Still Trying to Make Sense in Justifying Getting IO Sets in the Early Levels

This has always been an issue of mine trying to figure out what the true benefit of getting IO sets well before level 50? I know that if I cannot afford to purchase them, I usually settle on SO's which always have a set price range. I ask this as I see a lot of other toons out there who when I view their powers, I see tons of set bonus for toons that are well under level 50. Based on what paragonwiki says: "Both Invention Origin Enhancement categories always provide the same bonus to a power, regardless of character level - they never expire as a character advances in levels, and a lower level IO can still be slotted by a high level character. Generally though, the higher the level of the IO, the higher the benefit that it gives. A level 50 Invention Origin Enhancement provides approximately 27% more benefit compared to an even-level Single Origin Enhancement, and is less than 11% better than a +3-level SO."

With that being said, it does state that the higher the level of the IO, the higher the benefit that it will give. So, why would I spend 5 million influence for a level 25 Efficacy Adaptor when if I wait till I hit level 47, can pick-up a 50 IO and get more bang for my buck? I am thinking that people who buy IO's early and being that most IO's are staggered by level increments of 5, one would wait either every 5 levels to upgrade their IO's or 10 levels? This, in turn, would give them more benefits early on without having to suffer through the early stages until they reach 50, not sure if this is the mindset here? If someone can clear this up for me and tell me if and when I can afford to do so, buy IO's early on and how I should "stagger" this meaning, if I buy a level 25 IO for my level 22 Blaster, should I then wait until level 30 or 35 before I decide to upgrade that same IO? Thanks.

Also, while IOs that give an enhancement bonus do give a higher bonus the higher the level of the IO (for instance, Damage, Accuracy, Defense,etc.), proc IOs don't necessarily do so. For instance, a Mako's Bite damage proc works exactly the same, whether you have a level 30 or a level 50 version of that IO. However, if you exemp below level 47, you'll lose the proc if you chose the level 50 one, but wouldn't lose the level 30 proc until you exemp below level 27.

The other reason is that Frankenslotting level 30ish IOs can give you quite a bit more power than using SOs or generic IOs. I rarely bother to do it because I am chronically lazy but I do it in a few cases where the effort is worth it to me. A simple example is my Earth/Storm Controller. I added a pretty simple Frankenslot to his two single target mezzes since I wanted maximum damage while still being able to enhance a bit for mez. Compared to my previous 3Dam/1Acc/1End/1Rech slotting I was able to maintain or increase my previous values while adding in about 1.3 SOs worth of mez enhancement.

I limited myself to buying whatever yellow recipes were on the market so I didn't spend a whole lot on it.

http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Table_of_Special_IOs

However, the upside of Procs is that they continue to work even if you exemplar way below their level. E.g., a level 50 Stealth in Sprint will work even if exemplared to level 10.

Ahhh...my bad then. So then why do people always go for the lower-level procs?

Generally, I find that the important aspects of the enhancements are well covered by anything from level 30 and up - higher levels just end up having more value eaten by ED, although the secondary aspects may end up with better value at higher IO levels. For example in attacks I like to have 95% damage and at least 50% accuracy; and level 30 IO sets achieve this easily. Higher levels will get me better values on endurance reduction and recharge, but I find that the amount of difference is negligible to my style of play.

Also - my 50's don't get all that much play. I run them in task forces, or sometimes when I really feel like playing one of them, but I tend to like to level new characters rather than playing my old ones, so IO'ing at lower levels means that I have more tools available when I need them, rather than just at the end game where I don't play often.

Lastly, one strategy that some find effective is to frankenslot early to maximize enhancement value while slots are tight, then respec into a final build once you hit your desired level. For example, slotting Air Bursts and Detonations, or Ruins and Tempests can be done for a fraction of the cost of more desired sets, and achieve better enhancement value than SO's with lower investment in slots.

Oh yeah. And the reason that I have been gettin low level procs--so that I can keep the set bonus when I mal down

I don't see much point either. Basically, here is my rule of thumb - if this new character is not in her/his lvl 35+, then I probably don't feel the need to buy sets because I don't like him that much anyway.

I don't see why I need low level sets. Some unique and procs are great but that's about it. Who's buying lvl 20 sets? I just dump them.

I also don't see any TF/SF that are so hard that I need set bonuses at that level range that are below lvl 30.

I can see people buying lvl 30 sets for Siren Calls and that's about it.

I have a build with a bunch of lvl 25 and lvl 27 enhancements so I can keep my set bonuses when I do low level SFs

Personally, I IO my tunes at level 32 with level 35 IO sets. This gets me a huge chunk of bonuses and SO level performance that gets me to level 50 feeling 'super'.

In my case, I Frankenslot starting with L25-L28 IO set pieces as soon as I
can get them for a few reasons.

1> It beats +3 SOs performance-wise. Two dual aspect L25's (ie. Acc/Dmg)
outperform a +3 Acc SO and a +3 Dmg SO (40% > 38.3%)

2> You can get several helpful bonuses in addition to better performance
(for instance, 2 Bruising Blow IO's gives you a small End Recovery Bonus
for free)

3> You can effectively maximize core attributes of a power in only 5 slots.
In an attack, I can get 60% Acc, 95% Dmg *and* an SO or more worth of
Erdx and Rch in just 5 slots (not even counting the set bonus perks).

4> As others mentioned, the bonuses exemplar well - for me, I like to have
bonuses for Bloody Bay and Ouroboros. Others want them for TF's as well

5> Once I complete a power, I don't *ever* have to look at it again. I get
20-25 levels of consistent, reliable performance (unlike SO's which have
a choppy, sawtooth performance pattern as you level).

6> It's cheaper... WAY cheaper than putting in L50 Sets.


My Conclusion:

The basic premise is that I get far better performance, far sooner, for a
far better price, for the longest part of the toon's playing career, than I
could by waiting till higher level.

As a predominantly solo player, that is a hands down, no-brainer win in my book...


Regards,
4

Not everyone powerlevels to 50. If I only slotted level 50 IOs, then I'd have exactly two characters with IOs. Personally, I slot IOs at 32 (because that's when level 35 IOs become usable).

There are several reasons to buy at least some IOs early:

1) Price. Crafting a level 25 or 30 generic IO costs more than buying a SO. However, it costs significantly less than buying a SO and then replacing it every five levels. You can slot a generic IO and never bother with that slot again until (and unless) you decide to go with a set.

2) Convenience. IOs never lose strength or go red and stop working when you level mid-mission.

3) Gloabal IOs really help at low levels. In particular, getting a low level Kismet 6% to-hit IO (it's called accuracy, but it gives a to-hit bonus) and dropping it in Combat Jumping or Hover makes the teen levels a lot more fun since you miss less. Likewise a KB resist IO makes a huge difference if you don't have a -KB power.

4) Frankenslotting. Instead of worrying about set bonuses, just slot dirt cheap set IOs with lousy bonuses to get the best possible enhancement values. You can often buy the recipe for a few thousand inf or less, and as long as you pick yellow recipes with no rare salvage required you can craft it cheap too. And like generic IOs, once you do you can ignore those slots forever, or until you upgrade to higher end sets. You can get an extra 2-3 SOs worth of enhancement out of six slots that way, or get a full six slots worth of enhancement out of around four. And it's still cheaper than buying new SOs every five levels.

As far as high end sets go, I'd suggest slotting them around the lowest level you plan to exemp to regularly (assuming you can afford them) so you keep the bonuses. Actual level 50 IOs are a huge rip-off since their crafting costs are so high and you can't exemp down below 47 with them... it's a lot cheaper and really just as effective (thanks to ED) to slot mid 30s IOs instead. The exception is that it is handy to slot two level 50 generics at times since that's almost as good as 3 SOs... you can save a slot in powers like Hasten or Build Up. Also, level 50 set IOs do have the advantage of being readily available, but it's worth taking a few days to bid on lower level ones if you like to exemp down and run TFs.