Help me understand Rad Armor

[NemeanLion]

I have a TW/Rad Brute that just hit 22 and got lvl 25 IOs and I have to say, I am not understanding why everybody says Rad Armor is OP.

 

I feel super squishy, especially coming from a Katana/Bio Armor Brute, though that may be because of the added Defense from Divine Avalanche.

 

My slotting is as follows:

 

Alpha Barrier: DmgRst x3

Gamma Boost: Heal x1, EndMod x2

Proton Armor: DmgRst x3

Fallout Shelter: EndRdx x1

Radiation Therapy: Acc x1, Heal x2, RchRdx x1

Beta Decay: EndRdx x1

 

With 4 toggles, I find myself often running short on End with TW's high End costs, even with Stamina 3-slotted and a Panacea: Chance for +HP/End slotted in Health. Though currently, my attacks are all slotted with 1 Acc, 2 Dmg.

 

Does Rad Armor mature once I get Particle Shielding, am I doing something wrong and Rad needs to be slotted differently than other armors, or have I just lost my mind? Please help me understand why I'm dying so much with a supposedly OP armor set while soloing +0/x2 missions.

[oldskool]

Most characters won't feel OP at level 22 running brand new level 25 IOs. 

When you see folks talking about the extreme nature of TW consider they are also referencing high levels of global recharge, endurance management offsets, and likely Incarnate choices too. 

If you're struggling, lower the difficulty and revisit that issue once you're looking at more available slots in the 30's.  Once you hit 50 you can finalize your build with whatever higher quality IO sets you're shooting for and start to see why the combo is so powerful.  Though, Particle Shielding should help.  It just won't make you OP on its own.  Its a complete package sort of thing.

I love my Dark Armor/Titan Weapons Tanker, but you can imagine what kind of endurance nightmare it was before 35+ (for Conserve Power and beyond).  Now that I've had the character with IO sets for months its so much smoother, and the Incarnates just make it better (though I designed it to exemplar).  I also know just how to pace myself with the attacks because it can still run out of gas if I am not careful. 

Stick with it if you like it.  It will get better.

[NemeanLion]

Thanks for the input. I'm just feeling a bit at a loss, like I'm doing something wrong. I don't remember my Katana/Bio Brute feeling this squishy, though like I said, the +10% Def from DA probably helped that out a lot. TW hits hard, for sure, but the wind up without Momentum is...tedious, to say the least, and it only lasts for 5 seconds, which feels ridiculously short. I'm contemplating trying Rad Melee instead, but hesitant to roll Rad Armor again, given how it feels currently. I know it shouldn't feel OP at 22, but I shouldn't be dying so much on +0/x2 difficulty.

[Without_Pause]

28 minutes ago, NemeanLion said:

Though currently, my attacks are all slotted with 1 Acc, 2 Dmg.

This is your problem. You need to slot acc and then end. Two acc for AoE attacks.

[siolfir]

26 minutes ago, NemeanLion said:

I have a TW/Rad Brute that just hit 22 and got lvl 25 IOs and I have to say, I am not understanding why everybody says Rad Armor is OP.

 

I feel super squishy, especially coming from a Katana/Bio Armor Brute, though that may be because of the added Defense from Divine Avalanche.

 

My slotting is as follows:

 

Alpha Barrier: DmgRst x3

Gamma Boost: Heal x1, EndMod x2

Proton Armor: DmgRst x3

Fallout Shelter: EndRdx x1

Radiation Therapy: Acc x1, Heal x2, RchRdx x1

Beta Decay: EndRdx x1

 

With 4 toggles, I find myself often running short on End with TW's high End costs, even with Stamina 3-slotted and a Panacea: Chance for +HP/End slotted in Health. Though currently, my attacks are all slotted with 1 Acc, 2 Dmg.

 

Does Rad Armor mature once I get Particle Shielding, am I doing something wrong and Rad needs to be slotted differently than other armors, or have I just lost my mind? Please help me understand why I'm dying so much with a supposedly OP armor set while soloing +0/x2 missions.

First, a disclaimer: I haven't played Rad Armor. But I agree, you shouldn't be dying at +0/x2; what enemy groups are you fighting?

 

Since you were comparing to a Kat/Bio, you should also know that Titan Weapons has a power similar to Divine Avalanche to offer additional defense; it's not the best DPA but it will help your survival. Second, if you are having trouble with endurance, slot for endurance reduction. Go with 1 EndRed, 2 Resist in Alpha Barrier and Proton Armor, slot attacks with 1 Acc, 1-2 EndRed and then slot damage. As a Brute, being able to attack all the time will keep Fury up, meaning you'll do more damage that way.

[NemeanLion]

31 minutes ago, siolfir said:

First, a disclaimer: I haven't played Rad Armor. But I agree, you shouldn't be dying at +0/x2; what enemy groups are you fighting?

 

Since you were comparing to a Kat/Bio, you should also know that Titan Weapons has a power similar to Divine Avalanche to offer additional defense; it's not the best DPA but it will help your survival. Second, if you are having trouble with endurance, slot for endurance reduction. Go with 1 EndRed, 2 Resist in Alpha Barrier and Proton Armor, slot attacks with 1 Acc, 1-2 EndRed and then slot damage. As a Brute, being able to attack all the time will keep Fury up, meaning you'll do more damage that way.

Yeah, Defensive Sweep. It's the first attack power for TW and I have that. Much like DA, I use it as my opener, but since it's so slow to activate, by the time it fires and the buff applies (assuming I don't whiff), I've already taken a lot of hits.

 

As for enemy groups, I find I've had the hardest time with Vahzilok, Circle of Thorns (when there are lots of ghosts), and Sky Raiders (I've had to keep Tazer Dart on my bar just to stop the Engineers from summoning the FFGenerators).

[Seigmoraig]

6 minutes ago, NemeanLion said:

I use it as my opener, but since it's so slow to activate, by the time it fires and the buff applies (assuming I don't whiff), I've already taken a lot of hits.

You should be opening your fights with Build Momentum which becomes available at level 20. Not only is this your build-up for extra damage and to-hit, it also gives you Momentum so that your first attacks on new packs are at full speed.

[NemeanLion]

After some more playtesting, I think it's just that TW isn't for me. It's too slow to activate and I don't enjoy the jarring slowdown in my rampage.

 

I'd like to give Rad Armor another go, as I know it has the potential to be powerful, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it.

 

I'm thinking of trying out Psi Melee as my primary, as I've read good things about Psi/Rad. Or would you guys recommend another secondary to go with Psi?

 

I wish Savage Melee's animations weren't so...animalistic. I love the mechanics of the set, but it's hard to make it work for a high-tech character concept lol

[Erydanus]

I have a scrapper with Dual Blades and Rad and he's … insanely overpowered, now as he's hit 41 or so. But I also threw a lot of money at him and he has all the survivability IOs you can get including a couple that grant 3% defense, the scaling damage resist, a miracle and a panacea, etc. He is the opposite of someone having end problems, I can run around with ninja run on (most of the time). I'd also like to note that it was  effective for me to slot Radiation Therapy with the performance shifter proc instead of sticking it in stamina because when I actually use the power it typically proccs on 4 or 5 guys and gives me a big chunk of instant recovery (like 30-40 points of end) which is more useful to me than having it in stamina and steadily giving me small single activations. 

 

I also took Tough & Weave (which I normally do not) because Rad trades off a measure of smash/lethal resistance to have more of other resists including toxic. Taking tough and slotting it roughly hits the cap without me going into fiddly IO builds to achieve S/L resist cap. The defense in weave is also pretty helpful though I'm not looking at capping my defense or anything like that; but the layering of 15% defense on top of nearly capped resists with self heals and regen boosts is amazing. Literally the only thing that's killed me in many levels was being double-tagged by a pair of sappers I didn't see and who doesn't die when that happens?  I bought a lot of winter sets as well because the tier 6 buff is cold & fire and 1 positional defense. (Also Lady Winter was the last thing to kill me before those sappers but that was about 10 levels before.)

 

I don't know TW at all. I always look askance at any advice to put end reduction in regular cost personal shields (.21 to .26 end/sec) anymore because there's MUCH more benefit to putting the end reduction in attacks. That said I also have seen a lot of people go with attack slotting that is accuracy then end and it was ALSO a misstep because what costs you more end: 1 attack with no end slotting or 2 attacks with 1 end slotted in them? Of course, it's the second! By making sure your attacks hit and do damage you save more end than you would just randomly putting end reducers in all your attacks. I'm not saying you should never put end reducers in attacks - especially costly attacks and bread & butter attacks you spam - but I wouldn't put that in first.

 

Another gameplay technique to minimize endurance problems (especially up to the mid 20s) is to make sure you are constantly buffed with inspirations. If you have a full tray of candy you're cutting yourself off from drops of free buffs. If you don't have some inspiration running on you whether it's a gratuitous red, yellow, purple, or orange, WHY NOT? My usual default is to simply eat every small inspiration that drops as soon as it drops unless I'm saving up (I do like to have a couple blues or greens). Even eating small blues and greens after a fight ends can often top you up so you're at 100%/100% when you charge into the next group of foes. 

 

The taunt aura in /rad is sick. I've never experienced anything like it. My scrapper plays more like a brute or a tank. I literally run through rooms and aggro everything, whip around a corner and start laying down AoE death as 14+ mobs come charging at me. After maybe 10 guys and a couple warwolves I'll be down to 66% health and I'll hit rad therapy and particle shielding and look I'm 100% health and 90% endurance again ahahaha. 

 

Kinda thinking of trying a mace/rad armor brute next tbh. 

 

 

[Leogunner]

4 hours ago, NemeanLion said:

Does Rad Armor mature once I get Particle Shielding, am I doing something wrong and Rad needs to be slotted differently than other armors, or have I just lost my mind? Please help me understand why I'm dying so much with a supposedly OP armor set while soloing +0/x2 missions.

Go -1/x3 and ride the fury. 

 

AoE sets, I tend to aim for more lower levels. For stronger ST sets, I go fewer but higher level. All very obvious. 

 

Also, don't run all your toggles unless you need them. I don't know rad armor but I'm assuming it works just like other sets.