Picking Enhancement Set on Low Level

[huang3721]

Let's say that my blaster wants to increase her defense via enhancement sets because she is squishy and has been bitten too many times by Ghouls. Since she is level 10, her options are limited. She has:

• six powers (The seventh power has no additional slot yet, so she omits it.)
• eight additional slots

According to the wiki, there are 17 enhancement sets which compatible with her current level, available powers (Beam/Temporal), and have defense bonuses. 
She needs to pick several enhancement sets to cover all her defense stats (excluding psionic, because no enhancement set has a psionic bonus on level 10.). Since she is short on cash, she has to minimize her selection.

 

So, I modeled this problem, solved it using an LP solver, and tried it on Brainstorm Server. It turns out she can cover all her defense using four sets of enhancement. However, three of them are rare enhancements. So, I guess it is still a bit expensive. 

What do you guys think? Is it OK to spend your cash for these additional defense bonuses?

 

 

 

 

[Machariel]

At low levels i think just keeping the P2W defense amplifiers running is a way better use of your time and inf.

[Li_Sensei]

Are you planning on permamently level locking the character at low level?

 

If yes, then go for it.

 

If no, then given how brief the time period you spend at low-mid level can be nowadays, is it worth worrying about it?

 

Play a little more cautiously, play on teams, and survivability shouldn't really be an issue.

 

Also, 2-3% defence is not really worth much.  I only really start noticing the effect of defence from about 15% onward.

[huang3721]

Assuming I run all Imperial story arc. Maybe 2-3% increase won't matter, especially against ambushes. 

6 minutes ago, Li_Sensei said:

Also, 2-3% defence is not really worth much

Usually, I don't bother much about enhancement set. I use common IO to increase my defense stat and inspirations all the way to 50. So, maybe around 30s? I assume at this point, there  are enough slots to soft cap my defense and enough inf to respec it, just in case i need to respec.

[Yomo Kimyata]

In my experience, at that level you are far better off investing in accuracy than in defense.  Dead ghouls don't fight back.

[Li_Sensei]

Nowadays, my approach to low levels is SO's.  SO enhancements before level 22 are wonderful.  One accuracy SO combined with the Beginner's Luck +tohit buff you get below 20 means missing is a rarity rather than likely.

 

Hit the magic 'Make my inf evaporate for shinier SO's' button every 2-3 levels and it's pretty much set and forget, *except* that you need to make the decisions about whether you want end cost or recharge.  1 Acc, 1 Damage, 1 Recharge seems mostly possible IME, but you may have to invest an end Mod or two into Stamina or swap out the recharge for End cost on a case by case basis.

 

Oh, and Huang, regarding defence soft capping?  Unless you're something like a melee AT with Energy Aura, Shield or SR, softcapping before late 30's-mid 40's is not easily achievable.  I'm not saying it's impossible, but it may distort your build horribly to achieve it.  30% or so defence on a blaster seems to give solid survivability, especially when you factor in the blaster secondary sustain powers.

[Icono04]

 

1 hour ago, Li_Sensei said:

Are you planning on permamently level locking the character at low level?

 

If yes, then go for it.

 

If no, then given how brief the time period you spend at low-mid level can be nowadays, is it worth worrying about it?

 

Play a little more cautiously, play on teams, and survivability shouldn't really be an issue.

 

Also, 2-3% defence is not really worth much.  I only really start noticing the effect of defence from about 15% onward.

Solid advice. Although the OP's reference to Ghouls makes me think that this is a goldside character, in which case finding people to team with will be a bit difficult. On the other hand, playing on goldside is - for most people, at least - more about the storylines than the challenge, so taking your mission difficulty down a notch in the tougher missions can also help. 

 

[Doc_Scorpion]

1 hour ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

In my experience, at that level you are far better off investing in accuracy than in defense.  Dead ghouls don't fight back.

This - "death is the ultimate debuff".  And on a blaster, concentrate on fast animating powers at low levels so you can build Defiance and get bonus damage.

[Hew]

thats a hella expensive build there.

 

+1 for base powers and the p2w temps

 

Send yourself 500k, buy 8 hours of the p2w temps, craft the base powers

 

[huang3721]

Usually I rely on Common IO and inspirations. It worked quite well, both of my gold side blasters reached Lv.50 with that strategy alone. Still, I'd like to try something new (enhancement set), but from your opinions, its clearly neither effective nor efficient. Especially on low level. 

 

My problems come from location based ambush. Often not enough inspiration to run away or fight back. Still, a few trips from hospital and I eventually complete the mission. 

 

20 minutes ago, Li_Sensei said:

... Unless you're something like a melee AT with Energy Aura, Shield or SR, softcapping before late 30's-mid 40's is not easily achievable....

Thanks and noted, guys!🙂 I ll go easy on those enhancement sets. 

 

Also, @Yomo Kimyata? I run my solver again, but I am using Accuracy Bonus as constraints. Shield Break, Gladiator Javelin and Encouraged Accuracy. Expensive? Yes. But it is effective to hit that 95% HitChance on +0 (89% on +1). That's still not counting Acc bonus for each power.

[Li_Sensei]

At low levels, SO's give more enhancement than generic IO's.

 

Until you're using level 30 IO's, then you actually get more enhancement from an SO than a generic equivalent IO.  (level 25 Dam IO = 32%, even level SO = 33.33%)

 

Yes, there are the hands off benefits of IO's in that they don't degrade as you level, but for raw enhancement magnitude (Yes, I'm ignoring multiple aspect set IO's) they can be hard to beat low down.

 

Keep an eye on your enhancement totals.  If you're using low level IO sets and you're not getting 3 SO's worth of enhancement out of three slots in a power, then are you getting value?  That's a personal question only you can really answer.

[Sovera]

It's more productive to buy medium or even big inspirations while you're leveling. Use /ah to buy, refill between missions.

 

[Shred Monkey]

2 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

In my experience, at that level you are far better off investing in accuracy than in defense.  Dead ghouls don't fight back.

I want to emphasize this comment.  It's very good advice. 

 

The best thing you can do to improve your success is to make sure your attacks do not miss.  At this level your strategy should be to win fights quickly and rest between them to get back hp and endurance. 

 

Nothing you do at this level in terms of damage mitigation will add up to a noticeable improvement.  When you're at a higher level you can start stacking up defenses 2% and 3% defenses to add up to a noticeable improvement.  But right now you just don't have enough slots available to you, yet.  On the other hand, you do have enough slots to improve your attacks.  And adding accuracy gives the biggest boost in performance to a non-enhanced attack.

 

If you really want to improve mitigation, pick up the Air Superiority power from the flight pool.  It has a 100% chance to knockdown a target, and with about 50% recharge reduction, you can keep a single target (including bosses) permanently out of the fight.  (Also, still need accuracy to not miss your knockdown)

 

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, huang3721 said:

 

 

Also, @Yomo Kimyata? I run my solver again, but I am using Accuracy Bonus as constraints. Shield Break, Gladiator Javelin and Encouraged Accuracy. Expensive? Yes. But it is effective to hit that 95% HitChance on +0 (89% on +1). That's still not counting Acc bonus for each power.

I think you are missing the forest for the trees here.  At level 10, if you slot the three Shield Breaker accuracy IOs you get +20.4% accuracy plus the 11% bonus across all powers.  Or you can slot one lvl 13 accuracy SO and get +38.3% accuracy on that power.  

 

"Optimizing" a specific attribute isn't that useful unless you take into account your slotting opportunity costs.  And although a few % of defense is always helpful, it is marginal.

 

Two suggestions:  if you pick up a defense-slottable power like Combat Jumping from the Leaping pool or Hover from the Flight pool, at level 7 you can slot the Kismet +Accuracy (which is actually To-Hit and thus even better!) to help with accuracy issues.  If you go into the Fighting Pool, you can pick either Kick or Boxing and then at level 14 you can choose Tough.  At level 15 you can add a slot to Tough.  There are two unique Resist Damage IOs (Steadfast Protection and Gladiator's Armor) that will give you an overall defense bonus of 3% EACH.  That 6% at level 15 at the cost of two slots is MUCH more effective and cheaper both in terms of inf cost and in terms of slotting.

[Myrmidon]

Place a Panacea unique in Health at level 7, a Miracle unique at level 17 and a Numina’s Convalescence unique at 27. In addition, add a Performance Shifter: Chance for End into Stamina (and slot with whatever Endurance setup you prefer after). These require minimal slotting and will go a long way to covering most of your endurance issues down the line.

[Snarky]

At level 10 the Defense bonus from a DFB run and a purple will do you pretty good.  Your a Blaster so keep a green on hand 🙂

 

[Sovera]

People keep on talking about slotting accuracy in the very low levels but seem to forget the beginner's luck buff.

[huang3721]

5 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

At level 10, if you slot the three Shield Breaker accuracy IOs you get +20.4% accuracy plus the 11% bonus across all powers.

I think that is what I am trying to do. I followed your advice and it is good.

 

Now I have 123 % accuracy bonus and 7% beginner luck. Which results all but one of my attacks has 95% Chance to Hit against +0 critters or 93% Chance to Hit against +1 critters:

 

Your advice works, and at glance it is much better increasing accuracy than defense.

[Yomo Kimyata]

Right, but if you slotted that instead with lvl 13 SOs (1x accuracy, 1x end reduction, 3x damage), you would have comparable accuracy, roughly twice as much damage.  And at a fraction of the cost.

[huang3721]

@Yomo Kimyata That works too. 1x Lv.13 SO accuracy for each power. I guess, IO sets only works when you have enough empty slots. Otherwise, it is useless.

[Yomo Kimyata]

Cool!  Also, you might be interested in this guide I wrote a while back.  This was before low level SOs were freely available, so in a lot of cases SOs really are best for lvl 25 and under.  But I hope you find it useful:  

 

[huang3721]

@Yomo Kimyata Thanks 🙂 If my objective is simply to increase my accuracy so that every attack has 95% hit chance, I don't even need those additional slots! Talk about cracking nuts with a hammer. Its an overkill and most of the nuts are destroyed, too!

[Coyote]

18 minutes ago, huang3721 said:

@Yomo Kimyata That works too. 1x Lv.13 SO accuracy for each power. I guess, IO sets only works when you have enough empty slots. Otherwise, it is useless.

 

Exactly. It's most effective to use SOs at least until 22 or so (when you start considering level 25 IOs so you don't have to worry about levels anymore).

Use unique IOs as soon as they become slottable.

Otherwise, go for set bonuses only where you can get useful ones in 2-3 slots (Steadfast, Thunderstrike).

[Troo]

10 hours ago, huang3721 said:

What do you guys think? Is it OK to spend your cash for these additional defense bonuses?

quick answer: no

 

long answer:

#1 You are on the right track thinking about how to leverage IO set bonuses.

Early in the game those bonus stats can be used to boost an archetypes strengths but really are not enough to patch weaknesses (yet!).

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Blaster_Strategy

 

#2 Teammates are cheaper than unique IOs or even IO sets.

 

#3 Misses on a blaster are no good (others have mentioned this). Think of it this way, misses just waste endurance.

Not doing enough damage and leaving just a sliver of health on a target.. got to use another attack. Again potentially using more endurance. There is a synergy at play.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Troo

[GM Crumpet]

If you have a build in mind and the levels permit, always buy attuned enhancements not level locked ones. They are exactly the same price and level with you. I always take Blessing of the Zephyr in fly at level 7 when they become available and buy attuned, then never have to worry about them again. The enhancements level with me and so do the bonuses.