Noob question: crafting enhancements at level 22

[out51d3r]

So, I'm probably around an hour away from hitting level 22.  Alot of posts say that it's a good idea to craft level 25 enhancements at level 22, and use them all the way up to 50.

 

I see I basically have two options to craft.  Basic single stat ones, and "sets".  Which are they suggesting I make?  FWIW, I have around 7 million inf, and could probably convert my reward merrits to 12-13mil more.

[Psyonico]

Common IOs are generally what are used for most powers while leveling up, though some people will slot set IOs as they go.

 

Sets will be more expensive than commons.

[Jacke]

When I level a Toon, I always want to have an up-to-date build for it at Level 50.  I make builds that should Exemplar well (downgrade Combat Level to do Flashback or Task Force content like the W.S.T.'s).  They should be good for Leveling.  I will tweak builds when I learn more about the Toon and adjust as I'm Leveling.  During Leveling, I fill in the particular IOs that are important for things like net Recovery and Mez/KB Protection, even temp slotting alternate IOs to do so.

 

Besides that, I'm tempted to just use SOs as I have enough Influence earnings to keep them at +3 Levels every Level.  Others will slot L25 or L30 Common IOs and only go for L50 IOs when L47 or higher.  Because I make Exemplar-friendly builds, many IOs are Attune, so I will usually slot those somewhere between L20 to L30, when they will be as good or better.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 03:50 AM by Jacke

[RCU7115]

You'll be fine with lvl 25 IO's till you get to lvl 47-50. Crafting lvl 25 IO's I think is about 3 million influence. It maybe a bit more been a while since I've gone with IO'S to 50.

You also get a free lvl 25 IO if you do the Crafting Tutorial in Steel Canyon University or Redside Cap University.

[biostem]

1 hour ago, out51d3r said:

Basic single stat ones

These - the generic IOs.  Use and slot level 25 ones to cover your basic power needs.  They're relatively inexpensive, are about as good as SOs, and never expire.  They'll get you where you need to until 50, and then you can start focusing on set IOs, uniques, ATOs, and so on...

[aethereal]

While I agree that what people mean by that advice is white, common IOs, I encourage people who are seriously playing the leveling process to just bite the bullet and get set IOs.  It can be yellow, cheap ones.  Any investment in set IOs makes your character markedly more powerful and fun, the additional inf cost is negligible in the medium term, and if it makes you learn things about builds or making money, that's a great side effect.

[srmalloy]

2 hours ago, RCU7115 said:

You also get a free lvl 25 IO if you do the Crafting Tutorial in Steel Canyon University or Redside Cap University.

You get a free level 15, 20, or 25 IO if you do the crafting tutorial — you get an IO you can slot. So if you do the tutorial at 12 when it unlocks, you'll get a recipe for a level 15 IO; wait until 17 to do it, and you'll get a level 20 recipe; you don't get a level 25 recipe unless you're 22+.

 

It was viable to do it at 12 back on Live, because you'd been slotting TOs up to that point, and a 15 IO was better than a +1 DO — and getting a free Acc IO was gold, because AH prices were insane; I think Luck Charms would peak around 30k each from time to time, and when the south end of the Hollows got reworked to put the Coralax there as part of making it a "kinder, gentler hazard zone", you couldn't go down there and mug green-con Madness Mages for Luck Charms any more, because the boss spawn rate sucked and they were hard to find, instead of there being at least one in half the spawns. 

[Six-Six]

Is it cheaper? yes. You'll get by. Or you can swap them out for lvl30s, 35s, etc... 3 levels before (so 30s at level 27, 35s at level 32...) or just keep them while you level and slowly swap them out for IO sets once you have the slots.

Is it better? no. Generic IO values will lag behind SOs, especially since you can upgrade SOs to your level +3 every level, thereby giving you a solid 38.6 (I forget the exact value) every level. This value will only be matched and surpassed by both attuned IOs and generic IOs by 35-40.

Caveat is, some powers are arguably better with just a single ACC or END SO (or generic IO) and maybe a proc or two. Unless your chasing set bonuses, your toon will be more optimal with just SOs until late 30s to early 40s, and you won't feel as starved for slots as well.

[Scarlet Shocker]

a lot will depend on your budget. 

 

I'd also consider getting low level procs from Panacea and Performance Shifter if you have any kind of End issues - the latter is pretty cheap and (from memory) I think you can slot it around 10 so it earns its keep very early on. 

[tidge]

Wisdom:

 

1 hour ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

a lot will depend on your budget.

 

As @srmalloy noted, the university tutorial givens a 'free' recipe+ (I wait for the 25 one). the level 25/30 IO crafting badges offer a useful (to some) badge+bonus, and these levels happen to be when the IOs break-even/surpass non IOs.

 

The sets are worth slotting but if you don't have the budget for attuned set pieces, 'common IOs' are usually very cheap on the AH, plus they drop. Useful attuned set pieces can also be somewhat inexpensive on the AH. If you play a level 50 for any amount of time, you should be accumulating lots of stuff to start equipping characters.

 

[Ukase]

9 hours ago, out51d3r said:

So, I'm probably around an hour away from hitting level 22.  Alot of posts say that it's a good idea to craft level 25 enhancements at level 22, and use them all the way up to 50.

 

I see I basically have two options to craft.  Basic single stat ones, and "sets".  Which are they suggesting I make?  FWIW, I have around 7 million inf, and could probably convert my reward merrits to 12-13mil more.

The answers to this are going to vary. For the budget you have, I would think going with common IOs might be the best path forward. 

But here's some things to consider: 
It's not real money. Simply asking for a gift over the help channel or lfg can often bring a storm of inf into your email, provided you ask politely, and maybe with humor. 

When you craft level 25 IOs - some of those IOs may actually be on sale for a fraction of the cost to craft them. It will be tedious, but if you want to save inf, then I suggest you look at the recipe cost, the crafting cost, the salvage cost and do some math to compare the price of the already crafted item on the AH. 

As an example, on my characters that use the teleport pool, I often slap a common range IO into tp target because I know I'm primarily going to use it to port teammates. I get those Ranged IOs for maybe 1, 5, or 10 inf.  For the level 25's, it would cost me 14,200 just to purchase the level 25 recipe from the work bench if it weren't a drop. And then another14,200 to craft it. 
With these more obscure ones, you can save quite a bit of inf. Acc, Dam, Recharge, those you may find are cheaper to craft yourself - it just depends on if there were a badger dumping the required crafting IOs on the market for cheap. And some of them you almost have to craft, like the run and jump. Not sure about 25's, but at 30, they never seem to be available. 

 

 As for using the "sets" that give bonuses, myself, I only use these, but my available inf is a larger stack. The cost on the AH of a number of IO set enhancements can be huge, or cheap, if you're patient. Bid for them well before you need them. You might want the very rares at 50. Invariably, these drop very rarely, aside from Market Crash, where the drop of one at the end is guaranteed. It's almost always cheaper to get the recipe and craft it yourself than buying it crafted. 

A number of people will tell you they buy these with 100 reward merits. The math doesn't support this, but then, some folks have a ton of merits and not so much time or inf. So, that's completely up to you. It's certainly easier. 

For now, I'd go with the commons, but I might wait until 30. I think the distinction between 30 and 25 IOs is a bit more worth it. Mind you, these arguments can be made either way for various reasons. There's no wrong or right way, only the wrong way or right way for you. 

[RCU7115]

9 hours ago, srmalloy said:

You get a free level 15, 20, or 25 IO if you do the crafting tutorial — you get an IO you can slot. So if you do the tutorial at 12 when it unlocks, you'll get a recipe for a level 15 IO; wait until 17 to do it, and you'll get a level 20 recipe; you don't get a level 25 recipe unless you're 22+.

 

It was viable to do it at 12 back on Live, because you'd been slotting TOs up to that point, and a 15 IO was better than a +1 DO — and getting a free Acc IO was gold, because AH prices were insane; I think Luck Charms would peak around 30k each from time to time, and when the south end of the Hollows got reworked to put the Coralax there as part of making it a "kinder, gentler hazard zone", you couldn't go down there and mug green-con Madness Mages for Luck Charms any more, because the boss spawn rate sucked and they were hard to find, instead of there being at least one in half the spawns. 

Yeah I knew there were 3 levl ranges for the free IO along with several choices for the IO type (Acc, Dam, End Red and Rech) if I remember correctly. I was going to elaborate more but I  was at a hockey 🏒 game last night trying to reply, text and watch intermission activities all at once.

[Uun]

12 hours ago, aethereal said:

While I agree that what people mean by that advice is white, common IOs, I encourage people who are seriously playing the leveling process to just bite the bullet and get set IOs.  It can be yellow, cheap ones.  Any investment in set IOs makes your character markedly more powerful and fun, the additional inf cost is negligible in the medium term, and if it makes you learn things about builds or making money, that's a great side effect.

I agree with this, however, be aware that most categories of set IOs have 2 tiers, one that goes from lvl 10-30 and one that goes from lvl 30-50 (some categories have more than 2 tiers). For this reason, I generally hold off on slotting set IOs until lvl 27 (when the upper tier sets can be slotted).

[aethereal]

11 hours ago, Uun said:

I agree with this, however, be aware that most categories of set IOs have 2 tiers, one that goes from lvl 10-30 and one that goes from lvl 30-50 (some categories have more than 2 tiers). For this reason, I generally hold off on slotting set IOs until lvl 27 (when the upper tier sets can be slotted).

If the alternative is slotting level 25 commons?  You'll still get much better enhancement values from level 10-30 attuned sets!

[gameboy1234]

There are also a few IOs that can be slotted individually and still have a good effect.  The Performance Shifter +End proc, for example, as well as Steadfast +Def and Steadfast +Knockback.  While I usually do the 25 Common (generic) IOs at level 22, there's a few exceptions I like to start early on.

[Wobegone]

On 11/18/2025 at 8:55 PM, aethereal said:

While I agree that what people mean by that advice is white, common IOs, I encourage people who are seriously playing the leveling process to just bite the bullet and get set IOs.  It can be yellow, cheap ones.  Any investment in set IOs makes your character markedly more powerful and fun, the additional inf cost is negligible in the medium term, and if it makes you learn things about builds or making money, that's a great side effect.

 

I think this is good advice.  Only thing I'd add is craft recipes that drop and frankenslot them as much as possible.  You can always respec later and replace them with better IOs.  Use your merits to convert useless IOs to something you can slot (or sell).  Focus on Acc/Dam/End/Recharge in that order IMHO.  

 

Also, visit the Market subforum for some great advice on making money.  

Edited 10 hours ago by Wobegone
Typo fix

[UltraAlt]

On 11/18/2025 at 9:57 PM, out51d3r said:

So, I'm probably around an hour away from hitting level 22.  Alot of posts say that it's a good idea to craft level 25 enhancements at level 22, and use them all the way up to 50.

 

I see I basically have two options to craft.  Basic single stat ones, and "sets".  Which are they suggesting I make?  FWIW, I have around 7 million inf, and could probably convert my reward merrits to 12-13mil more

 

You are most likely going to get them cheaper on the /AH than you would be crafting them.

 

Some people are still cranking out crafting all of the various levels of non-set IO's for the badges and/or portable crafting table.

You should be able to get level 25's for far less than it would cost you to craft them ... even after spending a boat-load of loot to memorize the recipes so that crafting costs would be cheaper.

 

That being said, I think highest level you can get one for free out of doing the University training missions is a level 20.

 

That being said, sure, you could slot a level 10 non-set IO at level 7 and use it all the way to level 50, but the percentage will never increase. The IO non-set enhance percentages never increase, so you will have the same percentage for the slotted level 25 no-set IO  at level 23 as you will at level 49 ... aka comparatively decreasing returns over time.

 

I believe some players say that the turning point on non-set IOs is 35 where the non-IO set enhance percentage exceeds that of SOs.

 

[aethereal]

I almost exclusively buy through the AH rather than craft IOs so that I can get them attuned and have their enhancement values grow as I level rather than worry about whether I should bother to replace them with higher level copies.

[Doomguide2005]

     And unless you have each character fund itself all of this pretty much becomes moot once you have a 50.  Their earning potential is vastly greater than a pre-35's needs.  A single ITF can be 10,000,000+

 

     Also if you do a respec before you start slotting sets you can keep and store all those generic IOs and potentially never have to buy them again.