Beginner radiation armor/fiery melee build?

[Ambient]

Heya, pretty new to City of Heroes and I've rolled a rad/fire tanker. Was just wondering if anyone had a noob-friendly build for it, showing which skills are worth taking or what cheap enhancement things I should put where? Thank you.

[PLVRIZR]

Paging @Warboss.  His Atomic Minotaur build is exceptional!

[Warboss]

Thanks for the vote of confidence PLV, but I think Warboss is actually the more functional build (I tend to play/experiment with my builds and no two are the  same). I think @ZemX and @Spaghetti Betty might have better input for an overall guide. I'll try to post something this weekend. @Ambient if you want to hit me up in game I'd be happy to discuss build ideas with you. Not sure how much/when I'll be on (not much free time atm), but I'm at @Warboss in game if you want to send me tell, as your "cheap enhancements" condition merits some additional information. You can build a very durable Rad/Fire (well... Rad/* in general) with common IOs and placing specific uniques or procs in the right spots until you get enough for full sets, or as you build your full sets.  Theft of Essence chance for Endurance slotted into Radiation Therapy as early as possible makes life much easier. Also the Tanker ATOs lend a lot to the builds.

[Spaghetti Betty]

Welcome to the game! Radiation Armor is an exceptionally strong set that becomes cruise control once you start climbing up in levels. Fiery Melee is a devastating burst damage set, and Tankers benefit from an extra AoE that other ATs don't get (they get another ST attack instead)!

 

Both of these sets put together are very strong in any situation, but the main "drawback" is that you'll have to take pretty much every power in both sets. As for build goals, the #1 thing this combo seeks the most is high recharge for your buttons! This makes the protection of Rad Armor and the high damage of Fiery Melee more consistent. You don't have much to worry about on other fronts, since Tankers are naturally tough by design!

 

Anyways, I'm better at constructing builds than words. Here's a very simple one that uses zero Very Rare enhancements! ok well maybe I use superior ATOs shut up

 

very simple - Tanker (Radiation Armor - Fiery Melee).mbd

 

Very clean IO sets! No tricks! So easy a caveman could do it!

 

Well, ok, there's one trick. I'm sure the first thing you'll notice is that Ground Zero's slotting is a little suspicious. All of those enhancements have a chance to deal additional damage separate from the base power of your attack. This power will pretty much turn you into an atom bomb, so I will always insist on this method of slotting.

 

Never forget to slot your Archetype Origin enhancements! Every AT has 2 unique sets, and the Tanker ones are really strong! You can obtain these either by buying them directly on the Auction House, purchasing Super Packs and opening them (this becomes more cost effective the more funds you have available), or trade 100 Reward Merits at the Merit Vendor for them.

 

As far as every other enhancement here, I wouldn't be too intimidated by the cost of anything once you start learning how to use Enhancement Converters. It's too much detail to go into here, but they can effectively cut the cost of any build down by roughly 80%!

 

Use Particle Shielding on cooldown! "Absorb" is essentially a temporary layer of extra HP. It gets subtracted from first when you take damage! very, very rare exceptions to that

 

As for attacking, you can use Greater Fire Sword, Incinerate, and Fire Sword for ST, and pepper in Combustion and Fire Sword Circle for AoE. Boxing is just slotted for set bonuses and isn't a great attack.

 

I hope some of this info helps a bit. You can also PM me here or ingame @Spaghetti Betty. I'm always willing to answer any questions!

 

 

 

And here's a more advanced build for when you're ready to push your toon to the next level!

 

Spoiler

Air Fryer - Tanker (Radiation Armor - Fiery Melee).mbd

 

[ZemX]

Afraid my Mid's is in the shop!   And I haven't posted an updated Rad Armor build in a while here.  But all my Rad Armor Tankers are gravitating towards the same build scheme.  The main points of which are:

 

1. Panacea in Health.  Perf Shifter in Stamina.  No other slots in those powers.  RadA has bountiful endurance and drain resistance.  Plus, as Boss mentioned...

 

2. You put a Theft of Essense proc in Rad Therapy and now you have a self-heal that heals both the green AND the blue bars. I also drop in a couple Preventive Medicine IOs for heal/recharge and then the rest is damage procs, making it a mini proc-nuke as well.   It slices, it dices.... now how much would you pay?  But wait... there's more!

 

3. Overall your IO slotting for set bonuses will gear towards resistance and recharge.  Hasten, recharge bonuses, Combat Jumping so you have a defense power for various useful one-slot-wonder IOs like Shield Wall, Kismet, and Reactive Defense.

 

4. Winter Sets, when you can afford it, to stack up some of that 2-slot bonus slow debuff resistance.   This is key.  You get hit by everything.  If your recharge is debuffed, your heal and absorb shield don't come back fast enough, and you die.  Dying is not permitted!  But wait! Why am I getting hit by everything??  Why don't I just....

 

5. NO! No defense!  Screw defense!  Dodging attacks is for people who feel pain.  You are a resistance/absorb/heal tank.  You laugh at pain!  Plus you don't have defense debuff resistance.  Any defense you build will be blown away in any situation where you actually need it.   They can only hit you 95% of the time!  What harm can that do?  Speaking of hitting 95% of the time, btw...

 

6. Focused Accuracy.  I wish I could say you can choose any Epic set but... I can't stay away from Focused Accuracy.  Getting hit by everything means debuffs suck.  A lot.  And a lot of them are -toHit debuffs.  If you don't want to be reduced to autohit Taunt bot, take Energy Mastery and then take Focused Accuracy at 35.  Now, in addition to already being able to dance in Tar Patches because of slow resistance, you can ignore toHit debuffs too.  Mostly.

 

7. Ground Zero.   Another proc bomb.  Also a good place to drop two more Winter IOs for the slow resistance.  Avalanche set.  I like Acc/Dmg/Rech and Rech/Knockdown.   GZ has a long enough base recharge that you're gonna get 90% chance out of that proc.  Also, GZ hits up to THIRTY targets (though it includes allies because it heals them).  So GZ means you hit a huge number of targets.  Tanker means the radius is enormous.  And the KD proc is just funny.  This feels honestly better than Shield Charge.  You let this sucker rip in the middle of a big crowd of bad guys (or good guys!) and EVERYBODY takes a seat.  Fill out the rest of the slots with damage procs.

 

8. Teleport - This is somewhat a matter of choice obviously.  Take what travel you like, but Teleport has really grown on me lately because it can even be used inside a mission.  Again with the theme of being hit by everything comes the possibility of having your feet glued down so you can't fly/jump.  You're not rooted because you have immobilize protection, but you also can't even hop over a curb or railing in your way.  Unacceptable!  The blaster is being eviscerated! I need to get over there now and smash those guys so we can scrape that poor Blaster up off the tiles!  No problem if you can teleport!  Traffic jam at a door in an office or sewer map?  BAMF right though that crowd!   Also really nice for landing yourself in the exact middle of a big spawn of enemies without having to shoulder your way in there.  Perfect placement for a big AoE like, oh hey!  Ground Zero!  Tellin you, teleport in there and while still hovering you let GZ go and it flattens everyone, you're still floating there in a classic superhero pose surrounded by devastation.  /screenshot!

 

9. There is no 9!  You are having so much fun by now it should be illegal!

 

Okay.. this isn't a build.  But it's the outline.  If I can figure out how to properly install an updated Mid's I may give posting a build here a shot.  Although I hear export doesn't work anymore.  Booooo!  Maybe I'll attach the file then.

[Warboss]

Lol, and there you have it. I knew I could count on you two for build input. Thanks for breaking that down for the new Rad Tankers. Very nicely put and easy to understand. I'll will say the advice to get Winter-Os in there is very valid (I think I stumbled on that while playing around and didn't take it to heart until Zem and/or SB mentioned it specifically). @Ambient if you still have questions feel free to contact me or join us on TankHQ (channel) to get additional "help".

Edited February 9 by Warboss

[Sumergo]

How does Shield/Fire compare to Rad/Fire? Does anyone have a guide for Shield/Fire?

[StriderIV]

39 minutes ago, Sumergo said:

How does Shield/Fire compare to Rad/Fire? Does anyone have a guide for Shield/Fire?

I’d love to see this as well. Running with the shield and fire sword is all kinds of sweet.

[Ambient]

Wow, thank you so much for all the information everyone. This helps a lot, and it sounds like I made a good choice for a build.  So much has been said I feel bad that I don't have much input other than gratitude. 

Edited February 10 by Ambient

[Warboss]

21 hours ago, StriderIV said:

I’d love to see this as well. Running with the shield and fire sword is all kinds of sweet.

Shield/Fire is a very explosive combo. If you like impact and combustion, it's the set for you. Very fun to play and very visually exciting.

[StriderIV]

34 minutes ago, Warboss said:

Shield/Fire is a very explosive combo. If you like impact and combustion, it's the set for you. Very fun to play and very visually exciting.

I could see Shield Charge + FSC + Combustion just decimating groups. I was searching the forums and couldn’t really find a build. Can you point me in the direction of one?

[Spaghetti Betty]

2 hours ago, StriderIV said:

I could see Shield Charge + FSC + Combustion just decimating groups. I was searching the forums and couldn’t really find a build. Can you point me in the direction of one?

Here's an ancient one I shared about 10 pages back

 

Looking back it's only a few minor tweaks away from being perfect (for me), but it still serves just fine at 50.

 

[DarkRevelation]

On 2/9/2024 at 2:00 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:

And here's a more advanced build for when you're ready to push your toon to the next level!

 

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Air Fryer - Tanker (Radiation Armor - Fiery Melee).mbd 42.47 kB · 24 downloads

 

 @Spaghetti Betty Thank you for posting this build. I copied it, put it on a toon, and it is a lot of fun! I was initially looking at it and couldn't figure out why you put the KD in the heal, but after playing, I understood. I really appreciate you showing this, as it also gives me ideas for other builds. Thank you again!

[Spaghetti Betty]

19 minutes ago, DarkRevelation said:

 @Spaghetti Betty Thank you for posting this build. I copied it, put it on a toon, and it is a lot of fun! I was initially looking at it and couldn't figure out why you put the KD in the heal, but after playing, I understood. I really appreciate you showing this, as it also gives me ideas for other builds. Thank you again!

No problem. Glad you're enjoying it!