How bad is exemping if you take all 50 IO's?

I have noticed a few people that wait to 47 and get nothing but 50 IO's.

I always thought that this was bad mojo due to when you exemplar down, losing... well something.

Looking at paragon wiki. The values scale, its only the set bonuses that you lose which sucks, but since lower content is easier, its less of a deal, perhaps?

How bad are the consequences of running with just/mostly level 50 IO's, and taking your chances when you exemplar down?

For the most part I'd say it's a non-issue. Most of the time exemplared characters are at least as powerful as they would have been when they were actually at the lowered level when using 50 IOs, even without the set bonuses. Think of it as a nicely frankenslotted build.

One exception is if you dropped certain powers or massively underslotted an important power on the basis of having something to make up for it later in the build, such as alpha slots or set bonuses to deal with endurance issues.

Someone may want to build with lower level IOs if they specifically do a lot of exemplaring though, particularly if they are aiming towards certain content, like a TF they intend to run regularly or a PvP zone they frequent.

Ever since exemplaring let you keep powers for +5 levels, it hasn't been a big deal.

That said, I never take a set bonus that's any higher than level 40. This lets me keep bonuses down to level 37, where some enemy factions can still be "difficult."

Well personally when I exemplar down I'm generally on a team so losing set bonuses doesn't bother me to much, the various team buffs more than make up for it. Now losing the cardiac alpha boost (on those characters that have it) hurts a lot more.

On my main I have a 50+ build, a 27-47 build, and a 1-26 build. On my other characters I don't care enough to worry about it.

Also of note, is that bonuses from Purples DON'T go away with exemping. So there's that.

At this time, I only have two 50's that are fully IO'ed and never bothered with with starting them until lvl 47/48. As someone who doesn't farm/merchant, money is always an issue here so I just do what I can to scrounge for what I need through all of my toons together. I figured all 50's or majority of them at least would just be easier in the long run. The only difference I see when I exemplar down is not having Perma PA on my Ill/TA (I have some level 30 basilisk sets on that build as well as some future), but my main Storm/Dark never seems any less powerful with nothing but 50's/no purples.

Actually, I have been wondering this myself for awhile. I am starting to raise a couple of late level 30's and considering starting them early on IO sets and wondering if the slight percentage change worth buying lvl 45's compared to 50's.

Actually, there are TWO issues with exemplaring, not only the set bonus but also the total enhancement %. If you run all level 50 IOs when you drop down to run something at level 24, your 99% damage is now only 69%. If you run a Posi, it's 39% damage.

By contrast, if you slot lower level enhancements, you can keep the full 99% at many more levels. The difference is not noticable at high level, but very pronounced at low level. Key breakpoints are slot level 50 quads, 43 triples and 24 duals and the enhancement % stays the same all the way down to level 21. Any lower than 21 and you have to slot level 15 or lower IOs and it's typically not worth the effort.

And for the record, both PvP and purple sets are still subject to this. while you will keep your set bonuses from them, you'll only have 39% damage running a Posi with hecatomb slotted.

The answer is to make a second build for low level play with cheap frankenslotting IOs. Forget about IO set bonuses and only go for special procs as needed.

Slot powers from levels 1-32 with 5 or 6 slots over-enhancing them to 150+% levels. Then, when you do a Posi, it will be like you're at level 15 but with SOs.

For powers that come at levels 33+ and higher, pick utility powers that don't need extra slotting like Vengeance or Team Teleport or Grant Invisibility, etc... This way, that build is still practically good at level 50 since you'll have a very well slotted attack chain and cool utilitarian powers. This way, you can switch builds to recharge some long-charging powers like Mission TP or Assemble the Team.

And who knows, maybe being able to finished a bugged mission will depend on you switching to your low level build to use TP Foe to pull that critter out from behind the wall.

Worst thing people can do is respec into a pile of dung, second worse thing is team with such people, followed by team with people who didn't know a TF is more than just a couple of missions. TFs should be challenging to those leveling upto them and then in a good team, cake to people who have leveled past them on account of more powers and more slots.

Guess I'm the odd one out in all of this, since I try to slot as low as possible so as to keep the set bonuses as far down the exemplar ladder as I can. I usually don't slot anything lower than levels 22 or 27, but only single set IOs (because they have no set bonus to lose) and commons get slotted as 50s. Most of my builds are filled with level 27 set IOs ... because at exemplar level 24 (a breakpoint for flashback arcs) the 27s are within +3 and thus the set bonuses are "on" when at 24. Note that while you can have access to powers that are +5 above current level, you only get set bonuses of enhancements that are +3 above current level.

Since my main, Redlynne, is MA/SR/Soul Mastery and is scrap(p)ing for every last +Defense set bonus I can get, it is VERY necessary to have all those set bonuses "on" when exemplar.

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

I almost exclusively use maximally levelled IOs, for three reasons.

1) Maximum enhancement benefit.

2) I rarely ever Exemplar; If I want to run sub-50 content I tend to use characters I'm still levelling.

3) (and perhaps more relevant to your query) For the most part there is very little content in the game sub-50 that is so difficult that it requires your full percentages and set bonuses, especially now that you get powers 5 levels above your exemplar level.

That said, if I did develop a serious hankering to exemp at things, I would more than likely use Zombie Man's Exemp Build strategy.

The biggest problem with exemping while using level 50 IOs is that you lose the set bonuses on pretty much everything you need to exemp to do (since you're usually dropping to 45 or lower). If you are doing mid-level content that isn't too bad since that generally isn't hard enough to need any bonuses, though you'll probably have to lower your difficulty if you normally solo large spawns and rely on defense from IOs (and / or epic pools) to do it. The real annoyance is high level content... those level 40 and 45 Oro arcs, for instance. You'll be fighting the same annoying groups like Malta and Carnies that you do at 50, but with no set bonuses. That's no big deal on a Scrapper or Brute... just drop the difficulty a bit and you're good. On a squishy that normally runs softcapped S/L or Ranged defense or relies on massive recharge to get control powers up every spawn you're looking at a huge drop in power that will probably require a significant drop in difficulty settings. In particular, the first Praetorian arc can be very annoying solo since you are fighting high end EBs in every mission without your set bonuses... you can always just eat a ton of inspirations (the classic Blaster method of soloing EBs) but if you are used to mopping the floor with an EB without needing any inspirations it can be a bit of a shock. Unless you're a Brute or Mastermind or something, in which case it's just a matter of actually looking away from the TV to check your health bar every few seconds instead of completely wiping them out on autopilot.

Teamed, it's usually no big deal at all since team buffs and debuffs tend to make more difference than IO bonuses anyway unless you're a perma-PA Illusion Controller or something.

Other than purples and pvp ios, I'm one that always buys level 34 - 37 io sets so I still have my bonuses when I exemplar in mid-level content. And Since level 34 - 37 will still put you at red numbers in most of the enhancement value you aren't missing out much on enhancement value by not having 50s.

Exemplaring without sets isn't bad but it seems like a waste of inf when you can just buy mid level sets.

On certain characters such as my rad defenders, who have very potent team helping abilities at low levels, I'll try to have at least some sets at 30-31 (you can do all but 3 blueside TFs and still have your set bonuses with level 31 IOs), and/or some purple sets to keep the bonuses at low levels. Below that I don't think the content is hard enough to require anything beyond the well slotted powers and large insp tray you have exemping down, remember it was mostly designed for people running with some, but not all, SOs up to about level 30. Those characters also aren't likely to be soloing lower level content for fun, so their "team helping" abilities are picked at lower levels, with less focus on offense.

For other characters such as my tank, I just do level 50 sets because his build was strong enough to tank everything below that on SOs while leveling. He only needs set bonuses for lvl 50 TFs and Trials.

If you wanted to spend a fair amount of time soloing lower level content, say you love Oroborous content or actual AE stories, which sometimes cap out below 50, I'd suggest at least one build with lower level sets. Downside; some of they take awhile to buy on the market, for example TF recipe drops can have long waits before any sell there. Expect to spend a lot more time accumulating the IOs then for a level 50 build, where pretty much anything can be bought in 24 hours.