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MechaDeuce

Hi folks!
I've been looking over the info provided, as well as having spent some time looking at the stuff available for sale and the attendant game stats....and pardon me for being a wet blanket and dragging my little cloud of darkness into the Issue 9 release, but....
Just what is supposed to be the incentive to upgrade to IOs?
Sure you never have to upgrade them to keep "current" (I noticed their numbers stay bluish as opposed to the familiar green/gray/yellow/red), but there's a catch. IOs below level 15 only give a bonus slightly better than Training Enhancers, 15-25 is around the DO mark. Level 25+ was touted as being equal to SOs for bonuses...but a level 25 damage SO gave me 36% and a level 25 damage IO gave only 32%. That is NOT equal.
And the IO bonus is fixed to the level of the enhancer. A level 10 IO kept until level 50 does NOT increase its bonus, it stays at the same level 10 bonus (12%, I think).
Maybe I'm being too much of a powergamer (darn you D&D!), but I can't see the point to going for an enhancer that is a pain to get the pieces for and doesn't give as much bang for the bucks spent.
And the math gets worse (IMO) for multi-effect IOs. The one I was looking at this morning was one that Mecha got, and it was Damage/Range: 18% and 11%. Oh sure, if you got the whole set of 6 you got a whole 2% resistance to fire and a few other things, but again, I can't see sacrificing my takedown power for some miniscule buffs. I feel I'll get a far higher rate of return for being able to flatten the bad guys in one shot versus doing it in two and having endurance recovery that's 2 points higher etc.
Am I calculating things wrong here? Or missing something? Maybe I'm too much of a powergamer, but right now the only reason I can see for even MAYBE bothering with the invention system with MechaDeuce is for costume pieces.
Again, I apologize for being a wet blanket. It's just that after all the build-up for I-9 and all the people gushing about it....I just don't get it. I feel let-down because I feel like there's sweet bugger all in the update for myself and my characters.
(I'm not leaving CoH, but I'm just not finding I9 compelling in any way. It doesn't change the game for me. And that's disappointing. After three years of playing, I'm not getting that sense of wonder anymore. Tongue )
Feel free to comment or point out anything I'm missing... Say *something*!
Bert V.V.
skyknight@sentex.net
As I understand it, by using a set you'd get roughly equivalent totally to loading up with SOs, but as far as I can see that only really applies with the Post-30 level IOs.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"
I love IOs.
Not because they're powerful, but because getting one and keeping it is a great enhancer to my peace of mind. I hate the way leveling affects my slotting - it's just a general pain in the ass.
And not only do IOs give me a way out of that... they do it by spawning for things I'd be doing anyway.
They're so convenient!
Ja, -n

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"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

MechaDeuce

Hi Valles. [Image: smile.gif]
You must be commenting on the sets that provide incremental bonuses to stuff like hold/sleep times. As a diehard blaster or scrapper player, those sets don't really help me much. :/
I'm trying not to be negative - I mean Issue 9's only been out for three days now, so I know I don't know that much about it yet - but everything I've been reading just... hasn't.... doesn't.... it doesn't entice me.
I just feel like I can't be bothered. The return for the effort involved in getting these things doesn't seem to be there for me. :/
Am I alone in this view?
Bert V.V.
skyknight@sentex.net
Quote:
You must be commenting on the sets that provide incremental bonuses to stuff like hold/sleep times. As a diehard blaster or scrapper player, those sets don't really help me much. :/
Ah... nope.
I'm talking about the perfectly ordinary damage/accuracy/whatever types.
Assembling whatever IOs you happen to have recepies for when you're passing through the base or wherever seems to me like much less trouble than constantly fretting about the age of enhancement such and such and will I be able to find the cash to replace it.
If a good IO happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I fail to see where effort is involved at all.
Ja, -n

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"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

Render

Quote:
I just feel like I can't be bothered. The return for the effort involved in getting these things doesn't seem to be there for me. :/
Am I alone in this view?
No. Not having all the costume parts available for every toon irritates me way out of proportion to the personal appeal of said costume bits. The temporary powers seem more amusing than useful.
The expiring nature of enhancements has never caused me too much worry--although there was that one time I levelled up and they all went red mid-brawl with something purple: Ding! Whiff! Whiff! whiffwhiffwhiffwhiffwhiff! "Nooooo!"
So I may use IOs for Acc. [Image: eyes.gif] Or key defensive powers. I suspect at some high level IOs may have a sweet spot vs SOs, and there are some set bonuses that will be nice for certain chars. (mmm, KB protection.)
But in general, the invention system seems more novelty than anything.
However, I like the relatively lootless nature of CoX. It means I spend more time playing the game and less time fiddling with inventory or resource management.
So it's something of a relief to me that IOs didn't supplant SOs and I can continue my casually opportunistic ways--collecting what I can use, selling or giving away what I can't, but not feeling obligated to spend time, effort or inf. to chase particular invention stuff down.
-Render

The Hunterminator

Quote:
Assembling whatever IOs you happen to have recepies for when you're passing through the base or wherever seems to me like much less trouble than constantly fretting about the age of enhancement such and such and will I be able to find the cash to replace it.
A while ago, I decided to upgrade Yukiyo's SO enhancements. I used up all her inf and did 6 raids of the base's enhancements for selling and I still didn't manage to get all my enhancements up to date.
In other words, I agree with Valles, taking a look to see what IO I can build once in a while and replacing enhancements with them would, at least, reduce the cost of upgrading. I might lose a few percents augmentation, but I lose a lot more than that with the outdated enhancements that I can't afford to replace.
The way I see it, it's a competition of convenience and cost efficiency against maximum efficiency and relative rarity, and people will simply choose whichever they prefer.
-Edit-
However, one huge flaw that I've seen and that I'm hoping is due to incomprehension on my part is that, if I understood the tutorial right, if you exemp under an IO's level, it becomes useless.
I'm really hoping that's not true because that's a flaw large enough to make me forget about IO's forever.
on the topic of IOs and recipes, is there any way to store them?
I know I can't sell recipes (aside from the auction houses), but I have found myself with a full bag (13/13) and I really don't want to just drop them if I can store them in base somewhere.-Terry
------
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die." - Carmen Boyle (Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner - 1996)
Mary Sue's theme music
-Terry
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"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
I don't *think* you lose standard enhancement effects, but you can lose access to set bonuses under some circumstances. I think I'd want to read through all the material again first though to be certain... *Hasn't actually been all the way through the tutorial, since when she tried it on test got nasty crashing, and haven't logged into anyone high enough since I9 went live.*
I believe you're supposed to be able to access the storage from wentworth's or the black market somewhere.
Personally, it looks to me like IOs won't usually be worth the trouble until high levels. At that point, some of the sets could have distinct possibilities. Of course, getting the stuff you need will still be a pain.
From my poking around, it looks like a lot of base salvage is going for very cheap, which might be useful for people who want to use the temp powers that are made with it.
-Morgan."This continuity is now a Princess of Darkness crossover."
"... They're all going to die, aren't they?"
"Yep. Popcorn?"

Mekadave

Few things I've learned:
You *CAN* sell recipes and Invention Salvage. Go to a regular non-origin store (Quartermaster or Freedom Corps) and they'll buy the recipes and salvage from you. Curiously, standard recipes sell for a lot more than what set or rare recipes do though, which I believe is to get you to put the set recipes up for auction on P-bay.
You can store invention salvage (but not recipes) at your personal storage space in the Vault Reserve. You can find it on the zone maps and also in Pocket D, and a placeable vault can be put in the SG base. Each location accesses the same virtual storage space.
I believe IOs can be put in normal base Enhancement storage, but I haven't tried it to confirm.
I've only dabbled with some of the sets and IOs so far, but I'm starting to find some good uses. One of the Immobilize sets (whose name escapes me ATM) is going to be perfect for my Thugs/Dark (and eventually GhostWidow) MM. I picked up the whole set's recipes cheaply on P-bay already at level 50 (useable at 47). The power is an AOE Immobilize, which will be great for holding mobs in place for my pets to AOE them to death. The IO set is not only going to boost accuracy, range, Immob duration and recharge, but the set bonus is going to give me an increase in several separate categories, including some Defense, which I'll gladly take for my squishy MM.
This is just the first example I've found. There's a LOT of looking around to do. I especially need to look at the Pet Damage sets for my MMs. Some of those have some potential. If I can find any that give Mez protection for my squishies, I'm all over those (and so, I suspect, will be everyone else).
Global: @Jimmy Amp
"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers
Quote:
and a placeable vault can be put in the SG base.
Logan, do we have one of these yet? I haven't been in the base since before I9.

-- Bob
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The Internet Is For Norns.

The Hunterminator

Quote:
Logan, do we have one of these yet? I haven't been in the base since before I9.
Ah, so THAT'S what that big vault door in the main workshop is.
Looks like the ECL base might either need more power or more control, or replace a "dummy" vault door with the iSalvage vault.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

His Lovely Wife

ECL base's vault can now be accessed. -C-
Quote:
Ah, so THAT'S what that big vault door in the main workshop is.
I suppose that answers my question, then.

-- Bob
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The Internet Is For Norns.
A couple things to note here.
One, if I understand correctly, Invention enhancements don't lose basic effectiveness when you exemp under their level. You'll lose any additional set bonuses they convey, however... +health, +recovery, so on. Which doesn't matter if you're not slotting sets in the first place.
Two, using IOs saves you money. Lots and lots of money.
If you look carefully at the going rates for enhancements at Wentworth's or the Black Market... you can actually purchase some IOs for cheaper than they take to craft. Why? Because a lot of people just craft stuff to get the badges, and sell the results just to get rid of 'em.
A level 35 invention enhancement (36% boost, slightly better than an SO) takes about...I dunno, 40-50k inf to create. I've managed to buy several off the market for as low as 1000k apiece. That's why Obsolete currently has so many IOs slotted. So basically I'm getting an enhancement that's better than an even-level SO...and will never expire...for virtually nothing.
There's even less market demand for the IOs that are less effective than SOs. But Level 25 IOs still give about 32% per pop, which is almost as good. I've managed to buy those for as low as 100 inf. One hundred. Astreal, my blaster, has a few such enhancements that I picked up dirt cheap.
It's an incredible monetary saving there.
Furthermore, I've heard stories of folks making incredible amounts of influence 'playing the market'. Buying low and selling high. I've experimented with this a little; so far Obsolete's made around 1 mil inf this way...which is nowhere near the "15 mil profit in one day" figure I've heard one person cite, but not too shabby either. Especially since I haven't tried that hard.
(I'm just trying to earn enough to buy Rocket Boots. =)
-- Acyl

Mekadave

Also, I left out earlier that some higher end sets add up to fully SOed effectiveness. I got the Brilliant Leadership set in Spineshatter's Punks, and their Acc and Dmg are the same as if they had 3 SOs in both, as well as the equivalent of 2 End reducers (which makes summoning them easier and they don't run out of endurance in AV fights anymore). I got the set at max level (40 for that one).
I'm looking forward to seeing what I can put in my Grav controller's Singularity. Maybe that same set if I can't find one with Hold bonuses.
Global: @Jimmy Amp
"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers