IO=Invention Origins. They're the new kind of Enhancements that were introduced as the central focus of the Invention system, basically crafting. Generally they're better than SOs (though not by that much).
They can't be outlevelled and don't discriminate by origin, but to make them you must have the appropriate Recipe (a new kind of drop) and Invention Salvage (another semi-new kind of drop), and combine them at an Invention Table (found in any University, the Vanguard base and can be placed in Bases).
There are two kinds of IOs: 'Generic' IOs, which are the easiest to get, and 'Set' IOs, which as the name suggests come in sets of 3 to 6 that, if all slotted into the same power, will provide little bonuses (that add up).
Note that [u]the game was not made harder to balance for Inventions[u]. The entire system is completely optional, and you can still play perfectly well with SOs and a good build. However, it's really not that hard to get into once you get the hang of the basics.
Soft Cap: The point at which a large amount of Defense is about as good as it possibly can be, where you'll only get hit 5% of the time. It is 45% Defense, and each category (either melee/ranged/AoE for 'positional' defense, or Smashing/Lethal/Fire etc for 'typed' defense) must be capped separately to get all-round defense.
Prof_Blackfire..amazing! I completely understood the info and I was blown away how easy it was for me to understand. Ty very much. I have been trying to roam the forums for a few minutes before I log to play everytime. I have yet to be dissappointed and your post has influenced me even more to keep roaming. I have learned something different EVERY time I read material here.
I am so glad and more tempted to play than ever before, like my first time, a re-born player of CoH player!
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Prof_Blackfire..
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...now I'm not sure whether I should be a blaxploitation mad scientist or a Tameranean renegade princess mad scientist.
Thanks.
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Generally [IOs are] better than SOs (though not by that much).
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I'm going to have to disagree with that, partially. (And here's where I overcommunicate.)
Generic IO's are not much better than SO's, this is true.
There are a couple levels of improvement that are possible from here on up:
The first is "Frankenslotting" with set IO's. A set IO will generally improve more than one thing (for instance an acc/dam improves both accuracy and damage.) Keeping with that example, it will give you a little more than half an acc and a little more than half a damage- about 2/3 of each. So if you slot three different acc/dam from three different sets, you get "two accuracy, two damage" in three slots, saving a slot. You can get about two "extra slots " into a power this way.
There are some cheap sets out there, because they have terrible set bonuses. Nobody really wants "1.5% debt reduction" or "1.65% sleep resistance." You can use these cheap sets to get improved performance for only a little bit more than the cost of SO's. One example of a cheap set.
The next step is where you can start spending big money. If you have a set that DOES give you good benefits- like Crushing Impact- the price tends to have two commas in it. That is a lot of money. However, if you hit someone and they had a Crushing Impact in their pocket, you can SELL it for a price with two commas in it.
As mentioned, those are not big bonuses- 5% recharge, 7% accuracy in that case- but if you slot it in Thunder Kick, Storm Kick, Eagle's Claw, and Boxing you have almost a full SO of extra accuracy, and half an SO of extra recharge, in all your powers.
There are increasingly higher levels of IO which are slightly better and much more expensive. One way of thinking of them is "an excuse for level 50's to keep playing and getting more powerful."
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
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If you're going to try to wrap your head around IOs, I recommend playing with Mids Hero Designer for a bit. It supports IOs, will show you cumulative totals for Set Bonuses, and has a Set Bonus Finder feature to allow you to look for particular bonuses you are interested in.
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Generally [IOs are] better than SOs (though not by that much).
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I'm going to have to disagree with that, partially. (And here's where I overcommunicate.)
Generic IO's are not much better than SO's, this is true.
There are a couple levels of improvement that are possible from here on up:
The first is "Frankenslotting" with set IO's. A set IO will generally improve more than one thing (for instance an acc/dam improves both accuracy and damage.) Keeping with that example, it will give you a little more than half an acc and a little more than half a damage- about 2/3 of each. So if you slot three different acc/dam from three different sets, you get "two accuracy, two damage" in three slots, saving a slot. You can get about two "extra slots " into a power this way.
There are some cheap sets out there, because they have terrible set bonuses. Nobody really wants "1.5% debt reduction" or "1.65% sleep resistance." You can use these cheap sets to get improved performance for only a little bit more than the cost of SO's. One example of a cheap set.
The next step is where you can start spending big money. If you have a set that DOES give you good benefits- like Crushing Impact- the price tends to have two commas in it. That is a lot of money. However, if you hit someone and they had a Crushing Impact in their pocket, you can SELL it for a price with two commas in it.
As mentioned, those are not big bonuses- 5% recharge, 7% accuracy in that case- but if you slot it in Thunder Kick, Storm Kick, Eagle's Claw, and Boxing you have almost a full SO of extra accuracy, and half an SO of extra recharge, in all your powers.
There are increasingly higher levels of IO which are slightly better and much more expensive. One way of thinking of them is "an excuse for level 50's to keep playing and getting more powerful."
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Two things to keep in mind when planning a Set IO build:
Firstly, you can only benefit from five of the same Set Bonus. So if you have five 2.5% Recovery bonuses, a sixth will be ignored. However, a 1.5% Recovery bonus would stack on top of the 12.5% from the other bonuses since it is a "different" bonus.
Secondly, Set IOs only count towards a Set Total in a power if your combat level is within -3 of the level stamped on the enh. That is, if you slot all lv50s and you exemplar/malefactor at all (and thus go below lv47) you will lose all your Set Bonuses. If you slotted all lv41s, your Set Bonuses would be active down to 38. Et cetera.
You can also check out ParagonWiki on the subject.
ParagonWiki: Invention Origin Enhancements
Also a minor nitpick from Fulmen's excellent post. A two aspect IO is 5/8ths of a single aspect in each not 2/3rds. A three aspect IO is 1/2 in each and a four aspect IO is 7/16ths in each.
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Ok, all of the input has been very very useful and educational. Thank you very much. Ok, 2 more questions:
Just slotting with SO will still turn out to be a pretty good bada$$ superhero?
Does all salvage one way or another be used for inventions?
For example, can I sell unused salvage or dontae to SG b/c someone else can use?
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Ok, all of the input has been very very useful and educational. Thank you very much. Ok, 2 more questions:
Just slotting with SO will still turn out to be a pretty good bada$$ superhero?
Does all salvage one way or another be used for inventions?
For example, can I sell unused salvage or dontae to SG b/c someone else can use?
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Yes. Slotting with just SOs, you can still be effective. Are you aware of the restrictions of Enhancement Diversification (ED)?
If not, it applies to IO sets as well. Check out Enhancement Diversification at www.paragonwiki.com as well.
For salvage you don't want, or can't use, you can:
1) sell it to any store, for a fixed price based on rarity
2) sell it on Wentworths (Hero Auction house) or the Black Market (Villain Auction House) for whatever other player are willing to pay. This can be less or MUCH more than what a vendor would give you.
3) Deleted.
4) Placed in supergroup storage bins
5) Given to other players
6) Used to craft base equipment
7) Used to craft costume pieces, like Burnt Wings, or Rocket Boots
8) Invention Enhancements, already covered
9) Craft temp powers like Gabriel's Hammer, or the St. Louis Slugger
10) Used at empowerment station to craft temporary buffs.
The invention tutorial offered at the University give an introduction to the Auction House. Recipes can be sold there as well.
EDIT: Forgot to mention #11, In addition to your personal inventory, you have a vault inventory of salvage, which can only be accessed by that character. You can get to it at Pocket D, your base (if equipped) and also near any market location.
www.paragonwiki.com is a great source of information for this game.
New or returning to the game? Want advice from experienced players who want to help YOU?
The Mentor Project: Part of the New Player Council.
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Does all salvage one way or another be used for inventions?
For example, can I sell unused salvage or dontae to SG b/c someone else can use?
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Currently, yes, since all salvage drops (excluding Vanguard, Event, and AE stuff) are Invention Salvage. Now if you have any Base Salvage, you'll need to convert that to Brainstorms (Conversion is done at an Invention table). Those can be used for Invention Salvage Rolls or sold at WW/BM.
Thnak you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
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Soft Cap: The point at which a large amount of Defense is about as good as it possibly can be, where you'll only get hit 5% of the time. It is 45% Defense, and each category (either melee/ranged/AoE for 'positional' defense, or Smashing/Lethal/Fire etc for 'typed' defense) must be capped separately to get all-round defense.
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The reason why it's called "Soft Cap" is because you can have higher defense - about 100% defense until 21 where the median max is about 200% and these values are the hard cap. The game will not let you put the values higher. - but it normally doesn't benefit you due to how defense and to-hit work UNLESS you regularly face purples-con NPCs.
Also, if you are worried about defense debuffing mobs, it helps as well, since if you get a 20% defense debuff an you are at 80% defense, that takes you down to 60% which is still over the soft cap of 45 when facing non-purple-conning mobs in the game.
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Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
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Does all salvage one way or another be used for inventions?
For example, can I sell unused salvage or dontae to SG b/c someone else can use?
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Currently, yes, since all salvage drops (excluding Vanguard, Event, and AE stuff) are Invention Salvage. Now if you have any Base Salvage, you'll need to convert that to Brainstorms (Conversion is done at an Invention table). Those can be used for Invention Salvage Rolls or sold at WW/BM.
Thnak you for the time...
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OR! You can sell Base Salvage on the Market for anywhere between a few thousand and tens of millions. Since Base Salvage doesn't drop any longer it is now a Collector's Item. You don't know how much Base Salvage will go for until you drop it on the market; it depends on how close a Collector is to completing a set.
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Soft Cap: The point at which a large amount of Defense is about as good as it possibly can be, where you'll only get hit 5% of the time. It is 45% Defense, and each category (either melee/ranged/AoE for 'positional' defense, or Smashing/Lethal/Fire etc for 'typed' defense) must be capped separately to get all-round defense.
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The reason why it's called "Soft Cap" is because you can have higher defense - about 100% defense until 21 where the median max is about 200% and these values are the hard cap. The game will not let you put the values higher. - but it normally doesn't benefit you due to how defense and to-hit work UNLESS you regularly face purples-con NPCs.
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NPCs don't get +ToHit buffs until they are +6 to your level. Before then, 45% Def is all that will matter except in very odd circumstances (the enemy has Build Up or something).
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Prof_Blackfire..
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...now I'm not sure whether I should be a blaxploitation mad scientist or a Tameranean renegade princess mad scientist.
Thanks.
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Ask BlackAlleyBrawler for help with that.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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Prof_Blackfire..
[/ QUOTE ]
...now I'm not sure whether I should be a blaxploitation mad scientist or a Tameranean renegade princess mad scientist.
Thanks.
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Ask BlackAlleyBrawler for help with that.
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...I just realised- thanks to the Science pack I can be both! 
Ok, so I been a vet since a year after launch but I have taken several breaks. I am now recently back playing stronger to play than ever before. Love the new patches excpt for AE. Anyhow...since I am more than ever dedicated to learn this game, I am having trouble understanding some termonoloy. Some of you are even going to wonder how long I have been playing and have not p/u on the termonology but I havent been roaming the forums B4 like I am now.
What exactly are IO? I understand that SO = Single Origins, DO = Dual Origins?
What does soft cap mean?
I'm sure there will be more questions, so Thanks in advance!
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