I would say go with Dark if you plan on being in melee that much. Damage procs should also be saved mainly for short recharge click powers since in toggles they only have a chance to proc every 10 seconds. Anyway your main concern with procs on a rad/rad is slotting as many achille's heel procs as you can in your rad blasts first and foremost.
I'd recommend Dark or Power, depending on playstyle. Dark will give you more personal power and survivability and if you don't have Leadership I'd say it's probably the better choice. Soul Drain is great, Dark Consumption is very helpful and Oppressive Gloom stacks well with Choking Cloud.
On the flip side, the PBU + Vanguard Medal + EM Pulse combo is extremely effective. It's a very powerful pause button for a fight that's going badly or a great opener for a large group. The duration is impressive. If you happen to be running Leadership, then PBU + Vengeance is also a temptation.
Psy isn't a bad choice, but in my opinion OG works better with Choking Cloud than WoC does and costs far less endurance and both Dark and Power have endurance management tools while Psy does not. An AOE sleep is of questionable use in teams and even on good teams or solo I'm not sure how much it would really help a build that uses Choking Cloud and therefore probably Irradiate as well. I'm actually a big fan of TK, but I don't think it's a good fit for the build you're describing.
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I'm partial to Power on my Rads. Mainly because I like to EM Pulse whenever it's up. Usually use Power Build-Up before to and Conserve Power after to counter the -recovery.
And how about Mind Over Body (Psychic), Charged Armor (Elec) or Temp Invulnerability (Power)? Are all those a waste of power choice? I´m not seeing anyone say anytyhing about these.
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Having an armor toggle certainly doesn't hurt. I wouldn't throw too many slots into it unless you're going for a Set Bonus, but I generally take the armor toggle from whichever ancillary pool I choose just for the extra survivability. I wouldn't call it a must-have, but neither would I say it's "a waste of a power choice". It's an armor toggle. Armors is nice.
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I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
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[ QUOTE ]
And how about Mind Over Body (Psychic), Charged Armor (Elec) or Temp Invulnerability (Power)? Are all those a waste of power choice? I´m not seeing anyone say anytyhing about these.
[/ QUOTE ]
I would say it's not as appealing as the alternatives for a Rad/* defender. For a set like TA, though it would be a lot more valuable.
I would recommend Dark or Psi depending on playstyle.
If you tend to be a bit of a blapper (always in melee, blasting away, running choking cloud, etc) I would recommend Dark because you just can't beat its synergy. Soul Drain to open most fights, Dark Embrace for the armor value (great on those ITF's, let me tell you) and Dark Consumption for the occasional end-boost.
I don't like Oppressive Gloom on a Rad. Yes, it stacks with Cosmic Burst... but frankly, it's just un-necessary. Cosmic Burst stacks just fine with itself, and properly slotted, Choking Cloud will control everything that OG would, anyway.
While there are those who will tell you to take Power for Power Build Up, I highly recommend NOT buying into a power pool for one power you're only going to rarely get the full benefit of. As a Forcefielder or an Empath, I love PBU. As a Rad, it's not worth the effort.
Instead, if you're NOT the melee type, but the ranged type, I HIGHLY recommend Psi Mastery. Dominate is one of the best attack powers available to a defender, bar none. It does less damage than Cosmic Burst, but it's a Hold instead of a Disorient, and stacks with Choking Cloud. Properly slotted (I recommend 3 Peroxisome (Dam/Mez HO's), and 3 Basilisk's Gaze (Acc/Rech, Acc/End/Rech/Hold, and Chance for Recharge Slow) you get an attack that recharges in 7.5 seconds and holds for 36, with a 20% chance of a 25% slow for 20 seconds. And it does the same damage as Irradiate, more or less, with a fast 1.1s cast time.
As I said, I love this power. I wouldn't bother with World of Confusion. Grab Telekinesis as a sometimes power if you want it, but definitely grab Mind over Body. Don't touch Mass Hypnosis; with all your AoE's it will be a waste of end to cast most of the time.
PBU+Fallout+EM Pulse+Nuke = awesomesauce. Throw a Vengeance in the middle of this (before the nuke of course) and your team will be invincible.
I went with Power mastery on my level 50 Rad/Rad. There are PBU accelerated metabolisms, PBU > EM Pulse/Lingering Rad > Conserve Power to cover you while EM Pulse does it's reduced recovery thing. The temporary invulnerability isn't shabby either.
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HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
(Somewhat shameless repost since this was buried at the end of another thread):
My rad/rad just hit 41 and I've been trying to decide on what epic pool to take. Here are my thoughts:
<ul type="square">[*]Dark- Nice synergy here; Oppressive gloom to stack with Cosmic Burst and knock out those minions that Choking Cloud misses. Dark Consumption could be very useful since this can be a very end intensive build, but the recharge sucks. Soul Drain is great and you'll already be in melee for Choking Cloud[*]Electric- It has Power Sink, which is wayyy better than Dark Consumption, but you have to wait until lvl47. Thunder Strike is fun and stacks stun with Cosmic Burst, but the knockback messes up Choking Cloud. Also has a hold to stack with choking cloud.[*]Power- It has Conserve Power instead of a recovery power, which is quite useful, but the base recharge is 10 minutes! Power Build Up is likely pretty awesome for EM Pulse, Radiant Aura, and a couple of buffs/debuffs. Total focus is stackable with cosmic burst.[*]Psychic- A hold to stack with Choking Cloud, an aoe sleep to set up your "1.2.3.4 defensive suite" before waking enemies with attacks. Sounds pretty nice since it prevents bad alphas. You also get World of Confusion, which doesn't stack with anything, but might mix nicely with Choking Cloud and can be slotted heavily with procs! Telekinesis is a great/fun/challenging power, but doesn't synergize with Choking Cloud since it repels enemies (unless you have them cornered...)[/list]Actually, based on my rundown just now, I am leaning toward either Dark or Psy. I really like that Mass Hypnosis idea for setting up your debuffs without painful aggro. You could easily lockdown bosses with Dominate+CC. And I bet you could churn out some mean AoE damage and control by slotting up CC and World of Confusion with damage procs! Imagine 4 damage procs in WoC with acc/end, and 2 damage procs in CC with end/holds and Lockdown: Chance to hold. Tasty!
I still haven't chosen, so I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say about the epics, especially those who have tried Dark or Psy.