Slotting Enhancements for lower level characters...SO, DO, IO, and sets.....

[Cyrickain13]

Apologies if this has asked or brought up. I am a long time CoH player and I realize that I don't know everything about slotting characters...

 

I have a Fire Farmer and have spent a significant amount of influence on getting his build just right... 

 

but in all honestly I don't really understand slotting characters for leveling and playing. 

 

My currently strategy is make a toon - get it to level 50 - use mid's to see what are the best enhancements (or second best), 

 

buy those, make those, look in my three bases that only hold enhancements and see if I have them. 

 

I just recently found out I can make level 25 enhancements and use those up to 50....(IO's like damage, range, accuracy.) 

 

The issue was the game was getting very boring very quickly...make a toon, farm to 50, slot it out and then run Baf's, MSR, and incarnate stuff until all the incarnate powers were done. (sometimes run a costume mission or patron power pool if that is what the set called for.)

 

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

 

Edited February 2 by Cyrickain13

[Skyhawke]

[ZemX]

I level either solo or in pick-up mission teams/radios mostly.   I use SOs from level 2 up until about the early 30s.  Then I start slotting in set IOs according to my final build plan in Mid's because it's around this point you start having enough extra enhancement slots to start putting in full or nearly full sets in your main powers.  I don't much bother with common IOs except in powers I know aren't going to host anything else (e.g. a single common endrdx IO in Focused Accuracy, a coulple common recharge IOs in Hasten, etc.)  Yes, common IOs don't need to be upgraded, but also upgrading SOs is easy (there's a button to do it right on the enhancement screen) and doesn't cost the kind of Inf you probably care about anymore.

 

Exception to this is ATOs.  If they are worth it, I make sure to slot the proc IO in the set early as possible and then fill in the rest of the set as I get room in the powers.  Other one-slot-wonder IOs go in early as I can as well.  Things like Kismet:+toHit, Panacea:+hp/+end, Per Shifter:+end, etc.  Some of these can be slotted as early as level 7.   Others at around 17-18 or a little later.

[jprewitt73]

9 minutes ago, Cyrickain13 said:

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

 

Yes. I may be wrong, but I would guess that this is a huge portion of the playerbase. There is a ton of content in the lower levels that is a ton of fun to play that you are missing out on. What I usually do, is run solo, pug, or TFs until level 22 with no enhancements at all. Then, I slot level 25 basic IOs that I have purchased for cheap off the AH or craft my own to get some badges. Once done with that I craft IOs at 27 and 32 to add to the blank slots while leaving the level 25s alone. Once I hit 50 (if my altitis allows me to hit 50) I will respec and do a rebuild with fancy stuff. 

 

So, to answer your question: yes, you can very easily use low level IOs. 

 

[DougGraves]

You have two basic options

 

You can buy SOs from vendors at any level now.  So you can buy them at level 2 from the vendor in Atlas.  Every store sells the SOs for your type at your level.  When you outlevel them you can click UPGRADE in the enhancements screen to replace your old ones with new ones that are 3 levels higher than you.   You have to pay for them, but you can do it anywhere even in a mission.

 

Or you can wait until level 22 and get level 25 IOs and slot with IOs those until you hit 50.

[JerseyP]

I just started playing a couple weeks ago with little experience in mmo's.

 

Here's my strategy.

 

We've got to get this drug problem under control in Paragon City. I was hoping Twinshot and her group could help, but that twist really threw us for a loop. I just joined the Midnighters, so maybe that will lead to some progress against villainy. Also, I put circles into the empty circles when it seems I need to get stronger.

 

Remember, it's a videogame not a job. The advancement system exists to facilitate playing the game, not the other way around.

[Sovera]

1 hour ago, Cyrickain13 said:

Apologies if this has asked or brought up. I am a long time CoH player and I realize that I don't know everything about slotting characters...

 

I have a Fire Farmer and have spent a significant amount of influence on getting his build just right... 

 

but in all honestly I don't really understand slotting characters for leveling and playing. 

 

My currently strategy is make a toon - get it to level 50 - use mid's to see what are the best enhancements (or second best), 

 

buy those, make those, look in my three bases that only hold enhancements and see if I have them. 

 

I just recently found out I can make level 25 enhancements and use those up to 50....(IO's like damage, range, accuracy.) 

 

The issue was the game was getting very boring very quickly...make a toon, farm to 50, slot it out and then run Baf's, MSR, and incarnate stuff until all the incarnate powers were done. (sometimes run a costume mission or patron power pool if that is what the set called for.)

 

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

 

 

People may hate leveling, but in this game it's not a long thing to do and jumping straight to max level, often times fed money from a farmer, and then start farming again...

 

I used to power level myself to 50. By power level I mean make a group and start doing TFs straight at level 1 (well, DFB is not a TF, technically). In the first game session I would usually be level 36-38-ish. Second day would usually have me at 50. I did this lop so often and it was fun, for me, because I like starting as a zero and each power pick, each slot, makes me feel I am growing into a hero.

 

But now I reached the same burn out and I do the reverse. I solo near everythign to 50. And then when that too was too easy I started doing challenges where I do it with zero cash or IO transfers. Then I realized I was spoiling the spirit of it by spending too much time in the AH buying and selling to make money to gear up that I wasn't actually leveling and now I only sell what I find and only sell the merits that I earned.

 

 

But you can have a pretty good and easy leveling experience by picking up all the good IOs and slot them as they become available. At level 7 you can slot a Panaceia, both the +3% defense uniques, the Shield Wall 5% resist unique. Then at level 10 you can slot both your ATOs plus the event IOs like Avalanche and Frozen Fist etc which are infinitely better than using generic IOs.

 

These combined with Amplifiers give such a power boost it is common for my Brutes and Tankers to be soloing at +0x6 at level 15+ and +1x8 by level 20. By the time the Amplifiers run out by level 30-ish I already have enough slots that the bonuses make up for the Amplifier's loss.

 

 

If you want to talk about what sort of good easy starting IOs you can pick to level at your pace while feeling strong we can do it once you mention what AT you'd like to use.

[Techwright]

Others who use MidsReborn can probably give you a much smarter answer regarding Set Invention Origin enhancements and how they might help/not help at level 25, but I can point out that I've chosen to continue using Single Origin enhancements (and the Upgrade button) until level 37 when the level 40 Common IOs become available.  At that point, there's a flip, and whereas before Common IOs came in less effective than SOs of equal level, now they have (generally) a 0.3% increase over SOs (with some like Endurance Modification breaking even at level 37) and will continue to increase in effectiveness over SOs after that. 

 

To see what I mean, drag a Common IO, without releasing, over top of a corresponding SO.  The screen capture below first shows a level 28 character with a level 30 SO enhancement (closest I could get from my collection to a level 25).  Though you cannot see it, I've place a level 30 Common IO over top of the 30 SO for accuracy.  Note the minus and red numbers under "Replace".  The second shot show a level 37 character that I'm currently swapping over to Common IOs.  Again, I've held a level 40 Common IO over the 40 SO for accuracy.  Note the plus and green numbers under "Replace".

 

 

 

 

For me, at least, the value of Common IOs before level 37 is that, although they are a minus red in percentage to SOs they don't lose the issuing value like SOs do as ranks advance, and therefore I need to buy replacement fewer times.  However, the upgrade button now added to the manage screen has greatly simplified matters.  No more time wasted buying, merging, or swapping out SOs.

 

Again, there may be some crazy good stuff to be had using Set IOs at 25, things that outweigh the negatives that Common IOs have at that level, and I bow to anyone patient enough to figure those out level for level.

[FFFF]

I don’t bother slotting IOs until level 27. That’s when the dual enhancements (acc/dam for example )start becoming greater than what you’d generally get for a single attribute enhancement (all damage for example). 
 

Even with SOs, the game is super easy at those levels. I think twinking more is kind of silly. I will slot anything useful that is self-found or comes out of something I converted that I was going to sell. But no full sets until 27+. 

I level up characters the traditional way. I do have a stable of farm characters but don’t like to PL my own heroes. 

[Snarky]

Enhancements in CoH can be very simple.  Or incredibly complex.  Your pick.  
 

I am currently leveling an AR/Dev.   This weekend I finished 15-19 content red, and leveled him to 24.  Now I made it very complex.  Because his DFB buffs ended at 22. So starting level  20 I did 4 DiB to renew the buffs to 30.  Now that trial tops at 20.  So as I gained levels (i hit 24 in the last) i tuned my enhancement layout so when i exemplared to 20 my damage was not nerfed below 90% enhancement on any attack.  Then i ran a Synapse and a Tarikoss (both top at 20). THEN I rebuilt the toon for level 24 content.  I have stopped experience and will do all Red 20-24 content now. 
 

But I would not lose a terrible lot if I ignored all that, including getting the DiB buffs. And just slotted SO stuff from the vendors.  Because over tuning is just that.   Over what is needed

[Frozen Burn]

9 hours ago, Cyrickain13 said:

The issue was the game was getting very boring very quickly...make a toon, farm to 50, slot it out and then run Baf's, MSR, and incarnate stuff until all the incarnate powers were done. (sometimes run a costume mission or patron power pool if that is what the set called for.)

 

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

Of course you're bored, you're not playing the game.  You're power-leveling and skipping all the content - and missing out on a whole lot.  

 

The game was designed to slot enhancements as you go.  So, yes, it is viable to slot enhancements as soon as you start/have enough inf to pay for them (which I know isn't a problem for you), and keep slotting them up as you play content and level to 50.  

 

Since you have the inf... Start with SOs and click the Upgrade button when you level up and continue slotting more SOs.  As early as level 7, you can slot some IO set pieces, but mostly just keep slotting SOs until you start getting up in levels and adding in more IO sets.  around 22-27, go completely IOs (sets and generics as needed).  Use the attuned IO sets and they'll level up with you too.  Then replace any at lvl 50 that you want to boost.  

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

17 hours ago, Cyrickain13 said:

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

Try this:

 

 

[tidge]

18 hours ago, Cyrickain13 said:

I guess what I am asking is it viable to slot a character at 25(or earlier) and lay them through the game instead of rushing to 50?

 

Yes. It is even "viable" to  play the game with lower level characters.

 

If the original, inherent method of gaining powers isn't immediately satisfying. P2W offers lots of attacks and boosts for low-level characters.

 

ATO, OF, Winter, and attuned PVP pieces can all be slotted at low levels. P2W offers some freebie enhancements too.

 

DFB and DIB offer boosts, beyond XP.

[Doomguide2005]

Here's what I did with my last character.  Entered the game at level 1.  Took on a levels worth of Hellions around the lake.  Watched for a DFB to occur.  Joined it for 2 runs, good for a bunch of low level SOs busy going red.  Got a jump pack and tagged all the AP explore badges.  Turned those 5 merits and a piece of orange salvage into inf.  Bought and upgraded so the majority of the slots on my powers hold an +3 SO.  Joined a team running mission content.  After about 2 hours now I've hit level 9 fully SO'd with 200k or so in hand and a chunk of converters still waiting prices to rise a bit.  Looking to join Posi 1 and 2 now the next time I log in.

[PLVRIZR]

Because Infl. is SOOOOO easy to get, even at low levels, I begin to slot "set" pieces ASAP.  The proc ATOs, as early as 2nd or 3rd level.  Then the sets at 7th, 12th, etc., etc., whenever available.  SOs in all powers, and upgraded every level.  Always.

[Cyrickain13]

On 2/2/2024 at 11:22 PM, Frozen Burn said:

 

Of course you're bored, you're not playing the game.  You're power-leveling and skipping all the content - and missing out on a whole lot.  

 

 

This is very true. I don't think I have done any low-level stuff except for DFB and maybe one DiB.....

[Cyrickain13]

On 2/3/2024 at 8:07 AM, tidge said:

 

Yes. It is even "viable" to  play the game with lower level characters.

 

If the original, inherent method of gaining powers isn't immediately satisfying. P2W offers lots of attacks and boosts for low-level characters.

 

ATO, OF, Winter, and attuned PVP pieces can all be slotted at low levels. P2W offers some freebie enhancements too.

 

DFB and DIB offer boosts, beyond XP.

 

Yeah, I know with CoH becoming popular again I have more group viability, but in 2020-2023 this was my only way to get groups ---get 50 asap and then go to Ouro.  

[Wiseguy]

As someone who played during 2020-2023, I can assure you that there were frequent lower level mission teams pretty much all the time.

 

HOWEVER, I do not fully agree with all the 'take it slow' sentiments in the community. Once you've leveled enough characters to 50, and if you have a brain on you, it really isn't that hard to figure out how to play a newly farmed max-level character efficiently. The game just isn't that deep, as fun as it is. Especially if you don't go about using a bunch of set bonuses.

 

To answer the original post: yes its very viable and there's many guides as well as people eager to help you level normally. Leveling content is fun, I look forward to seeing you out there.