Is it worth buying IO's?

After some time I have finally got my Rad/Elec to 50 and I have loved every minute of it. At high lvls I just shout 'Rad def LFT' and I seem to get a team. I love the sets and love the fact I feel I am really contributing to a team.

But now I am wondering, should I spend money on sets? I know why tanks and blasters and scrappers would want to. What benefit does a def get out of it? What should I be aiming for in way of soft caps?

TBH I have never had much experience of getting builds together above SO lvl. Any ideas?

Well it really depends on how you want to build your character. I would say with a Rad you want to maximize on your debuffs and recovery so you never have to worry about your toggles dropping.

However, there are really plenty of ways to build your character. I build my first 50 to get perma hasten, some position defense, recovery For my next 50 defender I will soft cap all my positional and get 75% to s/l .

There are plenty of ways you can build your character, but the question is what do you want to do with it? Some people are just happy with frankenslotting and having little or any set bonuses, some need to rock out with purple sets. What would you like your Rad/Elec to do?

If you're mostly teaming, then they aren't really needed. I would, however, recommend you to cherry pick a few:

* kb IO (steadfast, karma, zephyr)
* performance shifter +end (it's fairly cheap and a lot more effective than most people think it is). Stick it in Stamina.
* steadfast res/def - this little gem is very worth it and stacks well with EF, manuevers (if you have it) and combat jumping/hover
* Achilles -res proc. Stick it in radiation infection.

What IOs allow you to do is simulate team buffs while you are solo. In most team situations, where there are ally buffs and debuffs, IOs are nice but not that necessary.

One thing I do like to do is frankenslot any attack powers (the major source of endurance usage) so that every attack is endurance efficient. The fact that you can do that for cheap is even better.

[ QUOTE ]
Is it worth buying IO's?

[/ QUOTE ]

Io's what?

And since when does a moon own stuff?



Yes, I am a dick.

When I am teaming I enjoy being the tanks BFF. I hide next to his ear and dump my debuffs, once they are up and the tank has aggro, I then make merry with short cir > Powersink > Ball lightning. Maybe thunderstike makes me happy sometimes. But am aware of the KB. Heal is spammed as needed. Don't seem to have any issues with end (due to power sink mainly).

Here is my current build with SO's

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Jack Atomic: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Radiant Aura Heal(A), Heal(3), Heal(3), RechRdx(7), RechRdx(9)
Level 1: Charged Bolts Acc(A), Acc(11), Dmg(11), Dmg(17), Dmg(37), EndRdx(40)
Level 2: Radiation Infection EndRdx(A), EndRdx(7), DefDeb(13), ToHitDeb(13), ToHitDeb(23)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism RechRdx(A), RechRdx(5), RechRdx(5), EndMod(9), EndMod(15), EndMod(21)
Level 6: Enervating Field EndRdx(A)
Level 8: Mutation RechRdx(A)
Level 10: Swift Flight(A), Flight(17)
Level 12: Hover Flight(A), Flight(29)
Level 14: Fly Flight(A), Flight(15)
Level 16: Health Heal(A)
Level 18: Lingering Radiation RechRdx(A), RechRdx(19), RechRdx(19), Acc(23), Acc(27), Slow(29)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod(A), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Choking Cloud EndRdx(A)
Level 24: Lightning Bolt Acc(A), Acc(25), Dmg(25), Dmg(34), Dmg(34), EndRdx(39)
Level 26: Fallout Acc(A), Dmg(27), Dmg(34), Dmg(39), RechRdx(43)
Level 28: Tesla Cage Empty(A)
Level 30: Ball Lightning Acc(A), Acc(31), Dmg(31), Dmg(31), Dmg(50)
Level 32: Short Circuit Acc(A), Acc(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), EndMod(45), EndMod(46)
Level 35: Voltaic Sentinel Acc(A), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), RechRdx(37), RechRdx(37)
Level 38: Zapp Acc(A), Dmg(39), Dmg(40), Dmg(40), IntRdx(46), IntRdx(46)
Level 41: Thunder Strike Acc(A), Acc(42), Dmg(42), Dmg(42), Dmg(43), EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Charged Armor EndRdx(A), ResDam(45), ResDam(45)
Level 47: Power Sink RechRdx(A), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(48), EndMod(48), EndMod(50), EndMod(50)
Level 49: Shocking Bolt Acc(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
------------
Set Bonus Totals:






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If I was to work out a purple build what would I get out of it. Obviously and tank goes for def/resist. A blaster and scrapper goes from def/recharge/dmg. What should a defender look for? would I be able to increase my dmg by much? would it be worth it? Or do I just go for survivability and recharge?

I personally believe a purple build isn't worth it for a Rad/Rad. Purples are ridiculously expensive, and will give you relatively little benefit vs. cheaper alternatives.

I HIGHLY recommend six-slotting Choking Cloud. Two End Reducers, two Hold, and two Lockdowns: the +2 Mag Hold proc (Choking cloud can now hold BOSSES sometimes) and the Hold/End/Rech.

If you have the slots, Thunderstrike is an excellent set for your single-target attacks. It's cheap, and it raises your range defense. For a Rad/Rad, range defense is important because the Melee types will be in your debuffs with you, but ranged types can attack you from well outside your debuff cloud.

The Performance Shifter +End is REALLY useful, slot one in Stamina and another in AM!

One thing I notice about your build: You may be the first rad/ I've ever seen NOT to have Hasten. No hasten means no perma-AM. No perma-AM means you will have end problems, while you wait for your AM to recharge, especially if you run Choking Cloud (which you should anytime you're fighting a group bigger than three because it's a brilliant defense mechanism)

And with Hover, knockback protection isn't as necessary, but it's still useful. Grab a couple Steadfast Protection/Karma procs.

IO's aren't necessary to be a good Rad/ defender. But they can make life much more liveable.

QR

yes

[ QUOTE ]

The Performance Shifter +End is REALLY useful, slot one in Stamina and another in AM!

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't slot one in Accelerate Metabolism. The proc has a chance to fire every time to you cast Accelerate Metabolism.

Further, if your character has endurance issues slotting multi-aspect IOs with Endurance Reduction in your attacks will be vastly superior to Performance Shifter in Stamina, Numina and Miracle in Health or any recovery bonus you can think of slotting. For example: Try slotting Damage/Endurance instead of just damage, or Accuracy/Endurance instead of just accuracy. etc. etc.

That is a valid point on hasten. Normally I dont take it unless I think the build needs it (Have it on my Arch blaster). I dont really have end issues (powersink covers that) But keeping AM up would benefit the team more. Will look into it.

Thanks for the chocking cloud advice. That is an awesome idea

For a Rad/Whatever, I'd do a few things.

1. Frankenslot. Put in five slots, get the benefit of six or seven, fast cheap and easy. Why wouldn't you?
2. "highly recommended" unique IO's. Every squishy I have has some form of knockback protection- Steadfast, Karma, Zephyr, in one case multiple slots of Kinetic Crash. Changes the game for me. I like slotting an Unbounded Leap: Stealth in either Sprint or one of the veteran sprints, but that's mostly for my Blasters.

So that will cost you, like, 20 million inf and a few hours.

If you want to spend a lot more and get more: I'd build for Recharge and get Hasten. AM/Hasten is a great combo. True permahasten is another 60% Recharge, I think, but "close enough for Fulmens" permahasten/perma-AM is around 30% Recharge and that's relatively easy to get. There's a lot of 5% bonuses [Doctored Wounds, Red Fortune being two cheap ones] and a lot of 6.25% bonuses [Positron's, Decimation, Stupefy] althought they're not exactly cheap.

Have fun!

soft capped ranged defense is always nice :3

I like to softcap ranged defense on my defenders if possible.

I usually IO for +recov, but not heavily. Defenders do just fine on SO builds.

Thing about softcapped ranged defense is, most of the time it will be wasted.

a Rad's ToHit debuffs against +3s should be in the 35% range, so about 10% Defense is all you'll need against most things most of the time. [Assumption: if they're not tough they die near-immediately, if they are tough they're worth throwing the toggles on.]

Even non-softcapped ranged defense is valuable. My Rad has 27% ranged defense, and hasn't died since she respecced into her new build, and this is with me trying not to use Radiant Aura so I can get my teammates to die.

[ QUOTE ]
Thing about softcapped ranged defense is, most of the time it will be wasted.

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on how many groups you intend to agro at a time...

Aggro caps at 17... which is what, one group on a big team? Less? I guess if you're on a smaller team herding a bunch of small groups with some outside your toggle radii... but that seems like too much of an outlier to plan for.

[ QUOTE ]
Aggro caps at 17... which is what, one group on a big team? Less? I guess if you're on a smaller team herding a bunch of small groups with some outside your toggle radii... but that seems like too much of an outlier to plan for.

[/ QUOTE ]

...
RI group one, EF group 2, LR group 3, return to camp.
As they get into camp, other players pick them up, and the rest remember you and come screaming along.

If you're going to pull 3-4 groups at a time on a defender, softcap is nice (note: I don't say required. I pulled multi spawns on my dark arch from the 20's to 50 a few weeks back without IO's). Heck, ITF's would be *so* boring if you only fought one spawn at a time. Lots of fun when multiple people are pulling spawns down off of towers / ramps to a kill zone.

Ok,

took a bit of finding, but found my old thread.

I have taken some time off and am now going to get my defender finally slotted up.

I looked at the suggestions and have tried to make a build to give perma-AM.

Not overly experienced in the build making side of things so any glaring mistakes let me know. I did notice my defenses are a bit low. any way to improve them without killing the +rchrg?

I did have to put a purple set into thunder stirke to get that last bit of +rchrg, Gonna be pricey. anyone think of a better way?

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Jack Atomic: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Dct'dW-Heal(37), Panac-Heal/+End(37)
Level 1: Charged Bolts -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(3), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Dev'n-Hold%(29)
Level 2: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(7), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(7), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(43), DarkWD-Slow%(43), Achilles-ResDeb%(45)
Level 4: Lightning Bolt -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Dev'n-Hold%(31)
Level 6: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(11), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(11), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(17), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(19), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(23)
Level 8: Ball Lightning -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(9), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Dmg/Rng(21), Acc-I(40)
Level 10: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 12: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(46)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 22: Lingering Radiation -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Dmg/Slow(23), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(33), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(33), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(34)
Level 24: Choking Cloud -- BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), BasGaze-Slow%(33), Lock-%Hold(46)
Level 26: Short Circuit -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Oblit-%Dam(36)
Level 28: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 30: Mutation -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(46)
Level 35: Voltaic Sentinel -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(37), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Dmg-I(40)
Level 38: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Thunder Strike -- Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(42), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(42), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(45), S'fstPrt-ResKB(45)
Level 47: Power Sink -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(48), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(48), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(48), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(50), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 49: Shocking Bolt -- Acc-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 0: Ninja Run

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