plasma Shield (RES)

Similar to Fire Shield, except that it offers protection from Energy, Negative Energy and Fire.

11) Slot Plasma Shield (RES, RES)

12) Swift (RUN)

13) Slot Proton Volley (DMG, INT)

The interrupt reducer makes Proton Volley a bit more combat friendly, but keep in mind its activation time may prevent a timely heal for a teammate.

14) Teleport (END)

Teleport is the fastest and most utilitarian travel power bar none. Key-bind it and enjoy.

15) Slot Warmth (END REDUX), Cauterize (END REDUX)

Keeps you healing longer in those protracted battles and more able to contribute in other ways.

16) Power of the Pheonix (END)

One of the best combat heals in the game. In addition to the rez, it deals pretty impressive damage to those around the fallen teammate, has knock-back and disorient effects and leave the risen immune to xp debt for 90 seconds. A much better option than having to run to a safe location, tp and rez while your team fights without you.

17) Slot Power of the Pheonix (RECH), Teleport (RANGE)

18) Health (HEAL)

19) Slot Warmth (RECH), Teleport (RANGE)

20) Stamina (REC)

21) Slot Stamina (END REC, END REC)

You really shouldn’t have END problems from now on. Which is good, because the last thing your team will need is you running dry.

22) Thaw (RANGE)

A good general de-mez, the damage resistance to cold it offers is negligible. There is nothing wrong with charging teammates up with this protection before a fight when you know the added mez protection will be useful, but usually, what I do is have a teammate hit “z” in team chat to alert me that they’ve been mezzed. Once everybody is on board, it works just fine.

23) Slot Neutrino Bolt (DEF DEBUFF, DEF DEBUFF)

Making that little jack-knife of yours even more effective.

24) Assault (END)

This is kind of a situational power; in small groups it may not offer a return you’re willing to invest the endurance in, but on large teams it might make the difference. Another way for you to deal damage without dealing damage. After all, the best debuff is death.

25) Slot Fire Shield (END REDUX), Plasma Shield (END REDUX)

These protective shields aren’t particularly expensive endurance-wise, but having to drop 14 of them on 7 teammates while they are resting between battles might be a bit too taxing at times.

26) Cosmic Burst (ACC)

Finally some offensive punch. While you should never be soloing, in a crunch alternating between an interruption reduced Proton Volley and the disorienting Cosmic Burst, you can deal out some pretty impressive one-on-one damage. I find it useful when I’ve drawn aggro I didn’t want and my teammates are to busy to run him off. Don’t start fights with this one - just finish them.

27) Slot Cosmic Burst (DMG, DMG)

28) Forge (RECH)

It’s a matter of personal preference, but I like Forge as a buff a lot more than I like Fortitude and it fits with a Corruptor’s more aggressive style. Offering a 100% accuracy buff and a 75% damage buff for 45 seconds, it’s a GREAT way to kick off a brute’s pre-fury attacks and can really make a difference in the effectiveness of Mastermind’s second and third tier pets. It will also put a Stalker’s Assassin’s Strike over the top.

29) Forge (RECH, RECH)

30) Aim (RECH)

Aim is taken here as basically a precursor to the nuke at level 32. It is of course a useful when firing off that initial Proton Volley.

31) Slot Aim (RECH, RECH), Cosmic Burst (DMG)

32) Atomic Blast (ACC)

This is your nuke. You know what to do. Another nice “oh s#!t” power, especially if you don’t take Phase Shift (see below). Also not a bad alpha if you have the stealth pool and a fellow TP’er to get you out of the mix.

33) Slot Atomic Blast (DMG, DMG, DMG)

34) Slot Neutrino Bolt (DMG, DMG, DMG)

May as well get the biggest bang for your buck. Six slotted, especially Hasted, you’ll love this power as the ultimate “add-on”.

35) Haste (RECH)

This is a personal choice, chosen to accelerate how often I can use my big, long recharging powers (coming up) or how fast I can spam heals/NB’s. I’d like to recommend an alternate pool selection here depending on play-style. At level 24 take Stealth (END) to help avoid unwanted aggro, at level 30 take Grant Invisibility (DEF, DEF, DEF) to help keep your fellow Corruptors and Masterminds out of harm’s way (and to assist stalkers in PvP in the stealth arms race), and finally at level 35 take Phase Shift (RECH, RECH, RECH). Let’s face it - the healer/rezzer/teleporter is the last person the team wants to die. In an “oh-s#!t” moment, Phase Shift can let you get away from just about anything and regroup the group. Just another option and one that has proven useful in the past.

36) Slot Haste (RECH, RECH), Teleport (RANGE)

37) Slot Proton Volley (RANGE), Cauterize (RANGE, RANGE)

38) Melt Armor (ACC)

A tremendous AoE debuff, make sure to fire off Aim ahead of time to maximize its benefit. Melt armor reduces the defense of affected foes as well as their damage resistance. Aim+Melt Armor+Atomic Blast makes for the best nuke a “healer” has ever had.

39) Slot Melt Armor (DEF DEBUFF, DEF, DEBUFF, DEF DEBUFF)

40) Slot Melt Armor (RECH), Slot Health (HEAL, HEAL)

Slotting Melt Armor with a recharge reduction gets its recharge under two minutes, even without Haste, and slotting Health up just makes you a bit less dependent on the one small self-heal you have access to. As a personal preference, you may wish instead to drop those recharge reducers elsewhere (Melt Armor and Atomic Blast, for example), especially if you didn’t go the Haste route.

So here’s what it looks like:

1) Neutrino Bolt (Acc, Def Debuff x2, Dmg x3)
Warmth (Heal x3, End Redux, Rech Redux)
2) Fire Shield (Dmg Res x3, End Redux)
4) Cauterize (Heal x3, End Redux, Rng x2)
6) Recall Friend (Int Redux)
8) Proton Volley (Acc, Int Redux, Dmg x3, Rng)
10) Plasma Shield (Res x3, End Redux)
12) Swift (Run)
14) Teleport (End Redux, Rng x3)
16) Power of the Pheonix (End Redux, Rech Redux)
18) Health (Heal x3)
20) Stamina (Rec x3)
22) Thaw (Rng)
24) Assault (End Redux) or Stealth (End Redux)
26) Cosmic Burst (Acc, Dmg x3)
28) Forge (Rech Redux x3)
30) Aim (Rech Redux x3) or Grant Invisibility (Def Buff x3)
32) Atomic Blast (Acc, Dmg x3)
35) Haste (Rech Redux x3)
38) Melt Armor (Acc, Def Debuff x3, Rech Redux)

That's my build and why it works for me. If you are ever on the Champions server and need a healer, look up "The Soulforge Experiment" and drop me a line.


 

Posted

One quick edit; Power of the Pheonix is currently bugged and the devs have yet to publically (to my knowledge) even acknowledge the bug. When fixed it will be a great power with a number of uses that may suprise you - until then, it is a wasted slot that some are already trying to respec out of.

Until then - at least to buy some time, swap Thaw and Power of the Pheonix


 

Posted

Great guide!

I run an Ice/Thermal, currently level 35 and have two things:

[ QUOTE ]
28) Forge (RECH)
..., but I like Forge as a buff a lot more than I like Fortitude and it fits with a Corruptor’s more aggressive style. Offering a 100% accuracy buff and a 75% damage buff for 45 seconds, ...

[/ QUOTE ]

I am curious where you got these numbers for forge? I have no way of knowing/testing the Acc buff, but I know from multiple tests that the Damage buff my team mates are getting is only 15%. I tested this three times with both a Stalker and a Dominator.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Forge, I have it 3 slotted with Recharges and am able to keep it on three people constantly, but when I read the power description with the "Immensely increase an ally's Accuracy and Damage" I was dissapointed by the damage increase I saw by the ally that had Forge on. This lead to the testing we did and we determined that it is only a 15% damage increase.


Second, I notice you don't even mention Heat Exhaustion...I grabbed it at 35 and am rather dissapointed by it so far. (I'm only halfway through 35 so I may be early on my judgement) Even with a 36+ Acc SO in it, and running Tactics with three 35 ToHitBuffs SOs in it, I still miss most times when I try to cast this on a +2 boss. And even when it does hit, I don't see a big difference in Damage output. Just wondering if you respec'd out of HE or never tried it.

Thanks!


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Posted

The numbers are from the hero builder and better reflect hom Forge is suppposed to work rather than how it currently is. Both Forge and Power of the Pheonix are bugged IMO and I have no doubt both will be addressed sooner rather than later.


 

Posted

How is Power of the Phoenix bugged again?

Not only am I rezzing without any problem with it, if you use it on a killed opponent in a PvP zone, it resurrects them and automatically stuns them, leaving them to be easily killed again.


Current Badge Hunter: Plot Device (Rad/Thermal/Dark) - 1,268 Xbox Live: Friggin Taser

King of Electricity, Lead Inmate running the Carl and Sons asylum, the "Man" behind the Establishment, Given Honor in Hat Form By Paragon City (Favorite Forum Poster 2006!), Master of Ceremonies of the Fair Use Law podcast

 

Posted

Good guide,

At level 37 I ran it a bit different on the slotting.

For Warmth and Cauterize I ran with 3 Heal, 1 End Red and 1 Rech. I myself do not see a need for adding range.

Since I run in larger teams and don't want to be a total buff bot I slotted Forge with 3 ToHit and 1 Rech. I wanted it to be stacked when I dropped it on our Brute.

You put it as an option but I feel that Aim is a must for a Rad corruptor, YMMV.

Last to address the question on Heat Exaustion. I also noticed that it drops off effectiveness when the con of the mob gets higher.

However when I run solo before HE I had a very tough time with a red boss. Well I hit Aim and then HE and go to work. I have seen cases where the boss will be sitting at zero end after a few attacks.

I don't have hasten and went the SJ route for travel so i could get Acrobatics. Everytime I think I will respec out of Acro we run a Longbow mish and all the other squishies go flying but me

Murph


Murph's 50s:
H: Tank, Cont, Def, Scrapper, Blaster, Bane
V: MM x5, Corr x2, Stalker, Dom, Fort

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
How is Power of the Phoenix bugged again?

Not only am I rezzing without any problem with it, if you use it on a killed opponent in a PvP zone, it resurrects them and automatically stuns them, leaving them to be easily killed again.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah...it revives people and knocks back nearby foes, its a great power

i have the same primary/secondary, look me up sometime on Champion, i'm Pyrocitor (lvl 27, tho i havn't played this toon in a while, lol alts are fun)


 

Posted

Just a couple comments from the perspective of a soloing rad/rad corruptor (your views may varying considering that thermal is a more group dependant secondary):


I had my Neutrino Bolt on autofire until I got Photon Volley.
Given that I've been totally solo up until this level (12), I use Photon Volley a lot.
The problem with autofiring Neutrino Bolt is that it would often break my chances of using Photon Volley as a battle starter, because I'd be too close and fire off a bolt everytime I selected an enemy.

And not every situation in a mission allowed for me to back up far enough to where neutrino bolt would not fire before my Photon Volley.
Even outdoors it was a pain.

So in conclusion: I found the convienence of having an auto fire Bolt to not be enough to offset the great hinderance it brought upon my Photon Volley.



Photon Volley:
I found it to be incredibly useful at low levels for soloing.
-Use it to lead off an attack, sniping one target to the ground so you can deal with the others in the group.
-If things go bad, run away while healing yourself and once you've put enough distance between you and the enemy line up another Photon Volley to cull the group that is after you. Usually this results in me turning the tide against the enemy mobs.
-Great for knocking down the health of bosses when you're soloing the mission.
-Slot for three damage and you'll do well. It's already accurate enough that you I haven't found I need accuracy on it.

Having said that, by the time I get a full attack chain of other powers, and as I start grouping more, I may decide I want to drop Photon Volley with a respec in favor of something else.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
The numbers are from the hero builder and better reflect hom Forge is suppposed to work rather than how it currently is. Both Forge and Power of the Pheonix are bugged IMO and I have no doubt both will be addressed sooner rather than later.

[/ QUOTE ]


did those powers ever get fixed?


Political correctness is a stench in the nose of God. Yes, your God(s) also.

 

Posted

From Hero Builder:

Revives a fallen ally. The fiery resurrection blasts nearby foes with an explosion, knocks them down, and Disorients them. Your ally will revive with most of his Hit Points and Endurance. He will also be invulnerable for a brief time, as well as protected from XP Debt for 90 seconds.

Take a long look at that and then figure out what you're NOT doing...

Here's some hints:
doing damage/KB.......check
rezzing teamate.........check
XP debt....................check


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

The problem with autofiring Neutrino Bolt is that it would often break my chances of using Photon Volley as a battle starter, because I'd be too close and fire off a bolt everytime I selected an enemy.

[/ QUOTE ]
I had similar problems running the radiation attack set, and how I solved it was to create a simple button or bind that would turn auto on and off. After starting a fight, I would turn it on, then as soon as the fight ended, I would turn it off. This solved the problems the quoted poster (and the guide) mention, in return for the inconvenience of having to remember to turn it on and off. (I recommend leaving the button on your bar so you can tell if it's on or off, btw.)

From my (poor) memory, here's an example bind:
/bind z "powexec_auto Neutrino Bolt"


 

Posted

can anyone give me a pic of Atomic Eruption? I just rolled a rad/thermal as my lvl 36 blaster needed a Praetorian .


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
So in conclusion: I found the convienence of having an auto fire Bolt to not be enough to offset the great hinderance it brought upon my Photon Volley.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's how I got around that:
/bind Y "powexec_auot Neutrino Bolt"

I just hit Y after every fight (or try to remember to) so I don't autofire before sniping


 

Posted

I was looking for a villain healer build and came across this post. It seems like exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, but it was written a couple of years ago. Does anyone know if it is still valid? Are there any powers that are outdated or any new powers that would work well?