When should I start slotting for endgame?

[TheSwamper]

I'm almost level 40.  I have been using mostly generic IOs for about 10 levels.

 

I've looked up a bunch of sets that I think would work well for my build.

 

1. Should I start trying to work those in now, or wait until level 50?  Or level 47?

 

2. What about special enhancements, like LotG, should I slot one now, or wait?

 

3. If I slot an enhancement of a set at level 40, is it useless when I reach level 44, and have to be replaced?

 

4. Can I run duplicate purple sets in different powers?

 

5. Can I use converters to help me fill in the gaps in sets, or should I buy them with merits, or is there another way?

 

6. In the long run, is it worth attuning these?  Boosting them?

[jack_nomind]

You should respec at 50 with a build in mind, but you'll probably do it again.

 

There's nothing wrong with getting (most) unique IOs or any attuned IOs early, but you should generally wait until 50 for others.  IOs don't 'go grey,' but their effectiveness does depend on their level.

 

Purple sets and most Attuned sets are Unique.  Many sets have Unique special IOs.  You can only have one of any Unique enhancement.

 

Usually, when I plan an L50 build, I design the first 20 or so levels to be exemplar-friendly (contain a good mix of attack and other powers).  It's almost always better to be able to attune enhancements in those sets.  For enhancements in other powers, it kind of depends on your build and your intentions whether you should plan to boost them, attune them, or just leave them be.

[Rathulfr]

If you can afford the uniques/procs for your build now, go ahead and start collecting them now.  Most of them work the same regardless of level, so it doesn't really matter which you get.  If level does affect a specific IO, you can always sell it and then re-buy it at the desired level when you respec at 50 (and you will respec at 50).

 

Keep the current crafted invention IOs (non-set IOs) until you're 47, then start collecting your IO set pieces.  I had level 25 and 30 IOs slotted until I was 50, and it was fine.  You won't be able to equip purples until you're 50 anyway.

 

And, as has been suggested earlier, if you plan to play down-level and want to keep your set bonuses active, buy attuned instead of max level IOs.  But if you don't care about that, buy max level IOs and then boost them as you progress.  Earning enough merits/Inf to buy boosters for all of them is part of the fun!  ;D

 

[Adeon Hawkwood]

1. Should I start trying to work those in now, or wait until level 50?  Or level 47?

Yes, if you know, or even strongly suspect that you'll want a set at level 50 it's worth buying an attuned version of the IO and slotting it early. I often buy a few Thunderstrike sets and a Positron's Blast or two to slot early. The extra defense and recharge helps while leveling. Worst case I sell them on once I hit level 50. I also tend to buy a set of ATOs since they have good stats and it lets me play around with the proc. Sometimes I'll keep them at level 50 and make them superior, sometimes I resell them.

 

2. What about special enhancements, like LotG, should I slot one now, or wait?

Definitely. I slot a kb reduction IO, the miracle and Numina procs and several LotG recharge speed IOs on basically every character I make. I also slot the Kismet To Hit IO on those characters that don't have To Hit buffs.

 

3. If I slot an enhancement of a set at level 40, is it useless when I reach level 44, and have to be replaced?

It still works fine, however there's a better option which is attuned IOs. Due to how the market is setup you can buy an attuned IO for the same price as a regular IO and it will increase in power as your character levels up. Basically the only disadvantage to attuned IOs is that you can't use enhancement boosters in them.

 

4. Can I run duplicate purple sets in different powers?

Every Purple IO is unique so you can only have one copy. You can potentially split them among powers to get multiple copies of the 2 or 3 piece set bonus but that's generally not worth it. The same applies to the ATO sets although there there are a couple of sets with very strong bonuses int he 2 or 3 piece slot so it can be worth splitting the set (ex Superior Mark of Supremacy gets 10% recharge for 2 pieces.

 

5. Can I use converters to help me fill in the gaps in sets, or should I buy them with merits, or is there another way?

Generally the best way to get IOs is to buy them on the market. If you need inf then either use merits to buy enhancement converters and sell them or use merits to buy enhancement converters and use them to convert your recipe drops into something sell-able and sell that.

 

There are three advantages to buying. First you can get them attuned for free (yay!) if you want. Second you can take advantage of lower crafting costs by having someone else craft it at a lower level and then let the market upgrade it to your level. Third you can take advantage of the converter roulette. The odds of getting a specific enhancement you need through converters is low but the odds of getting an enhancement that someone else needs is a lot higher. So convert your enhancements, sell them to people who need them and use the inf to buy the enhancements you want. It's win-win.

 

6. In the long run, is it worth attuning these?  Boosting them?

Attuning enhancements is nice, especially if you exemplar down. In general I attune any enhancement that I'm not planning to boost except for Purples and PvPIOs. However I don't use catalysts to attune them, I buy them attuned by the market since that's a lot cheaper (even if you already have the IO it's cheaper to just sell it and rebuy it as an attuned version).

 

Boosting IOs is more situational. I mostly do it in three situations. The first is purple sets, since you generally only want to 5-slot them I find the best option is to skip the single Damage IO and then use boosters on the Dam/End or Dam/Rech to make up the difference. The second is cases where a power only needs two aspects enhanced (for example Force of Nature only needs Resistance and Recharge), for these powers taking a dual-aspect IO (i.e. Res/Rech) and making it +5 is the equivalent of slotting an SO of each aspect into the power so 2 or 3 of these is sufficient slotting for the power. The third case is powers like Hasten that only need recharge, slotting two level 50 generics and using boosters on them lets me max out recharge for two slots.

[Pyriold]

So... instead of playing CoH and having fun leveling you restrict yourself to beginner powers for hours and hours? I understand doing DfB or farming until you are like level 20 or so, not a big deal and pretty fast. Then you already have decent powers and can do all the fun mission arcs. I guess for you the fun only starts at level 50? For me it's the journey. Grinding AE farms all the way to 50 is so mindnumbingly boring... i am playing a game here, i am not at work!

 

My 1st post since "Homecoming" but, I wanted to add my 2 cents worth..

 

Thanks to a few changes that have occurred over the years through whomever has been keeping CoX alive (Titan, SCORE, etc...), I've found it's very easy to power level a new toon/alt using AE & the lowest IOs you can get from the market (lvl10 IOs). I agree & support what's been said here already about using the generic IOs while you level & by the time you hit 50 you'll want to respec anyway because if you actually played a little while leveling then you know you didn't get the #of enhancement slots arranged so that it maximizes the power - so you're going to want to respec anyway to rearrange the slots even w/o slotting the unique IO sets for the end game. Here's my new BKM (best known method) for the process:

1) create new alt, drop into atlas to begin

2) go over to the PTW vender around the side of where Liberty is, (ask to show wares), & buy (for $0) the beginner origin IO set that is offered

3) goto AE & select one of the farm maps where you'll play as lvl 1-5 - I've been using the Bad maps series arcs lately

4) train up to around level 5 so that you have a travel power & at least 2 or 3 attack powers (lvl 5 & below)

5) once you get to around level 10 stop training & goto the market (/ah) & buy your 1st generic Level 10 IOs - which will only cost around 1k-100k ea & you'll have racked up enough to buy a few IOs

6) Buy some lvl 10 IOs & put them specifically in all your lvl 1-5 powers - important because you'll leverage this playing AE arcs where you're playing as lvl 1-5

7) Rinse-n-repeat - cont playing the same AE arcs which auto-level you down to lvl 1-5 (can only use your low lvl powers)

 

The last few times i've gone through this process i kept playing AE arcs that put you at lvl 1-5 all the way up to lvl 50

I would stop at lvl 20, 30, 40 & train up so that I can select powers & slots but keep everything empty since not using them playing at level 5 - save your money until you hit 50 so then you have the money to buy

 

So as you're leveling only buy upgraded IOs for the lvl 1-5 powers you're using & don't waste them on all the higher level powers which you're not using until you hit 50. Once you hit 50 then respec so you can reslot & then go crazy buying/slotting the good IO sets. (ex: buy level 10 IOs for your lvl 1-5 powers, & keep them slotted until you hit lvl 20,30,40,50)

[MulT]

Thanks for making me feel welcome & ripping me a new one ...  I wasn't proposing this to anyone, I simply said you can do this & it works. I myself am a CoX vet since the original beta days & so I've already done hundreds of alts the old fashioned way (playing the game as you say) & so I've already been there, done that. this was just a way for those of us getting back into CoX since it closed to get an alt up to 50 quickly. This also doesn't take away from all the regular game play that occurs at 50 (like incarnate system). There is also Obo & being able to go back in time to play all the low missions. So my suggestion isn't taking away from anything but, your reply shows what a negative person you are.

If you don't have anything nice to say then don't.

[Zolgar]

If you plan on running attuned enhancements to keep your benefits when you exemplar down for a TF, start slotting shit as soon as you can, though you'll probably want to respec at 50 to finalize your build anyways.

 

If you only plan to play at 50+ content, don't start slotting until level 47, except on IOs that max before 50 or have no level-based benefits (Performance Shifter: Chance for +End, Numina's Regen/Recovery, Miracle Recovery, etc). Even LotG has some level based benefit, since it's Defense/global recharge.

 

My personal method of slotting a character:

Level 12 I start using basic IOs, every few levels filling empty slots with the highest level IOs I can use.

Level 32 first respec. Toss all the 15-30 IOs in my base for my next char. Here I will usually start towards my "end game" build, in terms of power selection and slot allocation, and initially fill it up with 35 basic IOs.

Between 32 and 50, when I can I get attuned versions of various set IOs I need for the build, and buy some unslotters off the AH so I can pull the 35 IOs out and toss them in my base instead of slotting over them.

At 50, if I made any major revisions to the build, respec again. If not, continue just pulling enhancers out and replacing them with the end-game sets. (yes, it would be cheaper to respec again, but I hate respecs and doing so requires having all the ehancers for the build waiting. A few mil on unslotters means little to me, personally)

[Murcielago]

Start whenever you have the funds. I've started slotting set IOs in my L10 Sentinel.

[justicebeliever]

...

 

I don't know why, but seem people get very upset when you mention PL'ing...Since you are a veteran, you know this issue goes all the way back to Issue 0...

 

I don't PL, but I won't give anyone any grief for how they enjoy the game as long as they aren't being a bother to someone else...

 

Since it didn't happen, and I don't want you to think that's how we all roll here -

 

Welcome Back to City of Heroes, "Where the forums are more dangerous than Dark Astoria"...(Seriously, welcome back)