IO Sets (worth it or not?)

Overall it will make a huge improvement but not for 400 mill.

Oh.....
since I have rarely ever used any of the planners of build guides and such,
I figured this would be easier to understand the slotting I have used for the tank for about a year or so now;

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...len/hammer.jpg

As for 400 mil not being enough...

Depends on what he's doing. I did a frankenslot on my Kin/Elec defender and it didn't even touch 400mil for the final build. She's killer and can end drain darn near anything.

You don't always need billions of infl, and you don't need to make the entire build in one day. Get what you can and work up to the rest.

IMO, anyways.

I'd also recommend starting with Frankenslotting and using A-Merits to get a couple of the pricier IOs such as the LoTG +7.5%, the +Def Steadfast Protection, etc.*

My personal contribution is to say to be careful when buying cheap yellow IO's for Frankenslotting. There's a few "uncommon" (yellow) sets that still require rare salvage to craft. Not that they can't be a worthy addition to your build but if you just need a Dam/Acc then there may be a cheaper IO that only uses uncommon salvage than one needing a 2mil inf Prophecy or something. And that 5k Dam/Acc IO recipe will be less of a bargin when you see you need millions in salvage to build it. Look at your options between all the available sets in your catagory (melee, defense, PBAoE, etc).

*Or the marketer's solution to only buy LoTG's with your merits, sell 'em and use that money to buy things like the Steadfast...

I'm feeling a theme of the thread:

"I'm used to riding my bike around everywhere. It's way faster than walking, and super efficient. But, I've heard about these horseless carriages. Worth it or not?"

"Lamborghinis are expensive, buying a car isn't worth it."

"..."

Yes as someone who build pretty much everything with IO sets ( I generally dont like frankenslotting ) they can make a huge improvement.

And you dont have to get the MOST expensive sets in the game to get improvement.

I agree with using the 2nd build for making IO sets. For what it's worth, your first build already works for you and you spent inf slotting it. Leave it for now.

I would not advise making your 2nd build until the Fitness inherent. Why respec in a couple months? Enjoy the build you have now, learn it's strengths and weaknesses. Sounds like you're doing that with some solo missions on different difficulties. Try other enemy types like Carnies and Arachnos (you already mentioned CoT, Malta, Nemesis, Rikti) for high level content to make sure you know your boundaries for the most common enemy types.

I would definitely recommend Mids, it's a good way to do some offline analysis and it's much easier to respec in Mids than in the game. You get great stat information on the powers and the effects of slotting.

I recommend using A-merits for the really expensive stuff as well. At 1-2 A merits, it's much more affordable than x hundred million inf if you're talking about a stash of 400 million. You can game the market to increase your stash or buy cheap, but if that's not your thing, you can just run missions and be able to 'afford' those really expensive enh from a vendor instead of the market. Buy the other stuff at the market.

I do think IO sets can help. Frankenslotting is good, too, depending on what you want. When you're in Mids, you can see what your Defense and Resistance look like, maybe there's some sets you want to get in particular that give you bonuses to up some Def/Res, maybe it's not worth it.

You can bypass Set IOs and HOs and all that jazz and still probably do reasonably well with just SOs and Common IOs, especially on teams. As a tank, though, there is a special incentive for sets to store up against a few weaknesses, cause sometimes, if the tank goes down, everyone goes down.

I IO all my toons.

I fully frankenslot them at 25, and at 35 I start to replace my frankenslots with the sets I intend for them to keep. Doing this bit by bit, I stretch the expense over the life of the toon.

I also use A-merits and AE ticket rolls liberally. In this way, I not only continue to bankroll my characters (I have a LOT of characters all leveling at once) but I never have to buy things like Steadfast +def or KB IOs. I can get full expensive sets like Basilisk's Gaze doing that, too, as well as very useful mid-range sets like Thunderstrike and Red Fortune.

I use A-merits to get things like LOTG +rech, Numina, Miracle and Regen uniques, and triples/quads for high-end orange sets.

The only way your build should run you even half of your budget is if you need it all RIGHT NAO!! If you place reasonable bids and walk away, if you use tickets and Amerits, and if you don't feel the need to trick your character out in full sets immediately, there's no reason you can't slowly and steadily replace all your generics with full sets without breaking your bank.

Everyone has some VERY valid points on the issue of Frankenslotting and using sets to their full advantage.....
I am just inexperienced with both aspects
For the most part I have been 95% happy with how my tank does it's job for a long while now.
I am learning a lot this way

Took it out for another spin this morning on a tip mission (+1 x8 with bosses) vs HUGE mobs of Freakshow and it went well.
I just loOOoooOooove gettin hip-deep in their blood LOL

I have to admit..... I thought about that neat idea of making a 2nd build for it just with as many sets as I could afford and try a comparison so to speak.

Taking the "Pepsi Challenge" so to speak to see if I like my original build of just IOs vs my 2nd one with the sets and such

Here's an idea for a slow and fruitful start. Find two Acc/Dam set IO Melee recipes around L40-50 that are relatively cheap, and that you either have the salvage for, or that the salvage is relatively affordable.

Craft them (this will give you an idea of the crafting system, and the more you do it, the more you will understand the IO system in general, I think.)

Pick a power that has an Acc SO and a Dam SO, and replace them with your 2 newly crafted IOs. You should notice an immediate improvement in your orange numbers, for a low price. That should get the ball rolling for you. All the above advice is, of course, very good stuff and valuable. Start slow, and as you get the hang of it, read some of the forum guides on IOs. Patience is the key in stretching your IO 'dollar'. Also, you may run across a crazy Purple drop at some point - then you're options open up further.

Just wanted to point out, nothing says you have to Frankenslot or Slot for sets only. You can set slot one power entirely, Frenkenslot another, and have 2 different sets of 3 each in a 3rd power. That could get you fair amount of the nifty set global effects.

Random thought here while at work

Say if there is a 6 slotted set of ANY certain type of IO set.....
if 3 of those enhancements were placed in one power....
and 3 in another power...... you wouldn't get the bonus for the WHOLE set or no?
Or would ya get the particular bonus for just slotting 3? LOL

Call it a newb question...... but I never gave that sorta thinking all that much time in the past.
It just hit me and I thought asking on this thread might be the best