New to 50

[ZeusMagnus]

I just got my first 50 (Had one on live before incarnate stuff) and I’m not sure where to start when it comes to endgame material. So if anyone can point me in the right direction. 
 

p.s: Can someone explain how caps work so I don’t waste money (influence) on IO sets I don’t need. Also any recommendation sets for KM/WP scrapper.

[Caulderone]

Here are a couple Incarnate guides:

 

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,2038.0.html

 

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,3804.0.html

 

Here is the Wiki on IOs:

https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Invention_Origin_Enhancements

 

Probably best to ask the KM/WP scrapper question in the Scrapper forum.  More likely to catch eyes.

[Saikochoro]

1 hour ago, ZeusMagnus said:

I just got my first 50 (Had one on live before incarnate stuff) and I’m not sure where to start when it comes to endgame material. So if anyone can point me in the right direction. 
 

p.s: Can someone explain how caps work so I don’t waste money (influence) on IO sets I don’t need. Also any recommendation sets for KM/WP scrapper.

I’d suggest posting this request in the scrapper forums for more specific guidance. 
 

I assume by “caps” you are talking about defense softcap and resist caps. Defense soft cap is 45% and can come in two variants: positional and typed. 
 

Positional defense is based on the enemies position in relation to you: melee, ranged, and AoE. Some sets favor positional defense such as shield defense, ninjitsu, and super reflexes. 
 

Typed defense means defense against damage types: smashing, lethal, energy, etc. If you are going for typed defense soft caps you generally want to do so for smashing, lethal, and energy as a baseline. Some sets favor typed soft caps as they already have a base in various typed defenses. 
 

I haven’t played willpower in a long time so I’m not sure if you should go to positional or typed with it. 
 

Resist caps for scrappers is 75%. I’m actually not sure if it can be positional. I’m pretty sure it’s just typed. So usually you want to shoot for smashing and lethal first and energy second. In general reaching the defense soft caps is much more beneficial than the resist caps. So focus on defense first. 
 

Hope that helps!

Edited March 17, 2020 by Saikochoro

[Display Name]

Hi!  Congratulations on reaching 50!  You already have some great links, but lemme give ya some more!

 

Easy guide to Incarnates

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/3309-homecoming-incarnate-guide-aka-incarnates-made-easy/

 

Comprehensive guide to Incarnates

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/8727-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-incarnate-system/

 

Incarnate salvage "farming" for crafting Incarnate powers

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/5848-farming-incarnate-salvage-1-salvage-roll-every-15-minutes/
 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Display Name

[Call Me Awesome]

52 minutes ago, ZeusMagnus said:

I just got my first 50 (Had one on live before incarnate stuff) and I’m not sure where to start when it comes to endgame material. So if anyone can point me in the right direction. 
 

p.s: Can someone explain how caps work so I don’t waste money (influence) on IO sets I don’t need. Also any recommendation sets for KM/WP scrapper.

Congrats on the ding!

 

First, I assume you're familiar with IO's and set bonuses?  if not then check out the various IO guides for examples.

 

Next, Defense & Resistance caps.  While Defense has a Hard cap of around 300% if I recall the functional cap, or "Soft" cap is 45% for normal content, 59% for Incarnate content. 

 

Let me explain this.  All normal mobs have a 50% chance to hit, with an accuracy modifier on that number for LT's or higher.  Your defense directly reduces the mobs To Hit up to the "Floor" or minimum possible of 5%.  Once the enemy tohit is adjusted by your defense the accuracy modifier is applied, and if you're at the soft cap then the mobs are applying that accuracy percentage bonus to 5% instead of 50%.  It doesn't matter how high your defense is, you can never reduce the mob's chance to hit you lower than 5% + their accuracy modifier.

 

Incarnate mobs work just the same except that their to hit chance is 64% (if I remember right) instead of 50%.  Because of that you need 59% to floor their chance to hit you, so if you're running Incarnate content you'll need more defense to get the same results.  Most builds have difficulty reaching this cap so you may have to rely on your 45% normal soft cap and supplement with purple inspirations as needed.

 

Defense comes in two "flavors", Typed and Positional.  Typed defense works against attacks of their type, Smashing/Lethal/Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold/Psi (By the way, there is NO Toxic defense, only Resistance).  Positional defense works on attacks of their position, Melee/Ranged/AOE.  If an attack comes at you the game will use the highest defense you have to that attack... for example a punch would be Smashing and Melee while a gunshot would be Lethal and Ranged.  I believe a Fireball is Fire, Smashing and AOE.

 

Now Resistance.  Resistance subtracts a percentage of the damage that hits you, if you have 50% resistance to a damage type (Smash/Lethal/Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold/Psi/Toxic) then you take 50% damage from the attack.  If you have 75% resistance (the hard cap for everyone but Keldians, Brutes & Tankers) then you take 25% damage.  Remember, Resistance only applies to specific damage types; Smashing resistance doesn't do anything for a Negative Energy attack.

 

In your specific case Willpower is a hybrid set with a little of everything and it has Typed defense.  Typed and Positional defenses do NOT stack, the game uses the highest that applies.  As a FYI the most common kind of damage in the game is Smash/Lethal so that's where you'll want to focus your efforts in IO bonuses.  Ask in the Scrapper forum for specific advice but I would build for 45% S/L defense first and then think about resistance and regeneration.  I'm not really familiar with either of your sets since I've only played Willpower once way back around 2006 or so before IO's came about and never played KM.

[Snarky]

I would second the wisdom of chasing 45% s/l defense and from there just building as strong a melee as you can afford.  You can never cover everything in the City, and a strong Willpower Build does not need to try.  45% s/l def will make you nigh invulnerable to 85% ? 0f the attacks in the city.  anyways, a lot of them.  Then you deal with the rest using...Willpower.

[Clave Dark 5]

All that other stuff aside, don't be afraid to get tool around on your new 50 and still play the game.  Don't feel pressured to start participating in all the Level-Cap Content just because you're 50 now.  You can still run the various TFs and so on, even exemplar down!, knowing that while you play, the stuff you need for the incarnate junk is slowly accumulating (or quickly; I've found Rikti mothership raids to be a nicely zippy path to unlocking the incarnate slots).

[Display Name]

9 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Don't feel pressured to start participating in all the Level-Cap Content just because you're 50 now.  You can still run the various TFs and so on

Seconded!  For my first 50, I didn't even try to start crafting Incarnate powers until I was vet level 20.  Which turned out to be really nice for me 'cuz by the time I was ready to start, everything had long since been unlocked!

[Abraxus]

I've got my 6th toon approaching L50.  This one is a SS/Invul Tank.  When he hits 47, I'm gonna start a second build for him that will be for the most bad-ass I/O, bonused-out set I can make for him.  I want him neigh unbreakable, because I want to experience that just once in all my toons.  And now that Tanks can actually do a little damage (thanks to recent changes), I'm hoping he will be able to give back a bit of what's being thrown at him too!  I'm actually looking forward to the arduous shopping, and crafting for this one.

[Slithershot]

I'd run a few ITFs. Really your first step is incarnates. I'd make sure you know what incarnate stuff you would like to try before you build it (Because that stuff is hard to come by for a new 50). 

 

Second, download mids. https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer/releases

 

Find yourself a good build, preferably one that's super strong and unrealistically expensive, and figure out what makes it tick. 80% of the time it's set bonuses and global IOs. 

First, you deck yourself out with basic enhancements. Every slot filled. Then you look at the build, and find the cheapest sets you can afford. Feel free to find cheaper sets to stick in there. The global IOs are usually the most important (Global defense increases, global resistance increases, Procs that go in health, stamina, luck of the gambler recharges, etc) Figure out how many of those you can afford and prioritize based on your survival. Everything else will come in due time.

 

If you want more specific advice, hit me up if I'm online @slithershot and I'll be happy to help where I can.

[Gremlin]

Congratulations on your 50!

 

If you're going for sets in a big way then you need to be aware of "The Law of Fives".  (https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Enhancement_Set_Bonuses) It means that you can only benefit from a particular set bonus 5 times. A set bonus is something like "+1.5% Max Health". If you've got six sets giving you this bonus then one is ignored.

 

One thing you can do at 50 is to hunt down the accolades. A few give you bonuses such as +5% HP. See https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Hero_Accolade_Powers.

 

If you've spent a lot of time in missions and task forces then getting the exploration badges will take you on a grand tour of the city. You also get 5 merits per zone.