This is a guide to building a team of multiple Radiation Emission Corruptors.
First things first; you should also read ChuckNorris guide. There is some good advice there.
So, why am I writing another one? Numbers. If you are like me you want the numbers and that is what I will provide here along with the rest of my observations. I have been playing CoX actively (albeit as a very casual gamer) since CoH beta. I have played on a number of all Rad/X Defender teams, all Defender teams, and a few all Corruptor teams.
The idea here is to stack up at least 3 X/Rad Corruptors on a team; 4 is better and beyond 6 is really completely unnecessary. Brutes are not a great AT to team with because nothing is around long enough for them to get built up. Masterminds tend to have a hard time keeping the henchies off the anchor, but the really good ones can do it so do not automatically rule them out, just consider yourself forewarned. Stalkers are a great match as long as they stay away from the anchor.
So, here you go:
1. Radiant Aura mandatory power at level 1. PBAoE heal with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 13 endurance and recharges in 8 seconds. 11% heal unenhanced. While this is not the powerhouse you get with Dark Miasma it is still not a bad heal. Three slots with heal enhancements on a team of Rads is all you need.
2. Radiation Infection power available at level 2. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 20 ft. radius around the infected mob. Costs .286 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 3 seconds to activate (I guess every silver cloud has a dark lining). This is a signature power and one of the 3 reasons to make a team of Rads. Debuffs mob defense and accuracy 22.5% each. To be effective on a team you need to have a main assist and let them pick the anchor. Then it is up to you to avoid killing the anchor until last either continue to aim through the main assist or be careful about target selection. Lieutenants generally make good anchors except the annoying ones like Tsoo Sorcerors. Slot the default space however you want and do not waste any more slots on this power.
3. Accelerate Metabolism power available at level 4. PBAoE self and team buff with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 15.6 endurance and recharges in just under 400 seconds on its own. 20% damage buff, 30% recharge buff, 30% recovery buff, and a run/fly bump of about 4.5 MPH. Crown jewel of the set. Slot 3 recharge redux enhancements and change them to DO and then SO as soon as you are able. With 4 Rads on the team all damage is as if you had 2 SO and a DO slotted, everything cycles in less than half the normal time, and you should never run out of endurance with AM on (except for Choking Cloud). With hasten 3 slotted and this with training they are both up 2/3 of the time. With DO enhancements both are up most the time. With SOs hasten is perma and AM actually has ~20 second overlap which is an insane buff period (use it on AVs and Heroes). Do not ignore the stacked run/fly buff in PvP with Swift it is insuppressible movement. (Yes, hurdle is much faster, but AM does not buff jumping.)
4. Enervating Field power available at level 10. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 15 ft. radius around the infected mob. Costs .572 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 1.5 seconds to activate (The dark lining to this silver cloud is the endurance cost). Third of the three signature powers. Debuffs mob damage and resistance by 22.5%. Before AM is perma the endurance drain can be a pain. Still, I would not waste any more slots on it and just use the default for an endurance redux enhancement. With this and RI running from a team of four +2 mobs are within shouting distance of the caps in all 4 areas. (Post I7 that shout will have to be a little louder for RI.)
5. Mutation power available at level 16. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. If you are still being defeated at level 16 when you can take this then your team is doing something wrong. Even on the highest difficulty you should be blowing everything away with relatively little danger as long as you pay attention to the anchors.
6. Lingering Radiation power available at level 20. AoE attack with a 25 ft. radius, takes 1.5 seconds to activate, costs 15.6 endurance, and has a base recharge of 90 seconds. Ridiculous overkill ;-) With a team of four all mobs hit will be at the cap for recharge and speed. Crushingly devastating to get hit with four of these in PvP.
7. Choking Cloud power available at level 28. PBAoE auto-hit hold toggle with a 15 ft. radius, activation of just over 2 seconds, base recharge of 90 seconds, and the monstrous cost of over 4 endurance/second. The holds rotate among the mobs while active. With 4 overlapping all mobs including bosses are permanently held. Endurance hog even with 4 AMs up. If you want it slot 3 endurance redux. Again, overkill in PvE; crushing with 4 running at the same time in PvP for anyone unskilled enough to walk into it.
8. Fallout power available at level 35. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. So very situational and at this level nothing can touch you anyway.
9. EM Pulse power available at level 38. PBAoE hold with a massive 60 ft. radius, endurance cost of 20, activation time of 3 seconds, base recharge of 300, and base duration of 30 seconds. Some players like it; I am not one of them. On a team with only 1 Rad I could see the use, but not on a team like this.
The first 4 powers are all you will ever need to be uber on a team of 4 Rads in PvE. Slot AM with 3 run speed boost in addition to the three cycle redux and nobody will need to take a travel power. For PvP the setup times on IR and EF are problematic. If the team is PvP open with Choking Cloud already up and then lead with Lingering Radiation. Then it is up to you whether or not to try for IR and/or EF as well. If you are fighting a clump of heroes then it might be worth it, but if you are just taking down one you pulled with TP foe then you should probably skip those two.
So, what about primaries? Dark is my first choice for the immobilize of Tenebrous Tentacles. As long as at least 2 members are dark the rest can feel free to decide between ice, fire, or another dark. Ice is probably the best choice for PvP. Ice Storm is fantastic and makes EM Pulse worth taking.
OK, you have your primary all picked out, now you need pool powers. Hasten 3 slotted with recharge redux is absolutely required. For PvP concealment for stealth and grant invisibility, fitness for swift and stamina, and leadership for assault and +perception from tactics are good. You may also want to get teleport instead of fitness. For PvE swift and assault are the only strong recommendations.
Through 13 a good build for such a team would be:
Dark Blast 3 damage
Radiant Aura 3 heal
Radiation Infection 1 end redux
Accelerate Metabolism 3 cycle redux
Hasten 3 cycle redux
Tenebrous Tentacles 3 damage
Enervating Field 1 end redux
Night Fall 3 damage
Starting at level 4 you should set the difficulty up a level. At 9 you should bump it another level. By 13 you should hopefully have DOs in AM and Hasten at which point you should go to max on the difficulty. If you stay focused, keep selling fast & to a minimum, and keep the mission backlog stacked so you are not standing around but constantly cranking XP then you should hit level 20 in 10 hours or less. Remember to stay in VG mode until 25 as well because you are going to be rolling in the coin as well as the XP.
This is a guide to building a team of multiple Radiation Emission Corruptors.
First things first; you should also read ChuckNorris guide. There is some good advice there.
So, why am I writing another one? Numbers. If you are like me you want the numbers and that is what I will provide here along with the rest of my observations. I have been playing CoX actively (albeit as a very casual gamer) since CoH beta. I have played on a number of all Rad/X Defender teams, all Defender teams, and a few all Corruptor teams.
The idea here is to stack up at least 3 X/Rad Corruptors on a team; 4 is better and beyond 6 is really completely unnecessary. Brutes are not a great AT to team with because nothing is around long enough for them to get built up. Masterminds tend to have a hard time keeping the henchies off the anchor, but the really good ones can do it so do not automatically rule them out, just consider yourself forewarned. Stalkers are a great match as long as they stay away from the anchor.
So, here you go:
1. Radiant Aura mandatory power at level 1. PBAoE heal with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 13 endurance and recharges in 8 seconds. 11% heal unenhanced. While this is not the powerhouse you get with Dark Miasma it is still not a bad heal. Three slots with heal enhancements on a team of Rads is all you need.
2. Radiation Infection power available at level 2. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 20 ft. radius around the infected mob. Costs .286 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 3 seconds to activate (I guess every silver cloud has a dark lining). This is a signature power and one of the 3 reasons to make a team of Rads. Debuffs mob defense and accuracy 22.5% each. To be effective on a team you need to have a main assist and let them pick the anchor. Then it is up to you to avoid killing the anchor until last either continue to aim through the main assist or be careful about target selection. Lieutenants generally make good anchors except the annoying ones like Tsoo Sorcerors. Slot the default space however you want and do not waste any more slots on this power.
3. Accelerate Metabolism power available at level 4. PBAoE self and team buff with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 15.6 endurance and recharges in just under 400 seconds on its own. 20% damage buff, 30% recharge buff, 30% recovery buff, and a run/fly bump of about 4.5 MPH. Crown jewel of the set. Slot 3 recharge redux enhancements and change them to DO and then SO as soon as you are able. With 4 Rads on the team all damage is as if you had 2 SO and a DO slotted, everything cycles in less than half the normal time, and you should never run out of endurance with AM on (except for Choking Cloud). With hasten 3 slotted and this with training they are both up 2/3 of the time. With DO enhancements both are up most the time. With SOs hasten is perma and AM actually has ~20 second overlap which is an insane buff period (use it on AVs and Heroes). Do not ignore the stacked run/fly buff in PvP with Swift it is insuppressible movement. (Yes, hurdle is much faster, but AM does not buff jumping.)
4. Enervating Field power available at level 10. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 15 ft. radius around the infected mob. Costs .572 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 1.5 seconds to activate (The dark lining to this silver cloud is the endurance cost). Third of the three signature powers. Debuffs mob damage and resistance by 22.5%. Before AM is perma the endurance drain can be a pain. Still, I would not waste any more slots on it and just use the default for an endurance redux enhancement. With this and RI running from a team of four +2 mobs are within shouting distance of the caps in all 4 areas. (Post I7 that shout will have to be a little louder for RI.)
5. Mutation power available at level 16. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. If you are still being defeated at level 16 when you can take this then your team is doing something wrong. Even on the highest difficulty you should be blowing everything away with relatively little danger as long as you pay attention to the anchors.
6. Lingering Radiation power available at level 20. AoE attack with a 25 ft. radius, takes 1.5 seconds to activate, costs 15.6 endurance, and has a base recharge of 90 seconds. Ridiculous overkill ;-) With a team of four all mobs hit will be at the cap for recharge and speed. Crushingly devastating to get hit with four of these in PvP.
7. Choking Cloud power available at level 28. PBAoE auto-hit hold toggle with a 15 ft. radius, activation of just over 2 seconds, base recharge of 90 seconds, and the monstrous cost of over 4 endurance/second. The holds rotate among the mobs while active. With 4 overlapping all mobs including bosses are permanently held. Endurance hog even with 4 AMs up. If you want it slot 3 endurance redux. Again, overkill in PvE; crushing with 4 running at the same time in PvP for anyone unskilled enough to walk into it.
8. Fallout power available at level 35. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. So very situational and at this level nothing can touch you anyway.
9. EM Pulse power available at level 38. PBAoE hold with a massive 60 ft. radius, endurance cost of 20, activation time of 3 seconds, base recharge of 300, and base duration of 30 seconds. Some players like it; I am not one of them. On a team with only 1 Rad I could see the use, but not on a team like this.
The first 4 powers are all you will ever need to be uber on a team of 4 Rads in PvE. Slot AM with 3 run speed boost in addition to the three cycle redux and nobody will need to take a travel power. For PvP the setup times on IR and EF are problematic. If the team is PvP open with Choking Cloud already up and then lead with Lingering Radiation. Then it is up to you whether or not to try for IR and/or EF as well. If you are fighting a clump of heroes then it might be worth it, but if you are just taking down one you pulled with TP foe then you should probably skip those two.
So, what about primaries? Dark is my first choice for the immobilize of Tenebrous Tentacles. As long as at least 2 members are dark the rest can feel free to decide between ice, fire, or another dark. Ice is probably the best choice for PvP. Ice Storm is fantastic and makes EM Pulse worth taking.
OK, you have your primary all picked out, now you need pool powers. Hasten 3 slotted with recharge redux is absolutely required. For PvP concealment for stealth and grant invisibility, fitness for swift and stamina, and leadership for assault and +perception from tactics are good. You may also want to get teleport instead of fitness. For PvE swift and assault are the only strong recommendations.
Through 13 a good build for such a team would be:
Dark Blast 3 damage
Radiant Aura 3 heal
Radiation Infection 1 end redux
Accelerate Metabolism 3 cycle redux
Hasten 3 cycle redux
Tenebrous Tentacles 3 damage
Enervating Field 1 end redux
Night Fall 3 damage
Starting at level 4 you should set the difficulty up a level. At 9 you should bump it another level. By 13 you should hopefully have DOs in AM and Hasten at which point you should go to max on the difficulty. If you stay focused, keep selling fast & to a minimum, and keep the mission backlog stacked so you are not standing around but constantly cranking XP then you should hit level 20 in 10 hours or less. Remember to stay in VG mode until 25 as well because you are going to be rolling in the coin as well as the XP.