New to scrapping

[Fletch42]

I just got my scrapper to level 50 and was wanting to see how others built there scrapper.  I have a Rad/Rad build so any advice on how to slot/enhance would be helpful....also any build guides on this combo would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Haijinx]

Never tried Rad anything.

 

But congrats! 

[Wobegone]

I went looking for a build and saw you'd asked this before.   Here's a couple threads that might give you some ideas.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Ignatz the Insane

[Fletch42]

Thanks.....Its seems like nobody runs this build because I don't usually get many responses.  I want to respec him but I don't know how to slot him.  I have some ideas but would like to see what some other people do.  It seems like an endurance heavy combo but it has decent heals.  I also notice it draws tons of aggro lol......i die a lot 

[Mr. Vee]

1 hour ago, Fletch42 said:

Thanks.....Its seems like nobody runs this build because I don't usually get many responses.  I want to respec him but I don't know how to slot him.  I have some ideas but would like to see what some other people do.  It seems like an endurance heavy combo but it has decent heals.  I also notice it draws tons of aggro lol......i die a lot 

If you're dying a lot on rad armor something's wrong somewhere. are you keeping particle shielding up? is it slotted? the absorb/regen combo from it is no joke. also radiation therapy can refill your endurance if enough mobs are around, though i doubt endurance will still be an issue once you IO it out fully.

[Wobegone]

2 hours ago, Fletch42 said:

Thanks.....Its seems like nobody runs this build because I don't usually get many responses.  I want to respec him but I don't know how to slot him.  I have some ideas but would like to see what some other people do.  It seems like an endurance heavy combo but it has decent heals.  I also notice it draws tons of aggro lol......i die a lot 

Right, that's why I pulled those two threads(sorry, just did a quick scan and grabbed the first two I saw with responses).  One has Radiation Melee, and the other Radiation Armor...should give you a pretty good idea on slotting.

 

[InvaderStych]

7 hours ago, Fletch42 said:

Thanks.....Its seems like nobody runs this build because I don't usually get many responses.  I want to respec him but I don't know how to slot him.  I have some ideas but would like to see what some other people do.  It seems like an endurance heavy combo but it has decent heals.  I also notice it draws tons of aggro lol......i die a lot 

 

Disclosures First: 

 

-- I have a stalled Rad/Rad tank that I want to like so badly for the AoE potential.  But I can't get past the slow animations all over the place.  YMMV tho as the set itself has tons of potential, so go for it!! 🙂

-- My Kat/Rad scrapper is an addiction I cannot seem to break.  So I'll stick to talking about Rad Armor.

-- It helps to be familiar with Procs/PPM mechanics with Rad Armor (and Rad Melee, but that's another story).  You said you were new to Scrapping, so I am assuming some level of familiarity. In the event you're not there's an excellent Procs/PPM guide in the Guides section, and it'll be referenced in all those Rad/Rad tanker threads already suggested by others above.

 

With that in mind here are some of my standard /Rad armor tips:

 

1. Put "Theft of Essence: Chance for +End" into Radiation Therapy.  Do this immediately if you have not already, and if someone reading this is leveling a /Rad toon, do this immediately once you are in level range.  Game Changer.  Some folks will slot RT for damage (via procs), others for Heal/Rech for the uptime and heal.  But _everyone_ uses the ToE +End piece.  Or at least they should.

 

2. Particle Shielding is your friend, but don't use it on Auto. (That's for Hasten.  You DID take Hasten, right?)  In game mine is currently using too many slots, but Heal/Rech or Heal/EndRdX/Rech are your priorities here unless you are looking for specific set bonuses.   Yes, technically you could do some fancy macro to have both on Auto, but that's a waste.  Practice using PS when you _need_ it.  Fire it off for extra HP right before soaking an Alpha and/or dropping GZ.  Noticing your Blue Bar is going low?  Fire it off for the recovery boost.  And so-forth.

 

3. Hasten.  You took Hasten, right?  Put it on Auto.  You want RT/PS/GZ up as often as possible, and because RT and GZ want Procs that means global recharge to preserve the fire rate.

 

4. Ground Zero: Slot 1 Acc/Rech piece, boost it to +5 with boosters, and slot 5 dmg procs in the rest of it.  I almost skipped this on my Kat/Rad but ended up keeping it for the AoE.  I use Shadow Meld and PS to mitigate the extra seconds of "just standing there" because it's activation time is so much longer than it's actual animation.  On Rad/Rad Ground Zero is a no-question keeper.

 

5. Your T9 (Meltdown) isn't there for the extra resistance.  It's there for the 41.25% damage buff (on scrappers).  The "crash" is easy to mitigate with /Rad's other tools.  Pop melt-down before tough fights for the extra damage.

 

6. I cheated and built only enough +def (positional because katana) to put me in range of hitting the soft-cap via Shadow Meld.  Not everyone prefers this, but imo /Rad and SM play very well together, although this does mean forgoing Energy Epics which are what I see most commonly on posted builds.

 

7. You are spoiled for choice when it comes to slotting the two main -Resistance procs.  Get those.  Look at the Rad/Rad tanker threads as to where to slot them.  I think my Rad/Rad has them in Irradiated Ground, but that might not be the best choice.

 

8. If you don't already have the two +3% defense unique pieces (Steadfast and Gladiator's), get them.  It doesn't take that much +def to give /Rad's heafty resistances a significant boost.  Ditto for Shield Wall's +Resistance piece.  It might seem like "Hat on a Hat" but it's a lot of resistance out of a single slot.  Makes other slotting choices easier.

 

(EDIT)

9. Remember that you are a Scapper rolling a Resistance Set. This means that you are starting off behind the figurative power curve.  Lower base resistance values for your powers (reasonably sure I am right about that, someone please correct if needed) than a tank/brute, and lower resistance caps to boost.  Couple that with lower HP pool and, on paper, it looks like a Sisyphean task.  In truth though it means you have to remember to be a Scrapper. Play tactically.  If you're soling x8 you might need to Kite and Pull sometimes.  On a team you might need to follow the tanks, or you might be able to lead them if they are fast enough to take over the aggro while you heal up from soaking the alpha and dropping your AoEs.  But you can't rely on your armor to save you. 

 

You might be able to become Immortal, but you'll never be Invincible.  The good news is that you don't need to be.

 

Hope some of that helps.

Edited September 9, 2020 by InvaderStych

[Sovera]

Mine was for Tanker's though.

 

With the lower resistance caps and maximum HP Scrappers tend not to make good recipients for resistance based sets. It works, like everything in the end does, but it's a squishy combo and that's why you don't see much of it.

 

This is what I'd use. It's not perfect but you get a decent-ish Hasten at 134 seconds, 70% ish resists that finish being capped with Barrier, and near 40% S/L defense with Barrier to finish capping to 45%-ish. Use Particle Shield on cooldown, don't save it, don't think about it, just pop it if it's up, it has less than one second activation.

 

It's not perfect since there is a lack of slots. Devastating Blow would like two damage procs in there, etc. I'd consider dropping Ball Lightning and sub for Focused Accuracy (keep Tactics as a Mule, but slot FA the same) and Physical Perfection (semi useless since a Rad Armor is an endurance faucet, but it requires no slots and FA only one) then distribute the slots where needed and tweak the build a build to keep the resists at 70%. You should be fine with this anyway as you're just sacrificing a bit of ST for AoE and we could agree that CoH is more about the AoE. But since Rad Melee is already good with the AoE so you can drop off Ball Lightning if you'd like.

 

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Radiation Melee
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Armor
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Radioactive Smash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(5), FrcFdb-Rechg%(7)
Level 1: Alpha Barrier -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(11)
Level 2: Gamma Boost -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-EndMod/+RunSpeed(11), SynSck-Dam/Rech(13), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(13), SynSck-Dam/Rech/Acc(15), SynSck-Dam/Acc/End(15)
Level 4: Proton Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19), UnbGrd-Max HP%(19)
Level 6: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(21)
Level 8: Radiation Siphon -- Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), HO:Nucle(21), HO:Golgi(23), HO:Golgi(23), Hct-Dam%(25), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 10: Fallout Shelter -- TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(27)
Level 12: Fusion -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 16: Radiation Therapy -- Pnc-Heal(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal/+End(31), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(33), ThfofEss-+End%(33)
Level 18: Irradiated Ground -- Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(33), AchHee-ResDeb%(34), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(34), Obl-%Dam(34), Arm-Dam%(36)
Level 20: Beta Decay -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(36), ShlWal-Def(36), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(37)
Level 24: Tactics -- RctRtc-ToHit(A), RctRtc-Pcptn(37)
Level 26: Devastating Blow -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(39), TchofLadG-Rchg/EndRdx(39)
Level 28: Particle Shielding -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(40), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(40), Prv-Heal/Rchg(40), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(42), Prv-Absorb%(50)
Level 30: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Atom Smasher -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(42), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Obl-Acc/Rchg(43)
Level 35: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(43), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 38: Mu Bolts -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Ball Lightning -- Bmbdmt-Dam(A), Bmbdmt-Acc/Rech/End(45), Bmbdmt-Dam/Rech(46), Bmbdmt-Acc/Dam/Rech(46), Bmbdmt-Acc/Dam/Rech/End(46), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(48)
Level 44: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def(48), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(48), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(50), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(17)
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
------------

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Sovera

[Fletch42]

Thanks for the advice keep it coming.  I do have hasten but i do not have anything slotted with enhancements yet.  I really would like to see more peoples builds with slotting advice because that is what i need most.  Sovera has a nice build it looks like.....any thoughts?

[Neogumbercules]

These sets only existed for a very short time before the shutdown (if at all) so there's not a lot of institutional knowledge on the best way to build like you'd have on something like Dark Armor that has been around forever. 

[Saikochoro]

On 9/9/2020 at 8:38 AM, InvaderStych said:

1. Put "Theft of Essence: Chance for +End" into Radiation Therapy.  Do this immediately if you have not already, and if someone reading this is leveling a /Rad toon, do this immediately once you are in level range.  Game Changer.  Some folks will slot RT for damage (via procs), others for Heal/Rech for the uptime and heal.  But _everyone_ uses the ToE +End piece.  Or at least they should.

Just want to provide another opinion on ToE +End. I had originally planned my rad/ss tanker to take this proc in radiation therapy, but found that I honestly did not need or even want it. Rad offers so much endurance management that I didn’t need the proc and used the slot for another damage proc instead. Seriously, I could attack continuously and keep sprint without any endurance problems even as I leveled. I’m sure it is nice to have, but I don’t think it is necessary for rad armor. 
 

I’m not trying to say the proc is a bad choice by any means. I’m just saying, rad is one of the armors that have great recovery/endurance tools built into the set already. Just putting this out there so that people don’t think ToE is an absolute necessity. Rad armor is one of the few armor sets on which I have never really felt the endurance consumption pain. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Saikochoro

[hejtmane]

Sorry I just now saw this I have a fire/rad at 50 he is IO out;  no incarnates and I took him on a couple av runs soloed the av's  just fine the goal is to get your smash/lethal defense to 45% or better  this will help you through the majority of the content. I pulled all his IO's the other day I am leveling two new scrappers that are becoming my primaries to play. My new rad is katana/rad . I can post those two builds one that I was running at 50 and my eventual planed build. There should be room to tweak IO's etc . Note I ran ground zero on my fire one but I am going to skip it on katana build it's a nice power just pointing that out it is not about the power being bad just decided to skip it on katana.

 

katana/rad

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1453&c=691&a=1382&f=HEX&dc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

 

Fire/rad

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1456&c=684&a=1368&f=HEX&dc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

 

[InvaderStych]

On 9/10/2020 at 5:45 PM, Saikochoro said:

I’m not trying to say the proc is a bad choice by any means. I’m just saying, rad is one of the armors that have great recovery/endurance tools built into the set already. Just putting this out there so that people don’t think ToE is an absolute necessity. Rad armor is one of the few armor sets on which I have never really felt the endurance consumption pain. 

 

Actually very fair point.  Looking back at my post, it appears I was being uncharacteristically hyperbolic in trying to have a little fun with my tone, but yeah - /Rad can easily do without it; however, using it opens up slotting flex and if timed correctly, renders some seriously dangerous mobs (Malta Sappers) and effects (Carnie auto-hit end drain) effectively irrelevant.

 

I have zero SS experience, but I know while leveling my Kat/Rad it was a complete upgrade.  Doing so also allowed me to forgo slotting attacks for endrdx nearly completely until I was filling out desired sets and such.  As it stands he runs 1 P-Shifter (single slot, no other pieces), The Panacea Unique, and the Power Transfer Unique.  No Miracle, no Numina. Lots of places to put these pieces, but they're not needed.

 

I'm going to also figure that your Rad/SS build is much tighter than my Kat/Rad.  I recently tanked the proc chance on RT on my active build to try to get it to absolute minimum recharge time. (18s atm, fwiw)  I've already noticed the effect of the +End proc firing less frequently on the ol' Blue Bar. Yes, PS does give a recovery boost, but it does only last 30s and is un-enhanceable.  Yes, I could just use it on CD to keep recovery up, but I tend to use it when I know I need the +absorb.  Yes, I know that could be "perma," except that having those extra HP when you're surrounded by minions that can't hit you anyway is a waste.  Timing it so that you soak an alpha full of bosses guarding the AV is much more useful for the way I play. 🙂  I consider the +recovery from PS icing on a cake, not a tool to rely upon.  Probably another way that my Kat/Rad could be improved.

 

It is also extremely likely that I tend to over-build for the Blue Bar, if it dips below half I start to get anxiety, if tends to hover at 1/3 by the end of a fight, I'm making changes asap.  🙂

 

I do highly recommend getting one at the level it's available though if you're playing through the road to 50, and I also agree that not every finished build "needs" one even if some builds can leverage it nicely.

 

@hejtmane - Nice setup for the Kat/Rad.  I imagine that's extremely survivable.  Only comment I have is that while you are getting a little extra +def out of the 6th Avalanche slot you could drop that for more dmg by dropping the KD proc in favor of the -Res from Gladiator's.  I'd swap it into GD to keep it relevant against AVs and such, but it would also work just dropping it in WS.  F/C defense isn't going to cover much that your Smashing def won't, and you're not losing that much AoE def with the change.

[Saikochoro]

@InvaderStych All fair points. I elected to just mention you instead of making a big quote.  I totally understand wanting to make sure endurance is not an issue as it has always been one of the most annoying parts of COH imo. 
 

I think part of the reason I was t having any issues while leveling my rad/SS is because I used sets as soon as I was able to slot them. So by default I had endurance reduction in everything due to the nature of sets. I didn’t really take that into consideration because I put sets in all my toons as I level. Comparatively I think rad still offers great endurance management, however, I understand slotting sets definitely helps any set, including rad. 
 

Second point, about particle shielding and its recovery boost. This is awesome, however, I understand wanting to save it for mitigation. My rad character is a tankers, which has much higher resists and higher hp and is able to weather attacks better than a scrapper so I can use it for recovery without much of an issue. I can see how a scrapper would be different.
 

 

All in all, I think the TOE proc is definitely a good candidate for slotting, even if I don’t personally use it. Perhaps more so for a scrapper than a tanker. 

[hejtmane]

@InvaderStych

 

Thanks I am always looking for little tweaks to make it better; I like to be able to solo AV's before incarnates so i try and run this fine line of as much dps as I can  and survive ability; i  wanted my katana/rad to be a little more resilient.

Edited September 17, 2020 by hejtmane