How do I learn, How to figure out how to build a Hero with Enhancements?

[kousoku]

Not sure if my title makes sense, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to choose the right enhancements for my heroes. I know I could just look up guides for my archetype and powers and copy them, but I’d really like to understand the why behind those choices.

 

More importantly, what steps should I take to figure out which enhancements will actually make my characters stronger?

 

I’m not going to list my archetype or powers here because I’m looking for general concepts or techniques that I can apply to all my heroes. I want to learn how to build them out on my own.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Six-Six]

Here's pretty much my journey. Bear in mind that it wasn't a conscious effort, more of a hindsight.

I started by frequenting the AT-specific forums and discord. There, I'd pick up not only which powers to take, but also what/how to slot them. Most of the time these would be in bits of info, not a concise guide.

Other times, I'd snatch a build from someone, then make little changes as I adjusted it to my play style. I believe that builds are intimate things -- the same exact build may not work as intended or work better depending on how you play. I even have several duplicate toons slotted differently, and so perform and play different (depending on the concept).

Along the way, I found that I've familiarised myself with the IO sets--not all, just the ones I liked and tend to slot often. keep in mind that higher rarity is not always better. Some uncommon IOs have arguably better set bonuses than rare ones. Also, sometimes I decide that the power doesn't call for set bonuses, just an ACC and/or End IO + a proc or two.

After a while, you'll start to get a feel for it and your own "style" of build. Mine depends on the AT as well as the powers. Also, it's not a finished thing. It keeps evolving. I've recently revisited some of my older toons and respec-ed them to my latest build style.

[lyra]

the why: Simple example: you want to have an Illusion controller and the phantom army permanently active?
To do this, you need to increase the army's recharge time to 60 seconds.
So the main focus of the build is on sets that give recharge bonuses.

 

how to start?

load https://midsreborn.com/ and grab some builds from forum to get an idea :)

 

 

It may be helpful to point out that you don't need a top build to have fun here.
My only tip for non-melee characters is to grab some knockback resistance.

 

[laudwic]

First understand the different types of enhancements.  Training -> Dual Origin -> Single Origin;   

 

Crafted Enhancement  IO (which are like the others, but do not expire - but the closest to your level +3 the better) or Set enhancements which give you a bonus when you slot 2 or more of that set

 

Then there are some special enhancements like Hamidon (or Hami-Os)

 

The next thing to be aware of is that Enhancements have diminishing returns when you get beyond 3 of a single type.  I don't know the math off hand (and I'm too lazy to go to the Homecoming Wiki  -  hint hint do a google search on the homecoming wiki) but the first three of a single type individually are far more effective than the 4th of a same type.  This is to prevent you from doing things like slotting one accuracy and five damage in each attack power.  

 

When you buy Set IOs in the auction house, you can buy them attuned (look for the ones without a level) and they get better as you level.  NOTE when you buy Purple IOs (level 50) buy them as Level 50 NOT attuned.

 

 

 

[Maelwys]

1 hour ago, kousoku said:

Not sure if my title makes sense, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to choose the right enhancements for my heroes. I know I could just look up guides for my archetype and powers and copy them, but I’d really like to understand the why behind those choices.

 

More importantly, what steps should I take to figure out which enhancements will actually make my characters stronger?

Planning a build is almost always an exercise in compromising (A, B, or C... pick any two!).

There's no one-size fits-all approach. 
But there are some rules of thumb.

Like "Aim for capped (95%) Accuracy versus whatever you're fighting".
And "ED (Enhancement Diversification) cap your damage". 
And "Don't post in any thread about knockback".

Technically CoDv2 ( https://cod.uberguy.net./ ) has virtually all of the raw data; but it can be hard to understand even if you're familiar with the powers and effects concerned. 
So if you want to really get into the ins-and-outs of particular powers and proc interactions then it's probably best to pick a particular subject and ask.
There's a lot of tribal knowledge and many of us old hands have convoluted knowledge about various subjects.

I'm going to drop some links to previous posts here:

 

[Without_Pause]

1. I grab both sets of ATOs.

2. I grab various IOs talked about here.

3. After that you are looking that the sets which can be slotted for those powers

4. You start looking at any goals of the builds, perma Hasten, soft cap, Res cap, attack chain, etc. 

 

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, Maelwys said:

Planning a build is almost always an exercise in compromising (A, B, or C... pick any two!).

There's no one-size fits-all approach. 
But there are some rules of thumb.

Like "Aim for capped (95%) Accuracy versus whatever you're fighting".
And "ED (Enhancement Diversification) cap your damage". 
And "Don't post in any thread about knockback".

Technically CoDv2 ( https://cod.uberguy.net./ ) has virtually all of the raw data; but it can be hard to understand even if you're familiar with the powers and effects concerned. 
So if you want to really get into the ins-and-outs of particular powers and proc interactions then it's probably best to pick a particular subject and ask.
There's a lot of tribal knowledge and many of us old hands have convoluted knowledge about various subjects.

I'm going to drop some links to previous posts here:

 

 

you’re killing him

[Riverdusk]

All depends on what you want for the character as your main goal.  For a dominator or the example already given of an illusion controller I want recharge, a lot of it.  For a shield armor melee character I want to make sure I have 45%+ to all positional defenses (aoe, melee, range).  

 

Once you hit your main goal and you still have slots/sets to use, you can aim for secondary goals.  After I got my recharge where I want it on my dominator I look at adding a little bit of defense.  For example, no matter the character I like to hit 20%+ minimum defense overall so that I can at least cap with a medium purple inspiration in a pinch.

 

Also, there are some special IO's I like to add to pretty much every character as well.  The steadfast and gladiator armor +3 defense, the reactive defense and shield wall +resistances, the panacea +hp/+end, the performance shifter +end, unbreakable +7.5% hps, numina +recovery/+regen, miracle +recovery, winter's gift 20% slow resistance.  Often preventive medicine absorb proc.  

 

Edited Monday at 07:21 PM by Riverdusk

[gameboy1234]

3 hours ago, kousoku said:

what steps should I take to figure out which enhancements will actually make my characters stronger?

 

I think we need more context.  Are you talking about leveling up?  Like for example, are you currently level 22 and feeling a bit under-powered?

 

Or are we talking level 40 using IO sets with bonuses?  How much Inf. do you have and how much could you get without getting bored?

 

Or are we talking about level 50 and with Incarnate powers?

 

Those are the main phases of growth I think for this game.  What you do at each level depends a lot on how you play and what sort of challenge you want, and what sort of resources and effort you want to spend.  If you think you could explain your situation a bit more I think we could give you better advice.

 

[biostem]

3 hours ago, kousoku said:

I’d really like to understand the why behind those choices

 

If you're talking about basic/generic enhancement slotting, then my general approach is this:

 

1. If it's an attack of some type, then I definitely want to be able to hit my target, even if they are a few levels above me, so I'll slot 2 ACC enh's.  Next, I'll want it to deal better damage, since my goal is to defeat that target, so I'll slot 3 DMG enh's.  That leaves 1 potential slot remaining, which I will dedicate to some other aspect of the power that I need - maybe endurance management is an issue, so I'll slot an endurance cost reduction enh.  Maybe I want that power to be available more often, so I'll slot a recharge time reduction enh.  Maybe it's a good power, but you need a bit more range, so go with one of those.  Perhaps there is some additional effect in the power you would like to take more advantage of, like to extend the duration of a hold effect, in which case, go with one of those enh's.

 

2.  If it's a defensive or support power, my primary goal is slotting 3 of the associated enh types - DEF, RES, Heal, etc.  If said power also need to hit an enemy in order to function, (and it's not an auto-hit), then the same as in #1 applies - 2 ACC.

 

3. Other specialty powers generally follow a similar rule to #2 - for instance, most blaster secondary sets have a "maintain" power, which grants extra endurance recovery, and for those, I want to slot 3 endurance modification enh's.

 

If you are talking about the invention-origin, (IO), set bonuses, then that is kind of a science unto itself, and you'd be best served referring to one of the guides others in this thread have posted...

[Snarky]

When i started building it was mostly melee.  So, solid up the armors, get endurance stability, and get attacks set up hard. 
 

then, blasters.  Trying to “soft cap defense 45%”. 
 

then Dominators. Global recharge rules all, and maybe ranged defense as a secondary goal

 

my current corruptor is very relaxed.  I got as much +range global as possible because i have learned how good that is on dark dark. I did not worry about defense, because my dark dark playstyle deals with that through tricks. (I rely on AT and powersets there more than build). Then various other cool things that help. Of course attacks are set up to hit hard.  I did not PROC bomb, although some showed up naturally.  I just built solid and made some fun choices. Then i just rely on playstyle and AT powersets

[Ukase]

4 hours ago, kousoku said:

how to choose the right enhancements for my heroes

I've been playing this game a long time. I wouldn't say I'm the best builder out there, but given some of the utter trash I see on these forums and the HC Discord and other discord channels, I definitively know I'm likely better than the average. Opinions will vary. 

So, there are many ways to build a character. None of them are wrong. None of them are right. Some will be optimal, some less so. Some much less so. 

The first thing in order for me to make a good build is to understand how I, the player, will use the character. If I make a character just to do one event, my build decisions are much simpler; if it's a character that I intend to experience as much as the game has to offer, I will likely need to use more than one build. But - before I talk about multiple builds, I'll share how I build my characters before Mids came out. 

First - am I hitting what I aim at? There's a thing called perception bias, and it's real. I remember the 2 misses against the EB when we're both left with a sliver of health far more clearly then when I froze the EB with my freeze ray for 1/2 a second. Mids is a tool that can aid in determining if you need to find a way to make your attacks more accurate, but if you're playing your character, if you're honest with yourself, your own eyes can tell you that. There's accuracy against npcs your own level, and there's accuracy against +5's. Both will require different amounts of accuracy. 

So, to start, I slot one accuracy SO in each attack. (this assumes you can afford them - not so cheap for a newer player) If I can't, I slot the best thing I can afford. If I can only afford Dual Origins, I'll slot 2 of them - to start. 

And I'll slot 1 damage, 1 recharge (or 1 end reduction) if the power uses more endurance than I might expect, like over 12 points of endurance. 

This is just for leveling up; And during the fighting, I'll look and see if my endurance use is a problem. 


I don't ever really assess damage because it doesn't matter - it's not enough. No matter what I slot in any attack, it will never do enough damage. So, I ensure I can hit what I'm aiming at, to the best of my ability, and it doesn't use so much endurance that I can't use the next attack. There are some passive accolades you may acquire to help with this, and before you get those, most public SGs will have base empowerment zones that will allow you to boost your end recovery for 2 pieces of common salvage, and one piece of uncommon salvage. The machine will tell you what those pieces are. 

I slot, I look and observe. Am I dying a lot? I should try to determine why. Did I join one of "those" teams where the team lead thinks a level 12 tank has enough armor to save the team from +4/8 mobs with no buffs or debuffs or sufficient dps? That can happen. Not often, but it can. But am I solo and set to +4/8 on a level 6 blaster? That's a great excuse to die early and often. 
But, if I'm dying because I can't kill them fast enough, I can look at my damage, or my defense and resistances. Since I know I'll never be able to boost damage that high without inspirations or external buffs, I might as well look to the fight pool or leadership pool. Or something else, like Sorcery for the Rune of Protection. It all depends on how often I'm landing in trouble. 

Just anecdotally, I was in Striga Isle trying to clobber Vampyri out in the wild. I only needed 23 more to get the slayer badge. And, I noticed I was missing a lot. This wasn't because of my build, it was because of getting debuffed by the Vamps. In those cases, I have two choices. Pop yellows as a reaction, or pop purple (lucks) to be proactive. If they don't hit me, they can't debuff me. It's better to use purples, imo. 

As for various debuff toggles like lingering radiation, I check to ensure I have the endurance to run them. If not, I increase my rate of recovery, or find a way to decrease my endurance use.

Once I know I have my endurance use under control, then I can consider boosting recharge rates. 

That's how I would build my characters if I didn't have mids, or didn't trust it. (and there's evidence to suggest a "Trust but verify" approach with Mids would be best. 



 

[Nostromo21]

I would think that any SOs/IOs will take you up to level cap easily, so long as you slot to improve the powers strengths that you're after. And don't use more than 3 of the same enhancement within each power's 6 slots. That's it. Now, if you want to do super-hard endgame content (solo or in groups), you'll probably want to start slotting ATOs/uniques/sets/special origin enhancements, and of course, procs...it's all about the proc, bout the procs, bout the procs! 😉 

Edited yesterday at 01:01 AM by Nostromo21

[BlackSpectre]

My advise is just have fun playing the game. If something is making you not have fun, or something seems like it’s holding you back, or if there’s something you’d just like to improve then just ask. Someone here probably has an answer. 
 

Specific builds are not necessary for this game. You can level up from 1-50 just by using Single Origin enhancements and you’d do great. No need to get into invention origin enhancements or anything else if you don’t want to.  There are benefits to learning more, but the benefits aren’t required, even if they are nice. 
 

So generally speaking, a player builds or designs a character to do something specific. There are many things to do in this game, so what build you choose depends on your goal for that specific character. For example, if you wanted a character to be able to power level an entire team by itself, that is a very specific goal and it requires very specific build strategies to accomplish. Or maybe you want a toon that maxes out DPS, there’s ways to do that but it comes at a cost. So much in this game is plus and minus. Meaning, if you add to one stat, another stat is reduced. 
 

So when you say you’d like to learn how to build a character, the natural response is to ask “for what purpose”?  What are you trying to accomplish? Without that information the best we can do is just give you what we’d want to accomplish or give you very general and probably vague answers. Also, there are so many combinations of powers in this game that giving one answer is impossible. 
 

The first step to any of that is to understand combat and game mechanics. 
https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Limits

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Damage
 

Browse and search through the wiki. It’s all covered. Almost any answer you want is there, and if you’re having trouble finding or understanding anything, we’re here to help. 
 

There are only a few ways to improve stats and abilities in this game:

1. Enhancement bonuses

2. Procs or global enhancement bonuses 

3. Enhancement set bonuses

4. power choices

5. archetype choices

6. enhancement slotting distribution

 

Inspirations and effects of other players’ powers on you also play a role, depending on what you want to achieve. 

If you were to ask this question again, my recommendation is to ask for something specific such as “I’d like to make my toon more survivable in normal PVE missions” or “I’d like to be able to withstand attacks from 30 mobs” or “I’d like to increase my running speed”, etc. Otherwise all we can do is tell you how we’d build a similar toon to do what we’d want it to do which might not be what you’d want to do. Does that make sense?

[mistagoat]

I think you have to start with some goals. Are you going for capped resistance? High recharge? All in on damage procs?

Once that's decided it's just a matter of adding the sets that advance those goals. There is a tool in Mids, I think it's called recipe viewer, that will help you find the sets with the bonuses you're looking for. If you're looking for ranged def, just set Def > Ranged > All and you'll see all the sets that grant ranged def bonuses and the size of that bonus and how many slots are needed to get that bonus. 

There's certainly more nuance to it than that but I think that's the core.  Also look at all the builds you can get your hands on and try to figure out why the creator made the choice they made. A 2pc celerity in a prestige slide seems like an odd choice until you realize that was done to cap out s/l resist. Then tuck that away to use later when your Rad tank needs like 1.5% more resist. Of course not every build you look at will be good but you'll start to recognize that and eventually builds will just start making sense.

[RCU7115]

Like a few have stated. You need to know what your toon/archetype requires.

If you are playing a Tank, Brute, Scapper or Stalker  then know what type of defense your toon has, Postional ( Melee, Ranged or AOE) or Typed ( Smash/Lethal,  Fire/Cold, Energy/Neg Energy  etc). That determines what type of IO Enhancement Sets you go after when making your build.

[Clave Dark 5]

@Six-Six up there nailed it for how I started learning about it too.  The most important part for me was looking at other people's builds and lurking on the conversation that followed as people here kicked around all the "Oh, I'd never slot it that way, save yourself the expense, that's not all that helpful anyway" etc. stuff after it got posted.  It's a complex system by design, but the more you look into it the more you'll learn and start to recognize some of the usual tricks and ideas.

[Nostromo21]

15 hours ago, BlackSpectre said:

Specific builds are not necessary for this game. You can level up from 1-50 just by using Single Origin enhancements and you’d do great. No need to get into invention origin enhancements or anything else if you don’t want to.  There are benefits to learning more, but the benefits aren’t required, even if they are nice. 

 

This is generally true, however, you're going to have a bad time with certain builds, such as Dominators and other AT/builds that rely heavily on global recharge to reach perma-uptime on certain powers. So you at least need the set IOs and LoTG recharge enhancements that are almost mandatory to achieve that.

[MsSmart]

Mids Reborn is your friend, you can see what IOs can be placed in any power, see what the set does and pull up a side window showing you the cumulative effects. Then you can try switching slots and IOs across powers to optimize your build.

 

YouTube has videos you can look up to learn how to really use Mids Reborn!

 

Try it, you will not be disappointed!

 

Also if you go to Discord, a lot of builds made by experts are posted there and are saved in Mids Reborn format, so you can copy and save the build into your computer and then bring it up in Mids Reborn and learn from the best

[BlackSpectre]

2 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

…to reach perma-uptime on certain powers.

If that’s your goal, then go for it, but perma-uptime for any power is not necessary to get to level 50 or enjoy the missions and other game content for any archetype or powerset. 
 

Some archetypes and powersets are “easier” to level up than others, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more fun just because they’re easier.  Honestly, I sometimes lament building toons that walk through every mission as if it was nothing. When I first started playing the game it was challenging and a struggle, and most of that is gone now.  I do appreciate the devs making things more challenging for us, such as the difficulty sliders on task forces and such, and I’d like that trend to continue to include normal content as well. That said, for new players, my advise is to let them struggle for the sake of the game and their enjoyment. 

[UltraAlt]

On 10/27/2025 at 11:45 AM, kousoku said:

Not sure if my title makes sense, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to choose the right enhancements for my heroes. I know I could just look up guides for my archetype and powers and copy them, but I’d really like to understand the why behind those choices.

 

Most of the builds that you are going to find are built on mini-maxing.

 

The numbers are crunched to get the maximum ? out of a set.

Is that ? damage/sec? Generally speaking, probably.

 

On 10/27/2025 at 11:45 AM, kousoku said:

More importantly, what steps should I take to figure out which enhancements will actually make my characters stronger?

 

What does "stronger" mean for you?

More damage per second, survivability, the amount of defense or resistance your character has? The more likely they are to hit their target with a power? The stronger the FX a power generates on the target?

 

On 10/27/2025 at 11:45 AM, kousoku said:

I’m not going to list my archetype or powers here because I’m looking for general concepts or techniques that I can apply to all my heroes. I want to learn how to build them out on my own.

 

First off, I like to hit my targets.

As I level up, I'm going to tend to slot 2 acc in an attack power before anything else.

 

Second, I don't like to run out end.

So if a power uses more that 10 end or it cost more than say .26/sec, I'm going to put an end reducer in it.

I'm also going to try to slot up to 3 end mods in Stamina by 30 and/or a Performance Shifter chance for +end

 

As I level, I'm thinking of picking my next power or slotting on how my character is performing against the enemies I'm fighting.

What was my character lacking since the last time I had a power pick?

What would make my character fit more with my character conception?

What will make my character more useful to the those that I team with?

Is it time to pick a travel power or can that wait?

 

Once I get to higher levels, I'm thinking about slotting based on how the character is performing and how my slotting can help when I'm on a team.

And for me, all the while, trying to stay true to my character conception of my character.

 

I think of it this way: Is the goal to beat the game or have fun playing a superhero character that I think is cool?

I think you will end up having a better time if you are creating characters that you want to play. That may mean making one to "beat the game". I find it more fun to try to make my character conceptions work within the framework of the game.