Need a Build for a Rad/Bio

[Ruintheslayer]

Looking for a fun high suvivability build for my new stalker. I've never been good at builds. I heard that the Rad/Bio combo is pretty great for solo play so I'd like the build to focus on being able to solo as much things as possible.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Warzeal]

I can help.

[Ruintheslayer]

On 6/4/2021 at 3:04 PM, Warzeal said:

I can help.

 

Please do because my head starts spinning everytime I start looking at the IOs

[ZemX]

Grab a build from Croax's big build thread in this forum and start playing with it in Mid's to suit your tastes, would be my advice.  It's easier to modify his slotting than to come up with in on your own.

 

As to fun... obviously that's subjective so take this with a grain of salt: So far I'm not having fun with Rad Melee.  Maybe it just gets better much later but up to 30 so far and it's just... slow.  It's difficult to see Contamination doing much except when I get a heal from Rad Siphon or happen to notice some tiny dots added on to a group of enemies.

 

But aside from that, maybe I just don't like slower, bigger-hitting sets.  As fast as Staff Fighting is, the one attack in it that constantly annoys me is Sky Splitter, which I figure is very appropriately names because on a team I often end up hitting only air with it as my target ends up dead before I'm finished animating the second strike.   And my experience with Rad melee is similar on teams.  "Powering up this long animating attack and..... oh... someone killed  it already.   Next?  Ah ha! I'l... nope.  That's dead already too." *sigh*

 

Not a problem for you solo, obviously.

 

My tankiest pair of stalkers are twins: Ice/Rad and Ice/Shield.  I'm starting to prefer the latter but both are really sturdy in different situations.  Ice Melee isn't the fastest attacking set either, but it has a very nice 10ft 90deg cone and a frosty foot-stomp 10ft radius PBAoE.   But the crown jewel is Ice Patch.  Your own little dance floor of hilarity.  At least for things that must stand on the ground anyway.  It doesn't do anything to fliers.  But it adds a crap-ton of mitigation in a crowd of melee enemies and you will laugh at incoming ambush lines.  I even add on Provoke, which is starting to be must-have on all my Stalkers even if only for keeping stuff from running away while soloing.   But on teams, I have literally found myself tanking on pick-up groups when there's no brute or tanker.  I am sure it would pair just as well with Bio Armor.

 

But like I said, maybe I just haven't given rad melee enough of a chance yet.  I don't have its PBAoE yet, which might make a big difference spreading contamination in larger groups.  It could end up being fun with lower +level setting and higher xTeam setting when you solo.

[WillParkinson]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:58 PM, ZemX said:

As to fun... obviously that's subjective so take this with a grain of salt: So far I'm not having fun with Rad Melee.  Maybe it just gets better much later but up to 30 so far and it's just... slow.  It's difficult to see Contamination doing much except when I get a heal from Rad Siphon or happen to notice some tiny dots added on to a group of enemies.

 

Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was the only person this occurred to. I mean, if the enemies were a different color or glowed, maybe that would help a lot, but when you've got six mobs, which one just got infected?

[Ruintheslayer]

Thanks for the advice. I am enjoying my EM/Rad brute but while farming with a few folk they both had nothing but good things to say about Rad melee mostly due to the self heal and both said that Bio Armor is crazy at survivability. I'll look into that Croax thread and fiddle. I haven't started playing the Rad/Bio toon yet I've been endgaming my main with a lot of Hami raids and iTrials.

[ZemX]

If the people saying good things about Rad Melee were ALSO Brutes (or tankers) then it's worth remembering Stalkers don't get Irradiated Ground so we probably get less Contamination coverage  than other melee ATs who use the set.  Meaning you're getting a bit less healing out of Rad Siphon too.  Atom Smasher will be the primary way to Contaminate large groups and even that will only do about a third of those hit on average.  Proton Sweep is your only other AoE and has a decent 75deg arc, but disappointing 7ft radius.  Unless stuff is really packed together, you're usually only hitting two or three with it and contaminating each target only 21% of the time.  Irradiated Ground has only a 10% chance to contaminate but that's on every target in an 8ft radius patch, every 2 seconds.

 

I can imagine the set shines on Brutes and Tankers in large-crowds that can (a) Be packed in and kept together by taunt/punch-voke/threat, and then (b) Contaminated more often with the help of Irradiated Ground (not to mention the added damage and spread of damage due to contamination).

 

I haven't given up yet on my Rad/Rad Stalker, but not playing a whole lot either.  Just got Atom Smasher and just got it slotted a bit at 33.  So we'll see.

[FUBARczar]

Like ZemX said Rad Melee is much better suited for Brutes because of Irradiated Ground and Fury.

 

You still could do it but you would probably enjoy pairing it with something else more on a Stalker.