Recipe

Rarity and Drops

Common recipes are built into the invention station/table.

Enemies you fight will drop uncommon, rare, and extremely rare recipes. Any mob has a chance to drop a recipe. If a recipe drops, only one will drop from that mob. For example, you defeat a Thorn Caster and a recipe drops. If you have a team of 3 players only 1 of the players can get a recipe from that Thorn Caster. Of course, his buddy, when defeated, could also drop a recipe that may go to a different person. The chance of a recipe dropping increases as you go up the mob chain from minion to lieutenant to boss. Each having a better chance of dropping a reward. Note that it is confirmed that Giant Monsters will not drop recipes, only salvage.

Task Forces, Strike Forces, and Story Arcs will all give you an extremely rare recipe for completing them. Where you now have a select-the-reward menu, a recipe will be added as a choice.

Note speculation: there is a very good chance that extremely rare recipes will only drop for completing a Task Force, Strike Force, or Story Arc. Dr. Brainstorm implied that one IO of a set would be extremely rare while the rest of the set would only be rare. Further note, Bridger confirmed this theory on the UK boards.

[Further speculative note and why I'm referencing drops from TF/SF/Arcs as "extremely rare" when Positron call the one for the Hamidon SF a guaranteed "rare" drop. Internally, they probably have been calling the dropped recipes as common, uncommon, and rare just like salvage. Then someone noticed while documenting the system that there are built-in recipes in the invention stations. They shifted the documentation to call those built-in recipes 'common' and the drops as uncommon, rare, and extremely rare; but probably still use the old format when talking about them in the office. This isn't the first time we have seen the devs stick to old terminology that they have replaced. For example gadgets/devices.]

It appears that a recipe can only be used once. Inventing the item associated with that recipe will use up the recipe. Or that is the current understanding of this. There are conflicting rumors about multiuse recipes, but Positron's answers fairly clearly indicate they are single use.

Recipe Drop 'Pools'

It is now confirmed that most of the recipes are collectible from simply fighting normal mobs and that any mob has a chance of dropping one.

A few recipes are only dropped from completing a TF/SF, a Trial, or a Story Arc. Each of those is a separate pool of recipes that are randomly awarded on completion.

This makes 4 pools from which recipes are drawn: Pool A: general enemies

Pool B: Story Arcs

Pool C: Task Force/Strike Force

Pool D: Trials.

Pool A is huge. Pools B, C, & D are very small. Most sets have all IOs in Pool A alone. There are apparently only about 30 IOs in pools B, C, and D. Most Enhancement Sets can be completed with just drops from normal foes (Pool A).

Every 5 levels is a new table for each pool so what can be found changes as you level. Not all levels have recipes in all four categories

No recipe is tied to doing a specific task. So, completing any story arc will award a random recipe from Pool B for that level. Defeating any foe be they minion or boss can award a recipe from Pool A for that level of foe. This is done so people don't plan on farming AVs for rares.

Giant Monsters never drop recipes.

Pool B, the Story Arc Pool, is being examined/dissected/discussed by the devs to see if there is a better way to handle it. The devs are aware of the problem that Story Arcs are unrepeatable and can not be exemped down to do if you outlevel them. A 'flashback' system (long asked for, long denied) has been ruled out (at least, in time for I9 it is nigh impossible).

Costume Recipes

Costume items currently can only be used by the person who makes them. According to the documentation, making a costume item automatically delivers it to Icon or Facemaker for you to use. There is no information if this is then free to add or will cost you to add to your character. In other words, you can't invent a costume and then sell or give or trade that costume away. You can sell or give away or trade the recipe and salvage for the costume, though. According to Positron, if you want a level 1 character to have a invention costume item, you can give them the recipe, salvage, and influence/infamy to make it themselves.