When to start slotting sets?

When do most players start slotting sets? I don't know a whole lot about them. Is it something that most wait until 50 to do? Or is it something to start research in the 30s? Also, what is the standard slotting practice these days? Slot DOs until 22 and then slot IOs after that? Feel free to point me to a guide or topic where this has already been answered...I didn't see any recent guides in the guide section, though, and searching for "sets", IOs, etc. doesn't seem to get me anywhere.

Thanks!

Most players slot at 50. This is why prices for level 50 IOs are sometimes triple or more the price of a level 49. Please don't be that silly. A 0.1% difference is not worth paying an extra 5 million inf for.

A +0 SO gives you 33.3% enhancement, a +3 gives 38%.

A Level 21 Acc/Damage IO gives 33.6% total in the form of 16.8%/16.8%. A Level 18 Triple gives 34.7% in the form of 11.56%/11.56%/11.56%. A level 30 generic gives 34.8%. All three are comparable to a +0 SO that never expires.

Level 24 duals are worth 38.4%, level 20 triples are also 38.4%, and level 40 generics are worth 38.6%. All are better than a level 53 SO.

Therefore, if you care about your enhancement numbers any point after your character is level 17 you can start slotting sets and have higher bonuses than if you were using level 53 SOs.

However you also want to keep in mind the decision on how you will use your character. Will you level lock them for merits? Will you farm at 50 for purples? Will you do lots of task forces and thus exemplar down low?

If you're farming, then you want your sets to be level 40+ and you can slot them as you find/buy/craft them. starting at 37. If you're doing taskforces, then you need to look at what level is the lowest you want to keep your buffs. Many people like level 32 and 35 sets for this. For PvP 33 has been popular as that is the highest for Siren's Call.

Once you know what level of set you are going to use in your finished build, you can start slotting them as soon as you are high enough level. Waiting until your character is 50 to slot a level 35 IO is kind of silly. But I see people do it all the time.

So, what will you use your character for?

It really depends on my mood and the character but some I start at level 7.

Most I start by level 22 and certainly by level 32. I figure what else is my inf for?

Can't say that I do this with every toon, but generally I just slot whatever I get dropped until 12, then slot generic IO's (yes i know they're not quite as good at that level, but meh). I'll generally leave them alone until 32 (though I will still slot some higher level drops along the way) when I slot everything with 35's. If I plan on using any set IO's that max out at 30 or 35 (such as Kinetic Combats) I'll slot those then and there, otherwise its just more generics. Then at 47 I slot for 50 with mostly sets.

Very much personal choice. I like the 30-33 range, buying 33-36es. You have to shop WAY in advance, though.

I try to slot out with 30-33s for malefactoring purposes. So, I guess I start slotting sets around threat level 27.

Varies widely depending on the toon. I know my kin I slotted like 3 sets to get +7 accuracy bonus as early as I had the slots to put them in (10th-15th?). It really helped my kin not miss so early on as I lackeyed along on lib TV missions with level 50s and other such high level content.

Brutes I usually wait till close to 50 because I intend to be able to farm with them...though my stoner used kin combats so got slotted at like 32nd with level 35s mostly.

Really depends.
I have some toons who I play regularly enough but are level locked for various reasons. Those are all slotted @ whichever level they are.

I have some 50s who I use to do lower lvl Strike Forces. They have some lower level sets (though they didnt get them until they were 50)

And some of my 50s to this day have a combo of IOs and SOs and may never be fully IOed.

I would start bidding on IOs ASAP. That way you can low-ball bid and be patient.

IMHO, you should make a decision about how the toon will be used and then go from there as to your slotting strategy.

As others have noted, it's a matter of personal preference and what you plan to
do with your character.

In my case, I use L10 Commons at level 7, L15 Commons at level 12, and then
L20-L25 Common IO's as appropriate until I can buy the set pieces I want
(which I have already begun to collect by that point in the toon's career, based
on a Mid's plan for the build)...

Between Level 22 and Level 27, I start Frankenslotting in earnest.

As was pointed out earlier, they out-perform +3 SO's by that point, they're
cheaper than higher level IO's, and since they never expire, I get full benefit
for a much longer time in addition to working set bonuses available in all PvP zones.

I've found that to be a pretty good approach for equipping my toons. YMMV


Regards,
4

i wait till lvl 50 to start slotting, but i dont necessarily slot lvl 50 enhances

i use the 1-50 playthrough to save up inf for the slotting at 50 (since most of my builds usually have several purple sets slotted, i like long term goals to work for, but this also increases the cost of the build a LOT, most of my builds usually cost approx 5-15 billion depending on market prices and how much of the build i actually buy vs how much i get from drops)

L30, exactly, is a bit easier to get because Rikti invaders drop L30 stuff. (I believe zombies do too. )

I thought that was the bombs that dropped L50 items. I have no proof either way, though.

Thanks very much for the advice. Are there sets that are only available at level 50? Or are all sets available earlier but not as powerful? Is mids the best way to see what kind of stuff is available?

Fantastic, thanks! And as to what I'm going to do with the character...probably just play to 50. I've never played a villain past 25 or so, so I guess I just want to slot for whatever will help my character the most on the journey.

Oh, a villain. Well you're going to have trouble getting some IOs at many levels as you journey in a timely fashion.

Honestly I would recommend using MA to get tickets to generate recipes to hopefully score a nice one and then just use whatever set IOs/recipes you can and mix and match with the commons and SOs.

Teams can also cover a lot of shortfalls.

What is your character's AT and powersets? I might have some stuff lying around in my bins I can throw your way.

My little thoughts, valid for most of my toons:

• I add procs and uniques as I go along. When the power is taken, the proc can go in. If the unique has something besides it's special power, then maybe wait, but usually not.
• Acc TOs, then Acc and some other stuff DOs, then SOs to around 33. Real slotting starts when I can get 35s. That's about where I consider the sets to stop being underpowered.
• If a set is expensive and tops at 40, I'll frankenslot cheap things until then, then grab it.
• During the 40s change out random stuff, getting the right slotting down for the level cap. Anything low lev and cheap enough to replace, say, a lev 37 Mako getting upgraded. And not really the whole set at the same time, but sometimes.

I typically dont worry about builds until 50, but that's me.