Vea

I'd opt for Plant. Conductive aura isn't worth it. Pick up some recovery serums from P2W for pre-incarnate end issues.

Rad/Sonic. The -regen is invaluable.

It's not being converted into anything (I imagine) - The set gives defense to S/L with only two enhancements. It's also a low level enhancement set (level 10-20), so there are less of them in game. Most people don't convert at that level.

@tripthicket - The Incarnate abilities are somewhat separate from builds. They will not change as a result of a respec. You can have multiple Incarnate abilities, but this requires to create new abilities in the incarnate window. Taking your example, your initial build requires the Agility Alpha Incarnate however the new build requires Musculature Alpha Incarnate. You would need to create the Musculature ability from scratch, you cannot refund the initial ability you created. You don't lose the initial one you created.

Perhaps - The Ironman badge seems difficult to get in my opinion. How would you suggest to get it?

A well thought out guide +Inf. One thing I wish these forum guides had is pictures. I'm too lazy to do it. So many people didn't realise you could use threads for the alpha ability, simply because they didn't scroll down. I think a picture or gif would show this a little bit better. Another thing I wish guides had was more detailed analysis/comparisons. What I would really like is a comparison between the different Interface abilities.

This is great and really love the comparisons. I've always wanted to do something similar, I was going to do it on the BETA server, but see statement 1.

Thank you all for your responses - hopefully things have been cleared up by now. If you have any questions you can add me in game. @Vae/@Vea I am going to post some recommendations as to what abilities to pick and some justifications below: Alpha More damage? Musculature. Good for DPS. More defense and recharge? Agility. Good for those who rely on defense and those who want perma-haste builds. Struggling with End? Need more resist? Cardiac. Good for resistance based brutes and tanks. Purely need more recharge? Spiritual. I've yet to use Vigor, Resilient, Nerve and Intuition. I tend to prioritise Damage, Defense and Recharge in builds. Judgement Just going to recommend Ion here. Its easy to use, limited aiming needed. Fire and forget. Hits many targets. Interface Not the expert in this ability as mentioned in the main post BUT I would recommend Reactive, Degenerative and Diamagnetic. Lore This is most the most flexible ability, they are all pretty good. I may look into this in more detail. If you are struggling to pick, I would say Banished Pantheon. The support version can be made untouchable AND do damage so that's beneficial for farmers. Destiny Ageless - Removes all endurance problems with the +recov version, T4 is perma. On the other side of the tree there is debuff protection, I would recommend this for those who take the alpha hit from mobs and don't want to be -def debuffed to hell. Barrier - good resistance and defense buffs. The high amount fade quickly, but can help you take the initial hit. Clarion - Perma mez protection at T3. Or you can get a power boost power, that also stacks with power boost. Power Boost + Clarion + Overgrowth + Wild Bastion = 1000hp absorb shields. Incandesence - TP your team to you quickly. Not sure if any of the other abilities are worth. Maybe get T1 only. Rebirth - Perma +Regen with T4. Hybrid Assault - See post in main link for this one. Control - This is meh. The proc for damage is nice. Melee - I like this for +resistance and regen for builds that have enough defense. Also provides mes protection. I wouldn't recommend the +def side. Support - Auto Endurance discount is nice. Double bonus for pets is also nice. Can get you soft capped if you are nearby.

Thanks for the feedback. I've modified for what you have posted. I know interface is powerful, what I meant it's something I can't see the benefit is because it's not easy to see. Maybe it's my lack of game knowledge but you can't really tell how much -regen has been stacked on the AV/GM etc. Where as say the judgement and lore abilities, its pretty clear what they do. I've received feedback about Hybrid and the damage cap argument always comes up. I just wish I teamed more that gave me this damage cap!

Update: 07/08/2019 - I have read through some responses and updated the guide. Any changes to the guide has been included in green. Preface This guide is written by somebody who has not had any experience with Incarnates when the game was live, so there may be gaps in knowledge and inaccuracies. Also there are a couple of opinions throughout. Simply consider it as a the guide to incarnates with the least resistance or a noob guide. This is a simplistic guide, it's not the best method or quickest route. It just tells you the easiest way without too much thinking. Fundamental principles Incarnate components and experience can all be gained from normal content once you hit level 50. This means you do not need to run any story arcs to unlock slots or experience. The best salvage for Incarnates is Empyrean Merits and Incarnate Threads. You do not need to seek any other salvage. You can simply convert threads to Common and Uncommon components. Convert merits to rare and very rare. This is all done in the Incarnate power screen. Obtaining Salvage The best way to obtain salvage is simply to level beyond 50, each level beyond 50 is known as a veteran level. You obtain threads as soon as your alpha slot is unlocked. Each level beyond 50 will provide 120 thread. However this will stop after Vet-level 11. You obtain Empyrean merits every 3 levels up to Vet-level 99. The amount of merits received will fall over time. The amount you receive is as follows: Vet-level 3 to 24: 20 Empyrean Merits Vet-level 27 to 48: 15 Empyrean Merits Vet-level 51 to 69: 10 Empyrean Merits Vet-level 72 to 99: 5 Empyrean Merits For context, at Vet-level 6, you should have 40 merits and at least 480 threads. I would recommend following this guide as a more effective way to get salvage. I now only use Emp Merits for Very Rare salvage. Unlocking slots As mentioned above you unlock each incarnate slot by playing beyond level 50. You can unlock the alpha slot by running the Mender Ramiel Arc which could be quicker than getting experience. However the last mission is a pain in the butt if you are a squishy and unslotted. You should have the hybrid slot unlocked by Vet-level 12. Slotting abilities Salvage is converted in the incarnate power screen, check to see what your ability needs. You will need to scroll down for Alpha abilities. Each ability will have its own section below. However each ability has four tiers and cost the same amount of salvage. The first three tiers are quite straight forward with the cost as follows: Tier 1 - 3 commons cost 60 threads Tier 2 - 2 commons 1 uncommon cost 100 threads Tier 3 - 2 commons and a rare cost 40 threads 8 merits. Tier 4 requires having two tier 3 abilities, 2 common salvage and a very rare salvage costing 30 merits. Therefore the total cost for a tier 4 ability is: 440 threads and 46 Empyrean merits. Please see the tips and tricks section for slotting the Tier 4 Alpha. For context you should be able to have a tier 3 ability for each slot by Vet-level 9 and enough salvage to slot the Hybrid slot once it is unlocked. Alpha Slot Alpha acts as an enhancer in every power that can take an enhancer of at least one kind your Alpha provides. A portion of this "enhancer" also ignores Enhancement Diversification, based on the tier of Alpha you choose, this is a very important thing to note, and in some cases it makes the difference between Tier 3 and Tier 4 massive. (Note: Powers that cannot receive enhancers do not benefit at all from the Alpha slot. Spiritual Alpha will not directly increase the recharge speed of Domination, for example) The Alpha slot does not let your build do anything it couldn't on its own, instead it makes it easier to do these things. If you're running without many +defense powers, the defense bonus from Agility will not have much benefit for you. The last thing to note regarding the Alpha slot, is that while a portion of the benefits ignore Enhancement Diversification, they do not effect CAPS. Your caps for powers are determined by global benefits + slotted enhancements (including the Alpha slot), so it's best to keep track of your bonuses to make sure you're not wasting bonuses because you're going over the cap regularly. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Alpha_Slot_Abilities In simple terms it is like having an additional enhancement to whatever is already slotted. Judgement Slot The judgement slot is an AoE attack that recharges in 120seconds. All abilities have two trees, one that increases damage or one that causes a secondary effect. All the secondary effects seem a bit rubbish with the exception of Vorpal which provides defense. (This is opinion based) It doesn’t really matter which one you choose, you could choose an ability that is thematic to your character. The base damage dealt is the same across all abilities; each ability has a different type of damage so you may find that some damage is less resisted (e.g Fire with Pyronic). The important thing for this ability in my opinion is the way the ability is fired, each ability is different. So the question you should ask yourself is if you would prefer a PBAoE, a cone or a Targeted AoE. Some highlights of these abilities are the Ion ability which has a maximum targets of 40. The Void ability has the maximum radius (50ft). https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Judgement_Slot_Abilities Interface Slot Interface is arguably the most powerful of the Incarnate slots, a passive proc effect that can on some of them be guaranteed. Can't softcap on your own? Get -acc from Interface. Want to solo GMs/AVs? Get -regen. Out for pure damage, capping damage a lot? Get -resist. The damage procs in Interface are Meh. The debuff procs are amazing. -regen, -resist, and -maxhp are all extremely brutal, and they trip (or have a chance to) on every single attack you make. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Interface_Slot_Abilities This is my least favourite ability, I T4 this last. The proc is or feels buggy. Lore Slot This is a mastermind style pet that can be summoned. I based my decision on a forum post from before shutdown and I signpost you to that thread here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120906044812/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=288994 Note: Banished Pantheon, Knives of Vengeance, Talons of Vengeance and Tsoo were not included in this test. Essentially there are two trees to choose from, this being Double Damage vs Support + Damage. TL:DR: Pick double damage Cimerorans for an overall good pet. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Lore_Slot_Abilities There was an update for the beta when the game shutdown which altered the output for Lore pets. I would recommend going either for thematic pets or look for a pet that reduces certain holes within your character. For instance if you need more recharge, the Phantom Support will give you Adrenalin Boost. Do you lack -regen for AVs? Go for Longbow or Warwalkers. Destiny Slot A click buff power that affects those around you and within your League. Think Hasten. See the link here to determine which fits your character. Tier 3 and Tier 4 can sometimes allow for the buff to be permanent. The buff itself diminishes overtime, so do not rely on what Pines says if you use it. Honorable mentions here are Ageless, which allows you to no longer worry about Endurance and Clarion which gives mez protection to all. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Destiny_Slot_Abilities Hybrid Slot Hybrid abilities are split into two: An ability that is on all the time as an Auto ability and then a toggle that costs no endurance. The auto ability increases in strength as the tiers go on. The toggle element is again split in two and differs for each ability. If you are struggling to choose one and are a DPS AT, just select Assault for +DMG. As far as I know +DMG is better than double hit. This thread talks about double hit vs +DMG. I personally choose hybrid with the more powerful auto-ability because I always forget to turn the toggle on! https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Hybrid_Slot_Abilities Tips and Tricks – Do’s and Don’ts Empyrean Merits can be transferred between characters (on the same account) using the e-mail system. This is done by converting them into Transcendent merits at a merit store if you want to transfer large amounts of merits. If not it is one at a time. Empyrean Merits can be converted to regular merits. 1 Empyrean Merits = 10 regular merits. I personally wouldn't do this. Transfer to a new character. Do not buy incarnate experience. A big tip currently is slotting your T4 Alpha without using Emp merits. You currently can convert Incarnate Shards (which currently are useless) to the relevant component, and then getting involved with weekly strike forces for notice of the wells. You can convert two notices of the wells to a favour of the well which is a T4 Component. This saves you 30 Emp Merits. I would however still use Emp merits for T3 Components, this is due to a restriction on getting one notice of the well per week. Total cost of a T4 Alpha this method is: 400 Threads, 16 Emp Merits, 48 Incarnate Shards and two notices of the wells. I'm going to keep this in, but on the majority of my incarnate level characters I am simply waiting around for shards to drop, shards don't drop as often as I would like and it would be quicker just to use Emp Merits. Alpha T3 provides a level shift. I.e you are displayed as 50+1. This affects all content that is level 45+. You are effectively one level higher making it easier to hit things and do more damage. Lore T3 provides an incarnate shift. Only in iTrials/Incarnate Content you benefit from this. Destiny T3 provides an incarnate shift. Only in iTrials/Incarnate Content you benefit from this. I would recommend following this guide as a more effective way to get salvage. I now only use Emp Merits for Very Rare salvage. Running Apex/Tin Mage TFs back to back with a decent team allows for two rolls of salvage, 80 reward merits and some extra bits and bobs in less than 45 minutes. It's also fun. (Need to be alpha slotted) Add me in game: @Vae/@Vea - I play on Torchbearer. Here is a link to Pines (Mids):