I alwayus start buy IO's at level 32 so I can purchase level 35 IO's. Ill start getting sets around levels 35 and for regular IO's I will eventually replace them with 50's.
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
when you say you replace "regular IO's at 50" does that mean you leave the sets at 35?
Also, can you mix and match levels within a set? Say, a lvl 35 Perfect Zinger chance for psi damage and a lvl 50 Perfect Zinger Taunt Duration, would those equal 2 parts of the set for the bonuses?
Thanks again
My typical approach is to use SO's until level 27 or so then start working on set IO's. I'm usually a mix of IO/SO until around 35 by which time I've completed an IO build.
I plan all my builds around level 35 IO sets and usually end up with mostly 30-38 level IO's for exemplar purposes... after all I'm really not giving anything up slotting a power with 35's than with 50's and the lower recipes are almost invariably cheaper.
As an example, the last character I leveled bought DO's at 12 and 17, SO's at 22 and 27, then started on the planned set IO build. From 27 until 35 I bought the sets as I could obtain them at reasonable prices filling in the gaps with SO's. By the time I reached 35 I had no SO's left on the build and pretty well kept it that way to 50. I tried to have most of what I'd need in base storage for when I leveled up, if I didn't have something, was on a team and leveled up then I'd hit a store for SO's to have something to fill the empty slots.
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I imagine that's what he's getting at, I usually do the same if I'm not slotting something to ED cap... if it's Stamina for example three level 35 common IO's will put you at the cap so there's no point changing to 50's. On the other hand if you have a power slotted say with 5 Scirocco's Dervish and one common recharge (I do this on several characters) then I'll bump that common recharge to 50 as I'm still getting improvements.|
Originally Posted by shadowplay
when you say you replace "regular IO's at 50" does that mean you leave the sets at 35?
Also, can you mix and match levels within a set? Say, a lvl 35 Perfect Zinger chance for psi damage and a lvl 50 Perfect Zinger Taunt Duration, would those equal 2 parts of the set for the bonuses? Thanks again |
Yes you can mix set levels, however if you exemplar you will loose set bonuses. In the case you mentioned you'd have the two slot bonus for Zinger down to level 47, then once you exemplared lower than that you'd loose the bonus.
As an example, you have a set with 5 IO's slotted, level 30, 32, 33, 35 and 50. At 50 you have all 5 bonuses. At 46 you loose the 5th bonus but you keep the 2nd - 4th bonus. At 31 you loose the 4th bonus but keep the 2nd & 3rd. You loose the 3rd bonus at 29. At 28 you loose all bonuses. The IO's themselves will still work (as long as you have access to the power that is) but the bonus only exemps 3 levels below the level of the IO.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
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I slot level 30-38 IO sets for most of my characters' level 32 and lower powers, and level-appropriate sets for higher level powers. That way I can exemp down to the 30s and not lose any bonuses.|
Originally Posted by shadowplay
My tank is 36 now, should I start building my IO build now or do I wait till later, and if I wait, do I just stick with SO or try to get normal IO's now?
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You can mix components of any level of an IO set and still get the bonuses. You can have a 31, 3 50s and a 41 and everything works as you would expect. This happens to me sometimes when I happen to have an IO sitting around in the base that happens to fill in a set that I'm buying.
If you're planning on getting a fair number of purple sets then there are different considerations: purples retain set bonuses at any level. However, purples don't have a very broad variety of bonuses: mostly accuracy and recharge; only one has any defense bonuses. So if you're trying to softcap you'll probably wind up using a fair number of uncommon and rare sets and you'll have to decide at what level you want to keep the bonuses at.
Pretty good discussion on a similar topic here:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=244755
I like to be able to exemplar and keep set bonuses, and I like to have bonuses as I level.
I tend to target one of three levels for my set IOs: 27, 33, 37. This lets me slot them early, use them all the way up, and still be able to exemplar down to 24, 30, or 34, respectively, without losing bonuses.
I advise that you take advantage of both builds. On build 1 I would use lvl 50 ios and lvl 50 io sets. Then with your second build use the 35s. I too am a vet who takes breaks. Been playing since 05' so I already had a 50. With my alts I don't care too much for ios and my main doesn't exemplar too much so I start on 50 ios and if I got spare cash it goes towards build 2. I think its pretty much a pain in the butt and wait as long as I can.
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MAIN: Desi Boy> Level 51 Fire/Fire Tank
Super Group: C.O.R.E.
Tanking since 05'
Vigilante
MAIN: Desi Boy> Level 51 Fire/Fire Tank
Super Group: C.O.R.E.
Tanking since 05'
Vigilante
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You can slot those same level 30-38 IO sets in your higher level powers too, and still keep the set bonuses when exemplared. The set bonuses will continue to work even if the power is no longer available at the level you are exemplared to.
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Originally Posted by Rodion
I slot level 30-38 IO sets for most of my characters' level 32 and lower powers, and level-appropriate sets for higher level powers. That way I can exemp down to the 30s and not lose any bonuses.
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At level 12 I start investing in Level 15ish set IOs. Mostly for the enhancement values, but also to pick up a smidgin of set bonuses such as +Recovery. Before Stamina, a few or several +% Recovery set bonuses really help out.
At level 17 I upgrade again, as enhancement values on level 20 set IOs are notably better than the 15's. Also, there are several new sets that open up at level 20 (such as Multistrikes).
At level 22 I'm swapping again for level 25 set IOs and a few choice common IOs (such as common L25 End Mod IOs for Stamina). At this point, I'm looking to maximize enhancement values, and with multi-aspect IOs in heavily slotted powers, it's very possible to hit the ED cap for enhancement values. Note that level 25 IOs are the break point between Tier 1 salvage (i.e. cheap) and Tier 2 salvage (more expensive).
Now, seldom do I even spend 10M on IOs for a character up through level 22. And with that, I upgraded IO sets three times. If you're careful at the market, you can do this easily and with little hardship. Past that, level 27 is a big hallmark, since several of the "good" higher-end sets open up (e.g. Crushing Impact, Numina's) and you can start shooting for more set bonuses in earnest to round out your build.
From that point on, I usually just slot new IOs, seldom going back and replacing level 30's unless there is a strong need. Enhancement value-wise, the improvement curve for enhancement value starts to plateau and if you're already at the ED cap for the most important values, the extra few % points are usually not worth the extra investment. At level 47-50, I may go "whole hog" and start investing in tweaks for the "end game" build, complete with high-cost sets and purples if desired. Truthfully, though, I tend to invest in Procs (Miracle +Recovery, Numina's Regen/Recovery, Performance Shifter +End, Steadfast Res/Def, etc.) in the 30's for a build.
I tend to follow this progression because I absolutely HATE having enhancements deteriorate over time and possible go red on me mid-mission with a fun team. That and the better enhancement values and set bonuses allow me to tailor and customize characters to suit my playstyle and potentially address holes in the powersets. I want my characters to be as "Super" as possible. 
I've been playing for a long time, but like most folks took several breaks along the way. One of those breaks was during the implementation of IO's, so I admittedly don't know much about them. I've been doing ok playing without them, just using the basic invention IO's and SO's, but I've got a SS/Invul tank that I'm playing now that I love and I really want to dip into these set IO's that everyone uses.
I've got Call Me Awesome's guide to help me plan things out, but what I really need to know is, what level should I be looking to buy them at?
Should I wait till 50? I think I've heard some people mention that you lose set bonuses if you sidekick down to do TF's and stuff, so should I buy them at a lower level?
My tank is 36 now, should I start building my IO build now or do I wait till later, and if I wait, do I just stick with SO or try to get normal IO's now?
Thanks in advance