Steel Bolt1

Originally Posted by Yusaku_777

Well, to answer one question you had about Set IOs versus Basic IOs, I'll give you an example.

Let's take your first attack as a tank, and six slot it for theoretical purposes. Let's put level 50 Basic IOs in it. I'll slot it with 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge Reduction and 1 Endurance Reduction.

That gives us bonuses of Acc: 42.40%, Dam: 99.08%, Rec: 42.40% and EndRed: 42.40%.

Now let's slot that same power with 6 level 50 Set IOs. Let's use Crushing Impact. Slotting all six Crushing Impacts at level 50 gives us bonuses of Acc: 68.90%, Dam: 101.47%, Rec: 68.90%, EndRed: 68.90% AND SET BONUSES OF MezResist: 2.2%, HP: 1.13%, Global Accuracy Bonus: 7%, Global Recharge Bonus: 5%, and PsiResist: 2.5%

The individual bonuses from each Set IO may seem small, but they DO add up. You get more effect for the same number of slots. Or you can even use less slots to get a level that you want. The Set Bonuses are just gravy on the cake.

I hope this helps with that question, at least.

Originally Posted by Syntax42

Unless you are using a Mac, you should download and use Mids' Hero Planner, available here. Most people use that to look at or plan builds. Mids' gives nice totals and is usually accurate to what you will see in-game. Mids' can also quickly tell you if you violated the rule of 5's for set bonuses.

For creating a build, I would suggest aiming for 32.5% defenses or 45%. It depends on how much you are willing to spend. Either can survive well in current content, and the 32.5% defense build can use one small inspiration to reach 45%. In case you are wondering why I repeat 45%, most of the time anything past 45% defense does absolutely nothing. This is referred to as a soft-cap. You can go past it, but it won't have any effect in most situations.

When you slot sets for bonuses, generally try to end on either a defense bonus or recharge bonus. Regeneration and recovery bonuses are nice to have, but they have less impact on a Willpower character than others. Resistance bonuses won't add up to enough to be worth the slots spent. Mez resistance bonuses are also worthless for a Tanker and probably not obtainable in large enough amount to be worth getting on other characters. Hit point bonuses are highly-desired for Willpower because they increase the amount of healing you receive from your high regeneration. In this case, ending on a HP bonus is fine.

Read guides in the stickies to see what each power needs for slotting. They may not suggest exact sets to use, but you can know what set types to start with.

Originally Posted by Amy_Amp

Frankenslotting 101

Let's say you are a Elec tank. This means you get Energize. You currently have it four slotted. At 22 you could add in 2 recharge and 2 heal common IOs. This would give you 64% recharge and heal. You could however take heal/recharges from four sets even though they give just 20% of each aspect per IO.

Factoring in ED...

E = Total Enhancement %. In this case 20% X 4 due to the four IOs.

70 + (0.9 × (E - 70))
70 + (0.9 × (80 - 70))
70 + (0.9 × (10))
70 + 9
79%

In other words, instead of getting 64% heal and recharge, you are now getting 79% heal and recharge from the same amount of slots.

Links of note:

Enhancements Values are near the bottom
Invention Sets
ED