Questions regarding Radiation Blast/Electricity Manipulation

Once again, I find myself contemplating a new character (ah, Altaholsim, you are the reason I shan't be running any End Game content any time soon...)

So, I'm looking at a Rad/Elec blaster. But I've got a few questions that I haven't found an answer for while searching through the boards... (it seems while a lot of people find the combination awesome... they don't much talk about the powers...)

First off, I can already tell that this combination will work best mid-to-close range. (I don't play Blappers, but I can tell that I need to be able to get in close for all the PBAoE attacks...)

That said, what would be a recommendation for the level 4 power pick? I mean, sure, I probably want Irradiate eventually, but is it a wise choice to have that early? Or will it bring more aggro than it is worth?

As I'm not planning on Blapping as a focus, would Charged Brawl even be worth taking at all?

Similarly, will Lightning Field be worth the Endurance cost to run it, if I'm not surrounding myself with enemies? Also, can it be used with Power Sink to sap enemy endurance like the version in /Electric Armor can? Or is the End drain component of Lightning Field too low for that?

Is Lightning Clap a good 'Oh $#!&' power, or is it a valueless on this AT as it is on others?

Finally, are there any power pools I should be looking into in particular? I'm planning on taking flight with this character at the moment, but that's still not set in stone...

And, of course, any general or build advise will be appreciated...

Thanks, all!

I don't have a Rad/Elec, but I do have a Rad/Fire I've been working on. I would definitely recommend Irradiate at level 4, because it not only gives you a very early AoE power, it has a nice defense debuff so you make a whole spawn easier to hit. Defense debuffs are almost worthless at high levels since you usually have a 95% chance to hit anyway, but they can be great early on.

Skipping Charged Brawl should be fine, you can take Havoc Punch when you get a chance so you'll have one nice melee attack. That should be enough to handle the occasional incidental melee until you get Shocking Grasp (and maybe Thunder Strike, if you can stand the long animation) since you aren't going to be blapping.

Lightning Field puts out good damage if you stay in melee range all the time, but not if you just duck in and out. I'd skip it unless you are going full S/L softcapped Blapper or are going to team a lot and know you'll be able to stay close to a large spawn for the entire fight.

Lightning Clap stuns minions for a few seconds, but only minions. It can be useful, but in general it isn't the minions you have to worry about. I'd take it on a Blapper, but since you are presumably only going to jump in long enough to fire off your PBAoEs I'd skip it.

I'd personally recommend Combat Jumping. It will let you quickly jump in, hit Irradiate or Power Sink, and then jump back out to cone range. It also lets you avoid being immobilized (which is bad if you just moved in to Irradiate range) and gives you a handy place to slot a Karma -KB IO and a Kismet 6% to-hit IO. Hover might also be decent though, since you can fire your cone(s) from above and then drop down to use PBAoEs and it also can slot the Karma and Kismet IOs. Medicine is also always handy on a Blaster... you can hit Aid Self after a fight to greatly reduce downtime, or duck out of sight and use it mid-battle.