Fire/Rad as good as it looks?

[MechTon]

Hey Gang, I was looking at trying a Sentinel for the first time, and Fire/Rad is really speaking to me. It looks like they would be a really fun combination worth pursuing. My only issue is when messing with Pine's it almost seams like I'd want to take all of the powers from both sets. Do you all have build recommendations? Are there any powers that are skippable? I'm planning to take Hover/Fly at some point and just need to decide when best to add them in. Also what would be a recommended Epic Pool? I don't really like most of the options I'm seeing. Thanks!

[nihilii]

As a fellow fire/rad, I'd say take those two problems together and turn them into solutions: there's nothing amazing in Sentinel epics, so might as well skip them and get as many primary and secondary powers you want. :)

 

Blazing Blast is currently bugged and does Fire Blast levels of damage, so it's probably best to skip it.

 

Personally, I'm running without Rain of Fire or Fire Breath either. Given Inferno, Ground Zero and Aim all share the same base recharge time of 90 seconds, you've got a nice 1-2-3 combo (with the odd Fireball thrown in) to open every fight. Jump in, unleash your PBAoEs, no targeting required. Bliss!

 

(And, remember to stick a Gaussian Chance for Build Up proc in your Aim, to turn it into an Aim + Build Up!)

 

Ground Zero is also a prime candidate for a Theft of Essence proc, which will refill your bar entirely when you pop it in the middle of ~10 mobs.

 

Radiation has resistance to slows only second to Ice (IIRC), and in the long run it's possible to grant yourself immunity to slows, through the Winter IO sets. Especially nice on a resistance set, as we get hit more often than defense characters.

 

This is what works for me... I'm sure there's people out there doing great building for the S/L softcap or ranged defense, using Fire Breath and RoF with the AoE immobilize from Elec Mastery, for example. Lots of flexibility with the combo, to be sure. :)

[Astredax]

I'm speaking from a fire/bio perspective, but I'd second skipping breath of fire.  I'd actually take blazing blast while leveling, or at least until you have some good recharge going, then ditch the power afterwards.

 

I do, however, think the sentinel APPs are pretty good: the melee attacks in particular are worth your time.  Mind probe is super high DPA, and charged brawl isn't that far behind, and the elec damage aura is also pretty nice if you're going to be in melee anyway. 

[Tankshock]

Fire/Rad was smoothest ride to 50 I've ever had.  You can definitely bring the damage, while usually not worrying about defenses.  I took Fire Breath while leveling, then respecced out.  But I'd definitely take Fire Rain, the bigger rad(ius) over Ground Zero shows up a lot.  Likewise, Blazing Blast does solid damage, I'd rather drop Fire Blast.  It's useful when you get Boss aggro.  Didn't take any Epic pools.

 

It's the only toon I didn't bother to softcap because stuff is almost always dead before I'm in trouble.  The Absorb is a big deal.  Focused on extra damage instead, plus Fly and Afterburner as a luxury.  Wouldn't be hard to soft cap if you give up a few things, but I don't miss it.  More fun to just melt everything.

[nihilii]

Likewise, Blazing Blast does solid damage, I'd rather drop Fire Blast.

 

I thought so too, played the character to 50 and beyond, using Blazing Blast blissfully unaware anything was wrong. I never even grabbed Fire Blast, so confident in the numbers from the power description!

 

Then ShadowDreamer helpfully pointed out the problem: Blazing Blast only does 5 ticks of damage, which comes out to be the same damage as Fire Blast, for twice the end cost and a much longer recharge.

 

If Blazing Blast is ever fixed, it will definitely be a staple attack of any Fire/ chain (with a KB->KD IO).

[Tankshock]

Interesting.  I did some Pylon tests.  About half the time Blazing Blast triggered 5 times, the other half 6 times.  But FB and Blaze didn't trigger close to 80% either.  And Blazing Blast never triggered my Reactive Interface, which is at 75%.