My second character was an Emp/Rad.
First thing- yes, you're weak at soloing. You can deal with it, but your best powers are buffs, and you don't really get much out of them. Rad has a team-support secondary effect; -def makes it easier to hit, but doesn't increase your survivability.
Second- I'm assuming you're running MA missions with custom enemies? Don't do that, only go against normals. MA enemies are tougher than normal. Better damage output by far.
Must have powers? For Empathy, everything after Fortitude. If I remember, that's Fortitude, the two auras (Recov/Regen), and Adrenaline Boost. The aura heal is worth having, since it affects you. I'd skip the rez and one of the to single-target heals. I usually prefer absorb pain, due to the low endurance cost. Recharge is slower, though. Clear mind is a toss-up; I like having it.
As for Rad, grab and slot your single-target attacks as soon as possible. Possibly even the snipe. For solo purposes, single-target damage is something you need more of.
This would be my power/slotting priority:
Single-target damage powers (Not the snipe)
Fortitude
Healing Aura (or whatever the PBAoE heal is)
Snipe/AoE attacks
The End Recovery aura and Fortitude are your two Big Powers. Take and slot those up as quickly as possible. The next killer power is Adrenaline Boost; in between slot as suits you.
Early game, you heal a lot with an Empath. Don't be fooled into wasting slots, though; late-game you're a buffer. Fortitude, Adrenalin Boost, and the Recov/Regen Auras will be why people want you around.
Wait until you get Cosmic Blast. Then you will still solo slowly, but much more effectivly.
(My Emp of Awesome is Emp/Rad)
Tanker Tuesday #72 Oct 5 @Champion
"I am not sure if my portrayal of being insane is accurate, but damn its fun all the same."
Also, don't forget about dual builds. As an Emp, most of your powers are useless when solo. You can make a build that skips these powers for when you are soloing, and still have a build that keeps them for when you are on a team:
Heal Other
Absorb Pain
Resurrect
Clear Mind
Fortitude
Adrenaline Boost
You can set up a second build at any trainer after level 10:
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Multiple_Builds
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I second Eek's post. If you want to both solo and team, you really should invest in dual builds. That allows an empath to skip 6 of your 9 primary powers (leave your healing aura and your two RAs) and focus on your secondary and power pools while soloing. You still aren't "fast", by the standards of many, but you will be much more effective. I'm working on my dual-build Emp/Electric now.
- Feint
PS: If you really don't want to dual-build (and keep a team oriented build), you can create a MA mission with a tough ally (with minimal guards), place him near the entrance, and focus on freeing him quickly. Once free, the ally can receive your buffs and will do most of the work for you. The only downside is that you MUST do as much damage as possible to them, or you will receive minimal to no XP. Just a thought.
7+ year vet with too many alts to list...
Another option is to make a Controller, especially one with a pet. It's definitely not soloable until later levels, but once you get there the heals and buffs are useful for the pet. Any Controller primary except Mind or Gravity would do, Illusion maybe less so than others. Plant/Empathy for some reason seems to me like it might be really effective, but I may be missing something there.
Actually, Grav/Emp is effective also. While you can't heal your Singularity, you can use Regeneration Aura (your second RA) on her to effectively provide a continual "heal". Of course, you can also RA, Fort, CM, and AB your Singularity as well, making for a serious controller-type pet. It's not something to sneeze at.
- Feint
7+ year vet with too many alts to list...
I've soloed and teamed with my emp/rad ever since I0. Cosmic Burst at 26 (or is it 28?) will totally change the feel of your game once you get it.
Until then, at lower levels neutrno bolt and x-ray are all you need for an early attack chain. Yes, they do very low damage, but they recharge pretty quick. What I do is this:
Open with irradiate. (This is also your best debuffing power. It makes things like vet powers, which don't benifit from build up or yellow pills, hit more often). Focus on one player until the DOT damage from irradiate will take him. Doesn't matter if he's alive to take one or two more shots, it's more efficent for you to let the DOT take him off.
Alternate neutrnio and x-ray. I'm set up for neutrino, x-ray, neutrnio, neutrino, x-ray, neutrino. Pay attention to how much damage an enemy has left. If someone has a sliver of life, let irradiate's DOT finish them, or let neutrino finish them off. Save x-ray for someone with more health.
Once you get cosmic burst (of if you take the snipe, aka the 4 glowy globs of doom and slot for interrupt redux), never use it to finish someone while soloing, always use it for guys with larger health. So what if someone shoots you once or twice, you have to play with the mentality of a regen blaster, aka I can heal some minion damage back with heal aura.
Micromanaging your attacks to get just a little bit more milage out of your blasts really goes a long way when you're trying ot eek out every last bit of damage. If you're on Virtue, I can give you a demo with my emp, if not and you want to try and set something up on test server let me know.
edit: In a post i9 world, with IOs that proc, you must take advantage of this. I know you're low level, but you have some of the fastest recharging powers in the game. Which mean you have more oppertunity for procs to fire. And since your blasts all do defense debuff, you can slot procs for those sets as well as procs for ranged blasts, aoe blasts, pbaoe, etc....
And since defense debuff are generally not as popular, they're generally cheaper on the market as well...
Arc #345863 - When The Bough Breaks
"Curse you Perry the Plata...wait, is that Love Handel?" - Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Phineas and Ferb
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(This is also your best debuffing power. It makes things like vet powers, which don't benifit from build up or yellow pills, hit more often).
[/ QUOTE ]Correction, they do benefit from +Acc and +ToHit. They don't benefit from +Dam, though.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Back Alley Brawler
Did you just use "casual gamer" and "purpled-out warshade" in the same sentence?
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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
(This is also your best debuffing power. It makes things like vet powers, which don't benifit from build up or yellow pills, hit more often).
[/ QUOTE ]Correction, they do benefit from +Acc and +ToHit. They don't benefit from +Dam, though.
[/ QUOTE ]
Huh. Good to know.
Arc #345863 - When The Bough Breaks
"Curse you Perry the Plata...wait, is that Love Handel?" - Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Phineas and Ferb
Hi there!
I've got a lvl 7 Emp/ Rad Defender... and I've been trying to do some Architecht missions, but I keep dying! Is there any hope for me? Do I just need to get higher?
Are there any real 'don't miss' or 'don't use' powers in these sets combined? I tried duoing with a Scrapper, which went better, but we both just died a couple times. Eventually we beat the boss.
Thank you for any input!