I'd just like to expand a bit on that. I think at some point during your progression you absolutely HAVE TO make yourself comfortable with the enhancement system.
And that can be anything from just slotting DOs or SOs to standard IOs or set IOs. But somewhere around the mid 20ies I usually notice a sharp drop-off in performance on every toon, even if you are part of a well-buffed team. I get absolutely crazy when I start to notice that I miss more than I hit anything, or continuosly run out of endurance... you all know what I am talking about. And this is where enhancements help with keeping up.
DOs and SOs are the easiest way to mitigate that, just using drops or bying them from the respective vendors. +ACC, +END, +RECH, +DMG, +RES... so VERY VERY usefull. The thing with those is, of course, that you gotta maintain them and upgrade every 5 lvls or so (which is an easy click of a button in the Enhancement screen if you got the INF that is needed). And this is where standard IOs come in, which don't wear out and can keep you upright until endgame once you get into them. Which in my case is usually somewhere around lvl25... maybe lvl30 if I can drag it out a bit with some temp buffs, see below.
Temp buffs can significantly help to ease things up through the early levels. Running a Death From Below at least once or twice early on can get +ACC and +END buffs. Those last until lvl20. At lvl15 you can run or join a Drowning in Blood trial, which provides the same, but those will last until lvl30. This one is also really fast, so it is easy to run it 2x or 3x...
DFB and DIB buffs are cumulative, so you can actually go quite crazy if you collect them all.
I usually slot the 5 prestige enhancements from the P2W/S.T.A.R.T vendor, and with a few of the temp buffs from above I am good to go until I start slotting IOs.
Some additional thoughts on stuff I do with most of my toons:
14. Unlock Costume Slots:
At lvl20/30/40 you can visit the Tailor in Steel/IP/Founders to get a mission which unlocks costume slots 7/8/9. And be honest: Who doesn't like new costume slots? More costumes are more better!
With 1 each of the Halloween Salvages you can also buy a 10th slot from the little witch vendor next to the train station in Croatoa. If you don't have any from the event, they can be bought at around 10k or so in the Auction House.
I make generous use of costume variations on basically all of my toons, just for sake of variety. And who knows how long the 1000 character slots will last, at the rate at which I am making new toons... so it's good to know that you can have up to 10 costumes on each toon, right? 😇
15. Mortimer Kal (red side):
At lvl20 you can unlock Mortimer Kal as a contact. Need to hunt a few mobs in Sharkhead for the Tips mission "Wizards Weakness", which takes you briefly to the University in Cap to kidnap Morti's kidnapped (yes!) daughter. With that mission completed, you now get access to the Strike Force. It is pretty fast and can be done usually in 30-40 mins, but has some amazing reward: The Flames of Prometheus accolade, which gives you a buff of +Max HP +Regen +DMG until lvl50! And when you unlock your Alpha slot, this can be converted into a Notice of the Well, just like that!
Also, make sure that you don't quit the team at the end of the SF until the leader has talked to Morti twice. There will be another XP drop after the 2nd interaction that will likely be enough for one more lvlup at the level range this is played usually.
Best value for money, in my opinion!
