*sigh* the never ending question.
I remember I used to be exactly like you. I bought the game the day it came out, and had about 50 alts. I got very bored of this, so had a two month break. Then, I decided to make a funny character, that I based on the 'Tsoo Sorcerer' - Storm/Dark defender. I got this character to lvl 20, where I thought to myself 'What a stupid build, there are no high Storm defenders out there, they must suck'.
I sent /tells, there and then, to every lvl 45+ defender, asking if they were Storm. None. One, however, said that he loves them, and that Storm Controllers are very handy.
I carried on with my Stormy, and joined that helpful Defender's SuperGroup. I have stuck with them ever since, all the way to 50 and back 
You see, playing the game is not all about Uberness. Fire tanks were very popular (at the time), and there were plenty of them floating around. I've had fun with my guy, and still merry in the fact that he is unique
Pick what you want!
I'm not sure what do you call "nuke", so here's my answer :
All your choices are strong ones. If you slot your Ill/rad for damage in his single-target control powers, you'll find you can outdamage your defender with Containment. (Not to mention at lvl 18 you'll get phantom army, invincible tanks that can deal damage for a min, and at lvl 32, phantasm, a mini-blaster).
I'd say play your rad/rad if you want AoE damage, play your ill/rad if you want superior single-target damage, good control and awesome protection. Dark/ is good... but /dark is a bit lagging behind compared to /rad in terms of pure damage (it's more controllerish). As you said you like the graphics for rad, it's another plus.
Hence /Dark being good for the controllers I mentioned
Very handy in teams.
I think the first replier misunderstood me. i am not looking to be uber. I just like char that can do a bit of everything, although it will probably be all a bit less effective then other more focused at. Anyway i believe liking the graphics is indeed a strong point in favor for the rad/rad defender. The pet from dark is also a great plus.(always liked pets). Maybe my ultimate combo should be dark/rad but not sure if that works
Anyway thanks for the replies, will think it over. Have lots of exams to correct and after that its holiday for me so guess i decide by then.
Keep the good info coming
Dark/rad works, don't worry. In fact, it has great sinergy : many of your dark/ powers require a to-hit roll, and /rad has -def as a secondary effect... you do the math.
Yep, plenty of Dark/Rads out there, but as I previously said, that's not neccessarily a good thing .
You can't really rely on other people to tell you what you find fun.
Yep, plenty of Dark/Rads out there, but as I previously said, that's not neccessarily a good thing .
You can't really rely on other people to tell you what you find fun.
Going at this from another angle, have you bought City of Villains yet? Apologies if you have and really are just looking for a hero to play, but just in case... if you want a toon that can both solo and team well, and do a bit of everything, a Corruptor would probably suit you really well.
Their primaries are similar to Defender secondaries or Blaster primaries - they do more damage than Defenders, less than Blasters. Their secondaries are like Defender primaries, but somewhat less powerful. The end result is a character that can do plenty of damage, hold their own solo, but still be really useful to a team. One of the secondaries is Dark Miasma, so you can have a pet! I have an Ice/Dark, and it's so much fun to play; I really feel like a mini-team when I solo, since I can heal, buff, debuff, hold, and cause quite a bit of damage. Ice has a couple of holds and does slows as a secondary effect though - if you'd rather have outright damage, maybe you could try something like a Fire/Dark. If you don't have CoV yet, if you buy it and add it to your existing CoH account, you get a month's subscription with it (combined subscription for both games), so that makes it a pretty cheap buy.
If you want to stick to CoH, aside from the builds you've already mentioned, have you thought about maybe trying a different /rad Controller? Ill/Rad sacrifices attacks and control for more pets. Mind/Rad doesn't have a pet at all, so that might not be the best thing for you, but what about something like Grav/Rad? A really cool-looking pet at level 32, a couple of attacks (including Propel, which has one of the best animations in the game), and a lot more control than an Illusion Controller has. Anyway, for what it's worth, I think you're going the right route by just trying things out until you find one that really clicks.
Hm corruptor sounds really interesting but i dont have cov. Maybe i should look into buying it. Did not think about other controller since it seems to me they lack some nuking powers but i could be mistaking. Will look into that gravity rad thing you suggested.
Sound like a rad dark corruptor if that should exist would be really my cup of tea.
Thanks or youre reply
Yep - the dark and rad primaries both appear in the Corruptor sets, so you can have Radiation Blast/Dark Miasma (so you can get the Dark Miasma pet at level 38), or Dark Blast/Radiation Emission (if you want to use the radiation debuffs from the Defender primary, like radiation infection).
If you're looking into a high DPS controller, as you like /rad I'd suggest fire/rad. Fire ring and Char do good damage with Containment (higher than every defender blast except snipes, Shout and one other I can't remember ; and those are lvl 1 powers) when slotted for damage. You have Hot Feet, a toggle PBAoE doing decent damage with Containment (which you can set up easily with Fire Cages). At L32, you have 3 fire imps doing great damage in melee.
At L41, you can pick fire ball for some great AoE damage - fits with the "fire" theme too.
(If you're not set on /rad, fire/kin is pretty good too)
Hello all. i play this game since a few weeks and me altmad like most mmorpg i play. Untill now i have a 19 ill emp controller, 18 katana reg scrapper, 20 sonic erg blaster, 18 dark/dark defender, 14 fire fire tank, 14 spines reg scrapper, 13 darkmelee reg scrapper, 13 ill rad defender. So far the introduction.
Still i could see me taking this one.
Now my problem is that its time for me to pick a char i will play up to higher levels. In most games i played i played a character that usuallly could do a bit of everything. I usually want a char that is good for team but that also can play solo, although probably a bit less effective. For those who play other games i use to play druid, priest in wow, friar minstrel reaver druid in daoc.
Basically i am looking for a char who can do a bit of everything and still can solo and help out teams. After way to much reading and testing i think i got three options for me going but not sure which one is the most optimal for me so any info on them would be nice. Here they are :
ill rad controller, dark/dark defender, rad/rad defender.
Ill rad controller : like it alot but lacks some fire power. i mean it does alot of damage but i like to be able to nuke to
Dark/dark defender: like it alot, dont like all the graphics. Gets a pet in the end which is a big plus. But have a hard time soloing with her. Seems to me that rad/rad is better nuker. I could be wrong so enlighten me.
Rad/rad defender: only tested up till level 4 so far. Seems to be cool, like the graphics alot. Seems to have a nice mix of debuff, control, very nice nukes if you ask me.
So please help me make me up my mind by giving me some nice info. When i seen it all i will decide which one to play and hopefully stick to it. As a fair person i will tell if i was able to stick to it. Thanks in advance.