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

In This Episode:

• Announcing Issue 13: Architect
• Oversight with the Shield Powerset and Stalkers!
• Hero 1 on Mission Architect on the Training Room!
• Win a Freakshow Costume Code on w00t Studios!
• Want to get some ideas for Base Building?
• Winter Event Testing Sept 4 on the Training Room!
• IO Set Feature thanks to Fantastic Foe!
• New contest – win free PPD Hardsuit costume tokens!
• Promo: JC Hutchins 7th Son Obsidian

Click through for the full IO Set Feature text

IO Set feature, by Fantastic Foe

[Awhile] ago, I suggested as a possible follow up to your IO
feature that you present what IO sets to look into if you were to try
and beef up a specific attribute of a character. You cleverly put the
job onto me (my boss calls that reflection, an art form perfected by
Wally in Dilbert) and suggested I submit something.

For my first research attempt, I decided to target Movement and
Recovery, two aspects that are probably better improved by picking
powers, but I like having options… and you can still pick Stamina
and Swift, and drop the bonuses from IO sets on top. Ignore ED! You
know you want to!

But I digress.

Okay, my basic goal was to look into cheap set pieces that provide a
bonus very quickly, only requiring 2 set pieces to provide the bonus.
Here’s what I found.

IO Set Pieces for Movement (in particular, running speed):

For comparison’s sake, unenhanced Sprint provides a 50% running speed
boost when toggled, unenhanced swift provides 35%. (If I’m wrong on
these percentages, please point it out… I’ll handle the mockery as
best as I can…)

The following IO sets provide bonuses to Running speed when 2 or more
set pieces are in a power:

Ranged Damage: Maelstrom’s Fury +3 % Run
Sniper: Exploit Weakness +2% Run
Healing: Regenerative Tissue +4% Run
Resist Damage: Aegis +5% Run
Hold: Ghost Widow’s Embrace +5% Run
Stun: Stagger +2% Run
Knockback: Kinetic Crash +3% Run
Melee: Focussed Smite +3% movement
Ranged Damage: Thunderstrike +4% movement
Pet: Brilliant Leadership +2% movement
Sleep: Induced Coma +3% movement
Knockback: Force Feedback +5% MOVE (Run, Flight, and Jump)
Endurance Modification: Performance Shifter +5% MOVE (see above)
To Hit: Gaussian’s Syncronized Fire Control +5% MOVE (see above)
Melee: Kinetic Combat +5% movement (see above)

Overall, there are enough large 4% and 5% bonuses that stacking can
can yield some nice results, particularly the ones to increase all
movement powers by 5%. Hover in particular is better when improved by
25% (that would be enhanced Hover, unenhanced hover would still be
painfully slow…)

The availability of the sets vary, the latest is
available at level 25, and none of the sets were prohibitively
expensive (in that at least 2 recipes where relatively cheap to
purchase. I admit to not delving too deeply into the economics.)

IO Set Pieces for Recovery

For comparison’s sake, unenhanced Stamina boosts endurance recovery 25%.

The following IO sets provide Recovery bonuses when 2 or more set
pieces are in a power:

Melee: Bruising Blow 1%
PBAOE: Cleaving Blow 1%
Ranged Damage: Thunderstrike 2%
Targeted AOE: Positron’s Blast 2.5%
Sniper: Calibrated Accuracy 1%
Sniper: Executioner’s Contract 2%
Sniper: Extreme Measures 1.5%
Pets: Commanding Presence 1.5%
Pets: Blood Mandate 1.5%
Heals: Harmonized Healing 1.5%
Heals: MIracle 2.5%
Resist Damage: Steadfast Protection 1.5%
Resist Damage: Impervium Armor 2.5 %
Defense: Kismet 1.5%
Defense: Gift of the Ancients 2%
Confuse: Befuddling Aura 1%
Confuse: Cacophony 1%
Confuse: Malaise’s Illusions 2.5%
Slow: Tempered Readiness 1.5%
Stuns: Razzle Dazzle 2%
Stuns: Stupefy 2.5%
Flight: Soaring 1%
Taunt: Triumphant Insult 1%
Endurance Modification: Adrenal Adjustment 1%
Endurance Modification: Energy Manipulation 1.5%

The remaining +recovery set IOs are all in endurance mod sets, and
require 3-4 set pieces, so Frankenslotting is possible, and can even
be combined with +recovery bonuses from the 2-piece End Mod sets.

Endurance Modification: Efficacy Adaptor (3 IOs required) + 1.5%
Endurance Modification: Performance Shifter (4 IOs required) + 2.5%

Overall, there are many sets that do provide an endurance recovery
boost. Sadly, the percentages are very small, and the stacking limit
of no more than 5 bonuses can hit fast and hard. That being said, it
should be relatively easy to hit +10% recovery, and some sets that can
frankenslot recovery boosting set IOs should easily hit 16-20%. Most
of the sets are relatively cheap to get at 2 pieces, except for the
Defense sets (which are usually small sets overall.)

These seem like small bonuses for the effort. I’d have to do an
in-depth analysis to support or refute that statement, and that is
beginning to seem like real work, In general, this might be of value
to people who despite triple-slotting Stamina still have endurance
issues, or people who choose not to take the Fitness path and instead
maximize endurance reductions and want even more endurance relief.

Beyond the sets above, there are very very expensive Purple IO sets,
available only as level 50 IOs that confer 4% recovery. These sets
are:

Melee: Hecatomb
PBAOE: Armageddon
Targeted AOE: Ragnarok
Confuse: Coercive Persuasion
Sleep: Fortunata’s Hypnosis
Immobilization: Gravitational Anchor
Stuns: Absolute Amazement
Hold: Unbreakable Constraint

These individual sets are Unique, so you couldn’t stack 5 Hecatombs,
but with time, patience, and influence, you could (okay, depending on
your build…) slot 5 from the above list and add +20% to your
recovery. Nice.

A quick clarification on what I mean by Frankenslotting:
You can’t Frankenslot a power if you are slotting more than 4 IOs from one set.

Obviously, you can 5-slot from one set, and then fill the final
available slot with a set IO from a different set, that is still
Frankenslotting. What I should have said: if you want to get IO set
bonuses from more than one set placed in a single power, 4 IOs is the
most you can slot and still be able to slot IOs from a different set
and get bonuses, since you always have to slots at least 2 IOs from a
set to get any bonus.

That might be obvious, but from the way I was saying it in my emails,
that 4 IOs was the max for frankenslotting, it was unclear.

That’s all for now. Hope this is somewhat useful, let me know if you
would like Combat Bonuses from IO Set features delivered in any other
way, or at all, or with more or less detail.

Thanks again for the great podcast.
Pat aka Fantastic Foe

We ended up with a show chock full of news and comments, but didn’t want to postpone the Intro to Bases further, so you gets the whole jumbo sized episode in one shot!

If you have a problem downloading the whole thing, I’ve split it into two (lower bitrate) pieces which you can directly download here: Part 1, Part 2 (note: right-click and choose “Save Link As” or your browser’s equivalent).

This time we discuss:

• News
  • NCSoft and Vivox Announce Collaboration
  • Exclusive Video Look at the Midnight Squad!
• Discussion of SI radio interview which leads to a mini-Paladin spotlight among other things
• Feature: Intro to Bases
• Our first listener meet up
• Listener comments/iTunes Reviews
• Listener feedback in email/voicemail
• The Wandering Geek Podcast
• Promos: 7th Son Obsidian and Takeover.

This episode was recorded last week but was delayed due to some technical difficulties (and minor construction at our base!)

We discuss;

• Ex Libris links to us on the official forums!
• We’re moving our studio around
• Blaster damage bug corrected
• Further veil fixes
• Clarification from Positron on the TF changes
• A new TF change on Test Server to address some of the gripes
• Main topic: Cryptic Studios Champions Online MMO now in development
• Feedback
• Hop into our new Character Gallery to see what our listener’s characters look like — and add your own!
• Promo: JC Hutchin’s Ultra Creatives Interview Series