ATO availability

[Blackshear]

I am very glad that in Homecoming ATO's have been made easier to get than their ridiculous price points on live (i.e. 400 merits + 25m inf).  100 merits seems a more realistic price.  However, I have yet to see one randomly drop in game.  (Maybe they do, but I haven't seen it.)

 

ATO's are usable by mid level toons, and are not overpowered, but picking up the 1200 merits required for both full sets is, at best, a difficult feat.  Perhaps ATO's (preferably appropriate for the archetype of the toon being played) should be an occasional drop at the end of arcs and TF's, enough that non-50's would have a decent shot at finishing their ATO sets without farming.  Could they be added to the standard rewards rolls for game content?

[Shinobu]

 

You can get them from the super packs that you can buy from the market for 10 million (each pack can have 0 - 2).  They don't drop as rewards anywhere.

 

 

[Blackshear]

I'm aware of that, but 10 mil for a chance at picking up a random ATO is something that I think could be improved on.

[Coyote]

I'm aware of that, but 10 mil for a chance at picking up a random ATO is something that I think could be improved on.

 

10 mil for a cornerstone IO seems reasonable to me. If you get an AT's ATO that you can't use, which is most likely, you put it up on the market and use the money to buy the ATO that you want. You lose 10% on the transaction fees, but in general the total loss is only in the neighborhood of 10-11 mil. For 12 of them, that's 120 mil, which is steep but still cheaper than purples, and the set bonuses are comparable to purple sets.

 

Alternately, 100 merits = 300 Enhancement Converters = about 27 million after market fees. You can convert the merits to cash and buy two ATOs that you want for those 100 merits.

 

Short version: the price seems reasonable to me.

[Shinobu]

It seems like a fair price to me.  Considering that the Homecoming devs chose to bump the price on Winter Packs to 25 million (they were 10 mil on the SCORE server), I think they already took a look at this and made the decision that the pricing was fair.

 

Now, what I think you could probably ask for and expect to get at some point would be an event where ATOs dropped from missions or something for a short time, and/or packs were a reward for something.  Not a permanent change to make them much easier to get/cheaper, but a temporary window where you could get them even if you haven't accumulated a lot of influence or merits.

 

 

[Apparition]

1,200 reward merits isn't hard.  It takes me about three weeks to take a character from level 1 to 50.  That's with turning XP off every five levels.  In that time, I accrue about 1,300 reward merits from story arcs and TFs.  Two ATO sets, boom, done.  Then I buy everything else I need with INF.  That's how I did my first character.  Now that I have two level 50 characters, I run TFs daily (averaging about 120 reward merits a day), and farm on my Brute.  Before I start leveling my third character, I have a build in mind and buy attuned IOs on the auction house and use reward merits from the various TFs to buy ATOs, winter sets, and purples, then store them in the SG base.

[Blackshear]

1,200 reward merits isn't hard.

 

Now that I have two level 50 characters, I run TFs daily (averaging about 120 reward merits a day), and farm on my Brute.

 

120 merits worth of TF's plus farming sounds like a lot of daily grinding to me.  Not everyone has that kind of time.  I'm talking about making rewards that are useful for mid level toons available to mid level toons, and to more casual gamers.

 

Adding ATO's to the reward rolls is reasonable.  There are no special events (Summer Blockbuster, winter event) that make them easier to get, as per Shinobu's suggestion.  (And that suggestion certainly has merit, but I don't see it happening any time soon.)

[Burnt Toast]

You do know the Summer Blockbuster can be done via the LFG tab (Holiday) right?

 

 

1,200 reward merits isn't hard.

 

Now that I have two level 50 characters, I run TFs daily (averaging about 120 reward merits a day), and farm on my Brute.

 

120 merits worth of TF's plus farming sounds like a lot of daily grinding to me.  Not everyone has that kind of time.  I'm talking about making rewards that are useful for mid level toons available to mid level toons, and to more casual gamers.

 

Adding ATO's to the reward rolls is reasonable.  There are no special events (Summer Blockbuster, winter event) that make them easier to get, as per Shinobu's suggestion.  (And that suggestion certainly has merit, but I don't see it happening any time soon.)

[Blackshear]

You do know the Summer Blockbuster can be done via the LFG tab (Holiday) right?

 

Yes, and if this post was about Overwhelming Force enhancements that might be relevant.

[Burnt Toast]

I misread your post... where you said "There are no summer events..." Was thinking you didn't know that... there were. My bad.

 

You do know the Summer Blockbuster can be done via the LFG tab (Holiday) right?

 

Yes, and if this post was about Overwhelming Force enhancements that might be relevant.

[kelly Rocket]

You do know the Summer Blockbuster can be done via the LFG tab (Holiday) right?

 

Yes, and if this post was about Overwhelming Force enhancements that might be relevant.

Still relevant since SBB is about 12million inf per hour if you sell the Overwhelming Force pieces... And then you can just buy the ATOs off Wentworth's instead of grinding Merits ;-)

[Mr. Vee]

Should just buy them anyway. We're not yet at the point where you're getting good value for your merits by buying ATOs. Use your merits on converters or catalysts, sell those, buy the ATOs. Better yet keep the converters and use the tips in Shinobu's 0 to 100 million thread and elsewhere to make money on the market with them.

[Blackshear]

I misread your post... where you said "There are no summer events..." Was thinking you didn't know that... there were. My bad.

 

No worries!  I think the notion of a limited event that drops ATOs is solid, though.  I think as things are right now their scarcity to usefulness ratio is way out of whack.

 

...SBB is about 12million inf per hour if you sell the Overwhelming Force pieces... And then you can just buy the ATOs off Wentworth's instead of grinding Merits ;-)

 

You can, or you can influence farm and achieve the same results.  What I'm talking about is making ATOs more available to mid level toons who don't already have loads of IOs and influence.  Almost every answer I've gotten on this thread boils down to "Just grind for them!"  That's exactly what I'm trying to steer this conversation away from!

 

ATOs are up there in effectiveness with purple sets once you hit 50 and use a converter on them, but until then their benefits are good but not outstanding.  Given this, I think increasing their availability to mid level non-grindy unfarmed toons would be a good thing.

 

 

[Vanden]

Unless you do nothing but newspaper missions or DFBs 1-50, you’ll get reward merits as you play. You can spend those merits on ATOs. They are plenty available to mid-level characters.

[SwitchFade]

I have nothing relevant to say, other than I like pie.

 

Also, maybe doing task forces and story arcs to earn merits and spending them on ATO's? Solved!

[Rylas]

My only frustration with ATOs from Super Packs is that they *feel* terribly weighted. Of the dozens of packs I've bought, I've only received 1 Brute ATO while I've gotten plenty of Controller and Dominator ATOs. Just RNG, but ugh.

[Rylas]

I'm aware of that, but 10 mil for a chance at picking up a random ATO is something that I think could be improved on.

 

Since you can get 0–2 ATOs per pack, it's possible to sell what you get from them and buy more. And if you happen to catch a Windfall from a pack, jump in a farm with it and sell the drops you get from that. It's also possible to get merits and converters out of those as well. I've piled up a few converters to turn some enhancements into better selling items. It's not a bad way to earn up for what you need.

[kelly Rocket]

I misread your post... where you said "There are no summer events..." Was thinking you didn't know that... there were. My bad.

 

No worries!  I think the notion of a limited event that drops ATOs is solid, though.  I think as things are right now their scarcity to usefulness ratio is way out of whack.

 

...SBB is about 12million inf per hour if you sell the Overwhelming Force pieces... And then you can just buy the ATOs off Wentworth's instead of grinding Merits ;-)

 

You can, or you can influence farm and achieve the same results.  What I'm talking about is making ATOs more available to mid level toons who don't already have loads of IOs and influence.  Almost every answer I've gotten on this thread boils down to "Just grind for them!"  That's exactly what I'm trying to steer this conversation away from!

 

ATOs are up there in effectiveness with purple sets once you hit 50 and use a converter on them, but until then their benefits are good but not outstanding.  Given this, I think increasing their availability to mid level non-grindy unfarmed toons would be a good thing.

 

SBB is available starting at level 15. Takes 30-60 minutes, and rewards you with 4-9 million inf (Although you have to take the time to sell the Overwhelming Force piece to get it). That was my point... You can easily use SBB to buy them at mid level.

[SwitchFade]

Actually, OP, I have to drop a few more dimes.

 

"ATO's available at mid level"...

 

SO's don't become available until 22.

 

IO's don't become viable until 22.

 

ATO's? Making these easily achievable at mid lvl negates both of the previous. There are plenty of great sets available early to mid level. Additionally, ATOçs are more powerful than many mid level sets. This sounds like a simple request to make it easier to just be overpowered.

 

ATO's are great, we all love them, but they are completely unnecessary, and are quiet powerful. Unless, you want +4 to be normal mode?

 

I vote no. ATO's are already easy to buy.... Run task forces, trials, story arcs, and by 30 you have a pile of info and merits.

[Mr. Vee]

Mid level...so i guess it's just me slotting them at 10 then?

 

[Sir Myshkin]

Mid level...so i guess it's just me slotting them at 10 then?

 

Do two DFB's with 2XP on and you leave the sewers at 12, so who has time to slot at 10? Do a third and get to 15, and then a DiB or two and suddenly you're 20. Heck, might as well trek over to the RWZ and get those sweet Raid Expees and be 35 in a heartbeat. Heck, since you're there, stick around and start collecting V-Merits now and be 50 in a couple of days with 5,000 V-Merits, turn those into regular merits, cash those in for converters and suddenly you have 200 million Influence and... I guess the cost of those Super Packs don't matter any more?

[Mr. Vee]

If I were in that kind of hurry I'd just pl myself to 50. I enjoy running arcs, especially on redside. Now granted I do have 2xp turned on, but not in a super rush.

[Coyote]

If I were in that kind of hurry I'd just pl myself to 50. I enjoy running arcs, especially on redside. Now granted I do have 2xp turned on, but not in a super rush.

 

I'm with you, I like running arcs. And I have an alt to push money down, and it's easier to run arcs with nicely equipped characters... so attuned and ATO IOs for characters, Panacea IO at level 7, etc.

 

People who use the high-XP methods of advancing characters fast are usually in XP teams that faceroll enemies, and don't need good slotting. People who play through arcs at mid-teens up to the 30s often find some hard periods where their characters feel weak, and ATO and attuned IOs help alleviate that.