Addressing the lower-level IO problem

[macskull]

Hi again, it's me. I don't often start new threads but this has been floating around in my head for a few weeks since a random question about IO effectiveness got asked on Discord and I wanted to finally write things down. So, let's start off by asking a question:

 

Why don't players like low-level IO sets?

 

"But," you say, "I love low-level IOs, I use Explosive Strike and Steadfast Protection and Regenerative Tissue all the time!" And I'm sure you do, but you probably use them just for a proc or unique here or there but ignore the rest of the set most of the time. For purposes of this discussion, we're not talking about those procs or uniques because those have the same effectiveness regardless of what level they are or what level the character is. I assess there are two main reasons players tend to ignore lower-level IOs:

 

1. The enhancements themselves are extremely weak at lower levels.
2. The set bonuses aren't good compared to what's available at other levels.

 

This post is mainly intended to address the first point, but I propose potential solutions to the second one as well. Onto the first point!

 

Low-level IOs provide poor enhancement values:

 

Quote

Lower level IO's are strengthened around that of Training Enhancements, mid level IO's are about the power of Dual Origin Enhancements, and IO's level 25 and above have about the same punch as current Single Origin Enhancements. Of course the power of the Enhancement is better with level, so high level invented Enhancements are slightly more powerful than the equivalent SO.

The above is a quote from Positron around Issue 9 when the invention system was added. It made sense considering the environment of the game at the time, but the TO/DO/SO paradigm hasn't been a thing on Homecoming in nearly three years, and even looking back all the way to the game pre-shutdown, leveling happened a lot faster in the last few years of the game's life than it did in 2007 when inventions were introduced. At any rate, TOs are essentially deprecated to the point of nonexistence on Homecoming, and SOs start dropping earlier (and are available at vendors essentially right away). While the original design intent for IOs was to keep strength parity with non-IO enhancements, that's no longer reflected in reality thanks to the enhancement rework in I27P1.

 

Here's what IO enhancement values look like, both in numeric and visual form:

 

 

Level	Damage	% increase from previous
10	11.70%	N/A
15	19.20%	64%
20	25.60%	33%
25	32.00%	25%
30	34.80%	9%
35	36.70%	5%
40	38.60%	5%
45	40.50%	5%
50	42.40%	5%

 

Notice anything weird there? Going from 10-15 is a massive increase, going from 15-20 is about half of that, it's a bit smaller from 20-25, and then it drops off a cliff around 30 and is consistent the rest of the way to 50. Here's another example, using Gladiator's Javelin: Acc/Dam (a level 10-50 set, so you get the full range of levels to compare against).

 

 

Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous
10	7.30%	N/A	20	16.00%	5.26%	30	21.80%	1.40%	40	24.10%	0.84%
11	8.30%	13.70%	21	16.80%	5.00%	31	22.00%	0.92%	41	24.40%	1.24%
12	9.40%	13.25%	22	17.60%	4.76%	32	22.30%	1.36%	42	24.60%	0.82%
13	10.40%	10.64%	23	18.40%	4.55%	33	22.40%	0.45%	43	24.80%	0.81%
14	11.20%	7.69%	24	19.20%	4.35%	34	22.70%	1.34%	44	25.10%	1.21%
15	12.00%	7.14%	25	20.00%	4.17%	35	22.90%	0.88%	45	25.30%	0.80%
16	12.80%	6.67%	26	20.80%	4.00%	36	23.20%	1.31%	46	25.60%	1.19%
17	13.60%	6.25%	27	21.10%	1.44%	37	23.40%	0.86%	47	25.80%	0.78%
18	14.40%	5.88%	28	21.30%	0.95%	38	23.60%	0.85%	48	26.00%	0.78%
19	15.20%	5.56%	29	21.50%	0.94%	39	23.90%	1.27%	49	26.20%	0.77%
									50	26.50%	1.15%

 

 

This example isn't quite as egregious, but it does point out exactly how little change there is in enhancement values once you pass level 26: a level 50 enhancement is only 25% stronger than a level 27 enhancement, which is a smaller relative change over twenty-three levels than you get going from level 10 to level 12 (a 28% strength boost).

 

My proposal is simple: now that TOs are essentially nonexistent, don't measure lower-level IOs against them. Flatten the curve, so to speak, to eliminate that large drop-off in effectiveness that occurs as you go below level 27. For generic IOs, the new enhancement values would look like this:

 

Level	Damage	% increase from previous
10	27.20%	N/A
15	29.10%	7%
20	31.00%	7%
25	32.90%	6%
30	34.80%	6%
35	36.70%	5%
40	38.60%	5%
45	40.50%	5%
50	42.40%	5%

 

Note the increase in effectiveness is still stronger at lower levels, but not significantly so, and the current conventional wisdom of "level 25 generic IOs are slightly weaker than an even-level SO while level 30 generic IOs are slightly stronger" doesn't change, but it does give people a reason to slot lower-level generic IOs without feeling like they're wasting that slot on a piddly 11.7% bonus. Now we compare that to our level 10-50 set acc/dam piece, mirroring the 27-50 pattern of a roughly 1% effectiveness increase per level:

 

Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous	Level	Damage	% increase from previous
10	17.60%	N/A	20	19.60%	1.03%	30	21.80%	1.40%	40	24.10%	0.84%
11	17.80%	1.14%	21	19.80%	1.02%	31	22.00%	0.92%	41	24.40%	1.24%
12	18.00%	1.12%	22	20.10%	1.52%	32	22.30%	1.36%	42	24.60%	0.82%
13	18.20%	1.11%	23	20.30%	1.00%	33	22.40%	0.45%	43	24.80%	0.81%
14	18.40%	1.10%	24	20.50%	0.99%	34	22.70%	1.34%	44	25.10%	1.21%
15	18.60%	1.09%	25	20.70%	0.98%	35	22.90%	0.88%	45	25.30%	0.80%
16	18.80%	1.08%	26	20.90%	0.97%	36	23.20%	1.31%	46	25.60%	1.19%
17	19.00%	1.06%	27	21.10%	0.96%	37	23.40%	0.86%	47	25.80%	0.78%
18	19.20%	1.05%	28	21.30%	0.95%	38	23.60%	0.85%	48	26.00%	0.78%
19	19.40%	1.04%	29	21.50%	0.94%	39	23.90%	1.27%	49	26.20%	0.77%
									50	26.50%	1.15%

 

Again, the effectiveness increase is higher as level gets lower, but the abrupt drop-off in effectiveness is gone.

 

This change doesn't suddenly make lower-level IOs powerful - they're still weaker than SOs until the mid-20s - but it does make slotting them worthwhile if you don't want to constantly pay to upgrade your SOs every few levels.

 

Now, this still doesn't quite solve the problem with low-level IO sets, because even though those enhancements would now be more effective, we run into our second issue: set bonuses.

 

Low-level IO set bonuses are weak.

 

There's not much beating around the bush here. Whether lower-level sets were intended to be something you got while leveling and then replaced, or I don't know, there's not much logic behind the set bonuses being weaker because that just incentivizes players to either not slot them at all, or just replace them later, turning them into throwaways which sort of defeats the point of the IO system. I don't intend to give a solution to this issue here, merely offer a few suggestions as options:

 

1. Get rid of the "tiny" category of set bonuses and make them all "small."
2. Rework lower-level IO set bonuses to provide effects that lower-level characters with fewer slots need - recharge time, recovery, accuracy, and hit points are ideas that potentially come to mind. As an example, maybe a set provides 6.25% global recharge time with only two slots. That sounds like a lot but a lower level where slots are at a premium maybe that's exactly what that level 15 character needs. Yes, level 50 characters could also utilize this to get extra bonuses with fewer slots invested but the thought process here is the lower-level enhancement values would mean a need to decide between set bonuses and enhancement value. "But you could use boosters," you say, and that brings me to my final point...

 

Something's gotta give.

 

Enhancement boosters are really powerful. They've come up in dev discussions a few times as examples of things that were probably marginally okay when they were a cash shop item, but now everyone can get them very easily, and they're very powerful. You can boost an enhancement's effectiveness by 25%. In a real example, that means a level 30+5 provides enhancement values greater than a level 50 enhancement. In order to help keep things balanced with new, more powerful lower-level enhancements, the amount of bonus a single booster provides would be reduced from 5% to 3%, for a maximum boost of 15%. This means a 50+5 generic IO would provide 48.76% enhancement instead of the 53% it does now, which is a minimal impact but does at least somewhat address boosters (which, let's be real here, are going to get nerfed at some point).

[Rudra]

There is also the option to use attuned IOs. Since most low-level IO sets are 10-25 or 15-30, you still get to the cut off point you mentioned. At lower levels, the boosts you get from IOs are not as needed to remain competitive or even have an advantage over the mobs you face. And if the IOs are attuned, they will increase in potency as you level.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Rudra
Edited to correct "So" to "Since".

[macskull]

4 minutes ago, Rudra said:

There is also the option to use attuned IOs. Since most low-level IO sets are 10-25 or 15-30, you still get to the cut off point you mentioned. At lower levels, the boosts you get from IOs are not as needed to remain competitive or even have an advantage over the mobs you face. And if the IOs are attuned, they will increase in potency as you level.

This is true and it partially solves the problem, but the enhancement values themselves are still weak at those lower levels.

[Rudra]

48 minutes ago, macskull said:

54 minutes ago, Rudra said:

There is also the option to use attuned IOs. Since most low-level IO sets are 10-25 or 15-30, you still get to the cut off point you mentioned. At lower levels, the boosts you get from IOs are not as needed to remain competitive or even have an advantage over the mobs you face. And if the IOs are attuned, they will increase in potency as you level.

This is true and it partially solves the problem, but the enhancement values themselves are still weak at those lower levels.

Granted, but from my personal experience, playing without any enhancements whatsoever until level 20 has never been difficult in the slightest except for very specific missions. (Specifically the Shining Stars mission where you fight the five Praetorians with your Shining Stars allies since the Shining Stars like to die amazingly fast leaving you alone against the 5 bosses most times.) Aside from that one specific mission though? I routinely play without any enhancements until after level 20. So having attuned IOs that scale down to 10 just makes the game less problematic. At higher levels? Where mobs seem absolutely certain to maul and maim you while ignoring your feeble attempts to hurt them if you're still without enhancements? Yeah, the IO bonuses are much more important.

 

Now please bear in mind, I'm not against the OP per se. I'm just wondering why IO bonuses need to be improved at the low levels where they are far less important.

 

(Edit: The biggest problem I saw with TOs, and why I have no qualms about them having gone away now, is because too many contacts only sold players TOs when the game had progressed to DO default, and even at SO levels, you would routinely get TOs. And they were very much not helpful at those levels.)

 

(Edit again: So I guess another reason why players may not be using low level IOs is because they don't really need them.)

Edited September 4, 2023 by Rudra
Edited to remove redundant "alone". And again to move "alone", change "main" to "maim", and change "whole" to "while".

[Yep, Nope is right]

Err... I guess I have to turn in my min/max card, cuz I just never worried about the lower bonuses at low levels. I usually try to slot attuned sets as I figure out where I want the build to go, and just have done with. If not that, I'm slotting SOs and shooting for +3, or just stuffing common IOs in there so I don't have to think about it and trying to remember to update them every few levels but not too worried if I forget. I've seen a lot of people say they don't bother filling slots AT ALL until they hit the mid 20s or so, and I can understand the reasoning.

 

Lower bonuses or not, if you slot your powers at all decently at low levels you'll curb-stomp pretty much everything you run into if you have any clue at all how to handle your powersets & AT. To me, at least, this suggestion seems like a solution in search of a problem. I wouldn't argue against it if the devs pick up the idea, but I do kinda wonder if it's really worth their time.

[biostem]

Cut the required mats for sub-25 generic IOs to only 1-2 pieces, slash their crafting cost in inf, and that should help a bit.  The issue, beyond that, is people looking at 50+, or even purple IO sets and using those as the baseline.  Another part of the issue, IMO, is getting hung up on the per cent increase vs the absolute increase.  For instance, going from 1% to 2% is a "huge" 100% increase, but in an absolute sense it doesn't really mean much.  There's also a bit of an "illusory" notion of lower level IOs being less useful because a level 20 SK'd up to 49 still can't hit reliably against those +5 enemies they're up against.  Really, it's a matter of someone's subjective experience, and rather than understand the reasons why they are missing so much or getting hit all the time, they'd rather be PL'd to 50, farm for cash to fully kit themselves out, then complain that there's nothing to do...

[Saiyajinzoningen]

would lots more IO sets in general, help reduce the severity of this issue?

[Luminara]

5 hours ago, macskull said:

My proposal is simple: now that TOs are essentially nonexistent, don't measure lower-level IOs against them. Flatten the curve, so to speak, to eliminate that large drop-off in effectiveness that occurs as you go below level 27.

 

The one problem I see with this is that the level 1-19 modifier tables are skewed to make player characters comparatively more powerful than they are, and critters comparatively weaker than they are, in the rest of the game.  TOs, DOs, common IOs and set IOs in the 1-19 range don't need to be stronger because the game itself makes player characters better than they "should be" via those modifier tables.  The largest increases in the strengths of powers occur in those levels, and critters are correspondingly weakest in those levels.  It isn't until the 20+ range that player character growth and critter strength both normalize.  As @Rudra noted, we don't even need enhancements in the lower levels.  The game is that heavily weighted in our favor.

 

While the change to allow SOs to drop in the starter levels has thrown a wrinkle into that, I have to wonder if adjusting the low level IO tables wouldn't create an impetus to similarly alter the modifier tables.  That could have serious repercussions, as it would create a requirement to have those enhancements by removing the gradual "settling into" our power that we currently experience.  Personally, I'd rather not see the game move in that direction.

[kelika2]

Did you factor in not having as many enhancement slots at a lower level?

Catalyst tax?  i have this feeling all IOs on the market are 500k or higher than the crafting costs because they can come out catalyzed

Also the AH pooling stuff.  a level 10 rare salvage gets pooled in with the level 30+ salvage

also many of the low level stuff are getting lapped up by converter gambling addicts

[FupDup]

For starters, these sets really should scale all the way up to 50 instead of just 20 or whatever. I can understand a case for certain sets like Reactive Armor or Touch of Death staying at just 40 because of their bonuses, but all these super crappy low-level blast sets will never be an issue at higher levels no matter what we do to them. In addition to this, sets with fewer than 6 pieces could probably get some extra pieces (and bonuses) added to round them out. 

 

Another idea in regards to the bonuses could be to give them multiple bonuses per set tier like PVP's get, except you get the bonuses even during PVE. Just increasing the existing bonuses to higher levels is less interesting to me because then they might run into the "rule of 5" limit when used in conjunction with proper high level sets. Keeping the bonuses lower in tier, but more numerous, could be used to creatively get around that limit.

[Akisan]

58 minutes ago, FupDup said:

Another idea in regards to the bonuses could be to give them multiple bonuses per set tier like PVP's get, except you get the bonuses even during PVE. Just increasing the existing bonuses to higher levels is less interesting to me because then they might run into the "rule of 5" limit when used in conjunction with proper high level sets. Keeping the bonuses lower in tier, but more numerous, could be used to creatively get around that limit.

 

I like this a lot more than giving up larger set bonuses early.  6.25% recharge from just 2 (non-unique) enhancements could free a lot of build space, and the trade off of having that power be somewhat less enhanced isn't even much of a problem thanks to ED.

 

I can definitely see a case for raising the effectiveness of the lower level IOs, though, especially since SOs are available that early.  IIRC, 10 and 15 IOs are really cheap (especially if memorized), so they would have to be either more expensive, or weaker (they're currently about DO strength?) vs. SOs at that level (since they don't have to be repurchased)

[FupDup]

I just slapped together a random example of what an updated crappy set might look like. I chose Volley Fire for some reason. Here is what it looks like now: 

 

Here is what a revamp might look like: 

 

Nothing terribly impressive since all the bonuses are still Tiny/Small rank. I gave it a def debuff proc instead of a damage proc so that it would be less likely to just amplify the existing damage proc meta (and there aren't any -def procs in the game that I know of). 

 

Bear in mind that the baseline we're measuring against here is not SOs or DOs, the baseline is high level sets (especially ones that have a minimum level of 10 and scale all the way up to 50). As it is, even the newly buffed Volley Fire would only be niche in application. But at least it might have something, rather than being completely useless like it is now. 

Edited September 4, 2023 by FupDup

[Greycat]

4 hours ago, kelika2 said:

 

Catalyst tax?  i have this feeling all IOs on the market are 500k or higher than the crafting costs because they can come out catalyzed

 

 

... not sure what you're getting at here, since (other than those few types that come out as superior when catalyzed, such as ATOs) the catalyzed and non catalyzed are the same pool, no catalyst required.

[kelika2]

2 hours ago, Greycat said:

no catalyst required.

I am aware.  Thats why I said there is this train of thought that people markup 500k because of the pooling.  A pounding slugfest enhancement is 500k-1m inf.  even with the rare salvage in mind thats pretty damn high and would be out of a true newbies hands

[SwitchFade]

I plan my builds before I even play. I start using IOs at lvl 10. All my builds are exemp capable and transition to higher level iOS as they progress.

 

I remove and store the sets when I transition and they pass to a new alt. So, I use them all the time, they're not supposed to be end game capable.

 

That said, if the suggestion is to make them more powerful... Most of my builds can cakewalk the game, why do I need to be even more powerful?

[SwitchFade]

10 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

The one problem I see with this is that the level 1-19 modifier tables are skewed to make player characters comparatively more powerful than they are, and critters comparatively weaker than they are, in the rest of the game.  TOs, DOs, common IOs and set IOs in the 1-19 range don't need to be stronger because the game itself makes player characters better than they "should be" via those modifier tables.  The largest increases in the strengths of powers occur in those levels, and critters are correspondingly weakest in those levels.  It isn't until the 20+ range that player character growth and critter strength both normalize.  As @Rudra noted, we don't even need enhancements in the lower levels.  The game is that heavily weighted in our favor.

 

While the change to allow SOs to drop in the starter levels has thrown a wrinkle into that, I have to wonder if adjusting the low level IO tables wouldn't create an impetus to similarly alter the modifier tables.  That could have serious repercussions, as it would create a requirement to have those enhancements by removing the gradual "settling into" our power that we currently experience.  Personally, I'd rather not see the game move in that direction.

Seconded.

[FupDup]

I don't think the fear of making level 1-19 content too much easier is warranted here because there are already much stronger IO sets available that scale from level 10 to 50. Winters, ATOs, PVPs, Overwhelming Force...Making any of the currently useless sets like Volley Fire anywhere close to that level of power is extremely unlikely.

 

1-19 is also a range where people are probably not doing +4x8 yet, so there's generally room to just nudge up the difficulty in the absolute worst case scenario here (unlike high levels where +4x8 is considered a "baseline" by some). 

 

Heck, even the 5 free prestige enhancements absolutely shit all over these sets and you can pick them up at P2W for free right at level 1. 

Edited September 4, 2023 by FupDup

[Yomo Kimyata]

11 hours ago, Luminara said:

While the change to allow SOs to drop in the starter levels has thrown a wrinkle into that,

 

Allowing SOs at level 2 was a conscious decision by the devs to make low level recipes and enhancements irrelevant except as converter fodder.  It's a wrinkle like the Grand Canyon is a hole in the ground.

[SwitchFade]

1 hour ago, FupDup said:

I don't think the fear of making level 1-19 content too much easier is warranted here because there are already much stronger IO sets available that scale from level 10 to 50. Winters, ATOs, PVPs, Overwhelming Force...Making any of the currently useless sets like Volley Fire anywhere close to that level of power is extremely unlikely.

 

1-19 is also a range where people are probably not doing +4x8 yet, so there's generally room to just nudge up the difficulty in the absolute worst case scenario here (unlike high levels where +4x8 is considered a "baseline" by some). 

 

Heck, even the 5 free prestige enhancements absolutely shit all over these sets and you can pick them up at P2W for free right at level 1. 

It's easy with the current state... Buffing those low sets makes it even easier. Half of the builds I make are at +2 by 15, a quarter are +3. Heck, I run regular frostfire at +3/8.

 

The game is not supposed to be +4 by 15, which is why many are commenting that making us more powerful at 1-19 is unwarranted.

Edited September 4, 2023 by SwitchFade

[FupDup]

2 minutes ago, SwitchFade said:

It's easy with the current state... Buffing those low sets makes it even easier. Half of the builds I make are at +2 by 15, a quarter are +3. Heck, I run regular frostfire at +3/8.

 

The game is not supposed to be +4 by 15, which is why many are commenting that making us more powerful at 1-19 is unwarranted.

I'm going to repeat a part of my post because you seemed to miss it. At these levels, people can ALREADY use powerful sets like ATOs, Winters, PVPs, and Overwhelming Force. These sets all can be slotted at level 10, while there are some so-called "early" sets that can't even be slotted until 15-20 while being drastically weaker in power than those aforementioned 10-50 sets. 

 

The only way that buffing currently useless sets would make the early game easier is if they somewhere were made to be more powerful than those sets like ATOs. That's a very high bar to clear and thus very unlikely. I just can't see stuff like Bonesnap or Salvo truly posing a threat to stuff to the 10-50 sets. 

[SwitchFade]

4 minutes ago, FupDup said:

I'm going to repeat a part of my post because you seemed to miss it. At these levels, people can ALREADY use powerful sets like ATOs, Winters, PVPs, and Overwhelming Force. These sets all can be slotted at level 10, while there are some so-called "early" sets that can't even be slotted until 15-20 while being drastically weaker in power than those aforementioned 10-50 sets. 

 

The only way that buffing currently useless sets would make the early game easier is if they somewhere were made to be more powerful than those sets like ATOs. That's a very high bar to clear and thus very unlikely. I just can't see stuff like Bonesnap or Salvo truly posing a threat to stuff to the 10-50 sets. 

Aw, thanks.

 

I'll repeat one of my posts, as you may have missed that.

 

The current state, with those sets you mentioned (see this post was targeted at that, I do read), is already a cakewalk and I can +3 by level 9. Buffing more sets is completely unwarranted.

 

Helping is fun 😁

[Rudra]

21 minutes ago, FupDup said:

I'm going to repeat a part of my post because you seemed to miss it. At these levels, people can ALREADY use powerful sets like ATOs, Winters, PVPs, and Overwhelming Force. These sets all can be slotted at level 10, while there are some so-called "early" sets that can't even be slotted until 15-20 while being drastically weaker in power than those aforementioned 10-50 sets. 

 

The only way that buffing currently useless sets would make the early game easier is if they somewhere were made to be more powerful than those sets like ATOs. That's a very high bar to clear and thus very unlikely. I just can't see stuff like Bonesnap or Salvo truly posing a threat to stuff to the 10-50 sets. 

So... basically... we already have premier low level sets, so there isn't a problem to fix? (Edit: Or is the statement that the uncommon low level sets need to be competitive with what are considered rare and very rare sets? Or that sets that can be slotted multiple times should be competitive with unique sets?)

Edited September 5, 2023 by Rudra

[FupDup]

17 minutes ago, Rudra said:

So... basically... we already have premier low level sets, so there isn't a problem to fix? (Edit: Or is the statement that the uncommon low level sets need to be competitive with what are considered rare and very rare sets?)

The "problem" to fix is that the sets are basically useless, similar to what Training Origin enhancements used to be. If you have the money, you can use any of the level 10-50 sets. If you don't have the money, you can use the free P2W prestige enhancements and/or SO's. The poop sets don't have a niche. 

 

There are already yellow sets that can compete with oranges and even purples to an extent so yes, I do think that it would be good for build variety if the existing worthless sets were improved to have kind of application, even if niche. And there are also some rare sets that are trashed on by uncommons, like Tempest for instance which only scales level 15-30. Compare it to, say, Thunderstrike, and it's an absolute joke. Rarity does not equal power for the most part (purples are almost always good but yellows and oranges are all over the place). 

Edited September 5, 2023 by FupDup

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, FupDup said:

And there are also some rare sets that are trashed on by uncommons, like Tempest for instance which only scales level 15-30. Compare it to, say, Thunderstrike, and it's an absolute joke.

That is a matter of opinion, highly dependent on what you are looking for. (Edit: Conveniently, it also serves to show that there are low level sets that players should be happy to slot. It all depends on what they are looking for.)

Edited September 5, 2023 by Rudra

[Hyperstrike]

20 hours ago, macskull said:

This is true and it partially solves the problem, but the enhancement values themselves are still weak at those lower levels.

They remain weak, period.

Remember, Catalysts don't boost the enhancement value at all.
Nor do they allow enhancement values to continue to grow beyond the set's level cap.
A level 30 Volley Fire gives you the same base enhancement values as a catalyzed Volley Fire on a Level 50.

Boosters will enhance the values, but, as always, the improvement is negligible and the expense is out of whack with the improvement.