General slotting advice?

[Rinwen]

Hello, folks,

 

Before one can afford, or wants to invest in, fancy two and three stat buffing enhancements, or named sets... just using either SO or regular IO enhancements while leveling... is there common, generalized advice? 

 

For example, currently on my INV/SS Tanker & SS/INV Brute, (both only 17), my slotting is 3x dmg resist in each of my INV powers, and 2x ACC & 1x DMG in their attacks.  Next I was planning to invest an End Reduc in each toggle, then start adding slots to my attacks. 

 

My plan for attacks, (pretty much all my characters' attacks), is 2x ACC, 3x DMG, 1x END REDUC.

 

Another option I've seen bandied about for attacks in general:  1x ACC, 3x DMG, 1x RECH, 1x END REDUC.

 

Kinda splitting hairs I guess, but there isn't a lot of leveling advice out there, it's mostly end game, fancy, expensive builds, lol.  I plan to get there at some point, but in the meantime I could use some interim advice. 

 

Thank you for your time and advice. 

[Lusiphur Malache]

I do things differently on slotting.  With Tanks, I rarely go over 2xACC, 1xDMG, 1xRechargeRedux or 1xEND Redux until I have all my primaries are fully slotted.  You're never going to outslug anything, best to hit it and keep hitting it until you wear it out.  Find mobs that you do better against, than others, and seek out missions that they're in.

 

Join a supergroup that has a lot of crafting supplies and no problems with you using them.  Single origin and IO's are great, but you will need sets, so plan and get recipes when you can so that you don't go broke playing the auction house.

[Heraclea]

After a session, always retire to somewhere that a crafting table is available and see what set recipes dropped.  Craft every set recipe that dropped and that you have salvage for, no matter how useless it looks.  If you play like me, and not everyone does, reward merits are easier to come by than inf; I run many task and strike forces, especially while levelling.  At any rate, if you have merits, remember this: stuff like boughten recipes and ATOs all require even lots of multiples of 20 and 50.  This means that any 'odd' merits are spare change.  Buy converters with your spare change merits and gamble on your useless crafted set IOs until they land on something that looks useful.  For many set categories, it's also worth it to do a two merit category conversion (e.g. Confuse > Confuse) to move from Uncommon to Rare.  At level 50 many categories are guaranteed to move this way; there are exceptions (EndMod, Sniper, and Ranged AoE are the three big ones).  

 

It helps if you have a SG base.  I make concept bases and create families of characters  that fit the concepts.  AAR, having a solo vanity base or two really helps this process.  You will probably have any piece of salvage your dropped recipes call for, so if you get a useful one or any purple or PvP recipe, you can craft it quickly.   This way, if converter roulette lands on a set IO that any of your characters can use, that's a keeper and you can move on to the next.   My characters form a commune.  And there's always email. 

 

At any rate, frankenslot freely while levelling.  Most set IOs benefit more than one aspect of a power; accuracy/damage is a perennial favorite.  Use them if they fit, even if they don't match;  you're getting more benefit per slot this way. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Heraclea

[Doomguide2005]

Which combo of Acc, Endred, Rech and Damage (and Other) works best is going to strongly depend on difficulty level, AT, whether you team and the players taste (or tolerance) in speed through mission and dealing with endurance management.

 

Ask yourself do I like or expect to move quickly thru missions (Brute vs Defender?).  Is the set or several of the powers inherently accurate (Archery, many Holds?) or provide defense debuffs (Earth Control, Assault Rifle?)?  Do I really hate missing or waiting for endurance to refill?  Are things like Beginner's Luck still in play?  Team vs Solo?  Add to this list as you learn new sets (or relearn old ones).  How they're answered will go a long way towards helping decide which slotting scheme will work for you on a particular character.

[Twisted Toon]

My bit of advice is:

If you are going to use basic IOs I'd use level 25s.

They're about 1% less efficient than an even level SO, and they won't turn yellow or red on you.

Then you can save your Inf for the set IOs that you're looking for.

 

I have a blaster that I don't plan on getting Sets for until she reaches 50.

Until then, I'm just selling all my recipe drops and salvage, and getting level 25 basic IOs.

[Doomguide2005]

13 minutes ago, Twisted Toon said:

My bit of advice is:

If you are going to use basic IOs I'd use level 25s.

They're about 1% less efficient than an even level SO, and they won't turn yellow or red on you.

Then you can save your Inf for the set IOs that you're looking for.

 

I have a blaster that I don't plan on getting Sets for until she reaches 50.

Until then, I'm just selling all my recipe drops and salvage, and getting level 25 basic IOs.

This plus grabbing a select few unique IO's such as Miracle, Numina's, Kismet +6% can make a significant difference while leveling.

[nihilii]

I like 2x acc 3x dam 1x end most out of the 2 choices.

Reason being, any attack that misses is an attack that's going to cost end. Having attacks recharge faster also means more end usage.

There's generally always some power to use even on base recharge; or even if not, then there is something to do. Reposition for cones/AOEs, chase runners, use/convert inspirations, what have you.

On a Brute specifically I will go 2 acc 2 end 2 dam. Sometimes even 2 acc 3 end 1 dam, or 2 acc 2 end 1 dam 1 rech, or 2 acc 2 end 2 rech. You get the idea: Brutes have Fury, so the relative boost of damage enhancement isn't as sizeable as on other ATs. You often get more bang for your buck out of boosting other aspects. 2 end in every attack truly lights the burden, and the difference between 2 dam and 3 dam is negligible on a Brute: at 75 Fury, the Brute with 3 damage SOs has 100% (base) + 150% (Fury) + 90% (3 SOs) = 340% enhancement, while the Brute with 2 damage SOs has 100% (base) + 150% (Fury) + 66% (2 SOs) = 314% enhancement. Not even a 10% difference in the final damage output, likely not something you would notice without paying specific attention to it.

[Biff Pow]

5 hours ago, Rinwen said:

My plan for attacks, (pretty much all my characters' attacks), is 2x ACC, 3x DMG, 1x END REDUC.

I like this slotting. A good low level IO for only 20 Reward Merits is the Steadfast Protection +3% Def. The Impervious Skin +Status Resist IO is usually pretty cheap in the Auction House and it gives +25% Regen (but only once, the +Regen is unique.)

[Rinwen]

Thank you all for the advice so far.

 

Merits probably aren't an option.

 

It's my understanding that they come from various group content... which I don't do.  I'm strictly a solo player.  I don't often have time for a group, I chat with my wife or watch TV while I play, so I'm not always focused on the game, and I want the option to just quit playing, or just stop for a few minutes, whenever I feel like it, rather than having to wait until X group event is finished. 

 

That's why I'm asking about slotting options using either SO, or regular ol' cheaper, no name IO, (probably wait for kv 30 IO when they are equal to SO percentages). 

 

Once I get those I can just save all my money from that point onward for the fancy named stuff at 50, (or 47).

 

I think I like the 2x ACC, 2x DMG, 2x END REDUC in atracks for both Brute and Tanker.  The 3rd DMG may be negligible for a Brute, and considering my Tanker takes WAAAAAYYYY longer, and WAAAAYYYY more endurance to kill something, 2x END REDUC is probably good for him too.

 

Again, this advice is very helpful. 

[ForeverLaxx]

37 minutes ago, Rinwen said:

probably wait for kv 30 IO when they are equal to SO percentages

The price difference between the level 25 IOs and the level 30 IOs, especially if you're going to craft them yourself, is not worth the meager gain in percentage values. If you're going to skip 25s, then shoot for 35s instead. They use the same salvage as 30s, don't cost that much more than 30s, and provide a stronger boost than SOs do. Personally, I'd just stick with 25s as they're "close enough" and are far cheaper to make.

 

That said, I usually run 1 Acc/3 Damage, with 2 floating slots for either Recharge, Endurance, or Both depending on my needs. I almost never use 2 Acc in my attacks that don't have an accuracy penalty because I'm just not bothered by missing and don't usually push the difficulty high enough to want the extra hit chance. For situations where I need more accuracy, such as against an EB or when fighting ToHit Debuffs, I just use yellow inspirations.

[Yomo Kimyata]

It all depends on how much scratch you have.  I like to slot as early as 7, but if I was hurting on inf I'd wait until 12 or 22.

 

I think the best investment to make on a new character is the Kismet 6% to hit, which goes for about 3-5mm, and you can slot it in a defense power at lvl 7.

 

Given that, I generally advocate 1x accuracy, 1x end red, 2x damage (or mez), 1x rech red, 1x damage in that order.

[Moonscribe]

22 minutes ago, Rinwen said:

Merits probably aren't an option.

 

It's my understanding that they come from various group content... which I don't do.  I'm strictly a solo player.  I don't often have time for a group, I chat with my wife or watch TV while I play, so I'm not always focused on the game, and I want the option to just quit playing, or just stop for a few minutes, whenever I feel like it, rather than having to wait until X group event is finished.

Actually, merits definitely are an option for a solo player - I solo almost exclusively, but my characters are still swimming in merits. Task forces and the like are probably the most efficient way to get merits, sure, but you can also get plenty of them by running story arcs, which give out merit rewards at the end, and if need be you can repeat the most profitable ones as much as you want after you unlock Ouroboros.

 

Tip missions (which you start getting at level 20) are also a good solo merit source - you can get a morality mission by doing 10 tips for the same alignment, and you get 40 merits (more than you get in most task forces) for each morality mission completed, whether or not you actually used it to change your alignment.

 

So, don't give up on the Merit Lifestyle, you're not locked out of it solo!

[Rinwen]

11 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

It all depends on how much scratch you have.  I like to slot as early as 7, but if I was hurting on inf I'd wait until 12 or 22.

 

I think the best investment to make on a new character is the Kismet 6% to hit, which goes for about 3-5mm, and you can slot it in a defense power at lvl 7.

 

Given that, I generally advocate 1x accuracy, 1x end red, 2x damage (or mez), 1x rech red, 1x damage in that order.

I'm not swimming in inf, but I do have your 20mil inf gift, (again a hearty thank you).  However, that's being reserved for use by my two favorite characters;  Mind/Psi Dom and Arch/Bio Sent.

 

My other characters are on their own, lol.

[Rinwen]

12 minutes ago, Moonscribe said:

Actually, merits definitely are an option for a solo player - I solo almost exclusively, but my characters are still swimming in merits. Task forces and the like are probably the most efficient way to get merits, sure, but you can also get plenty of them by running story arcs, which give out merit rewards at the end, and if need be you can repeat the most profitable ones as much as you want after you unlock Ouroboros.

 

Tip missions (which you start getting at level 20) are also a good solo merit source - you can get a morality mission by doing 10 tips for the same alignment, and you get 40 merits (more than you get in most task forces) for each morality mission completed, whether or not you actually used it to change your alignment.

 

So, don't give up on the Merit Lifestyle, you're not locked out of it solo!

Thank you, that's good to know... I'll pay more attention on the stories now, and other solo merit options. 

[Sakai]

21 minutes ago, Rinwen said:

Thank you, that's good to know... I'll pay more attention on the stories now, and other solo merit options. 

Also jumping on a team taking down WinterLord or other giant monsters is a merit option. Takes a few minutes usually and then everyone goes their own way. 

[Ironblade]

3 hours ago, Rinwen said:

Merits probably aren't an option.

Merits are always an option.

 

Firstly, every week, three task forces or trials are designated the weekly strike target and will reward double merits once per character per week.  Even without a powerful build, some of these are soloable.  In fact, the weekly targets for this week include Positron TF part 1 and part 2.  Part 1 is EASILY soloable as there is no arch-villain in it.

 

Another source of merits are the Signature Story Arcs.  These are two story arcs (one with 7 chapters, one with 5).  The normal merit reward is 5.  But again, once per week per character, you can get 20 merits.  A strong build can solo the first chapter in about 6 minutes.  My empathy defender can solo it in 10.  Also worth noting, the first run on a particular character doesn't 'count'.  So you can run it for 20 merits, run it again immediately for 20 more and then you have to wait a week to get the extra merits on that particular character.

 

Someone already mentioned regular story arcs and that you can do (or repeat) them in Ouroboros.

 

The real jackpot for a soloer, when it comes around every 13 weeks in the weekly target rotation, is the Dr Quaterfeld task force.  It will take you hours to finish but you can do it solo (no arch-villains) at your own pace.  It normally awards 122 merits.  When it's the weekly, it awards 244.  The last time I soloed it, it took me almost six hours (with a lunch break in the middle).  Of course, you need to be level 40 or higher to do that one.  And you need to make sure you FINISH it before the next week starts at 4:00AM UTC each Monday.

 

Another one that's good is the Cavern of Transcendence trial.  It has an AV, but you don't have to defeat him to finish the trial (but you need to be invisible or have teleport to bypass him).  The minimum level is 12 and you have to do the Hollows arc from Talshak first to unlock the trial contact.  But Talshak's arc rewards 30 merits and is easily soloed.

Edited December 30, 2020 by Ironblade

[Heraclea]

3 hours ago, Rinwen said:

I think I like the 2x ACC, 2x DMG, 2x END REDUC in atracks for both Brute and Tanker. 

For generic IOs and SOs, 2 eed reduc is good for the lowbie attacks; as you get higher level you'll want to replace one or both of the end reduc's with a recharge in the higher level attacks. 

[Fan Mail]

I would re-emphasize the crafting of recipes then selling versus just selling recipes.  You can convert them into something worthwhile for someone else to buy on the AH (for a profit).

 

As far as slotting, I think most of the advice here is spot on. 

 

I think your other issue is INF though.  I bit the bullet long ago and decided to spend my time Marketeering to earn INF.  I also on rare occasions run the fire farm for INF and drops.  I want to be able to buy whatever I need whenever I want.  I have 80+ characters that need to be treated like they should!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Fan Mail

[Yomo Kimyata]

RE: merits blue side, it is well worth doing the entire Hollows arc and even more well worth doing the entire Faultline arc.  You not only get merits from the story arcs but you also get a significant bonus from doing all of them.

 

My general path for solo blue side play at double xp/no inf is;

1-2: outbreak

2-6: starter Atlas missions

6-9: Kings Row, get the radio from a detective, run three radio missions, save Atlas bank

9-12:  get Hollows contact, run first two arcs (finish Frostfire)

 

13-14:  do steel canyon radio missions, save KR bank.

freeze xp at 14

back to Hollows, run Julius arc and Talshak arc.  auto complete the Atta mission (it’s fun, but you will out level if you are not careful.  Turn back on xp for rescue Sam Wilmott mission and ding 15.  Get 20 merit bonus for all Hollows missions.

 

15-18:  back toSteel Canyon.  Combination of radio missions and safeguard (think that’s Skyway bank) and then Montague missions until he sends you back to Atlas to get the Lost Cure.

 

19+:  Faultine!  Start with Temblor, Penny, Doc Delilah (unlocks Ouro portal at 20),agent G.  Use cure lost liberally in Pennys missions (but not on mission bosses or else some missions cannot be completed.  Particularly the ones who guard Pennys dad.  Four quick arcs and again a bonus for all Faultline missions.

 

at this point I’m usually around 24 or so and I will branch out.  As you can tell I like the safeguard missions, so i might freeze xp if I’m too close to 25.

[Ironblade]

19 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Turn back on xp for rescue Sam Wilmott mission and ding 15.

It's Wincott.  I tell ya, this guy gets no respect.

[Sarrate]

On 12/30/2020 at 5:49 AM, Rinwen said:

For example, currently on my INV/SS Tanker & SS/INV Brute, (both only 17), my slotting is 3x dmg resist in each of my INV powers, and 2x ACC & 1x DMG in their attacks.  Next I was planning to invest an End Reduc in each toggle, then start adding slots to my attacks. 

I could be misreading this, but it sounds like you're fully slotting your defensive abilities first before investing any slots in your attacks. Depending on your playstyle (solo, small group, big group, a mix), I think this can be a mistake.

 

You don't get rewards for surviving enemies, only be defeating them. The faster you defeat enemies, the less incoming damage you'll need to survive, the more inspirations you'll earn, the longer inspirations will last relative to combat encounters, and the easier it will be to take down bosses (enemy regen can be a significant factor).

 

I'm not saying 6 slot all your attacks first. I'd say get a few slots in your important attacks (3-4) while slotting your key defensive powers (so TI, DP, and Invin). Each enhancement in those powers will give you more bang for your buck than something like Res Elements. Once you get the foundations set, you can start expanding where you want / where you feel weakest.

 

I mostly solo or duo, so personal damage output is important, if you play in large group, you can adjust accordingly. These are just guidelines that I go by and are completely fungible.

 

On 12/30/2020 at 11:46 AM, Rinwen said:

I think I like the 2x ACC, 2x DMG, 2x END REDUC in atracks for both Brute and Tanker.  The 3rd DMG may be negligible for a Brute, and considering my Tanker takes WAAAAAYYYY longer, and WAAAAYYYY more endurance to kill something, 2x END REDUC is probably good for him too.

On the flip side, Tankers have a higher base damage than Brutes, so each damage enhancement makes a bigger impact on your damage output compared to a Brute. Also, damage enhancements increase endurance efficiency in their own way. Consider an attack that does 100 dmg and costs 10 end. That's 10 dmg / end. If you slot that with 3 dmg SOs, that'd be 195 dmg for 10 end, or 19.5 dmg/end. It costs the same end, but you're getting twice as much damage out of it, so it's more efficient.

 

For 3 dmg / 1 end, you'd have 195 dmg for ~7.5 end, or ~26 dmg/end

For 2 dmg / 2 end, you'd have 166 dmg for ~6 end, or ~27.66 dmg/end

 

The second is more efficient, but the former will kill faster with the benefits mentioned above. Personally, I prefer the first option, but slot to your preference. Just wanted to give an alternate perspective.

 

 

--edit--

Don't forget that you can also slot Stamina early and that Rest has a very short cooldown. Earlier in the game's life, Stamina was a pool power that required two prereqs (you couldn't get it until lvl20) and Rest had a 10 minutes cooldown. Lower levels have a lot less downtime than they used to.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Sarrate

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, Sarrate said:

 

 

I'm not saying 6 slot all your attacks first.

 

 

 

Great post overall, but I for one am definitely saying to 4-5 slot all your attacks first.  There aren't that many serious threats until you get into your 30s, imo, and attacks are where it's at.

[Rinwen]

17 hours ago, Sarrate said:

I could be misreading this, but it sounds like you're fully slotting your defensive abilities first before investing any slots in your attacks. Depending on your playstyle (solo, small group, big group, a mix), I think this can be a mistake.

 

You don't get rewards for surviving enemies, only be defeating them. The faster you defeat enemies, the less incoming damage you'll need to survive, the more inspirations you'll earn, the longer inspirations will last relative to combat encounters, and the easier it will be to take down bosses (enemy regen can be a significant factor).

 

I'm not saying 6 slot all your attacks first. I'd say get a few slots in your important attacks (3-4) while slotting your key defensive powers (so TI, DP, and Invin). Each enhancement in those powers will give you more bang for your buck than something like Res Elements. Once you get the foundations set, you can start expanding where you want / where you feel weakest.

 

I mostly solo or duo, so personal damage output is important, if you play in large group, you can adjust accordingly. These are just guidelines that I go by and are completely fungible.

 

On the flip side, Tankers have a higher base damage than Brutes, so each damage enhancement makes a bigger impact on your damage output compared to a Brute. Also, damage enhancements increase endurance efficiency in their own way. Consider an attack that does 100 dmg and costs 10 end. That's 10 dmg / end. If you slot that with 3 dmg SOs, that'd be 195 dmg for 10 end, or 19.5 dmg/end. It costs the same end, but you're getting twice as much damage out of it, so it's more efficient.

 

For 3 dmg / 1 end, you'd have 195 dmg for ~7.5 end, or ~26 dmg/end

For 2 dmg / 2 end, you'd have 166 dmg for ~6 end, or ~27.66 dmg/end

 

The second is more efficient, but the former will kill faster with the benefits mentioned above. Personally, I prefer the first option, but slot to your preference. Just wanted to give an alternate perspective.

 

 

--edit--

Don't forget that you can also slot Stamina early and that Rest has a very short cooldown. Earlier in the game's life, Stamina was a pool power that required two prereqs (you couldn't get it until lvl20) and Rest had a 10 minutes cooldown. Lower levels have a lot less downtime than they used to.

Sorry, for misleading statements. 

 

No, I didn't 6 slot defenses yet, only 3 slotted them with DMG RES, though only 1x END REDUC in Invincibility. 

 

Assuming ED is still a thing, 3 slots of any one single type of enhancement is "fully slotted" from an effectiveness standpoint. 

 

The attacks, as of my OP are 3 and 4 slotted.

 

My current notoriety settings have me at groups of 3, either white or yellow, and either yellow or orange Lieutenants, and a fake LT/Boss.

 

Now that I know you can have 2x specs at my level I plan to build out a group friendly spec too... though I've recently heard that there's no need/use for Tankers in the end game :(

 

This is really helpful info, and I very much appreciate you taking the time to write it up.

[KC4800]

This is a necro posting from when I was first starting out with my Brute. Sounds like you're in the same boat I was in.