Advice for a Fire/Rad.

Just rolled one of these bad boys up...

I don't have access to Mid's at the moment, but I would like some insight from anyone willing to give it. Anything I should/shouldn't take aside from the obvious (toggles, debuffs, AoE)? Any particular slottings for certain powers? I'm all ears.

I just rolled one of these bad boys too.......can't find to many builds for them on the forums either. Can someone please post me a build for farming, soft cap S/L and whatever else.

Thanks,

-Kib

Basics of a Fire/Rad: From Fire Control the key powers are Char, Fire Cages, Hot Feet, Flashfire, Fire Imps. Cinders is also a key power in my opinion, but not in everyone's. Char, Fire Cages, Flashfire and Imps should be taken as soon as they are available. Hot Feet uses a ton of endurance, so using it before Stamina is costly. Still, I take it at level 8 and turn it on and off as needed. Some folks wait until after Stamina. Ring of Fire, Smoke and Bonfire are optional. I like to take Bonfire and skip the others, but opinions vary.

From Rad, take Radiant Aura (no choice), Accelerate Metabolism, Radiation Infection, Enervating Field, Ling Rad, Choking Cloud. EM Pulse is highly recommended as a "panic button" power and uber hold -- it is actually better than Cinders but has a penalty of stopping your recovery for a short time and has a longer recharge, so both are good to have. Mutation and Fallout are optional -- I prefer Mutation if I can fit it in, but I did not fit it in. Fallout is very situational.

Fitness (until I-19) and Hasten are essential. I like having Air Sup and Fly for travel, but opinions vary on that.

The Flashfire+Fire Cages combo is your main mez power. Flashfire needs as much Acc, Rech and Stun as you can get. Fire Cages needs Acc and EndRdx. The damage is low on these two, so slotting for Damage gets minimal results -- you'll do better putting damage procs in Fire Cages.

Hot Feet sucks down huge amounts of endurance, so you want to max slot for EndRdx, then a little accuracy and as much Damage as you can. This ends up being your main source of Damage.

Fire Imps are -1 level from you, but there are three of them. They only have melee attacks. As a result, they die a lot. Some people slot pet defense or resistance . . . but they run around so much, they often go outside of the range of those procs. I prefer to slot for Recharge so you can simply re-cast them. Slot for good accuracy and max damage, then recharge. Pretty much the same slotting as Phantom Army, but focus more on Damage.

Rather than go through all the Rad powers, I suggest you take a look at my Ill/Rad guide which has slotting recommendations for those powers.

Fire/Rad is probably the one build in the game that can make best use of Choking Cloud. But until you get it fully slotted with Hold Duration and EndRdx, it won't seem all that good. It takes a while for the hold to hit, so the key playstyle is to Flashfire+Fire Cages from range, then run in with Hot Feet+Choking Cloud on and Imps running behind. While you stand there, the foes will be held and slowly melt . . . while the Imps help in their own chaotic way. Eventually, you'll want to get the Lockdown +2 Mag proc in Choking Cloud -- that proc is wonderful in this power due to the way the power works -- but keep your Hold slotting at max.

Kibowi, I suggest you learn to walk before thinking about flying. I don't like giving end-game builds to folks who have just rolled up character. Learn to play the character first -- you may have a different playstyle than mine.

Listen to Local Man--he really knows what he's talking about.

Fire/Rad is a great combination and really fun to play. You'll be the hit of any team (PUG or otherwise) that you join, and the AoE damage you can put out once you level up is astonishing.

One thing--While leveling up, Ring of Fire is a terrific power to have, as the ST damage is nice, and you'll use it a lot. Once you get your Imps at 32, you may or may not decide to keep RoF (I kept it and still use it quite a bit).

Personally, I never take the ST immob, but I team almost all the time.

I'm pretty surprised you couldn't find any Fire/Rad builds on this forum. There are A LOT of them. For a while it surpassed Fire/Kin and Ill/Rad as the most discussed combo, and it seemed like every other thread was a Fire/Rad question or build crit. Dig back a few pages or use the search function.

Seriously, search a little harder. There's Frad builds posted here for just about every play style.

Thanks to all (especially Local Man) for your advice.

I have a Rad/Dark Defender and an Elec/Rad controller, so I'm no stranger to Radiation before Fallout. Haven't gotten Tiers 8 and 9 yet, but I plan to with this guy.

(Concept is, he's an orchestra conductor who found a set of magic gloves, a magic tuxedo, and a magic bowtie. I plan on going /Ice for my patron to fit the theme of magic/element control, and because Ice Storm looks like it'd be a blast to use in exceptionally large spawns. Slot for Slow and Damage?)

After playing my Rad/Dark and watching the insane things he did, and watching the synergy between control sets and /Rad, I decided it was time to roll up a Fire/Rad. I mean, Debuff Toggles+Hot Feet+Cages+Choking Cloud is sure to be a jackpot combo, from what I can infer. I'm also going to slot Smoke for -ToHit and the same with Rad Infection (plus Defense Debuff). Can't wait to see the synergy between those powers.

Again, thank you all and I'll let you know how it comes along!

Just reached level 8. Hot Feet + Rad Infection + Smoke + Cages. A bit end-heavy, but when I need more end I just sit there and wait. It's like wading through zombies in a suit of chainsaws. I love it! I'm pulling entire rooms (10+ spawns) and just burning them down.

Wow, great advice from everyone. Can people share some builds please ???

:-)

I've found the AoE hold + Choking Cloud combo to be very useful. Having access to both Cinders and EM Pulse means you always have an AoE hold available. Consume from Fire Mastery also helps with the -recov from EM Pulse

I went Psi as well. Once Fitness becomes inherent, I think I can finally close that tiny gap I have in my IW coverage.

I did take WoC, and slotted it with the purp set. If I'm going to be in the thick of it with HF and CC, I might as well add a third layer of PBAoE delicious. It's escpecially useful on the ITF, letting the traitors buff me and my team with Shout of Command rather than their own men.

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Originally Posted by Kibowi Wow, great advice from everyone. Can people share some builds please ??? :-)

Seeeeeeriously, look back through a few pages on this forum. There must be 40 different Frad builds, for everything from farming to soloing AVs. It's totally not hard.

(TWSS)

Yeah, I asked before and got mostly negative replies on WoC, but I think it's kinda nice. I'm TIP farming a lot atm w/my FRad, so -1/x1 settings and all, but I sometimes drop CC so that confused mobs add to the kill speed. Being nearly def-capped means I don't have to worry about the mitigation so much against easy settings, but even on harder settings, I see a lot of purple confused dots popping up. Of course, having the Contagion purple proc helps a lot (and one might argue, it makes the whole freakin' power). And it's hell of a (relatively) cheap purple set mule.

Now, Psi 'Nado, ugh, I just don't have the patience for that slow animation. If you're spamming Cages anyway, Bonfire has much, much better damage numbers, absolute, DPA, DPE, hell even DPS at 3x the recharge. Mental Blast is pathetic too. Hell, Fire Cages has a similar DPA to 'Nado (8.48 vs. 10.67) and has a larger AoE, iirc, so as long as you have the end for it, you're just as better off spamming Cages.

As for AS vs. RoF, if you're going to Fly anyway, AS is a fine power to take. But consider the damage/DPA #s:

(Char &) RoF: 33.65/25.49
AS: 30.59/17.83

Overall damage is similar, but RoF animates faster leading to much better DPA, plus it's range, plus it sets up containment on its own, plus it immobs. Recharge & DPE are the same. AS has excellent KD, granted. Still, I've always thought AS a bit oversold as a soloing aid, esp for a Fire/* controller who has a really good 1-2 attack in Char & RoF to begin with, even for those early levels.

Hm, I may use Mental then for my APP. Can anyone give me any insight on Ice Mastery? I'm thinking that with the Rad Debuffs and AoE immobilize, Ice Storm will be an enemy-shredding power pick.

The best advice I got from the boards was to take Fire Cages and Hot Feet as soon as they are available and slot both for maximum end reduction. Made getting to 20 a breeze.

Just wanted to make a few small corrections and alternative opinions to this post:

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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike Okay, there aren't a lot of specific builds, mostly because Fire/Rad is a fairly easy and open Primary/Secondary to build for. 1: Char > Ring of Fire: While Ring of Fire has superior damage, it's an immobilize. This means they can still shoot at you. Char is a hold. If they're held, it doesn't matter if it did less damage. YOU are taking less damage because they're not shooting at you.

I agree that Char is far superior to Ring of Fire, but Char and Ring of Fire do the exact same damage. Both have 5 ticks of 6.73 damage unenhanced at level 50.

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2: Fire Cages > Ring of Fire: AoE Immobilize vs ST Immobilize. Need I say more?

They really don't compare, as they are generally used for different purposes. Ring of Fire in low levels is mostly a damage power that sets Containment. In upper levels, it can be used for Immobilizing bosses and AVs. Fire Cages is an essential power to combine with Flashfire.

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4: Accelerate Metabolism: Take it, three-slot it for recharge ASAP. Later, maybe, four-slot it and frankenslot EndMod/Recharge and Acc/Endmod/Recharge from PerfShifter and EffAdaptor.

Eventually, this is a nice power for the full Efficacy Adaptor set -- if you don't have a lot of global Recharge, you can leave off the EndMod/Acc and put a common Recharge in the 6th slot, but 6-slotting that set gives you a 5% Recharge. You want AM up as much as possible, and it is worth 6-slotting it.

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10: Enervating Field: Chuck an EndRed at it and call it done. Boost your damage output.

I think 2 EndRdx is really needed, but a third has very marginal benefits. This power uses a LOT of endurance, and I generally recommend waiting until after Stamina to get it.

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12: Flashfire: Your big opener for control. Damage is meh, but the stun is VERY nice. Slot for Acc and Stun. If you have space, chuck a bit of Damage and EndRed at it.

Slotting for Damage is a waste. Flashfire needs Acc, Stun and Recharge. EndRdx is nice to have, but I only include it as part of an IO set. Since it is an opening power, endurance usually isn't an issue when you use it, and I don't want to give up any of the main three for EndRdx.

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38: EM Pulse: Slot it for As much Acc and Hold as you can get.

It really depends on how much you use it. Unlike most AoE control powers, EM Pulse does NOT have the 20% Accuracy penalty that Cinders and Flashfire have. Two accuracy is nice, but not essential. Also, the hold duration is already very long, so you may not need to slot for much Hold Duration. However, the Recharge is very long so if you use it a lot, then Recharge is key. I see some people slot this for Endurance Mod for its End Drain -- that is a complete waste because by the time the hold wears off, the endurance lost will have been regained. Slot for some Acc, Some Hold and a lot of Rech if you use it a lot -- I mostly keep it in researve, so I find 4 slots is enough.

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Nice things to have: Radiation Infection: Dropping your enemy's ToHit and their defense? SWEET. This power, when slotted properly can nearly floor defense on just about any enemy in the game. Even nicer, it's auto-hit. Maneuvers: More defense is never a bad thing. Especially when stacking on teams. Lingering Radiation: A form of soft control. Slows down the quantity of incoming attacks and enemy movement, keeping them in range of your AoEs long enough to let them do what they're supposed to. Mutation: For the occasional faceplant on your team. Smoke: Helps out quite a bit at lower levels when trying to prep a group for an alpha strike. Fallout: This combination mini-nuke/debuff is very nice if you have a friend develop a sudden, involuntary interest in the floor while surrounded by a large mob. Hasten: AM is already nice. Hasten just makes it better. Assault: More damage never hurt anyone...uh...wait! Vengeance: Your friend dies, you get stronger. Problems? Indeed, think about the trifecta of Vengeance, Fallout, and Mutation to get your buddy back up. Yeah, you know you have that evil grin on your face. Team Teleport: Nice for Fire/Rad teams. Pop in right on top of an enemy before they know what's happening. Much COUGH/CHOKE/BURNBURNBURN ensues. It's also nice for keeping teams on-point with an enemy as the feeling of godlike power that comes with a team of 8 Fire/Rads can spur some players into fits of kill-craziness where they'll run all over the place like a Brute whose Fury bar is not full. And now, with side-switching you can throw in things like Scorpion Shield as well. 30% defense when stacked with Maneuvers?

Assault and Maneuvers will add to the already massive endurance drain of Hot Feet and Choking Cloud. I wouldn't consider adding the Leadership toggles unless you have a bunch of Recovery from sets or teammates. Even then, I find Fire/Rad to be a tight build -- maybe after I-19.

Radiation Infection and Ling Rad are essetial powers to me. Ling Rad is really important to go after AVs, to overcome their Regen.

I have tried the team teleport trick -- personally I was not impressed, as I found that we took a lot of damage before the hold from stacked Choking Cloud hit. I prefer to Flashfire+Fire Cage from range and then run in. However, I know that some people seem to like team teleporting a team of Fire/Rads -- It is just about the only use for the power.

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Nice-to-have enhancements: Endoplasm Exposures: 33% Acc and 33% Mez? What's not to like? Peroxisome Exposures: 33% Damage and 33% Mez? Again, what is the downside? The Lockdown Proc. Additional mags to your mez are NEVER a Bad Thing<TM>. The Numina +Regen/+Recovery IO. On a build as End-heavy as this, more recovery hurts nobody. The Miracle +Recovery IO. Ditto. Again, you're probably not seeing a lot of specific builds because the Fire/Rad build IS so malleable. Once you've got the basics down, you're set. And teams of these suckers get ridiculous REALLY fast. Things I specifically recommend avoiding: Tactics: While +ToHit is always nice, the +Perception applies to your Imps as well. This can cause them to run off and aggro additional groups of enemies before you're fully ready for them.

Agree on Tactics -- it is a mistake.

As far as End Game slotting -- Enzymes in Radiation Infection are great -- that Hami-O provides ToHitDebuff/DefenseDebuff/EndRdx -- in three slots, you can fully cap all three aspects of RI.

The Gravitational Anchor Chance for Hold proc is wonderful in Fire Cages -- it is worth the price of a purple. The Lockdown +2 Mag proc is especially good in Choking Cloud due to the unique way in which Choking Cloud works with two chances for stacking Mag. The proc can help you hit a lot more foes -- but fully slot for Hold Duration first, and get as much EndRdx as you can in there, too.

The downside of using Endo and Perox Hami-Os is that you give up IO set bonuses. Still, using Hami-Os you can slot Char with 1 Acc/Dam, 1 Acc/Mez, 2 Dam/Mez, 2 common Recharge -- that gives you capped Hold and Damage, plus good accuracy and great Recharge. It is up to you whether adding all that extra enhancement is worth giving up set bonuses.

Hyper, right now I'm sitting at level 11 on Virtue on my Fire/Rad. I have heard of your legendary superteams... and I want in. Would I be better off rerolling or should I pay for a server transfer? He's Praetorian so it might be better to hit 20, but again...

Reroll or transfer? I want to see what this AT Combo is capable of before I dedicate to it.

Building a Fire/Rad for a team of Fire/Rads is very different than building one for normal game play where you need to be self-sustaining for either team play or solo. For a designed team, the Leadership toggles become far, far more useful when everyone has them -- and endurance and Recharge isn't a problem when you have stacked AM. On super-teams, you can easily skip Stamina and still never see your blue bar drop.

I can see where the Team Teleport trick would work better if everyone was built with high defense. We did not have high defense builds and were relying upon mez and heals only.