Looking to make a cheap (Under 100 Mil) Spines Ice that can maybe farm?

[rowdyphilosopher]

So I finally found a concept that fits with something that SEEMS like a farmer build. Is it top tier? No. It has 2 decently high T-AoEs and some CC to keep things close for the other AoEs. I have only 10 mill  now but want to make something that can start farming as cheap as 100 mill invested. Any suggestions? Is the budget too low?

[Six-Six]

Offhand 100mil seems low... that's almost like just 1mil per IO. If you're planning to buy them directly from the AH, you'll most likely come up short. You can stretch your budget by buying cheap and converting, but that's also a sort of gamble. 

Finally, do a search for "farming" threads. I remember coming across one a few weeks back detailing how to start a farmer from level 1. In that thread, it posts several build "stages" or upgrades to switch IOs as you earn more inf before you reach the final build. One of those might work for you.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Six-Six

[Without_Pause]

100 mill is incredibly low. Builds can range a lot, but I feel 500 mill is a far better target for something worthwhile. My estimate for my latest build is around that. Yes, builds can go in the 2 billion range for those who want to. The good news is if you play your 50, getting 5-10 mill in a nights session should be a cake walk, like embarrassingly easy.

 

Builds don't really start farming at level 1. That's a bit of a mislead as you'll have no AoE. Inspir slots are really low until level 25 and capped at level 40. Scrappers also, IIRC, don't crit from their secondary so the damage aura isn't as effective on a Scrapper as it is on a Brute. There is also the question of what do you want to farm? Even getting maxed out build for Fire farming specifically is going to cost some coin. I would build for S/L farms as that can be done for far less and better translates to regular content.

 

If you need currency, I highly recommend searching the guides and market forum for learning about using Converters to convert IOs to better ones which can be sold on the market.  Doing the WST can easily get you enough Merits to buy Converters to get up on running. I put in offers for stacks of 10 recipes and anything under 2 mill profit is a waste for the eventual IO I sell. I've flipped about four different IOs for profit from various uncommons to rares and straight purples. I've lost count, but the last time I guessed my worth was around 7 billion. The bulk of that is via the market. I honestly only farm to PL my guys on another account.

 

If I'm you, and I was, I would level the build to 50. Put in level 25 common IOs as you go. Once at 50, horde what you can until you can afford a proper build. The only place you are going with 10 mill is to the market.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Without_Pause

[nihilii]

I've started solo farming at level 1 many times without enhancements. Insp spamming, and knowing what you can take on with insp spamming, goes a long way. A spines scrapper is good for the task, because you get Spine Burst at level 2.

 

With 100 mill and by lvl 50, you could probably get away without insps as a spines/ice. This is a great combo on a budget, because EA in crowds will take care of your end needs, and Icy Bastion is an excellent panic button. Fill up your powers with cheap sets, get Steadfast Protection + Tough/Weave + Maneuvers, you'll likely hit 45% S/L def. Also get the Reactive Defenses and Shield Wall uniques, even on a budget they're well worth the price tag as you want to cram as much S/L res as you can get.

 

As incarnate levels unlock, I'd go with Barrier as a Destiny choice, for even more resistance.

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 hour ago, nihilii said:

With 100 mill and by lvl 50

 

On top of this, if you do choose to just AE solo from 1 to 50 with anything, I'd be shocked if you only had 100mil by the end of it.

 

I usually start with tunnel witches for a round, then bads in the city, both at +1/x1, then move to Brigg's when I'm high enough to handle +1/x8, slotting as I go until +4/x8 is achieved.

[Without_Pause]

Having three slots for Inspirs at level 2 I guess leads me to think my definition of farming at level 2 is different than others. You'll want level 3 to add a second row of Inspirs and even then farming can be tricky since you have so little room in your inventory to really convert Inspirs. I prefer a different map, but that's 100% due to PLing my own guys. I can't recall how much I had at 50 on my latest farmer, but I have a built in support system already in place and being Rad/fire meant I could push the pace to 50 faster. Even using 2x XP boosters, you will have far more than 10 million. 10 million can easily be a couple rare IO recipe drops which you craft and sell.

[Pyriold]

You can make a decent farmer with 100 Mio, i did it. But it's not spines/ice, it's the popular rad/fire. The nice thing is that you really only need 3 attack powers, your aura, burn and iradiated ground. Sure, you should also get a bit of single target damage but thats secondary. Capping fire resist is trivial and with capped resists alone you can already farm... but only at +0 or +1 /8. To go higher you need to chase defense. Most IO sets that grant fire resists are expensive, so dont take them. Just take all the powers that grant general defense (manouvers, combat jumping, etc.) and slot them out. Get the 2 +3 defense unique IOs. You should be able to land at close to 20% defense.

 

When your farmer hits 50, take the barrier power and melee hybrid. Alternate them while farming, both powers will boost your defenses enough for a pretty long time, so that you can farm at least +3, +4 is possible when you get better. There will be a gap that you can simply close by popping a purple. That's how i am farming all the time and it works great. Sure, you can not AFK farm with this, but that's boring anyways 🙂