Incarnate Progression Strategies

Caveats

This is written for Homecoming: City of Heroes Issue 27, which has the following differences from the Live Incarnate progression:

• Alpha Slot unlocking is no longer required. Incarnate XP starts accruing the moment you turn Level 50. (Trapdoor can still be fought by heading to Ouroboros and doing the Mender Ramiel arc, but it isn't required any longer.)
• Incarnate Shards, while still issued, have been de-emphasized in favor of Incarnate Threads.
  • Shards still drop, but only apply to Alpha Slot abilities and purchasing Incarnate salvage to craft Alpha Slot Powers only.
  • Astral Merits are present in Incarnate Trials as rewards, as well as SSA Arcs as a once a week reward.
  • Notice of the Well is still offered for WST rewards. Apart from being one of three pieces of salvage to craft a T3 Alpha power, it can also be rolled over into 40 Incarnate Threads, and is the only way to make Favor of The Well (32 Shards + 2 Notice of The Well tokens) to craft a T4 Alpha power (or also to convert to 100 Threads: see Convert > Incarnate Shard > Upgrade).
  • All slots have recipes that use Incarnate Thread components, including Alpha, which has alternate Incarnate Thread recipes beneath the Incarnate Shard recipes in the same listings.
  • It is also possible to convert Incarnate Shards to Threads, but involves spending 1,000,000 INF per day to make 10 Shards into 10 Threads, or wasting Shards at a ratio of 2:1 (10 Shards can make 5 Threads, any time, fee-free.)
• Incarnate XP still needs to be collected to unlock slots, which now occurs with normal gameplay for a Level 50 character. Physical and Psychic Incarnate XP unlocks the first five slots, Alpha, Interface, Destiny, Judgement and Lore. Advanced Psychic Incarnate XP then begins to accrue to unlock Hybrid, which always unlocks last. XP Boosting, Patrol XP and server events are ignored: Incarnate XP awards separately from regular XP.
• Incarnate Trials are still available, but are no longer the only way to progress characters through Incarnate XP/development.
  • Any Level 50 eligible content drops Incarnate Shards and Threads.
  • The Veteran Levels system awards Incarnate Threads, Empyrean Merits, and other tokens for gameplay past Level 50 for 99 "Veteran Levels" worth of progress. At Level 100, the rewards stop and players need to seek other avenues for Incarnate progress.
  • Hamidon Raids now award 4 Empyrean Merits once per 16 hours on completion.
• Empyrean Merits are the primary reward currency for Incarnate Recipes past Tier 1 and Tier 2.
  • Tier 3 powers require one piece of Rare Incarnate Thread made salvage, costing 8 Empyrean Merits.
  • Tier 4 powers require one piece of Very Rare Incarnate Thread made salvage, costing 30 Empyrean Merits.
• The Entire Incarnate Salvage system (with one key exception below) is character-bound. Salvage, shards, threads, and tokens such as Notice/Favor of the Well are bound to a character, cannot be traded, and cannot be emailed to others or yourself.
  • EXCEPTION: If a character finishes their Incarnate progress and has excess Empyrean Merits, 50 at a time can be converted to a Transcendent Merit at any Merit Vendor and emailed to a character on the same account to use instead.

With all of that in mind, here's an explanation of how the Incarnate Powers "tech trees" work in-game.

Incarnate Convert Window

The Incarnate system is designed to push players to make costly mistakes, such as purchasing a T1 power when a T4 is already slotted. Doesn't harm a build, but it wastes resources.

Keep in mind the following:

• Incarnate Shards and Incarnate Shard Salvage ONLY applies for the Alpha Slot. Once Alpha Tier IV is unlocked, remaining Astral Merits and Incarnate Shards are best used for Thread Conversion.
• Salvage Types CANNOT be mixed. Incarnate Shard Salvage CANNOT be used for Incarnate Thread Recipes and vice versa.
• Once Salvage has been crafted, unused Salvage can be converted back into Incarnate Shards (1 per Breakdown) or Incarnate Threads (varies on rarity) to use elsewhere, but at a loss. It is important to craft only what you need to complete a recipe.
  • This is a major caution about the entire Incarnate System as a whole: it is designed for a player to lose track during day-to-day progress and create the wrong component by accident if they do not pay attention, which results in delaying progress further.
  • It may help to take notes or map out a plan. It is a lot of information to track.

Costs are NOT Cumulative except when mentioned at the end: each Tier is required to reach the next higher one, but salvage and currencies start from 0 each time.

Tier 1

To Craft:
Three specific pieces of Common Incarnate Shard OR Incarnate Thread Salvage.

Cost:
Alpha Slot: 12 shards total for one Tier 1 power choice.
Other Slots including Alpha: 60 Threads total for one Tier 1 power choice.

Tier 2

To Craft:
Two specific pieces of Common Incarnate Shard OR Incarnate Thread Salvage (this will recur for the remaining Tiers as well),
AND
One specific piece of Uncommon Incarnate Shard OR Incarnate Thread Salvage for a total of three items.

Cost:
Alpha Slot: 16 Shards for one Tier 2 Power Choice.
Other Slots including Alpha: 100 Threads for one Tier 2 Power Choice.

Tier 3

Alpha and other slots diverge broadly here:

Alpha Slot Only
Two Pieces of Common Incarnate Shard Salvage, plus a Notice of The Well:

• If crafted, a Notice costs 12,500,000 INF, 40 Incarnate Shards, and requires crafting one each of the following Uncommon Salvage (each component also costing 8 shards each + 1 Common Salvage Piece at 4 shards resulting in 12 shards for each single item and altogether 48 shards for all four bought at once):
  • Drop of the Well
  • Incarnate Infused Nictus
  • Infinite Tessellation
  • Vanguard DNA Metamatrix
• Or, what most players do: earn one for free at Level 50 by completing a Weekly Strike Target.

Other Slots including Alpha
Thread Recipes start to get harder, too, as well:
Two specific pieces of Incarnate Thread Salvage,
AND
One specific piece of Rare Incarnate Thread Salvage, made with:

• 25 million Influence
• 100 Incarnate Threads
• And one each of the Uncommon Incarnate Thread Salvage Items (at 60 Threads per piece at 240 Threads for all four at once:)
  • Cytolitic Infusion
  • Dimensional Pocket
  • Gluon Pocket
  • Worn Spellbook

Totals:
Alpha Slot: Crafted -- 12.5 mil INF, 88 Shards... or Earned Notice -- 8 Shards and 1 Notice of The Well.
Other Slots including Alpha: 25 mil INF, 340 Threads.

Tier 4

This is where the simplicity of methods inverts itself: the Alpha Recipe is the simpler one to understand than any Threads Recipe:

Alpha Slot Only
Two pieces of Common Incarnate Shard Salvage plus a Favor of the Well:

• 32 Incarnate Shards
• 2 Notice of The Wells

Favor of the Wells CANNOT be earned in-game, they must be crafted.

Other Slots Including Alpha
Like the above, another layer of complexity:
Two pieces of Common Incarnate Thread Salvage,
AND
One Very Rare Incarnate Salvage Component.

Each Very Rare Threads Salvage Component requires:

• 100 million INF
• One each of the Rare Thread Component Salvage items:
  • Ancient Texts
  • Exotic Isotope
  • Semi-Conscious Energy
  • Superconductive Membrane

Each Rare Thread Component is a nesting doll of threads:

• One Rare Thread Component (Forbidden Technique, Living Relic, Self Evolving Alloy OR Thaumic Resonator)
  • Four Very Rare Components at 960 Threads + 100 million INF
    • Four Uncommon Incarnate Thread Salvage items at 240 Threads + 100 million INF
      • Four Common Incarnate Thread Salvage items for each one of the above at 60 threads each.

A Better Way...

Salvage Tables

There are two places for Incarnate Salvage Tables:

• Incarnate Arcs and Task Forces which offer Incarnate Salvage as a reward drop.
• Incarnate Trials, which offer a full range of reward drops:
  • All Trials will offer drops of Common or Uncommon Salvage at the very least for any player who stays from start to finish (or if the Trial is completed; failed trials do not get reward tables.)
  • Trials apart from Behavioral Adjustment Facility and Lambda Sector Trial have a higher chance to drop Rare and Very Rare tables in addition to Common or Uncommon Salvage.
  • Underground Trial completion is longer than the rest, therefore the Common/Uncommon Reward Table does not apply, guaranteeing a Rare or Very Rare reward table at the end.

Salvage gained this way skips past crafting requirements dramatically, allowing players to complete Incarnate Crafting faster.

Use Empyrean Merits

Empyrean Merits can speed up Tier 3 and Tier 4 Salvage Crafting with a simpler cost:

• 8 Empyrean Merits to craft one Rare Incarnate Thread Salvage item.
• 30 Empyrean Merits to craft one Very Rare Incarnate Thread Salvage item.

Empyrean Merits only work on Incarnate Thread recipes and cannot be traded or used to craft Notice of The Well/Favor of The Well tokens. (Although both tokens can be converted directly into Threads.)

It is strongly advised not to use Empyrean Merits to breakdown into Threads from the Veteran Levels rewards for the following reasons:

• Playing regular Level 50 content will earn threads.
• Shards can be broken down into Threads (1:1 for 1,000,000 INF every 24 hours, 10 each. Or 2:1 for free anytime, or 10 Shards to 5 Threads each.) Unneeded Incarnate Shard salvage can be broken down into Shards for the same conversion as well.
• Astral Merits can be converted to 4 Threads per merit as well.

There should be enough Empyrean Merits in Veteran Levels 1-100 to attain Tier 4 in all six slots at least ONCE, with some left over in case of mistakes. The remainder have more value as Transcendent Merit use for other characters on your account if you do not wish to unlock any more Incarnate powers (for example; multiple builds with different Incarnate abilities for each build).

Adjusted Thread/Merits Overview

Knowing how hard it is to craft (or earn a drop of) Tier 4 Incarnate Salvage, this should be a sigh of relief.

Tier 1

To Craft:
Three specific pieces of Common Incarnate Thread Salvage.

Cost:
60 Threads total for one Tier 1 power choice.

Tier 2

To Craft:
Two specific pieces of Common Incarnate Thread Salvage,
AND
One specific piece of Uncommon Incarnate Thread Salvage for a total of three items.

Cost:
100 Threads for one Tier 2 Power Choice.

Tier 3

To Craft:
Two specific pieces of Common Incarnate Thread Salvage,
AND
8 Empyrean Merits to purchase a Rare Incarnate Thread Salvage component.

Cost:
40 Threads and 8 Empyrean Merits.

Tier 4

To Craft:
Two specific pieces of Common Incarnate Thread Salvage,
AND
30 Empyrean Merits to purchase a Very Rare Incarnate Thread Salvage component.

Cost:
40 Threads and 30 Empyrean Merits.

Mitigating Mistakes

Take advantage of Sidegrades.

This feature allows you to 'reroll' a salvage piece to a different one in the same level in case of a mistake made. This can be faster than waiting to earn/re-create missing salvage. Losing threads is less of a setback than losing merits, or waiting even longer to use the salvage for a different power/path.

Breakdowns on the other hand should be a last-resort.

If the salvage made can be used elsewhere in your Incarnate Slot plan, waiting to spend it is always better than breaking it down to component threads/shards at a loss. Remember: Incarnate components have unlimited storage - you cannot run out of room with Incarnate Salvage crafted or earned.

Breaking down Incarnate Shard salvage when your Alpha Slot is finished is acceptable when you have no plans to unlock other Alpha Slot abilities.

There is no Undo.

Other than those two methods, salvage cannot ever be brought back to pre-crafting components. And any Incarnate Powers crafted are permanent (unless the power is consumed in Tier-to-Tier progress.)

Cumulative Total

280 Threads, 46 Empyrean Merits from Start to Finish.

Conclusion

Which begs the question: which method(s) would you prefer to use for Incarnate Progress?