The Alpha Slot and my Ill/Rad

When I began alphaing, my criteria at that time was "Out of Acc, Dmg, End and Recharge, which one of those will help this character the most right now?" It recently occured to me, while looking further down the tree for my toons, I should have started at the end state and mapped a way to get there. So I'm going about the process of a more thorough analysis of what different alphas do. I'm taking a look at my Illusion/Radiation Emission Controller now.

Cardiac Core Paragon
Endurance/Range/Resists

Currently, I find that very long duration fights (GMs, some AVs) can be taxing on the blue bar. I have Conserve Power which happens to recharge in just about the amount of time I need it. So I could use help with Endurance.

With all toggles on, including rad debuffs, end consumption goes from 2.62 end/sec to 1.99. Not too shabby.

The range increase would allow me to step out another 16 feet (80 to 96).

I use Temp Invul so s/l resists go from 44.5 to 49.9.


Cardiac Radial Paragon

This buffs the Fear duration as well as Sleep (which Ill has but is impractical) and intangibility (irrelevant).

End drain is now 2.12 end/sec.

Sure, the Fear duration(s) increase but I just don't think it's worth considering.


Musculature Core Paragon
More damage? Why not? Defense debuffs are enhanced too. Immobilize is irrelevant.

My ST attack chain is Blind, Spectral Wounds, Power Blast. I throw in Energy Torrent for aoe.

Blind goes from 64.82 to 78.13
Spectral Wounds from 96.14 to 114.8
Power Blast from 140.58 to 163.77
Energy Torrent from 153.03 to 172.36 (both including expected dmg from proc)

Def debuff from RI goes from -25 to -33.25.


Musculature Radial Paragon
This one sounds, really, really, really good.

A little less damage than above, but now with -tohit debuff, end mod and run speed.

Blind is now 74.58
Spectral Wounds 110.49
Power Blast 158.51
Energy Torrent 167.31

Additionally, RI's to-hit debuff goes from -37.8 to -42.3.

Recovery rate goes from 253% (4.51 end/sec) to 270% (4.81 end/sec). That includes AM.
I use Ninja Run + Sprint for travel, that takes me from 44.4 to 47.3 mph.

I like this collection of enhancements.

Nerve Core Paragon
Accuracy, Hold, Defense
I've got 33% global accuracy and, of course RI for def debuffs.

When I switched base to-hit (to .48 to represent +3s) in Mids just now, I had a rude awakening - there's room for improvements. Flash, Energy Torrent, and Lingering Rad all have a final to-hit of 85% against +3. Everything else is 95+. Slotting Nerve Core Paragon puts everything at or above 95%.

Hold duration from Blind goes from 35 to 40 seconds.
Flash 27 to 32
EMP 53 to 61 (wow).

Nerve Radial Paragon
This gives slightly less accuracy but can boost Confuse.

Final to-hit for everything (for +3s) is still 95+%.

Deceive goes from a 72 second duration to 82.5 seconds. Nifty, but not sure how practical, may help for AV stacking.

Defense from SI + Maneuvers + CJ goes up a smidge, not worth mentioning.

Spiritual Core Paragon
Recharge, Stun and Healing.

Global recharge is currently 198.8%, including Hasten which is perma.
PA, Lingering Rad and AM are also perma. The ST attack chain is seemless 1-2-3. Before looking at any numbers, I'm inclined to believe recharge is "good enough".

I'll spare you the numbers this time, you can't exactly be "more perma" on powers that don't stack like AM, PA, LR or Hasten.

Most interesting to me was that Phantasm goes from 80 seconds to 70. Not sure if I want to have him make me irate 10 seconds earlier to see him charge into melee.

Radiant Aura goes from a 237 HP heal to 264.7.

Regen goes from 180% (8.2 hp/sec) to 193% (8.8).

I know an ill/rad is supposed to be all about recharge recharge recharge, but this isn't making a compelling case.

Spiritual Radial Paragon
This is less recharge than above, and the only attribute my ill/rad can use is -slow, which I don't really care about, so I'm not going to evaluate this.

Conclusion

I've already gone down the Cardiac path. Nerve Radial Paragon and Musculature Radial Paragon both tempt me to go a different direction. Right now, I'm inclined to go with Musculature Radial Paragon

I submit this post to see if my reasoning is flawed and if there's some consideration I missed.

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Global = Hedgefund (or some derivation thereof)

your reasoning is good

i would suggest going with:

• cardiac core paragon or

• musculature radial paragon or

• either nerve paragon (since they would do about the same for you)

i also have to agree with you on your reasoning for spiritual, rad emission doesnt really benifit from having more and more rech

i have an ill/cold who went the spiritual route because the more rech i have the more debuffs i can through out and i can perma the buff portion of heat loss. my final rech will be around 208% and with the spiritual boost ill be able to get more rech out of the sleet and heat loss

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Well, your Global Recharge really should be over 203% for full Perma-PA. What you have may be close enough for you. Frankly, I don't discount the Slow buff in Spiritual. Ling Rad is a surprisingly effective power, and buffing its 75% Slow to 90% makes some difference. I have Ling Rad only slotted with a single Acc in the default slot, so the Slow enhancement from the Spiritual Alpha is nice. I also feel that the ToHitDebuff is a nice addition, too. Kind of like extra Defense.

My view is that all of the Alpha slots are good. Each one has something to recommend it. Your analysis is fine, but it really comes down to personal preference. I did a quick run down of them added into my Ill/Rad guide. I don't feel my build really NEEDS anything, so I went with Spiritual just to get that bit more recharge. I think my build is up to 217% Recharge, and that is with no purples other than the Confuse set (and two in PA).

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LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control

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Global = Hedgefund (or some derivation thereof)