I'm new and am confused with enhancements.

[Nello]

@_@ This game is too complicated for me... Ugh
Ok. I'm level 27 defender and am trying to get enhancements.
I've read so many posts about enhancements but I still don't fully understand all the different types of enhancements... That english isn't my native language really makes it feel like I'm working on graduate school thesis to learn about the game. lol
What I've understood so far is-

 

SOs and DOs have origin and level requirements.
IOs are crafted. They don't have origin requirement but have level requirement.
- Standard IOs are accessible for anyone at any level.
- IO sets require recipes. They also provide set bonus when more than one from the same set is equipped.
Attuned IOs are like IOs but they scale with a character's level.
- You either buy them from AH or use catalyst to turn IOs into them.

 

And here are my questions-
1. Is my understanding solid?
2. Some people say I should craft IOs at level 20~27 while some people say I should just wait until 30~35 to craft them... Or it seems just buying attuned IOs at any level is also an option. For a new player who is still trying to figure out how to build a characyer and doesn't have much influence, what option would you recommend?
3. If I somehow afford attuned IOs... What's next? Is that the end of the gearing and the rest of the gameplay is just for leveling and for fun?

 

I'm sorry if my questions have already been asked million times... I really, really tried to learn on my own, yet I'm still a clueless noob. ;_;

[Troo]

It's gonna be great.

At first it can definitely seem overwhelming as a brand new player (but it only seems that way).

 

This game is very forgiving. No need to stress about making a mistake.

 

/ah = Auction House and can be accessed anywhere so long as a player is not in a supergroup base or mission.

just type /ah into the chat line and the popup will appear.

 

Short Version

• Dual-Origin Enhancements
• Single-Origin Enhancements
• Often referred to as SOs, provide twice as much improvement as DOs.
• Invention Origin Enhancements
• IOs bought from the /ah or crafted from recipes.
• Invention Origin Enhancements Sets
  • Similar as above but with additional nuances.

 

Dual & Single Origin Enhancements are tied to Origin and can be slotted up to 3 levels higher and 3 levels lower than the character.

• Enhancements 4 or more levels above the character display their level in red. They cannot be inserted into slots.

• Enhancements 4 or more levels below the character provide no benefit as the character has out leveled them.
• Enhancements that are already slotted may replaced or combined with appropriate-level Enhancements (combing has chance of success based on the level difference of the enhancements).

 

Invention Origin Enhancements - Regular ones such as plain accuracy or damage don't get out leveled. That's the primary difference between SOs and IOs. 

• These will continue to work as a character levels but stay at their value (a higher level enhancement will have a higher value).
• Bought from the /ah or Crafted from recipes by using an Invention Worktable at a University or in a supergroup base.

 

Invention Origin Enhancements Sets

• Same as above
• These can provide more nuanced enhancement like +acc/+dam or +acc/+dam/+rech rather than just one aspect.
• Frankenstein slotting +acc/+dam from multiple 'sets' is a common strategy for a power.
• On the flip side of frankenslotting are the Set Bonuses. This is where slotting multiple enhancements from a 'set' can provide a bonus to the whole character rather than just to the power.

 

Note: Enhancement Diversification/Diminishing Returns keeps us from slotting 200% damage in a power. 

• Enhancement Diversification is based on a system of diminishing returns on enhancements slotted to raise bonuses to a very high level.
• Example: After say 99% enhancement, each additional enhancement may provide less improvement. We can still do it but return on investment is lower.
• https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancement_Diversification

 

Others to worry about later (seriously, no need to learn about these at first):

Archetype Enhancements

Winter Origin Enhancements

Special Enhancements

Boosting Enhancements

Catalyzing Enhancements

 

Long Version

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancements

 

 

I'll leave at that as you may have additional specific questions.

 

Edited Sunday at 06:19 PM by Troo

[Troo]

1 hour ago, Nello said:

And here are my questions-
1. Is my understanding solid?
2. Some people say I should craft IOs at level 20~27 while some people say I should just wait until 30~35 to craft them... Or it seems just buying attuned IOs at any level is also an option. For a new player who is still trying to figure out how to build a characyer and doesn't have much influence, what option would you recommend?
3. If I somehow afford attuned IOs... What's next? Is that the end of the gearing and the rest of the gameplay is just for leveling and for fun?

 

Answers:

1. ish (hopefully what I wrote helps)
2. Craft as you like. 
   • There is a point where an IO can exceed the enhancement vale of an SO (33%). 
   • So there can be an ideal level to start switching from SOs to IOs but that will vary player to player.
3. Attuned Invention Origin Set Enhancements.. maybe not worth it at the beginning. 
   • This is a story for another time where there is some value but really it comes into play later in the game for something different than it may appear now.

No, this is not the end of gearing/builds.

Just remember there is no need to stress about gearing beyond managing accuracy, endurance, damage, and recharge at the beginning and through much of the game.

 

 

 

[Forager]

4 hours ago, Nello said:

1. Is my understanding solid?

 

Pretty good so far.

 

4 hours ago, Nello said:

2. Some people say I should craft IOs at level 20~27 while some people say I should just wait until 30~35 to craft them...

 

Meh, somewhere in there... probably. It's not that critical. At some point they're a little more effective, and then later a lot more. You're not gimped if it takes you a few levels.

 

4 hours ago, Nello said:

3. If I somehow afford attuned IOs... What's next? Is that the end of the gearing and the rest of the gameplay is just for leveling and for fun?

 

It can be, but it can also get pretty deep. There's set bonuses, damage procs, Hami-Os...

 

You can spend a lot of influence buying rares and winters and still end up only making a character marginally better. With careful planning and specific goals, you can make something extremely powerful.

 

If you have enough damage and accuracy, you're not running out of endurance... your character is fine. The forums make it seem like everyone is min/maxed to the gills, but that's not the in game experience.

 

 

 

 

[Digital_Assassin]

Here's a link to a great guide to enhancements done by Hexstiera, hope this helps. 

 

 

 

 

[MTeague]

Couple Additional Points: 

• in the old days, there were also "Training Origin" (TO) enhancements. These are hot garbage. Vendor immediately if you ever encounter them. 
• Dual Origin enhancements (DO's) were approximately twice as good as TO's.
• Single Origin enhancements (SO's) are approximately twice as good as DO's. 
  • so never use DO's unless you're dirt poor.
• both Dual Origin enhancements and Single Origin enhancements "wear out" and stop giving you benefits, if your character level is 5 or more higher than the enhancement level. 
  • example 1:  at character level 25, you no longer receive any benefit from a lvl 20 or below SO or DO.
  • example 2:  at character level 30, you no longer receive any benefit from a lvl 25 or below SO or DO.
• however, you can use the "Upgrade" button to automatically replace SO's or DO's with a freshly-topped-off version of them. Costs influence, but is an option.
• Invention Origin enhancements (IO's) never wear out, ever.  You can use a lvl 25 IO all the way to 50, and you always get the same benefit from it. Now you might want to replace those with more-current-level IO's in order to receive a larger benefit, but you never Have to. This can make basic IO's a cost-effective way to handle slotting as you level. 
• You can always hover over every kind of enhancement to see what % benefits it would provide, to help you decide if it's worth buying / slotting.
• Hamidon Origin enhancements (HO's) exist. These are lvl 50 only (I think) and basically are two lvl 50 SO's mashed together into one. Per slot, they provide the most benefit, but only certain combinations exist, and they're not easy to come by. For now, just treat HO's as out of your price range and don't worry. Maybe look at them again when you have multiple level 50's. 
• Invention Sets, are still basically invention IO's, but yes, they have the set bonuses if you slot multiple pieces from that set into the same power. Those set bonuses are individually fairly small. 1.8% max health. 2.5% melee defense. 6.25% global recharge. 7% accuracy to all powers. etc. But when you start having lots of these? You can become a god. You never benefit from more than 5 instances of the same set bonus, but even with that rule, these are Amazing when you have IO sets everywhere. 

The "Guides" section of the Forums has a few articles about enhancements, and just as importantly, some pointers on how to amass a lot of Influence. Not every method will be your cup of tea, but I do recommend browsing.  In particular, this one really really helped me when I was new.  Some of the exact numbers they quote are no longer quite true, but the big-picture idea still works just fine.  You'll often see people refer to this method as "Converter Roulette".