Ice/Rad

I'm going to be honest. I was looking on the forums for a decent PvE Ice/Radiation build. Does anyone have a good build that I could please take a look at? Looking for something softcapped. Thanks

You don't need to be soft capped playing an Ice/Rad.

Well, obviously I have no expeience with any ice/rad toons. Do you have any builds or advice that I can take a look at?

The entire push for "soft-capping" is really overblown. An effective controller who does his/her job at controlling generally doesn't need a bunch of defense. It is nice, but far from necessary. Personally, I won't reduce my effectiveness as a controller to get a bunch of bonuses that may help me last longer but contribute less to the team. (I'm not blaming you as a newish player . . . it is all the talk on the boards.)

And if you don't have experience with your powersets, take some time to learn how to play them before looking at an end-game build. What you really need is a leveling up build. Once you are in your upper 30's, it may be time to think about an end-game build. Why? Different people have different playstyles, and somebody else's build may not be the best for you.

Ice/Rad is a low damage controller that is very good at soft control for teams. I wouldn't want to solo one -- it is possible but will be very slow, especially in the beginning. You have an option of going either melee or ranged. Melee has some special synergy, so I suggest you try that first.

From Ice Control, the essential powers are:

Block of Ice -- Single target Hold. It is essential, eventually slot it like a standard hold with 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Recharge, although there are other options.

Arctic Air (melee) -- Toggle PB AoE Slow/Confuse. Max slot for EndRdx and Confuse, plan on 6 slots. This is a power that seems unimpressive until it is fully slotted in the upper levels, but it is a key power. Eventually, it will mitigate about 70-75% of the damage from foes in its range. This is why you want to stay in melee -- follow the tank and scrappers to reduce the damage they take.

Ice Slick -- Ranged AoE knockdown. 2-3 Recharge. Essential as soon as you get it. Some people find it less useful in upper levels, but I don't. This is the reason I first made an Ice Controller.

and Jack Frost -- 1-2 Acc, 3 Dam. Other slots are optional, like Hold or Slow or Recharge.

Frostbite (AoE Immob) is highly recommended for an Ice/Rad, but some folks would say that it conflicts with Ice Slick so don't take it -- I say to make sure you don't use it on Ice Slick, but take it. Slot for at least 2 Acc, 1-2 EndRdx. Damage procs in this actually do more damage than slotting the power for Damage.

Glacier is highly recommended, even though it has a fairly short duration and a long recharge -- it takes a lot of slots, but an AoE hold is a big help. Like a standard Hold, slot 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Rech.

Chilblain is a single target Immob, mostly skippable unless you want to solo. It can be useful in upper levels to immobilize a boss or AV, but Immobs let that foe shoot at you. If you want to (try to) solo, you can slot this up for damage.

Shiver is a huge cone AoE slow. If you want a ranged character, this is the one to take over Arctic Air. If you can fit it into your build, take it even with Arctic Air . . . but that may be tight. You have another Slow power from your secondary (Lingering Radiation, which has a huge -Regen so it is good against AVs), so this is the one that might need to be skipped.

Flash Freeze: Ranged AoE sleep. Teams generally will wake up foes, making this mostly useless.

Radiation Emission is something I know well -- see my Ill/Rad guide for details on the powers and recommended slotting. In fact, if you are not familiar with Controllers in general, I have some general information in the Guide. Also, take a look at the strategy section . . . there is some stuff in there about choosing your anchor for the Rad debuffs.

One important reason to take Frostbite -- An AoE Immobilize + Radiation Infection slotted up for ToHit Debuff is almost like an AoE Hold. The foes can't move, and they have trouble hitting you and your team as long as they are in the area of the debuff. When Ice Slick is recharging, this can be an important source of control, especially in low levels.

Ice/Rad is one of the few builds that can make good use of Choking Cloud. Combine it with Arctic Air, and once both powers are fully slotted, you will be able to lock down most groups. Choking Cloud needs 3 EndRdx, 3 Hold -- if you can't fully slot it, don't take it. In fact, I would say that one of the main reasons to play an Ice/Rad is the CC-AA combo.

Other than that, probably the most skippable powers in Rad are Fallout and Mutation -- even these powers can be good depending on your playstyle.

Fitness (for Stamina) is essential -- plan for it at 20. Hasten is good, but less essential than on some controllers. Any travel power works, but Super Speed can give you some Stealth too, which is useful.

I have a 50 Ice/Rad I play some time. The build (which you will notice I didn't actually finish) is posted below. It's pretty much an all-Recharge build. Note the 3 unused slots, which I'm wavering on how to spend.

Like someone said you don't necessarily need to be soft capped. Although I think having some Ranged Defense can be helpful. The power Indomitable Will from the Psi pool is probably the most critical I can recommend though.

The power that is probably the most controversial is the pool Invisibility power. It's the one that suppresses your attacks while its active. Normally I am not a fan of it and take Super Speed with a Stealth IO instead. On this build though, the attack suppression gives me the ability to walk into melee with Arctic Air and Choking Cloud running, detoggle, and immediately hit Glacier to tag enemies with all three powers at once. I still take some damage but it does work rather reliably on even-levels.

Note Ice Slick is slotted with Range to maximize the ability to cast around corners (I don't need Recharge because the amount of global being generated). Used this way it is a very reliable alpha breaker, which solo Ice otherwise lacks. Keep in mind though that this build only really solos at 50. I always teamed on my way up, even sometimes running sewer teams to keep the experience flowing.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

w : Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(5), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(5), Dct'dW-Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 2: Radiation Infection -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(15), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(15), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(17), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(17), LdyGrey-%Dam(34)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(23), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(34)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- CoPers-Conf%(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(7), Mlais-Dam%(7), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(9), C'phny-EndRdx/Conf(9), C'phny-Dam%(13)
Level 8: Frostbite -- TotHntr-Dam%(A), GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(31), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(36), GravAnch-Hold%(37), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(40), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(43)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- Range-I(A), Range-I(46)
Level 14: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(43)
Level 18: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Lingering Radiation -- RechRdx-I(A), Acc-I(23)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25)
Level 26: Glacier -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(27), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(27), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36)
Level 28: Choking Cloud -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(29), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), UbrkCons-Dam%(31), Lock-%Hold(34)
Level 30: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 35: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(39), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(39), UbrkCons-Hold(40)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(45), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Decim-Acc/Dmg(46), Apoc-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dam%(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), FrcFbk-Rechg%(50)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run

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