It's going to come down to your playstyle. Do you prefer buffing teammates or debuffing mobs?
I can't stand to play sets like Empathy because I would much rather debuff or attack the enemy. That's just how I get down.
... well I'd always recommend rad over emp, but if you really love healing then Emp is your best option.
Choose what you enjoy.
i love doing both, im a person which can play anything in the game heh, but i guess i just have to make both 
@MachineSlave | Infinity Server | Deepdown Traumahounds Supergroup | Co-Founder
Tankers : Ice/Ele, Fire/SS, Fire/DM, Invul/Fire, Ele/Stone Corrupter : Arch/TA
Scrappers : DM/DA, Kat/SR Brutes : Fire/Shield, Ele/Fire(Villian)
Controllers : Fire/Kin, Ele/Rad, Earth/Cold
if you want a debuffer. don't do /rad. rad/sonic > rad/rad. and if you DO want to be a h3alz0r i would still say go /sonic for its debuffing potential. If however, you want a more damaging secondary than sonic then /ice isn't a bad route to take or even /dark.
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I like Rad/Rad, but it's not really a healer.
It's really more of an offender/blapper that can add some support aoe healing for the melee classes in the groups.
Just be aware that with anchors, you may get frustrated with scrappers who don't understand the system and either kill the anchors or fight outside of the debuff aura.
If you're really healing-oriented (and I hope you mean buffing-oriented, because that becomes your major role at higher levels), and taking Empathy, I'd suggest picking a secondary with side-effects that are good right out of the box, without needing slots early on in your build. /sonic is excellent because of the -res, and there's a nice big cone (Howl) that you can pick up at level 4 for that effect.
Radiation is really not a healing primary, and if you're playing it to heal, you're going to find that it's a frustrating set. Its aura heal is pretty anemic, even when slotted.
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If you're really healing-oriented (and I hope you mean buffing-oriented, because that becomes your major role at higher levels) , and taking Empathy, I'd suggest picking a secondary with side-effects that are good right out of the box, without needing slots early on in your build. /sonic is excellent because of the -res, and there's a nice big cone (Howl) that you can pick up at level 4 for that effect.
Radiation is really not a healing primary, and if you're playing it to heal, you're going to find that it's a frustrating set. Its aura heal is pretty anemic, even when slotted.
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Fixt to highlight importance
Dreaded Wail hits things freakin' hard.. i like to hit things freakin' hard... so.. id go Wail... SAVE THE WAILS!!!! - Solar_Lunata
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Its aura heal is pretty anemic, even when slotted.
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We joke about it in our SG about it a "Fisher Price: My First Little Heal".
However, it is the exact same (cast time, effect, end cost recharge) as the emp aura.
Its not like O2 boost or Alkaloid. (Single target and heavy end use for their heal amount).
Still I fully agree its only really a tertiary portion of a rads contribution to a team.
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Just as a general gamer warning: Just because a game permits you to build a character around healing doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea. Even in an RPG, a single-purpose healer isn't a sure bet.
Diablo 2 comes to mind. Yes, you can roll a paladin. Yes, you can max Holy Bolt, Prayer, and all their synergies. No, it's not a good idea.
Even going back to Final Fantasy IV Hardtype, I've found good white magery involves neutralizing threats rather than trying to get into a damage versus healing race. With a selection of game-breaking status effects and debuffs at low MP costs, relying on high MP cost heals for everything just isn't efficient. And for those few enemies that can't be mezzed or debuffed, well, thank goodness for game-breaking buffs, Blink and Reflect.
Anyway, what Diablo 2, Final Fantasy IV Hardtype, and City of Heroes have in common as RPGs: enemies deal damage too hard and too fast. If you get into a damage versus healing race, you will assuredly lose. Unless, of course, you have some way of slowing the incoming damage. You can't turn critters in City of Heroes into gnomes or make fireballs bounce off your teammates and fly back at the caster (at least, not yet), but game-breaking status effects, buffs and debuffs can be found throughout defender primaries (and secondaries!) if you just take a little while to look.
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I can't stand to play sets like Empathy because I would much rather debuff or attack the enemy. That's just how I get down.
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/Agree, that's why I play a Rad/Rad (MutaJenn on triumph). In teams she's awesome, and solo... well, let's just say that I like to call her "the unkillable MutaJenn". Of course when I say that no one else is around to hear it, but it still counts
Huh, could have sworn I came in here and sad Rad/ice.
Guess not
Rad/ice!
Now, even with these posts so far I wanna put in a vote for Emp/Rad. Why you ask? Well lets talk about each of them independently.
Empathy
Early in the game the heals can be great while everyone is building up there stuff. I would even suggest teaming with other defenders that have their shields at lower levels so you can take care of the damage that does get through. Trust me, it will get through eventually. At higher levels you can still help the team with heals, just not as much. Higher up it is much more prudent for you to be casting fort, CM, AB, and your RA's (Recovery and Regeneration Aura) as much as possible. I like to say an Emp who is not spending time doing something is not doing it right.
When you look at your buffs if you do it one way you can have fort up every 16 seconds, your RA's up every 134 seconds, AB up every 80 seconds, and CM is pretty much always up. Mind you this is with some slotting but even still at its basic level it still can keep you busy but does allow you time to keep blasting too. In the later levels between buffing and blasting you will find that you can use your aura for that attacks that do get through and your Heal Other for when someone gets a good hit on em. If you so choose to take Absorb Pain (I didn't) you can use it for when someone is hitting red and needs the oh crap button. Although, so far in my experience its when someone catches too much aggro then they can handle and they will prolly die anyhow, it happens. Then again, when it does, there is always Vengence ^(0u0)^
Radiation Blast
See, this is one set I really like because of how I have seen it played but never used it myself. Your first attack can be a real proc monster and so can your second! With ability to attach atleast 1 damage proc and Acchlies' Heel in them and you got some real potential. Plus, each of your attacks are lowering the defense of your target making it easier and easier to hit. Some rads dont even suggest slotting for accuracy because of this. Obviously though YMMV (your mileage may vary) Yes, with /sonic you can really make things melt, its one of the reasons I stuck with it. Now, on the other hand if you just don't care for that then thats fine because rad is a nice blast set as well. 3 of the powers do want you to get in close so you will prolly spend some time jumping in and out of melee range.
Keep in mind that a build can be really effective or defective not only base on what you use, but how your using it as well. In any case I hope that you enjoy either build because both can be fun. I will allow some else to elaborate on Rad/Rad since there are seemingly more in favor of a Rad/ than an Emp/. Still, don't be discouraged if you go emp, it can be really fun and useful too
Dreaded Wail hits things freakin' hard.. i like to hit things freakin' hard... so.. id go Wail... SAVE THE WAILS!!!! - Solar_Lunata
I'll throw my 2 cents in for Rad/Rad.
Don't go Rad/Sonic. Sure you can solo AV's... but you take for-freaking-ever and that's also how long you take to kill average groups of stuff.
Rad/Rad is still the best defender synergy for damage contribution on large teams.
Empathy's great, but it's a very reactive playstyle, while Rad/ is PROactive.
hey all, im looking forward to rolling a defender but i have lowered it down to rad/rad or emp/rad. i love playing on teams, so there both are good. im just thinkin, debuff or buffs, i love healing..im stuck
@MachineSlave | Infinity Server | Deepdown Traumahounds Supergroup | Co-Founder
Tankers : Ice/Ele, Fire/SS, Fire/DM, Invul/Fire, Ele/Stone Corrupter : Arch/TA
Scrappers : DM/DA, Kat/SR Brutes : Fire/Shield, Ele/Fire(Villian)
Controllers : Fire/Kin, Ele/Rad, Earth/Cold