Enhancements +5 or Attuned?

[Marshal Valor]

I'm a little confused about this. I was told Attuned were the best to get and function at all levels. I've been told that +5 function even better but don't function at lower levels. Then I was told the +5's did. Can someone who is knowledgeable set me straight on this please? I'd very much appreciate the wisdom of an enhancements Zen master. 😄

[Bopper]

BLUF:  In short, only +5 Purples and PvP enhancement sets. Attune everything else.

 

Edit:

The reason to attune an enhancement is to make sure you maximize the set bonuses that come with that enhancement. For example, let's say you have a level 50 LotG: Recharge enhancement slotted in your Combat Jumping. If you exemplar below level 47, you will lose the +Recharge bonus because you are more than 3 levels below the crafted level of the enhancement. This goes the same for all set bonuses where if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the crafted level, it loses its set bonus contributions. 

 

By having the enhancement attuned while leveling up, it will scale to whatever level you are (if you're level 40, the enhancement strength will be the level 40 version). With this, the set bonuses from the enhancement will still work just as long as your exemplared level is not more than 3 levels below the lowest possible level range of that enhancement set. For example, if the enhancement set had a level range of 30-50 and you are exemplared to level 25, then you would lose the set bonus.

 

For more info, you can read about it here: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Attuned. Additional good info can be read here: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Exemplar_Effects_on_Enhancements

 

As for Purples and PvP IOs, their set bonuses will work when you exemplar with no fear of the -3 level rule. So in that scenario, it's best to leave them crafted (since attuning does nothing for you) and boosting that enhancement to +5 so that the enhancements are all 25% stronger in their buffs.

 

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Extra edits:

There is one other case where I will not attune, and that is if I am frankenslotting a single crafted IO (since I'm not getting the set bonus anyways). Or if I simply don't care about the set bonus(es) that I might lose. 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Bopper

[Heraclea]

I attune everything except purples, where it does nothing for them.  I also attune some PvP enhancements like the Panacea chance for HP and endurance, where the important thing is to make them slottable at level 10.  Apart from the limited demand for them whenever a character dings 50 and needs to upgrade any ATOs they have slotted, the main demand for catalysts walks hand in hand with unslotters.  I will routinely catalyze, unslot, and replace entire sets when the catalysts start stacking up, so that the catalyzed set can be slotted at 7 / 17 / 27.

[KelvinKole]

I buy attuned enhancements from the auction house for everything except purples. If you don’t know, the auction house doesn’t differentiate between regular and attuned enhancement stock. So if you bid on an attuned enhancement and there’s only “regular” enhancements listed it will automatically attune it for you and sell it to you. 

[Marshal Valor]

Ok I like to PvP, so in that case is it still a good idea to attune everything not purple or a PvP set?

[Bopper]

Just now, Marshal Valor said:

Ok I like to PvP, so in that case is it still a good idea to attune everything not purple or a PvP set?

If you're not exemplaring in PvP, then sure, craft and +5 everything. However, there are some PvP zones that I believe will exemplar you, so be mindful of that if you play on those maps. Personally, I'd recommend a separate build specific to PvP if you plan to use your character for both PvE and PvP, then slot/enhance as needed for each build.

[arcane]

I only attune procs (can’t be boosted anyway) and enhancements that I otherwise wouldn’t want to boost (say, that Acc/Dam/Rech on a power I badly want to proc). You could certainly argue for boosting less and attuning more, but I’ve never needed to. That comes down to what your priority is. Only things I exemp for tend to be speedy WST’s like Yin or Manti and I’ve never found myself hurting there so much that I want to pull back on boosters. Oh and do PvP’ers still play in Bloody Bay/Sirens Call/Warburg anymore anyway? I haven’t done a damn thing in that direction outside of RV and arena.

Edited June 14, 2021 by arcane

[Shred Monkey]

1 hour ago, Bopper said:

BLUF:  In short, only +5 Purples and PvP enhancement sets. Attune everything else.

 

Edit:

The reason to attune an enhancement is to make sure you maximize the set bonuses that come with that enhancement. For example, let's say you have a level 50 LotG: Recharge enhancement slotted in your Combat Jumping. If you exemplar below level 47, you will lose the +Recharge bonus because you are more than 3 levels below the crafted level of the enhancement. This goes the same for all set bonuses where if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the crafted level, it loses its set bonus contributions. 

 

By having the enhancement attuned while leveling up, it will scale to whatever level you are (if you're level 40, the enhancement strength will be the level 40 version). With this, the set bonuses from the enhancement will still work just as long as your exemplared level is not more than 3 levels below the lowest possible level range of that enhancement set. For example, if the enhancement set had a level range of 30-50 and you are exemplared to level 25, then you would lose the set bonus.

 

For more info, you can read about it here: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Attuned. Additional good info can be read here: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Exemplar_Effects_on_Enhancements

 

As for Purples and PvP IOs, their set bonuses will work when you exemplar with no fear of the -3 level rule. So in that scenario, it's best to leave them crafted (since attuning does nothing for you) and boosting that enhancement to +5 so that the enhancements are all 25% stronger in their buffs.

 

---

Extra edits:

There is one other case where I will not attune, and that is if I am frankenslotting a single crafted IO (since I'm not getting the set bonus anyways). Or if I simply don't care about the set bonus(es) that I might lose. 

 

Just seconding this post.  This is my exact strategy... including the extra edits.  

 

Also, just to complete the discussion, I boost generic IOs to +5 and I combine my hami-Os to 53.

[Onlyasandwich]

A few exceptions I would mention to @Bopper's wisdom and what others mentioned:

 

• If the power is a level 47 or especially 49 pick, you may as well put a 50 non-attuned IO in there and +5 it, as exemplaring won't be super relevant for scaling the set bonuses for these powers.  I was corrected on this - you retain set bonuses even for powers above your exemplar range.
• Go ahead and +5 any regular old non set IOs across the board, of course.
• If the set bonus is sort of marginal to begin with, but you might benefit from some extra enhancement push, I would +5. Then you get stronger enhancement in the power, and a happy little bonus at high level play. An example of this might be a small regen bonus.
• Feel free to +5 any set IOs that you aren't actually using as a set, but instead using to frankenslot max enhancement value.

 

The only extra weirdness I can think of would come to dedicated PVPers. As I understand, they choose certain levels to set their IOs at and then plus them out at that lower level to ensure the highest possible enhancement value for that range, so they can get that extra edge over opponents at the same level. There are extra shenanigans with Quad attribute enhancers, which scale down more effectively, as their smaller values in each attribute don't get cut down at all by examplaring because they are below a certain threshold value.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Onlyasandwich

[Bopper]

18 minutes ago, Onlyasandwich said:

If the power is a level 47 or especially 49 pick, you may as well put a 50 non-attuned IO in there and +5 it, as exemplaring won't be super relevant for scaling the set bonuses for these powers.

Although you may exemplar out of being able to use the power, you still can keep the set bonuses all the way down to whatever the IO allows. So I would still Attune it if you want to keep those set bonuses.

[Onlyasandwich]

3 minutes ago, Bopper said:

set bonuses all the way down to whatever the IO allows

Well I learn new things every day! 

 

Thank you for clarifying, Bopper.

[DoctorDitko]

45 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

BLUF

Hadn't seen this term, so I looked it up. First two entries on DDG:

 

Welcome to BLUF

https://www.bluf.com

BLUF is a club for men who enjoy wearing breeches and leather uniforms. Founded in 1997, there are now over 4,000 members worldwide, and many of them meet in person at BLUF events.

 

BLUF (communication) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF_(communication)

A BLUF (bottom line up front) is acronym for a standard military communication that is precise and powerful. Precision is attained by beginning a message with the bottom line so the reader immediately gets the most important information first. This differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and ...

 

Thanks for that. The second one jibes with the journalistic practice of inverse pyramid, aka "Don't bury the lede!"

The first one... Sounds like 90% of the playerbase!

Edited June 15, 2021 by DoctorDitko

[RageusQuitus2]

1 hour ago, arcane said:

Oh and do PvP’ers still play in Bloody Bay/Sirens Call/Warburg anymore anyway? I haven’t done a damn thing in that direction outside of RV and arena

Unfortunately no cause i miss zone pvp.  I enjoy soloing those zones and fighting hotspots in sirens, getting the free summon in bloody bay, and warburg has its uses (afk farming pvp io's although it never worked for me).

 

From what i can tell im the only one that misses bb, sc, wb pvp.

[America's Angel]

For PvP builds just use boosters.

Edited June 15, 2021 by America's Angel

[MTeague]

I definitely attune PvP's to be able to slot them early.

 

But, upon dinging 50, I could see the idea of mass-unslotting them during a lvl 50 respec to adjust power selections and reallocate slots-per-power.... and then auctioning the attuned PvP's, buying unattuned 50 PvP's with the proceeds, and then boosting them. 

[Snarky]

8 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

Hadn't seen this term, so I looked it up. First two entries on DDG:

 

Welcome to BLUF

https://www.bluf.com

BLUF is a club for men who enjoy wearing breeches and leather uniforms. Founded in 1997, there are now over 4,000 members worldwide, and many of them meet in person at BLUF events.

 

BLUF (communication) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF_(communication)

A BLUF (bottom line up front) is acronym for a standard military communication that is precise and powerful. Precision is attained by beginning a message with the bottom line so the reader immediately gets the most important information first. This differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and ...

 

Thanks for that. The second one jibes with the journalistic practice of inverse pyramid, aka "Don't bury the lede!"

The first one... Sounds like 90% of the playerbase!

Good editors always insist writers use this format for things like news stories.  I think they call it reverse pyramid or pyramid.  Make the story in the first paragraph, short as possible.  Then start adding information that is supplemental.

[Shred Monkey]

10 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

Welcome to BLUF

https://www.bluf.com

BLUF is a club for men who enjoy wearing breeches and leather uniforms. Founded in 1997, there are now over 4,000 members worldwide, and many of them meet in person at BLUF events.

 

BLUF (communication) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF_(communication)

A BLUF (bottom line up front) is acronym for a standard military communication that is precise and powerful. Precision is attained by beginning a message with the bottom line so the reader immediately gets the most important information first. This differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and ...

Huh...I thought he misspelled something and gave on trying to figure it out.  From now on, I'll picture Bopper as a motorcycle cop.

 

My MBA writing for business class taught something similar to BLUF.  In business communication you should assume the reader is going to stop reading at some point in your email/communication.  So you start with the main point, then work your way down to the least important detail.   

 

Also use an 8th grade vocabulary.  Using fancy words will decrease the reader's understanding not increase it.  The goal is to give your reader information, not oracular hauteur.  Mis-communication might lead people to believe wear your breeches outside your jackboots.

 

 

[Marshal_General]

I don't really understand how the +5 rules work. I have only done that to basic IOs in hasten and Focused Accuracy.

 

I figure I am safe with FA since it is usually my next to last power pick. I am not sure about hasten.

[BZRKR]

9 minutes ago, Marshal_General said:

I don't really understand how the +5 rules work. I have only done that to basic IOs in hasten and Focused Accuracy.

 

I figure I am safe with FA since it is usually my next to last power pick. I am not sure about hasten.

The forum knowledge that I have put into practice is as follows: If you +5 the lvl 50 Recharge Reduction IOs in Hasten, you can get away with 2-slotting it. It has worked for me so far, but if there are fine points beyond this, I'm not sure.

[Marshal_General]

Just now, BZRKR said:

The forum knowledge that I have put into practice is as follows: If you +5 the lvl 50 Recharge Reduction IOs in Hasten, you can get away with 2-slotting it. It has worked for me so far, but if there are fine points beyond this, I'm not sure.

That us why I did it, but does it change anything about when I would lose the bonus from the enhancement? I am hoping not since it is a basic IO, but what about set IOs?

 

Say you +5 a set IO that has a 30-50 range. Would the minimum be raised to 35? Or would attuning it change thing?

[Greycat]

14 hours ago, arcane said:

Oh and do PvP’ers still play in Bloody Bay/Sirens Call/Warburg anymore anyway? I haven’t done a damn thing in that direction outside of RV and arena.

 

I ran across a small group in BB... geez, must be two months ago now. First time in a long time. And it was a lot of fun. I miss that being a common thing.

[BZRKR]

5 hours ago, Marshal_General said:

That us why I did it, but does it change anything about when I would lose the bonus from the enhancement? I am hoping not since it is a basic IO, but what about set IOs?

 

Say you +5 a set IO that has a 30-50 range. Would the minimum be raised to 35? Or would attuning it change thing?

Good question, I don't know. I normally attune set IOs to be able to slot at the minimum level.

*looks at the hcwiki*

It looks like it does not change the minimum level, assuming the wiki article is up to date. Source:

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

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Exemplar_Effects_on_Enhancements#Set_bonuses

This is just me perusing the articles on my lunch break though, so if a more knowledgeable person can confirm or deny, then that would be great! 

[gameboy1234]

On 6/14/2021 at 3:48 PM, Bopper said:

As for Purples and PvP IOs, their set bonuses will work when you exemplar with no fear of the -3 level rule.

Ah so that's why.  I didn't know that, thanks for the explanation.

[srmalloy]

On 6/15/2021 at 5:00 AM, Marshal_General said:

That us why I did it, but does it change anything about when I would lose the bonus from the enhancement? I am hoping not since it is a basic IO, but what about set IOs?

You never lose the enhancement value from an IO, whether it is attuned or not, although the magnitude of the value scales the further down below the IO level you exemp. So even if you exemp down to 1, your level 55 Damage IO will still increase the damage of the power it's slotted in (just not as much). Set bonuses are preserved for attuned set IOs down to the minimum level you can slot the set -- attuned Thunderstrike IOs retain set bonuses down to level 27, since the set is 30-50, but the enhancement values scale just like common IOs.

[Grouchybeast]

It also depends on how  and when you slot.  I tend to make a build plan early on with a character and, and slot it up with sets as I go.  I also level quite slowly and solo a lot.  So I get a lot of use out of attuned IOs.  If you prefer to level to 50 and then give your characters a set IO build, it becomes more a question of whether or not you exemp.  If you farm a character up to 50, slot them out, and never exemp, attuned IOs are pretty pointless.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Grouchybeast