The Perfect 10

Some IO recipes are more useful/valuable at lower level. Is Issue 16 going to change that by allowing set bonuses to exemplar down better? Even if so, there's some use for a level 10 or 15 IO in leveling up that you can't get from a level 50 IO even with exemplaring.

Most play and most farming takes place at higher levels, though, and the random rolls (tickets and merits) generate recipes at the character's level.

So in theory there would be some benefit from a low-level character rolling with tickets and/or merits.

Low-level characters have trouble plowing through enemies and racking up rewards, though. No Stamina, few slots, incomplete attack chains, defensive weakness.

So, if I were to make such a character, say, turning off experience at level 10, to get bottom-level IO recipes on my rolls...what AT and powersets would perform best at level 10 with few slots? Probably mostly soloing?

My first thought is a Regen Scrapper. Some durability, and you get Quick Recovery to really help with the endurance issues. Likewise, Fast Healing and reconstruction should put Humpty Dumpty back together again between spawns with less downtime than many other builds.

Fire is another choice for secondary -- Blazing Aura will help mow down mobs, and the self-heal is nice. But the lack of any endurance recovery power would slow you down more than the aura damage makes up for, I think.

In Architect missions, one wouldn't be unduly troubled by the lack of a Travel Power (if a Travel Power were crucial, a Peacebringer might make a better level 10 choice).

But what primary to pair with Regen? At first I leaned toward Fire, because you've got to defeat everything and Fire is very efficient at damage. But looking at the powerset tiers, I see that a Fire Scrapper doesn't get much AoE potential at that level -- Fire Breath with one slot at level 10.

So my thoughts turned to Claws and the swords. Claws gets Spin at 8, so you could 3-slot it by level 10. 3 slots isn't stupendous, but Spin is without doubt the best AoE at that level.

The swords would just get their parry power at level 10, which would help make the character tougher. Flashing Steel is available at level 4, and could be fully slotted, recharges in 6 seconds (vs 8 for broadsword's Slice, 16 for Spine Burst) but does slightly less damage than all the other melee AoEs.

Any thoughts? Claws, Katana, or something else?

Am I even in the right AT? I see that Blasters start out relatively powerful...would a Blaster be worth forgoing Regen's advantages?

Thanks!

edit: and about filling those slots...I know we can't expect too much at level 10. Are level 10 SOs available anywhere? Or should just dig around in WW for some cheap frankenslotting of level 10 set IOs?

Are you lowbie farming tickets or what?

The nastiest character I had around that level was, oddly, my Fire/Rad controller. By level 10 he had Hotfeet, Cages, RI, AM, Choke (or whatever the hold is called) and Air Superiority. That was enough for him to harvest Hazard Zone spawns quite happily. End was a bit of an issue but offset with Insp drops mostly. That against i16 3 or 4 man Architect spawns might do alright. Especially if you pick the right spawns (security guards or PPD cops perhaps).

Well, with some IOs, like the +Stealth IOs and the unique procs (Miracle and Numina's) It simply doesn't matter what level they are. If you have a Miracle +recovery in Fast Healing it will function at level 1, even if the enhancement is level 40, because the power it is in is available.

Luck of the Gambler +recharge is the opposite, you get the bonus if you are within 3 levels of the IO itself, whether the power it is in is available or not. So, if you took Combat Jumping at level 24 and put a level 25 LotG in it, it would function down to level 22, but any lower and it would stop working.

I'm not sure which category KB Protection IOs fall into, perhaps someone else can clarify?

For low level play I would suggest Broadsword or Katana with Regen or Willpower.

The swords get Parry/Divine Avalanche at level 8, not level 10. Flashing Steel and Slice can hit 5 enemies, which is 4 more than anything but Spines and Claws can hit at that level.

I would lean toward Broadsword myself, mostly because Hack hits harder than Sting of the Wasp, so you have decent damage output as well.

Secondary wise, Regen has a self heal (2 if you take Dull Pain early) and Quick Recovery to help with endurance issues.

Willpower has Fast Healing, a resist toggle, a resist passive and it's mez protection, all available by level 10.

So it's really kind of a toss-up. I'd go with one of the swords and regen, or claws/willpower myself.

Edit: A Rad/Anything defender is pretty good at level 10 too. At that level the damage difference between them and blasters isn't that apparent yet, and the Rad side gives very good survivability against most things you will encounter that low.

Claws/Regen scrapper is, in my opinion, the best low-level character. A good selection of attacks by level 8, quick recovery at level 4, and a couple self-heals. It lacks status protection, but at that level the enemies with tough mezzes are few and far between.

What about a Kheld in nova form? Aren't they kind of strong at that level? Lots of AoE on quick recharge and they give a recovery boost.

What about a Plant controller of some type. I'm not sure how often Seeds of Confusion is up with 3 level 10 recharge IOs in it (or 1 acc, 2 rech) but since it makes the bad guys hurt/damage each other, if it can be up every spawn, it might be nice. Plus you'd have the nice (compared to other AoE immobs) roots damage.

But 10 might be too low. If you were looking at level 12 or 13 so it could be fully slotted, i'd be more confident in it.

I dunno. Just throwing in the idea.

Lewis

I'd tend towards Fire/Energy blaster, on the theory that "everyone's a tank at level 10", but I will admit that the firebreath/fireball spawn-clearing goodness is kinda hard on endurance. (Both FB's and Build Up by level 8, if I recall.)

I am pretty sure I would choose Kat/Regen for that particular project. I would consider going "all the way" to level 12, so you could slot level 15 common IOs. Although, some Frankenslotting of set IOs might actually be a better choice, I haven't looked into that, but you might consider it.

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Lowbie Power: Level 13 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Fitness

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gambler's Cut -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(3), Dmg-I:15(5), Dmg-I:15(11)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Heal-I:15(A)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(3), Dmg-I:15(5), Dmg-I:15(7)
Level 4: Reconstruction -- RechRdx-I:15(A), RechRdx-I:15(7)
Level 6: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I:15(A)
Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(9), Dmg-I:15(9), Dmg-I:15(11)
Level 10: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:15(A)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump-I:15(A)

Archery/Devices is also very potent early on, but Quick Recovery pretty much seals the Regen scrapper as the best choice.

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Lowbie Power: Level 13 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Archery
Secondary Power Set: Devices
Power Pool: Fitness

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Aimed Shot -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(3), Dmg-I:15(5), Dmg-I:15(11)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Acc-I:15(A)
Level 2: Fistful of Arrows -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(3), Dmg-I:15(5), Dmg-I:15(9)
Level 4: Caltrops -- RechRdx-I:15(A), RechRdx-I:15(11)
Level 6: Blazing Arrow -- Acc-I:15(A), Dmg-I:15(7), Dmg-I:15(7), Dmg-I:15(9)
Level 8: Aim -- RechRdx-I:15(A)
Level 10: Targeting Drone -- ToHit-I:15(A)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Empty(A)

Fire/eng or Elec/eng. I still remember mowing over mobs in perez back in the days with those lowbie blasters, which my scrappers can not even dream of because of their single target nature and lack of both BU and AIM for burst damage at those levels.

I'm gonna have to go with a blaster of some sort but i recommend fire/eng for level 10. I'm with Fulmens everyones a tank a level 10 so may as well get as much damage as you can.

I'm thinking a Plant/Rad would be possibly as good or even better too. Roots does more damage than Cages and both are self-stackable (for Containment purposes). But Seeds and RI is a slight wash as it'll debuff ToHit & Defense at the same time.

The nice thing about Rad in general is the Defense Debuffs mean you can leverage the Vet Rewards more as well. A Dark/Rad defender (or Rad/Dark corrupter) might be worth a look as well, Tar Patch, 2 AOEs which hugely debuff Defense and Darkest Night and a self-heal.

So far it looks like opinions are all over the map on this issue. That's probably a good sign, that many builds seem appropriate for this. I'm surprised to see Blasters get recommendations, but that's why I solicited opinions.

edit: Doesn't the end cost of Hot Feet slow Fire/Rad at this level?

Y'know, this would be great 'powergaming for beginners'. It's almost adorable how small the builds are, even a dope like me can figure it out and it takes like, one night of play to get all decked out.

Wouldn't they get great Prestige at that level?

This may seem a bit off the wall, but I wouldn't rule out a mind/kin. I practically solo'd mine from level 1 to 50 and was pleasantly surprised at how much damage he was doing up to level 20. At low levels the single target sleep and hold really hurt. Throw in levitate, confuse, siphon power and siphon speed and you can cause a world of psionic hurt on very little endurance (particularly against the clockwork but thats another matter).

Or if you were worried about mob size, swap confusion for mass hypnosis (available at level 10).

Personally I'd probably go with a Kheldian for nova form if I was doing this, but another good option is an Archery/Energy blaster - you can have Aim, BU, your entire single target attack chain (3 attacks including Blazing Arrow with its snipe-level damage) and a fast recharging cone attack (Fistful of Arrows) by L10 and Archery is very easy on the endurance bar.

Most Scrappers are rather weak at level 10, being forced to be in melee range without mez protection is crippling for survivability. In this situation a Blaster is by far superior for the reasons mentioned above.

Another vote for Fire/EM Blaster

Here's another vote for going kheld or blaster. Fire/em on the blaster side for early build up and aoes. Honestly the kheld would probably be even more effective. Squids, even with only the one enhancement slot per blast you'd have at 10, are just nastily overpowered when they first come into play. You get a pretty robust native damage, accuracy, and end recovery bonus just from squid alone. You'll be flying while doing this, thus avoiding all the nasty melee attacks. Most low level mobs simply don't have very powerful ranged attacks, so you could very easily hoverblast hazard zone spawns to your heart's content, or flit about whatever equivalent AE content.

Another point in favor of Kheldians is that you'd have your travel power at level 10 as well. Fly as a PB or in nova.

As already stated, nova gives you a really nice damage and tohit buff, so you could use the slots for solid damage if you'd like.