macskull

Don't forget enemies also have accuracy multipliers based on relative level and rank, and accuracy is factored into the hit chance equation after the 5% minimum clamp, so unless you fight exclusively even-con or lower minions everything will actually have a greater than five percent chance to hit you, sometimes more than double that, and there's no amount of defense you can add to reduce that higher chance. Also also, in addition to making you immune to (resisted) -res debuffs, being above 100% pre-capped resistance will make you immune to damage debuffs.

So patrol XP, at least, functions the same way it did back on live. I'm also not aware of any "XP boost" that's been added post-shutdown either, unless you include the XP boosters but those are optional.

When you say "recharge enhancements" do you mean recharge SOs or generic recharge IOs?

CoD doesn’t show the hold protection as being unaffected by enhancements and buffs so it should in theory be affected by Power Boost, but if it is it would only be affected for the duration of PB. I’ll have to check in game to see whether that’s actually true, since I know PB does affect mez protection powers like Clear Mind.

Yeah, this cuts out most of the traveling you need to do - the only movement that should be required is to get to the zone of your choice and find the right mob. After that it's just going between your SG base's rez station and the entrance portal (and mine are close enough to each other than I can click the portal from the rez station), EDIT: Caught the edit from your second to last post - I have been using this method to get debt for accolades for a while now and I can't recall a time when I've zoned back in to find the mob that had been there earlier has despawned. It might be because I'm using PvP zones and those tend to be so empty that you're 1) the player who causes the map to be loaded in the first place, and 2) the only one in the zone so there aren't any other players around to mess with spawning/despawning.

I just did the exact thing I described this past weekend while burning patrol XP for the debt badge to get High Pain Threshold, so I know it works. I tend to use Siren's Call though, the middle of the map has plenty of packs of Warriors and Tsoo that are big enough to kill you quickly. Just to be super extra sure though, I logged in while typing out this post and hopped into Siren's Call. 90 yards from the blueside helicopter I found two +2 Warrior bosses that killed my Dominator in 6.21 seconds. Went to SG base, zoned back in right on top of the same mobs, and died in less than 7 seconds. Did it a third time and was dead within three seconds. Including load times, none of those die -> base -> zone -> die cycles took me longer than a minute, and I'm running the game on a 10 year old laptop that has horrendous load times. The reason I say it has to be a PvP zone (or trial zone like the Hive, Monster Island, or the Abyss) is because zones without SG base portals will drop you right where you left if you go back out through the entrance portal in your base, while zones with base portals will always drop you at the portal. EDIT: I do want to point out that I'm not opposed to your initial suggestion. More options are always good. I'm simply pointing out that you can burn unwanted patrol XP pretty quickly with methods that already exist as a stopgap until something like your suggestion is implemented.

You can access Bloody Bay at level 15 (the wiki says any level, but I'm not sure if that's correct) - run into a mob, die, go to SG base, go back out through the portal and zone in to the same mob again. Rinse, repeat, and be done in about 5 minutes.

Dying when you have patrol XP burns patrol XP instead of accumulating debt, so a potential solution is just to die a few times until you burn the patrol XP.

The proposed changes don't add any lower-level grind. They present an alternate option to SOs at lower levels and make lower-level IOs more appealing. The only real way I could see there being "grind" here is having the inf to afford the lower level sets, but again... optional.

That's not how boosters work. Each booster increases an enhancement's effectiveness by 5%, stacking to a maximum of 25%. Looking at, say, an acc/dam IO for our purposes: A level 30 acc/dam IO provides 21.8% enhancement to both acc and dam. A level 35 acc/dam IO provides 22.9% enhancement to the same. A level 50 acc/dam IO provides 26.5% enhancement to the same. Seems pretty straightforward, right? But... 30+5 does not equal 35 because enhancement boosters always provide a fixed benefit of 5%. A single enhancement booster would make your level 30 into a 30+1 which would boost your acc and dam by (1.05 * 21.8% = 22.89%). So in this case, we see that 30 plus one equals not 31, but 35. If I use another four boosters to make that level 30 into a 30+5 my acc and dam is now boosted by (1.25 * 21.8% = 27.25%). As you can see, 27.25% is greater than 26.5%, so instead of 30+5 = 35, you get something more like 30+5 = somewhere between 54 and 55.

I'm a bit confused here by what you mean. A level 30+5 IO provides larger enhancement values than a level 50 IO. Yes, that was what part one of my suggestion entailed. The second part had to do with set bonuses, but the majority of the issue as I see it is just that large dropoff below the 25-30 range. Set bonuses open a whole different can of worms, but I think adjustment of lower-level enhancement values could be done independently.

You've got that backwards. For dual-aspect enhancements a 50+5 provides 33.1% bonus to both attributes while a level 50 Hami-O provides 33.3%, and a level 53 Hami-O provides 38.3%. Of course, once you go into combining certain Hami-O's it's really a question of whether that extra boost is worth it, and there are still some cases where a 50+5 is more cost-effective than a level 50 Hami-O.

It should be in the mids file, but IIRC the Elec/Rad AFK build uses Agility. It's worth pointing out that the Page 5 aggro changes did make actual AFK farming a lot more difficult especially if you're not on a Tanker. You almost have to be constantly checking on your farm, which I suppose is part of the goals of the changes.

I disagree. There are plenty of sets that are useful at endgame that run from levels 30-50 (or even 10-50) and catalyzing them allows you to slot them earlier while still getting full effectiveness at level 50 (and also keeping those set bonuses while exemplaring, which for some characters like Dominators is A Big Deal). Aside from very specific powers with very specific slotting, I find I almost never boost non-generic IOs unless I'm using a set IO piece to provide accuracy or damage in a proc'd out power. If I'm not stuffing a power full of procs odds are very good I'm already getting close to ED numbers without having to boost enhancements.

All these are true, but boosters do not provide a negligible improvement. That level 30 Volley Fire, when boosted to +5, is actually more effective than a level 50 piece. I see people 4-slotting Basilisk's Gaze for the recharge bonus saying "man I wish this set wasn't capped at 30" but if you +5 those enhancements it's like the set does go all the way to 50.

At least these days if you bring a team where everyone's got Team Transporter and the like you can do the whole thing in 60-90 minutes, which is probably worth the time spent if it's the WST.

This is true and it partially solves the problem, but the enhancement values themselves are still weak at those lower levels.

Hi again, it's me. I don't often start new threads but this has been floating around in my head for a few weeks since a random question about IO effectiveness got asked on Discord and I wanted to finally write things down. So, let's start off by asking a question: Why don't players like low-level IO sets? "But," you say, "I love low-level IOs, I use Explosive Strike and Steadfast Protection and Regenerative Tissue all the time!" And I'm sure you do, but you probably use them just for a proc or unique here or there but ignore the rest of the set most of the time. For purposes of this discussion, we're not talking about those procs or uniques because those have the same effectiveness regardless of what level they are or what level the character is. I assess there are two main reasons players tend to ignore lower-level IOs: The enhancements themselves are extremely weak at lower levels. The set bonuses aren't good compared to what's available at other levels. This post is mainly intended to address the first point, but I propose potential solutions to the second one as well. Onto the first point! Low-level IOs provide poor enhancement values: The above is a quote from Positron around Issue 9 when the invention system was added. It made sense considering the environment of the game at the time, but the TO/DO/SO paradigm hasn't been a thing on Homecoming in nearly three years, and even looking back all the way to the game pre-shutdown, leveling happened a lot faster in the last few years of the game's life than it did in 2007 when inventions were introduced. At any rate, TOs are essentially deprecated to the point of nonexistence on Homecoming, and SOs start dropping earlier (and are available at vendors essentially right away). While the original design intent for IOs was to keep strength parity with non-IO enhancements, that's no longer reflected in reality thanks to the enhancement rework in I27P1. Here's what IO enhancement values look like, both in numeric and visual form: Level Damage % increase from previous 10 11.70% N/A 15 19.20% 64% 20 25.60% 33% 25 32.00% 25% 30 34.80% 9% 35 36.70% 5% 40 38.60% 5% 45 40.50% 5% 50 42.40% 5% Notice anything weird there? Going from 10-15 is a massive increase, going from 15-20 is about half of that, it's a bit smaller from 20-25, and then it drops off a cliff around 30 and is consistent the rest of the way to 50. Here's another example, using Gladiator's Javelin: Acc/Dam (a level 10-50 set, so you get the full range of levels to compare against). Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous 10 7.30% N/A 20 16.00% 5.26% 30 21.80% 1.40% 40 24.10% 0.84% 11 8.30% 13.70% 21 16.80% 5.00% 31 22.00% 0.92% 41 24.40% 1.24% 12 9.40% 13.25% 22 17.60% 4.76% 32 22.30% 1.36% 42 24.60% 0.82% 13 10.40% 10.64% 23 18.40% 4.55% 33 22.40% 0.45% 43 24.80% 0.81% 14 11.20% 7.69% 24 19.20% 4.35% 34 22.70% 1.34% 44 25.10% 1.21% 15 12.00% 7.14% 25 20.00% 4.17% 35 22.90% 0.88% 45 25.30% 0.80% 16 12.80% 6.67% 26 20.80% 4.00% 36 23.20% 1.31% 46 25.60% 1.19% 17 13.60% 6.25% 27 21.10% 1.44% 37 23.40% 0.86% 47 25.80% 0.78% 18 14.40% 5.88% 28 21.30% 0.95% 38 23.60% 0.85% 48 26.00% 0.78% 19 15.20% 5.56% 29 21.50% 0.94% 39 23.90% 1.27% 49 26.20% 0.77% 50 26.50% 1.15% This example isn't quite as egregious, but it does point out exactly how little change there is in enhancement values once you pass level 26: a level 50 enhancement is only 25% stronger than a level 27 enhancement, which is a smaller relative change over twenty-three levels than you get going from level 10 to level 12 (a 28% strength boost). My proposal is simple: now that TOs are essentially nonexistent, don't measure lower-level IOs against them. Flatten the curve, so to speak, to eliminate that large drop-off in effectiveness that occurs as you go below level 27. For generic IOs, the new enhancement values would look like this: Level Damage % increase from previous 10 27.20% N/A 15 29.10% 7% 20 31.00% 7% 25 32.90% 6% 30 34.80% 6% 35 36.70% 5% 40 38.60% 5% 45 40.50% 5% 50 42.40% 5% Note the increase in effectiveness is still stronger at lower levels, but not significantly so, and the current conventional wisdom of "level 25 generic IOs are slightly weaker than an even-level SO while level 30 generic IOs are slightly stronger" doesn't change, but it does give people a reason to slot lower-level generic IOs without feeling like they're wasting that slot on a piddly 11.7% bonus. Now we compare that to our level 10-50 set acc/dam piece, mirroring the 27-50 pattern of a roughly 1% effectiveness increase per level: Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous Level Damage % increase from previous 10 17.60% N/A 20 19.60% 1.03% 30 21.80% 1.40% 40 24.10% 0.84% 11 17.80% 1.14% 21 19.80% 1.02% 31 22.00% 0.92% 41 24.40% 1.24% 12 18.00% 1.12% 22 20.10% 1.52% 32 22.30% 1.36% 42 24.60% 0.82% 13 18.20% 1.11% 23 20.30% 1.00% 33 22.40% 0.45% 43 24.80% 0.81% 14 18.40% 1.10% 24 20.50% 0.99% 34 22.70% 1.34% 44 25.10% 1.21% 15 18.60% 1.09% 25 20.70% 0.98% 35 22.90% 0.88% 45 25.30% 0.80% 16 18.80% 1.08% 26 20.90% 0.97% 36 23.20% 1.31% 46 25.60% 1.19% 17 19.00% 1.06% 27 21.10% 0.96% 37 23.40% 0.86% 47 25.80% 0.78% 18 19.20% 1.05% 28 21.30% 0.95% 38 23.60% 0.85% 48 26.00% 0.78% 19 19.40% 1.04% 29 21.50% 0.94% 39 23.90% 1.27% 49 26.20% 0.77% 50 26.50% 1.15% Again, the effectiveness increase is higher as level gets lower, but the abrupt drop-off in effectiveness is gone. This change doesn't suddenly make lower-level IOs powerful - they're still weaker than SOs until the mid-20s - but it does make slotting them worthwhile if you don't want to constantly pay to upgrade your SOs every few levels. Now, this still doesn't quite solve the problem with low-level IO sets, because even though those enhancements would now be more effective, we run into our second issue: set bonuses. Low-level IO set bonuses are weak. There's not much beating around the bush here. Whether lower-level sets were intended to be something you got while leveling and then replaced, or I don't know, there's not much logic behind the set bonuses being weaker because that just incentivizes players to either not slot them at all, or just replace them later, turning them into throwaways which sort of defeats the point of the IO system. I don't intend to give a solution to this issue here, merely offer a few suggestions as options: Get rid of the "tiny" category of set bonuses and make them all "small." Rework lower-level IO set bonuses to provide effects that lower-level characters with fewer slots need - recharge time, recovery, accuracy, and hit points are ideas that potentially come to mind. As an example, maybe a set provides 6.25% global recharge time with only two slots. That sounds like a lot but a lower level where slots are at a premium maybe that's exactly what that level 15 character needs. Yes, level 50 characters could also utilize this to get extra bonuses with fewer slots invested but the thought process here is the lower-level enhancement values would mean a need to decide between set bonuses and enhancement value. "But you could use boosters," you say, and that brings me to my final point... Something's gotta give. Enhancement boosters are really powerful. They've come up in dev discussions a few times as examples of things that were probably marginally okay when they were a cash shop item, but now everyone can get them very easily, and they're very powerful. You can boost an enhancement's effectiveness by 25%. In a real example, that means a level 30+5 provides enhancement values greater than a level 50 enhancement. In order to help keep things balanced with new, more powerful lower-level enhancements, the amount of bonus a single booster provides would be reduced from 5% to 3%, for a maximum boost of 15%. This means a 50+5 generic IO would provide 48.76% enhancement instead of the 53% it does now, which is a minimal impact but does at least somewhat address boosters (which, let's be real here, are going to get nerfed at some point).

Well darn, there goes my "incan a league full of Pain Dom characters with Enforced Morale queued up onto a trainer" plan.

One of the base buffs is a recovery increase. There's no corresponding regeneration increase though.

They become un-damage-able at some point, so it's not possible to defeat them.

You won't catch me without Super Speed + Combat Jumping on all my PvE builds (except maybe a Kin or Tac Arrow Blaster). Or my farmers where I don't need one and just use Infiltration on the off chance I have to move more than a few hundred yards. But... I'm already taking Hasten on everything, so Super Speed's a no-brainer. Combat Jumping is a great IO mule but it also gives movement control that you can't get anywhere else outside of a few specific powers I already mentioned, so that's going to get picked anyways too. Adding that ability to jump to moderate heights occasionally with Super Speed has helped with some of the lack of vertical movement, but there's still P2W and day job jet packs that cover the 5% of cases I can't get somewhere with SS+CJ. If I felt like mixing it up, I'd start taking the teleportation pool, but... sorry, I'm stuck in a pre-Fold Space world.

So... kind of. Blasters got a bunch of new secondaries post-shutdown but for the most part those were just taking existing powersets and mixing them together to get Blaster secondary sets. The stuff that really set Blasters over the top - higher HP cap, sustain powers, 80ft tier 3 blast range, fast snipe (with range bonus the other ATs don't get), crashless nukes... that stuff was all part of Issue 24 so the current dev team isn't really responsible for it. Ageless Radial partially solves that, as does teaming with a few other powersets like Shield, Dark Affinity, and Forcefields, but for the most part outside of specific mobs the need for DDR on a Blaster is kinda overrated.

The Scrapper is still going to do more damage in melee, but Blasters have strong melee attacks for a reason. At any rate, the Blaster is way more likely to get suddenly deleted from existence by stray mez or pulling aggro which I think balances out the damage potential.

If I wanted to ignore half my AT's potential I'd play a Sentinel.