How do enhancements and inventions work?

I get that you slot them, they give bonuses. Some affect different things and some sets affect multiple things.

Except that's all I know. I have got a premium account so I can use invention ones just fine. From playing with Mids, anytime I slot in a set, it affects all my powers that can be affected, does it work like this with all sets?

And what use is invetion other than making enhancments?

Finally, the level 50 invention enhancements (including the sets), how are they gotten? If it's from Incarnate content, I have to be in a team?

The invention system is for a lot of different things.

You can do basic Invention Origin Enhancements (IOs) that are basically the same as Single Origin Enhancements with the exception that you do not out level them, they always provide the same amount of enhancement.

The sets are quite nice. Each set is different, the lower level sets are not necessarily 6-enhancement sets. So, there may be a full set that only has 3 enhancements.

As you slot more than 1 enhancement from the set into a power, you will receive a specific bonus for that set. These bonuses can be improved recovery, regen, recharge, defense, etc.

You can only slot 1 enhancement of the same set in a power. For example, you cannot slot 2 Accuracy/Damage of the same set, on the same attack.

This is also another difference, sets are usually made of enhancements that have an effect on more than one aspect.

As far as your questions, bonuses from sets will usually apply to your overall performance, but the attributes that the enhancement changes, will only apply to the slotted power. An Acc/Dam enhancement from a set only changes the Acc/Dam of that power.

When you say "level 50 invention enhancements", do you mean the purple ones? Because there many sets that drop in a wide range of levels.

Sets are separated in rarity, like salvage, there's very rare, rare, etc. The purple ones are the very rare ones, don't drop as often, and you have to be level 50 for them to drop.

However, other sets can drop at any time (considering rarity), and at different levels.

The invention system can also be used to make temp powers, costume pieces, etc.

Recipes can drop, be bought at the auction house, or difference merit vendors.

I think this kinda covers your questions, I would also recommend reading the wiki, I learned lots there.

Paragonwiki is (as for many other thing CoH related) an excellent source of information about the invention system:

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Inventio...n_Enhancements

Invention Origin enhancements are made from recipes, which drop from defeated foes (the non-set recipes can also be purchased at the crafting tables) They aren't bound to your character, so they can be purchased via Wentworth's or the Black Market.

Invention enhancements boost one or more aspects of a power. You might find an Accuracy/Damage/Endurance enhancement, for example. Put in a power, it will boos that power's Accuracy, Damage, and Endurance, although it will boost each less than a single-aspect enhancement would.

If you slot more than one enhancement from the same set in the same power, you start getting the set bonuses listed in the description of the set. You can't have more than five of the same bonus in a single character, however (so a blaster with six ranged attacks can't get six copies of the Thunderstrike set bonuses - only five.) You also can't put more than one of the same set enhancement in a single power (For example, you can't put two Thunderstrike Accuracy/Damage enhancements in the same power).

The level of the enhancement is governed by the level of the enemy you defeat to get it - so you'll see enhancement recipes of various levels. You get level 50 versions from defeating level 50 foes. (Note: Each enhancement set has a range of levels that it's available at. Not all of them go all the way to 50)

The invention system, besides making enhancements, lets you make temporary powers (Jetpacks, the Backup Radio, Power Analyzers, etc...) SuperGroup base items (the Telepad being a notable example) and costume parts (Wings, Rocket Boots, etc...) A couple of oddball uses are the Summon Adamastor event that's triggered from a recipe, and the Respec recipe, which grants your character a respec.

There are also badges to be earned, if you're into those.

So Inventions are, at the end of the day, enhancements just like the ones you've been using so far only more powerful (at level 50 a damage invention boosts the power 42.4% as opposed to 33.3% for example). You slot them in a power and they enhance various aspects of that power. Now in addition to basic Inventions there are also Set Inventions. These still provide the enhancement values of regular Inventions (in fact they are slightly stronger) but in addition if you slot multiple inventions from the same set into a power you get a "Set Bonus". Set Bonuses can be thought of as a small global buff for your character, they come in a wide variety but some of the more popular types are:
Regeneration Boost
Recovery Boost
Max Hit Point Increase
Defense Boost
Recharge Boost
Damage Bonus

Some set bonuses (such as the Recharge Boost) will affect your other powers (similarly to if they had more enhancements slotted in them) while other bonuses (such as defense boosts) simply make your character stronger regardless of what powers you have.

You can find a full listing of Set IOs here:
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Invent...hancement_Sets

And more information on set bonuses here:
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Invent...nt_Set_Bonuses


Inventions can be used to make items other than enhancements. There are a small number of recipes that make Temporary Powers that you can use for an extra bonus. I like to carry a Resuscitator to help dead teammates and the Backup Radio can be useful for a bit of extra help when solo. You can find a full list here:
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Invent...mporary_Powers


As for getting Inventions there are a lot of options. The simplest is of course Wentworths where you can buy and sell recipes and enhancements with other players. Now as for getting them yourself. For common non-set Inventions you can buy the recipes at a workbench (although you can sometimes find them cheaper at WWs) and will also get them through random drops. If you craft a lot of a common invention you can memorize the recipe and then you don't need to buy a new recipe each time and get a crafting cost reduction. For details on that check here:
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Memorization

Now as for getting Set IO recipes there are a few options. Simply playing the game will get you some randomly. Every enemy you kill has a chance to drop a set IO recipe with Bosses and LTs having higher chances than minions. Different recipes have different rarities so most of the recipes you get will be of limited value, still you can get some very good ones this way. Teamed versus solo depends on your character. Teamed you have less chance per kill (since the reward is randomly distributed amongst the team) but you get a lot more kills.

There are also more guaranteed but slower ways to get recipes. You can earn Merits, Alignment Merits, AE Tickets, Astral Merits and Empyrean Merits through various types of content which can then be exchanged for recipes (either doing random rolls for more valuable recipes or doing direct purchases).
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Merit_Rewards
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Hero_Merit
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Ticket_Vendor
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Incarnate_Merit_Vendor