Dissuade Me From DM/Rad

[Erratic1]

I was extolling the merits of Radiation Armor yesterday in another thread and got to thinking about the pre-shutdown DM/Elec Brute I'm currently remaking and wondering Rad might be a better pairing with DM than Elec.

 

It's been a long time, but I think what drew me to Electric Armor was it had psionic resistance and a Recharge bonus via Lightning Reflexes. Radiation Armor has less Psionic resistance but also an equal amount of Toxic resistance too. It provides variable Recharge bonus, but caps out at a higher amount when you are where a Brute likes to be--in the middle of a crowd of enemies. Like Electric Armor, Radiation Armor has a heal, but it also has an damage absorption power, so you could slot Siphon Life more for damage and recharge. Both have a damage aura, but whereas Electric train's endurance, Radiation's lowers their regeneration while upping yours. Instead of having an foe endurance drain/self endurance rcovery power (which overlaps Dark Consumption) Radiation gets a passive which like Stamina ups endurance recovery. Moreover Radiation gets a toggle which lowers enemy defenses and to-hit (which works in conjunction with the accuracy debuff from DM melee attacks).

 

Attacking faster, hitting more often, getting hit less, having damage absorption...it really looks like Rad pairs better with DM than Elec (which from experience is a really good pairing). Am I missing something?

[iBones]

I was extolling the merits of Radiation Armor yesterday in another thread and got to thinking about the pre-shutdown DM/Elec Brute I'm currently remaking and wondering Rad might be a better pairing with DM than Elec.

 

It's been a long time, but I think what drew me to Electric Armor was it had psionic resistance and a Recharge bonus via Lightning Reflexes. Radiation Armor has less Psionic resistance but also an equal amount of Toxic resistance too. It provides variable Recharge bonus, but caps out at a higher amount when you are where a Brute likes to be--in the middle of a crowd of enemies. Like Electric Armor, Radiation Armor has a heal, but it also has an damage absorption power, so you could slot Siphon Life more for damage and recharge. Both have a damage aura, but whereas Electric train's endurance, Radiation's lowers their regeneration while upping yours. Instead of having an foe endurance drain/self endurance rcovery power (which overlaps Dark Consumption) Radiation gets a passive which like Stamina ups endurance recovery. Moreover Radiation gets a toggle which lowers enemy defenses and to-hit (which works in conjunction with the accuracy debuff from DM melee attacks).

 

Attacking faster, hitting more often, getting hit less, having damage absorption...it really looks like Rad pairs better with DM than Elec (which from experience is a really good pairing). Am I missing something?

 

I think what you will find is that /Rad is just good. So when compared to a mediocre set like /Elec - the amount of positives are going to outweigh the negatives. I have read quite a few posts that /Rad and /Bio are kind of overtuned right now. I really dont think it's even a discussion at this point - Regardless of primary, /Rad will likely outperform /Elec at virtually every portion of the game.

[subbacultchas]

Well, /Rad is simply fantastic. I couldn't dissuade you from it if I wanted to, without presenting some really bad information.

 

However, I dislike DM quite a bit. I've played it a lot over the years, and I just really don't care for the set overall. It does great damage, but the damage is almost entirely single target except for the cone, and two aoe buffs. Plus the last power, Midnight Grasp?, used to have the damage end-loaded in the form of a DOT. I avoid it now. Even if there was an overhaul of MG, I'm just done with the set.

[Nightmarer]

Not only won't dissuade you but I also think it's a great choice dammit, now I want to roll one myself

[Erratic1]

I couldn't stand it and so made the guy. Been very nice so far.

[Gulbasaur]

I was umming and ahhing about playing a brute because I usually play peacebringer and I like the variety... but this thread sort of confirmed it for me.

 

I know they end up very solid, but right now it feels paper thin - peacebringers can pretty much hit damage resistance cap by level 21 in a team of 8. Brutes... can't. I'm level 28 and I still feel fragile compared to white dwarf form.

 

Churning out the damage is cool, though, and rad/rad gives you a lot of healing, endurance management and sorta-cleave from contamination. I know they can get obscenely high damage, but at the moment it feels a bit... middling. Probably just mid-level blues.

 

Anyone got any advice on hot to get the best from /rad? It feels like I have a hell of a lot of toggles to contend with. Is beta decay worth running most of the time for the recharge bonus?

 

Is it worth slotting gamma boost for endurance and/or heal? It seems like a bit of a double-edged sword, that power. As it's very toggle-heavy, I feel like getting low health will cause my endurance to crash, leading to sudden death... or is the recharge really that good?

[Erratic1]

I was umming and ahhing about playing a brute because I usually play peacebringer and I like the variety... but this thread sort of confirmed it for me.

 

I know they end up very solid, but right now it feels paper thin - peacebringers can pretty much hit damage resistance cap by level 21 in a team of 8. Brutes... can't. I'm level 28 and I still feel fragile compared to white dwarf form.

 

Churning out the damage is cool, though, and rad/rad gives you a lot of healing, endurance management and sorta-cleave from contamination. I know they can get obscenely high damage, but at the moment it feels a bit... middling. Probably just mid-level blues.

 

Anyone got any advice on hot to get the best from /rad? It feels like I have a hell of a lot of toggles to contend with. Is beta decay worth running most of the time for the recharge bonus?

 

Is it worth slotting gamma boost for endurance and/or heal? It seems like a bit of a double-edged sword, that power. As it's very toggle-heavy, I feel like getting low health will cause my endurance to crash, leading to sudden death... or is the recharge really that good?

 

At the risk of turning this into a Sing the Glories of Rad Armor thread, l will tackle the above as follows:

 

(1) For the most part, as a melee in CoH, if a powerset gives you a toggle it should be turned on, no questions asked. There is nothing to contend with. You activate your toggles and then, unless something saps you of endurance and turns one or more off, you leave them alone. If for any reason you need to deactivate something due to cost, you choose non primary/secondary powers to deactivate first--movement, power pool, whatever. In a pinch, if you know your opponents are not attacking a defense provided by a specific power, you may turn that one off.

 

(2) A quick check of My Rad/Psi Tanker shows that Gamma Boost is, with three slots dedicated to Endurance modification, providing roughly 2/3rd as much endurance recovery as three-slotted Stamina. Many (if not most) melee builds struggle with finding enough endurance for long stretches of the levelling run. Gamma Boost lifts  waiting and needing to look to IO enhancement set bonuses and/or taking specific Epic Power Pool sets to try to get endurance expenditures under control. At the very least I cannot see how one does not immediately slap 3 Endurance Modification enhancements in it. Yes, getting to lower life totals means reduced endurance recovery. But you have (a) the entire bar to run through before that becomes a problem, (b) a way to pad your life total in the form of Particle Shielding, and © a heal. Say you earn $4,000 monthly, average $3,000 in expense per month, and have $10,000 in savings. If you go out and get a car which costs you $1,100 per month you're going to have to start digging into your savings but it will take 100 months before you burn through your savings. If you're going to pay the car off 36 months, your savings will go down for a bit, but you are going to be okay in the end. Same principle applies here.

 

In actual use, my Rad/Psi tank never considers her endurance bar. She just goes about her business. My DM/Rad Brute can spend his blue bar down when I get going with him primarily because unlike most melee builds I make, I did not put any Endurance Reduction in his attacks. But wait, he has on top of the periodic absorb shield and big heal, an attack which also heals him (Dark Siphon) and an attack which gives him endurance (Dark Consumption). His only concern is the same as the tank's--keeping his health bar from hitting zero. Those slots I did not use for Endurance Reduction on his attacks will instead be dedicated to To-Hit debuffs, meaning he should get hit less (and that on top of the -To-Hit from Beta Decay).

[Gulbasaur]

At the risk of turning this into a Sing the Glories of Rad Armor thread, l will tackle the above as follows:

Preach.

 

Thank you, that's all incredibly helpful. I'm so used to passives that toggles seem a bit daunting from an endurance management perspective but I shall persevere. 

[FUBARczar]

I don't think it pairs, I'd go for something with more control. mitigation and AoE.  I'd much rather run a Rad/Rad, or anything else really.

[Erratic1]

I don't think it pairs, I'd go for something with more control. mitigation and AoE.  I'd much rather run a Rad/Rad, or anything else really.

 

Hard to argue the point when you do not give any reason for thinking that somehow debuffing opponent's To-Hit with every attack you have in your primary along with Beta Decay somehow does not pair.

 

Having to Rad Melee characters (Rad/Fire Brute and Rad/Shield Scrapper) its not that I do not like Rad Melee and Fusion is pretty rocking, especially if you have area damage to lay out. But Radiation Melee attacks are slower in delivery and getting back to a quicker chain of attacks is a nice change of pace.

 

In the actual process of playing it certainly seems to work just fine, so I am going to continue. If its not your cup of tea, that's fine.

 

[Boon]

I am loving my DM/Rad and he is tearing through everything I have thrown him at so far.

[Gulbasaur]

Does anyone have any thoughts on Meltdown, the final /rad power. It looks very underwhelming.

[Erratic1]

It's not that the final (or penultimate power) is bad, but it doesn't stimulate thoughts about wild possibilities.

[FUBARczar]

Does anyone have any thoughts on Meltdown, the final /rad power. It looks very underwhelming.

 

think of it as a minute-long mini build up