It took forever but... I'm finally liking a Tanker (Rad/BA)

[yorevyomama]

So... OK. I've played off and on since the early days of live. I've messed with Tankers but they just never held my interest. 

But I had a random idea a few weeks back and tried making a Radiation Armor/Battle Axe Tanker and after doing a bunch of story arcs, TFs and solo AEs I've hit 45... and I'm still into it, surprisingly. 

Mostly IO'd at this point - I've put a few procs in here and there, but I'm trying to hold off on really digging into set bonuses until 47. 

 

So while I'm working towards that part - any Rad/BA tanks have sample builds to show me? Still trying to decide where slots should go. 

I skipped Beheader and I'm tempted to pull all slots from Chop as I'm just not using it that often at this time... but my opinion isn't set in stone. Here's what I've currently got...

[yorevyomama]

I did Force Feedback procs in three attacks thus far, a Gladiator's Javelin -Res in Ground Zero. Theres a Perfect Zinger Psi Damage proc in GZ as well, but I might remove that later. Was thinking about putting the Panacea procs in Health and Gamma Boost. Achilles Heel in Beta Decay, but since that's a toggle I'm not sure that should really go there. 

[Anthraxus]

I have two fully kitted-out Rad/BA tankers, and they are VERY powerful; also have a BA/Rad Brute who cycles the Rad tier-9 and with Rune of Protection (Sorcery pool) to achieve tanker level resists.

 

One observation is that putting the +recharge proc into the two 360-deg attacks is more than enough if you want to save some slots for something else.

[Camel]

It just so happens that the next Tank I am going to roll will be Rad/BA! 

This build may not be to your liking, it's definitely leaning towards a more offensive approach, but it's no slouch in the defensive department either. The resistance values might seem low at first.. But the +res Tank proc doesn't show the benefits in Mids... so after one stack, you have 84% res to most damage type and 90% res after two stacks. It's pretty easy to maintain two stacks since the attack that the proc is slotted into has a higher base recharge than most normal single target melee attacks. 

You definitely want to leverage as many FF +recharge procs as you can, they are a huge boon to your defensive and offensive prowess. 

Battle Axe and Radiation Armor are two of my favorite sets in the game. These two combined, specifically, offer a total ST and crazy AoE damage package. This makes slotting and choosing your Epic/Patron pool a no-brainer and I would whole-heartedly recommend going Energy Mastery for Focused Accuracy and Physical Perfection.

Side note. The empty IO slots you see in the build are where I would be putting the Force Feedback chance for +recharge IOs. I don't slot them in my Mids builds because they skew the proc rates for powers and I'd also like to see what my general recharge would be without them. Battle Axe is phenomenal with these procs because you can practically have it up 100% of the time with proper timing and playstyle. 

You chose a killer combination, and I hope you continue to enjoy the madness that is Rad/BA!

Cheers! 🍺
 

Tanker (Radiation Armor - Battle Axe).mbd

Edited March 15 by Camel

[WuTang]

Love me some Rad! Probably my favorite TBH.  Still learning to love BA though. I have a Brute BA/Bio, he's 50 but....

 

I can drop in my Rad/MA build, maybe you could use it for ideas on Rad?

Tanker (Radiation Armor - Martial Arts)Final.mbd

[yorevyomama]

Thanks guys!!! I'm sorry I'm slow in replying- wrecked my car earlier this week and it's just been a big mess to deal with (I'm not injured though!). 

 

I did hit 50 with this tank. I haven't picked an alpha yet as I've been working on the beginnings of set bonuses - seeing how much I can goose Recovery and the resistances before picking an alpha. I thought I was going to have to go Cardiac but it sure seems like I don't need to now.

[WuTang]

2 hours ago, yorevyomama said:

Thanks guys!!! I'm sorry I'm slow in replying- wrecked my car earlier this week and it's just been a big mess to deal with (I'm not injured though!). 

 

I did hit 50 with this tank. I haven't picked an alpha yet as I've been working on the beginnings of set bonuses - seeing how much I can goose Recovery and the resistances before picking an alpha. I thought I was going to have to go Cardiac but it sure seems like I don't need to now.

Dude sorry to hear about your accident and glad you weren't hurt. 

 

On your build, Cardiac can be a good choice. For me it was between that and Resilience. Resilience offers a +toHit but my hit can't be debuffed so I felt that the endurance reduction was better option.

[Anthraxus]

On 3/21/2025 at 6:22 AM, yorevyomama said:

 I haven't picked an alpha yet...

Unlike with many other tanks, on a well-built Rad/* there's not a huge upside to Cardiac (IMHO); this really unlocks other potential Alpha Incarnate powers like Musculature for even more damage.

[yorevyomama]

Heh, well... I'm 50 now, but I still haven't picked an alpha as I'm still messing with set bonuses. Did an ITF last night alongside a brute with DA and was amazed at how resilient he was (though I didn't perform badly myself lol). Right now just letting the shards and threads pile up so when I make a decision, I'm ready for it.

I hit 83% on SL with bonuses... now I'm looking at tightening up Fire resistance. 

[yorevyomama]

Gotta say... as I said at the beginning of the thread I've never taken a Tanker to 50, though I have had a few 50 brutes. Rad Armor/Battle Axe seems particularly impressive over every combo I've dabbled with. (I liked War Mace/Shield too)

Edited Wednesday at 03:24 PM by yorevyomama

[Warboss]

Have you mastered all the craziness you can do with Axe Cyclone? If not, just wait until you get that figured out. ;)

[Camel]

4 minutes ago, Warboss said:

Have you mastered all the craziness you can do with Axe Cyclone? If not, just wait until you get that figured out. 😉

There's also a unique interaction if you get the timing right (or wrong?) when a teammate uses Fold Space. As well as the dragging enemies with you or jumping up into the air and them literally being tossed around XD I love the cool tech you can do with Axe Cyclone. It's like a pocket Fold Space!

[Warboss]

6 minutes ago, Camel said:

There's also a unique interaction if you get the timing right (or wrong?) when a teammate uses Fold Space. As well as the dragging enemies with you or jumping up into the air and them literally being tossed around XD I love the cool tech you can do with Axe Cyclone. It's like a pocket Fold Space!

 

This among a few other things really makes Battle Axe the ultimate Tanker Secondary (don't forget enemy juggling with KU and KD). Haven't tried it with Fold Space yet, but I can see how that would get "interesting" (dang, test server here I come again....).

[StriderIV]

9 hours ago, Warboss said:

 

This among a few other things really makes Battle Axe the ultimate Tanker Secondary (don't forget enemy juggling with KU and KD). Haven't tried it with Fold Space yet, but I can see how that would get "interesting" (dang, test server here I come again....).

Gotta ask War, because I've seen you sing Battle Axe's praises: what do you feel is the best primary to pair with it? I'm assuming most likely Rad or Bio Armor. I could see Elec Armor going nicely as well though.

Shield/Battle Axe would prob look SWEET... I just imagine it'd be tough to work around the endurance.

[Camel]

9 hours ago, Warboss said:

 

This among a few other things really makes Battle Axe the ultimate Tanker Secondary (don't forget enemy juggling with KU and KD). Haven't tried it with Fold Space yet, but I can see how that would get "interesting" (dang, test server here I come again....).

I'm not sure if it works with your own Fold Space, as I wasn't the one doing it. But if you activate Axe Cyclone and it hits mobs as your teammate Fold Spaces them... they come out of the Fold Space and it absolutely throws them. At least it did when I was teaming with my Discord folks. We started seeing some crazy knockback when the mobs and my Axe Cyclone triggered on the mobs at the exact same time. Sometimes they would all spawn in on each other and become literally one enemy for a second before exploding like confetti. it was truly weird and I have no explanation for it other than the effect of Axe Cyclone trying to pull them together while they are simultaneously being teleported through space lol.