Rad/Elec


Avalanche_EU

 

Posted

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I rolled a rad/elec defender last night. I was wondering if it would be possible to play this toon without stamina? My thinking is that with some responsible slotting of end redux enhancements on my toggles, coupled with short circuit and AM I shouldn't have any problems. Not to mention Defiance. Will this be enough? What if I slot my blasts with End Mods? Does this increase the likelyhood of draining end or just the amount drained in that eventuallity?

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Rad/x is an endurance hog. Enervating Field is one of the main reasons and it's also the main offensive tool.

You can go without Stamina, but it's not as good as with. Stamina helps to reduce the amount of EndRed slots you want/need.

There are no enhancements that increase the chance of a secondary/tertiary effect happening (if you hit of course). The only thing you can do is increase the effect when it happens.


 

Posted

From my experience with Cathode.

1. Radiant Aura is NOT essential.
Cathode never took it and I never really missed it. If people think the only reason to defend is to heal they have some serious problems

2. Thunderous Blast is not great
I am of the "defenders shouldn't take nova" school. Use this and you will knockout all of your toggles using this (RI, EF and Choking Cloud) so I wouldn't recomend this.

3. Total Sapping = Electric Mastery
If you want to be a total sapper then get Power Sink from the electric blast. EMP, Shortcircuit, Powersink...goodbye all endurance

4. Thunderstrike has a bad rep.
Thunderstike effects are TOTALLY inapropriate for the set (I think that the NRG mellee one and the elec mele one got muddled up)but theres one key advantage to Thunderstrike - It's unbelievably fun. Whilst I like the electrical blast set it feels utilitarian rather than powerful. Thunderstrike is the power that makes me actually feel powerful. The other option (electric fence) is a power elctrical blasters get at level 1 - thats how boring it is.


 

Posted

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From my experience with Cathode.

1. Radiant Aura is NOT essential.
Cathode never took it and I never really missed it. If people think the only reason to defend is to heal they have some serious problems

2. Thunderous Blast is not great
I am of the "defenders shouldn't take nova" school. Use this and you will knockout all of your toggles using this (RI, EF and Choking Cloud) so I wouldn't recomend this.

3. Total Sapping = Electric Mastery
If you want to be a total sapper then get Power Sink from the electric blast. EMP, Shortcircuit, Powersink...goodbye all endurance

4. Thunderstrike has a bad rep.
Thunderstike effects are TOTALLY inapropriate for the set (I think that the NRG mellee one and the elec mele one got muddled up)but theres one key advantage to Thunderstrike - It's unbelievably fun. Whilst I like the electrical blast set it feels utilitarian rather than powerful. Thunderstrike is the power that makes me actually feel powerful. The other option (electric fence) is a power elctrical blasters get at level 1 - thats how boring it is.

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Any my experience of cyberskin, the other level 50 rad/elec (that I know of) would agree with all of the above.

I tried thunderstike and respecced out of it almost instantly. Knockback... grrrr.... dead cyberskin.

I went with psychic mastery:

Extra hold (stack with telsa cage and you can lock down almost anything) in dominate.

Mass hypnosis I didnt take, but this is an effective open if you havent got a tank and need to debuff.

Telekenesis and an anchor... wow! depending on luck and skill you can end up with a tightly clustered bunch of helpless debuffed fools in the corner, or complete madness of a split up group. either way, its fun!.

As a rad fender DO NOT TAKE NOVA... EVER. Its only possible use is using it after an EMP. But it really isnt worth it. Rad lives and dies by its debuff toggles. Loose them with a nova and its game over man.

Personally, Im a fan of fallout at levels 40+ for those AV but thats another story.

You will do much better with stamina. Mind you, I had two leadership toggles running

Rad/Elec was a very potent combination for locking down and sterlizing enemies. I never saw the point of the Rad/Rad combination - Rad primary was enough to debuff defence so everyone was hitting almost constantly (remember most players slot enough accuracy for them to be reasonably effective without def debuffers)... never saw the point of extra def debuff from rad secondary but hey ho.


 

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Rad/Rad's concept, Radleccies just rock.


 

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I never saw the point of the Rad/Rad combination

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/Rad needs only one attack for a complete attack chain and it has better AoE capability than /Elec.


 

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Rad secondary effect: -def debuff, IMHO not needed for a rad primary.

Elec secondary effect: end drain. Very helpful.



I appreciate that the tier 1 rad blast is very rapid recharging. I have a rad/kin defender. Its not much damage though.

As to AoE. Rad secondary has, iirc, irradiate (PBAoE), That cone thing i cant remember, and neutron bomb. The last has a horribly long animation (yuk).

Electric has short circuit (PBAoE with a truly magnificent end drain) and ball lightning.

I would accept that Rad has more AoE, but individually the electric AoE are better, if you ask me. Which you probably dont, but hey ho. Ball lightning is certainly better than neurton bomb. Irradiate and Short Circuit are equivival (Irradiate does more damage but has a pointless secondry effect, SC has a fantastic secondary effect) - I prefer SC myself. The cone rad is ok, but again with a longish animation and the potential to knockback which is the last thing you need for a rad fender.

Just my opinion, based on playing both a /rad and an /elec defender. Both are pretty good IMHO. The only difference is its secondary effect, and as I said, the end drain is far far more use than an extra def debuff.