DodgerTA's Rad/Rad: A Twink's Guide 3.0 (I7)

Welcome to the All-Updated (practically all-new) Rad/Rad Defender guide for I7. Most of the numbers included in this guide have come from the new Prima guide update; I have modified the numbers included in that guide for Corrupters based on extrapolating them mathematically to their baselines and applying Defender modifiers. All the build advice and play advice is geared toward Defenders; so Corrupters who choose to take any of it, YMMV.

The reference for relative numbers here is the Power Data Standardization thread, which has charts for damage/heals/etc for all AT's. Any number marked as a "Scalar ... Value" means a lookup on that chart for your appropriate level/AT to see what you'd get out of the power.

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PART I - RADIATION EMISSION
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The powers in the radiation emission primary are diverse and powerful. There are a few disadvantages, but all in all it is probably the most versatile of the defender sets.
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Radiant Aura

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

Endurance Cost: 13
Base Heal at 50: 133.86
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer:8s
Radius: 25'
Activation Time: 3s
Scalar Healing Value: 1.0 - Heals based on Table Lookup:
Defenders: 133.4 at lvl 50
Recommended Slotting: 3 or Heal, 1 EndRdx
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Radiation Infection

The single most important power in the radiation line. Provides a 31.2% base debuff to enemy accuracy and defense. NOTE: With this build, slot ToHit Debuffs rather than Defense Debuffs. You WILL NOT NEED to enhance its defense debuff but if you have Hami-O's you'll notice an improvement in accuracy.

Endurance Cost: .3 Endo/sec
Base Effect: 31.25% Acc and Def debuff (Subtracts 31.2 from enemy base to-hit and defense numbers)
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer:8s
Radius: 15'
Range: 70'
Activation Time: 3.1s
Recommended Slotting: 3 ToHit Debuff, 1 EndRdx or 3 Hami-O (ToHit and Defense DeBuffs and Endurance)
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Accelerate Metabolism

The single most eclectic buff in the game, this is a must-have gem. It provides: a 30% increase to endo recovery, a 30% reduction in recharge times, a 173% reduction in status duration (status effects on you last about 1/2 as long), and a 25% damage buff as well as increasing Run and Flight speed by 30%. Three recharge slots will give a short downtime but allow additional endo recovery.

Endurance Cost: 24
Duration: 2m
Recharge Modifier: .3
Base Endo Rech: .501 endo/sec
Recharge Timer: 422s
Radius: 25'
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 3 Rchg, 3 EndRec
___________________________________42.49 > 55.25

Enervating Field

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

Endurance Cost: .5 Endo/sec
Base Damage Reduction at 50: 25%
Base Damage Increase at 50: 30%
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 8s
Radius: 15'
Range: 70'
Activation Time: 1.5s
Recommended Slotting: 3EndRdx
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Mutation

An excellent combat resurrection, Mutation raises the target hero with full HP and Endo and provides the following benefits for one minute: A 1.0 recharge reduction (cutting any power not slotted for recharge's timer in half), a 100% increase in endo recovery, and a 50% increase in damage, as well as a 37.5% accuracy buff.
After the initial 90s super-buff period, there is a 45s period where there is a 50% damage reduction and a 37.5% accuracy debuff. After this period, the player is returned to normal.

Endurance Cost: 26
Damage Buff: +50%
Recharge Buff Modifier: 1.0
Base Endo Rech: 3.34 end/sec
Duration: 90s
Recharge Timer: 180s
Activation Time: 3.2s
Recommended Slotting: 1 Rech
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Lingering Radiation

This buff provides a base 75% reduction in enemy movement speed and 50% reduction to attack rate. Slow enhancers can be slotted, but only modify the movement speed debuff. It also applies a 50% reduction to critter regen, or 90% regen reduction to other players in PVP.

Endurance Cost: 15.6
Duration: 30s
Recharge Timer: 90s
Radius: 25'
Range: 80'
Activation Time: 1.5s
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 3 RechRdx, 1 EndRdx
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Choking Cloud

This power has a 50% chance to hold any enemy in its area of effect for five seconds at Mag 2, and 80% chance to hold at Mag 1. Every five seconds it rolls a new to-hit roll on every enemy. Hold Duration enhancements will allow most mobs to be perma-held with this power, although there will always be enemies missed occasionally.

Endurance Cost: 4.2 every 5 seconds
Base Hold at 50: 6.2s seconds
Base Hold Mag: 2 (50%), 1 (80%)
Duration: Toggle
Recharge Timer: 90s
Radius: 15'
Activation Time: 2s
Recommended Slotting: 3 Hold, 3 EndRdx or 3 Hami-O (acc/hold), 3 EndRdx
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Fallout

This power uses a friend's corpse as a bomb with a small radius of effect. The animation looks much like Mutation. The damage is excellent and is available once every five minutes. This does damage comparable to an alpha-strike power (nova, atomic blast, etc) but can ONLY be targeted on a fallen teammate. It also does a cornucopia of other things now, including: 37.5% To-Hit buff for 30s, 37.5% Defense DeBuff for 30s, 50% DamRes debuff for 30s. In PvP, this is all irresistible debuff.

Endurance Cost: 20.8
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 300s
Range: 60'
Activation Time: 3.2s
Damage Scalar Value: 6.74 energy
Recommended Slotting: Not recommended, however, anything less than 1 Acc 3 Dam is a waste IF you decide you want this power.
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EM Pulse

A very solid, HUGE AoE hold. This power holds most mobs it its for a base of 45s. It is a magnitude 2 hold (will hold lts) and has a 50% chance of adding another magnitude 1 hold (for Mag 3, allowing it to hold bosses). Using it turns off your endo recovery for a while, so be careful with it. It also drains 62.5 points of endurance to critters, and 20 from players in PvP. In PvP, the hold's duration is lessened to 15.9s base.

Endurance Cost: 30
Duration: 23.84 base
Recharge Timer: 5m
Radius: 60'
Activation Time: 2s
Damage Scalar Value: 1.64 energy
Recommended Slotting: Not Recommended, but if taken, 3 Rech, 3 Hold
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PART II - RADIATION BLAST
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The Radiation Blast secondary is likewise one of the most versatile for Defenders. It has excellent capacity for single-target AND AoE damage, as well as a built-in defense debuff and (in most powers) an innate accuracy bonus. I personally do not slot accuracy because I never need it, and we'll see why in a moment. Defense debuff numbers are best-guess since accuracy is so hard to measure adequately.
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Neutrino Bolt

A very fast, low damage power, a bolt from the hand. Its DPS is fairly impressive alone because of the quick recharge, but even with its quick casting time, it will lower the DPS in an attack chain more than any other attack. It has a built-in 12.5% defense debuff which lasts 3 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 3.1
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 1.5s
Range: 80'
Activation Time: 1s
Damage Scalar Value: .6 energy
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 3 dam, 1 Rng, 1 EndRdx
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X-Ray Beam

Lasers from the eyes! A decent damage power that can and will help you in the low levels. It has a good range as well as an innate to-hit bonus (+10% - 85% base to-hit) and a built-in 25% defense debuff which lasts for 6 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 5.2
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 4s
Range: 80'
Activation Time: 1.7s
Damage Scalar Value: 1.0
Recommended Slotting: 3 Dam
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Irradiate

The bread-and-butter of the AoE build, Irradiate is a small self-centered explosion of radiation which does approximately X-Ray Beam damage in a Point Blank AoE radius (About 20 feet), and couples it with a 10% innate accuracy bonus (85% base acc) and a 37.5% defense debuff which lasts 10 seconds. With Radiation Infection and Irradiate, enemy defense is lowered so much you'll rarely miss even unslotted for accuracy. A very fast activation time (~1s) makes this power even better.

Endurance Cost: 18.5
Duration: 4.6s
Recharge Timer: 20s
Radius: 20'
Activation Time: 1s
Damage Scalar Value: 1.0 (10 ticks of .1)
Recommended Slotting: 3 Dam, 2 Rech, 1 EndRdx or 3 Hami-O Acc/Dam, 2 Rech, 1 EndRdx
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Electron Haze

A billowing green cloud that deals very decent damage, EH is a cone attack with knockback. The knockback is unreliable (5-10% chance). It does better damage than your other 2 AoE attacks, but is slow to activate (2.5-3 seconds of animation lock) making its cone nature harder to use. It carries a 10% innate accuracy bonus and a 25% defense debuff which lasts for 8 seconds. 25% chance for knockback of 8' vs critters.

Endurance Cost: 15.2
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 16s
Radius: 40'
Range: 40'
Arc: 30 degrees
Activation Time: 2.3s
Damage Scalar Value: 1.35
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 3Dam, 1 rech, 1 EndRdx
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Proton Volley

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

Endurance Cost: 14.4
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 12s
Range: 150'
Activation Time: 1.33s
Interrupt Time: 3s
Damage Scalar Value: 2.8 (.7 * 4)
Recommended Slotting: 3 Dam, 1 InterruptRdx, 1 EndRdx
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Aim

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

Endurance Cost: 5
Duration: 10s
Recharge Timer: 90s
Activation Time: 1.2s
Recommended Slotting: 3 Rech
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Cosmic Burst

Lime Cream Puff of Doom! This power is high damage and a Mag 2 foe disorient. With a single disorient enhancement and Hasten/AM a +3 boss can be just about perma-stunned. You may consider sparing a slot in this power for accuracy if you rely on it to stun things for you all the time. It has no innate accuracy bonus, but provides an innate defense debuff of 37.5% for 12 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 10.4
Duration: 11.92s (stun) (7.94 in PVP)
Recharge Timer: 10s
Range: 20'
Activation Time: 2s
Damage Scalar Value: 2.12
Recommended Slotting: 1 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Range, 2 Rech or Hami-O 1 (dam/acc), 2 (dam/mez), 1(dam/rng), 2 Rech
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Neutron Bomb

You make a giant ball of radiation and launch it like a catapult in a high arc towards your foe. It splatters on the ground and explodes in a big mushroom cloud. Fun to watch. This is your ranged targeted AoE attack. This does slightly less damage than Irradiate, but has a faster recharge and, as stated, range. It has an innate ToHit bonus of 10% (85% base ToHit with this power) and provides 25% defense debuff for 16 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 15.2
Duration: Instantaneous
Recharge Timer: 16s
Range: 80'
Radius: 15'
Activation Time: 1.7s
Damage Scalar Value: .9
Recommended Slotting: 3 Dam, 1 EndRdx, 2 Rech OR Hami-O 1 (acc/dam), 2 (dam/rng), 1 EndRdx, 2 Rech
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Atomic Blast

A very situational power. While it does extreme damage (enough to kill many +2's or even +4's in some cases with Enervating Field), it's rare that you'll need this unless you're running out of endo - you'll often do nearly as much damage with a couple rounds of Irradiate + Neutron Bomb, and Atomic Blast WILL drop your toggles and leave you with no Endo and very little endo recovery. On the upside, most things that weren't killed by it will be held for a few seconds, giving you time to either pop a CaB and drop Irradiate/Neutron Bomb or run away. It has an innate accuracy bonus of 30% (Base To-Hit of 105%) and a defense debuff of 50% that lasts 20 seconds.

Endurance Cost: 24
Duration: 14.9s (hold) (9.93s in PVP)
Recharge Timer: 360s
Radius: 25'
Activation Time: 3s
Damage Scalar Value: 1.0 smashings + 2.0 fire + 50% chance of 2.0 fire
Recommended Slotting: 3 dam, 3 Rech
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PART III: BUILDING THE BUILD:
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This is not just a guide for my build. I'm providing three different builds here: 1 up to 29, a Respec build from 30 to 39, and a Respec build for 40+. After a lot of fussing around, the first two are essentially the same as my ones from the last guide's, but updated for ED.
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From 1 to 29: It's hard to get all the powers you want, because all the great rad powers are stuffed in the beginning. However, play it something like this:

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name:
Level: 30
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Radiation Emission
Secondary: Radiation Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Radiation Infection

2. To Hit DeBuff(1)
3. To Hit DeBuff(3)
4. To Hit DeBuff(3)
5. End Reduction(5)

01) --> Neutrino Bolt

2. Damage(1)
3. Damage(5)
4. Damage(7)
5. Range Increase(19)

02) --> Accelerate Metabolism

2. Recharge Reduction(2)
3. Recharge Reduction(9)
4. Recharge Reduction(9)

04) --> Irradiate

2. Damage(4)
3. Damage(7)
4. Damage(11)
5. Recharge Reduction(15)
6. Recharge Reduction(15)

06) --> Enervating Field

2. End Reduction(6)
3. End Reduction(11)
4. End Reduction(19)

08) --> Radiant Aura

2. Healing(8)
3. Healing(17)
4. End Reduction(17)
5. Healing(27)

10) --> Assault

2. End Reduction(10)

12) --> Hasten

2. Recharge Reduction(12)
3. Recharge Reduction(13)
4. Recharge Reduction(13)

14) --> Super Speed

2. Run Speed(14)

16) --> Swift

2. Run Speed(16)

18) --> Health

2. Healing(18)

20) --> Stamina

2. Endurance Modification(20)
3. Endurance Modification(21)
4. Endurance Modification(21)

22) --> Proton Volley

2. Damage(22)
3. Damage(23)
4. Damage(23)
5. Interrupt Reduction(25)

24) --> Aim

2. Recharge Reduction(24)
3. Recharge Reduction(25)
4. Recharge Reduction(27)

26) --> Combat Jumping

2. Jump(26)

28) --> Cosmic Burst

2. Damage(28)
3. Damage(29)
4. Damage(29)

---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint

2. Empty Enhancement(1)

01) --> Brawl

2. Empty Enhancement(1)

01) --> Vigilance

2. Empty Enhancement(1)

02) --> Rest

2. Empty Enhancement(2)

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This should serve you more-or-less well in the early game when slots are at a huge premium. You can do damage enough to solo your missions, safely enough to avoid debt most of the time, and have lots of team utility.

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

Respec at 30 into something like this and build it to 40... you're starting to see your build emerge. Order of slots aren't important for a respec build because you don't lose slots when exemplaring down, only powers. Often the build is limited by how much endo it has; this will help conserve lots and keep you on your game.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name:
Level: 41
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Radiation Emission
Secondary: Radiation Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Radiation Infection==> TH_DeBuf(1)TH_DeBuf(3)TH_DeBuf(3)EndRdx(5)
01) --> Neutrino Bolt==> Dmg(1)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)EndRdx(7)Range(39)
02) --> Accelerate Metabolism==> Rechg(2)Rechg(9)Rechg(9)EndMod(11)EndMod(11)EndMod(13)
04) --> Irradiate==> Dmg(4)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)EndRdx(15)Rechg(17)Rechg(17)
06) --> Enervating Field==> EndRdx(6)EndRdx(31)EndRdx(40)
08) --> Radiant Aura==> Heal(8)Heal(27)Heal(34)EndRdx(37)
10) --> Hasten==> Rechg(10)Rechg(19)Rechg(19)
12) --> Swift==> Run(12)Run(40)Run(40)
14) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Proton Volley==> Dmg(16)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)IntRdx(23)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)Heal(39)Heal(39)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(23)EndMod(25)
22) --> Aim==> Rechg(22)Rechg(25)Rechg(27)
24) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(24)
26) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(26)
28) --> Cosmic Burst==> Dmg(28)Dmg(29)Dmg(29)Rechg(33)DisDur(34)Acc(34)
30) --> Lingering Radiation==> Acc(30)Rechg(31)Rechg(31)Rechg(33)EndRdx(33)
32) --> Super Jump==> Jump(32)
35) --> Neutron Bomb==> Dmg(35)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Rechg(36)Rechg(37)EndRdx(37)
38) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(38)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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That'll get you used to tactics later on. At 40, of course you figure out what you want to do for Ancillary Pools. Also, at 45 start collecting Hami-O's. They add a GREAT deal of flexibility to the build, letting you move slots around more freely.
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PART IV: THE GOAL BUILD
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I chose Dark Mastery (after switching to Psi for I6 I'm back to Dark for I7), so my final build looks something like this:
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Radiation Emission
Secondary: Radiation Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Radiation Infection==> EnzymExp(1)EnzymExp(3)EnzymExp(3)
01) --> Neutrino Bolt==> LysosExp(1)CentiExp(5)CentiExp(5)NucleExp(7)Range(7)EndRdx(9)
02) --> Accelerate Metabolism==> Rechg(2)Rechg(9)Rechg(11)EndMod(11)EndMod(13)EndMod(13)
04) --> Irradiate==> NucleExp(4)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)EndRdx(17)Rechg(17)Rechg(19)
06) --> Enervating Field==> EndRdx(6)EndRdx(19)EndRdx(21)
08) --> Radiant Aura==> Heal(8)Heal(21)Heal(23)EndRdx(23)
10) --> Hasten==> Rechg(10)Rechg(25)Rechg(25)
12) --> Lingering Radiation==> Acc(12)Rechg(27)Rechg(27)Rechg(29)EndRdx(29)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)Heal(31)Heal(31)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(31)EndMod(33)
22) --> Aim==> Rechg(22)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)
24) --> Choking Cloud==> EndopExp(24)EndopExp(34)Hold(34)EndRdx(34)EndRdx(36)EndRdx(36)
26) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(26)
28) --> Cosmic Burst==> NucleExp(28)PeroxExp(36)PeroxExp(37)CentiExp(37)Rechg(37)Rechg(39)
30) --> Super Jump==> Jump(30)Jump(39)Jump(39)
32) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(32)
35) --> Neutron Bomb==> NucleExp(35)CentiExp(40)CentiExp(40)EndRdx(40)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)
38) --> Stealth==> DefBuf(38)DefBuf(42)DefBuf(43)
41) --> Dark Consumption==> NucleExp(41)EndMod(43)EndMod(43)Rechg(45)Rechg(45)Rechg(45)
44) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(46)DmgRes(46)EndRdx(46)EndRdx(48)
47) --> Soul Drain==> Dmg(47)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
49) --> Mutation==> Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
[b]---------------------------------------------

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PART V: PLAYING THE BUILD
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You'll be using most of the same tactics from lvl 1 onward. Open the battle with Radiation Infection, and Enervating Field.
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You'll take less damage less often this way. Although it will be greatly more effective at lvl 22 than at lvl 1, it's a tactic that will serve you well in the beginning. You will get hit about as much and for as much damage as any tanker at the low levels, but can heal yourself as regularly as you like.

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

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

Your maxed-out RI + EF + LR combo can reduce that damage a lot. Pop LR's on them and their attack rate goes down to 1/2. That means 200 damage every 8 shots instead of 2 - 125 damage per round average.

Then your maxed-out defenses will take that 125 damage and reduce it. Because instead of hitting half the time, they'll hit 1 in 20. 100 damage a shot becomes 100 damage in 20, per attack. And since they only attack once in 2 rounds (because of LR) it's really 100 damage every 40 attacks.

Then EF reduces that damage by 25%. 100 damage becomes 75 damage per 40 rounds.

You've reduced 500 damage a round from ten opponents to a mere 16 damage per round.

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


After you reach the goal build (lvl 48+) you will toss up RI and EF, waltz into a mob with Choking Cloud running, then hit Aim + Soul Drain and then cycle Irradiate and Neutron Bomb till all Lt's and lower are dead. Then you'll switch to Cosmic Burst for finishing off the bosses. Use Irradiate + Neutrino Bolt while Cosmic Burst recharges. If a debuff is being generated by a boss (like a Death Mage's Darkest Night), it'll go away when you hit them with the 2nd Cosmic Burst.
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PART VI: TIPS AND TRICKS
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Your toggle debuffs are a constant tick, which will interrupt all interruptible attacks all the way from embalmed cadavers exploding and mortificators rezzing baddies up to Sky raiders laying forcefield generators and crey medics healing.

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

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

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

I'm looking forward to seeing comments and suggestions.

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PART VII: APPENDIX: USEFUL SUPPELEMENTARY INFORMATION
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Defender Unslotted Brawl Damage at 50: 11
Defender Brawl Index Scale Damage at 50: 13.0077

Power To-Hit Formula: %ToHit = BOUND(Accuracy Mod (enhs) * BOUND(BaseToHit + ToHitBuffs - ToHitDebuffs - Defense))
This means that your chance to be hit by an enemy is their baseToHit plus any ToHitBuffs (like Tactics) minus any ToHitDebuffs (like Rad Infection or Darkest Night) minus any Defense you have, times the villain's accuracy bonus. BaseToHit can never be less than 5%, and even if you've got enough defense to floor an enemy's BaseToHit, they may hit more often because of accuracy buffs (ToHit is bounded as a 5% min, but is multiplied by the 1.25 acc mod for AV's, etc, giving them a base of 7.25% to hit when defense is maxed.)

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

Endo Recharge Formula: New Endo Recharge = (Max End / 60) + (Sum of All Rech Buffs)
Base Endo Rech: 1.67 endo/sec
Common Endo Rech Buffs:
Adrenaline Boost: 4.175(unconfirmed)
Recovery Aura: 1.67
Speed Boost: .933
Quick Recovery: .556
Stamina: .501
AM: .501

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

Atomic Blast should be 3/3 (looks like you missed a fix).


And nice to see you finally went with Dark over Energy or Power. Ah, the long arguments about how Soul Drain was just plain better than PBU for damage... :P

I'm still not a believer in CC, but I can see how it can be more useful now, since Rad/Rad can't just kill groups of orange minions in under 11s anymore. That and all the extra slots... poor RI, down to needing just 3 slots on a level 50 toon.

Do acc/mez HO's actually increase CC's accuracy? If not, then can't see slotting them as you suggested.. if so, wow, 3 of those might make CC worth using.

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Good find, Miwa. I've fixed it.

As for whether Acc/Mez HO's work in Choking Cloud, people have debated it with me, and I don't know whether it does, or not. But I think so. My CC seems to work a bit better than some other people report.

And yeah, I had to go Dark... it nearly doubles my damage potential, and they're ALL Radial PBAoE's! <3!

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

[/ QUOTE ]

I apologize, guys, I didn't update the power description for Enervating Field. The numbers contained in this paragraph are false - the actual numbers listed below the power description are correct.

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Just wanted to thank you for the guide. I started my defender in I5 I think, only got her to lvl 19 before I switched back to my scrapper (more my play style for all the soloing I do). Just started her back lastnight and currenly using the 1-30 build you've suggested. I know I'll go off and find what works for me a little better once I get use to the powerset again.

Just wanted to thank you (again). I tried doing one of my solo missions before the respec and had a horrible time. Went back to it after the respec o_0 I swear I think I changed from Invc to Heroic by the way I just went right through it. I'll be playing my defender a lot more for fun instead of just concept now that I'm tasting the full potential of what a rad defender can do solo and in teams.

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I was very skeptical of that levelling build at first, but I tried it to level 6, and it works just fine so far. My concern was having only one single target attack, one aoe attack and no heal until level 8. While it DOES take longer to level, it's quite safe, NOTHING can really hurt you so long as it's within range of your anchor. My first of many questions will be this. Why Assualt at level 10? Will this help a solo player level faster?

Another question is this; How dependent is rad/rad upon Hasten? I'd rather have flight than superspeed, but I can already tell that this is an endurance-heavy set.

I'd appreciate any advice you can give me.

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just another addendum, and this is a big one...

Why do you have superspeed AND super jump in the same build? Is this a common practice? because I've never seen it before. Ever.

Why do I get the feeling these builds are geared more for the team player than the soloer who's tired of dealing with 10 year olds? :P

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[ QUOTE ]
just another addendum, and this is a big one...

Why do you have superspeed AND super jump in the same build? Is this a common practice? because I've never seen it before. Ever.

Why do I get the feeling these builds are geared more for the team player than the soloer who's tired of dealing with 10 year olds? :P

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm assuming Acrobatics. Resistance to knockbacks and holds iirc.

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And Combat Jumping, which resists immobilize. Health resists Sleep, and as infrequently as you get hit, you only really have to worry about enemies that disorient. If you find that is really a problem, you can spec into the medicine pool to get Aid Self, which is a small-magnitude disorient protection.

I take assault early because the extra damage really, really helps before you get SO's.

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i can't find a power pool guide, how much extra damage does assault lend?

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About the same as everybody in your team having an extra damage DO in every attack. At level ten, before DO's are available. Ten to fourteen is the slowest part of the first 20 levels, any little bit you can add to help the slog is good. :-)

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[ QUOTE ]
I was very skeptical of that levelling build at first, but I tried it to level 6, and it works just fine so far. My concern was having only one single target attack, one aoe attack and no heal until level 8.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having these powers in this order helps a player new to the set learn not to rely on their heal. While I think Radiant Aura is useful and necessary, it's also the least effective power you have at keeping you alive.

[ QUOTE ]

Another question is this; How dependent is rad/rad upon Hasten? I'd rather have flight than superspeed, but I can already tell that this is an endurance-heavy set.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think Hasten is pretty important - the faster your toggles recharge the better, the faster LR recharges, the better, the faster Choking Cloud recharges, the better, the faster your AoE attacks recharge, the better, the faster... well, you get the point.

Flight is doable but will require heavier slotting, meaning you'll have to decide what you want to take slots away from.

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I'm also going to be researching an alternate, more controllery build as well. I'll post it up here when I've concluded my tests.

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[ QUOTE ]
i can't find a power pool guide, how much extra damage does assault lend?

[/ QUOTE ]

My test with a defender running assault vs an even level minion: Assault boosted damage 18.7%

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[ QUOTE ]
Another question is this; How dependent is rad/rad upon Hasten? I'd rather have flight than superspeed, but I can already tell that this is an endurance-heavy set.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hasten is very important, as it helps recharge AM. Losing perma-AM hurts, and you want to have it up as much as you can.

A few comments on overall build, I took a slightly different path, as had posted on earlier versions of this guide...

I still dont believe in CC. I dont play my rad that much anymore, so maybe it's more useful now, but holding minions never seemed like a worthwhile action, since they die so fast anyway. I also still have Atomic Blast, even tho' you can't really kill much with it anymore, and they fixed it so it really does drain all your end now. So, instead of SuperSpeed and Choking Cloud, I have Atomic Blast and EMP.

I'd also highly recommend Hurdle instead of Swift. It's a LOT faster.

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As promised, here is my new ConFendery respec. While I am convinced that the build posted in the first post is the best any defender can do for sheer sustained damage output, here is a build that will help those who want to be "pure defenders" defend their team through status effects as well as debuffs and still turn out pretty impressive AoE damage plus a more sustained and higher-damage single-target chain (I love Dominate).

This is my new I7 build, and it also works a treat in PvP (Yes, you too can stack mag 12 holds as a Defender - 15 if you're willing to use EMP which I'm not, and 17/18 if you're willing to use Atomic Blast, which I'm not normally, but I did spec into this build) and with three separate status effects (Fear, Disorient, Hold, and you could probably replace Atomic Blast with Invis, and take Mass Hypnosis instead in the free slot, and then have four) you can keep several opponents incapacitated most of the time....

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Fallout Phil
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Radiation Emission
Secondary: Radiation Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Radiation Infection==> EnzymExp(1)EnzymExp(3)EnzymExp(3)
01) --> Neutrino Bolt==> NucleExp(1)CentiExp(5)LysosExp(5)Dmg(7)
02) --> Accelerate Metabolism==> Rechg(2)Rechg(7)Rechg(9)EndMod(9)EndMod(11)EndMod(11)
04) --> Irradiate==> LysosExp(4)Dmg(13)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)Rechg(15)Rechg(17)
06) --> Enervating Field==> EndRdx(6)EndRdx(17)EndRdx(19)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8)Rechg(19)Rechg(21)
10) --> Radiant Aura==> Heal(10)Heal(21)Heal(23)EndRdx(23)
12) --> Lingering Radiation==> Acc(12)Slow(25)Slow(25)Rechg(27)Rechg(27)EndRdx(29)
14) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump(16)Jump(29)Jump(31)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)Heal(31)Heal(31)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(33)EndMod(33)
22) --> Choking Cloud==> Hold(22)Hold(33)Hold(34)EndRdx(34)EndRdx(34)EndRdx(36)
24) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(36)
26) --> Aim==> Rechg(26)Rechg(36)Rechg(37)
28) --> Cosmic Burst==> NucleExp(28)CentiExp(37)CentiExp(37)DisDur(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(46)
30) --> Provoke==> Acc(30)
32) --> Intimidate==> Rechg(32)Rechg(40)
35) --> Neutron Bomb==> NucleExp(35)CentiExp(39)CentiExp(40)Rechg(40)Rechg(42)EndRdx(42)
38) --> Atomic Blast==> Dmg(38)Dmg(43)Dmg(43)Rechg(46)Rechg(50)
41) --> Dominate==> EndopExp(41)NucleExp(42)PeroxExp(43)PeroxExp(45)Rechg(45)EndRdx(45)
44) --> Mind Over Body==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(46)DmgRes(46)EndRdx(48)EndRdx(48)
47) --> Invoke Panic==> Rechg(47)Rechg(48)Rechg(50)Fear(50)
49) --> Invisibility==> EndRdx(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

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First off, I must say I really appreciate the time and effort put into evaluating and quantifying each of the powers in the rad/rad set. I am playing a rad/rad corruptor right now, and it's helped me quite a bit in which powers to select and when (currently level 21). As to the actual builds, I'm going to offer an alternate build that I would consider viable for soloing. I have provided some tentative slotting for my build, but there are certainly areas that could be modified based on personal preference. I would suggest you not slot Hurdle, however, as there are far better places to put slots.

I will also mention that this build does not use any of the AoE attacks. Some people like such things, but I find that for soloing they are highly inefficient, and for grouping, they draw more aggro than one would want. I prefer to stick to single target, and fortunately, Radiation Blast has four very nice single target attacks for you to enjoy. So, without further ado, here is the build:

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Radiation Emission
Secondary: Radiation Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Radiant Aura==> EndRdx(1)Heal(9)Heal(9)Heal(11)EndRdx(25)
01) --> Neutrino Bolt==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)EndRdx(31)
02) --> X-Ray Beam==> Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)EndRdx(31)
04) --> Radiation Infection==> TH_DeBuf(4)TH_DeBuf(15)TH_DeBuf(23)EndRdx(37)
06) --> Accelerate Metabolism==> Rechg(6)Rechg(11)Rechg(15)EndMod(19)EndMod(33)EndMod(36)
08) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(8)
10) --> Hurdle==> Jump(10)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Proton Volley==> Acc(16)Dmg(17)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)IntRdx(25)EndRdx(33)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)Heal(37)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Enervating Field==> EndRdx(22)EndRdx(23)
24) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(40)
26) --> Lingering Radiation==> Acc(26)Rechg(27)Rechg(27)Rechg(36)
28) --> Cosmic Burst==> Acc(28)Dmg(29)Dmg(29)Dmg(31)EndRdx(33)Rechg(36)
30) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> EM Pulse==> Acc(32)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)Hold(34)Hold(37)
35) --> Aim==> Rechg(35)
38) --> Choking Cloud==> EndRdx(38)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(39)Hold(39)Hold(40)Hold(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------


As you can see, many of your primary powers come late in the game (post-20). Some might consider this foolish, but I have found that everything past Enervating Field is far too endurance hungry to be that useful prior to Stamina. I recommend Super Speed after Super Jump, but they can easily be swapped, and might be more useful in missions because of the stealth element. I simply prefer a travel power with a Z-axis ASAP.

I also leave to you the picking of your Ancillary Pool. I have not played CoH in some time, so I would only be guessing, but the Dark Mastery set seems as good as any.

The merits of this build over others in this topic are basically endurance usage and aggro management. This build is also much easier to slot, as you get four powers prior to 20 that need no slotting whatsoever (CJ, Hurdle, Health, and Super Jump), and one power that only needs two additional slots (Hasten). This makes it far easier to 4 slot your attacks (the bare minimum slotting in my opinion, with 1acc, 3dmg, or 1acc, 2dmg, 1endredux). As I do not have Hasten yet, I am not sure whether endredux will be needed in your attacks once you are cycling AM and Hasten non-stop, but I will assume you do.

This build will solo respectably well until 16, when you get Proton Volley, and amazingly well after that. You will also have an easier time avoiding aggro, both on teams, and solo, by the exclusion of AoEs.

Happy gaming, and thanks for the great info!

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Just a comment in response to the single target build; I struggled less with End at low levels when I respeced into Irradiate in place of single target attacks, because it was so much more efficient against multiple targets. Its more of a tossup solo, depending on what difficulties you play on, but I think the better than breakeven point is something like 3 mobs, which you will fight pretty often (especially on Defeat missions).

The big defense debuff of Irradiate is also nice on teams, and I don't know that I've seen AoE damage draw any aggro I didn't already have on me because of the anchored debuffs. With the great power of those debuffs comes the fact that unlike FF or Emp, say, a bunch of mobs will be gunning for you any time you use your powers. Giving them extra shots at you (especially mezzers) because you aren't taking them down quickly seems bad.

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I'm playing a rad/rad defender now more as an offensive oriented build(I'd love a rad/* blaster but sadly it just doesn't exist) I'm at level 6 right now and my tactic is pretty much just drop RI and start blasting away with Neutrino bolt and X-ray, saving irradiate for when they get too close. I'll give an update after I've leveled some more to tell you if my offender build works as well as I hoped.

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You did not mention which single target attacks you took, and when. I took the snipe at level 8, and at that point, it was an extremely endurance efficient build.

I have soloed almost exclusively all the way (and am now lvl24), and I found that attempting to get mobs into range of the somewhat small AoE was more of a hassle than simply sniping the first mob, finishing it off, and then working down the other two (on a standard 3-minion set that one finds at the lowest setting). If you feel you need to up the difficulty, then of course the AoEs start to "pay for themselves". With all four basic single target attacks, I can take down two mobs almost instantly, negating the need for the toggle(s) in most circumstances. Again, this is a matter of playstyle, as some don't mind toggle-herding mobs together, unleashing their AoEs and mopping up what's left. I find that style of play somewhat slow-paced compared to single target. It also goes without saying that a single target build will be much more effective at taking out elite bosses, in terms of endurance usage, although not necessarily the time it takes to beat a given elite boss. I'd also guess that because the setup times are lower (snipe, followed up by toggles, if the whole group comes, or finishing off the sniped target and sniping another), the xp rate is going to be equal to, or better than, a comparable AoE build.

If you've played high enough (18) with a single target build, I'm sure you'll see that the disorient on Cosmic Burst, combined with the amazing damage of Proton Volley, are extremely effective at taking down whatever mobs you might be fighting.

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Unless you're a corrupter, you won't be getting Cosmic Burst at 18, or even at 24... And this is a defender guide. I'm not going to say you don't know what you're talking about, but try out a couple different builds on test. Irradiate does the same damage to each target as X-Ray beam does, with a faster activation and at three times the cost, is just as endurance efficient with the normal three-mob heroic spawn, and gets much more efficient against more targets.

It takes you four seconds to fire off the snipe; in this time I can have thrown up enervating field and hit Irradiate already, and have already fired off a second attack. If it's Neutron Bomb, I'll be close to the end of the animation. I don't bother with RI vs 3 mobs unless they're all bosses. Regardless of what other attacks I have, Irradiate (at DS 1.0) is more efficient than Proton Volley (DS 2.8) vs 3 mobs damage/time wise and as efficient dmg/endo wise, and is faster to activate. I know that with the Rad/Rad/Dark build, I can be through a spawn of 3-10 mobs before you can take down 2 with your single-target build. :-)

Rad blast is an AoE set. There are nine powers in it. One is Aim, four are single targets, and four are AoE's. That's the most AoE-heavy split of any Defender secondary (Elec has 3 even though the 2 radials come earlier, Sonic 3 (no radial attacks), Dark 3 (no radial attacks), Energy 3 (1 radial), Archery 3 (2 radials).) Single-target damage-wise, you'd be better off going Rad/Eng or Rad/Sonic. If you are not in /Rad for the AoE's, you are in the wrong set. That is where /Rad's damage lies. It's the reason my Rad/Rad does as much damage as the scrappers in our group... Now, you can say you took /Rad for the defense debuffs and innate accuracy, but in reality, the biggest and most worthwhile debuff in the set is Irradiate... there's no point debuffing a single target's defense by 47.5% with stacked single target attacks when you could do that to all mobs with a single attack (Irradiate with 1 def debuff SO) and get ALL the bad guys debuffed.

I just can't see the utility (especially post-22 when you have SO's and Stamina) of not having the AoE's available.

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Hey, I'm not disputing that Irradiate is a great attack, because it most definitely is. If you hit 3+, it's end well-spent. I'm simply saying that for a solo build, I'm not going to be taking the time (which you don't account for) to round up all these mobs you're talking about so I can start AoE'ing them. Sure, my attacks take a bit to execute, but so does your rounding up of mobs, and I'll hazard it takes far longer to get them all huddled together for your AoE than it does for me to systematically mow through them one at a time. The activation time on my snipe is a benefit, mainly because I'm recovering endurance during that time, even if it does lower the overall DPS of the attack, it's still a fantastic opener, and a great way to take chunks of health off an elite boss when he can't hit me (which really only takes RI and a medium purple, most of the time).

I know that the power choices come at different times for defenders, but I still say that my build is probably 3x more endurance efficient and has no setup times whatsoever. AoEs are nice, I don't deny that, but they require you to manage mobs, which single target does not. I am also not disputing that in a team setting (something I do rarely, myself), AoEs easily outdamage single target attacks. That's a no-brainer. However, some people prefer not to team, and some people prefer not setting up mobs for PBAoEs, cones, and the like. My build was for those types, and was not intented to negate or diminish your guide in any way (aside from the slotting of Hurdle, which seems an absolute waste no matter which way you look at it).

All things considered, a Defender probably should be looking at the AoEs if they intend to team often. It makes good sense, but there is nothing wrong with a single target build, regardless of whether you're teaming or grouping, especially if you enjoy single target more. Radiation is not an AoE set. It's got options, and I was offering one.

As to how many mobs you could take down compared to me in an equal amount of time, if you took into consideration the setup time, etc. I expect you'd probably take down ten mobs in about the time it took a single target defender to take down six, given Dark as the final APP for both.

Ultimately, there is not a single perfect build for rad/rad, and while I understand what yours is based around, and agree it's a perfectly viable choice, my alternative is certainly not gimped by comparison. Against hordes of minions, it will naturally do less damage, against a single elite boss, it will naturally do more. Again, for those who will be teaming always/often, your build is probably more useful in the long run, while for those who intend to solo, mine is probably more efficient. Either way, what is most important is having fun with the powers you choose, and that is what I hope governs anyone who decides to follow your suggestions, or mine.

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Oops, I switched back into Corruptor-mode when I was talking about Cosmic Burst. Of course, Defenders don't get this attack until 28 at the earliest. Sorry about that!

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Endurance usually isn't an issue for me unless I happen to be running choking cloud at the time - which vs an elite boss is pretty pointless.

So, I'm willing to bet that my confender's single-target attack chain does higher damage than your all-single-target attack chain.

If you look at what the attacks in your chain are:
Neutrino Bolt
Cosmic Burst (in both)
X-Ray vs Irradiate - Irradiate is higher Damage per Activation
Proton Volley (you can get the same Damage perActivation Time from Neutrino Bolt without worrying about whether you're being hit or not...)

I also have Dominate from the Epic APP - which is a Moderate damage, or 1.0 Damage scalar, but Psi damage. and a 1.7s activation.

So, Cosmic Burst, Neutrino Bolt, Dominate, Neutrino Bolt.

That's my single target chain. If I want to, I can make it more efficient DPS wise by doing

Cosmic Burst, Dominate, Irradiate, Neutrino Bolt, Dominate.

It does plenty, and I have no troubles with elite bosses either.

This time that I don't account for to round up mobs, that you mention... doesn't exist. I just jump in the middle, and go to. Even on Heroic, spawns are usually 2 or 3 minions, and even if Irradiate isn't as efficient end-wise it's certainly more efficient time-wise, and its radius isn't really small at all...

I'm not saying your build is wrong, I'm saying your philosophy is alien to me... planning a build that can kill a 2-minion Heroic spawn with little problems is not optimal for solo work. And if your build can only solo on Heroic, I would not qualify it as a decent solo build. Most of the time when I solo it's on Unyielding... meaning bigger spawns = more xp for me, and I can run from spawn to spawn and kill pretty durn fast, with little setup required (as I said, EF + Aim is all I do most of the time, I don't even waste the time on RI - it takes too long... I can have them almost dead by the time I'd get it on them.)

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Ok, yes, I see what you're getting at, and I'll agree, Irradiate is probably more useful, in the long run, than X-Ray Beam. While a 10ft diameter isn't huge by any means, it's big enough that it probably wouldn't be too difficult to hit 3+mobs with it consistently. Of course, my philosophy is based on fighting EBs consistently from level 8 on. I'm not sure how many EBs you fight in CoH now, but as I recall, it was pretty minimal until the 30s. That is probably why I prefer X-Ray over Irradiate, because I'd not use the latter in an EB fight, as it would use too much endurance for me to last the fight.

I'm starting to envision how this build would work, however, and it does make a lot of sense. Irradiate sooner rather than later (or not at all) is definitely a good idea. Were I playing on CoH, I'd definitely give the build a try, as it sounds pretty fun, even as a soloer.

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