Invention

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The Recent EVE Update "Phoebe" (Nov 4th) has introduced drastic changes to the invention process, and some of the information in this guide may no longer be accurate. Updating of this page is under way, but feel free to contribute changes as needed.


Invention is the means by which you produce blueprint copies for Tech 2 items and ships in EVE, which can then be sold on the market, or (more popularly) be used to manufacture those items for sale or personal use in the game.

A player using the invention process takes a blueprint copy (BPC) for a Tech 1 item, adds certain specialized equipment, and attempts to create a BPC for a corresponding Tech 2 item. Although it sounds simple, invention can be very expensive and difficult to do successfully.

The (hopefully) created BPC will have a single run on a ship BPC, and 10 runs on everything else. It will have ME -2% and TE -4%. These values are regardless of those on the input T1 BPC. The Runs, ME and TE levels on the created BPC can be adjusted using decryptors (see optional items below).

For a quick history of Tech II manufacturing, see the section at the bottom of this page.

Skills Required

You need to train several different types of skills in order to perform the invention process:

Each T2 item is associated with one of racial encryption methods, and each T3 item is associated with the sleeper encryption methods. With Phoebe, reverse engineering has been made part of the invention process.

Each item also has two advanced science skills associated with it. The advanced science skills are:

Invention info.png

An inventor must have the proper encryption method skill and the two science skills trained, as required for each item, in order to start an Invention job. Higher skill levels of the encryption methods and science skills lead to a better chance of invention. In order to see which skills are required, look in the Invention tab in a blueprint for any Tech I item.

For example, this Scourge Rocket Blueprint (see right) requires:

  • Rocket Science I
    • Mechanics V
    • Science V
  • Electronic Engineering I
    • Science V
    • CPU Management V
  • Caldari Encryption Methods I
    • Hacking II
      • Electronics Upgrades III
        • CPU Management II
        • Power Grid Management II
      • Science III

You should train the encryption method skills to at least level 3, and the science skills at least to level 4, to have a good chance of invention success.

Use one of these handy calculators to work out your invention chance using different combinations of skills & optional items:

Other Related Skills

Laboratory Operation and Advanced Laboratory Operation will govern how many concurrent science jobs you can perform. Scientific Networking will govern from how many jumps away you can start science jobs.

Items required

There are 3 mandatory items and 2 optional items needed for invention. To find out which items are required, look in the Invention tab in a blueprint for any Tech I item, or load the blueprint into the Industry window and choose Invention.

Mandatory Items

  1. Blueprint copy
    • You must have a T1 blueprint copy (BPC) of the T2 item you wish to create. Whether the invention job is successful or not, this BPC will be returned to you with one fewer runs remaining on it. If it only has one run remaining, it will be consumed.
    • The ME, TE and Runs Remaining on the input BPC are irrelevant.
  2. Datacores
    • Each invention job will require two types of datacores. The number of datacores needed depends on the size of the object created. Small modules only require one datacore of each type while battleships require 32 of each type.
    • Datacores are primarily obtained through Factional Warfare loyalty point stores. They can also be 'farmed' from Research agents, although much less effectively, whilst some datacores can be found in exploration sites. However obtained, they tend to end up on the market, in the Manufacture & Research > Research Equipment > Datacores tab.
    • Whether the invention job is successful or not, these datacores will be consumed.

Data Interfaces have been removed in Phoebe.

Optional Items

Selecting a decryptor
  1. Decryptors (recommended for big expensive invention jobs, like T2 ships)
    • Decryptors are an optional item that can be added to the invention process. Decryptors affect the invention chance of the process as well as the material efficiency, time efficiency, and number of runs of the created T2 BPC. Decryptors will be consumed during the Invention process, successful or not.
    • Add the values from the decryptor to the base values to calculate the final outcome of the T2 BPC.
    • Excellent guide to decryptors: http://eve-prosper.blogspot.com/2013/07/everything-you-never-wanted-to-know.html NOTE: pre-Crius guide, use with caution
    • Note that with Phoebe, Decrytors have been consolidated. There are no racial decryptors anymore. The different types of decryptors are:
      • Accelerant Decryptor
      • Attainment Decryptor
      • Augmentation Decryptor
      • Parity Decryptor
      • Process Decryptor
      • Symmetry Decryptor
      • Optimized Attainment Decryptor
      • Optimized Augmentation Decryptor

Use one of these handy calculators to work out your invention chance using different combinations of skills & optional items:

The invention process

Gather your BPC, all mandatory items and any optional items you desire to use in a station with invention facilities, or in a Design Laboratory at a POS. The Design Laboratory also has a 50% reduction in the time required on invention, which is highly useful.

Select the relevant BPC in the Industry window, and choose Invention on the activity list. The resulting window will tell you your invention chance, taking into account your skills and any selected optional items.

The optional items can be selected using the boxes on the left hand side of the Industry UI. All possible items will be listed, but items not available for use (i.e. not found in the input material location) will be faded out. You can use the decryptor selection box to look at how each different decryptor affects invention chance and outcome.

Be sure to select the correct Outcome, because some T1 BPCs can invent more than one T2 item (for example, a Scourge Rocket BPC invents both the Scourge Rage Rocket and Scourge Javelin Rocket BPCs, two different types of T2 rocket ammunition).

Currently, there are no Teams that work on Invention, but these will probably be added later (CCP has committed to looking at Invention in patches/expansions after Crius, see http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/lighting-the-invention-bulb/).

Invention ui.png

Once the job is complete and delivered, you do not receive any explicit notification if your job was successful. The only indication of success is that the 'Outcome' box in the Industry window actually contains your T2 BPC and an animated blue highlight - you will be able to find your new T2 BPO in the list of blueprints.

Job success.png

If your invention failed however, the 'Outcome' box in the industry window will tint red, with an animated red bar across, and display a large Job failed text in red.

You can also see a summary of the success or failure of each job in the job listing after delivery.

Either way, your datacores and optional items will be consumed, and your BPC will be returned with one fewer run on it (unless it only had 1 run remaining).

T2 BPCs

Tech 2 blueprint copies have 10 runs, -2% ME and -4% TE, unless modified by a decryptor. T2 BPCs for ships and rigs have 1 run (again unless modified by a decryptor). The only activity you can do with a T2 BPC is to manufacture it, you cannot research or copy it.

Maximizing invention success

The chance for a successful invention is calculated by this formula:

File:Invention Equation (Phoebe).jpg

Base Chance:

  • All modules, rigs, ammo and all intact Ancient Relics have a base chance of 34%
  • All Frigates, Destroyers and all malfunctioning Ancient Relics have a base chance of 30%
  • Cruisers, Battlecruisers, Mining Barges, Industrials have a base chance of 26%
  • All Battleships and all wrecked Ancient Relics have a base chance of 22%
  • Freighters have a base chance of 18%
File:Invention chance.png

It's not difficult to get a good chance of success for modules, but progressively more difficult for ships as their size increases. This is why investing in some decryptors is a good idea for Tech II ship invention jobs.

For example, using one of the invention chance calculators linked earlier:

  • Let's say we are inventing from a Nanofiber Internal Structure I blueprint copy, so select a Base chance value of 40%
  • Enter 3 for the level of your encryption skill - a moderate level of proficiency
  • Enter 4 for each of the two science skill levels - for a nanofiber, that would be Nanite Engineering and Molecular Engineering
  • Enter nothing / +0% for decryptor

Press the "Recalculate" button. The probability of success is 47.8%, near enough to what we see in-game.

Now enter Meta level 4 for the base item and recalculate. The probability of success is now a whopping 74.2% - this illustrates the value of using higher meta level base items in invention jobs. You can experiment with different skill levels and items to see how the probability changes. Use this to determine the levels of skills you wish to train, and whether you want to invest in meta level items or decryptors.

Note that the following factors have no impact on the probability of invention success:

  • Using meta level 0 base items (as previously described)
  • ME, TE or number of Runs on the BPC
  • How attractive, charming or brilliant you are :-)

Helpful guidelines

  • Science skills each improve the chance of success by twice as much as the encryption skill, so since all are 5x rank skills, you should train science skills up first. A decent option is to initially train encryption to 3 and science skills to 4. Eventually you should consider training encryption to 4 and the science skills to level 5 - especially the ones for ships - if you are going to be producing significant amounts of certain items.
  • Decryptors can virtually guarantee success, but can also be very expensive: in general, use the expensive ones only for big items like Tech II ships.
  • 'Symmetry' and 'Augmentation' type decryptors are often cheap, and add +2 or +9 (the latter at the cost of a lower invention chance) runs to the resulting BPC, so they can be very worthwhile (especially for ships and rigs, which only give 1-run BPCs by default) in driving down invention costs per manufacturing run, as well as increasing T2 manufacturing throughput by loosening the invention bottleneck.
  • To maximize profits from invention, you need to minimize your investment costs. This means using buy orders to purchase invention items in the market: datacores, meta items, decryptors. You'll also want to shop around to different systems to find the most affordable blueprint copying and invention facilities.
  • As you gain more experience in invention, you can experiment with different investments in your mix of skills, meta level items, and decryptors. If you are going to be a serious producer of Tech II items, you will eventually want to establish a research POS - with significant time saving bonuses - for copying and invention jobs.

Useful links

Apart from the invention chance calculators linked earlier, here are some more links:

In Ye Olde Days...

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