Need some help spine/will

I started playing again (after a 3½ year break for WoW) in the middle of June, goofed around with a Necro/Pain Supp MM for about 25 levels when I realized i was playing a healer stuck in a team of my own creation. I tend to prefer a bit of melee so I tried a Stalker but felt too squishy.

Which brings me to my first 50 a Spine/Will scrapper, and am I ever lost for where to go from here. I have heard of (and read) a lot of slotting guides, I downloaded MiDs and I am so freakin lost. There seems, to me, a nearly infinite amount of sets, and I haven't been able to find a "list" of all the current sets and their functions.

I built a 3piece (freebird) set for fly (a gift from someone) and now I have to respec just to get the limited use from that because I didn't know I had to slot all 3 in "fly" to get the benefit, so I put one in hover and screwed up the bonus.

Do all "sets" work that way, where the entire set has to be in the same power to get the set bonus? If so, that could be..

WRITTEN ON THE SET!!

/calms down.

sorry for yelling, but I did have to drop like 3 mill inf to build it, which I know isn't really that much, but it's 10% of what I had that is effectively wasted.

To sum up, I am really lost on how this works, I want to avoid more costly mistakes and I need to know what's out there (Wentworth's has been my best resource, lol)

[ QUOTE ]
Do all "sets" work that way, where the entire set has to be in the same power to get the set bonus?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes all of the set IO need to be in the same power, It may seem like a lot now but when you start to know what you are doing it gets easy.


here is a Spine/Wp Guide. It should help you out with all you need.

My Characters Deviont Art page Currently-reading Me Skydiving

I had read it a while ago, the author's energy translated well, and that thread was, in part, why I made a spine/will at all. Sadly the slotting stuff only makes slightly more sense than when I read it almost a month ago (when the toon in question was a little level 1 with pointy hand spikes).

for instance, Yamato wrote:
"Level 22: Quills -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(34), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:50(34), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Sciroc-Dam%:50(36)"

I get from this:
Quills, a power, one of my favorites
sciroc??? a set of some sort with a combination of stats from who knows where for an average of <unknown> price...

that's where it all falls apart, I played for about 3 months when the game was new, I ran some sewers groups back then, Galaxy City was new to me (and a bit confusing) and Perez park was the hardest zone i had been in. Fast forward to June of this year, this (other than name) Is a totally new game to me, there was no invention system in 2004, I don't know wtf sciroc is or how to get it. Thanks for the link, but is there anything that someone that doesn't know what sciroc is to learn what sciroc is? I don't want to play Yamato's spine/ will scrapper, I want to play my own and I'd like to be able to make a desicion on what I feel is best based on the sum of all data available.

I'm no newb kid, just new to the game.

thanks

The mid builds cut off the full names. I would go to Wentworths in the game and look up crafted enhancements. They are listed by the type of powers they are used for. Can someone post a like to paragon wiki's. IO set page? I dont know how from a mobile phone. That site should give you a better explanation.

I found Paragon Wiki the first week i was back playing CoH, I hadn't found it useful so I had written it off as being just compiled in-game copy pasta. I'll give it another look, thanks!

Ok here is a Link To tell you all about IO. Here is a Contact in game that will teach you all about the Invention System.

In short Set bonuses are earned from slotting more than one distinct Enhancement from the same set into the same power. Set bonuses apply to the character at all times, regardless of the power into which the set is slotted.

If there is any more info you want you can find it on that site.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm no newb kid, just new to the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know who your calling kid, but Newb, Noob being new to the game is a Newb, no one called you a Noob. Why you put that I have do Ideal.

My Characters Deviont Art page Currently-reading Me Skydiving

"Sciroc" stands for "Scirocco's Dervish", an invention set, fairly pricey. I use them, but wouldn't slot more than 4 on a willpower scrapper - 5 gets you a fairly substantial AoE defense bonus, but that's only going to be active for you on untyped AoE damage.

And I wouldn't put it in Quills, either. I took an odd approach, slotting 5 dirt cheap Tempered Readiness in it for small but worthwhile bonuses, and capping it off with a Pacing of the Turtle - Chance for Recharge Slow. I have another Turtle Chance for Recharge Slow in Caltrops, and a Dark Watcher's Despair Chance for Recharge Slow in Rise to the Challenge to boot. Those three procs work wonders together in big crowds of mobs.

The Spines/WP scrapper rapidly became a favorite character. My build is about half finished now. This is where I am planning to take it:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Betsy Ross (goal): Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Spines
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Weapon Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lunge <ul type="square">[*] (A) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (11) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (37) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage[*] (46) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)[/list]Level 1: High Pain Tolerance <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (7) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge[*] (50) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[/list]Level 2: Spine Burst <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (7) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (15) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge[*] (40) Eradication - Damage/Recharge[*] (50) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 4: Fast Healing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[/list]Level 6: Air Superiority <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage[*] (11) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge[*] (46) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 8: Impale <ul type="square">[*] (A) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage[*] (13) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (13) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (40) Devastation - Damage/Recharge[*] (40) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage[*] (46) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[/list]Level 10: Indomitable Will <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (15) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 12: Swift <ul type="square">[*] (A) Run Speed IO[/list]Level 14: Fly <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO[/list]Level 16: Rise to the Challenge <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (17) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (17) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (42) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance[*] (43) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow[*] (50) Taunt Duration IO[/list]Level 18: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Regenerative Tissue - Heal/Endurance[*] (19) Regenerative Tissue - Heal/Recharge[*] (19) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration[/list]Level 20: Quick Recovery <ul type="square">[*] (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge[/list]Level 22: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod[*] (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge[*] (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy[/list]Level 24: Mind Over Body <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (25) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[*] (25) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (42) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[/list]Level 26: Ripper <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Damage[*] (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (31) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge[*] (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (37) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance[/list]Level 28: Quills <ul type="square">[*] (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Slow[*] (29) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance[*] (29) Tempered Readiness - Damage/Slow[*] (37) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow[*] (39) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Damage/Slow[*] (39) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge[/list]Level 30: Heightened Senses <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge[*] (34) Luck of the Gambler - Defense[*] (39) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 32: Throw Spines <ul type="square">[*] (A) Air Burst - Accuracy/Damage[*] (33) Air Burst - Damage/Endurance[*] (33) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge[*] (33) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage[*] (34) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 35: Build Up <ul type="square">[*] (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 38: Strength of Will <ul type="square">[*] (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%[/list]Level 41: Boxing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (42) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance[/list]Level 44: Tough <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (45) Titanium Coating - Endurance/Recharge[*] (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance[/list]Level 47: Weave <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 49: Caltrops <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Critical Hit

<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm no newb kid, just new to the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know who your calling kid, but Newb, Noob being new to the game is a Newb, no one called you a Noob. Why you put that I have do Ideal.

[/ QUOTE ]
First, I read it as “newb kid”, not “newb, kid”. The lack of a comma seems to mean that newb was an adjective here, not a noun. My guess, anyway.

And I could see writing that. I just started playing (insert other MMORPG name here) at gunpoint. I'm a total newb to that game, but I think there's a big distinction between being a newb to a specific game and a newb to the MMORPG genre, and that distinction could easily influence the type of answers you're asking for.

Also, I wasn't aware of the distinction between newb and noob. Guess I'm a MMORPG-speak newb.

Werner, you are spot on with your interpretation of my intended meaning, I never considered that statement could be taken any other way without the comma...

Thanks everyone for the links &amp; help, I have spent the last couple of hours reading up &amp; playing with Mid's, but I ran into a couple of questions that I cannot find a clear answer to.

Regarding ED, why would the game designers build IO sets that exceeded (thus wasted) stats like;
"Damage 101.86% (Pre-ED: 145.75%)"
that message is quoted from Mids when I 6 sloted Ragnorak (i dream big) into throw spines.
I have searched Paragon Wiki for ED and I know what it means, but in relation to this 6 slot IO set it seems to defeat the purpose of 6 slotting the full (and as i imagine, prohibitively expensive) IO set.

Secondly, I am a big fan of not just equipping an item (or enhancement in this case) without knowing why I am doing it. So, while you think you may be saving me time and/or helping me out simply saying/linking yourself or someone else saying slot this power this way doesn't tell me anything but you're preference. Those types of post and comments aren't unhelpful and I do appreciate the effort that went into them, It's just not what I am looking for.
for instance, I like the looks of 6 slotting Quills with Pacing of the Turtle, the reasons being, I get just a little less acc &amp; dam than i would if i IO single slotted it and I get the added slow effect plus the set carries across other powers. I understand that 6 slotting Quills with Turtle is not necessarily a good decision on my part, but what would help is why should i slot it a different way, as Turtle seems to meet/exceed what I could want from a PBAoE toggle.

This is the build I have made (as a final goal) for the character

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Trent Thorn: Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Spines
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Flight

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lunge -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(3)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- ResDam-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(15), Heal-I(17)
Level 2: Mind Over Body -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(13), ResDam-I(15)
Level 4: Fast Healing -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(9)
Level 6: Spine Burst -- Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(7), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(9), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Armgdn-Dam%(42)
Level 8: Build Up -- ToHit-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 10: Impale -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 12: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff-I(A), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Numna-Heal/Rchg(33), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Numna-Heal(37), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(48)
Level 18: Tough -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(19), ResDam-I(19), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 20: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(46)
Level 22: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(23), EndMod-I(23)
Level 24: Quills -- P'ngTtl-Acc/Slow(A), P'ngTtl-Dmg/Slow(25), P'ngTtl-Acc/EndRdx(25), P'ngTtl-Rng/Slow(29), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(43), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(50)
Level 26: Ripper -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(27), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(29), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), Sciroc-Dam%(39)
Level 28: Swift -- Run-I(A), Run-I(33)
Level 30: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(34), Heal-I(34)
Level 32: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(34)
Level 35: Throw Spines -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(36), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(36), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Ragnrk-Knock%(43)
Level 38: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(39), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), ToHit-I(46), ToHit-I(48)
Level 44: Heightened Senses -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(45), DefBuff-I(45), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Hover -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Fly -- Frbd-EndRdx(A), Frbd-Fly(50), Frbd-Stlth(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

The messed up part is, this morning I wouldn't be able to read my own post, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction there

[ QUOTE ]
Werner, you are spot on with your interpretation of my intended meaning, I never considered that statement could be taken any other way without the comma...


[/ QUOTE ]

Ok I never hear anyone said Newb kid. No one called you you a Newb or Noob so that came from left field. Also not everyone types perfect here.

[ QUOTE ]
Regarding ED, why would the game designers build IO sets that exceeded (thus wasted) stats like;
"Damage 101.86% (Pre-ED: 145.75%)"
that message is quoted from Mids when I 6 sloted Ragnorak (i dream big) into throw spines.
I have searched Paragon Wiki for ED and I know what it means, but in relation to this 6 slot IO set it seems to defeat the purpose of 6 slotting the full (and as i imagine, prohibitively expensive) IO set.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because they are Purple? I don't know why either but I would never six slot a purple into a power because of ED. I Leave out the Damage IO or the Damage/Recharge one.

[ QUOTE ]
[Secondly, I am a big fan of not just equipping an item (or enhancement in this case) without knowing why I am doing it. So, while you think you may be saving me time and/or helping me out simply saying/linking yourself or someone else saying slot this power this way doesn't tell me anything but you're preference. Those types of post and comments aren't unhelpful and I do appreciate the effort that went into them, It's just not what I am looking for.
for instance, I like the looks of 6 slotting Quills with Pacing of the Turtle, the reasons being, I get just a little less acc &amp; dam than i would if i IO single slotted it and I get the added slow effect plus the set carries across other powers. I understand that 6 slotting Quills with Turtle is not necessarily a good decision on my part, but what would help is why should i slot it a different way, as Turtle seems to meet/exceed what I could want from a PBAoE toggle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok why don't you slot Turtle in to Qullis. Well Quills as you know is a damage aura. It does damage and that is why I assume you took it is to do more AoE damage. So with slotting Turtle in it your only going to get 25% damage from the set. Your acc is ok your end is ok and your slow is crazy high, which I don't think will help you as much. The set bounes are ok but not the best, and to get the +def, which is very nice, it takes all 6 slot to do so.

Now lets say you slot Scirocco that will give you a 95% dmage and better Accuracy which is what you want for an attack. It gives you ok end too and to get the +def it only take 5 slots, but they are different +def.

But really it is up to you what you want to do with your build.
Now me I think I would Frankenslotting it to get good Damage, good End Discount, good Accuracy and maybe some slow but I don't know how good the slow is in Quills. Hope this helps you better.

My Characters Deviont Art page Currently-reading Me Skydiving

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Werner, you are spot on with your interpretation of my intended meaning, I never considered that statement could be taken any other way without the comma...


[/ QUOTE ]

Ok I never hear anyone said Newb kid. No one called you you a Newb or Noob so that came from left field. Also not everyone types perfect here.

[ QUOTE ]
Regarding ED, why would the game designers build IO sets that exceeded (thus wasted) stats like;
"Damage 101.86% (Pre-ED: 145.75%)"
that message is quoted from Mids when I 6 sloted Ragnorak (i dream big) into throw spines.
I have searched Paragon Wiki for ED and I know what it means, but in relation to this 6 slot IO set it seems to defeat the purpose of 6 slotting the full (and as i imagine, prohibitively expensive) IO set.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because they are Purple? I don't know why either but I would never six slot a purple into a power because of ED. I Leave out the Damage IO or the Damage/Recharge one.

[ QUOTE ]
[Secondly, I am a big fan of not just equipping an item (or enhancement in this case) without knowing why I am doing it. So, while you think you may be saving me time and/or helping me out simply saying/linking yourself or someone else saying slot this power this way doesn't tell me anything but you're preference. Those types of post and comments aren't unhelpful and I do appreciate the effort that went into them, It's just not what I am looking for.
for instance, I like the looks of 6 slotting Quills with Pacing of the Turtle, the reasons being, I get just a little less acc &amp; dam than i would if i IO single slotted it and I get the added slow effect plus the set carries across other powers. I understand that 6 slotting Quills with Turtle is not necessarily a good decision on my part, but what would help is why should i slot it a different way, as Turtle seems to meet/exceed what I could want from a PBAoE toggle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok why don't you slot Turtle in to Qullis. Well Quills as you know is a damage aura. It does damage and that is why I assume you took it is to do more AoE damage. So with slotting Turtle in it your only going to get 25% damage from the set. Your acc is ok your end is ok and your slow is crazy high, which I don't think will help you as much. The set bounes are ok but not the best, and to get the +def, which is very nice, it takes all 6 slot to do so.

Now lets say you slot Scirocco that will give you a 95% dmage and better Accuracy which is what you want for an attack. It gives you ok end too and to get the +def it only take 5 slots, but they are different +def.

But really it is up to you what you want to do with your build.
Now me I think I would Frankenslotting it to get good Damage, good End Discount, good Accuracy and maybe some slow but I don't know how good the slow is in Quills. Hope this helps you better.

[/ QUOTE ]

the reference wasn't meant to imply that I was accusing of anyone calling me anything, just that (as Werner was able to discern) I am not new to MMOs, just this one and I am not a child, the comment was fairly idle other than to coax a more mature type of answer other than a list of outdated links to how someone else says to play a scrapper from I6 or whatever.

Honestly, I don't care enough to fight over it, I was just playing CoH for something fun, and different from the Swords &amp; Sorcery MMO that dominate the industry until Champions Online comes out in September. I was having trouble figuring out a few things, I more or less have a framework to go on, and If i slot my character the "wrong" way it's my loss so thanks for your help and criticisms.

[ QUOTE ]
Regarding ED, why would the game designers build IO sets that exceeded (thus wasted) stats like;
"Damage 101.86% (Pre-ED: 145.75%)"
that message is quoted from Mids when I 6 sloted Ragnorak (i dream big) into throw spines.
I have searched Paragon Wiki for ED and I know what it means, but in relation to this 6 slot IO set it seems to defeat the purpose of 6 slotting the full (and as i imagine, prohibitively expensive) IO set.

[/ QUOTE ]
Honestly, I don't know why they do that. It IS mostly wasted. So in practice, I think most people five slot the purple sets (skipping usually the damage/recharge), then use the extra slot for something more useful.

Now, I will point out that every little bit of damage enhancement still helps, but the more you get beyond a certain point, the less it helps. ED (enhancement diversification) is like a diminishing returns sort of mechanic. That all makes sense to me, but having a set go so far beyond where it gets nailed by ED, that I don't get.

But I figure I don't have to get it. It is what it is, so I shrug my shoulders and five slot purple sets instead of six slotting them.

[ QUOTE ]
Secondly, I am a big fan of not just equipping an item (or enhancement in this case) without knowing why I am doing it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Fair enough. The reason you may not get much explanation is that the WHY is usually MUCH more difficult to explain than the WHAT. So getting the why explained may come down to you needing to ask a bunch of specific questions.

So lets look at Quills as a specific question, and see if I can answer both the what and the why.

First, let's just cover why Pacing of the Turtle doesn't buy you much. You may be looking at the 95% slow enhancement, and thinking that's great. But the slow enhancement doesn't affect their attack speed, only their movement speed. And usually, enemies will just be standing there pounding on you, so the movement speed debuff won't even matter. Even when it does matter, like an enemy trying to run away from you, that 95% slow enhancement actually only makes the difference between a 16% movement speed debuff and a 31.6% movement speed debuff. The enhancement is to the debuff percentage, not a direct debuff of their speed. So fully slotted with pacing of the turtle, about all you're doing is slowing down the occasional runner by 15%. They're easy to catch or nail with Impale either way, so it's really largely a non-issue.

In other words, it's just not worth enhancing the slow portion of Quills. You CAN'T enhance the valuable recharge debuff portion of the power. So therefore, just treat it as an attack.

And definitely think of your PBAoE toggles as attacks, not as toggles. Just that mindset change will have you ahead of most players. They're just ultra-convenient attacks that don't require any activation time. They're also uber-cheap attacks, in that their endurance cost is half that of other AoEs.

Mind you, now we need to talk about what you should enhance on attacks and why. Hopefully damage is obvious. More damage is better. Accuracy would be similarly obvious, except that more accuracy is NOT always better. The mechanics of to-hit, accuracy and defense are a very big subject, but the basic idea is that your ability to hit the enemy hits a cap, and won't go any higher. How quickly you hit that cap tends to depend on how difficult the enemy is. So, for example, one SO worth of accuracy (33%) is enough for basic missioning on Heroic. I'd recommend that people put in two SOs worth of accuracy when they crank up their difficulty level to cope with the higher-level enemies being harder to hit. So the recommended amount of accuracy can vary depending on the difficulty of what you like to fight. I personally shoot for a 95%+ chance of hitting +4s on my end game builds (the highest you'll fight on a level 50), but will certainly settle for less while leveling up.

The amount of recharge you'd want on your attacks is an interesting subject, but not relevant here, since as a toggle, the power is “always” on. Recharge enhancement will only affect how fast you can bring it up after being detoggled, which will happen so rarely in PvE as to be completely ignorable. Don't intentionally slot your toggles for recharge, as it's wasted.

And then we're up to endurance reduction. More is usually better until you get to the point where you can fight forever without losing endurance. Most people never reach that point, though Willpower is capable of doing so depending on the build. But generally speaking, you don't need maxed-out endurance reduction in every attack and every toggle. Generally speaking, you can do with a moderate amount of endurance reduction in the attacks (50% ish?) and about one SO worth in the toggles (30% ish?). The reason you put more endurance reduction in the attacks is they use a lot more endurance overall than your toggles while fighting, so enhancement there will give you more bang for the slotting buck than in your toggles.

So before I even look at sets, let's say we're looking for something like 60% accuracy, 95% damage and 50% endurance reduction. The thing is, sets are MUCH more complicated than just their enhancement value, because of the set bonuses they give. They are small individually, but they can really add up in a top tier build. So the set you should choose depends a lot on what you're trying to do with the build overall. For Willpower, my suggestion is that you spend most of your effort trying to get defense. There is a non-linear relationship between defense and survivability, such that the closer you get to 45% defense, the more each additional point of defense helps you survive. Experience with a lot of builds tells us that Willpower can get there, but that it takes a lot of work, so it will pretty much dominate the build. Also, because of the way defense works, you want to focus on either positional defense (melee, ranged, AoE), or typed defense (smashing/lethal, fire/cold, energy/negative, toxic, psionic), but not both. Willpower starts with a nice base of typed defenses, so it is best to enhance those, again due to the non-linear relationship between defense and survivability.

So, 60% accuracy, 95% damage, 50% endurance reduction, some sort of typed defense, and preferably some other bonuses that would be useful. That's what we're looking for. At the high end, you have Armageddon, which would probably cost you a billion influence for the set. The reason it costs so much is that it has the best recharge bonus available, and recharge is CRITICAL to making some builds super powerful. But not yours, so we move on. Although Obliteration offers some positional defense (1.88% smashing/lethal), it isn't very high, and the endurance enhancement is below what we'd like (19%). It might not be a critical weakness, but there may also be a better choice. Scirocco's Dervish offers 1.56% fire/cold defense and 3.13% psionic defense, which is decent. It also has 10% regeneration, 3.13% negative resistance, and 9% global accuracy (affects ALL powers, not just Quills). Those are all pretty good bonuses that you can use. As far as enhancement values, it's at 74% accuracy, 95% damage and 48% endurance reduction, which is right on target. Looks like a very good candidate. Multi-strike gives you 0.94% defense to fire/cold and smashing/lethal, which is a pretty low bonus but possibly useful. Still, its no Scirroco's Dervish, so let's set it aside. Eradication? 3.13% energy/negative defense, 1.56% fire/cold defense. Awesome! The other bonuses are 1.8% max endurance (useful for sustained fights), 2.25% hit points (more hit points are always good, and are highly recommended on regeneration-based characters because they also buff regeneration), and 2% debt protection (completely useless). Still, great bonuses overall. The enhancement values are 54% accuracy, 87% damage and 15% endurance, though, which isn't very good. Might be worth considering if endurance doesn't turn out to be a problem overall, though.

So my advice would probably be a set of Scirocco's or a set of Eradication, depending on how the rest of the build played out.

There are other options beyond that, though. Sometimes you can do better by slotting some from two different sets. That isn't typically the case when you're after defense, which is usually a bonus from the sixth slot, but it can sometimes be the case. Or you may get better results by combining part of a set with Hamios (Hamidon enhancements), a common IO, or a proc. I think your best option in this case is probably six slotting a set, but it's hard to say conclusively.

Anyway, there's an explanation for Quills, and at the same time, and explanation of why you probably won't get a lot of WHY advice unless you specifically ask for it. It's a lot to explain!

Werner,
If I knew you I might hug you, wow. Thanks a ton for taking the time to explain all that. What it seems like, in short, you are getting at is, less can be more and every IO set in the game isn't necessarily the right answer if your power choices are sound?

With that in mind, should I SO slot everything to see where I have holes and IO set from there, to fill in holes.

Also, I am trying to find the difference between smashing/lethal (as an example) defense vs. resistance. Which one do i need to hit 45% with, and please don't say both, lol.

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What it seems like, in short, you are getting at is, less can be more and every IO set in the game isn't necessarily the right answer if your power choices are sound?

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Well, less can be more because you can't have everything, so we're always talking about trade offs, and almost everything has some form of diminishing returns. So while you might want to have another 10% accuracy in a power “just in case”, if that just in case only occurs rarely, and meant that you had to sacrifice 50% endurance reduction, you've probably made a bad choice.

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With that in mind, should I SO slot everything to see where I have holes and IO set from there, to fill in holes.

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That's not a bad idea at all. I don't normally recommend it, but I personally level up on SOs to probably the mid 30s. Then I frankenslot my attacks to address my weaknesses, which is usually just too quick of an endurance burn as I've been piling on the toggles.

So similarly, you might want to play with just SOs for a while to get a feel for how you perform, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. On the other hand, you can also just ask the forums. If you find it hard to survive, you might not have the recent experience to know exactly what the problem is. Do you need to put out more damage? Debuff the enemy more? Add more defense? More resistance? More hit points? More regeneration? These might be hard questions for you to answer.

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Also, I am trying to find the difference between smashing/lethal (as an example) defense vs. resistance. Which one do i need to hit 45% with, and please don't say both, lol.

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I'm being called on to game tonight, so I can't get into great detail on defense vs. resistance. The basic idea is that defense keeps them from hitting you, and resistance reduces the damage you take. Most enemies have a 50% to-hit. That's not the same as saying that have a 50% chance to hit you; it's just one of their base stats. An even level minion would have a 50% chance to hit you (if you have no defense), but it goes up from there as the levels climb or for lieutenants, bosses and the like (due to accuracy modifiers, not additional to-hit, which remains at 50% all the way up through +5s. +6s and above start gettting to-hit modifiers, but you probably won't be hunting those). Defense is subtracted from to-hit, and there is a 5% to-hit floor in the calculations, which is why we call 45% defense the soft cap. It's soft because you can have more than 45% defense, and doing so is situationally useful (enemy to-hit buffs, or defense debuffs on you). But it's called a cap because more defense than that IS only situationally useful, as opposed to almost always useful. So as an example, if you have 20% defense, an even level minion will hit you 50% - 20% = 30% of the time. Resistance takes effect after they've already rolled to hit you. It's quite a bit simpler a mechanic, simply reducing the damage taken by a percentage. So if you have 20% resistance, and are hit with an attack for 100 points of damage, you'll actually take 80 points of damage.