You should definitely wait until 50 before making a fully IOd build. 50s make money a lot faster than other characters, so that'll make funding much less of an issue. As for what IOs you can use now, some cheaper ones that can make a noticeable impact on their own are the steadfast protection 3% defense global, and the steadfast protection/karma knockback protection globals.
Here is my take on IOs. And this is coming from a casual player as well.
I always, repeat always, slot out generic level 25 IOs once I get a character to 22.
This will run anywhere from 2-5 million depending on the types of IOs you need. For example, my DM/SR character was pretty expensive because of needing a Luck charm for every ACC IO and every Defense IO (ickk). It may seem on paper to be more expensive than SOs, but here is the good news, you NEVER have to replace that IO until your darn good and ready to do so. Level 25 Generic IOs are nearly identical to SOs but never degrade as you level up. Then you only need to add in new IOs (generic) as you gain new powers and slots to fill.
As far as Set IOs, there are many ways to approach these, and many folks will tell you to wait till 50 and after you have decided on a final build before chasing IO sets. Which is a good plan.
My characters all start slotting specific IOs and cheap sets in their 30s, but that was not always the case. My first IO'ed toon got lucky and found both a respec recipe and a miracle +recovery proc in his late 30s. Instead of using them, I sold them to get a nice bank account started, and turned those 2 drops into 3 full sets of Thunderstrike, a full set of BotZ (they were cheaper then), and several other uncommon sets.
So to answer your question, with only 32 million to work from, I would just do generic IOs and level up. Do merit story arcs, do TFs to get merits, and hopefully get some lucky drops. I will not go into some of the influence-making schemes that are possible, but I would play around with Mid's and see what cheap IO sets could be good place-holders for your ultimate build. For example, my 47 WP/Fire Tanker has 5 full sets of Smashing Haymaker which are place-holders for Kinetic Combat. These 20 IOs cost me around 25 million. I could easily spend that much on ONE Kinetic Combat recipe. But in the meantime each Smashing Haymaker set is yielding me 1.88% Defense, which is halfway between zero and what the Kinetic Combats will give me. Its a very sound investment while I wait on the Billions I may need for 5 Kinetic combats sets.
Hope that made sense. I sometimes ramble :/
BIOSPARK :: DARKTHORN :: SKYGUARD :: WILDMAGE
HEATSINK :: FASTHAND :: POWERCELL :: RUNESTAFF
Quote:
What kind of scrapper is it? Does it have many AoEs? How tough is it with SOs? Does its secondary benefit from multiple opponents (Invul, Shield, WP)? I would maybe put in a few hours of the scrapper to get a little more cash for the defender.|
Originally Posted by babyscid
With the changes to defender I thought I would drag out my 26 Storm/Dark and take it for a spin maybe even to 50.
In all this time of very casual playing I have managed 1 level 50 toon(scrapper). ... The question now.....should I just take this toon on my path to 50 with just SO or even maybe basic IO's and then wait for the set slotting when I am 50 and hopefully have enough cash to actually do something. Or, is there anyway I can make it work with that low sum of cash...perhaps pick and choose a few lower end sets. I guess what I am asking is this.....when do you IO?!?!?! or perhaps to IO or not to IO, that is the question. |
It's not terribly hard to make 10 million/hr just in raw influence on a decently built scrapper at level 50 (and I'm not even sure if this accounts for the recent increase in 50s' influence earning). If you solo at +0 and x(as many as you can handle) against an enemy that is weak to your attacks and/or against your defense, then you can really earn cash fast. AoEs that can wipe out bunches of minions with a cycle or two will keep you supplied with inspirations that make the killing even faster and your defenses even sturdier. They will also bring you lots of recipes and salvage. (Each level 50 common IO recipe is worth around 100k; fairly frequent uncommon drops like def/end, res/end, heal/rech, or ranged/melee attack recipes can often be sold for 1 million uncrafted at 50, and 3-10 million crafted, if you can foot the half million crafting bill; a single rare salvage is often worth 3 million+ now.) And if you get a purple recipe*, you might just need to farm a little longer to put the recipe up at a reasonable minimum.
As far as IO'ing, I would "frankenslot" my powers [put multi-aspect IOs from different sets in them] starting in the late 20s, to get the best investment both in terms of cost and enhancement-value-per-slot. If you need three or four types of enhancement in a power, like say acc, dmg, rech, and endred, then triple aspect IOs are really valuable. At level 30, two triple IOs are basically the equivalent of 3 SOs; e.g., 2 acc/dmg/rech give you ~35% enhancement for each of those stats. You can find many of the triples from less desirable uncommon sets (e.g., Ruin, Maelstrom's Fury) for very cheap as recipes blueside. Double aspect recipes work the same way, but are a little less valuable.
Some of your powers as a Storm/Dark can also find great bargains in sets not so often used. Tenebrous Tentacles can grab immobilization uncommons or tohit debuff uncommons (as all your attacks), and in some cases even accurate tohit debuff rares for very cheap. These can supplement the non-damage portions of the AoE's enhancement. Note that if you purchase rare recipes, you should probably try to buy them at level 25. At 26, the orange salvage required goes way up in price.
The one thing to remember--and your casualness should be to your advantage here--is be patient in your purchasing. Put in bids early for items that fluctuate in price a lot, and wait. Recipes will usually be cheaper, but if you filter for already crafted IOs that you want that are on sale, you can test for bargains, and see if you can buy anything under crafting cost. Don't just search one level of recipes/IOs; only tiny differences exist between a 34 and 35 IO, but people will often charge millions less for the former.
The one expensive IO that I would get right away is a -kb IO, unless you hover already. With Steamy Mist, you can choose whichever is cheaper of the Steadfast and Karma at the time.
If I had to build a really cheap lvl 30 storm/dark, with soloing in mind, it would look something like this:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 31 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I:30(A), Acc-I:30(15)
Level 1: Dark Blast -- Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(5), Dmg-I:30(7), Dmg-I:30(7)
Level 2: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(A), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(3), Dmg-I:30(3), Dmg-I:30(5)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I:30(A)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB:30(A)
Level 8: Freezing Rain -- UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx:30(A), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx:25(9), RechRdx-I:25(9)
Level 10: Dark Pit -- Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:30(A), Rope-Acc/Rchg:30(11), Stgr-Acc/Rchg:30(11), Stgr-Acc/Stun/Rchg:30(15)
Level 12: Hurricane -- DampS-ToHitDeb:30(A), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx:30(13), DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:30(13)
Level 14: Hurdle -- Jump-I:30(A)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(A), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:30(17), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng:30(17), DampS-Rchg/EndRdx:30(19), Dmg-I:30(19)
Level 18: Swift -- Run-I:30(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:30(A), EndMod-I:30(21), EndMod-I:30(21)
Level 22: Night Fall -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:30(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:30(23), AirB'st-Dmg/EndRdx:30(23), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(25), DampS-Rchg/EndRdx:30(29), AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg:25(29)
Level 24: Steamy Mist -- EndRdx-I:30(A), EndRdx-I:30(25)
Level 26: Thunder Clap -- Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:30(A), Rope-Acc/Rchg:30(27), Stgr-Acc/Rchg:30(27)
Level 28: Super Jump -- Jump-I:30(A)
Level 30: Tornado -- UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx:30(A)
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Probably only the Karma and two Thunderstrikes will cost you more than 50,000 influence in recipe form. Note the lvl 25 Airburst is that level to save on salvage.
*Certainly not as casual as you, but I don't play my 50s very often and yet have had 4 purple drops in the last couple months.
Wow........just........wow........what indepth great responses. Thank you all!
Quote:
Reptlbrain has mentioned is the cheapest way to get the best performace..... Franken slotting.|
Originally Posted by babyscid
Wow........just........wow........what indepth great responses. Thank you all!
|
That is taking the cheapest of the cheap set IOs and going for their atributes instead of any set bonuses. This is often frequently cheaper than buying SOs and only need be done once. I will frequently frankenslot level 15 set IOs at level 12 and then again in the mid 20s. That will last you as far as you wish to take it and you can save all the rest of your earnings. I have spent as little as 2 million influence franken slotting and saved all the rest to use at a later time.
For ranged damage sets, for example it's slotting ruins, tempests, maelstrom's fury, volley fire, far strikes, and salvo recipes and emphasizing, accuracy, damage, recharge, and endurance reduction. It is easily possible to get 6 slots worth of SO level performance out of 4 slots.
I'd reccomend popping into the player help section, specifically the markets and inventions category and read up on the guides you'll find there. I would especially reccomend Fulmen's guide on Franken slotting.
-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
Hey all,
I have been kicking around Paragon off and on since close to the beginning. My most recent visit(this time aside) was about a year ago.
With the changes to defender I thought I would drag out my 26 Storm/Dark and take it for a spin maybe even to 50.
In all this time of very casual playing I have managed 1 level 50 toon(scrapper).
So...what in the hell is the point of this post you say?
Well, with emailing all my influence to my stormie I have a whopping grand total of 32 Million(lol told you I was casual)
The question now.....should I just take this toon on my path to 50 with just SO or even maybe basic IO's and then wait for the set slotting when I am 50 and hopefully have enough cash to actually do something.
Or, is there anyway I can make it work with that low sum of cash...perhaps pick and choose a few lower end sets.
I guess what I am asking is this.....when do you IO?!?!?! or perhaps to IO or not to IO, that is the question.