City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

War Guides: Ice/Rad Corruptors

Banzai_NA

By Banzai_NA,
Posted on: 2006-04-17 01:39 in Player Guides

 

Posted

War Guides: Ice/Rad Corruptors
Ice Blast/Radiation Emission is one of the more powerful builds available to Corruptors, but, like everything, it has its ups and its downs. Having played one since CoV Beta, gotten it to level 40, tested all the powers, and noticed that no one else had any Guides about this rather revered combo, it seemed like the right time to make one.


What Are You Looking For?
People play Corruptors for various reasons. They may want to play the standard MMO healer . They may want to be a Buff-bot. They may be attracted by the high-damage ranged attacks. They may like the amount of Area of Effect attacks available to the Archetype.

All these are good reasons, but there are two things that define Ice/Rads: fast, high, single-target damage and powerful Debuffs. Because of this, you won't be able to offer a team the fire-and-forget protection of Shields or constant Buffs, and your AoEs won't be as prevalent as a Fire/ or Radiation Blast/ Corruptor.

However, you'll be able to bring Archvillains and Heroes to their knees and get PvP opponents to really hate you. In the end, you will have Control abilities to rival Dominators, better Debuffing than a Mastermind, AoE attacks Stalkers dream of, and a rate of fire that’ll make Brutes cry.


Ice Blast Powers
Ice is a very interesting little set. It has a well deserved reputation for being heavy on single target damage, but people often fail to mention the Recharge times and Endurance costs that offset these rarely resisted, lightning quick attacks..

But the game also balances this by giving Ice Blast one of the least resisted and most useful secondary effects: Slow. Used wisely, Ice Blast can devastate individual enemies rapidly, putting them in Scourge range ridiculously quickly while lowering their rate of fire and keeping them at bay.


<ul type="square">1. Ice Bolt available level 1
Pelts an enemy with small icy daggers; their chill Slows a foe for a time. Fast, but little damage.
The first attack available to you, this is one you’ll use in your attack chain throughout the entire game. The animation is one of the fastest around, and the damage is among the highest of the first tier Blasts.

Endurance Cost: 5.2
Activation Time: 1.17 seconds
Recharge: 4 seconds
Range: 80 ft.
Brawl Index: 2.22 Cold, 0.56 Smashing = 2.78 Total
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only)

My Advice:
Pick it up at level 1 and 5-slot this power as soon as you can manage. Add another for greater Recharge or Endurance. Without Hasten, you might consider another Recharge in place of Endurance Cost Reduction, but Endurance cost is pretty low on this power (compared to the others you’ll be struggling with). Duration of the power’s Slow is too low to be worth slotting.
Recommended Slotting:1 Accuracy/3 Damage/1 Recharge Reduction/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


2. Ice Blast available level 1
Hurls shards of Ice at foes and Slows them. Slower recharge than Ice Bolt, but more damage
Another of the “Holy Trinity” of Ice Blast. The animation is even faster than Ice Bolt, and the damage is great, but the Endurance cost goes up proportionally. The Recharge time, however, doubles.

Endurance Cost: 8.528
Activation Time: 1 second
Recharge: 8 seconds
Range: 80 ft.
Brawl Index: 2.78 Cold, 1.78 Smashing = 4.56 Total
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only)

My Advice:
Grab it at level 2 and 6-slot it as soon as you can. Unlike Ice Bolt, the Endurance cost of this one becomes quite noticeable. Again, the Slow doesn’t last long enough to warrant enhancement.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Damage/1 Recharge Reduction/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


3. Frost Breath available level 2
Unleashes a cone of frosty breath that can Slow your opponent. Very accurate and deadly at medium range.
A decent-sized cone with inherently high Accuracy. Debate rages, however, as to whether having an early AoE with a better Slow than prior blasts is worth the Endurance cost, setup, and animation time.

Endurance Cost: 15.184
Activation Time: 2.67 seconds
Recharge: 16 seconds
Range: 40 ft. (40 degree Cone)
Brawl Index: 2 x 1.94 Cold = 3.88 Total
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only)

My Advice:
I soloed a lot early on, so I picked this up during my single digits and enjoyed it quite a lot. The Accuracy bonus is fantastic (even if the animation does lock you down) and those used to Cones and Toggle-Pulling will get great mileage out of it.

However, after slotting up Ice Storm, I respecced Frost Breath to a later point in my build. Having a solid Cone like this alleviates some of your low level frustration, but it’s no good for Bloody Bay (where your build has to be VERY tight), and is surpassed by the Scourge-tastic Control of a well-slotted Ice Storm.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Damage/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


4. Aim available level 6
Greatly increases the Accuracy of your attacks for a few seconds. Slightly increases damage
Found in most Blast sets, Aim raises your To Hit by 100% and gives about a 42.5% damage boost for long enough to fire off a few attacks. Some hate it, some can’t live without it.
Endurance Cost: 5.2
Activation Time: 1.17 seconds
Recharge: 90 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Buff: +To Hit, +Damage
Slotting Options: To Hit Buff, Endurance Cost Reduction, Recharge Reduction

My Advice:
Aim is one of the most delay-able powers available to you. It’s great in a tough fight or against mobs with huge Defense, but you’ll usually find Radiation Infection will do that job for you. Still, it’s worth grabbing late in the build if you have room.
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 Recharge Reduction


5. Freeze Ray available level 8
Damages and encases your foe in a block of ice. Attacking the Held foe will not free him.
A single target Hold that animates faster and costs less than Controller Holds. How can you say ‘no’?

Endurance Cost: 6.864
Activation Time: 1 second
Recharge: 10 seconds
Duration: 8 seconds
Range: 60 ft.
Brawl Index: 0.28 Cold
Debuff: Hold
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Hold Duration

My Advice:
Must Have Power. Get this ASAP and slot it up. It doesn’t have the inherent Accuracy of a Controller Hold, so give it an Accuracy enhancement. With Hold SOs and Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism up, it’s fast enough to stack with itself and perma-Hold Bosses (though this does eat some Endurance, so you’ll want to give it Endurance Cost Reduction).

This is one of the powers that makes Ice so desirable.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Hold Duration/1 Endurance Cost Reduction/1 Recharge Reduction


6. Ice Storm available level 12
Shred your foes with this Ice Storm. Lots of damage in a large area.
Over quite a wide area, this summoned attack rains little shards all over your enemies. They WILL try to run out of it, but every hit has that great Slow effect which stacks with itself. Better yet, it re-evaluates the chance to Scourge on EVERY TICK.

Endurance Cost: 15.6
Activation Time: 2.03 seconds
Recharge: 60 seconds
Duration: 15 seconds
Range: 60 ft. (30 ft. radius)
Brawl Index: 72 x 0.051 Cold, 72 x 0.051 Lethal = 7.34 Total
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only)

My Advice:
The teens are a very troublesome place, since you can no longer delay on travel powers or the Fitness pool, so you may have to wait until your twenties to get Ice Storm. Getting it any sooner requires you forego Hasten or the more important powers in Ice or Rad.

That said, get it as soon as you can manage and 6-slot it. It’s best used after a Frost Breath or a few single target blasts have beaten your enemies closer to Scourge range. The Slows are great, and stacking Lingering Radiation on the mobs brings them well over the -Speed cap.
Oh, and the sea of “Scourge” messages is just divine.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Damage/2 Slow


7. Bitter Ice Blast available level 18
Slower, but more powerful and damaging than Ice Blast. Slows your foe and can reduce his chance to hit.
This is the most powerful Blast available in the Ice line. Superior damage, hefty Debuffs, and enough speed to make it a key part of your main attack chain. The damage beats anything short of a Snipe and Blaze from Fire Blast. But, unlike the Snipes, the animation is quick and uninterruptible. And, unlike Blaze, it has a nice hefty range to it.

Endurance Cost: 13
Activation Time: 1.07 seconds
Recharge: 12 seconds
Range: 50 ft.
Brawl Index: 3.56 Cold, 2.78 Smashing = 6.33 Total
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed, -To Hit
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only), To Hit Debuff

My Advice:
The final of your single target blasts, and, WOW, is it worth it. Slot it just like Ice Blast. The Endurance cost is noticeable, so an SO is advisable. With Hasten, Accelerate Metabolism, and a Recharge SO, you’ll be firing it off enough to really feel it.

Again, this is a tough power to fit into the teens, but get it as soon as you can. With the “Holy Trinity” of Ice Blasts complete, you can now tear through anything you see.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Damage/1Recharge Reduction/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


8. Bitter Freeze Ray available level 26
Holds your opponent in ice. He can be attacked and remains helpless. He is very damaged and Slowed.
Without a doubt, the best animation in Ice Blast. Unfortunately, the time it takes for the animation to complete and high Endurance cost make it a highly debatable power choice.

Endurance Cost: 15.184
Activation Time: 3.7 seconds
Recharge: 20 seconds
Duration: 8 seconds
Range: 80 ft.
Brawl Index: 3.67 Cold
Debuff: Hold
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Hold Duration

My Advice:
I fell in love with the animation and carried this albatross around my neck for a good ten levels. Then I respecced out of it and started enjoying the game a lot more.

Really, there are only two reasons to get this power:
1) You love the animation THAT much.
2) You can’t afford the Enhancement Slots to buff Freeze Ray and are willing to burn a Power Slot so you can stack Holds on Bosses.

Neither reason is really good enough. It does less damage than Ice Blast, Holds for the same duration as Freeze Ray, and costs more and takes longer to execute than both of them COMBINED.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Hold Duration/1 Endurance Cost Reduction/1 Recharge Reduction


9. Blizzard available level 32
Large area, high damage. Slows and reduces hit chance. Leaves you drained and unable to recover End
Unlike most final Blast powers, Blizzard is a Storm. Targetted a safe distance away from enemies, this can devastate them without endangering the Corruptor. However, as a Storm, it causes foes to flee the area as the “Damage over Time” chews away at them. Thankfully, it also Slows them, knocks them down, and lowers their Accuracy, too.

Endurance Cost: 20.8
Activation Time: 2.03
Recharge: 360 seconds
Duration:
Range: 60 ft. (30 ft. radius)
Brawl Index: 12 x 0.42 Cold, 12 x 0.42 Lethal = 10.08 Total
Debuff: Knockdown, -Recharge, -Speed, -To Hit
Debuff (self): -Endurance, -Recovery
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only), To Hit Debuff, Knockback Distance

My Advice:
Blizzard is glorious. With the Buff “buff” (making it so Aim, Soul Drain, Fulcrum Shift, inspirations, etc. affect Storms), it has quickly become one of the most beloved of Corruptor “Nukes”. Not only is it safer to use than any other, it also re-checks Scourge chances on every tick. This means a well-slotted Blizzard can take out anything short of Bosses and Archvillains.

But, as Ice/RAD, you have some problems. The -Endurance of activating Blizzard will kill off your Toggle Debuffs, eradicating most of your damage boosting ability. Using it also kills off Endurance Recovery for about 20 seconds (something your Accelerate Metabolism can’t keep from happening).

Still, this power is well worth getting. Good for a finisher and great as a panic button. 5-slot it and have some fun.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy/3 Damage/1-2 Slow[/list]

Radiation Emission Powers
Radiation Emission is one of the most powerful blends of Control, Healing, Buffing, and Debuffing available in City of Heroes and City of Villains. It’s somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades. It samples the damage potential and Speed boosting of Kinetics, the Control and Debuffing of Dark Miasma, and the healing of Thermal Radiation to give you a power for almost every situation.

<ul type="square">
1. Radiant Aura available level 1
Mends your allies’ wounds. This power restores some Hit Points to you and all nearby Heroes.
You’re required to get this power at level 1, and it will heal you and allies in quite a wide area. Base Heal value is 11% of your total Hit Points..

Endurance Cost: 13
Activation Time: 2.03 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Range: PBAoE (25 ft. radius)
Buff: Heal
Slotting Options: Endurance Cost Reduction, Heal, Recharge Reduction

My Advice:
Radiant Aura is a very good power, but it will get you incorrectly labeled as a Healer. You really, really aren’t.

With Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism, this power should be up far more than you need it. Just be careful that you don’t fire it off at a crucial juncture when you’re low on Endurance. Knee-jerk reactions with this can have you dropping your Toggles– then you’ll REALLY need it.

Best thing is to buff up the healing a bit and reduce the Endurance cost. Add Recharge Reduction when you have more slots to spare.
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 Heal/1 Endurance Cost Reduction

2. Radiation Infection available level 2
Infects target and all foes that he contacts, until target dies or you stop. Reduces Accuracy and Defense.
The first of your Toggle Debuffs. This will affect and “aggro” all the villains in the radius of your target (referred to as an “Anchor”), so make sure to keep it alive while you destroy the surrounding mobs.
This power is one of Radiation’s own “Holy Trinity”.

Endurance Cost: 0.286 per second
Activation Time: 3.1 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Duration: Toggle (lasts until turned off or target dies/moves far out of range)
Range: 70 ft. (15 ft. radius)
Debuff: -Defense, -To Hit
Slotting Options: Defense Debuff, To Hit Debuff, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction

My Advice:
An extremely powerful tool that defines Radiation Emission– and how much you like it.
Toggle Debuffs can be difficult to use, since teammates and pets have a habit of frequently killing your Anchor and leaving you staring at a room full of very angry mobs (this is a good reason for anchoring onto more resilient enemies).

Nonetheless, Radiation Infection is your main defense and quite a bit of your offense, too. Use it for Toggle-Pulling, and you can hop around a corner as you cast it, pulling a group of mobs to you, bunched up nice and tight so you can AoE them into oblivion.
I always grab this by level 8 at the latest. Slot up To Hit Debuffs to max your defense, and you’re well protected. Reduce the Endurance cost as soon as you can (running it while spamming attacks can drain you), then add Defense Debuffs if you can spare the slots.
Recommended Slotting: 3 To Hit Debuff/1 Defense Debuff/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


3. Accelerate Metabolism available level 4
Boosts run, attack speed, recovery and damage of nearby allies. Allies are resistant to most effects
An all around Buff that will make teams love you. The huge radius makes it so you can buff 7 Masterminds and all their pets with one easy click.

Endurance Cost: 15.6
Activation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 420 seconds
Duration: 120 seconds
Range: PBAoE (25 ft. radius)
Buff (self &amp; allies): +Endurance Recovery, + Recharge, +Speed, +Damage, + Status Resistance (Sleep, Hold, Disorient, Immobilize, Endurance Drain)
Slotting Options: Endurance Cost Reduction, Endurance Modification, Recharge Reduction, Run Speed Increase

My Advice:
This is one of the main reasons you chose Ice/Rad. Accelerate Metabolism and Hasten will allow the otherwise lackluster rate of fire to increase dramatically (also helped by the 20% damage Buff it provides). Even better, it boosts Endurance Recovery; something you desperately need.

Teams will love you for Accelerate Metabolism, and you will love your Ice/Rad for it.

Get this at level 4, then make sure it has those first three Recharge Reductions in it as soon as you can manage. If you can spare the slots, boost Endurance Recovery as well.
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 Endurance Modification/3 Recharge Reduction


4. Enervating Field available level 10
Slowly damages and decreases the damage rate of the target and all nearby foes, until you stop.
Formerly the gem in Radiation Emission’s crown, this power’s effectiveness has been reduced in recent years. Still, it will increase you AND your team’s damage dealing capabilities (by about 22.5%) and reduce incoming damage (by 32.5%) for a hefty Endurance cost.

Endurance Cost: 0.572 per second
Activation Time: 1.5 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Duration: Toggle (lasts until turned off or target dies/moves far out of range)
Range: 70 ft. (15 ft. radius)
Debuff: -Damage, -Damage Resistance
Slotting Options: Endurance Cost Reduction, Recharge Reduction, Range Increase

My Advice:
Enervating Field is great and problematic. Another member of Radiation’s “Holy Trinity”, it will reduce the damage output of the mobs swimming in it while increasing the amount of damage you do to them.

However, neither of these values can be enhanced, and the Endurance cost of running this power can be a headache. Radiation Infection is a far greater defensive tool (arguably better offensively, too), but Enervating Field’s quick activation time makes it the easier to use when teams are killing anchors or mobs are spamming Hold/Sleep/Disorient on you.

Teams may love you for it, but the prohibitive cost kept me from getting it until the late twenties. Adding it to your arsenal will increase your damage output, but Radiation Infection will do more to keep you from getting damaged and keep your Toggles from dropping
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 Endurance Cost Reduction


5. Mutation available level 16
Revives and greatly boosts fallen ally, for a while. Then ally is significantly weakened, but still standing
Held up by many to be the best battlefield Resurrection, this is a staple of the team-oriented Corruptor. It also has the added bonus of giving Debt Protection to the revived ally for 90 seconds after being used.

Endurance Cost: 26
Activation Time: 3.2 seconds
Recharge: 180 seconds
Duration: 90 seconds
Range: 15 ft.
Buff (ally): Resurrection, +Damage, +Accuracy, +Endurance Recovery, +Recharge
Debuff (ally): Disorient, -HP
Slotting Options: Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Endurance Modification

My Advice:
I solo. A lot. Because of that, my Radiation Emission characters usually don’t get Mutation. Unlike, say, Howling Twilight, it simply has no use if your teammates aren’t dying regularly, and I’d rather prevent them from dying than have a snappy comeback to their newly earned debt.

On the other hand, a Rad/Rad Defender in my SG has ONLY Radiant Aura and Mutation, and she says that’s been enough to make her teams love her.

Personally, I find Ice/Rad offers too many “Must Have” powers to pick this up.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Recharge Reduction

6. Lingering Radiation available level 20
Emits Lingering Radiation that reduces attack rate and movement speed of all foes near the target
A wide area of effect Debuff that’s easily made permanent. The third part of your “Holy Trinity,” it’s one of Radiation’s best defensive powers and absolutely necessary for fighting Archvillains and Heroes.

Endurance Cost: 15.6
Activation Time: 1.5 seconds
Recharge: 90 seconds
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 80 ft. (25 ft. radius)
Debuff: -Recharge, -Speed, -Regeneration
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, Slow (-Speed only)

My Advice:
Get this as soon as you can manage. It comes at a very difficult time in your build, when all those powers you had to pass up in the teens have piled up, but this is one of the main reasons for play Ice/Rad. The -Speed and -Recharge will stack with those of your Ice powers, bringing almost anything to the -Speed cap in an instant. This keeps most melee attacks out of reach and reduces enemy rate of fire dramatically.

Also, the -Regeneration will make those rapidly healing AVs/Heroes/Monsters battles much, much faster.

Unlike ALL other Corruptor -Speed powers, this is a targetted AoE click power. It has to roll an Accuracy check, but, unlike Tar Patch, Caltrops, Sleet, or Snowstorm, they cannot escape the Debuff by running away.
Recommended Slotting: 1-2 Accuracy/2-3 Recharge Reduction/1 Endurance Cost Reduction


7. Choking Cloud available level 28
Nearby foes may be overcome with toxic radioactive gas, leaving them choking and helpless.
A huge power for Controllers. An expensive and unreliable one for anyone spamming attacks.
Endurance Cost: 6 per 5 seconds
Activation Time: 2.03 seconds
Recharge: 90 seconds
Duration: Toggle (lasts until turned off )
Range: PBAoE (15 ft. radius)
Debuff: Hold
Slotting Options: Endurance Cost Reduction, Hold Duration, Recharge Reduction

My Advice:
I’ve seen a few Ice/Rads using this power in battle. Typically, they just stand around and rely on the rest of the team to actually kill the enemies they’re trying to Hold. It doesn’t work out very well.

Before I malign this power too much, let me say that I consider it to be a Must Have for Controllers, since they get increased Hold Duration on it and have pets dealing damage for them.
Radiation Defenders will get more out of it, too, since their version of Accelerate Metabolism provides greater Endurance Recovery than ours (base 33% buff vs. our reported 16% base value). Some other Corruptors may also find greater use in this, since their attack chains usually cost less (Radiation Blast, for instance).

However, as we’ve said before, Ice/Rad’s reliance on single target attacks and Toggle-Debuffs makes for an Endurance intensive build. The “Hold Pulse” of Choking Cloud is unreliable and short in duration, and it also requires you to be in very close quarters with your enemies to function.

On top of all this, it isn’t very accurate and cannot be slotted with Accuracy enhancements, so you need to be running Radiation Infection and/or Tactics to make it remotely reliable, and that costs even more Endurance.

Basically, if you rely on Choking Cloud, you’re giving up your ability to blast fast in the hope of being a mediocre AoE Hold-bot.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Hold Duration, 2-3 Endurance Cost Reduction


8. Fallout available level 35
After an ally falls in battle, you can activate this power to pull energy from their body to deal a massive amount of damage to all nearby foes.
The highest damage Area of Effect attack in the entire game. Even with a lower Brawl Index, the base damage of this edges out almost every Blaster Nuke.
Endurance Cost: 20.8
Activation Time: 3.2 seconds
Recharge: 300 seconds
Range: 40 ft. (30 ft. radius)
Brawl Index: 17.0833 Energy
Debuff: -Defense, -To Hit, -Damage, -Resistance
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Damage, Defense Debuff, Endurance Cost Reduction, Range Increase, Recharge Reduction, To Hit Debuff

My Advice:
Tempting as this power may be, it suffers from the same dilemma as Mutation: a player has to die for you to use it.

However, there have been teams who will Recall Friend a dead player throughout an entire map just to use this attack over and over. The damage and Debuffs are great ( yes, it can also Scourge), and it doesn’t suffer from the -Recovery and total loss of Endurance a Nuke does.

That said, it’s highly situational. No good for soloists, and an act of desperation on teams. If you think your teammates will be dying a lot, you’ll get good mileage. Otherwise, skip it.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage


9. EM Pulse available level 38
You can unleash a massive pulse of electromagnetic energy incapaciting all foes in its radius. Leaves you briefly unable to recover End.
The most powerful AoE Hold in the game. The range and duration are double that of Controller AoE Holds, AND it has the same 50% chance to Hold Bosses that Controllers get. However, unlike Controller and Dominator AoEs, it does not suffer from an Accuracy penalty. Can affect up to 16 enemies.

Endurance Cost: 20.8
Activation Time: 2.93
Recharge: 300 seconds
Duration: 20 seconds
Range: PBAoE (60 ft. radius)
Brawl Index: 3.6448 Energy (Special vs. Robots)
Debuff: Hold, -Endurance, -Recovery, -Regeneration
Debuff (self): -Recovery
Slotting Options: Accuracy, Endurance Cost Reduction, Hold Duration, Recharge Reduction, Endurance Modification

My Advice:
The manual’s description doesn’t do any justice to this power. It is amazingly strong. Dominators will weep when they see you use it.

The -Recovery penalty lasts about 20 seconds, but, unlike a Blaster Nuke, it doesn’t drain your Endurance. As long as you can keep from burning your remaining Endurance before your Recovery kicks in, you’re in great shape.

The first time you use Aim + EM Pulse + Ice Storm + Blizzard, you just might cry.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 3 Hold Duration, 2 Recharge Reduction[/list]

[color=#FFCC66 ]Pool Powers[/color]
The only Pool Powers I’d insist on using in this build are Hasten and Stamina. The synergy is just that good. Acrobatics and Tactics are also high on my list, but now we’re heading into personal preference, so let’s just take a quick look at all the Pools.


<ul type="square">[color=#FFCC66 ]Concealment[/color]
Stealth stacks with Super Speed for some very convenient invisibility against mobs. Grant Invisibility always helps teams. Invisibility and Phase Shift are good for certain situations, but they prevent you from attacking or using your Debuffs while they’re on.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Fighting[/color]
Not a good pool for Corruptors. The melee attacks don’t fit well with ranged attack chains, the values of the Toggle “Armors” are very low, and their costs are too high.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Fitness[/color]
A must. Stamina is a boon (give it 3 slots, though), Health will keep downtime and Sleeps to a minimum, and Hurdle is great for stacking with Combat Jumping from the Leaping pool for an un-suppressible mini travel power.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Flight[/color]
The easiest Travel power to use, this pool also gives you access to Air Superiority for -Fly and Hover, in case you just want to float over enemies’ heads all day.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Leadership[/color]
With great Buff values for Corruptors, many swear by this set. Especially Tactics. For Ice/Rad, you already have Aim and Radiation Infection making mobs easier to hit, so the extra endurance cost of running Leadership Toggles is debatable. The Placate and Taunt resists and +Perception these provide do make them a must for PvP, though.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Leaping[/color]
The perfect Travel power for the Rogue Isles. Combat Jumping and Hurdle from Fitness are amazing when stacked, and Acrobatics will keep Holds and Knockback from taking you out of a fight.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Medicine[/color]
No reason to get this. Radiation Emission gives you everything this pool offers.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Presence[/color]
A very odd pool for Corruptors. The Taunts are unnecessary and not worth getting just so you can access the Fear abilities.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Speed[/color]
You WANT Hasten. Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism are made for each other (3 recharge slots in each). Super Speed is a very useful Travel power both in and out of missions and its stealth component will stack with Stealth from the Concealment pool to give you de facto Invisibility in PvE.

[color=#FFCC66 ]Teleportation[/color]
Recall Friend works very well with the tiny range of Mutation and Fallout. Teleport Foe can pull single minions away from large groups of enemies, but you already have Blasts to do that. Teleport is without a doubt the fastest travel power available, but it’s also the most difficult to use.[/list]

From My Experience...

<ul type="square">[*]Stagger Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism.
Firing both of them off at the same time will shoot your recharge rate through the roof, by try to avoid doing it unless you’re going against a Boss. It’s better to be patient and have a +Recharge buff at all times than to be jumping between godmode and snailmode.

[*]Debuff with Care
Radiation Infection and Enervating Field can get you in trouble if not handled properly. Before picking a Toggle Anchor, consider what you’re fighting. Does it mez? Does it like to run away? Does it have a tendency to teleport next to mobs you haven’t aggroed yet? Does it have high damage/high accuracy attacks your Debuffs aren’t enough to handle? Take all this into account before you choose an Anchor.

Prime offenders in this regard include: Tsoo Sorcerers, Malta Gunslingers, Sky Raider Porters, Rikti Headmen Gunmen, Council Warwolves, Carnival Strongmen, Tsoo Ancestor Spirits, Carnival Illusionists, Carnival Master Illusionists, Marcone Hitmen, Longbow Flamethrowers, and Arachnos Night Widows.

And that’s just off the top of my head!

Now, having scared the daylights out of you with the various mobs you DON’T want to Anchor, consider that certain enemy powers will be interrupted by the pulsing of your Toggle. Sky Raider Engineers won’t be able to set up their Force Field Generators. Circle of Thorns Mages and Vahzilok Embalmed won’t be able to blow themselves up. Rikti Communications Officers won’t be able to open up Portals... though those are great XP, so, again, you may want to avoid starting with Toggles on them.

[*]Open with Radiation Infection
With the long range and long animation, it should obvious. So many people don’t even cast this, it makes me cringe.

Throw it out there right away. I cannot stress this enough: Radiation Infection will keep you alive. With it running, mobs won’t be able to touch you, and all those naughty powers of yours that AREN’T autohit (All your Ice powers, Lingering Radiation, Choking Cloud, Fallout, and EM Pulse) will become a lot more useful.

[*]Toggle-Pulling
Another way in which Radiation Infection helps you out: it aggros everything it touches! That may seem like a bad thing, but it allows you to safely pull an entire group of enemies to you by simply casting it, then getting out of their Line of Sight. Run around a corner, hide behind some large boxes, or climb a staircase. Like clockwork, they’ll run over to get you, then cluster together when they finally re-establish Line of Sight.

THEN you hit them with Enervating Field, Lingering Radiation, and all your other Area of Effect powers. Oh, and your teammates can chip in, too.

Congratulations: You’ve just successfully destroyed an entire group of enemies at minimal risk to yourself.

[*]Make Macros
Well, the curse of Radiation Emission is that teammates will kill your Toggle Anchors. It’s bound to happen. The best way to minimize this is to make Binds that will tell them just which mob is playing Anchor so they have a better idea of what not to kill. Also try to describe the effects of the Toggle in the bind so less knowledgeable players will understand what all the fuss is about.

For example:
/macro RI”team $target is Radiation Infection anchor. Keep it alive to debuff our enemies.$$powexec_name Radiation Infection”

Also, try to put your Toggle Debuffs on Lieutenants. Minions die far too quickly, and Stalkers and Brutes gravitate towards Bosses no matter how much you tell them not to.

Another Macro to consider:
/macro AM “team Gather for buffs!”

Ridiculously simple, right? You’d be surprised how many times you’ll have to spam this before people actually gather for Accelerate Metabolism. Don’t try explaining it to them. Just say it’s a buff and they want it. ‘Cause they do.

[*]Scourge Strategically
Ice Storm and Blizzard work wonders for Scourging, but, thanks to the Fear effect, they are NOT openers. After laying down your debuffs, you’ll want to whittle down the enemies a little. Spread around your single target blasts and line them up for Frost Breath. Once the enemies get to 50% health, they’re in Scourge range. At that point, cast a storm and watch the Scourges fly.

Also remember to lead off with Bitter Ice Blast before Ice Blast and then Ice Bolt. Getting enemies into Scourge range with your big Blasts makes your smaller Blasts a lot more useful.

[*]Some Mobs Just Won’t Slow
Sadly, there are some enemies in this game with painfully strong -Speed resistance. Council Warwolves, Carnival Strongmen, and Tsoo Ancestor Spirits can have Lingering Radiation and numerous Ice Debuffs on them, and they’ll still sprint out of an Ice Storm at full speed. Since these mobs can also mez you or hit you for massive amounts of damage, it’s usually a good idea to focus on defeating them quickly.

[*]Hold the Mezzers First
Any mob that can Sleep, Hold, or Disorient you is bad. Why? Because, aside from obvious problems, that’s all it takes to turn off your toggles. Rather than just spamming blasts, use a Hold to take them out of commission. A Longbow Nullifier stuck in a block of ice is better than a half dead one that’s just dropped your Toggles so his Flamethrower friends can Ignite you.

[*]Healing Habit
At the end of a battle, you will recover Endurance rapidly, but you and most of your team won’t be healing nearly as quickly. Make a habit of firing off Radiant Aura at the end of every fight. Let it become second nature. You have the Endurance to burn, and your team will appreciate it.

[*]Hunting for Bigger Game
Ice/Rad does well against minions, but few other Corruptors can compare when fighting against AVs and other players. Open with Radiation Infection, then cripple them with Lingering Radiation. Add Enervating Field to the mix, and hit them with your Ice Bolt/Ice Blast/Bitter Ice Blast/Freeze Ray chain. Fire Lingering Radiation every time it comes back up, and they’re not regenerating or running anywhere (the exception to this being Teleportation and Leaping in PvP). Keep an eye on your Endurance and you’re golden.[/list]

 

Posted

awesome guide tyvm. I just made a new ice/rad and got him to 7 - this will be a big help!

 

Posted

Could you give me an example of your build, because I have so much trouble getting my powers in decent order. especially in the teens.
The built I came up with looks something like this (dont mind the levels of the slots, still figuring that out. And yes, there are way too many slots in there, another thing I'm still thinking about )
Other than that, your guide was awesome and helped me quite a bit
So any advice would be appreciated.

1 Ice Bolt =&gt;dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) acc (1)
1 Radiant Aura =&gt;heal (0) heal (0) heal (1)
2 Ice Blast =&gt;acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (2)
4 Accelerate Metabolism =&gt;recred (0) recred (0) recred (0) recred (0) recred (4)
6 Hasten recred (0) =&gt;recred (0) recred (6)
8 Freeze Ray =&gt;hold (0) hold (0) hold (0) hold (0) hold (0) acc (8)
10 Radiant Infection =&gt;thdbf (0) thdbf (0) thdbf (0) thdbf (0) thdbf (10)
12 Combat Jump =&gt;incjmp (12)
14 Super Jump =&gt;incjmp (14)
16 Ice Storm =&gt;dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) acc (16)
18 Bitter Ice Blast =&gt;acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (18)
20 Hurdle =&gt;incjmp (20)
22 Lingering Radiation =&gt;acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (0) acc (22)
24 Health endmod (0) =&gt;endmod (0) endmod (24)
26 Stamina =&gt;dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) acc (26)
28 Frost breath =&gt;dam (0) dam (0) dam (28)
30 Aim =&gt;recred (0) recred (30)
32 Blizzard =&gt;dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) dam (0) acc (32)
35 Enervation Field =&gt;endred (0) endred (35)
38 EM Pulse =&gt;acc (38) hold (39) hold (39) hold (39) hold (40) hold (40)

 

Posted

Glad to see you guys enjoyed the guide so much.

As for the build you posted, it reeeeeally needs to be adjusted for ED, and you're taking Stamina pretty late.

Here's a respec build I drew up not long ago:<ul type="square">---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: War Kitten - Liberty
Level: 40
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Radiation Emission
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Ice Bolt==&gt; Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Rechg(5)
01) --&gt; Radiant Aura==&gt; Heal(1) Heal(7) EndRdx(9)
02) --&gt; Ice Blast==&gt; Acc(2) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Dmg(11) Rechg(13) EndRdx(13)
04) --&gt; Accelerate Metabolism==&gt; EndMod(4) EndMod(7) EndMod(15) Rechg(17) Rechg(17) Rechg(19)
06) --&gt; Hasten==&gt; Rechg(6) Rechg(19) Rechg(21)
08) --&gt; Radiation Infection==&gt; TH_DeBuf(8) TH_DeBuf(21) TH_DeBuf(23) DefDeBuf(23) EndRdx(25)
10) --&gt; Combat Jumping==&gt; EndRdx(10)
12) --&gt; Freeze Ray==&gt; Acc(12) EndRdx(15) Hold(25) Hold(27) Hold(29)
14) --&gt; Super Jump==&gt; Jump(14) Jump(27)
16) --&gt; Hurdle==&gt; Jump(16)
18) --&gt; Health==&gt; Heal(18)
20) --&gt; Stamina==&gt; EndMod(20) EndMod(31) EndMod(31)
22) --&gt; Bitter Ice Blast==&gt; Acc(22) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(34) EndRdx(34)
24) --&gt; Lingering Radiation==&gt; Acc(24) Rechg(34) Rechg(36) Slow(37)
26) --&gt; Ice Storm==&gt; Dmg(26) Dmg(29) Dmg(31) Slow(37) Slow(40)
28) --&gt; Enervating Field==&gt; EndRdx(28) EndRdx(40)
30) --&gt; Frost Breath==&gt; Acc(30) Dmg(37) Dmg(39) Dmg(39)
32) --&gt; Blizzard==&gt; Dmg(32) Dmg(36) Dmg(36) Slow(40)
35) --&gt; Aim==&gt; Rechg(35) Rechg(39)
38) --&gt; Acrobatics==&gt; EndRdx(38)
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Sprint==&gt; Empty(1)
01) --&gt; Brawl==&gt; Empty(1)
02) --&gt; Rest==&gt; Empty(2)
01) --&gt; Scourge==&gt; Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------[/list]
When I actually did this respec, I changed some of the slotting and powers, but this build fared well on Test.

I think the most notable things about it are A) It's missing EM Pulse, and B) It has Leaping pool powers.

Great as EM Pulse is, I was a bit slot-starved when I made this build, so I left it out to save myself the headache of rationing out my level 39 &amp; 40 slots.

Leaping is a great pool, but I recommend getting it in a respec rather than early on. Those early levels are absolutely filled with great choices, and you'll have trouble fitting Pool Powers into your build. However, Acrobatics makes life much, much easier and has saved me from that most embarassing of defeats: being juggled to death by a pair of minions with knockdown powers.

 

Posted

Pretty solid guide War.

Personally I don't like frostbreath because it doesn't fit with the rest of the attacks style-wise and it has a long animation.

I also religiously use AM+hasten at the same time. The ~40-50seconds that it is down for sucks but you can still kill effectively enough.
I've tried alternating them, but found I had major endurance issues without AM buffing my end recovery, while still having the major recharge bonus of hasten.
Also I found that with just AM up I had way more endurance than I needed while only attacking a little bit faster.
I only have bib slotted with 1end reduc though, whereas my other two attacks both have a recharge
All attacks have 2acc, 3dam for me. I also might switch over to 3acc's soon, but mine is a pvp build so it is different in that regard.

Regarding the fitness pool: I respecced out of health and picked up swift. The healing regen bonus is unobservable with rad aura and the sleep resistance is also pretty much covered by AM (which shortens the duration of all mezzes I think by nearly half). Against tough enemies, or in pvp, if I am put to sleep I just use a bf because I can't risk the time it takes for health to let me out of it.
Plus AM and swift stack nicely and make you run at a respectable pace.

I also put acrobatics pretty early in my build because getting knocked down really sucks.

I really like freezeray slotted: 2acc,2hold,2recharge but have also used it with 3hold and 1rech. Either way lets me perma hold +3bosses with a bit of overlap. This is important to me because a +3 boss will hit through rad infect with ease. The best case I can make for this is when fighting a council warwolve. Their ranged attacks will take off half your life and stun you. Also their melee will take of nearly 80% of your life, also they don't slow . So perma mezzing is the only way to go for me.
This could change with the PPP holds available as stacking holds will be much easier.

I also slot rad infect: 3tohitdebuff, 3defdebuff as I hate missing against higher level enemies. I could easily see changing one of the defdebuffs to an end reduc though if that was an issue for someone.

I also slot rad aura: 3heal, 1rech, 1end. That brings it up every ~3.5seconds (with am+hasten) and heals me for ~20%.

Rad aura and AM are what actually sold me on this set because everything else a /cold can accomplish to an equal or greater degree. I love my self heal and AM!!!

Very good guide, you nailed pretty much everything. All my differences stem from a pvp perspective mainly.

Frosticus

 

Posted

I'm posting my planned I7 respec build (once I get the free respec cause I ran out of available ones).

It is primarily a PvP build, but still functions very well in PvE, with focus on solo play. Team play is fine with this build but skipping icestorm and em pulse will reduce your team contribution a sizeable amount.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: Frosticus
Level: 40
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Radiation Emission
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Ice Bolt==&gt; Acc(1) Acc(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(17) Rechg(40)
01) --&gt; Radiant Aura==&gt; Heal(1) Heal(17) Heal(19) EndRdx(21) Rechg(34)
02) --&gt; Ice Blast==&gt; Acc(2) Acc(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Dmg(15) Rechg(27)
04) --&gt; Radiation Infection==&gt; TH_DeBuf(4) TH_DeBuf(9) TH_DeBuf(11) DefDeBuf(27) DefDeBuf(29) DefDeBuf(29)
06) --&gt; Hasten==&gt; Rechg(6) Rechg(13) Rechg(13)
08) --&gt; Freeze Ray==&gt; Acc(8) Acc(9) Rechg(19) Rechg(31) Hold(31) Hold(34)
10) --&gt; Accelerate Metabolism==&gt; Rechg(10) Rechg(11) Rechg(15) EndMod(36) EndMod(36) EndMod(39)
12) --&gt; Combat Jumping==&gt; Jump(12)
14) --&gt; Super Jump==&gt; Jump(14)
16) --&gt; Hurdle==&gt; Jump(16) Jump(39)
18) --&gt; Bitter Ice Blast==&gt; Acc(18) Acc(21) Dmg(23) Dmg(23) Dmg(25) EndRdx(25)
20) --&gt; Swift==&gt; Run(20)
22) --&gt; Stamina==&gt; EndMod(22) EndMod(31) EndMod(33)
24) --&gt; Lingering Radiation==&gt; Rechg(24) Rechg(34) Slow(37) Rechg(37) Slow(40)
26) --&gt; Acrobatics==&gt; EndRdx(26)
28) --&gt; Teleport Foe==&gt; Acc(28) Acc(33)
30) --&gt; Aim==&gt; Rechg(30) Rechg(33) Rechg(36) TH_Buf(40)
32) --&gt; Enervating Field==&gt; EndRdx(32) EndRdx(37)
35) --&gt; Teleport==&gt; Range(35) Range(39)
38) --&gt; Super Speed==&gt; Run(38)
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Sprint==&gt; Jump(1)
01) --&gt; Brawl==&gt; Empty(1)
02) --&gt; Rest==&gt; Empty(2)
01) --&gt; Scourge==&gt; Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------

I don't use acc in lingering rad because aim recharges at the same rate. Thus aim+LR is great for me considering how little it actually buffs our damage.

As more spare slots become available they will go into hurdle and combat jump (both jump enh) for even more unsurpressable combat movement. Then I will be a kiting machine. Also aim will receive additional tohit enhances.

I am probably planning to pick up black scorp PPP's for the web nades. The -jump will be a destroyer when combined with LR.

Again this is a PvP focus so a PvE build could very well be quite different.

Frosticus

 

Posted

Well, this is a combo that plays quite differently between PvE and PvP.

If you're completely focused on PvP, Frost Breath won't do anything for you. However, it will shine against large groups of minions in PvE.

Firing AM and Hasten at the same time isn't a bad habit for PvP, but I find staggering works better in the ongoing battles of PvE. Oh, and staggering doesn't mean use one then wait to use the other when it's worn off. Nah, just wait 30 seconds or something between casts to spread them out.

Acrobatics is a phenomenal power, but I just found it difficult to fit into the early twenties. However, the build I posted WAS a respec build without much exemping or PvP in mind. Acrobatics got placed at 38 to ensure more slot-hungry powers could be fed early. In the actual build I settled on, I think I ended up putting Acrobatics around 30.

I found Freeze Ray recharges more than quickly enough with Hasten + AM and 1 Recharge Reduction, but YMMV. Again, that's a situation where staggering means you won't have to wait as long when you finally do want to fire them both off at the same time (aka, there's an Inv/SS Warden around the corner ).

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

Firing AM and Hasten at the same time isn't a bad habit for PvP, but I find staggering works better in the ongoing battles of PvE. Oh, and staggering doesn't mean use one then wait to use the other when it's worn off. Nah, just wait 30 seconds or something between casts to spread them out.

I found Freeze Ray recharges more than quickly enough with Hasten + AM and 1 Recharge Reduction, but YMMV. Again, that's a situation where staggering means you won't have to wait as long when you finally do want to fire them both off at the same time (aka, there's an Inv/SS Warden around the corner ).

[/ QUOTE ]

That kind of staggering makes sense and works well as I've used it. I still prefer to use both at once but that is just me.

Do you fire hasten first or AM? I found when staggering hasten is better to use first because as you start running out of endurance it is time to fire off AM, which will help you recover. Plus the end drop at the end of hasten is then compensated by AM.

I agree that freezeray recharges plenty fast with hasten+AM and 1 recharge, that was how I had it slotted for a long time.
Your newest build posted doesn't have a recharge in it though, which is why I commented. But I think we are in agreement there

Good job and have fun bringing your enemies to their knees

Frosticus

 

Posted

Oh, sorry! That build is NOT what I'm advising people to make. My recommended slotting is listed underneath each power (though My Advice may say not to take the power at all). That build is just an example of one that works at level 40.

As for staggering, I find it can depend on whether I'm solo or teamed. Starting off with AM when everyone is clustered at the door is a lot easier than telling them to gather a minute later.

If your endy bar is draining fast, you will get more benefit out of casting AM second. But then Hasten provides a greater recharge buff, so it can bring AM back faster if you fire IT second.

Tricky, ain't that?

Another thing to consider is whether or not you're going into a mission filled with mezzers. Activating AM as soon as you enter the mission can be quite helpful when you get ambushed at the door by a bunch of Freakshow who want to chain-mez you.

And then we'll have to see how Patron Power Pool pets affect staggering strategies. As a Fire/Rad Controller, I would always AM before Hasten to get my Imps nice and psycho right away.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
As for the build you posted, it reeeeeally needs to be adjusted for ED, and you're taking Stamina pretty late.


[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah I can see that, somehow my spreadsheet messed up the slots (prob because of the 0 level slots), but anyway, thanks. That helped a lot. I was kind of afraid to take 6 pool powers really close together, but I can see how it can work. At least the last 20 levels are completely action packed, hehe.

Anyone got any hints for a leveling build? I'm really stumped here and I know there are people who know there stuff better than me (seeing as how I only played for 1 month now)

 

Posted

If you start out with just the Speed and Fitness pools, you should be fine. Leaping is great to respec into for Acrobatics, but taking Super Speed rather than Super Leap means you won't have to worry about Combat Jumping and can grab Bitter Ice Blast, Ice Storm, or Frost Breath in the teens.

The other option would be to wait on Hasten, but I find it too useful. Acrobatics isn't even available until 20, so waiting to get it in a respec isn't a big problem.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

As for staggering, I find it can depend on whether I'm solo or teamed. Starting off with AM when everyone is clustered at the door is a lot easier than telling them to gather a minute later.

If your endy bar is draining fast, you will get more benefit out of casting AM second. But then Hasten provides a greater recharge buff, so it can bring AM back faster if you fire IT second.

Tricky, ain't that?

Another thing to consider is whether or not you're going into a mission filled with mezzers. Activating AM as soon as you enter the mission can be quite helpful when you get ambushed at the door by a bunch of Freakshow who want to chain-mez you.

[/ QUOTE ]

No it really isn't very tricky it is whatever works best for each user. Personally I've never had any problem hitting every person in my team with AM once the fight has started. The only people that generally stand far back are mm's, but their pets are usually close to the fight and getting the pets is more important then the mm himself. Using AM at the door is great in some teams, or once everyone has given the ready signal, but even a slight delay makes that cast time become less valuable.

I can't honestly recommend relying on AM for mez protection, certainly not with good conscience. It is a great buff (+dam, +rech, +speed, +recovery) and cuts mezz duration by ~50%, but when fighting on the hardest difficulty (which many higher level teams do and a solo ice/rad corr is more than capable of) getting mezzed even for a few seconds will put you into a world of hurt. Even if you are not in peril, standing around for 5 seconds instead of 10 still means you are not contributing during that period (your togs aren't debuffing, you aren't healing and you aren't damaging). I just pop bfs if heavy mezzing is occuring, an ice/rad certainly doesn't need any other inspires (ok maybe a couple greens for emergency use and a blue or two).

With my prefered slotting of freezeray (2acc,2rech,2hold) it is ready in less than 4seconds. This means I can greatly reduce the number of mezzers in the situation, thus making it easier for the team to pick them apart. But again this is just my experience and play style, you or others may find success in a different technique.

I actually don't recommend slotting for only 1 acc in attacks. Unless you run tactics or heavily slot rad infect with defdebuff. Wiffing is not fun against anything let alone +2 or higher (where it becomes dangerous to miss with key attacks). The problem with relying on rad infect so much for acc is that if and when you solo you really don't need it other than for bosses and the occasional lt. So casting on every mob just so you can hit them will slow you down a great deal (while solo). Also in teamplay there will more than likely be enemies outside of the infected area, with only 1 acc in attacks you will miss more often than most will like against +2's.

But again it is whatever works for the user and you have certainly given some in-depth insight into the powerset that is very valuable at all levels of play.

Frosticus

 

Posted

Now, I'm not suggesting you should rely on AM as a solid form of mez protection. It's only mez resistance, so that would be silly.

However, I've done too many missions where the first thing that happens is 3 Freakshow Smashers or Longbow Spec Ops or Circle of Thorns Earth Thorn Casters hop around the corner. AM will reduce the duration of Handclaps and Stalagmites and resist the endurance drain of EMP grenades so you can stay in the fight if you just happen to not have a Break Free on you (as is often the case in PvE).

The problem with mezzers isn't when you run into one; it's having to fight a mission full of them (Tsoo, for instance). Even the fastest charging Freeze Ray won't nullify a group of 3 minion mezzers before they get a chance to drop your toggles, and the -recovery and recharge time of EM Pulse make it only so helpful in these missions.

Again, this is where RI comes in. Lay it down first, and you're usually flooring minion accuracy. People may complain about the casting time, but being locked down for 2 seconds (since you can move in the last second of the casting time) is not a significant time loss. Especially for the huge increase in survivability.

Remember: as a Corruptor, you need to spend time debuffing. Otherwise, you're just a weak Blaster who heals.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]


However, I've done too many missions where the first thing that happens is 3 Freakshow Smashers or Longbow Spec Ops or Circle of Thorns Earth Thorn Casters hop around the corner. AM will reduce the duration of Handclaps and Stalagmites and resist the endurance drain of EMP grenades so you can stay in the fight if you just happen to not have a Break Free on you (as is often the case in PvE).

The problem with mezzers isn't when you run into one; it's having to fight a mission full of them (Tsoo, for instance). Even the fastest charging Freeze Ray won't nullify a group of 3 minion mezzers before they get a chance to drop your toggles, and the -recovery and recharge time of EM Pulse make it only so helpful in these missions.

Again, this is where RI comes in. Lay it down first, and you're usually flooring minion accuracy. People may complain about the casting time, but being locked down for 2 seconds (since you can move in the last second of the casting time) is not a significant time loss. Especially for the huge increase in survivability.

Remember: as a Corruptor, you need to spend time debuffing. Otherwise, you're just a weak Blaster who heals.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess my rad infection is just teh gimp then cause +3's and higher (and maybe +2's with the tohitdebuff changes idk) hit through it quite consistently.

We must play a different style, which is awesome because it shows the versitility of the potent ice/rad corruptor.

I run into trouble if I play a defensive game and end up faceplanting more often, but that is just me. I never lead with RI while solo (if I need to debuff then I lead with freeze ray then RI+freezeray then EF+LR = held useless boss) against lts. it is always freezeray first. I don't even bother with RI on most lts. and simply use EF, but I have pretty good accuracy so results may differ for others depending on slotting.

In team play I will lead with RI or LR or even EF depending on circumstance, but I rarely get mezzed because I won't take the alpha for any team larger than 3/4 people if the enemies are +2 or higher. I've found there is nothing more frustrating and counterproductive than using your tog debuffs then getting mezzed 1second later, so I do what I can to avoid that.

Melee mezzers have never given me a problem. I am a ranged attacker so I just move around when they try to close. Most people like to stand in one spot in PvE which is fine, but once you PvP alot you see the benefit of movement and staying away from enemy melee.

Ranged mezzers are really the only threat to my playstyle because they will hit through RI quite easily at high difficulty settings. So I mezz/kill them first, if there is more of then I can handle without getting mezzed myself then I eat a bf.

There is no reason to do pve without inspires on hand so starting a mission without at least a few bfs (or other inspires) is kind of silly IMO. In cov we have contacts in every zone so I don't see the reason to go inspireless (unless for additonal challenge). A strikeforce would be the only situation, but you can still get inspires at the arena or pocket d.

idk, mezzing is the bane of most squishies in CoX but I feel corruptors have the most to lose (on the cov side) when they do get mezzed because of our multipurpose role in teams. If you lose one damage dealer you may not notice, or if you lose one debuffer/buffer you may not notice that much either, but if you lose one of each (which many corr's are) your team just got significantly weaker.

Again a corruptor that is mezzed is not contributing to the team success. Considering the importance of the role, being mezzed for anything over 1-2 seconds at a time can be a tremendous detriment.

This is just my play experience though and I am very happy that other people have found success in other playstyles. Kudos to those that effectively use a build in various ways.

Frosticus

 

Posted

Yeah, this is why I didn't post a build in my Guide. Ice/Rad is just filled with possibilities, and it's quite a feat to fit them all in one character.

Again, the build I provided for Kelemvor is one that works, but the point of my guide isn't to direct future Ice/Rads down a narrow path. Go with whatever playstyle works best for you.

 

Posted

Enjoyed your guide - lots of good good points (making binds etc).

@Deadboy

 

Posted

Hey, love the guide, but just got a question. Is there a decent(pve) build for up to around 20 or so? I'm wondering if taking Hasten as early as 6 will kill my end.

Here's my Build I'm shooting for, and not sure if I"m slotting right or what order to take things.. HELP!---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Francois Chill
Level: 22
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Radiation Emission
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01) --&gt; Ice Bolt==&gt; Acc(1)Acc(7)Dmg(13)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)
01) --&gt; Radiant Aura==&gt; Heal(1)Heal(3)Heal(3)
02) --&gt; Radiation Infection==&gt; TH_DeBuf(2)TH_DeBuf(5)TH_DeBuf(5)
04) --&gt; Accelerate Metabolism==&gt; Rechg(4)Rechg(11)Rechg(11)
06) --&gt; Ice Blast==&gt; Acc(6)Acc(7)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)
08) --&gt; Hasten==&gt; Rechg(8)Rechg(9)Rechg(9)
10) --&gt; Freeze Ray==&gt; Acc(10)Rechg(15)Hold(19)
12) --&gt; Combat Jumping==&gt; Jump(12)
14) --&gt; Super Jump==&gt; Jump(14)
16) --&gt; Hurdle==&gt; Jump(16)
18) --&gt; Health==&gt; Heal(18)
20) --&gt; Stamina==&gt; EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
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01) --&gt; Power Slide==&gt; Empty(1)
01) --&gt; Sprint==&gt; Empty(1)
01) --&gt; Brawl==&gt; Empty(1)
01) --&gt; Scourge==&gt; Empty(1)
02) --&gt; Rest==&gt; Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

 

Posted

My experience is mostly with */rad controllers, but basic principles apply. Are you planning on soloing or teaming more often? If soloing, I would say take the two blasts as level 1 and 2, then RI. The first few levels pass so quickly, you won't notice you don't have RI. Then take RI and then Acc Met.

I only had trouble with hasten once on my girl, and that's when I soloed an Elite Boss with her (he was blue, to be fair). At the very last, hasten would take it's toll and I'd have to run. Eventually, I smartened up, turned hasten off auto (this was pre-ED) and had no problem finishing the boss off. That was level 18. So it can cause a problem, but if you don't auto-fire it, you should be fine. Again, it didn't cause me any problem at the lower levels, even on auto.

If you plan on teaming, the build you posted it fine. Have fun! */rad is an amazing secondary!

 

Posted

Your build is very single-target oriented, which is the inclination of Ice/Rad. You'll be quite the boss killer, but the lack of AoE may get on your nerves. ^_^;;

As for getting Hasten early, it really shouldn't make much of a dent in your endy. Ice Bolt and Ice Blast are kinda expensive, but you don't really feel the sting until Bitter Ice Blast joins the chain and Enervating Field comes into play. If your endy does take too much of a hit from speeding things up with Hasten, just slot your attacks with an Endy Redux.

 

Posted

Is the information in this guide still good?