Rad / Energy PvE Build Advice

I made my first Blaster today, Radiation Blast / Energy Manipulation. The thing is... I don't know how to build him. I'm used to playing Masterminds and Scrappers. I've read that all blasters should take their primary's first two powers. I want to take Fitness and Flight power pools, and Force Mastery. I do not want to take Atomic Blast, as I'm not a fan of the crash. Other than that though, I'm at a loss. What other powers should I take? Which powers are musts, and which are skippable? Any other suggestions?

Irradiate (great alpha power, good defense buff to help the whole team hit)
Cosmic Burst (excellent damage/disorient)
Bone smasher (Great quick melee damage, possible disorient stack)
Total Focus (super powerful melee attack, definite disorient to stack)

You could take stun for the one two (CB+Stun) combo to take down bosses.
You might want to take power boost (again, stun duration, and overkill defense debuff)

Other than that, just pick and choose whatever fits your playstyle, if you'd rather stay farther away, pick up boost range and neutron (it will also extend cone area which is nice) , however rad/ and /nrg definitely play better at close/med range. Also stun stacking is the only real synergy of the two sets so you may as well get use out of it.

I played around some, and came up with this build. This build is for leveling up, so no sets:

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner v5.0
+ http://planner.cohtitan.com/planner
+----------------------------------------------------------------
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Radiation Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Neutrino Bolt => Accuracy(1), Accuracy(3), Damage(7), Damage(31), EnduranceDiscount(37), Recharge(43)
01: Power Thrust => Accuracy(1), Recharge(3)
02: X-Ray Beam => Accuracy(2), Accuracy(5), Damage(7), Damage(31), EnduranceDiscount(37), Recharge(46)
04: Build Up => Recharge(4), Recharge(5), Recharge(9)
06: Swift => SpeedRunning(6)
08: Irradiate => Accuracy(8), Accuracy(9), Damage(11), Damage(33), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(46)
10: Bone Smasher => Accuracy(10), Accuracy(11), Damage(13), Damage(34), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(48)
12: Hover => SpeedFlying(12), SpeedFlying(13), SpeedFlying(31)
14: Fly => SpeedFlying(14), SpeedFlying(15), SpeedFlying(15)
16: Aim => Recharge(16), Recharge(17), Recharge(17)
18: Health => Heal(18), Heal(19), Heal(19)
20: Stamina => Recovery(20), Recovery(21), Recovery(21)
22: Conserve Power => Recharge(22), Recharge(23), Recharge(23)
24: Cosmic Burst => Accuracy(24), Accuracy(25), Damage(25), Damage(34), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(48)
26: Neutron Bomb => Accuracy(26), Accuracy(27), Damage(27), Damage(34), EnduranceDiscount(42), Recharge(48)
28: Power Boost => Recharge(28), Recharge(29), Recharge(29)
30: Kick => Accuracy(30)
32: Tough => EnduranceDiscount(32), EnduranceDiscount(33), Res_Damage(33), Res_Damage(36), Res_Damage(42)
35: Weave => EnduranceDiscount(35), EnduranceDiscount(36), Buff_Defense(36), Buff_Defense(37), Buff_Defense(43)
38: Total Focus => Accuracy(38), Accuracy(39), Damage(39), Damage(39), EnduranceDiscount(43), Recharge(50)
41: Personal Force Field => Buff_Defense(41), Recharge(42)
44: Temp Invulnerability => EnduranceDiscount(44), EnduranceDiscount(45), Res_Damage(45), Res_Damage(45), Res_Damage(46)
47: Repulsion Bomb => Accuracy(47)
49: Hasten => Recharge(49), Recharge(50), Recharge(50)

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Inherent Powers
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Brawl => Empty(1)
01: Sprint => Empty(1)
02: Rest => Empty(2)

What do y'all think?

I would recommend you get Mids so you can upload the data chunks or even link to your builds.

That said, I have a few comments about the power choices and orders.
Because you said this is a leveling build, certain powers can be pushed back (swift, hover, fly) . Depending on how things are going by the time you hit 30, I might say you should take something besides Kick/Tough/Weave, and save those for a post-respec sort of thing. With sets, and stacked with Temp Invulnerability, you will notice a lot of mitigation once it's added up. Tough/Weave alone have very low numbers for blasters though.

You skipped Electron Haze, which is the highest AoE DPS in your sets. Along with that, Boost Range would make it cover (by far) the most area. That's a combo you might hesitate to lose!

If you're going to take Hasten, I would recommend you push it up. Likewise, I would push Conserve Power back. If absolutely nothing else, I would switch those two in your build.

Bone Smasher and Total Focus are awesome ST attacks, and a lot of people will swear by them. However, I would be curious if by 38 you don't already have a full ST attack chain. If you do, I might be hesitant. I'm not a fan of TF just because of long animation time, and playing Energy/Energy against Rikti a lot meant I could get sworded down mid-strike very easily.

Lastly, slots, the powers that I said could be delayed could definitely have their slotting delayed. Fly and Hover can have their slots wait till your attacks are all solid. I would only start with 2 slots in Aim, Build Up, Conserve Power, and Power Boost. Possibly even Hasten, though that third slots pretty tempting.

Hope that helps. If you'd like examples of what I or any others would do for their builds feel free to ask.

Okay, with your advice and after playing some, here's a new build:

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Built with SuckerPunch's Online Planner v5.0
+ http://planner.cohtitan.com/planner
+----------------------------------------------------------------
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Radiation Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Neutrino Bolt => Accuracy(1), Accuracy(3), Damage(7), Damage(33), EnduranceDiscount(37), Recharge(43)
01: Power Thrust => Accuracy(1), Recharge(3)
02: X-Ray Beam => Accuracy(2), Accuracy(5), Damage(7), Damage(33), EnduranceDiscount(37), Recharge(46)
04: Build Up => Recharge(4), Recharge(5), Recharge(9)
06: Swift => SpeedRunning(6)
08: Irradiate => Accuracy(8), Accuracy(9), Damage(11), Damage(33), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(46)
10: Bone Smasher => Accuracy(10), Accuracy(11), Damage(13), Damage(34), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(48)
12: Hover => SpeedFlying(12), SpeedFlying(13), SpeedFlying(31)
14: Fly => SpeedFlying(14), SpeedFlying(15), SpeedFlying(15)
16: Electron Haze => Accuracy(16), Accuracy(17), Damage(17), Damage(34), EnduranceDiscount(40), Recharge(48)
18: Health => Heal(18), Heal(19), Heal(19)
20: Stamina => Recovery(20), Recovery(21), Recovery(21)
22: Aim => Recharge(22), Recharge(23), Recharge(23)
24: Cosmic Burst => Accuracy(24), Accuracy(25), Damage(25), Stunned(34), EnduranceDiscount(42), Recharge(48)
26: Neutron Bomb => Accuracy(26), Accuracy(27), Damage(27), Damage(36), EnduranceDiscount(42), Recharge(50)
28: Conserve Power => Recharge(28), Recharge(29), Recharge(29)
30: Power Boost => Recharge(30), Recharge(31), Recharge(31)
32: Kick => Accuracy(32)
35: Tough => EnduranceDiscount(35), EnduranceDiscount(36), Res_Damage(36), Res_Damage(37), Res_Damage(43)
38: Weave => EnduranceDiscount(38), EnduranceDiscount(39), Buff_Defense(39), Buff_Defense(39), Buff_Defense(43)
41: Personal Force Field => Buff_Defense(41), Recharge(42)
44: Temp Invulnerability => EnduranceDiscount(44), EnduranceDiscount(45), Res_Damage(45), Res_Damage(45), Res_Damage(46)
47: Repulsion Bomb => Accuracy(47)
49: Hasten => Recharge(49), Recharge(50), Recharge(50)

+----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Inherent Powers
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Brawl => Empty(1)
01: Sprint => Empty(1)
02: Rest => Empty(2)

I'm going to bump this one up instead of creating a new thread. I want to see what do you guys think of this build I made, and if there is any critique it's much welcome:

One side note though...I'm utterly disappointed at the base recharge speed of Neutrino Bolt. It should be 3 seconds not 4 >_

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Decim-Build%(A), Dev'n-Hold%(3), Achilles-ResDeb%(3), LdyGrey-%Dam(5), Apoc-Dam%(5)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/Dmg(9), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 2: Irradiate -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(25), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(27), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg(27), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(29)
Level 4: Build Up -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(37)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(13), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(13), Zephyr-ResKB(29)
Level 8: Aim -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(37)
Level 10: Bone Smasher -- T'Death-Dam%(A), T'Death-Acc/Dmg(21), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(21), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(23), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 12: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(15), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(17), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(19)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(39), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(39)
Level 22: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 24: Cosmic Burst -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(40), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 26: Neutron Bomb -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(43), Posi-Dmg/Rng(43), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Boxing -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(31), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(31), RzDz-Stun/Rng(31), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34), RzDz-Immob%(36)
Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg(33), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ImpArm-ResDam(36), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Total Focus -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(46), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Tactics -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(45), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(45), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit(48)
Level 47: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Hoarfrost -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 26% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 26% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 26% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 26% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 26% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 26% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 26% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 26% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 9.25% Defense(Smashing)
• 9.25% Defense(Lethal)
• 8.63% Defense(Fire)
• 8.63% Defense(Cold)
• 9.25% Defense(Energy)
• 9.25% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 15.5% Defense(Melee)
• 15.5% Defense(Ranged)
• 14.3% Defense(AoE)
• 1.8% Max End
• 36% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 2% Enhancement(Stun)
• 33.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 10% FlySpeed
• 171.7 HP (14.2%) HitPoints
• 10% JumpHeight
• 10% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -8)
• Knockup (Mag -8)
• MezResist(Held) 6.05%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 9.35%
• MezResist(Stun) 4.4%
• 12% (0.2 End/sec) Recovery
• 32% (1.61 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 1.58% Resistance(Fire)
• 1.58% Resistance(Cold)
• 10% RunSpeed

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1407;711;1422;HEX;|
|78DAA5944B4F135114C7EFF441814E696B81F286F2AED091EE7C2C4C447C85260D1|
|A128552C7769C8ED6E9D8992AECFC00AE74E146E302105CFB8A7165D4A55F405DF8|
|3D7CD4F3B825312E9DB4FFDFDC73CF3DE7DC7B4F9BDB3CAD0A71EFA450228B55DD7|
|58BA7403DA31ECCE9A655122121C48834155774DB34CADA8A5EB674CFAAD9EC3BD1|
|9ABED8709C5ADDD3966CA36E6E1573BA6D398D2A79C6CFDB15A36ED89ED67A51F3B|
|55A555B3674C7B2CD686B5036EA6EC57278F28CE5D986EB46E4C0AC78E01A5F72AC|
|92B658AB962101A6DDEA8312D3F0BD1C11F26906C463C08CF0ED03B2C2F7DE27444|
|2043EFB7014C8126E8903F7A0B8497E6D3708EDD71926A1B3C2B0086B904491AB94|
|1F14A8ED37A1EF1761E013E30361E823A106FE7E5EA5F8B7C934F994D00B071CA48|
|04D7FB0474193FA8566D4AF1CE11BA10079433242E8AF080ED83A64451D45DA76F7|
|15C61AA1779D5120F46D10E2102C2CF386396F57372116231C4A1092E0C7E7DAF44|
|5B8B02E2E2CC68505C121CA81443443671402539C4D4A7C95A35D50306B3BCC2478|
|C6977844EBA71F301E126EC3548FDC66CF1C459B6414A18AA4BCDDE43699A677083|
|3BB8C3D4296DDAF827BBF74EF7FC10E2F09875F315E33DE105CD0417617831C4181|
|5A87E5B90EBB0A0E463C4683718790BA4B98D824E8907754AE1AC53BCF8AB1266D6|
|D8CBB65EC2721C5DD92E2DEF143AE71792EE3498E374B2736314968C0D494DCCE14|
|B7E73C376B86DB33C3CD9AE1DA03106F56DEEE2CDF6E9A6F37CDB79BE6DB4D80DF1|
|CFB05E79E5329F3FB8C3DC291678C5DC60EC1846D69F2B0B41425FC0EFF210BB24D|
|16725472F61CE32C612870F06B830F3C62F91F4B3E70F0DB120A5952E8C3F5FDD7F|
|3566DC5E958E904BD8492075156F16D1DA580C30D7CD3F1ED1A4A0987CD776AABD2|
|E8512CE818CA71941328F7D129140609A3A82811942E94284A0C2581D28B3280F20|
|4A5F907421405D5|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

A few things...

1. Slot neutrino bolt like any other blaster power with accuracy, damage and recharge. For defenders I'd understand why people would proc neutrino bolt, but you don't have to do that here.

2. Where's X-Ray beam? X-Ray beam is a good solid attack and you can fire it off when mezzed. It should be in your build IMO.

3. Having played around with both, Electon Haze > Irradiate. Yes, you can have both, but if you had to pick one, I'd take Electron Haze. Don't let the knockback deter you...it's only 25% chance and not nearly as obnoxious as powers from energy blast or AR. Electron Haze is also front loaded damage while Irradiate does its damage in ticks. As a blaster, I'd much rather have stuff dead up front rather than slowly cooked to death (where they can still fire back).

4. Cosmic Burst - take it at 18. Move other stuff around, but take it at 18. It's blaze but with a stun. It's a great power to both stun that annoying Lt or minion and do a lot of damage to it at the same time.

5. I'm not sure why you didn't take frozen armor if you went cold mastery. If you're just looking for cherry picking a couple of extra powers, force epic for PFF and the shield or fire for char and the shield would be far better choices. Frozen armor would be a great addition, and with a few Kinetic Combats in powers like Bone Smasher and Power Thrust, you'd be very close to capped.

6. Concentrate on one type of defense. If you're going for range, then go all in. I'd rather be strong in one type of defense rather than mediocre in a few. Anything below 20% defense is almost meaningless. S/L defense if you're going cold epic is an obvious one to concentrate on.

7. Build up and aim are way underslotted. They're core powers and should receive enough enhancements so they are close to max recharge. In the build above, you have tons of set mules but underslot core powers. Revise your build to use less set mules (boxing, tactics, manuevers, cj) in pool powers and more slotting in core powers.

First of all, thank you very much for the notes.

Secondly, allow me to reason out why I did the build the way I did. Of course, that is all my personal opinion. I'm only posting this for further critique. Because the way I see it, having a second opinion is always worth it.

I was aiming at is having enough defence in all areas where a Good Luck inspiration would put me at capped defence. I'm planning to be a crazy blapper on this toon. Go toe-to-toe with the meelers in the team. That is why I thought having overall positional defences (and keeping a mid purple popped) is better than capping S/L defences. That is also the reason I skipped X-Ray beam. Not because I don't like it, but because being in melee range I can use the powers from Energy Manipulation to form a solid attack chain. I admit that the "can use while mezzed" part is gonna hurt a bit when it happens, but the way I see it's worth the sacrifice.
The reason I chose Irradiate over Electron Haze is because this is a team toon. Alpha-ing with Irradiate will give the rest of the team much better chances to hit the mob with their attacks since it's a solid defence debuff to finish off the mob quicker. I'm not worried about the KB honestly, KB can always be managed even in KB crazy sets like Nrg and AR right?
I do admit, though, that I did make short of Aim and Build up. That can be probably remidied by taking out the slots in Tough and putting them in those two powers to maximize recharge. I wanted Tactics in for two reasons: 1) Gives me a good leeway in accuracy slotting in my powers, so I don't have to focus on that too much and aim for more Damage and Recharge. 2) The GSFC proc in Tactics is a wonderful, wonderful thing. From my experience it procs often enough to be really worth it.
Lastly, the reason I went with Cold Epic pool is the self heal. It's always nice to have, even though it's only sparcly available. It saves my *** a lot of times on my Ice/Ice and my Arch/MM. With the HP bonuses from sets and the Accolades this guy will have capped HP, which is something I like about this build because if I do get hit through my defence, it's gonna hurt. And having more HP is more chances of surviving said attack.

I have an Arch/MM blaster with capped S/L (using Ice Armor for the main beef of the defence, and as you pointed out in your post, a few sets of Kinetic Combat). He does wonderfully on ITFs and BM maps. But when I take him to a LGTF or a STF my capped S/L really makes no difference as I die as often as I would if I didn't have any in the first place. So I wanted to try out having mediocre all around positional defences and using inspies to stay softcapped on this guy. I want him to be good for any mission or TF I take him on, not just specific ones.

P.S: Fixed the slotting of Neutrino Bolt to have 5 Decimations instead of the procs.


So...that is my reasoning. I'm still open to any suggestions. I apologize for not having posted this before, I should have posted it with the build.

EDIT:

DOH!!!!
I just realized that a Good Luck gives 25% defence...not 20%. Which means I have an extra 5% Defence in all areas that aren't going to be of any use to me.
I'm gonna revamp my build now..*headdesk*

IMO, you have overslotted Accuracy in your offensive powers. Rad has a very nice -def effect. I would go with one (not two Accuracies).

In fact, on my Rad/device blaster, I use no Accuracies at all, but I am perpetually running Targeting Drone with its + to hit buff. That and the rad -def is all I need to hit.

I would take all of the primary powers. With three single targets, three AoEs, Aim, a nuke, and a snipe, you are very versatile and able to team or solo.

Secondary-wise, I would definitely take all of the buffs (build up, conserve power, boost range). The other powers are a matter of taste and playstyle. Boost range is really great to get the most out of Electron Haze and Cosmic Burst, which have 40' ranges. Conserve Power is great when paired with Hasten.

General note to new blasters:

When you're playing Scrappers, it's like being a boxer. The work is all in the prep time. You step into the ring and you're going to get hit, and they're going to get hit, and the question is mostly who hits harder and who takes the punches better, and that's mostly in the build.

Blasters are... well, usually, your goals as a Blaster include "Don't get hit." The work is on situational awareness, and knowing when to unload an ABSOLUTE TON OF DAMAGE so they either don't hit back or can't. (When we say "100% mitigation" we mean "They can't hit back from the prison hospital." )

Some of that's in the build but mostly it's in the play. Roald Dahl flew (fabric) fighter planes. I can't remember the exact description but it was something like "Taking the most flammable things you can find and combining them and throwing them thousands of feet in the air where people shoot at them."

... feels great when you win.