Comparison of Rad/Rad vs. Dark/Dark, please

[Icono04]

Hi guys,

 

I would like to start a new tanker character, either a Rad/Rad, a Dark/Dark or some combo of those two powersets. I have read a bunch of threads on this forum about Rad and Dark but still don't have a good feel for the playstyle, strengths and weaknesses of each one. Can one of you please summarize how Dark/Dark and Rad/Rad compare with other? No need for a specific build, just a brief general overview/comparision.

Bonus question: Are Dark/Rad or Rad/Dark more complementary than either of the pure combos?

 

Some basic info to explain what I am looking to do with this character:

- Mostly solo play - story arcs and newspaper missions

- Casual player with below-average player skills

- I tried several tankers back on Live, but none of them made it past level 25ish. Well, except for a 50 Elec/Fire farmer who was very efficient but not much fun. So I would prefer a tanker build which is fun (and preferably with good survivability but this is not a must) in the low levels.

 

Oh, and my playtime is limited, so the stock answer of "Just make one of each and see which one you like most" is not particularly useful  😉

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Major_Decoy]

My first fifty on these servers was Radiation/Radiation. It's a good pair. Radiation armour is pretty endurance friendly, it has a couple of tools for managing it. It's a cheap pairing to get operating to the point where you can tank and solo. I like it.

 

I have not played Dark/Dark. I have Dark/Kinetic Melee and Invulnerability/Dark. Dark Armour is quite endurance hungry and has no tools to manage it. Dark Melee has Dark Consumption which is nice, but it's a level 35 power and has a long downtime. Much longer than you'd hope it would be. It is not really enough to solve all your endurance issues, but it will help. My dark armour has Panacea, Miracle, Numina's Convalescence, performance shifter, and theft of essence slotted into dark regeneration, and is still really excited about getting Physical Perfection at level 44 so she'll be able to slot another performance shifter. She's got hover and 4 points of knock-back protection from set bonuses because dark armour doesn't have knock-back protection. But Dark Armour/Dark melee should be really survivable.

 

I'd say Radiation/Dark melee would be a very strong combination, but you won't need Dark Consumption for endurance recovery. Dark Armour/Radiation Melee... doesn't have a lot of synergy.

[Ironscarlet]

2nd Rad/Dark proc monster

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Thanks a bunch for the feedback, this was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I took the advice and rolled up a Rad/Dark Tanker.

Hopefully others can get some use out of this thread in the future as well.

 

Cheers!

[Pzn]

I think Dark armor/Rad melee would be the strongest out of all the possible combinations.  2 damage auras and a good PBAoE.  You can also proc out dark regen for extra AoE damage and endurance management.  Since the tanker changes I tend to the view the AT as very AoE focused.  I would prefer to play dark melee on any other AT than tank.  Dark melee's AoEs are too slow to recharge and small to really benefit from the tank buffs.  Soul drain is still at only 10 targets and dark consumption's original 8 ft radius is only boosted to 12.  I think Dark melee and rad armor would be a better combo on a scrapper or brute.