Returning original "live" player, rebuilding ENG/ENG blaster

[Wolfpaws]

I'm looking for general advice on an energy/energy blaster. I had originally played on live servers and got a character into the low 40's I believe, so I'm not familiar with a lot of end-game content or fancy enhancements because I never had garnered enough influence during live to mess with it. 

 

So I recently came (back) to Homecoming and have been working on my "recreate" character, and am now up to level 42 with him and starting to think of ways to better improve things as I get nearer to 50. A couple general (I hope) questions.

1.) Should I even bother with a lot of enhancement sets on the AH, or just wait until I hit 50? I did put a few sets in on some of the basic powers when I was in the mid to late 30's and I know they don't "level out" but given the influence cost involved, I didn't know if I should just run along with some level 50 teams until I ding 50 then worry about it once I've amassed a decent nest egg or what.

2.) If I do start slotting IO's and the like, what's the best route to go for ENG/ENG blasters? There's a variety of sets that go into level 50 but certain things like potential toxic damage, holds, etc I'm not as familiar with, so don't know if they're worth bothering with, or if there are better options to use as far as sets are concerned.

3.) I have no idea how converters and things work as they were never around when I played live (or I never got high enough to know about them). Are there good guides or things to look at that discuss some of this?

3A.) Any good guides in general on end game content would be nice, as I'm not familiar with it at all. I feel like it's going to take me 20 years before I can experience a Hami raid and/or what to even do with the spoils of that if there are any. So totally green with a lot of that content and the level 50 Oroborous content. 

4.) Accolades? I recall I think having 1 on Live, but since being on Homecoming and joining various level pick up teams I've bounced around the world more than Robbie Baldwin, so if there are suggestions on "must haves" that I can do now great, or if I should wait until 50 to mess with them, I can compile a "to do once I'm 50" list and add those to it.

 

That all said, yes, I know energy blasters can be a love or hate situation. I personally like, and the whole point of this is to (try) to eventually get "that character" I originally played as my main up to level 50 finally. I'll consider it the Alterna-Earth version of that character since I couldn't do it back during live. It's really nice to be able to go back to something that I very much loved back in the day and be able to kind of pick up where I left off (sorta).

 

[Uun]

1. No reason to wait until 50. I start slotting IO sets at lvl 30 (many of the better sets aren't available below lvl 30). If you buy attuned sets, their effectiveness will increase as you level. Also, you can start with uncommon sets (which are less expensive) and upgrade to rare sets when you have more money. There's a very handy piece of salvage called an Enhancement Unslotter (available on the AH or from the merit vendor), which allows you to remove enhancements without respeccing. You can then sell the removed enhancements.
2. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancement_Sets Most of the powers in your primary are going to take Ranged Damage or Ranged AoE Damage sets. Without getting into more esoteric things like Blaster AT sets and Winter sets, a good starting point is Thunderstrike, Devastation or Decimation for Ranged Damage and Positron's Blast, Bombardment, Artillery or Annihilation for Range AoE Damage. Most of the powers in your secondary will take Melee Damage sets. Crushing Impact, Touch of Death and Mako's Bite are good starting points.
3. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancement_Converter_Salvage
4. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Hero_Accolade_Badges There are 4 accolades that boost your hit points or endurance, Atlas Medallion, Task Force Commander, Freedom Phalanx Reserve and Portal Jockey. Atlas can easily be obtained by lvl 30 and TF Commander by lvl 35 (the minimum level for the Numina TF). Freedom Phalanx requires Unveiler (defeating 100 Fake Nemesis), which don't show up until lvl 40. Portal Jockey requires Dimensional Warder (defeating 13 Praetorian AVs), which show up in Tina McIntyre (40-45) and Maria Jenkins (45-50) arcs. There are alternatives for obtaining each of these red side.

 

 

 

[Wolfpaws]

Great, thank you so much for clarifying things! I really didn't take many powers in the secondary energy set (the basic melee punch, and the more restorative things like build up, etc were primarily what I went for there) - I try my hardest not to get up close and personal with anything because, well, squishy.

 

I'm realizing I skipped a LOT of TF's this go around so I might try to focus on those this weekend, and at least knock out some of the accolades. Atlas sounds familiar - pretty sure I got that back during live. I didn't even know about attuned sets, and since I'm only sitting around like 5 million in influence, they're most likely out of my price range to really work on at this point. Good to know for potentially a lower level character as well since I've got a few bouncing around on the wings when I get bored of higher level stuff.

 

Thank you again!

[Uun]