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== Overview ==
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Invention Origin Enhancements (IOs) are [[Enhancements]] that are crafted from a recipe—thus the 'Invention' part of their title. Whereas regular enhancements would drop as usable enhancements (if they were of the right level or origin for your character) from the defeat of a foe or from the end of a mission or could be bought from a contact or store; Invention Origin Enhancements, on the other hand, drop as loot as recipes or the recipes are bought from a Merit Vendor. The player must then craft the recipe into an enhancement (using Invention Salvage and paying Influence or Infamy) in order to slot it.
  
=General=
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Since Dual Origin and Single Origin Enhancements got nicknamed DOs and SOs, Invention Origin Enhancements are regularly called IOs.
The level of all Invention Origin Enhancements determines two things.
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# The minimum level of player that may slot that enhancement.
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# The strength of the enhancement.
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There is '''no''' maximum slotting level with IOs, and strength is based '''only''' on the enhancement level, not on the level of the player who slots them. IOs never expire/go red, and their strength never decays.  If a level 10 enhancement gives a 10% bonus, then it can be slotted by a level 7 character or a level 50 character for the same 10% bonus. Though the same enhancement built with a higher level will give a higher bonus, so there is still incentive to upgrade as levels are gained.
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IO recipes have levels based on the level of the enemy or mission that awarded them, and the Enhancements built from them will have the same level as the recipe. Both Invention Recipes and Invention Enhancements can be bought and sold at the Markets or traded with other players. Stores won't buy crafted IOs, however.  
  
[[Enhancements#Schedule_A | schedule A]] enhancements are set to 10% bonus at level 10, up to a maximum of a 40% bonus at level 50.
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IO recipes start at level 10 and can go to level 50. They start dropping from [[critter]] defeats and [[Recipe Drop Pools|other means]] around level 7. There is a tutorial for using and crafting IOs at the Universities in Steel Canyon and Cap au Diable.
  
From the boards, for dual/triple/quad aspect enhancers:
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There are two major types of IOs: '''[[Common Invention Recipes|Common IOs]]''' and '''[[Invention Origin Enhancement Sets|Set IOs]]'''.
  
"Currently, the Set enhancements are set up to give about 100% of the basic IO buff for single-aspect enhancements, 62.5% (per aspect) for dual-aspect enhancements (dam/acc, etc.), 50% (per aspect) for tri-aspect enhancements (dam/acc/rech, etc.), and 43.75% (per aspect) for quad-aspect enhancements (acc/dam/rech/end, etc.). This means the overall value (if you can use all the aspects) is 100% of basic IO value for single-aspect, 125% for dual-aspect, 150% for tri-aspect, and 175% for quad-aspect enhancements. For comparison, [[HO]] values (compared to SOs) are +100% per aspect." (Subject to change)
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== Common IOs ==
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Like regular SO or DO enhancements, Common IOs buff a single aspect of a power that they are slotted into: aspects such as Damage, Recharge Reduction, Accuracy, Range, etc…. However, there are differences between a regular enhancement (SO, DO, or TO) and an IO:
  
=Common Enhancements=
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# Regular enhancements can only be slotted if they're within 3 levels higher or lower of the level of the character; Common IOs can be slotted if they're within 3 levels higher than the character – there is no lower limit. A level 40 character can slot a level 20 IO.
[[Recipes]] for [[Common Invention Recipes|Common IO Enhancements]] are purchased at any [[Invention Worktable]].  Common IO enhancements are also drops from defeating enemies.
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# The amount of buff that regular enhancements give to a particular aspect (range, damage, etc…) varies by its relative level to the character. A +3 regular enhancement provides more buff than a -3 enhancement. Not so with IOs – their buff is constant and does not change with the level of the character, only with the level of the IO. A level 40 IO will give more buff than a level 20 IO, but the amount of that buff will remain the same whether the player is level 40 or level 50.
 +
# Regular enhancements stop working if you out level them by more than 3 levels – they 'turn red.' IOs don't stop giving their aspect buff ever – you can't out level them. If you are 10 levels higher than the IO, it will still provide the same aspect buff it did when you were the same level as that IO. If you exemplar below the level of the IO, however, the strength of its aspect buff will scale down. See the page on [[Exemplar Effects on Enhancements]] to see what exemplaring will do to the strength of an IO's aspect buff.
 +
# Regular enhancements of a certain type always give the same amount of buff for its relative level – an even level SO will give a damage buff of 33% if it's level 30 or if it's level 50. The strength of the aspect buff of IOs, on the other hand, increases with its level. A level 30 Damage IO is not as strong as a level 50 Damage IO. See the page on [[Invention Origin Enhancement Scaling]] to find out level of the aspect buff of IOs and how they compare to DOs, SOs, and TOs (Training Enhancements), and [[Enhancements#Relative Enhancement Values|this comparison of IOs with the other enhancements]].
  
 
From Positron:
 
From Positron:
"These "IO’s" act just like normal Enhancements except they do not expire, and their bonus stays static no matter what level you are. Lower level IO’s are strengthened around that of Training Enhancements, mid level IO’s are about the power of Dual Origin Enhancements, and IO’s level 25 and above have about the same punch as current Single Origin Enhancements. Of course the power of the Enhancement is better with level, so high level invented Enhancements are slightly more powerful than the equivalent SO."
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:''Lower level IO's are strengthened around that of Training Enhancements, mid level IO's are about the power of Dual Origin Enhancements, and IO's level 25 and above have about the same punch as current Single Origin Enhancements. Of course the power of the Enhancement is better with level, so high level invented Enhancements are slightly more powerful than the equivalent SO.''
  
=Rare Enhancements=
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IOs do not improve at a constant rate as their levels increase. They improve less per level after 26 than they do before.
Rare enhancements require that the player acquire the appropriate single-use [[Recipe]]s.
+
  
Enhancement recipes have levels, based on the level of the enemy who drops them, and the enhancements that can be built are the same as the level of the recipe from which they are built.
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[[Common Invention Recipes|Recipes for Common IO Enhancements]] can be purchased for a standard price from an Invention Worktable, or from other players through the Auction House. Common IO Enhancement recipes also drop from defeating enemies. Common IOs exist only at multiples of 5 levels.
  
==Enhancement Sets==
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== Set IOs ==
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=== Set IOs in General ===
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'''[[Invention Origin Enhancement Sets|Set IOs]]''' work like Common IOs in that they can buff one (or more!) aspects of a power into which they are slotted, but they differ from Common IOs in these important ways:
  
: ''Main article: [[Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses]]''
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# The Common IOs mentioned above have generic names – they're named after the aspect they buff, e.g., the Common IO that buffs Accuracy is called [[Invention: Accuracy]]. Set IOs, on the other hand, are a group of three to six IOs that have a colorful name for their grouping, e.g., [[Positron's Blast]] or [[Luck of the Gambler]].
 +
# Common IOs buff one aspect of a power into which they are slotted. Set IOs may buff one to four aspects of a power.
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# Set IOs provide an additional benefit beyond what the aspect buffs do; this is called the Set Bonus. Set Bonuses start when you have two or more Set IOs from the same Set slotted in the same power.
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# Some Set IOs provide a benefit all by themselves! It sort of runs counter to the idea of bonuses from a 'set', but that's the way it was set up. These singly-acting Set IOs are called Special IOs (previously they all were called 'Globals' or 'Uniques', but those are now the names of subcategories of some of the Special IOs, see below).
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# Set IO Enhancement recipes belong to four 'Pools' which determine from where they drop as loot: Pool A recipes have a chance to drop from the defeat of foes; Pool B from mission completes; Pool C from Task or Strike Forces; and Pool D from Trials or Raids. In Issue 13, the drops for Pools C and D were replaced by Merit Rewards which can be used to buy a chance for a drop from one of those pools, or, more expensively, buy a specific recipe in a specific level range from an NPC Merit Vendor. Arc Completion, Ouroboros Flashback 'Task Forces', and Giant Monster defeats also give Merit drops and, thus, are a source of IO Set Recipes. Set IOs and their recipes can also be bought from, sold to, or traded with players and at the Markets.
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# Set IO recipes can occur at any level in the set's range rather than just multiples of 5, and each set's range is usually only a portion of the full 10-50 range.
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# Common IOs' recipes have a drop rate of 'common' (white). Set IOs have drops rates that can be 'uncommon' (yellow), 'rare' (red), or 'very rare' (purple).
  
For detailed lists of the sets, see [[Invention Origin Enhancement Sets]].  For details on individual sets see [[:Category:Invention Sets]].  Set bonuses are earned from slotting more than one enhancement of a set into the same power.   All group bonuses apply to the character at all times, regardless of the type of power into which the set is slotted.
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=== Multi-Aspect Buffing IOs from Sets ===
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Both Common and Set IOs that boost a single Schedule A aspect are set to give a 11.7% bonus at level 10, up to a maximum of a 42.4% bonus at level 50. Single-aspect Schedule B IOs go from 7.0% at level 10 up to 25.5% at level 50. Schedules C and D are twice and three times as strong as Schedule B, respectively, just as they are with non-crafted, regular Enhancements.
  
Example of a set bonus from Positron:
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For Set IOs that boost two aspects, each aspect gets 5/8ths the normal bonus – which is more than 1/2 as would be expected, which means a dual-aspect IO gives 5/8 + 5/8 = 10/8ths or 5/4ths or 25% more of a buff in total. Though each individual aspect gets less boost than a single-aspect IO would give, the total combined bonus is one-and-a-quarter times as large.
  
"Here’s an example:
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Similarly, triple-aspect IOs boost each aspect by half the normal amount, for an aggregate total of one-and-a-half times, or 50% total buff compared to a single-aspect IO. Quad-aspect IOs boost each aspect by 0.4375 times the normal amount, for an aggregate total one-and-three-quarters times as large (75% extra buff in total).
  
:[[Sting of the Manticore]] (a set of 6) - Slots into any Sniper power
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=== Enhancement Set Bonuses ===
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Once you slot a second member of a Set into a power (and it has to be a different member of the Set – you can't put two or more of the same member of a Set into a specific power), you start getting bonuses from slotting Sets! The bonuses could be extra defense or resistance or recharge or accuracy or speed or any one of many other possibilities.
  
:Accuracy/Damage
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Slotting any two members of a Set gives you the first bonus of the set. Slotting any third member of the set gives you the first bonus of the set plus a second. A fourth member gives you the first two plus a third bonus and so on up to five bonuses for six members of a set. (Remember some Sets don't have a full six members – sets come in packs of 3 to 6).
:Damage/Endurance Reduction
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:Accuracy/Interrupt/Range
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:Damage/Interrupt/Recharge
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:Damage/Endurance/Recharge
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:Toxic DoT Proc
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These 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.
  
:If you have 2 Enhancements in the set slotted: Bonus to your Regeneration rate
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Let's give an example:
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:Let's say you have a full set of six Set IOs in a level 40 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.
  
:If you have 3 Enhancements in the set slotted: The above plus Energy/Negative Energy resistance
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: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.
  
:If you have 4 Enhancements in the set slotted: The above plus Overall Damage Boost
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: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.
  
:If you have 5 Enhancements in the set slotted: The above plus Overall Recharge Rate Boost
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: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.
  
:If you have all 6 Enhancements in the set slotted: The above plus Toxic damage resistance"
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For a listing of the Enhancement Sets, go to: [[Invention Origin Enhancement Sets]]. And for detailed information on the set bonuses, see [[Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses]]. These two pages need to be read together to understand all the bonuses.
  
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For a listing of sets broken up into categories, see [[:Category:Invention Sets|the Sets category]].
  
The same rare IO cannot be slotted twice into the same power. So to get a power slotted with six of a single set requires all six different members of that set.
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=== Set IO Categories ===
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IO Sets are divided into about 30 categories. Individual powers are marked to allow IO Sets from only specific categories. E.g., [[Flight#Hover|Hover]] only allows IO Sets that are from the Fly, Defense, or Universal Travel Set Categories. Some powers only allow one or even no Set Categories. The powers that don't have any Set Categories will not allow you to slot any IOs from an IO Set, but will allow the use of Common IOs.
  
==Procedures==
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=== Duplicating Sets in the Same Build ===
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The same IO Set can be slotted into a character as many times as the build allows. If you have six powers that take IO Sets from the Defense Set Category, then you can slot the [[Karma]] Set six times over. However, you'll wind up running into the [[Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses#The Law of Fives|Rule of Five]], and the sixth set won't give any set bonuses. However, the enhancement values themselves (the defense, endurance, and recharge of the enhancements themselves) will still function on the sixth and subsequent sets.
  
From Positron:
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Some of the Special IOs of an IO Set are marked as Unique (see below for Special IOs), and you won't be able to slot that particular one more than once in your build (and that means not getting the last bonus of that set more than once).
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=== Very Rare "Purple" Sets ===
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:''Main Article:'' [[Very Rare IO Sets]]
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Each and every IO in the Very Rare Enhancement Sets (colored purple, and sometimes called "Purple Sets") is marked Unique.
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 +
The Purple Sets follow their own rules:
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# The enhancements are level 50 only. Their recipes drop from Pool A (defeat of foes) very rarely whenever you would normally have a chance at level 50 drops (when fighting [[critter]]s around 47+).
 +
# You must be level 50 to slot them.
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# The Set Bonuses of Purple Sets never shut off due to exemplaring more than three levels lower than the level of the IOs (which are level 50).
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# The Special IOs of the Purple Sets which are 'Procs' (see below) have a higher chance of firing (33%) and do more damage than the Procs of the other Sets.
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# You cannot buy them from Merit Vendors. They only come from Pool A drops. The recipes and crafted purple IOs can be put up on the Markets.
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=== Special IOs from Sets ===
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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.
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Special IOs are of two types: Special IOs that act like Set Bonuses, called '''''Globals''''', and '''''Procs'''''.
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==== Globals ====
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<span style="font-size:1.1em">'''Set-Like Special IOs'''</span>
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The first type of special IO is a "Global". A global grants a constant benefit like a [[Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses|Set Bonus]] does. In fact, a Global IO grants you a set bonus that requires only itself. Thus all the rules (still works in grayed-out powers, stops working if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the enhancements level, the "[[Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses#The Law of Fives|Law of Fives]]") for set bonuses also apply to Globals.
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:So, for example, a level 20 [[Karma: Knockback Protection|Karma Knockback Protection]] Global slotted in a level 49 power will still work if the character is exemplared to level 17 and the level 49 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.
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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.
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==== Procs ====
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All the other Special IOs are called 'Procs.' The term comes from Positron:
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:''I'll talk about the Enhancements. The last one in the list is a Proc, meaning a procedure that has a chance of happening. Every time you fire your sniper power with the Toxic DoT Proc Enhancement slotted in it, there is a chance your target gets hit with a Toxic Damage over Time effect as well as the normal damage and effect of your Sniper attack.''
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 +
The term Proc originally came from the days of some of the MUDs which used the term 'spec_proc' or 'special procedure' to denote game events the player could possibly trigger. The term was popularized by EverQuest as 'procs.' Those who come from the World of Warcraft have given the 'proc' the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym backronym] "Programmed Random OCcurrence." But since Positron and CoH preceded WoW, we use the term and definition our Developers use.
  
"I’ll talk about the Enhancements. The last one in the list is a Proc, meaning a procedure that has a chance of happening. Every time you fire your sniper power with the Toxic DoT Proc Enhancement slotted in it, there is a chance your target gets hit with a Toxic Damage over Time effect as well as the normal damage and effect of your Sniper attack."
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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.
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:So, e.g., if you slot a level 50 [[Celerity: Stealth|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.
  
==Globals==
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Since Procs work when the power is activated, then they continuously work when slotted in a Passive Power or in a Toggle that's turned on. Procs that are in continuous powers cycle or pulse on once every 10 seconds. This is also true when they work in certain pseudopets like 'rains' or 'patches' that have an enduring effect. If slotted in a click power, Procs activate just once for the duration of their effect.
  
Globals are a special type of enhancement.  They are slotted in an enhancement slot like any other enhancement.  But the bonuses that they give applies to the entire character, not just the power into which they are slotted.
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Most Procs have an effect that is immediate (like the chance to damage Procs) or last a few seconds (like the mez Procs). Some Procs that provide a self buff have a duration of 120 seconds and will last a full two minutes past when the power is clicked.
*If slotted in a Toggle power, the bonus only applies when the toggle is active.
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*If slotted into a passive, the bonus is given all the time. 
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*If slotted into a click power, the bonus will last for a period of time each time the click power is activated.
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== Unique enhancements ==
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Procs which affect targets have a chance of activating for each target the power 'hits.' This makes Procs slotted in area of effect powers very beneficial; more so if it's a continuous area of effect like rains and patches.
A very small set of enhancements will be considered Unique. If an enhancement is Unique, only one of that enhancement can be slotted per character, not one per power like the rest of the rare IOs.
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* No more than one enhancement in a set is marked as Unique (though this could change).
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* Only 13 enhancements, total, are currently marked as Unique.
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:*[[Miracle]]: +Recovery
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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 [[Invention Origin Enhancement Proc Damage Scaling|Table of Proc Damage]] for specifics.
:*[[Numina's Convalesence]]: +Recovery & +Regeneration
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:*[[Regenerative Tissue]]: +Regeneration
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:*[[Steadfast Protection]]: +Resist & +Defense
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:*[[Kismet]]: +To-Hit
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:*[[Decimation]]: Chance for Build Up
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:*[[Aegis]]: Psionic/Status Resistance
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:*[[Edict of the Master]]: +Defense Aura for Pets
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:*[[Sovereign Right]]: +Resistance Aura for Pets
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*The +Stealth IOs are Unique, and also "mutually exclusive," meaning only one of them will function; you cannot stack them even if you have one [[Celerity]] and one [[Unbounded Leap]].
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Procs from IO sets brought from the [[Paragon Market]] work a little differently to crafted IO procs. Instead of a percentage chance every time the power which the Proc in is activated, the chance of it firing is dependent on the "Procs Per Minute" set on the enhancement itself, and the slotted power's recharge and number of targets. See [[Procs Per Minute]] for more details.
:*[[Celerity]]: +Stealth
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:*[[Freebird]]: +Stealth
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:*[[Time & Space Manipulation]]: +Stealth
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:*[[Unbounded Leap]]: +Stealth
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== Travel IO Notes ==
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==== Terminology ====
 +
<span style="font-size:1.1em">'''Special IOs, Globals, Procs, and Uniques'''</span>
  
+ Stealth (From Travel sets): 389 feet in PvP, 35 feet in PvE
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The fact that some Procs give a global buff to a character and are continuously on if slotted in a passive power makes calling the other type of Special IOs 'Globals' somewhat of a misnomer, but since the Devs never gave us terms to distinguish these Special IOs from each other, the players have struggled to find agreed upon terminology that isn't misleading.
  
Travel sets calculate percentages differently from all other sets.  Instead of using the [[Invention Origin Enhancement Scaling|scaling system]] that other set IOs use, multi-aspect travel IOs give 100% of the power of single aspect IOs on each aspect, instead of giving lower percentages for the multiple-aspect enhancements.
+
At one time, all Special IOs were called Globals, or Procs, or even 'Unique IOs' ('unique' meaning only one of its kind can be slotted in a build). The fact is that some Globals are unique and some are not. Some Procs are unique and some are not. Some unique enhancements are neither Globals nor Procs.
  
=== Invention Origin Enhancement Scaling ===
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The only official name we've been given is 'proc' meaning 'procedure with a chance to happen' and that certainly doesn't apply to Globals which are always on, nor even to some of the Procs which always go off when the power is used (unless one wants to argue that 100% is a chance...which is indeed argued). Due to the fact that these proc-like globals all grant an effect lasting 120 seconds from activation, some call them 120s, Proc120s, or Proc-Like 120s. So, be aware that there will be differences in terms players use for Special IOs.
  
See [[Invention Origin Enhancement Scaling]]
+
In addition to the Special IOs which are Unique – only one of its kind per build, the Stealth Procs are Exclusively Unique, in that if you have one Stealth slotted, you can't slot another Stealth, even if it comes from a different Special IO.
  
 +
A note about Uniques : The code that enforces the "Unique" status will delete any extras that manage to get slotted into a build. Normally, this would not matter, as you cannot slot more than one of an IO marked unique to the system. However, as happened with the [[Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up|Gaussian's Proc]], if a power that is not marked unique to the system is then marked Unique it will delete extra copies.
  
<div class="notice metadata" id="spoiler">Invention Enhancements Spoilers End Here''</div>
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See [[Set Enhancements with Special Effects]] for a list of Special IOs that are Unique and is sortable by type, range, pool, and Set Category.
  
 
[[Category:Invention System]]
 
[[Category:Invention System]]
[[Category:Invention Sets]]
 
 
[[Category:Enhancements]]
 
[[Category:Enhancements]]

Latest revision as of 15:47, 15 April 2020

Overview

Invention Origin Enhancements (IOs) are Enhancements that are crafted from a recipe—thus the 'Invention' part of their title. Whereas regular enhancements would drop as usable enhancements (if they were of the right level or origin for your character) from the defeat of a foe or from the end of a mission or could be bought from a contact or store; Invention Origin Enhancements, on the other hand, drop as loot as recipes or the recipes are bought from a Merit Vendor. The player must then craft the recipe into an enhancement (using Invention Salvage and paying Influence or Infamy) in order to slot it.

Since Dual Origin and Single Origin Enhancements got nicknamed DOs and SOs, Invention Origin Enhancements are regularly called IOs.

IO recipes have levels based on the level of the enemy or mission that awarded them, and the Enhancements built from them will have the same level as the recipe. Both Invention Recipes and Invention Enhancements can be bought and sold at the Markets or traded with other players. Stores won't buy crafted IOs, however.

IO recipes start at level 10 and can go to level 50. They start dropping from critter defeats and other means around level 7. There is a tutorial for using and crafting IOs at the Universities in Steel Canyon and Cap au Diable.

There are two major types of IOs: Common IOs and Set IOs.

Common IOs

Like regular SO or DO enhancements, Common IOs buff a single aspect of a power that they are slotted into: aspects such as Damage, Recharge Reduction, Accuracy, Range, etc…. However, there are differences between a regular enhancement (SO, DO, or TO) and an IO:

  1. Regular enhancements can only be slotted if they're within 3 levels higher or lower of the level of the character; Common IOs can be slotted if they're within 3 levels higher than the character – there is no lower limit. A level 40 character can slot a level 20 IO.
  2. The amount of buff that regular enhancements give to a particular aspect (range, damage, etc…) varies by its relative level to the character. A +3 regular enhancement provides more buff than a -3 enhancement. Not so with IOs – their buff is constant and does not change with the level of the character, only with the level of the IO. A level 40 IO will give more buff than a level 20 IO, but the amount of that buff will remain the same whether the player is level 40 or level 50.
  3. Regular enhancements stop working if you out level them by more than 3 levels – they 'turn red.' IOs don't stop giving their aspect buff ever – you can't out level them. If you are 10 levels higher than the IO, it will still provide the same aspect buff it did when you were the same level as that IO. If you exemplar below the level of the IO, however, the strength of its aspect buff will scale down. See the page on Exemplar Effects on Enhancements to see what exemplaring will do to the strength of an IO's aspect buff.
  4. Regular enhancements of a certain type always give the same amount of buff for its relative level – an even level SO will give a damage buff of 33% if it's level 30 or if it's level 50. The strength of the aspect buff of IOs, on the other hand, increases with its level. A level 30 Damage IO is not as strong as a level 50 Damage IO. See the page on Invention Origin Enhancement Scaling to find out level of the aspect buff of IOs and how they compare to DOs, SOs, and TOs (Training Enhancements), and this comparison of IOs with the other enhancements.

From Positron:

Lower level IO's are strengthened around that of Training Enhancements, mid level IO's are about the power of Dual Origin Enhancements, and IO's level 25 and above have about the same punch as current Single Origin Enhancements. Of course the power of the Enhancement is better with level, so high level invented Enhancements are slightly more powerful than the equivalent SO.

IOs do not improve at a constant rate as their levels increase. They improve less per level after 26 than they do before.

Recipes for Common IO Enhancements can be purchased for a standard price from an Invention Worktable, or from other players through the Auction House. Common IO Enhancement recipes also drop from defeating enemies. Common IOs exist only at multiples of 5 levels.

Set IOs

Set IOs in General

Set IOs work like Common IOs in that they can buff one (or more!) aspects of a power into which they are slotted, but they differ from Common IOs in these important ways:

  1. The Common IOs mentioned above have generic names – they're named after the aspect they buff, e.g., the Common IO that buffs Accuracy is called Invention: Accuracy. Set IOs, on the other hand, are a group of three to six IOs that have a colorful name for their grouping, e.g., Positron's Blast or Luck of the Gambler.
  2. Common IOs buff one aspect of a power into which they are slotted. Set IOs may buff one to four aspects of a power.
  3. Set IOs provide an additional benefit beyond what the aspect buffs do; this is called the Set Bonus. Set Bonuses start when you have two or more Set IOs from the same Set slotted in the same power.
  4. Some Set IOs provide a benefit all by themselves! It sort of runs counter to the idea of bonuses from a 'set', but that's the way it was set up. These singly-acting Set IOs are called Special IOs (previously they all were called 'Globals' or 'Uniques', but those are now the names of subcategories of some of the Special IOs, see below).
  5. Set IO Enhancement recipes belong to four 'Pools' which determine from where they drop as loot: Pool A recipes have a chance to drop from the defeat of foes; Pool B from mission completes; Pool C from Task or Strike Forces; and Pool D from Trials or Raids. In Issue 13, the drops for Pools C and D were replaced by Merit Rewards which can be used to buy a chance for a drop from one of those pools, or, more expensively, buy a specific recipe in a specific level range from an NPC Merit Vendor. Arc Completion, Ouroboros Flashback 'Task Forces', and Giant Monster defeats also give Merit drops and, thus, are a source of IO Set Recipes. Set IOs and their recipes can also be bought from, sold to, or traded with players and at the Markets.
  6. Set IO recipes can occur at any level in the set's range rather than just multiples of 5, and each set's range is usually only a portion of the full 10-50 range.
  7. Common IOs' recipes have a drop rate of 'common' (white). Set IOs have drops rates that can be 'uncommon' (yellow), 'rare' (red), or 'very rare' (purple).

Multi-Aspect Buffing IOs from Sets

Both Common and Set IOs that boost a single Schedule A aspect are set to give a 11.7% bonus at level 10, up to a maximum of a 42.4% bonus at level 50. Single-aspect Schedule B IOs go from 7.0% at level 10 up to 25.5% at level 50. Schedules C and D are twice and three times as strong as Schedule B, respectively, just as they are with non-crafted, regular Enhancements.

For Set IOs that boost two aspects, each aspect gets 5/8ths the normal bonus – which is more than 1/2 as would be expected, which means a dual-aspect IO gives 5/8 + 5/8 = 10/8ths or 5/4ths or 25% more of a buff in total. Though each individual aspect gets less boost than a single-aspect IO would give, the total combined bonus is one-and-a-quarter times as large.

Similarly, triple-aspect IOs boost each aspect by half the normal amount, for an aggregate total of one-and-a-half times, or 50% total buff compared to a single-aspect IO. Quad-aspect IOs boost each aspect by 0.4375 times the normal amount, for an aggregate total one-and-three-quarters times as large (75% extra buff in total).

Enhancement Set Bonuses

Once you slot a second member of a Set into a power (and it has to be a different member of the Set – you can't put two or more of the same member of a Set into a specific power), you start getting bonuses from slotting Sets! The bonuses could be extra defense or resistance or recharge or accuracy or speed or any one of many other possibilities.

Slotting any two members of a Set gives you the first bonus of the set. Slotting any third member of the set gives you the first bonus of the set plus a second. A fourth member gives you the first two plus a third bonus and so on up to five bonuses for six members of a set. (Remember some Sets don't have a full six members – sets come in packs of 3 to 6).

These 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 40 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.

For a listing of the Enhancement Sets, go to: Invention Origin Enhancement Sets. And for detailed information on the set bonuses, see Invention Origin Enhancement Set Bonuses. These two pages need to be read together to understand all the bonuses.

For a listing of sets broken up into categories, see the Sets category.

Set IO Categories

IO Sets are divided into about 30 categories. Individual powers are marked to allow IO Sets from only specific categories. E.g., Hover only allows IO Sets that are from the Fly, Defense, or Universal Travel Set Categories. Some powers only allow one or even no Set Categories. The powers that don't have any Set Categories will not allow you to slot any IOs from an IO Set, but will allow the use of Common IOs.

Duplicating Sets in the Same Build

The same IO Set can be slotted into a character as many times as the build allows. If you have six powers that take IO Sets from the Defense Set Category, then you can slot the Karma Set six times over. However, you'll wind up running into the Rule of Five, and the sixth set won't give any set bonuses. However, the enhancement values themselves (the defense, endurance, and recharge of the enhancements themselves) will still function on the sixth and subsequent sets.

Some of the Special IOs of an IO Set are marked as Unique (see below for Special IOs), and you won't be able to slot that particular one more than once in your build (and that means not getting the last bonus of that set more than once).

Very Rare "Purple" Sets

Main Article: Very Rare IO Sets

Each and every IO in the Very Rare Enhancement Sets (colored purple, and sometimes called "Purple Sets") is marked Unique.

The Purple Sets follow their own rules:

  1. The enhancements are level 50 only. Their recipes drop from Pool A (defeat of foes) very rarely whenever you would normally have a chance at level 50 drops (when fighting critters around 47+).
  2. You must be level 50 to slot them.
  3. The Set Bonuses of Purple Sets never shut off due to exemplaring more than three levels lower than the level of the IOs (which are level 50).
  4. The Special IOs of the Purple Sets which are 'Procs' (see below) have a higher chance of firing (33%) and do more damage than the Procs of the other Sets.
  5. You cannot buy them from Merit Vendors. They only come from Pool A drops. The recipes and crafted purple IOs can be put up on the Markets.

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 first type of special IO is a "Global". A global grants a constant benefit like a Set Bonus does. In fact, a Global IO grants you a set bonus that requires only itself. Thus all the rules (still works in grayed-out powers, stops working if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the enhancements level, the "Law of Fives") for set bonuses also apply to Globals.

So, for example, a level 20 Karma Knockback Protection Global slotted in a level 49 power will still work if the character is exemplared to level 17 and the level 49 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.

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.' The term comes from Positron:

I'll talk about the Enhancements. The last one in the list is a Proc, meaning a procedure that has a chance of happening. Every time you fire your sniper power with the Toxic DoT Proc Enhancement slotted in it, there is a chance your target gets hit with a Toxic Damage over Time effect as well as the normal damage and effect of your Sniper attack.

The term Proc originally came from the days of some of the MUDs which used the term 'spec_proc' or 'special procedure' to denote game events the player could possibly trigger. The term was popularized by EverQuest as 'procs.' Those who come from the World of Warcraft have given the 'proc' the backronym "Programmed Random OCcurrence." But since Positron and CoH preceded WoW, we use the term and definition our Developers use.

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.

Since Procs work when the power is activated, then they continuously work when slotted in a Passive Power or in a Toggle that's turned on. Procs that are in continuous powers cycle or pulse on once every 10 seconds. This is also true when they work in certain pseudopets like 'rains' or 'patches' that have an enduring effect. If slotted in a click power, Procs activate just once for the duration of their effect.

Most Procs have an effect that is immediate (like the chance to damage Procs) or last a few seconds (like the mez Procs). Some Procs that provide a self buff have a duration of 120 seconds and will last a full two minutes past when the power is clicked.

Procs which affect targets have a chance of activating for each target the power 'hits.' This makes Procs slotted in area of effect powers very beneficial; more so if it's a continuous area of effect like rains and patches.

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.

Procs from IO sets brought from the Paragon Market work a little differently to crafted IO procs. Instead of a percentage chance every time the power which the Proc in is activated, the chance of it firing is dependent on the "Procs Per Minute" set on the enhancement itself, and the slotted power's recharge and number of targets. See Procs Per Minute for more details.

Terminology

Special IOs, Globals, Procs, and Uniques

The fact that some Procs give a global buff to a character and are continuously on if slotted in a passive power makes calling the other type of Special IOs 'Globals' somewhat of a misnomer, but since the Devs never gave us terms to distinguish these Special IOs from each other, the players have struggled to find agreed upon terminology that isn't misleading.

At one time, all Special IOs were called Globals, or Procs, or even 'Unique IOs' ('unique' meaning only one of its kind can be slotted in a build). The fact is that some Globals are unique and some are not. Some Procs are unique and some are not. Some unique enhancements are neither Globals nor Procs.

The only official name we've been given is 'proc' meaning 'procedure with a chance to happen' and that certainly doesn't apply to Globals which are always on, nor even to some of the Procs which always go off when the power is used (unless one wants to argue that 100% is a chance...which is indeed argued). Due to the fact that these proc-like globals all grant an effect lasting 120 seconds from activation, some call them 120s, Proc120s, or Proc-Like 120s. So, be aware that there will be differences in terms players use for Special IOs.

In addition to the Special IOs which are Unique – only one of its kind per build, the Stealth Procs are Exclusively Unique, in that if you have one Stealth slotted, you can't slot another Stealth, even if it comes from a different Special IO.

A note about Uniques : The code that enforces the "Unique" status will delete any extras that manage to get slotted into a build. Normally, this would not matter, as you cannot slot more than one of an IO marked unique to the system. However, as happened with the Gaussian's Proc, if a power that is not marked unique to the system is then marked Unique it will delete extra copies.

See Set Enhancements with Special Effects for a list of Special IOs that are Unique and is sortable by type, range, pool, and Set Category.