Episode 37 – News and IO Sets Feature Pt 2

Happy Monday and welcome to a  new episode of the COH Podcast!

In this episode we discuss:

• The Hero Dawn Bash
• Our one year anniversary is coming up
• News
• SI Radio Back Alley Brawler interview
• Level Cap discussion
• Additional benefits of attending Hero-Con ’08

Click through for the full IO Set Feature that covers Health Regenerations and Status Effects protection

IO Sets by Fantastic Foe – Part 2

This part will focus on Health Regeneration, and Status Effect protection

Regeneration Rate

The following IO sets provide boosts to the rate in which your character naturally regenerates hit points. Most require only 2 set IOs in a power, a handful require more, and I list them in order of least required to highest. I must point out that many of the sets that offer regeneration as a bonus are not large sets, I mean the entire set is less than six IOs. Depending on the set, it might be more expensive or difficult getting two IOs out of a 3 IO set, then any two IOs from a 6 IO set.

For comparison
Unenhanced Fitness: Health yields +40% regeneration
Unenhanced Regeneration: Fast Healing yields +75% regeneration

Sets requiring two IOs for +regen bonuses:PBAOE: Scirocco’s Dervish +10% regen
Ranged: Volley Fire +4%
Ranged: Entropic Chaos +10%    [any 2 IOs from 3 available]
Ranged: Devastation +12%    [2/5]
Sniper: Sting of the Manticore +12%
Pet: Brilliant Leadership +4%
Heal: Triage +4%    [2/4]
Heal: Numina’s Convalescence +12%
Defense: Serendipity +4%
Defense: Luck of the Gambler +10%
Confuse: Perplex +6%
Stun: Rope a Dope +6%
Flight: Freebird +8% [2/3]
Teleport: Jaunt +4% [2/3]
Teleport: Time and Space Manip. +8% [2/3]
Taunt: Annoyance +4% [2/3]

The following IOs require 3 set pieces for +regen bonuses
Taunt: Perfect Zinger +10%
End. Modification: Energy Manipulator +6%  [3/3 a complete set required…]
To Hit Buff: Rectified Reticle +6%   [3/3 a complete set required…]

The following IOs require 4 set pieces
Knockback: Force Feedback +10%
End. Modification: Efficacy Adaptor +10%
Defense Debuff: Touch of Lady Gray +8%

IO requiring 5 set pieces:
Knockback: Kinetic Crash +6%

But that’s not all. There are two IO sets that offer +regen and that only require 2 pieces, but that are the ultra-rare purple variety that are only available as a level 50 recipe and have the Unique constraint. They are:
Ranged:Apocalypse +16%
Pet: Soulbound Allegiance +16%

Now, I haven’t tried to build a character with a focus on +regen via set IO bonuses, but it looks to me like you could get some hefty percentages. There are several sets offering bonuses between 8-12%, and with stacking , that adds up quick. I would not be surprised if someone could get around 100% boost, doubling their natural regen rate. But that is just my wild a$$ uninformed guess.
Status Effects

“Status Effects” are the types of powers that do not do damage, but change the status of your character. Sleep, Stun, Hold, Confuse, Slow, are all status effects.

For comparison
Sleep Resistance: Unenhanced Fitness Pool:Health gives a 40% resistance to sleep (meaning it reduces sleep duration by 40%)

I believe that the above numbers are fixed, regardless of your level. CONFUSEMost of the Confuse Resistance bonus sets require 3 set pieces and as we’ll see as a trend in mez protection, offer very small bonuses.

The following IO set requires 2 pieces:
To Hit Debuff: Discouraging Words +1.65%    [any 2 from 3 available]

The following IO sets require 3 pieces
Melee:Focussed Smite +1.65%    [any 3 from 5 available}
Ranged: Entropic Chaos +2.75%    [3/5]
Pet: Sovereign Right +2.75%
Heal: Harmonized Healing +1.65%
Defense: Kismet +1.65%    [3/5]
Hold: Essence of Curare +1.65%

We’re harmed in some ways by the values of most of the bonuses, since the stacking limit will hit fast. I think when slotting out my Peacebringer, I casually got around 10% reduction in confuse duration.

FEAR

The following IO sets provide bonuses reducing the during of fear/terrorize effects on a character. The sets below require any 2 pieces from a set.
Ranged: Far Strike +1.1%    [ any 2 from 3 available ]
Ranged: Ruin +1.65%    [2/5]
Heal: Doctored Wounds +2.2%
Hold: Essence of Curare +1.65%
Taunt: Perfect Zinger +2.75%

This set requires 3 IO pieces:
Knockback: Force Feedback +2.75%

This is a small collection to work from. Empathy/Energy defenders might be able to rack up some benefits though. In my experience, Fear is rare, but I don’t PVP, so what do I know? I do remember being terrorized by an AV during a Peregrine Island safeguard. My invul tank was very angry at that. Smash! Smash puny AV!

IMMOBILIZE Resistance

None of the sets below require more than 2 pieces from any set, Immobilization resistance comes rather cheaply then.
Melee: Bonesnap +1.1%    [any 2 from 3 available]
Melee: Smashing Haymaker +2.2%    [2/4]
Melee: Kinetic Combat +2.75%    [2/5]
Melee:Focussed Smite +1.65%    [2/5]
Melee: Touch of Death +2.75%
Melee: Crushing Impact +2.2%
Melee: Mako’s Bite +3.3%
Ranged Damage: Decimation +2.75%
Pet: Unquestioning Loyalty +1.1%
Resist Damage: Reactive Armor +1.1%
Def: Red Fortune +2.2%
Slow: Curtail Speed +1.1%    [2/5]
Slow: Impeded Swiftness +2.2%
Hold: Neuronic Shutdown +2.2%
Running: Quickfoot +1.1% [2/3]
Running: Celerity +2.2% [2/3]

It seems interesting to me that the archetypes more likely to rack up large immobilization resistance bonuses, scrappers and tankers (due to the melee focus), are the ones who largely don’t need it due to immobilization protection powers in their sets. Just saying…

SLEEP Resistance

IO set Sleep bonuses, like Immobilization bonuses, are available from 2-slotting sets (with one exception that actually applies to all the anti-mez sets, I’ll get to that at the end…)
Melee: Pulverizing Fisticuffs +2.2%    [any 2 from 3 available]
PBAOE: Multi Strike +1.65%
Ranged: Salvo +2.2    [2/3]
Ranged: Tempest +2.2    [2/4]
Targeted AOE: Detonation +1.65%
Pet: Sovereign Right +2.75%
Resist Damage: Impervious Skin +2.2%    [2/5]
Resist Damage: Titanium Coating +2.2%
Slow: Pacing of the Turtle +2.75%

There is enough variety among the values and enough different sets that offer easy slotting for +sleep resistance, that a healthy percentage can be produced. But it some ways, it doesn’t seem worth it. Usually, when a character gets slept, they get woken up by an attack before the sleep wears off. Mind Controllers, back me up on this…

Now, all of the above mez resistance bonuses can be helped by two sets that offer general anti-mez resistance, at the cost of requiring 6 set pieces:
To Hit Buff: Adjusted Targeting +7.5 status effect resistance
To Hit Debuff: Dampened Spirits +7.5% status effect resistance

Those are heavy duty benefits, and in theory stackable. Good luck affording them, since to get all 6, you need to buy the expensive
+Recharge IO.

The next part will focus on Accuracy bonuses, Damage bonuses, boosting Endurance, boosting Health, and as an odd addition, set IOs that offer Debt Protection

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