I'm going to aim solely at the Radiation Blast portion of the powerset, both because everything Sweno said about the other set is dead-on, and because I
have a blastfender.
Emerald Blast uses Radiation Blast as her secondary, and while she can't compare to Gamma or Decay for tank-fender-ness, she can hold her own in a fight.
First off: Neutrino Bolt and X-Ray Beam. Slot them, and slot them well. By
mid-game they can be very potent non-stop attacks. With a bit of end reduction and recharge, you can fire these continuously and not affect your end at all.
I recommend slotting sets in here, and my personal pref is Devastation, but each to their own.
Irradiate: fun, but, eh. If you're going the tank-fender route and thus will be surrounded by enemies all the
time, it's worth it; otherwise, don't bother (or at least, don't bother slotting it); it doesn't do much damage even fully slotted and is only
useful if you're in melee range. Blastfenders stay out of melee range, so, yeah.
Electron Haze: awesome power. As Sweno says, take it, slot it, love it.
Proton Volley: you are a blastfender. GET THIS. A single -Interrupt IO will let you use this in close-quarters combat
as another attack, and I've found nothing better than a Defender with this power for the Zen of the Single Pull. Plus it's great for fleeing flying
enemies.
Aim: I'd slot a set in here for late-game juiciness, but other than that, Sweno covered it.
Cosmic Burst: this. This right here? THIS is what will make you cackle with glee as you fire it again and again and
again every chance you get at the poor schmuck on the recieving end. It can stun bosses, and if enough other debuffs are stacked, it can stun AVs. TAKE IT,
slot the hell out of it, and have fun.
Neutron Bomb: a decent targeted AoE, but my take on it is 'eh'. I use it, but usually only when I'm bored.
If you have the spare slots you can make it hurt, but if not don't worry too much about it and move on to...
Atomic Blast: This is an awesome nuke, easily the most powerful one a defender can get as far as I know. Slot it for
damage and recharge reduction; don't bother putting an end reduction in there because -- hey! -- it'll suck all your end no matter what. You'll
want to have blues handy to chew on after popping this, and always time it (if you can) so that Altered Metabolism (or Recovery Aura, or both) are affecting
you. Pop Aim while you're running into position, pop this, retreat while chewing blues and get your toggles back on-line as quick as you can.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
have a blastfender.
Emerald Blast uses Radiation Blast as her secondary, and while she can't compare to Gamma or Decay for tank-fender-ness, she can hold her own in a fight.
First off: Neutrino Bolt and X-Ray Beam. Slot them, and slot them well. By
mid-game they can be very potent non-stop attacks. With a bit of end reduction and recharge, you can fire these continuously and not affect your end at all.
I recommend slotting sets in here, and my personal pref is Devastation, but each to their own.
Irradiate: fun, but, eh. If you're going the tank-fender route and thus will be surrounded by enemies all the
time, it's worth it; otherwise, don't bother (or at least, don't bother slotting it); it doesn't do much damage even fully slotted and is only
useful if you're in melee range. Blastfenders stay out of melee range, so, yeah.
Electron Haze: awesome power. As Sweno says, take it, slot it, love it.
Proton Volley: you are a blastfender. GET THIS. A single -Interrupt IO will let you use this in close-quarters combat
as another attack, and I've found nothing better than a Defender with this power for the Zen of the Single Pull. Plus it's great for fleeing flying
enemies.
Aim: I'd slot a set in here for late-game juiciness, but other than that, Sweno covered it.
Cosmic Burst: this. This right here? THIS is what will make you cackle with glee as you fire it again and again and
again every chance you get at the poor schmuck on the recieving end. It can stun bosses, and if enough other debuffs are stacked, it can stun AVs. TAKE IT,
slot the hell out of it, and have fun.
Neutron Bomb: a decent targeted AoE, but my take on it is 'eh'. I use it, but usually only when I'm bored.
If you have the spare slots you can make it hurt, but if not don't worry too much about it and move on to...
Atomic Blast: This is an awesome nuke, easily the most powerful one a defender can get as far as I know. Slot it for
damage and recharge reduction; don't bother putting an end reduction in there because -- hey! -- it'll suck all your end no matter what. You'll
want to have blues handy to chew on after popping this, and always time it (if you can) so that Altered Metabolism (or Recovery Aura, or both) are affecting
you. Pop Aim while you're running into position, pop this, retreat while chewing blues and get your toggles back on-line as quick as you can.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs