Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #46: Power Enhancement (what do you prioritize when slotting a toon?)

[rolandgrey]

I have 150 characters.  My first 50 sits as my "Mr. Moneybags" character, holding a couple hundred million Inf that I will dip into on occasion to kit out my other characters.  For new characters, it's a simple 10M to carry them while they burn through a maxed-out Double XP booster.  That should carry them as they slot in SOs (I don't even bother with DOs anymore).  Usually, I start to encounter whatever deficiencies the builds are having when they hit the mid-20s, so then I start looking into IO sets to help mitigate the issues (usually endurance issues, but sometimes it's damage output).  Once my characters reach level 37, I start looking into the basic IOs in earnest, as they're the equivalent of slightly better than maxed-out SOs (35s are equivalent to Your Level +1 SOs and 30s are around same level equivalent SOs), with some of my mid-range characters currently stockpiling 40 IOs (if you can build a 25 IO, you can build the equivalent 40).  Normally, one of my characters will pick up a Prismatic Aether they can sell, which have been pretty consistent in their 4M value on the market, so they can usually sustain themselves.

 

As for what I focus on, it goes like this...

 

All attacks get Accuracy first.  Most then follow a pattern of Damage, Damage, Damage, Endurance Reduction, Recharge.  While leveling up, it's rarely in that order (usually starting with Acc-Dam-End), but once the build is solid, it's just a matter of a respec to get the power looking the way I want.  There are a few attacks that get two Endurance Reductions.

 

Nukes get two Recharges, an Accuracy, then the rest are Damage.

 

Defense and Resistance powers usually only get four-slotted, with two Endurance Reductions and two of their respective ability improvement.  Shield Defense's first power, Deflection, gets six-slotted because it can take both Defense and Resistance.  Invulnerability's Invincibility also gets six-slotted, this time with ToHit Buffs to go along with the Defense buffs.

 

When it comes to actual IO sets, I get what I can into the builds.  I don't chase sets unless I absolutely have to.  If there's a set that is REALLY suffering Endurance issues (Martial Arts/Super Reflexes comes to mind), I scour the sets for any buffs to Recovery and reductions in Endurance cost I can find.  Sometimes, this leads me to slotting in ways I much rather would not, but there are a couple sets that have what I need only at the fifth slot.

 

I never plan my builds out in Mids.