Help with Radiation Emission/Water Blast Build

[Momo_Arasaka]

I am level 21 presently and have formed out a mid build but I was wondering if anyone can give some feedback and suggestions on power selection and slotting. Thanks in advance.

Putrid Protecor - Defender (Radiation Emission - Water Blast).mbd

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4-slot RI. You can likely do 5 or 6-slot RA. EF likely just needs a single slot as no sets go into it, so 1 End Reduc should cover it. You might not need to 4-slot CJ. It tends to get 1 as a default. Maneuvers offers more Def, so I would have more slots there. I forget what I take on my Water Blaster, but it really is rare these days I take everything from any powerset. I might be tempted to pick up one of the armors. That stacking with Tough/Weave and your Debuffs will make the build rather durable. 

[Momo_Arasaka]

Thanks so much will do

[Momo_Arasaka]

OK I made some adjustments and so any thoughts about this one?

Putrid Protecor - Defender (Radiation Emission - Water Blast).mbd

[Without_Pause]

It's difficult to say much when we are only looking at slots. I will say it is weird to see Maneuvers 6-slotted while attacks are 3 to 4-slotted. 

[Momo_Arasaka]

I never played with the set IOs and so this was a planner to help me figure out what to take when as I level. I Played way back when the game was subscription and only just returned. So I am once more a noob. So any suggestions in what to take when and what not to take is appreciated. Thanks so much for your feed back so far.

[twozerofoxtrot]

18 hours ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

I never played with the set IOs and so this was a planner to help me figure out what to take when as I level. I Played way back when the game was subscription and only just returned. So I am once more a noob. So any suggestions in what to take when and what not to take is appreciated. Thanks so much for your feed back so far.

 

Hi OP👋 I'd like to offer some suggestions based on a build I've been using, unchanged, since early 2020 to take down AVs/GMs and general grouping. These days she mostly participates in Hami raids unless I'm chasing down Scrapyard. I'll include some notes, and organize this as best I can.

First, the build: Arcane Apprentice - Defender (Radiantion Emission).mbd

You'll probably notice off the bat it's a Rad/Rad build, but I'm sure you'll be able to adapt to your setup. The important parts are the Rad Emission, anyway.

 

Image for simplicity of reference (click to expand):

 

There are some very specific choices in my build, some of may not be obvious or even fit your goals. In other cases, they absolutely should be part of your goals and I'll explain why.
 

• Rad Infection: A must-take. You'll notice my slotting is a bit odd, with a -Res proc in there and two -ToHit/End Redux set IOs slotted. I'd do better to just ignore those IOs and slot two +3 Enzyme Exposure Hami-Os, but I take the moment to reveal this subpar part of the build because it helps where you currently are if you buy these off the AH as attuned enhancements and slot them until you get to 50 where you can re-slot this power with those Enzyme Exposure Hami-Os (which will really supercharge the power).
• Accelerate Metabolism: Another must-take. Focus on getting it Permanent above all else. As you can see, with this build I can do with just 3 slots. I think Preemptive Optimization is a great set for when you want a high-recharge End Gaining ability without committing a ton of IOs; it's arguably strongest set bonuses are at 2 and 3 and it has a recharge on 4 of 6 pieces.
• I've 6-slotted Preventative Medicine in Spirit Ward because I wanted to take Mystic Flight and Rune of Protection, so I skipped Radiant Aura. On your build, I'd slot this set in Radiant Aura. The power doesn't need the full set, it's functional with a single +3 Golgi Exposure Hami-O, but you want the full set for the exceptional bonuses. Still, if you need to economize you now know how.
• Enervating Field: Must take this. Just a single End Redux IO and call it a day. Like Rad Infection, the power is Auto-Hit and has a fast recharge so all you're really worried about is the cost to you (and only a little bit, if Accelerate Metabolism is perma).
• Mutation: You can skip this. But I didn't, though I did pick it up last. Nobody hates getting a rez, though Venging them and tossing a wake is usually the better call.
• Lingering Radiation: You skipped this, and that was a bad call. Find something to drop (Aqua Bolt) and pick it up. Unlike Enervating Field and Rad Infection, it's not an Auto-Hit toggle on a short Cooldown. You can easily get away with slotting it with just 1 Recharge Redux like I have, or put a set in there for bonuses. 
  • Why is this power important? Well, it's your main source of -Regen. -500% Regen, to be exact, a huge contributor to downing hard targets from EBs to GMs. Even with the resists an AV or GM bring to bear, this will still debuff somewhere around -200% of their Regen and you will notice it. Keep it up through out the fight while your Rad Infection and Enervating Field are ticking.
  • Personally I think the Slow set bonuses are hot garbage, which is why I chose to economize on the slotting here. Once Rad Infection is applied, you should be able to land this easily.
• Choking Cloud: Easy skip. I mostly took this as a mule for set bonuses, much like I've used Neutrino Bolt and X-Ray Beam; I don't actually use these powers in combat. However in some group play I have run Choking Cloud and it does work ~fine~ if not spectacular.
• I think Fallout is a Safe Skip as well. Funny alternate option instead of Vengeance.
• I would delete my character before picking up EM Pulse. A power that drains all of my Endurance and keeps me at zero for 15 seconds? The -1000% regen is not worth it if I can't run my toggles. Not to mention you can't keep this up permanently like you can with Lingering Radiation. 

You probably noticed I have a ton of Winter sets slotted. Not something I'd typically recommend but a) I built this a while ago and b) it still works. You might need a different approach with Water Blast. Speaking off, I would not skip Steam Spray unless you were hurting for power picks. It can be proc'd out for some respectable damage. 

Finally, you'll see my defensive toggles are pretty sparsely slotted. A lot of this is due to my heavy reliance on Winter sets which, while expensive, can be slotted into your build at level 10 and begin contributing very early in your build. I'm not necessarily making an argument here for this build style as much as explaining the pros and cons of my choice.

Overall, Recharge should be your biggest focus, so prioritize those set bonuses where you can get them. Because Recharge gets Accelerate Metabolism to Perma, which basically unlocks god mode for Rad Emission since you can keep your three debuffs going all the time on your targets.



Hope this helps you!

[Momo_Arasaka]

Oh wow, thank you so much I am going to study this and try lingering then I never noticed the regen and concerned I would pull too much agro when grouping. I will repost the build after I tear it down. Any thoughts on the water blast?

[Momo_Arasaka]

5 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

 

Hi OP👋 I'd like to offer some suggestions based on a build I've been using, unchanged, since early 2020 to take down AVs/GMs and general grouping. These days she mostly participates in Hami raids unless I'm chasing down Scrapyard. I'll include some notes, and organize this as best I can.

First, the build: Arcane Apprentice - Defender (Radiantion Emission).mbd

You'll probably notice off the bat it's a Rad/Rad build, but I'm sure you'll be able to adapt to your setup. The important parts are the Rad Emission, anyway.

 

 

OK I reworked the Radiation side but still need to slot the waterblast thank you all your input.

Putrid Protecor - Defender (Radiation Emission - Water Blast).mxd

[twozerofoxtrot]

8 hours ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

concerned I would pull too much agro when grouping

This is a very fair concern, it can happen. I would save Lingering Radiation for the hard targets (EB and above) which your entire group is likely to be focused on. That should spare you the enemy's unwanted attention.

 

8 hours ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

Any thoughts on the water blast?

 

Not too many.

It looks like you've got 6 slots available per power, that's good. Remember that the most important consideration is Global Recharge. You'll want to get Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism permanent. That means expensive ATO and Very Rare sets.

One thing that Water Blast has working against it is that it's entirely Ranged Single Target and Ranged AoE attacks. That means you don't have the diversity to slot a lot of different Epic sets to get 5x 10% Recharge Reduction. BUT, there's a trick that Defenders (and Corruptors) can pull off to get there with their ATOs, and I did it on my Rad/Rad build, which is to split the Superior Vigilant Assault set in half, since the 10% recharge bonus is for 3 pieces. Balance it so you have a good amount of accuracy and damage per power, then fill in the rest for procs. I think Steam Geyser and Dehydrate are good candidates for this strategy because both powers have decent proc rates and provide access to damage procs from other sets like Touch of the Nictus and Lady Gray. 

Speaking of which, I've noticed you kept Aqua Bolt in your build and while I won't question why or push to do otherwise, I'll just say that it's an exceptionally weak attack that is locking you out of better ones.

 

Other thoughts:

• You have more KB protect than most tankers. It's probably overboard. You can drop the slots for Karma in Weave and the generic KB IO in Acrobatics and and still have 13 KB protect (which is Tanker-level). That frees up 2 slots to invest elsewhere, like placing Luck of the Gambler procs into Scorpion Shield and Weave to get the +7.5% recharge bonus.
  • If you need KB protect at your current level, take the stealth out of Super Jump and put the KB Protect IO you had in your previous build back in there. If you feel like you need Stealth, rotate it into your Sprint. Being able to sneak and stand up is more important than walking a little faster, in my book.
• Tidal Forces: pick this power up earlier. It is a huge component of doing damage for Water Blast. 
  • If you need suggestions for what to swap it with, I'd posit that in your 20s and 30s you usually don't have the Endurance Recovery to sustain so many Power Pool Toggles at once. I'd personally take Maneuvers later.
• Stamina: You have Preemptive Optimization in the 3rd slot, but if you put another Performance Shifter in that slot (like Endmod/Recharge) then you'd get the same boost to the power and the 3 set bonus from Performance Shifter (any extra HP is good on any build).
• Combat Jumping: Assuming you always keep this running, if you drop the Def/End from Luck of the Gambler and add a Kismet: Accuracy +6% IO you will be better off for it. This is a bit of an advanced tip so I'll explain:
  • As you level into 20 and beyond, you'll have exhausted the hidden buffs that lower level characters get to their ToHit, making it harder to land attacks. Having the Kismet IO slotted will help offset that effect.
  • Unlike what the IO says in the name, it actually provides +6% bonus to ToHit, not Accuracy. This makes it much stronger than it seems, and is like having a self-only Tactics running as long as your Combat Jumping is toggled on.
  • You do have to trade something for this functionality, which (at lvl 50) comes out to 0.35 Def to all, -0.01 End per second, and 11.45 HP. In my opinion, well worth it.

Edited October 15 by twozerofoxtrot

[Momo_Arasaka]

First thank you for all the feed back I so appreciate it. Question how much recharge should be my goal? Right now I have 147% and endrain of 2.91% and endrdx of 2.5%

I kept aqua bolt as I was thinking I would use it for debuffing as it is fast to recharge, low end, and ranged.

here is what I came up with and I am sure I made lots of mistakes as I have never ever got to play with the IO sets before when I played we only had crafted IOs ans Hami's available that I remember.
 

Putrid Protecor - Defender (Radiation Emission - Water Blast).mxd

Edited October 16 by Momo_Arasaka

[twozerofoxtrot]

7 hours ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

Question how much recharge should be my goal?

 

292.5% (100 base + 192.5 added) is the magic number. Ideally? The closer you get to 300, the better.

 

But that's hard bordering on impossible without expensive IOs. I see you're going for more affordable sets, but I think we might be looking in some of the wrong places with regards to set bonuses.

 

 

I'd like to break out a few suggestions to help guide you with some of the set bonus knowledge I've picked up over the years. These are not definitive answers, but can help orient you to better options that hopefully won't break the bank.
 

First, Water Burst:

I see what you're doing here, going for the 7.5% recharge. Good attempt, but there's a problem. This set enhances Knockback magnitude, which in practical terms means how far you fling a target. With Water Burst slotted as such, you're going to be scattering your targets all over the place as opposed to just knocking them on their butts where they stand. This inefficient for Water Blast, since you want to chain AoEs into enemy groups. Not to mention it might make you unpopular with your team for the same reasons.

 

I'd recommend the following setup instead:

What does this do for you that your previous slotting doesn't? Besides eliminating the aforementioned scattering problem, it improves the damage, accuracy, and range of your attack. You trade 7.5% global recharge for 6.25%, which is a flat decrease, but that one extra Force Feedback IO in there? That's the proc that gives you 10 seconds of +100% Global Recharge. If you put it here in Water Burst and use this power whenever it's up, you're very likely going to have this buff up on you 1/3 of the time you're in combat. I'm not a math wiz, but I'll tell you that will have a dramatic impact on your Global Recharge and very honestly, can solve your Global Recharge problem entirely by itself.

I would strongly recommend doing the same for Geyser:

You may not use it as frequently as Water burst, but this will absolutely proc each time you use it. Alternatively, you could put a damage proc in the 6th slot. Either one is a good choice.
 

Steam Spray. I would do something similar but with a -Resist Debuff proc slotted instead of the +Recharge (since it can't accept):

This will net you more Global Recharge than what Detonation was providing (which is none).

On to Hydro Blast:

I'm not sure I totally follow the logic on this slotting. It's not bad, but it could be better. There's no Global Recharge bonuses present, either.
 

It's not cheap, but the 8.75% recharge bonus on the 6-piece Defender ATO set Defender's Bastion is hard to beat:

And when you hit 50, and get 6 Enhancement Catalysts, you can boost it up to 10%:

You might be asking, "Why not include a Force Feedback +Recharge proc here, as well?" Well you could, and it's not a terrible idea, but proc change calculations factor in a power's animation speed and recharge (among other factors). Basically the faster a power animates and recharges, the less a proc will fire. Hydro Blast is a fast power, so not as good for a proc like Force Feedback which has a relatively low rate. It's better in Water Burst, since it will roll to proc on all affected targets.


Next, Aqua Bolt:

I get the sense that you're trying to eke out as much -Def as possible on this power, but let me be frank: you don't need to. Radiation Infection will do that work for you. This is a damaging power, and should be used to damage.
 

How about Decimation's 5 piece bonus, which offers the same 6.25% Global Recharge as Positron's Blast?

And it's relatively cheap; you can get 5 pieces from between 5-10 million total. The downside? It maxes at level 40, so your stats will be a little weak for this power at 50. But in my opinion that is okay, since it was a very weak power to begin with. You'll be a stronger Defender by getting that Global Recharge up to empower your Accelerate Metabolism and Hasten being permanent than having 10% more damage on your weakest attack. Bonus is that you get that one slot free to what you wish with, including some more -Def if that's your prerogative.

A net loss of 3.75 -Def, in trade for more Global Recharge, and better damage overall. I think this is a win.

 

Next up, I implemented the suggestion I made in my earlier post about repurposing the slots from Weave,

And Acrobatics:


We can get way more efficient with these slots, since Acrobatics gives you more than enough KB protection by default. So instead we'll go with this for Weave:

And take that slot from Acrobatics and put into Scorpion Shield:


This not only boosts your Defense from these powers (by a tiny amount) but gives you valuable cumulative 15% Global Recharge.

Now to help teach you how to fish! Mids has this neat feature (recently reworked) called "Set Inspector" under the Windows tab in the taskbar:


It will let you search by Set Bonuses for what sets you want:


Hope all that helps!

 

 

Edited October 16 by twozerofoxtrot

[Momo_Arasaka]

OMG you are a life saver! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain. As I said I have no experience with sets and this really helps me understand them more and the Set Inspector tip looks like a game changer for me.

One question I was under the impression that if a power does knockup or knock down and you slot knockback it was automatically made knockup or down. Is that not correct?

[Psyonico]

2 hours ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

question I was under the impression that if a power does knockup or knock down and you slot knockback it was automatically made knockup or down. I

Knockback enhancements increase the magnitude of the power slotted, not the chance to knock back.  Magnitude increases how far something gets knocked back/up.

 

So, if you slot knock back into a power that does knockdown, you'll turn it into actual knockback, and knockup will cause enemies to go higher into the air.

[Momo_Arasaka]

3 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Knockback enhancements increase the magnitude of the power slotted, not the chance to knock back.  Magnitude increases how far something gets knocked back/up.

 

So, if you slot knock back into a power that does knockdown, you'll turn it into actual knockback, and knockup will cause enemies to go higher into the air.

AH so slotting KB in KU is ok then?

 

[Psyonico]

6 minutes ago, Momo_Arasaka said:

AH so slotting KB in KU is ok then?

 

Well, the higher in the air enemies go, the more chance they have to spread out due to the knockup.