Earth/Rad question

Hi guys, i will keep this short.

I wanted a toon that will debuff enemies a great deal, i figured the -defence earth control brings will sync nicely with radiation emission.

What i wanted to know is if you think there are better combo's out there. I want to be able to Hold AV's and the sort as well, its really going to be built for TF's but i might also try soloing GM's with it.

Earth/Rad is my favorite controller for providing all purpose team AoE control. I know a little bit about it since I wrote a guide on the combo (linked in my sig . . . but not updated with IO sets yet).

However, the one controller that can stack the most controls is Earth/TA . . . that extra single target hold of Ice Arrow and the ranged AoE hold of EM Pulse Arrow allows it to stack more holds that Earth/Rad. Earth/TA has a more control, with the holds mentioned above, a ranged 50% effective sleep, a knockdown that can be lit for damage. TA also has a little bit more Resistance Debuff (30% from two powers vs 22.5% from one in Rad).

Earth/Rad is more flexible, with a heal, a team buff, a rez and the toggle ranged debuffs. Rad is a lot less "clicky" than TA. Rad has better ToHit Debuff. Rad has better a Recharge debuff and Regen debuff.

As for the post above complaining about damage . . . uh, Earth/Rad trades is huge amount of AoE control for low damage. It is well known for having very low damage such that it is very, very, very slow to solo. If you didn't like the low damage for Earth, you may want to avoid Ice and Elec control, too.

Once you get Rocky and the APP damage powers, you CAN solo without it being unbearably slow . . . but that is only late in the build. However, you are correct to suggest that Earth/Rad is not a set for taking on Giant Monsters. Try an Ill/Rad instead.

Hrm thanks for your support guys, i think i am going to roll both an ill/rad controller and try out an earth/ta which seems really fun!

Congrats on doing so . . . but I bet you have an amazingly expensive build. Earth Control is a very low damage control set. Sure, with a lot of expensive IOs you may be able to get the build to do some things that the set is not "naturally inclined" to do.

A lot of folks have successfully taken Illusion/Rad controllers and Illusion/Cold controllers up against AVs and GMs. Very, very few have taken Earth/Rads up to the same tasks. It is to your credit that you were able to do so.

But when advising somebody new to the powersets, I'm not sure it is a good idea to recommend Earth/Rad as an AV killer when so few people have actually accomplished it.

The very last troller I made (that I kept past teens) was earth/rad. Was very reluctant to try earth, as I hate, HATE the big rock graphics which keep you from seeing what is held, what isn't, where everyone is, where YOU are, and so on. (REALLY, REALLY hate those things!) But I love trollers, and had tried everything else, so gave it a try.

Turned out to be my favorite troller ever. Why? Best team controls ever! An earth/rad troller just OWNS any room, period. Some form of AoE control is always up, because instead of the standard 1 AoE, you get, what, four? I don't have my build out, so let me try to be more accurate: you get AT LEAST four AoE controls that I can think of off the top of my head. THEN you add stuff like a slow, a heal, and a bunch of glorious debuffs.

As for the horrible rock graphics, turns out that these are only the immobilizes. As one who utterly loathes immobs, it was not a tough call to pass on that obnoxious AoE immobilize. As an aside: this is further reinforced by the fact that immobs destroy the knockdown effect - and thus the entire power! - of almost every earth trollers favorite control, earthquake.

On damage: if you want damage output, make a scrapper or a blaster. Otherwise, it's all pretty sucky damage till the epics, imo. Sometimes there is the occasional, single power in a troller primary set that actually does some damage. One. ONE! I do not consider this grounds to alert the media and proceed to solo GMs. Until you get the epics, the only way to provide real, serious dps for your team is by keeping the actual damage doers alive. 'Course, once you get the epics that all changes, and you utterly rule the CoX world, just like all trollers do.