Hybrid Core or Radial for a Fire Tanker?

Ok, in a nut shell, I have a FA/EM/PM tanker and much of my damage is DoT, AND Fiery Embrace which is based on my damage output (if I understand right, not just base, total). I feel tough enough, but I'd like to pick up the pace for solo and AV's, so a bit of damage would be perfect!

So, the Assault Core looks like basically Fury-like, and the Assault Radial looks basically Critical-like.

If I'm right about those things (and please correct me if I'm not), then I would think the the Core would be better because it would boost my DoT and drive the extra fire damage from Fiery Embrace even higher. This would seem to be better than the Radial tacking on "Crits" to my attacks, even though with Radial I don't have to wait for the extra damage to "rev up".

Whatchall think? Am I way off or is this basically correct?

THANKS

I think the Tanker damage cap would be a little too low to benefit from Core, since it doesn't honestly take much to get to the 300% mark.

I'm not really sure, though; I'll leave it to someone who's had more experience with the Hybrid slot.

Well, I don't have an Alpha that boosts damage, and the damage boost in most of my attack powers is between 70 and 90%, so I have about 100% leeway except for the ten seconds of Buildup--plus the fact that Fiery Embrace and DoT help me get around the damage cap some. Also, I solo at least as much as I team, and so I'm more often without external buffage than getting it.

Whether those things are enough to make Core better than Radial is what I'm having a hard time figuring out. I'm not a number cruncher, but I've been around for a while and have a decent general idea of how things work.

Any input from the Fire-tanky number crunchers would be welcome!

Unless you are frequently damage buffed, Core seems like the better choice for your build. I think many tankers will prefer Radial, but those with Fiery Embrace should get solid mileage out of Core.

Thanks Bren and Strat. So the answer so far seems to be maybe/probably Core is better for my build, which is what I suspected. But I'd love to hear something from the numbers side.

This seems to me like a pretty numerically complex decision, and I have no idea of how to begin to approach figuring it out. But I'd like to know if it's really a decision between "what flavor of basically the same damage" I want--because in that case I'd take Radial so that there's no ramp-up time to get to the damage--or if Core really will give an overall better damage boost, which I suspect.

Why not try each side on your way to making it t4'd?

I haven't looked at the Hybrid slot but based on what you are saying the Assault tree is doing, I'd go Core on a single target toon like EM.
You'll benefit more from sustained damage increase through fury-clone than from crit potential. Sure a crit energy transfer would look nice numbers wise but it would also likely not happen as frequently as you'd like it to.
Especially if you solo often, in which case you're quite far off the dmg cap for tanks by yourself, even when you BU and/or FE.

Hope, I actually didn't realize that the Tanker cap meant you could go 300% ABOVE base rather than 300% total. Silly of me. I take back what I said about having "a decent general idea of how things work" ;P.

And, Viper, I think you're right, but don't forget FA and PM. EM is mostly single target, but I've got Blazing Aura ticking away plus Melt Armor to soften them up before Fire Ball and Burn on top of EM's Whirling Hands (not to mention Pyronic Judgement)--and all of this after popping Fiery Embrace and Buildup. Even on 4/8, by the time I'm down to my single target attacks, I'm just mopping up the tougher Lieutenants and Bosses.

BUT, what you said probably still applies, because that's where things slow down! After that initial AOE burst, Fiery Embrace and Buildup are recharging and I have a boss or two and sundry tougher lieutenants and just plain old Tanker level damage while trying to mop up--or even worse, after I've cleared the minions and I'm trying to finish off the AV!

Thanks guys!

Ok, big question. When the tier 2 & 3 tack on Smashing damage to attacks, does that tag the attacks with Smashing damage as far as defense goes? That's a big deal. I don't particularly want my pure fire attacks tagged as Smashing defensively.

Would you suggest Core or Radial for an INV/SS?

Hey, does anyone know if Blazing Aura damage will count at all towards procing for Core? That'd make it easier to maintain the stacking.

all i know is...i took core on my fire/fire tank and havent hit over 207% but once. so why is that that we are so worried about a damage cap im ways away from hitting?


is there a bug on the proc?

i have 2 +4/8 player mobs on me and my normal damage output is 192%

my assault is tier 4 core


by normal i meant what it seems to be at the most...sorry.should have worded it better


according to my numbers im at 37% damage bonus without assualt core running.when im running assault im at 112% damage bonus in the middle of a full mob, now does this mean assault only buffs for 75% then?.seems kinda low honestly

and when i use b.u ( f.e. too but that doesnt show up in the window attributes) im at 192%


now i heard lots of talk about not worth taking cause of the current 300% damage cap but now as i get it.its not even close to the damage cap yet..so my question is...from what im hearing assault isnt working correctly. is this true or is this working correctly?

at this point im not sure what is working and whats not working.i wish the devs would make an annoucement about it. i know it would help me understand it better.

I THINK the max boost for core is 75% (15%x5), and if you're easily maintaining the maximum boost, that's exciting to me! I think the only time the damage cap really factors in is when you are receiving external boosts. I'm leaning towards Core, because a sustainable 75% damage boost when solo sounds fabulous to me.

The only problem is that Radial has some significant advantages. There is no need for "ramping up" to full damage and Doublehit will go past the damage cap. So, if Radial contributes roughly the same amount of total damage, it's better. If, however, due to DoT or other factors, I'd get consistently better total damage from Core, I'd go with Core despite the other advantages of Radial.

Which is exactly what I'm trying to find out. But I'm retarded with maths and limited in my gaming time, so I have to lean on the real heroes .

I'm going to bump my own thread once because there has been a lot more discussion about Hybrid Assault and people seem to have a better handle on it--but I still haven't gotten a definitive answer.

Thanks--and I'll let it die after this, but hopefully not before someone answers!

EDIT: I take back my bump. With the help of Hopeling I got it figured out. If anyone wants to know, on a not-super-high-end fire tanker at the current PPM model, it's surprisingly close to a wash, with Core a smidge ahead, but not by much.