Slotting lower level IO sets...or not.

Although it's true that I don't exemp often, there are occasions when I do. For months, I'd been wondering why the level 25,30,35 IO sets were selling for more than the level 50 IOs. Seemed to me, you got more bang for your buck with the 50s.

And yet, as I take my toons through some of the task forces that I missed, I notice my recharge % go from 160 to a laughable 10%.

I am in the process of respec-ing my fire/rad controller. There are so many cookie cutter builds - 1. Recharge and control 2. S/L soft cap defense, control, 3. S/L softcap + damage, etc.

Seems like there's a zillion different ways to build a fire/rad - and although I never really saw a problem with mine, I recognize that I've neglected to respec after inherent fitness - I can get more powers - and I've been able to find a way to save 8 slots for these new powers .

I've already decided on a build that will perma-hasten (and thus AM) and possibly cap my s/l defense.

My question is this: If I choose to slot level 30 IO sets, how much will I miss that accuracy %, damage %, etc. From 25 to 50 is 21.8% to 26.5% (on a dual purpose IO, like acc/hold)
I would imagine that this might be negligible, but then again, it might not be.
From what I understand, a little less than 5% can be a big number sometimes.

What's the prevailing logic behind this? Slot 30's? 50's?

(obviously, I'll slot purple sets if I can, but there are only so many sets of those I can use. )

The procs give an identical effect at all levels so e.g. a lvl 20 Chance for Fire Damage will give exactly the same chance as a lvl 50 version at lvl 50 however the lvl 20 will work when exemped a lot lower than the lvl 50 IO will - at lv 30 the lvl 20 will still work and still give the same chance as at lvl 50 but the lvl 50 won't be working any longer.

The effectiveness of your IOs (and other enhancements) will also reduce as you exemp to partially counteract the possibility of having more slots in the power so if you are looking for an optimal build for playing whilst exemped this may have different slotting from one optimised for lvl 50. Note also at low levels the game is balanced around TOs or DOs so if you are slotted with SOs or IOs you will see a big difference and this will far outweigh the Enhancement Effectiveness reduction.
How much you will notice the lower bonuses of lower level IOs will depend on your build

Note also that some set bonuses will help to make up for the lower bonuses from your lower-level IOs. If you slot several sets that provide a +7% accuracy bonus, for instance, that bonus will be in effect as long as you're at a range that supports the set.

If you're really concerned about missing high-level bonuses, why not spec out two different builds using the swap-at-trainer capability? One you can use for regular adventuring, with 50 IO sets slotted; the other can be made for exemplaring with level 30ish sets (and perhaps some different power choices to suit the lower-level intentions of that build). Granted, it will cost you a little extra to buy sets for two builds instead of one, but you'll have that extra flexibility at both levels.

I have had some success making builds that use lvl 25 and lvl 27 enhancements.
It's true that there would be a few points here and there that would be better if the build were with all lvl 50s enhancements, but the flip side is that I can be near soft cap w/ 80% recharge all the way down to lvl 24.

There's a breaking point for the effectiveness of enhancements @ lvl 21. Down to lvl 21, any sched A enhancement with a value of 20% or less is unaffected by malling down. lvl 25 sched A dual attribute ehnc have bonuses of 20%.

Of course, if you're not going to get a set bonus, then triple attribute enhancements can be lvl 43 and quads lvl 50

It seems building with lvl 25 and 27 enhnc means giving up about 20% - 25% per attribute per enhancement. Because of ED, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're giving up that much per attribute on each power, only per enhancement.
Set bonuses and incarnate powers may be more than able to cover up for what you give up in raw numbers.

This guide might help you decide.

Guide: What level IOs should you get?

Yep. I typically use L28 as a starting point for sets, and rarely use anything higher
than L40 (unless I opt for a purple or PvP set).

I'm also a huge fan of Frankenslotting as well, and I know you're looking more at
complete sets, but it is still worth considering for several reasons.

1: Lots Cheaper
2: You get em earlier and get benefit from them for longer
3: ED typically keeps the attributes within just a few %. This is easily verified
with Mids - slot 50's in a power and slot 30's in the alternate slots. You'll see the
values won't change all that much when you cycle between the two - typically
single digit difference is all.
4: Procs are just as good at L28 as they are at L50.


Regards,
4

Anther reason the mid level IOs are so expensive is rarity. Lots of people play at 50 and generate new stock, but not many people post IOs at 30 for example. They may post some but then they continue to level and that's it. This is why I always roll all the merits a character accumulates at 32 to get IOs my characters can use. Then I sell off the ones I don't need. I haven't stopped a character at 32 to keep generating recipes yet, but I am considering it.

I always slot level 32s unless I'm frankenslotting, or the enhancement doesn't matter. Then I slot 50s or the lowest possible, respectively. I used to slot 33-35s but switched to 32s for Ouro arcs that exemp you to 29. Of course since I rarely use Ouro for that, I could probably change, but I'm not sure I want to use anything much lower.

I'm not sure of the exact % of enhancement lost, and can't check right now, but level 32s are nearly always enough. If it's not I can usually add an extra IO or two from another set to bring it up. For example I can slot 4 Kinetic combat for the +s/l defense, and then frankenslot 2 other IOs to bring the enhancement numbers up to where I want.

The worst sets I've seen for this is Makos bite or the other melee set for defense, I forget the name. At level 32 a full set of 6 only gives 40% accuracy, but as mentioned accuracy set bonuses usually make up the difference.