The Players' Guide to the Cities/User Interface/Help Window/Invention System

The following is from the Invention System tab of the Help Window

Salvage

There are two types of salvage dropped; base salvage and invention salvage. Base salvage is used for your Supergroups' base and invention salvage is used to make enhancements. Base Salvage does not count toward your inventory size. Personal Storage Lockers will hold your Invention Salvage and are located around Paragon City. Base Storage Objects will hold Base Salvage only. The two types of invention salvage drops are magic and technology.

There are also different rarities of invention salvage dropped: common, uncommon and rare. These will determine how effective your enhancement will be, different enhancements use different rarities of invention salvage. You can convert Invention Salvage into Base Salvage by clicking on 'Convert' on any Workbench.

Inventing Enhancements

You will need two or three things to craft an enhancement: a Workbench, usage fee, invention salvage and, depending on the rarity, a recipe.

When at a Workbench, click on the Workbench to view the list of recipes.

Pressing the >> button will show what salvage is needed to make this enhancement. When you have decided what enhancement you want to create, press the Create button and it drop into in your enhancement tray.

If you don't have any room in your enhancement tray, you won't be able to create that enhancement.
An advantage to using the uncommon and rare enhancements is that even though their regular bonus is lower compared to regular crafted enhancements when it comes to effectiveness, they have multiple effects.

Recipes

Recipes will drop along with salvage. These recipes can be used only once, and are used along with the uncommon and rare salvage. The level of the recipe will be based on the level of the critter it drops from. As you use Common Recipes, you can acquire special badges that allow you to 'memorize' those Recipes.

Enhancement Sets

The uncommon and rare crafted enhancements slot into power sets, which give you additional permanent benefits. When there are three or more enhancements from the same set in a power, you get an overall bonus to your character. These power sets can be as small as three enhancements, or as many as six. When slotting into a power set, you can only put one of each type of enhancement from the set into the power.

Keep in mind that these bonuses apply to your character at all times; and apply to all of your powers not just the one you have it slotted in. You do not need to have the power active in order to get the bonus.

Consignment Houses

Note: The Consignment Houses section appears in Hero Help only

These are places that you can visit to buy or sell your invention salvage and recipes. Invented enhancements will also be available to you to buy or sell. Wentworth's Fine Consignments are located in Atlas Park, Kings Row, Steel Canyon, and Talos Island. See the Wentworth Information Representative for more information on how to use the consignment house.

The Black Market

Note: The Black Market section appears in Villain Help only

These are places that you can visit to buy or sell your invention salvage and recipes. Invented enhancements can also be available for you to buy or sell. The Black Market is found in Mercy Island, Cap au Diable, Sharkhead, and St. Martial. See 'the guy who looks like he knows something' for more information on how the Black Market works.