What should I be looking for when choosing Enhancement sets?

[Luminis]

I'm trying to get more into kitting out my characters with proper enhancement sets, however I know woefully little about what things are useful. Looking at other people's builds I can see certain sets are favored over others but there's where I get curious.

 

I like to know the "why" of doing things so I can make those decisions myself rather than just copy others blindly. So, for those of you who are seasoned at putting together builds, what goes into choosing certain sets? Is it that the percentages are better? Are the overall effects better? What should I put more value in, the set bonus or what the set itself does for a specific power? 

 

I usually play more support archetypes like controller/defender/tank, so I understand putting stock in things like defense sets and the archetype enhancements. I'm moreso wondering about what goes into considering like, a hold set and not an archetype one for a controller. 

[Troo]

This thread might help

 

Builds can evolve as a character grows and as a player gets a feel for what they need. Endurance is typically a pretty high initial priority. From there builds can almost lead you where you want to go.

 

Slots can often get gobbled up on many characters leaving less actual choices.

 

I often over build and then start to refine it cheaper and cheaper. (nothing wrong with a thrifty build that can survive and defeat enemies)

 

Common single enhancements:

Numina +Regen/+Recovery

Miracle +Recovery

Panacea +Health/+Endurance

Preventive Medicine +Absorb

Performance Shifter +End

Gaussian - Chance for Buildup

Luck of the Gambler +GlobalRecharge (we can use up to 5 of these)

Unbreakable Guard +MaxHP

Winter's Gift +SlowResistance

Steadfast +Def

Gladiator's Armor +Def

Reactive Defenses +Res 

Shield Wall +Res 
Power Transfer +Healing

Force Feedback +rech
Blessing of the Zephyr +KB protection

Kismet +ToHit

Regenerating Tissue: Regeneration

Impervious Skin: Regeneration

Aegis: Psi Resistance

Impervium Armor: Psi Resistance

Sudden Acceleration KB>KD

Celerity: Stealth

 

-Res Debuffs

Achilles Heel -Res
Fury of the Gladiator -Res

Annihilation -Res

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Troo

[Psyonico]

The answer really is "it depends"

 

It depends on what you want to do with a build, and that includes how much you are willing to spend on it.

 

Currently proccing out certain powers is the big hotness.  Because of the way that the Proc Per Minute calculate works, powers that are getting procs avoid recharge enhancements in favor of global recharge buffs.

 

Procs are particularly popular because the current meta is "do as much damage as quickly as possible " and putting multiple procs into certain powers (ie: Proc bombing) is the best way to achieve that goal.

 

Now, that being said, I never got on board with the current meta, so my builds tend to focus on set bonuses.  For me, the set bonuses I chase depend on the character.   Sometimes I'm chasing recharge to get something like perma-Phantom Army, though if I don't have a specific power I'm trying to get up really quickly (with something like a Kin defender) I tend to try and max out my survivability via soft capping ranged and aoe defense.

 

Resistance based tanks/brutes? I try to get Resistance as close to the caps as I can.

[Luminis]

25 minutes ago, Troo said:

Builds can evolve as a character grows and as a player gets a feel for what they need. Endurance is typically a pretty high initial priority. From there builds can almost lead you where you want to go.

 

Thanks for the link, I'll take a read! I definitely work on endurance, and judging by the enhancements you listed, I gather that those bonuses are also generally considered useful, even without a full set?

[Luminis]

30 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

Currently proccing out certain powers is the big hotness.  Because of the way that the Proc Per Minute calculate works, powers that are getting procs avoid recharge enhancements in favor of global recharge buffs.

 

I'm not too concerned with being totally top tier and up to date with the meta especially because I know my builds aren't going to be 100% efficient, but it's good to know what's favored. As for set bonuses, should I choose whichever one gives the best percentages/extras within price range?

[biostem]

3 hours ago, Luminis said:

I'm moreso wondering about what goes into considering like, a hold set and not an archetype one for a controller. 

The key, IMHO, is to look at those benefits the archetype-origin enhancements grant that no other sets have to offer.  In that regard, the 3 key benefits are the bonuses to pretty much all control types, (most other sets, if they do grant a bonus to any control effects at all, generally only improve 1 type), then the chance for psionic damage from the Will of the Controller set, and the chance to summon an energy font from the Overpowering Presence set.  The other effects they grant can be found, to varying degrees, in other sets.  If you are looking to soft-cap defense or attain any of the other buffs those sets have to offer, then by all means pursue them.  To be frank, though, I don't think those unique effects are good enough to justify the cost, (if you are trying to outright buy them off the AH), or the time investment, (if you are trying to earn enough merits to buy them that way).  My general approach is to look at how that character has been performing and using set bonuses to compensate for areas they were coming up short in, (maybe I needed some better end management, so might pursue additional recovery, max end, an end discount, and so on), or to further leverage those areas where they were performing well, (extending mez effects longer, maybe see if I can eek out a few more points of magnitude, etc).

[Troo]

3 hours ago, Luminis said:

Thanks for the link, I'll take a read! I definitely work on endurance, and judging by the enhancements you listed, I gather that those bonuses are also generally considered useful, even without a full set?

 

Correct. Don't have to use em all, but we end up using a lot of em.

[MonteCarla]

There's very few builds that won't benefit from extra Recharge in set bonuses, and the amount you can build up is quite generous.
Chasing +Recharge set bonuses, and adding in the Luck of the Gambler +global recharge pieces will get you to around +100% Recharge in bonuses, equivalent to 3 extra SO's in each power without diminishing returns.

Defence is usually my next priority. Either building to the softcap because I already have Defence (typed or positional) or adding defence to an un-armored character.
Add in the Steadfast Protection and Gladiator's Armor uniques for an extra +6% defence to everything.

 

+Recovery, +Accuracy, +Endurance, +HP are all nice to haves.
+Resistance can be a big deal for a resistance-based armor set, I did a guide on that.
+Damage bonuses are less generous. Chasing them will typically give you 1 extra SO's worth in each power.

 

If you're chasing offence, slot for damage procs and build up +Recharge and +Accuracy with your set bonuses.

[Seed22]

Depends really on AT.  Non armor ATs  should build for 20-30% def then slam procs in powers. Armors build for what the armor does. If it's res, only build for res with minimal def then slam procs. If it's def, lean a little into def. Try and get the def armorset to closevto 40 if possible while you guessed it, slamming procs.

[Ukase]

I am inclined to echo what Seed22 says with a small caveat. 

Much of how you build depends on what you're doing with your character. 

Here's an example: I have a character that now does only one thing. It logs in, it aids in the killing of GMs, and then buffs the league, then dishes out damage to Hamidon, an end game boss. So, I didn't know it was going to do just that. But it seems suited for it, based on what the league leader stated would be preferred. (fire/nature corruptor for the curious) 

So, in that specific context, slotting for defense or resistance doesn't do me much good. Someone in the league usually spams a league buff to boost that protection, so my focus is on recharge and damage. The buffs I give, the important aspect, the damage buff, that can't be improved, only stacked with other buffs. Candidly, it's a pretty low bar to be useful in this raid. But, I have other characters that are better suited for other activities, so I just leave it where it is and log it on when the time is right. 

Most of my older characters followed a path of pursuing as much defense as possible, up to 45-50%, and then pursuing hitpoints and recharge. My flawed logic said I was solo more often than not, so I needed the protection. I was wrong. Well, mostly wrong. The game has kind of slowed down for me in the older content, so for whatever reason, the 45% defense I pursued has largely been unneeded. I think the 20-25% is about right. So, my newer characters all seem to ignore slotting for defense, other than using set mules for the lotg 7.5%. 
These characters do die a bit more often than my previous ones, but not that much more. Typically, if something defeats it, it would have defeated the more sturdy character as well. 

The procs: There's so much the average player doesn't know about procs! Myself included. And I think that permeates to the HC devs, too. I highly recommend you invest in some unslotters for each proc you slot. Visit the pylons outside the VG base in RWZ, and see how often they fire. Sometimes, they do, and sometimes they don't. Do you want to risk the loss of potential damage by using a damage proc that doesn't fire 3 out of 4 times? Does the extra damage from the proc that works one out of 4 times worth it to you? Only you can answer that. Every damage proc has a 5% chance to work, and a 5% chance of failure. So, you can't just attack the pylon a few times, you need to get about 30 hits in to really know what your odds are. Different players have different expectations and acceptable risk levels for procs. It's hard to go off of one person's recommendations. 

I would recommend you forgo procs for now. Maybe just proc one power, and see how that plays out. For every power you proc, there are some set bonuses you're missing out on. At worst, it's like 10% recharge from a very rare set, and the higher boost in accuracy and recovery. At best, it's some nominal attribute that doesn't matter much. It all depends on the rest of your build. 

And one last thing: While a player can "see" that you have certain set bonuses, it's going to be very rare that someone ever looks, and even rarer still for them to even have a clue what you've slotted, aside from various uniques that are listed. Build your character for your fun, nobody else's. Don't feel like you have to break the bank in pursuit of very rare sets, or specific uniques. It's just a game, and it's not that serious. 

[Uun]

If you're slotting attacks, most of the sets within a category (i.e., Ranged Damage) have more of less the same enhancement values for slotting 5-6 pieces. The difference between them is what set bonuses they provide and, if they have a proc, what that proc does. (The same holds true for categories like Healing, Holds, Stuns, etc.) Within the current meta, set bonuses that provide global recharge and ranged or melee defense are highly sought after, although there are also some very good resist bonuses to be had. Categories like Defense and Resist Damage are a little different, since you generally don't need more than 3-4 pieces to get the enhancement values you want. Slotting 6 pieces is almost exclusively done to get set bonuses.