Exemplar Effects on Enhancements

Parent Article: Exemplar

Overview

The functionality of Exemplaring can not take into account when you slotted powers, nor can we dictate which Enhancements to keep if we were to reduce the number of slots you have.

Because of this, we have implemented a system with Exemplaring that reduces the overall effectiveness of your Enhancements based on the level you Exemplared to. This is meant to loosely simulate the fact that you would have fewer Enhancements at any given level.

In addition, this reduction in power does not take into account the "power jumps" that occur for regular players when they hit 12 to 15 and 22 to 25 (as they move from TO to DO to SO Enhancements). Instead it is a smooth curve across the levels. This was done on purpose so that there wasn't "ideal Exemplar-to Levels". For example we didn't want people saying "Exemplaring to 22 is WAY better than exemplaring to 21!" Which would have been the case had we not put in the smooth curve.

Is it an exact science? No, and it was never meant to be. Exemplaring was an extension of the Sidekicking system (which does not increase Enhancement strengths by the way). We realized we would need to reduce Enhancements or else Exemplared characters would simply outshine their Aspirants because they would be better slotted.

—Positron, July 7, 2006

Details

All these adjustments apply only to basic benefits, not to set bonuses or global benefits.

1. The Minor Bonus Threshold. The game doesn't scale down bonuses that are small to begin with. Any individual benefits of 20% or less are unaffected by Exemplaring down as far as level 21. Enhancement benefits of 10% or less are unaffected by Exemplaring to levels 11-20. Benefits of 5% or less are never reduced by Exemplaring. Ignore Steps 2 and 3 for each separate bonus you have that's at or below these minimums.

This step often comes into play with multi-aspect IOs, especially ones that boost three or four different attributes.

2. The Maximum Bonus Cap. If your Exemplar level is 45 or less, each individual benefit is first capped at 41.5%. This is an extra step done before the normal reduction. If your Exemplar level is 46+, skip this step.

This step rarely has a big impact. It only has a significant effect on Knockback Distance and Interrupt Time Reduction bonuses from SOs, HOs, and mid- to high-level one-aspect IOs. It will also reduce the benefits of Schedule A one-aspect IOs of levels 48+, but only by a small amount — less than 1%, even in the worst case.

3. The Actual Scaling. Look up the factors for both your Exemplar level and your true level in the following table, and divide the first value by the second. This gives you your universal scaling factor. Multiply all your affected Enhancement benefits by it.

Level	Value		Level	Value
1	0.022		17	0.454
2	0.045		18	0.486
3	0.068		19	0.519
4	0.092		20	0.553
5	0.116		21	0.587
6	0.141		22	0.623
7	0.166		23	0.659
8	0.192		24	0.696
9	0.219		25	0.733
10	0.246		26	0.772
11	0.274		27	0.811
12	0.302		28	0.852
13	0.331		29	0.893
14	0.361		30	0.935
15	0.391		31	0.978
16	0.422		32-50	1.0

4. Apply Enhancement Diversification to your grand totals at the very end.

Examples

Example 1: You are level 40 and elect to help a friend with the first Respec Trial. You are auto-Exemplared to 33. The value for level 33 is 1.0, and the value for 40 is 1.0, so your Enhancement benefits won't change (1.0 ÷ 1.0 = 1.0).

Example 2: You are level 30 and enter Bloody Bay. Bloody Bay adjusts all characters to a Combat Level of 25. The value for level 25 is 0.733, and the value for level 30 is 0.935, so your Enhancement benefits will scale to 0.784 times normal (0.733 ÷ 0.935).

Example 3: You call your level 50 Scrapper out of retirement to help a team in Steel Canyon. You get Exemplared to a level 13 Controller. Your Enhancements will provide roughly one-third their normal benefit (0.331 ÷ 1.0 = 0.331).

Observations

• As Positron points out, the system is gradual (up to a point). It does not do something simple like downgrade your SOs to DOs if you Exemplar below the first level that SOs are freely available but leave them untouched otherwise.

• The system degrades the character's Enhancements, even in cases where a character would already have six SOs or comparable IOs in the power in question at the lower, Exemplared level. This is an attempt to balance the fact that the character will have more slots overall. For example, a level 26 Storm Summoning Defender cannot have more than one slot in Tornado, but he can have six slots in Steamy Mist. A level 50 Storm Defender who's Exemplared to 26 can have six slots in both. His Tornado will be stronger than the naturally 26 Defender's, but his Steamy Mist will be weaker.

• Level 32 is a key breakpoint. If you are 33 or higher, you can Exemplar as low as 32 with no penalties no matter how big the drop is. If you are 32 or higher and you Exemplar below 32, your penalties will be the same no matter how high you were to begin with.

• Due to Step 1, you can use up to level 25 Dual-Aspect IOs, level 43 Tri-Aspect IOs, and level 50 Quad-Aspect IOs and suffer no bonus reduction unless you Exemplar to level 20 or lower. (Those breakpoints are only accurate for Schedule A benefits. Schedule B's are higher, C's and D's are lower.)

Example: Slotting Aimed Shot with

Ruin - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40

Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 43

Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 43

Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 43

Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 43

gives a total bonus of: 93.18% Accuracy, 93.57% Damage, 76.8% Endurance Reduction and 93.18% Recharge Reduction at full effect from level 21 to 50.

• The breakpoints in Steps 1 and 2 don't vary based on the aspect's Schedule the way ED's breakpoints do. The same fixed values are used for all benefits. That means Step 1 is more lenient toward Schedule Bs than normal, and Step 2 is harsher on Schedules C and D.

Set bonuses

Set Bonuses are always on, even if the power in which the Set is slotted isn't activated, and even if that power is greyed out due to exemplaring! However, you do start to lose the bonuses if you exemplar more than three levels under the level of the IOs in the Set.

Let's give an example:

Let's say you have a full set of six Set IOs in a level 41 power. Three of the Set IOs are level 30, the other three are level 20 – so, you're getting 5 Set Bonuses from the six Set IOs.

Now, if you exemplar down to level 35, the power is greyed out because you're under the level of the power. However, all five bonuses are still working! Level 35 is higher than the level 30 and level 20 IOs.

Now, if you exemplar down to 27, you still get all 5 Set Bonuses because you are within 3 levels under the level 30's.

However, if you exemplar down to level 26, you've gone too low for those 3 30s, and so, it's like they don't exist. However, at level 26, you're still over the level of the three 20s, and so they still 'work' and are giving you the first two bonuses of the Set.

Attuned IOs will provide their set bonuses down to 3 levels below the minimum level at which the set can be slotted.

The Set Bonuses of Purple (Very Rare) sets, PvP sets, Archetype Origin sets, and Winter Origin sets are immune to the effects of exemplaring. However, the aspects of the power that they buff (e.g., Accuracy or Damage) are affected by exemplaring just like any other enhancement.

Special IOs from Sets

Some of the IOs from IO Sets single-handedly, all by themselves, provide one or more benefits to the whole character, without requiring any of the other members of the Set to be slotted. Some of these also buff an aspect of a power (usually Defense or Resistance), but the majority provide a rather unique extra benefit or bonus which may or may not be related to the Set they come from or the power into which they are slotted.

See Set Enhancements with Special Effects for a complete list of all the Special IOs.

Special IOs are of two types: Special IOs that act like Set Bonuses, called Globals, and Procs.

Globals

Set-Like Special IOs

The IOs that act like Set Bonuses give a benefit that most often applies a continuous effect globally to the character. And just like Set Bonuses, the power in which they are slotted can be greyed out due to exemplaring and the Global will still work. However, just like Set Bonuses, the Global stops working when the character is exemplared more than three levels under the level of the Global IO.

So, for example, a level 20 Karma Knockback Protection Global slotted in a level 50 power will still work if the character is exemplared to level 17 and the level 50 power is greyed out. But Karma's Knockback Protection will stop working when exemplared to level 16 – more than three levels under the Special IO itself. If that level 20 Karma was put into Hover which was picked up at level 6, then the Karma would still stop working if exemplared to level 16, even though Hover is still working.

If the Enhancement is Attuned, then its level is considered to be the lowest level at which the set can first be slotted. If the Karma Knockback Protection IO in the above example was Attuned, it would stop working at level 7 (the level 10 minimum for Karma, minus 3).

There are two (currently, maybe more to come) Global PvP Special IOs that are excepted from the under-exemplaring rule. If it's a PvP Special IO, it will never turn off from exemplaring.

Procs

All the other Special IOs are called 'Procs.' Unlike the Globals, Procs depend on the power they are slotted in to be activated in order to work. If the power isn't activated, then no benefit from the Proc. Consequently, exemplaring lower than the level of the power means the power is greyed out and can't be used (even passive powers follow that rule), which means the Proc won't work. However, the upside of Procs is that if the power is active, the Proc always work, even if you exemplar way below the level of the Proc. Procs don't follow the -3 level rule that Globals and Set Bonuses do.

So, e.g., if you slot a level 50 Run Stealth in Sprint (a level 1 power) and then exemplar down to level 15, you will still get the Stealth bonus when you turn on Sprint even though you're 35 levels lower than the level of that Special IO.

Procs that have a chance to do damage, do so based on the level of the character and not the level of the Proc. The damage is not modified by ArcheType. See Table of Proc Damage for specifics.