How do you folks build? Do you make a 50++ build in mids as a starting point or some variation of a leveling build?

[mistagoat]

Greetings! I'm curious how folks build. The vast majority of builds that can be found on these forums are maxed out 50+ builds with full Incarnates, purples, superiors and the kitchen sink! That makes sense, you want to see what the build is capable of at the highest level but those aren't very useful when you're leveling up. So do you folks start with that uber build and just suck it up until you can put all the fancy bits in or do you level up with a different build and respec post 50?

 

For myself, I used to just suck it up but swapped to making solid functional builds with no Incarnates/purps/superiors for the leveling up process. If I love the toon when it hits 50 it might get a new uber build and if it's just "fine" it'll probably stick with the no purps/no superiors build and slowly unlock incarnate stuff on task force of the weeks or BAFs or something. I find myself enjoying the leveling up more than the post 50 stuff these days so I have to really enjoy it to justify blinging it out.

 

Do you guys just level up on SOs, do you make a leveling build, do you build towards that uber build or something else entirely?

[Yomo Kimyata]

My alt list is somewhere about 250 deep at this point.  I do like to look into Mids (especially if it is something I'm not extremely experienced with) but I usually level up organically.  Need blue bar?  Add a slot to health or stamina.  Need another attack?  Make it so.  Respecs are cheap and (to me) cheerful so I'm not afraid of making mistakes since they don't have to last long.

 

I will use Mids thoroughly once I hit 50 though, to try to squeeze a little more min max out of it.

[Old Dirty Blaster]

I start off with SOs.  Things Miracle +recovery, Overwhelming Force, LotG 7.5, PvP SW+5 ref, the+3 def(s), Panacea Proc etc. I slot ASAP like 7, 17, 22 and 27 etc. whatever is the minimum level.

 

I like slotting attuned with sets unless it is a Hami 50-53, Purple or a PvP I need at 50+5: once I hit somewhere between 22 - 27.   For powers that will be using a Hami to cap off the basic numbers, Purples or +5 level 50  PvPs, I just put in the highest Crafted IO 25-45 until 47 and 50.

 

I like having as many set bonus as possible when I exempt down so everything get attuned that has to be in that +3 level range like 22 for LotG 7.5s.

[KC4800]

I don't use mids. All my builds are by feel. I don't use others' builds, either. I will, however, take heart in comments others make about certain powers, that might make me change slotting.

 

I try to keep an open mind and learn from others.

 

I start every build with SO's and use the upgrade button. I can do that now because I have enough resources to share influence between alts. It wasn't always that way, but it doesn't take long to get that way, for sure.

 

As soon as I get some slots in key powers I look to adding the Archtype sets. Lots of really good set bonuses there that double when you hit 50 and catalyze them.

Edited June 6 by KC4800

[AlwaysAPrice]

Generally I'll throw together an 'inf-is-not-an-object' endgame build as soon as I settle on a powerset combo and AT for a character, just to see if there's anything particularly interesting, unconventional, or new to me on paper that will make me want to focus on getting to 50 to experience it in action. If not, I'm just playing it up casually as the mood strikes. I might use that endgame build to guide my power selections as I level, but mostly I ride on SOs and the ATOs + Panacea for the climb and just let the evolving gameplay inform my power picks and slotting on the way up. Come the 30s, when I have more slots to play with and a better understanding of how the individual powers play, I'll start respeccing and experimenting and throwing in any planned non-purple sets where I have the slots to, but I'm also likely to go back and rework the endgame build a fair bit after the hands-on time.

[Ukase]

Most of my characters will start with 0 and earn their way to getting kitted out as they level. Some of my characters start with a billion, blow through about 50M for start up stuff, and then recoup the investment plus some as they level. Just depends on my mood at the time.

They pretty much all get 6% Kismet, 3% steadfast, 3% glad armor, 5% shield wall, 4pt blessing of the zephyr, +recovery miracle, +HP/End Panacea, and as many perf shifter +end and Power transfer Chance for self heal as I can fit in them. 
Additionally, as many lotg 7.5% as I can fit. 

Ideally, I'll have the idea for the character ahead of time and have the build ready in Mids before I even think of the name or create it. And I try to have the IOs all ready to grab as needed. 
Sometimes, I'll be playing the character and discover a power isn't what I'd hoped for and drop the mids build and plan on doing a respec later. And sometimes, never get to it. 

I've also just built them organically, "listening" to my character in battle to see which stats need the most attention. Sometimes it's endurance. Sometimes it's damage or defense. And then slot accordingly. 

[Seed22]

I get physically ill just thinking about playing on SOs and making a leveling build. Jokes aside, I make a build in mids chasing what I want then proceed to build it. 
 

I tried playing on SOs, got to about lvl 12. Couldn’t hack it and PL’ed the toon to 50 to get IOed out. Once you’ve gone and tanked ludicrous stuff with an IO’ed 50 its very hard to play…*shudders and points to SOs in disgust* that

[Snarky]

I always start 1 of 2 ways. 

 

1) Concept.  Then I explore AT/Power sets that describe the character.  This method may take many different experiments.  Months/Years of alts even.  Once i pick the first alt I work on costume, then plop into game.  A build is not helpful before level 22 and probably not before 27.  After that you want to have a build and start slotting it.

 

2) AT/Powerset design.  I have an AT/Power in mind. Usually I have the miDs done, this is where I start with these.  Still, do not slot hardly anything from the build before 22.

[Random Axis]

I plan out a tricked out, endgame build and then use the alternate slotting to make a more achievable baseline build with cheaper sets to make sure the idea is workable. When leveling, I don't feel constrained by that build at all. I'll pick attacks, toggles, buffs, etc as I need them until I hit 27-30. Then I'll do a respec to more closely match the build and fill it out with white IOs. 

[Glacier Peak]

Mids is my canvas for concepts and ideas. The open beta server is where I test my build out at Level 50. If I like everything, I'll start the character on Indomitable and roll with it through whatever content is fun. That's about all there is to my process.

[Frozen Burn]

4 hours ago, mistagoat said:

Greetings! I'm curious how folks build. The vast majority of builds that can be found on these forums are maxed out 50+ builds with full Incarnates, purples, superiors and the kitchen sink! That makes sense, you want to see what the build is capable of at the highest level but those aren't very useful when you're leveling up. So do you folks start with that uber build and just suck it up until you can put all the fancy bits in or do you level up with a different build and respec post 50?

 

For myself, I used to just suck it up but swapped to making solid functional builds with no Incarnates/purps/superiors for the leveling up process. If I love the toon when it hits 50 it might get a new uber build and if it's just "fine" it'll probably stick with the no purps/no superiors build and slowly unlock incarnate stuff on task force of the weeks or BAFs or something. I find myself enjoying the leveling up more than the post 50 stuff these days so I have to really enjoy it to justify blinging it out.

 

Do you guys just level up on SOs, do you make a leveling build, do you build towards that uber build or something else entirely?

 

Yes, I start with a maxed out build and I will slot it that way as I level up.  I will slot my Event IOs, ATOs, and PvP IOs as level up too.  Reward merits are easily turned into inf for buying them or just outright purchasing them through the merit vendor if too expensive on the market. 

 

SOs and generic IOs are fillers up to lvl 25.  Maybe another low level cheap set, but typically not. 

 

If there are Purples in my build, I will use an appropriate other set until lvl 50 when I will yank them out and plug in the purples. 

 

Generally, all that is left as soon as I turn 50 is to Catalyze Event and ATOs to "Superior" and Boost any purples or other IOs I may want.

[tidge]

I build with level 50 in mind, but as a practical matter I typically only plot out up through level 32.

 

While leveling: I don't honor what the final build will be in terms of powers or slotting, certainly not in set choices (because Purples, etc. aren't available below a certain level). Every once in a while I will make radically different choices in power pools while leveling up. I like to experiment, and respecs are plentiful.

 

Some things I do while leveling: I often have more +Recovery than what a final build will have. I typically don't multi-slot powers like Build Up even if a final build has multiple slots.

 

When I see a build posted that has Hasten before level 10, I can pretty much guess that such a build was not played organically. There are some powers that simply don't make sense to take very early. Hasten sticks out to me because it isn't commonly taken because there is some later power in the Speed pool that is being gatekept by needing to take multiple earlier powers.

[Greycat]

I generally don't "build." Make sure I have enough endurance to keep going, make sure what I need recharges often enough (Phantom Army being the most notorious for that for me,) after that it's mostly "that looks interesting." I'll catalyze stuff after 50, generally (going to superiors.)

 

For me, quite a bit of what gets slotted is almost part of the character's story, as I'll lean on this or that as needed as I level both in power picks and slotting.

[Luminara]

I always build for the end first.  Select all powers, dump slots without regard to appropriate level placement, see what it is I'm going to end up with.  I slot the most important powers first, then mules, then see what I have left and distribute those with the intention of squeezing every erg of potential out of them.  I slot purples and ATOs to see where I'm going to hit caps or run into slotting problems (like too many PBAoEs and not enough sets to go around) and make adjustments (such as slotting a base ATO set into a power instead of the Superior set, so i can acquire the 7.5% or 8.75% global +Rchg, allowing me to use another purple set in a different power), then start on the other powers.

 

I always have at least 3-4 builds prepared.  Once I've fully designed a build, I save it and start tweaking.  When I reach a new milestone, I save it again and continue tweaking.  For a couple of characters, I have 24-30 builds with various changes.  Maybe I drop a couple of powers and pick up Cross Punch and Kick (to top off Cross Punch's bonuses).  Maybe I change the travel power.  Maybe everything is the same, but I've redone all of the enhancements to achieve a different goal.  Often, I'm just experimenting with moving one or two slots to different powers and using different IO sets.  I stick to a general build pattern most of the time, but I also actively try to break that pattern frequently so I can see what else I can do, and that's frequently given me good results.

 

Then, when I'm satisfied with a build and believe it's going to achieve all of my goals, I flip the slots and start placing level-appropriate enhancements to emulate a leveling build.  This allows me to know exactly when I'm going to put a slot in this power, or slot an enhancement in that power.  So if I take a power at level 16, the first enhancement in it is level 16.  If I add a slot at level 23, I set the enhancement to 23.  That way I don't have to redesign the build and place slots at level-appropriate intervals.  As I level up, I refine the slotted enhancements to match the character's level, and I can tell what level a character is just by looking.  Since Mids' doesn't scale stats by level (you're level 50 in Mids', even if you haven't clicked anything), I ignore most of the info and reference the enhancement values (those do scale by level in Mids').

 

I make liberal use of the middle-click function in Mids' when I'm matching a build to what I'm playing.  If I'm slotting 5/6 Crushing Impact and skipping the first IO, I slot the second IO, go to the last slot and middle-click, middle-click all of the other slots to finish the set, then go back to the last slot and change it to the last IO.  Once you're accustomed to using the middle-click function, it's a very fast and efficient way to slot sets while skipping specific pieces by doing it this way.  Fill the first slot, go to the end and fill that, middle-click rapidly from left to right, then change the last IO.  Boom boom boom done.  I also use that function to rapidly match my Mids' build to my leveling character, in the same way.  Change an IO level, bunch of middle-clicks, null perspiration, chummer.

 

Unique IOs like Numina's or a Stealth IO, I set to the minimum level.  That's my visual indicator that they're Uniques.  When I slot a Reactive Defenses: Scaling +Res IO, it's level 20, even in a finished build, and because it's level 20 and all of the other IOs are a higher level, I know it's the Scaling +Res IO without even hovering over it.

 

So, to directly answer the question, I use it for both and in both ways.  The fully tweaked level 50 build is important to me because that's the motivation to reach the end.  The leveling build is important to me because it gives me the information I need while I'm leveling and helps me identify ways to improve the build.

[GM Crumpet]

I think it depends on your available inf. For me I generally buy procs and sets as I level. I'll get the three blessing of the zephyr into my travel power at level 7 when it becomes available, and prioritise ATO's. Then as I hit the appropriate level got the procs I need for health and stamina. Otherwise I'll SO until 22 then respec and sell them, then go IO 25's and go up as I hit a level change. When I hit 50 I'll use a catalyst on my ATO's to make the superior, along with any winter sets I need, and buy as many purple sets as I can squeeze in. I buy everything attuned anyway 🙂 

 

I can follow mids when someone else has made a build, I can't create a build from scratch. So generally my powers either have full sets of something or are stacked with useful procs.

[Doomguide2005]

Depends on if I'm familiar with either or both sets.  If I am then I tend to start sinking influence into sets and specials early with emphasis on endurance management.  If a one or both sets are wholly unfamiliar, I'm far less likely to sink influence into sets earlier on outside of various specials (where, if need be, they can more easily be extracted by unslotters).  More likely to stick with SO's longer unless I find I am really enjoying the pairing.  Builds in Mids these days tend to be for my level 50+ characters though as I relearn Mids and what bonuses go with which sets that's slowly shifting towards planning ahead of time.  I've also got far more outside of game commitments and as much as I love playing around in Mids playing the game no matter how unplanned is always going to trump working in Mids.

[Crystal Dragon]

I am a bit more of a concept builder with character builds for PVE. I get an idea, I run wild with it. Mids is handy for fine tuning the power choices I made, but that's pretty much all I use it for.

[Sanguinesun]

7 hours ago, mistagoat said:

Greetings! I'm curious how folks build. The vast majority of builds that can be found on these forums are maxed out 50+ builds with full Incarnates, purples, superiors and the kitchen sink! That makes sense, you want to see what the build is capable of at the highest level but those aren't very useful when you're leveling up. So do you folks start with that uber build and just suck it up until you can put all the fancy bits in or do you level up with a different build and respec post 50?

 

For myself, I used to just suck it up but swapped to making solid functional builds with no Incarnates/purps/superiors for the leveling up process. If I love the toon when it hits 50 it might get a new uber build and if it's just "fine" it'll probably stick with the no purps/no superiors build and slowly unlock incarnate stuff on task force of the weeks or BAFs or something. I find myself enjoying the leveling up more than the post 50 stuff these days so I have to really enjoy it to justify blinging it out.

 

Do you guys just level up on SOs, do you make a leveling build, do you build towards that uber build or something else entirely?

 

I use mids to consider builds for both general power considerations but also for -IF- I decide to post-50 fully set enhancement a toon.  Rarely though to I do so anymore as I've enough toons already done that way.  I more prefer usually to make new toons to play different combinations of sets or sometimes just for thematics.

 

Leveling 1-50:

 

1. I never use SOs. Waste of money especially for new players. I only use standard IO's. 

2. I never spend for IO sets before 50 either. Also a waste of money. One because Id replace much of it anyway post 50, and two because I'd not likely bother fleshing it out post 50 anyway so it'd just be parked with influence needlessly spent. If I decide to post 50 use sets, then I simply remove the standard IO's and recyle to the next toon to use(saving money). 

3. I use method where I solo to the teens to get to where I can do the first 3 task forces and then from there I do group content mixes of task forces, MSRs, Radios, giant monster callouts, etc but with the emphasis on task forces.  The solo part to the teens earns me the millions to fund the toon for just regular IO's to 50 and then the rest of the content focuses on of course decent exp but also with the goals of tons of merits, monsterous aether to convert to prismatics for even more influence, and more.  

4. At 50 if I decide I dont want to continue post 50 fleshing out the toon, I park it, mail the influence and merits etc to my global account and park the toon to make/do another toon.

 

That said, yes, the vast majority of builds you see on the forums are for post 50 min/max considerations and virtually never will you see ones for 1-50 leveling considerations with affordable standard IO's or similar.  This is simply and quite frankly because in most cases, most builds are going to have mild to severe struggle points in their 1-50 leveling progress.  Once players understand this it helps change their mindset to better accommodate those challenges and just roll with it or play a different toon that better suits them.   

 

Only caveat then some may find concern with is if someone exclusively solos.  The above method gets toons to 50 in 4 days to a week depending on play time but soloing exclusively would take longer due to some ATs/power set combos having to set their missions much lower (thus much less exp) but still reasonable for a few weeks or so if someone is adamant about soloing only.  They'll also typically earn less merits but of course get them through arcs etc as rewards if they focus exclusively on arcs and only do radios or non arc missions otherwise.

 

There's a little more involved with the above stuffs but overall, I've banked thousands of merits and tons of influence to be used for those toons I decide I'll flesh out later.  

 

So all in all I dont make leveling builds because I really just dont need to with how I level up toons.

 

Also Mids can be a distraction of little more than theory crafting but end of the day most never flesh out all their toons with all the mids builds they'd likely consider/make themselves.   And then there's the mess that Mids is with regards to all manner of issues that it has that is increasingly turning off people to using it.

[Maelwys]

I'll always have a "level 50 Fully IOed + T4 Incarnates all purpled out and money-is-no-object" build that I'm aiming towards. 

Whenever I'm first planning a new toon's powerset combination, often I'll start off with a few variations in Mids - one build might have a different Epic Pool and another might be geared for slightly more damage at the expense of some survivability; etc... but I'll generally iron out which build I want by playing around on the Brainstorm test server until I'm happy with its performance; then after that I'll start levelling it up on a "real" server. It's rare that one of my toons actually ends up with multiple builds in-game.... off the top of my head it's currently really only my VEAT Soldier (with one "Crabbermind" build, and one "Mace-Wielding Stalker" build).

Whilst I'm levelling up, I'll typically place my enhancement slots wherever they're going to end up in the final level 50 build... but until the toon gets high enough level to actually slot those final enhancements, I obviously still need to fill those slots somehow... so I start off with DOs/SOs; then move to Common Crafted IOs at level 22. And after a certain point (level 30 ish?) I may start frankenslotting some random disposable set IOs.
I'll always slot attuned versions of the important procs/globals ASAP though; particularly Panacea/Miracle/Celerity, plus a KB Protection for non-melee toons.

I'm not generally a fan of powerlevelling myself up - I like to get all the contacts within each level range up to at least a "phonable" level of familiarity, complete any story arcs they're offering me and grab all the passive accolades enroute to level 50. If I ever run out of contacts then I'll powerlevel myself up just enough to reach the next tier of contacts. If/when I hop on a TF whilst levelling up then EXP gain gets turned off; otherwise it's easy to earn too much EXP and overshoot contacts.

Completing the story arcs as they come up typically provides me with enough merits that my toons are mostly self-financing until they hit 50; but I'll always transfer a hundred million or so to each new toon as a "starter fund" in order to let them grab all the START powers and a few sets of ATOs etc.

After the toon hits 50, THEN I'll throw it into some TFs/Farming maps in order to quickly bump it to Veteran level 100; crafting the T4 Incarnates along the way.
Any leftover Empyrean Merits will then get sent to a new alt; and the toon itself will probably get stabled until I fancy using it on a TF.

Oh, and lastly - whilst I'm not a RPer by any stretch of the imagination... I'll always write up a bio (although it might not always be a sensible one!) and have a particular badge title in mind for each toon; and it'll not feel "complete" to me until I have that particular badge displayed underneath its character name. I love tweaking stats and theorycrafting in Mids... but oddly enough having a decent Backstory/Badge combination seems to be the main thing that gets me emotionally invested in each toon and actually entices me back to play it again after its build is "fully completed".

 

Edited June 7 by Maelwys

[Sovera]

Complete endgame build maxed out, incarnated, purpled out, etc etc. All the powers are picked at the right place for maximum exemplaring (and some sets I just don't play because they don't exemplar well even though I haven't played 'seriously' in a long time which means I no longer exemplar either). At most the difference will be that Hasten/Build-up will have a third slot and in extreme cases I will use and slot a T1 until my next actual attack at-level-18-or-22 is available as I much prefer having attacks and not wait on cooldowns to cooldown. Then I respec out of the T1 and put the slots it had on that attack.

 

But by now I have all the twink gear ready. The prestige IOs from the START vendor from level 1 to 10, Panaceia and Shield Wall 5% resistance at level 7, put in normal ATOs at level 10 and the prestige IOs go into AoEs (I say in AoEs because i usually slot Obliterations which only open at 27 and that's a way to go). At 22 I slot generic IOs on whatever I need (usually Hasten/Build-up powers).

 

I will replace the purples like Hectacombs or Ragnoroks with Touch of Deaths/Obliterations/Decimation while leveling and swap them out when I do my level 50 respect that scrounges one slot off Hasten/Build-up

 

Only recently have I started to slot SOs while under level 22 and while I wouldn't call it a game changer it seems worth it to have Hasten with a fat chunk of recharge by level 10-14 right when we need it the most. The upgrade option saves time to go find a vendor and replace as they turn red and having the vendor in a base means they are easy to pick instead of running around the city trying to figure out where the correct Origin shop is. They might be a touch too expensive for a new player but for anyone who has played the game even for just a few months it's a pittance.

 

 

Between five respecs being free and SOs there is little reason to suffer as we did back in I6 when I first joined. Waiting on CDs, endurance running out, waiting on endurance to recover and then missing and having to wait again while using Brawl, slotting armor toggles with TOs and being squishy as a wet paper towel. It might have been a more 'real' experience but I would not strictly classify it as fun. I much prefer the way HC is and the freedom to test and try a dozen ideas.

 

Edited June 7 by Sovera

[Ghost]

If I’m familiar with the powers I’ve chosen, I’ll plan it out entirely in mids before creating the toon and working my way to 50.

 

If it’s a new power to me, or even  a power I’m gonna play differently, Ill just play and level it up naturally.  That way I can figure out which powers are important to me, and which I can do without.

 

Either way, I use SO’s all the way to level 50 - then I respec to fix anything that needs fixing, and buy IO’s

 

 

 

[InvaderStych]

9 hours ago, mistagoat said:

I'm curious how folks build.

 

I always start with a concept:

 

I've either got a specific character (backstory/homage/etc) or visual design (costume) I want to make and experiment with power combos that both fit into it and are enjoyable to play. My Fire/MC blaster started this way. Kat/Rad scrapper started this way as well. My Psi/SD scrapper was originally a Psi/Nin, but that didn't fit what I was going for so I re-rolled. I tried a variety of Savage/XXX combos on a scrapper because I wanted to build something inspired by those creepy, headless, Boston Dynamics Robot Dog things (Spot?), and landed on Savage/Invuln. Currently (although it has been a while since I've devoted any significant time to play) I have a couple of toons with great names and looks, but am struggling to find an enjoyable combination for them.

 

Rarely, I will have a specific power-set pairing in mind and will mold a concept/look around that. My Fire/Stone/Blaze Stalker started out this way, and turned out to be quite an enjoyable character.

 

I'll always level through a mix of solo arcs and TF teams. I have no problems re-rolling to a different powerset combo, even if I am well into the 40s. Any IOs slotted simply get moved to the inventory of the re-rolled toon. I also have no problems dropping an idea entirely if it isn't working out, or shelving it for a while for later. I have a Praetorian concept or two that fall into this category.

 

While leveling, I'll slot SOs and use the "Upgrade" button every 3rd level or so. As specific IOs that I know I want to slot become available (ATO sets, standard pieces like Panacea, Perf Shifters, etc) I'll slot them in. Mostly these are attuned pieces where I know I won't gain value from the 50+5 treatment. Some I will swap out at 50 if I want to +5 them to satisfy that numerical OCD.

 

As far as mids: I'll poke around a bit in mids after the toon hits the mid-20s or so and start contemplating a post-50 build. I rarely exemplar, and have some toons (looking at you Psi/SD) that don't lend themselves to doing so, so I am generally not too concerned about that aspect. Occasionally I'll hit a sweet spot and build with that in mind (Fire/MC blaster does this well).

 

Eventually I'll land on a target build, and revise it any number of times on the way to 50 as I get a feel for what I want out of the power combos.

 

On toons that I play extensively post-50, I'll go through a few revisions to fine tune power choices and slotting.

 

I rarely consider a build "finished," especially as various Page updates to HC change things around.

 

Edited June 7 by InvaderStych
a little more detail

[Jacke]

I always make a full L50 build in MRB with my best estimate of when to pick what Powers and Extra Slots.  As I'm slow at Levelling, the build get revised at least a few times before any hope of getting to L50.

[Apogee]

I make a leveling build to level 22 and 32 then a final build for 50+.  I start slotting a few IO set pieces as early as level 7 but generally run SOs until 22 then sets the rest of the way.  If I am struggling I make adjustments (respec) at 32 or so if needed.  I tend to try out different powers and slotting on the road to 50.  

 

For my Praetorian characters I build for level 10, 15, and 20 (my points where I turn off xp to complete the story arcs for each zone).  I usually frontload a lot of attack powers that I subsequently discard later on.  Also, no travel power from 1-20 which gets changed once I am in Paragon City (usually a respec at level 22).  

[biostem]

13 hours ago, mistagoat said:

Greetings! I'm curious how folks build.

Basically, I just use level 25 generic IOs until I hit 50, and only then start replacing those with set IOs.  The only exception would be certain "key" IOs, like Panacea or Miracle, which I will send to a new character, if I have an alt with the means to provide it to them.  I tend to choose which particular AT and powersets I want to play based upon how fun I think they'd be to play, or perhaps to try and realize a particular character concept I had in mind.  That being said, I do lean toward those ATs and powersets that can make for a character that is self-sufficient, even without all those set bonuses or Incarnate abilities.