Originally posted by 420sega
It seems there are definitely advantages if you can work with the good AEQ you roll rather than having to buy it; of course this is going to work better for some build than others. Especially more unconventional builds, they may have a hard time rolling the AEQ they seek or that work with the rest of their build. Luckily for safeties like I have, it seems pretty easy to roll proper AEQs.
There is... if you're willing to make small sacrifices. Consider the following if you were building a Run Block Guard;
So you roll a great piece... a +3 strength and a 5% hold block (lets say it's gloves) and it only takes you 6 refreshes. That means you got a 125 BT piece (cost to build it) for 18 BT's (cost of refreshing) and small cost of purchase (I think it's about 27 BT's?)
Then, when you try again, on the 3rd refresh you get +3 block (shoes) piece. WAY too many people would pass this by and keep hunting for better. Maybe you get lucky... maybe... and get another great piece in another 4-6 refreshes... MAYBE. Most likely you'll spend a lot more BT's while hunting for better when you can take that piece, add on ANYTHING in the enhancement slot, and still save a LOT of BT's. Cost of refreshes for this piece? 9. Cost of piece? Around 13 BT's. Cost to add on most expensive enhancement? 75 Bt's (75 BT's is THE most you'll spend for any enhancement... you can spend less though depending on your choice).
So far you have 2 AEQ for a total cost of around 57 BT's.
You try again and maybe get a +2 strength with 5% Hold Block (lets say another 5 refreshes... cost 15 BT's). It's not a PERFECT piece... you'll have one less # on your strength at the end of the build... but it's still worth grabbing. Total cost 42 BT's.
You now have 3 pieces of AEQ... total cost around 100 BT's. It costs 125 to build an AEQ piece (max cost... 50 for the +3... 75 for the top enhancement[s].) Now you can build your final AEQ piece exactly as you want it... you'll have a 4 AEQ dot and the one AEQ piece without any enhancement (the second piece)? You can put in ANY enhancement you want (or need, based on your luck in shopping for the other pieces).
I cannot stress enough that too many people will bypass some of those pieces I listed in the HOPE they can find a better piece. The truth is, I'd bet 80% or more of those people complain about how shopping SUCKED for them because they had to 'refresh' way too many times. Truth is, you gotta have a good plan to start and be able to >ADAPT< while shopping to get the best out of it. Below is a link to my AEQ Shopping Guide. Feel free to copy and/or share.
http://glb.warriorgeneral.com/game/forum_thread.pl?thread_id=5252795&page=1#49305013