Catalyst or Boost

[dragonhawk777]

When it comes to the different IO sets which is better to do. slot up a set with boosters or use a Catalyst Enhancement on them?  I have done the Catalyst in the past but never really saw a tool tip showing what benefit it does, unless you are talking about the class enhancement sets like Blaster, Brute,...  Does anyone know which is better or even if either affects the set pieces.  I know the boosters will bump up normal IOs to +5 and you can see how much of a percentage boost they get, but never saw any numbers concerning IO sets.

[Luminara]

Catalysts make set IOs behave like purples, Winter enhancements or ATOs.  They level with you, they exemplar with you, the values change according to your level.  If you exemplar frequently, it's very useful to catalyze your set IOs.  You can also purchase catalyzed (Attuned) IOs directly from the player market, for exactly the same prices as the uncatalyzed IOs (they're pooled), which is extremely useful for leveling.

 

Do not catalyze purples.  They don't need it, they don't benefit from it.  Don't bother to try to catalyze procs, they don't need it and some can't be catalyzed (though converting catalyzed IOs will result in catalyzed procs, but that's really just a side effect, not a benefit).

 

Boosters add a flat increase, but don't allow the enhancement values to vary.  If you're frankenslotting, or only have one enhancement in a power, like a single Recharge Reduction in Hasten, you can use boosters on those to make them more potent.

 

Do not use boosters on procs, that doesn't do anything but waste boosters.  Do not use boosters on Winter enhancements, ATOs or other special enhancements which are already catalyzed out of the box, just upgrade those with catalysts.

 

Do consider using boosters on purple IOs.  If you need a little more Endurance Reduction in the melee attack in which you've slotted a set of Hecatomb, for instance, use boosters on the Dam/End IO.  It doesn't break the set, and it does give you a little more value from the IO.

 

If you never exemplar, you can use boosters and frankenslotting to wiggle a few more slots out of a build.

 

As for what you get out of boosters when applied to set IOs, you don't see much information about that because it's complicated.  There are IOs with two attributes, three attributes and four attributes, different Schedules (how enhancements in general are categorized), and some IOs don't even follow the expected conventions (example: ATOs and Winter enhancements which have Recharge Reduction/Special Effect are set to the four-attrib value for the Recharge Reduction, not the two-attrib value), so a list of every possible combination of boosters and set IOs would be... long.  Very long.  There is an equation you can use to determine what the final numbers would be (for a three-attrib IO, for instance, the numbers go from 21.2/21.2/21.2 to 26.5/26.5/26.5 (assuming all three attributes are Schedule A))... but it's easier to just open Mids' and hit the + key when assigning IOs to powers (use the - key to remove boosters).  If you don't have Mids', download it here.  There's a sub-forum with questions, answers and discussion about Mids' here.

[Yomo Kimyata]

33 minutes ago, Luminara said:

Don't bother to try to catalyze procs, they don't need it and some can't be catalyzed (though converting catalyzed IOs will result in catalyzed procs, but that's really just a side effect, not a benefit).

 

Two comments on this:

 

1.  There are some procs that have both a proc effect and a attribute effect.  The two that come to mind are LotG proc, which enhances defense and gives +7.5% recharge, and Steadfast Protection, which enhances resist damage and gives 3% defense.  If you attune these (i.e., use a catalyst to improve it), then the attribute effect will increase slightly as you level.

 

2.  Some (all?) ATO and Winter-O procs differ between the regular and the "Superior" version and the Superior version is better, either with a higher PPM or a better effect.  Making an ATO/WO proc superior (i.e., use a catalyst to improve it) will give a better proc effect.  I'm not sure offhand if it affects the recharge portion in something like a Avalanche proc v. a Superior Avalanche proc (which would affect the proc rate if the recharge is higher), but I would think you are better off with a Superior proc than with a regular proc.

 

Personally, I use attuned versions of everything I can including procs.  It may not improve most IO procs, but I like the aesthetics better.  Please remember that it's almost certainly more cost effective to buy an IO in attuned form on the /AH than it is to buy it in a non-attuned form, buy a catalyst, and attune it yourself.

[tidge]

45 minutes ago, Luminara said:

Do not catalyze purples.  They don't need it, they don't benefit from it.  Don't bother to try to catalyze procs, they don't need it and some can't be catalyzed (though converting catalyzed IOs will result in catalyzed procs, but that's really just a side effect, not a benefit).

 

Fun fact: Converters can also result in Boosted %procs from purple sets! There is also no benefit to this.

[Mezmera]

I boost all of the purple and pvp sets that I have slotted always except for the procs and uniques since those bonuses are already attuned being in these categories.  The hardest part of the game is endgame so I'd like to have my best enhanced values for that.  

 

Outside of the ATO and Winter sets I'll sometimes use catalysts on regular sets that are in powers I get in low levels where enhanceable value seems like overkill like say a full Gaussian set in a Build Up power.  Any powers I get after 40 I'll just boost the sets in those even if its a LotG.  Sometimes I'll catalyze the LotG it just depends how much defense value I'm already enhancing and how low level that defense power is available to me.  I'll always boost the Steadfast unique though.  

 

I'd say my builds typically ratio out to be about 85% boosted > 15% catalyzed sets.  That's mostly Purple, PvP, ATO, Winter sets and uniques.