How to learn Mids-Fu? (Also, builds/sets pre-50?)

[MunkiLord]

In general people don't slot enough end reducers in their attacks, I'm extremely guilty of this myself. Slotting for recharge also means you're able to attack more often and therefore using more endurance, so it's a problem that only gets worse. 

 

I start with the same slotting as you do. If I have endurance problems while leveling then I'll replace some of the recharge with end reducers. The ideal solution in my opinion is to frankenslot with various cheap IO sets so you can have it all. 

[Mr. Vee]

Someone did the math on the old forums and figured out that you're actually better off slotting more damage before endurance reduction in most cases. I've not been able to find the post though. If you're going for sets or frankenslotting, of course, you can prioritize pieces with endurance after accuracy since the damage will probably be in most pieces already. Like MunkiLord said, slotting for recharge works against you if you're already having endurance issues (and if you're using procs in that power) but you obviously want to eliminate gaps in your attack chain too. A lot of this stuff you just have to play by ear based on the particular toon.

[Erydanus]

It's a complex topic but just speaking of SOEEs (Single Origin Enhancement Equivalents, ie level 25 generic IOs or SOs) the logic chain is like this:

 

1. If you miss your attack, you wasted endurance. Slot for accuracy.

2. If your attack doesn't do enough damage you have to use another one. Slot for damage.

3. If your attack costs an appreciable chunk of end, reducing its endurance cost is effective. Slot for endurance.

4. If your attack isn't fast enough to suit you, then slot for recharge.

5. Slot for whatever else you need with the 6th slot, whether it be bonus accuracy or a secondary effect or more recharge.

 

This is only for generic attacks, attacks with special effects override anything. (Ex: if you want to slot parry for defense before damage and eat the end cost, that's reasonable.)

 

In practice what I recommend people - at least new players just getting into the low 20s and learning how the enhancement system even works - is slot in this order: Accuracy, 2x Damage, 1x End reduction, 1x Damage, then a recharge if necessary.  Especially in the low 20s, 2 damage SOEEs should be enough to be effective and slots are at a premium.  By the same token it's more important to give an attack power a slot for end reduction than an inexpensive personal shield toggle (cost of 0.26 end/second). It can definitely be tuned better when more slots are available or with Frankenslotting. 

[Myrmidon]

Now that I have everything in place for obtaining sets easily, I have been making a Build for new characters and acquiring their entire IO build complement. After that, I play the game and it’s actually working out well to be able to slot up the build as I play.

[Yomo Kimyata]

16 hours ago, Menelruin said:

Interesting, something I've apparently been doing wrong:  I'd started most builds with my attacks getting 1 accuracy, 1 damage, 1 recharge, then adding another accuracy and 2 more damage as I got more slots.  I guess the recharge is actually a lower priority than endurance reduction?

If you are not going the set route early, I’d slot attacks with accuracy, end red, recharge, damage, damage, damage in that order.  Maybe move recharge back.  
 

When I go the set route, I’ll four slot melee attacks and 5 slot ranges ASAP.  You can slot Eradication at 7, kinetic combat at 17, entropic chaos at 17, posi blast at 17.

 

i also put a slot in stamina early and slot the perf shifter proc and the endurance mod at 17.  I also slot a miracle proc at 17.  Later in your build you can add the Numina proc and panacea proc if you have the need.

[Mr. Vee]

Panacea slots at 7 which is a big help. Shield wall, glad armor, blessing of the zephyr kb too. Oh and if you're going the SO route and have a character who's done Penny Yin's I lost my daddy arc, the Yin store SOs are pretty well OP at the levels they're available. Damage especially if you have a natural or mutation toon who's done it. Drop some in base storage for upcoming alts.

[Hyperstrike]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:21 PM, Menelruin said:

Interesting, something I've apparently been doing wrong:  I'd started most builds with my attacks getting 1 accuracy, 1 damage, 1 recharge, then adding another accuracy and 2 more damage as I got more slots.  I guess the recharge is actually a lower priority than endurance reduction?

Early on?  YES.

If you can rack up the standard complement for Health and Stamina
(Panacea Proc, Numina Unique, Miracle Unique, Perf Shifter Proc) early, it becomes less important.

[Shred Monkey]

I find +acc makes the low levels go faster and smoother than anything else. 

 

After that I add recharge based on a calculated attack chain so that at least 1 attack is always up.  Note, for pre-level 22 almost all my melee toons have air superiority from the flight pool with 3 prestige IOs in it so that I can keep 1 target perma-knocked.  Usually there's 1 short recharge quick attack that I use after every AirSup and then 2 other longer recharge attacks that I alternate on between each AS.  The set attacks may or may not need +recharge to run the chain.  Again, this sequence <AirSup-atk1-atk2-AirSup-atk1-atk3-repeat> works for nearly every melee set in the game.   Some sets, I'll keep running this chain until I'm into my 30s and can graduate to a higher recharge attack chain.

 

After +acc and +rech I slot for +end so I don't have to rest as often.  Then if there's any room left, I add +dam.  Note that using the prestige enhancements means those attacks have +dam and a proc, so there's some added damage in my attacks even before I add the dedicated slots.

 

[Redlynne]

On 11/13/2019 at 12:41 AM, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

Someone did the math on the old forums and figured out that you're actually better off slotting more damage before endurance reduction in most cases. I've not been able to find the post though. If you're going for sets or frankenslotting, of course, you can prioritize pieces with endurance after accuracy since the damage will probably be in most pieces already.

Simplified hypothetical to illustrate the point.

 

Suppose you need to hit something 4 times in order to defeat it without any enhancements slotted.

What happens when you start adding slots?

 

No slots = need 4 hits = 4 attacks = 4 attacks worth of animation+recharge time + 4 attacks worth of endurance cost

1 damage SO = need 3 hits = 3 attacks = 3 attacks worth of animation+recharge time + 3 attacks worth of endurance cost

1 endurance SO = need 4 hits = 4 attacks = 4 attacks worth of animation+recharge time + 3 attacks worth of endurance cost

1 recharge SO = need 4 hits = 4 attacks = 3 attacks worth of animation+recharge time + 4 attacks worth of endurance cost

 

Point of the above exercise being that 1 endurance + 1 recharge = 2 slots equals the benefit gain of only 1 damage slot.

 

Or to put it more simply ... 1 damage SO = 1 endurance SO + 1 recharge SO

1 slot = 2 slots

 

In a ED world, once you've got all the damage enhancement you can usefully add, start adding endurance reduction so you can sustain your damage output for longer.  You only "need" recharge reduction for closing gaps in chains.