At what point do you spring for an Armory for alts?

I've been working on alts during the hiatus until new content. Been wondering how other players handle the leveling of alts. I've typically waited until I have alts within a tier of the current top level before investing in a second armory. Also, do you prefer to maintain full DPS build until working on a second, full Support, or a Hybrid build of some kind.

Just curious how others approach this

if i'm bored enough with my current loadout that i want to try another one and still keep my current one. or if i want to try a different role

I bought my main's second armory off the marketplace on a Legendary membership. So all my alts redeem the second armory ASAP.

Armories are not Redeemable, they are a consumed. You buy 1, you can only use 1 on one toon, no other toons can claim it

I only have 2 alts (1 troll and 1 heal) and each gets +2 armories. 1 for support role, 1 for DPS, and 1 for PvP.

never!!!!! will NOT give them any more $$$$ then legendary...and even that is on hold till they get it right...my troll...trolls!!!!! my heal...heals!!!!! I want to DPS, I use my main. and I hardly DPS. I like to tank. DPS are a dime a dozen...

Max level. Full gear. And a full set of gear unattuned in my bank.
At that point I get my next Armory and attune banked gear, spend SP into new (role specific) spots.
This way I don't have to mess with modding and switching and keeping track of this and that.
It doesn't take long to get to max level anymore, depends entirely on how much time and resources you're willing to spend to get there and at which speed.
This is dependent on how familiar you are with each role as well. I, like many others, have been here and played each role (and possibly power) many times so we aren't "behind the eight ball" so to speak when we want to jump into end game content in a brand new role/power. If you've been around and know the game well, then this method is a good marker for when to spend to get the armory.
Plus it gives you a chance to play your power for long enough to see if you like it to know if it's worth investing your hard earned money into or not.

I give a 2nd armory to any toon in my army that lasts more than a month. If a toon isn't fun enough to play for a month, it doesn't rate an armory. I go for 2nd armory because I like both roles and dps, and I don't want to be restricted if one appeals more to me the day I pick up a toon for a spin through the game.

All of my current toons have 2 armories, except for Vesper (my main) who has 3 (dps, healz, and pvp) and Saibra who has 16. Saibra is a tribute toon to a Doctor Who shapeshifter, so she has 16 looks that I swap between any time I feel like it. Tribute looks, original looks, playing around with auras and Cosmic materials......she's a lot of fun.

outside of the initial four pack i bought when they first went live i'll only buy armories when they're on sale or if i save my loyalty points.

my main has 4 total. Two for dps builds, one for pvp and one for trolling.
my primary alt has three. two for dps builds and one for trolling.
my primary healer has two. One for healing and one for dpsing.
my secondary healer now has three. They're all healer builds but they hold vanity styles.
toon number five has four armories. two for dpsing and two for trolling. her background is shes a clone...but you don't really know who shes a clone of. besides her own look she has a marvel girl vanity build, a duela dent vanity build and a supergirl vanity build.
toon number six has two, one for trolling and one for dps.
toon number 7 and 8 have one each (dps builds). these two are tank classes and if i ever start working on them seriously they'll eventually get second armories for tank builds.
toon number nine and ten have one armory each for their respective support roles.
toon number 11, my main villain has two armories
toon #12 and 13 my two other villains have one each. toon #13 will be getting a second one during the next sale.
toons #14,15,16 and 17 all have one each.

if the upcoming changes are what i'm hoping for i'll be changing my main alts power back to ice and learn how to tank and i might get second ones for those who need it if i like dpsing with their powers.

U get 1 free armory for all toons. When u buy a 2nd one its redeemable for 1 toon only. Am i misunderstanding what you're saying?

On all my characters I buy one as soon as my MP points allow me. Every time I start seriously an alt, I invest in an extra armory for both roles. The 3 toons I'm playing now have 2 armories each one, and I'm planning another one (maybe a tank power?) but I don't even have the concept of the toon, but I'm sure that he will have an extra armory.

when you like playing both roles, dps & support , or one for pve & another one for pvp

I have over 20 alts an all of them have at least 2 armories. One for DPS and one for Support. When do I bother setting up armory two? Usually around CR 70 and up. let's face it tier 1 and 2 sort of fly by pretty quick and I am busy getting all my lair powers up to top tier so unless it drops on a mission I am not using MARKS to but support gear.

After I hit CR 70 between the Gear that drops from defeating the Morrow and Siege bots you can start accumulating both roles .. After all you can defeat both in one day and wind up with 2 pairs of boots and nothing else. Now they are both unattuned but you only need 1 for DPS so may as well make the other support. At CR 84 you hit the wastelands and between the Corrupt gear dropping as you defeat Raven and the Exalted gear dropping as you defeat James, Julius and Jack along with anything else dropping on the alerts and raids its easy to have a full set of both roles without using a single mark.

I really enjoy hitting CR 105 and gaining access to Patrol catastrophe. That reward box allows you to pick and chose piece by piece what you want and you can build both roles up so your near or at CR 117 with both and again between drops in duos, alert and raids along with that solo you have marks to BUY whatever else you want for BOTH.

I usually maintain only one set of gear on alts and I have both a dps and support armory on two of my hero alts (villain has one). The only difference between my controller alts dps and controller armory is power points/skillpoints and style. Gear and mods benefit the support role.

Some powersets allow for you to be able to perform at PvE (DPS and Support Role) as well as PvP (at more than adequate level) by using just one armory, and setting aside 3 spare Power points (soon to become unnecessary) and 10 spare Skill points, to be used allocated depending on the role requirements.

That allows for you to survive on one armory for your alt until the time comes when you deem it necessary ie alt reaching 1-2 levels off Top CR/Gear level/content.

is anybody else getting linkdead booted & receiving the eternal batman loading screen?

I think that only goes to pet powers and combo powers. More so to pet powers since pets are roughly 50% of your total damage, and it doesn't matter what's you precision/might. Whilst you won't beat or be on par with full dps set players you can still push out roughly 60-75% of what a full dps set player would.
Also armories allow only 5 free skill points, if you have more it doesn't allow you to switch armories.

really? is anybody else getting that eternal loading screen?

Ice and Gadgets DPS allow for full DPS potential and more than adequate Tank and Troll Support, with just the use of 1 free armory. And actually for Sorcery DPS, it is less forgiving with the use of just one free armory. Other powersets which are more problematic include Nature and Fire.

The free armory allows for 3 spare Power points and 10 spare Skill points at present. Tried, tested and confirmed, cos I have been doing that since coming back from my first hiatus (been on a second hiatus and just come back again). Anything more than 10 spare skill points, the game does not allow you to activate your armory, after enough time has passed. When one gets an extra skill point, there is still time before the game stops you. Do not log out or switch characters, because on the next login, the game will check the armory allocation and you will not be able to activate the armory and have to go to the respec machine.

Upon gaining an extra skill point, simply activate your armory. At that point, you have 3 spare Power points and 11 spare Skill points. Allocate that newly gained skill point, warp back to base, save the armory again, and you can continue again as per normal, without needing to go to the respec machine.

Paying customers (the neglected Premiums and the sometimes hyper inflated Legendary subscribers) will rationally shell out for an extra armory or two when their playing time on their alts necessitates such an action, or when there is a super Marketplace deal for armories.

Once I get to around T6, I decide if I want to buy armory and start buying SP with replay badges.
By then the un-attuned gear is dropping