Fire/Rad Questions

1. CC is a mag 2 w/a chance for another mag 1. The mag 2 is a 50% chance to fire per pulse, can't remember for the mag 1. It's plenty effective, esp IOed & hold procs. CC + HF is one of the premier F/Rad combos, though you can do ranged only builds just fine too.

2. Any controller w/30-ish range def is going to be in very good shape. If you specifically want to floor AV/GM to hits w/RI on them, you'll need approx 38% def, since they resist debuffs at a high rate.

3. Can't really compare w/Fire/Kin for mass killing speed, but for single kills (AV soloing, etc), F/Rad does just fine. My record for soloing a pylon w/my Fire/Rad/Ice was 4:10.

4. The way you solo AV/GMs w/Fire is to keep the aggro off the imps, which is to say generate some good ST damage before you send them in. That's where you need the ~38% def to keep the AVs from hitting you too often. You'll also need enough recovery to have a basically infinite ST attack chain going while RI + EF are up, along w/occasional heals and LR.

Very well said. I know Local Man will be around eventually with the exact numbers on CC, but trust me, it is effective, and you want the lockdown proc and ED capped end/hold on it (don't use acc frankenslotting, it is useless).

Soloing AVs on a fire/rad is a cake walk if you go for ranged defense, mine did the whole (old and revamped) Maria Jenkins arc no problem, and I ditched the hero that helps in the new mishes. As far as large group defeats, it won't be as fast as fire/kin, but it will be safer with RI and EF going.

And if you plan on soloing GMs (AVs still important, but especially GMs) make sure that Lingering Radiation is perma and has good acc slotting, it lowers the required dps to take them down. AVs for the most part can be donw without it, but it is much faster and less stressful if you use it. And I think GMs regen fast enough to make it manditory to solo them.

Choking Cloud has a really unique way of working. First, it pulses every 5 seconds. It checks a ToHit on every foe in range. If it hits, then there is an 80% chance for a Mag 1 and a 50% chance for a Mag 2. Those two stack, but they do not stack with multiple pulses. The duration of the hold at level 50 is 7.45 sec. With full slotting, you can almost double that to just short of 15 seconds, or 3 pulses. As a result, for each pulse you have:

10% chance of Mag 0.
40% chance of Mag 1 (which does nothing other than against a few very low foes like Rikti Monkeys)
10% chance of Mag 2 (Minions only)
40% chance of Mag 3 (Minioins and Lieutenants)

The next pulse, you get the same chances . . . if the foe was previously held, the hold is extended. While each pulse is unimpressive, over time the majority of foes are held. Also, any Boss in the area usually has at least a Mag 1 on him (90% chance), so a single Char will hold him.

What makes this so good with a Fire/Rad is the combination of Choking Cloud, Hot Feet and an inital Flashfire+Fire Cages to get things started. When hit with Flashfire+Fire Cages, all but the bosses and the few missed are stunned+Immobilized. You run in with CC+HF running. By the time the Stun wears off, most of those foes will be held, and will be slowly roasting away their hit points thanks to hot feet.

What about the foes not held? Well, Hot Feet has Damage, Slow and "Afraid." That means that any foes not held will try to run away, but they will only be able to do so slowly. Hopefully, they won't be able to get away before the next pulse, with another chance that they will be held. (If you Immobilize the foes, they will stay in place for the next pulse and won't be able to run, but it makes them more likely to turn around and shoot at you.)

In effect, this means that you run CC+HF most of the time. You stand outside of a group and hit them with Flashfire+Fire Cages, run in and hit any bosses with Char. While the Imps follow you and start to attack foes, you use Char on anything that moves. In a few seconds, Hot Feet and the Imps will have killed off everything . . . next group!

As mentioned above, you want to slot Choking Cloud for capped Hold and capped or nearly capped EndRdx. If you can, the Lockdown +2 Mag proc is wonderful here, since it stacks with the others to hold a lot of foes who would otherwise not have been held.

A Fire/Rad is NOT as fast as a Fire/Kin . . . but it is far safer. Tough Foes can be hit with RI and EF and LR, while Kinetics has virtually no defensive powers. A Fire/Kin's best defense is to kill everything before they can do much damage to him. A Fire/Rad controls first, then kills.

Defense is a matter of opinion. Some folks will say you need a lot, while others will say they get along fine without it. I'm in the latter camp. I use the Psi APP pool on my two level 50 Fire/Rads for the Mez protection of Indomidible Will. That means I get a Resistance Shield and not Defense. I do fine anyway, but I'm not a solo farmer type . . . I can solo, but I don't all that much.

Where Fire/Rads reallys shine is when they are teamed with other Fire/Rads. 3 or more are almost unstoppable, and a full team of Fire/Rads will steamroll over everything in the game faster than anything else you have seen.

/This this thissity thisthis.

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Yep. Had a couple of brand new guys tonight while we were running +2x8.

Needless to say, they leveled shamelessly upon us!

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Getting to that point, however, is VERY unfun for your Endurance bar. Especially solo.

If Hot Feet, Choking Cloud and Fire Cages are slotted well for EndRdx and the build has lots of Recovery, it is not too bad. I have the Numina and Miracle procs in Health. I was on my Fire/Rad last night for an STF, who is going the Nerve Boost route and not Cardiac. I had a few moments of endurance issues when AM was nearly ready to be cast, but not many.

Depends on how you build.

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