GUIDE TO IOs, SOs, AND ENHANCEMENT BONUSES

Black_Specter · 06-22-2007 04:13 PM

GUIDE TO IOs, SOs, AND ENHANCEMENT BONUSES
By Black Spectre (V1.0, June 22, 2007)

Invention Origin (IO) enhancements have brought another layer of complexity to City of Heroes/Villains that can make slotting and enhancing your toon seem more difficult. This guide will try to make the whole thing easier to understand and provide you with a basic strategy for enhancing your toon.

IOs differ from SOs (Single Origin) enhancements in some important ways. First, the buff given by the IO does not lessen or degrade as the toon levels up. Second, the percentage of buff given by IOs varies based on the level of the IO. Thrid, many IOs can enhance multiple aspects of a power with a single enhancement. And lastly, in addition to their normal enhancement bonus, IOs can often have a "set bonus."

The first difference is important because it eliminates the need to re-slot enhancements in your toon every 5 levels. The IOs never wear out (unlike SOs), so once you have your toon slotted with IOs, you can concentrate on playing the game rather than running to buy SOs to enhance up every 5th level. Also, the cost of fully slotting a toon with equivalent IOs is significantly less than it costs to keep SOs up to date during the career of the toon. For example, to slot a toon every 5 levels with SOs from level 25-50 it would cost approximately 17 million Influence. Whereas fully slotting a toon with level 26-30 IOs would cost about 3-4 million Influence for the life of the toon. That's some big savings!

COMMON SINGLE ASPECT IOs AND SOs
The bonus percentage given by SOs depends on the "Schedule" of the enhancement. SOs from Schedule A give a +33.33% bonus, Schedule B enhancements give a +20% bonus, Schedule C enhancements give a +40% bonus, and Schedule D enhancements give a +60% bonus. Most enhancements are either Schedule A or B. The Schedule for a particular enhancement can be found by referencing the following chart (or simply by looking at the percentage the enhancement gives in its description if you are familiar with them):

SCHEDULE A ENHANCEMENTS:
Accuracy, Confusion, Damage, Defense Debuff, Endurance Modification, Endurance Reduction, Fear, Fly, Healing, Hold Duration, Immobilization Duration, Intangibility, Jumping, Recharge Time, Run Speed, Sleep, Slow, Stun, Taunt

SCHEDULE B ENHANCEMENTS:
Defense Buff, Range Increase, Resist Damage, To Hit Buff, To Hit Debuff

SCHEDULE C ENHANCEMENTS:
Interrupt Time

SCHEDULE D ENHANCEMENTS:
Knockback Distance

The bonus percentage given by IOs, on the other hand, depends on the level of the IO and the Schedule of the enhancement (as well as how many "aspects" the IO has). Here's an abbreviated table for single aspect IOs:

Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
SINGLE ASPECT IO BONUSES
IO Schedule A Schedule B Schedule C Schedule D
Level Bonus % Bonus % Bonus % Bonus %

10 +11.7% +07.0% +14.0% +21.0%
15 +19.2% +11.5% +23.1% +34.6%
20 +25.6% +15.4% +30.8% +46.2%
25 +32.0% +19.2% +38.5% +57.7%
30 +34.8% +20.9% +41.8% +62.7%
35 +36.7% +22.0% +44.1% +66.1%
40 +38.6% +23.2% +46.4% +69.5%
45 +40.5% +24.3% +48.6% +73.0%
50 +42.4% +25.5% +50.9% +76.4%

SOs +33.33% +20.0% +40.0% +60.0%
DOs +16.66% +10.0% +20.0% +30.0%
TOs +08.325% +05.0% +10.0% +15.0%
</pre><hr />

A complete table of IO scaling bonuses can be found at Paragonwiki ( http://paragonwiki.com/Invention_Ori...cement_Scaling )
The effectiveness of IOs equals the effectiveness of SOs beginning at level 26. So if you replaced any SOs with level 26 or greater IOs, there would be no loss of power or effectiveness.

If you don't want to hassle with all the numbers, figuring out what is what, and just want to play the game with as little additional hassle as possible, then now is the time to stop reading this guide. It's a perfectly acceptable strategy to simply use level 26 or greater IOs once your toon has reached level 24 instead of using SOs. Since using IOs are, overall, less expensive and less hassle than using SOs, I'd recommend it. However, you probably wouldn't be enhancing your toon to its fullest potential if this is all you considered.

Enhancement Diversity (ED) adds a big layer of complexity. ED applies to IOs as it does to all other enhancements. Essentially, ED put soft caps on how much bonus multiple enhancements can give to a single power, resembling a sort of diminishing returns. The bonus caps vary depending on the Schedule of enhancements and are calculated based on formulas found at ParagonWiki.com ( http://paragonwiki.com/Enhancement_Diversification ) and listed below in the Appendix. Essentially, the final bonus to the power is determined by taking a percentage of the total, aggregate bonus of the enhancements. This means that the final, net bonus from multiple identical IOs will often vary slightly from the final, net totals for SOs because the bonuses of individual IOs differ by level. For example, a power for a level 50 toon that has been slotted with 3 level 50 SOs (+33.33% each) will receive a total buff of +95.0%, whereas that same power slotted with 3 level 50 IOs (+42.4% each) will receive a total +99.1% buff. That's a small 4.1% difference. Incidentally, 99.1% is the maximum bonus that 3 enhancements can currently offer in the game (not including set bonuses). Compare the bonuses from multiple Schedule A level 50 SOs and IOs slotted in the same power:

Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Level 50 Single Origin Invention Origin Difference
1 slotted +33.3% +42.4% 9.1%
2 slotted +66.7% +83.3% 16.6%
3 slotted +95.0% +99.1% 4.1%
4 slotted +100.0% +105.4% 5.4%
5 slotted +105.0% +111.8% 6.8%
6 slotted +110.0% +118.2% 8.2%
</pre><hr />

Looking at the above table you can see that it is very advantageous to slot a power with 1 or 2 higher leveled IOs, but the 3rd slot greatly reduces the net advantage of IOs over SOs. This holds true for all of the enhancement schedules. If we used diminishing returns as the basis for judging how many IOs to slot in a power (as we do with SOs), we would not slot more than 2 identical IOs in the same power. However, 2 IOs will not give as high a bonus as 3 SOs. If you are concerned about effectiveness, then you will want to slot 3 IOs in order to reach the same or greater bonus as given by 3 SOs. On the other hand, the bonus given by 2 high level IOs can come pretty close to that given by 3 SOs, which in turn may allow you to use less slots for that power or use additional enhancement types that buff different aspects of the power (eg., accuracy, damage, recharge, etc.) in exchange for slightly less effectiveness. It's a trade off, but it may be worth it.

The following table gives the bonuses for 2 SOs, 3 SOs, 2 IOs, and 3 IOs at level 50 for each of the enhancement schedules:

Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
LEVEL 50 ENHANCEMENT BONUSES
Type 2 SOs 3 SOs 2 IOs 3 IOs
Schedule A +66.7% +95% +83.3% +99.1%
Schedule B +40% +56% +49.7% +58.5%
Schedule C +80% +112% +99.3% +116.9%
Schedule D +120% +168% +149% +175.4%
</pre><hr />

MULTIPLE ASPECT IOs

Multiple Aspect IOs are enhancements that give a bonus for more than 1 aspect of a power. An "aspect" is the ability that the enhancement bonus applies to, such as damage, accuracy, endurance reduction, recharge reduction, etc. For example, an IO named Red Fortune gives bonuses for 2 aspects: defense and endurance reduction. The more aspects a single IO has, the less the bonus will be for each of the aspects. Let's take a quick look at some level 50 IOs:

Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
# of Aspects IO Name Bonuses
1 Aspect Invention: Damage +42.4% damage
2 Aspects Mako's Bite +26.5% damage, +26.5% accuracy
3 Aspects Mako's Bite +21.2% endurance, +21.2% accuracy, +21.2% recharge
4 Aspects Mako's Bite +18.5% damage, +18.5% accuracy, +18.5% recharge, +18.5% endurance
</pre><hr />

As you can see, the bonuses for multiple aspect IOs are cut roughly in half from the bonus given by single aspect IOs. Specifically, 100%, 62.5%, 50%, and 43.75% for single-aspect, dual-aspect, tri-aspect, and quad-aspect IOs respectively. What the introduction of multiple aspect enhancements means is that we can no longer merely say that 3-slotting a power is the best way to go. Currently, it may be better to 5-slot or 6-slot slot a power, but how do we know? Will mixing multiple-aspect IOs with single-aspect IOs gimp our toons? How can we tell if the bonus will be enough to maintain our toon's effectiveness?

Well, if we use the bonus given by 3 SOs as the standard, all you have to do is keep in mind 2 numbers one for Schedule A and one for Schedule B enhancements (Schedules C and D are uncommon, so you can figure those out on your own):

Schedule A: 99.3%

Schedule B: 59.3%

Simply add up the bonuses for a specific aspect from the individual enhancements that you will slot in the power, and if the sum matches or exceeds the above percentages, then the final bonus given by all of the slotted enhancements will equal or exceed the resulting bonus given by 3 SOs (specifically, +95% for Schedule A, +56% for Schedule B). For example, if you had 4 Schedule A enhancements with the following bonuses for damage, your final enhancement bonus would not reach the desired +95% mark:

33.3% + 26.5% + 18.5% + 18.5% = 96.8% (this is less than the required 99.3% total needed, and would result in a final bonus of +92.8%)

For the number crunchers among us, I used rounded numbers for the above "after ED" totals as I noticed that the game also uses rounded numbers for its final calculations. The same results should occur. However, completely accurate aggregate numbers to equal 3 SOs would be 99.99% and 60% respectively. If you like, feel free to round my numbers to 100% and 60%, it might be easier to remember. Another way to think of this is to simply make sure your total bonus matches the total bonus of 3 SOs before ED is considered: 33.33% + 33.33% + 33.33% = 99.99% for Schedule A enhancements; 20% + 20% + 20% = 60% for Schedule B enhancements. This should make figuring out if your toon's powers are effectively enhanced much easier.

SET BONUSES AND NORMAL BONUSES

Typically, multi-aspect IOs also offer a "set bonus" if more than one of the same "IO set" is slotted into the same power. Set bonuses are added on top of normal enhancement bonuses. Because set bonuses are applied after the ED calculations, they can enhance a power beyond the capabilities of normal enhanecment bonuses alone.

A set bonus given by an IO is lost (deactivated) in 3 cases: 1) when the power is unavailable, 2) when you exemplar below the minimum level of the set itself (eg., if the set is available from 10-53 and you exemplar to level 9), or 3) when you exemplar more than 3 levels below the level of the set IOs you have (such as if you have two level 23 Miracle in Health and exemplar to level 19). It is important to note that this only applies to "set bonuses." The normal bonus given by the IO will remain in effect even if exemplared below the level of the IO (however the usual Exemplar Reduction Modifier applies to IOs as it does to all other enhancements, reducing the amount of bonus while exemplared down to equivalent levels of other toons at that level - see Appendix below).

That's pretty much all you need to know. I hope this makes slotting enhancements a little easier and a lot more fun!

APPENDIX

Enhancement Diversity Formulas:

The Enhancement Diversity formulas for calculating the final bonuses for enhancements can be found at paragonwiki.com, but I thought some of you might find it useful to list them here. So here they are

The final bonus is calculated based on the schedule of enhancements and the total sum of individual enhancement bonuses which are then compared to a chart to determine the appropriate formula to apply. Generally, the larger the total bonus, the greater the reduction to the bonus. For example, Schedule A enhancements will see about a 10% reduction when the bonus is 70% or more, a 30% reduction at a 90% bonus, and an 85% reduction at a 100% bonus or greater. Each enhancement schedule has its own "thresholds" at which different formulas are applied. E = the total sum of individual enhancement bonuses for an aspect.

[u]Schedule A Enhancements[u]
If E < 70% then the bonus will be E
If E > or = 70% then the bonus will be ((E - 70) x 0.9) + 70
If E > or = 90% then the bonus will be ((E - 90) x 0.7) + 88
If E > or = 100% then the bonus will be ((E - 100) x 0.15) + 95

[u]Schedule B Enhancements[u]
If E < 40% then E
If E > or = 40% then ((E - 40) x 0.9) + 40
If E > or = 50% then ((E - 50) x 0.7) + 49
If E > or = 60% then ((E - 60) x 0.15) + 56

[u]Schedule C Enhancements[u]
E < 80% then E
If E > or = 80% then ((E - 80) x 0.9) + 80
If E > or = 100% then ((E - 100) x 0.7) + 98
If E > or = 120% then ((E - 120) x 0.15) + 112

[u]Schedule D Enhancements[u]
If E < 120% then E
If E > or = 120% then ((E - 120) x 0.9) + 120
If E > or = 150% then ((E - 150) x 0.7) + 147
If E > or = 180% then ((E-180) x 0.15) + 168

Exemplaring Enhancement Bonus Reduction Modifiers:

Again, just for your information, I thought you might like to know how much your enhancement bonus is reduced while exemplaring. This information came from the following posts at the COH Forum: rjs_boy, iakona, and Corebreach.

Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
"Ex Level" "Ex Modifier"
1 0.022
2 0.045
3 0.068
4 0.092
5 0.116
6 0.141
7 0.166
8 0.192
9 0.219
10 0.246
11 0.274
12 0.302
13 0.331
14 0.361
15 0.391
16 0.422
17 0.454
18 0.486
19 0.519
20 0.553
21 0.587
22 0.623
23 0.659
24 0.696
25 0.733
26 0.772
27 0.811
28 0.852
29 0.893
30 0.935
31 0.978
32+ 1
</pre><hr />

To find out how your enhancements will change when exemplared, simply find the modifier of the level you will be exemp'ing down to and divide it by the modifier of your current level .

(Exemplar Level Modifier) / (Native Level Modifier)= Enhancement Modifier

For instance, if you are lvl 50 and are going to be exemplaring down to lvl 25 for some fun in Bloody Bay, you would find the value for lvl 25 (73.3%) and divide it by the value for lvl 50 (100%).

73.3% / 100% = Enhancements function at 73.3% of their normal value.

This currently applies to all levels, at least where exemplaring is possible.

Lvl 20 to lvl 15 for Positron TF:

39.1% / 55.3% = Enhancements function at 70.7% of their normal value.

There is a minor extra step involving at least some IOs above level 48 when a character exemplars to level 45 or lower. In those instances, Schedule A IOs are capped to an enhancement value of +41.67% first (rather than 42% for lvl 49 or 42.4% for lvl 50 IOs), then the exemplaring ratio is applied and then ED.

It's interesting to note that for PvP zones and for TFs this scaling system can actually penalize players for being one level over the limit. Positron and Bloody Bay both come to mind, because a player can hit level 16 or 26 during these respectively, not gaining any slots, but the scaling system kicks in and gives them about a 92-95% function level. Not huge, but still something that shouldn't happen.

Also, when using this system, you might notice some inconsistencies if your enhancements are being affected by ED, because the exemplar calculations take place before ED calculations do. Put another way, Exemplar Scaling affects each enhancement individually. If you have 3 SOs in a power the game will show 95%, but for the scaling calculations it sees 99%. ED is still applied to the scaled totals if they are high enough.

Level 50s:
BlackSpectre, Dark Defender (Guardian)
Thorin, Invul/Axe Tank (Justice)
Volcano Juice, Fire/Stone Tank
Professor ?, Mind/FF Controller
Stone Forge, Stone/Fire Tank

RedeyeDred · 06-22-2007 05:09 PM

jus wanted to say thanks for the great guide. concise, easy to understand info, GJ!

Black_Specter · 06-23-2007 04:38 PM

Thanks, Red! I appreciate it.

Incidentally, a prettier version of this same guide can be found here http://www.superheroes-inc.com/iobonus.html

Level 50s:
BlackSpectre, Dark Defender (Guardian)
Thorin, Invul/Axe Tank (Justice)
Volcano Juice, Fire/Stone Tank
Professor ?, Mind/FF Controller
Stone Forge, Stone/Fire Tank

Plasma · 06-23-2007 10:02 PM

Have you actually tested the exemplar percentages with IOs? I had sort of figured that with IOs, since they have a level-by-level value rather than relative, that if you had L50 IOs and exemped to, say, 37, your IOs would just use the L37 values.

Black_Specter · 06-24-2007 12:57 AM

Yep, tested and confirmed. A level 50 IO with a 42.4% bonus exemplared to level 37 would still have a 42.4% bonus. It's another perk from IOs, and another reason why IOs are superior to SOs... at least for the moment. The devs might change IOs to a more logical system like you suggest, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

The devs didn't change anything regarding the rules by which enhancements operate. They merely made an additional enhancement type, plopped it into the game, and left everything else the same. Except, when exemplaring, it appears there is a small cap to the IO bonus percentage for at least some IOs. Whether this is intentional or a bug remains to be seen.

Level 50s:
BlackSpectre, Dark Defender (Guardian)
Thorin, Invul/Axe Tank (Justice)
Volcano Juice, Fire/Stone Tank
Professor ?, Mind/FF Controller
Stone Forge, Stone/Fire Tank

Memphis_Bill · 06-26-2007 04:43 AM

Linked over from my PVP survival guide, since it's so handy and explained a bit about what happens when you exemp much bette rthan I could.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Black_Specter · 07-02-2007 01:51 AM

Thanks for the compliment, Memphis_Bill! I'm still thinking of ways to make this guide easier and simpler to understand and use for the casual player. I've shown it to 4 friends now, and none of them have gotten around to read it... or they attempted and got bored or overwhelmed and walked away from it. And worse, now none of them seem eager to try to read it when I prod them a little. ROFL Oh well. I think it's a disconnect at work here where some people can't get past how they thought of enhancements before I9 and how I'm suggesting they think of enhancements now. The old 3 slot rule vs my 100% bonus (or 60% if schedule B) rule. I'll probably try to bridge that divide when I revise this guide. I also know I need to include a lot more information about multi-aspect IO bonuses and set bonuses, but I didn't want to tackle those issues until I had more expeirience with them. I do now, so you'll probably see a revision of this guide within the next month if not sooner.

Anyway, thanks again.

Level 50s:
BlackSpectre, Dark Defender (Guardian)
Thorin, Invul/Axe Tank (Justice)
Volcano Juice, Fire/Stone Tank
Professor ?, Mind/FF Controller
Stone Forge, Stone/Fire Tank

flipside · 07-10-2007 01:13 PM

Great and informative guide. Kudos to you for pulling it all together. Adding in the Set IO bonus information may very well be helpful, but I would also link to the paragonwiki for a bulk of the information. They have done a tremendous job of listing out Set bonuses for everything known in the game.

One piece of info I, personally, would like to see included is how Set IO enhancement percentages scale dependent on the level of the enhancement/recipe. For example, at level 50 a dual Acc/Dam IO will be 26.5% and 26.5%. That enhancement/recipe is probably in the 30-53 band. What are the aspect modifies for a recipe at level 49? I'm sure there's a mathematical formula for it, but I've never seen it. You do list out the exemp level modifiers but I don't think the recipe values are the same table.

Again, great guide!

Main Character: Ice/Storm/Ice Controller (Justice, 1340 badges)

Black_Specter · 07-10-2007 02:30 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Great and informative guide. Kudos to you for pulling it all together. Adding in the Set IO bonus information may very well be helpful, but I would also link to the paragonwiki for a bulk of the information. They have done a tremendous job of listing out Set bonuses for everything known in the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, ok... I thought maybe putting another link to ParagonWiki in addition to the 2-3 I already put in the guide might have been overkill... but, sure. I can put a link to the Set IOs page too!

[ QUOTE ]
One piece of info I, personally, would like to see included is how Set IO enhancement percentages scale dependent on the level of the enhancement/recipe. For example, at level 50 a dual Acc/Dam IO will be 26.5% and 26.5%. That enhancement/recipe is probably in the 30-53 band. What are the aspect modifies for a recipe at level 49? I'm sure there's a mathematical formula for it, but I've never seen it. You do list out the exemp level modifiers but I don't think the recipe values are the same table.

Again, great guide!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it's a good question. I haven't seen the formula for calculating the single aspect IO by level bonuses anywhere either. I suspect the formula is based on the SO bonus numbers and then a modifier is applied that considers level. Good question though. I hope somebody better at math than me can figure this out soon.

And thanks for the kind words.

Edit:
I did look at the numbers, and it looks like the devs based the numbers for the various levels of IOs on the numbers for Training Origin, Dual Origin, and Single Origin enhancements and adjusts the modifier for the levels when they are in use. For example, during the approximate time that DOs are available and in use, approximately +.013 is added to each level bonus. At level 26, about when SOs become available, +.004 is added to the previous bonus for each level after. This would all be fine except, there are hic-ups *almost* every 5 levels where only +.003 is added (for level 26+ IOs). These "hic-ups" made it impossible for me to use the compound interest formula to calculate the total bonus because they do not follow a regular pattern. However, even if we were able to use the compound interest formula to calculate the bonuses, it utilizes an exponential calculation which I think would pretty much make it inaccessible and inconvenient for most players to use. Further, we could describe the IO bonuses with multiple formulas that would reference a level chart to figure out which formula to apply, but this kind of defeats the whole idea of using a formula instead of referencing a chart for IO bonuses. So I don't know. I did my best with what little mathematics knowledge I have. Maybe someone who knows more could help?

Generally we can keep this in mind and it might help:

Level 10-12 IOs add +.017 to their IO bonus per level (except for level 10 which adds +.016 to get the level 11 IO bonus)

Level 13-25 IOs add +.013 to their IO bonus per level (except for levels 13, 18, and 23 which adds +.012 to get to the next higher level bonus)

Level 26-50 IOs add +.004 to their IO bonus per level (except for levels 28, 32, 37, 42, and 46 which add +.003 to get the next higher level bonus)

-Black

Level 50s:
BlackSpectre, Dark Defender (Guardian)
Thorin, Invul/Axe Tank (Justice)
Volcano Juice, Fire/Stone Tank
Professor ?, Mind/FF Controller
Stone Forge, Stone/Fire Tank

Moker · 07-15-2007 11:54 AM

you have no idea.

i've been wondering what the heck for so long.

thanks sooo much for this guide!