Difference between revisions of "Industry School"
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'''Mandatory Items:''' | '''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 run remaining on it. If it only has one run remaining, it will be consumed. | *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 run 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. | *The ME, TE, and Runs Remaining on the input BPC are irrelevant. | ||
*Not all items have T2 versions. To check this, open the Information window for a T1 item and look at the "Variations" tab. If a T2 version is shown there, then a T1 BPC for that item can be used to create a T2 BPC. | *Not all items have T2 versions. To check this, open the Information window for a T1 item and look at the "Variations" tab. If a T2 version is shown there, then a T1 BPC for that item can be used to create a T2 BPC. | ||
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. | *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. | *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. |
Revision as of 13:39, 15 June 2023
New Players | PVE | PVP | Exploration | Industry |
---|---|---|---|---|
Newbee Survival School | PVE School | PVP School | School of Exploration | Industry School |
Welcome
Industry in EVE Online covers a wide set of jobs that aim to produce things for other people to use. Almost everything, except for some specific cases, has been built by another player, from ship hulls to modules or from citadels to Jump Bridges, pretty much everything you use in EVE has been made by someone else!
Types of Industry
Industry is separated into three distinct activities: Production, Reactions, and Science. While all activities are complementary, you do not necessarily have to utilize all three types since blueprints, materials, and components from reactions can all be bought on the market. Keep in mind, this usually will result in a margin loss. A graphical representation of the three types of industry jobs is shown below. In red, production, in green, reaction, in blue, science.
Home Economics
GSOL needs you... To do your part (TLDR Sell me your PI + minerals)
Goonswarm Economic Zones - Locations and Details
Goonswarm Economic Zones (GEZ) are systems within our home space that are designated for a certain type of industrial specialization. These systems contain state-provided industrial structures which are open to any Imperium members. These structures are provided, maintained, and fueled by GSOL, so you don't have to worry about SSTAT deleting your Titan production job.
The intent is to provide baseline infrastructure to enable all varieties of Eve Online industry in order to facilitate local economic production and commerce.
Each GEZ will be optimized for certain types of industry in order to distribute load on the system cost indexes, and member corporation or alt corporations will be prohibited from deploying their own hardware within any designated zones.
Production
In the EVE universe, the vast majority of items are manufactured by player characters and traded in a relatively free way in the marketplace. Students of economics will note that these markets are neither perfect nor efficient in the technical senses; volumes of many items are low enough that the market can be (and is) manipulated, and supply of materials and modules is partly provided by loot drops in missions, which can be adjusted without warning by the game developers. Similarly, the developers may adjust the requirements for a manufacturing process, or increase the availability of ore, or otherwise mess in the sandbox.
Nonetheless, manufacturing and selling items can provide interest and ISK profit for the careful and canny player. The player must be aware, however, that there are plenty of items which actually destroy value - that is, there are a great number of Tech 1 items, modules especially, that are worth less than the cost of manufacture. There are many more items which can be sold at a profit, but only in a limited volume in certain markets. Manufacture in these cases may simply be an alternative to hauling stuff between markets.
Production TL:DR
- Choose a Blue Print Orginal or Blue Print Copy
- Set number of runs
- Acquire needed materials
- Press Start
- After run time has passed, press deliver
Production Skills
The following skills are useful or required for all production that can be done.
- Industry- 4% reduction in manufacturing time per skill level. At least level 1 is required to use most blueprints, and level 3 is required for further manufacturing skills. The speed bonus increases the rate at which you can produce items (and therefore, produce profit).
- Advanced Industry - 3% reduction in all manufacturing & research time per skill level. This skill adds not only a fairly substantial further time reduction in manufacturing, but also a time reduction in all research and invention jobs. Whilst less noticeable when building small items individually, these time-savers really add up when doing multiple runs and building large ships.
Increase number of concurrent jobs:
- Mass Production - Allows 1 additional job per level. By default, all characters can run 1 manufacturing job at a time. Training this skill lets you run additional jobs simultaneously from 2 jobs at I up to 6 jobs at V. Any industrialist who wants to create things will need to train this to IV or V fairly early in their plans.
- Advanced Mass Production - Allows 1 additional job per level. Once you train Mass Production to V, you can then train Advanced Mass Production, for a further increase in concurrent jobs. Having this skill at IV gives you 10 manufacturing lines (1 + 5 + 4), which is enough for most people. Training to V takes around 28 days, making it only of interest to dedicated manufacturing characters.
Allow remote management of jobs:
- Supply Chain Management - Allows starting jobs remotely. +5 jumps per level. Without training this skill, you can start jobs anywhere in the current system. Each level in this skill gives you the ability to start manufacturing jobs an extra 5 jumps away, to the maximum of 25 jumps at level V (this may include other regions). This skill is more of a convenience skill than a must-have for a budding industrialist - allowing you to manage your production lines for a distance. If you invest in this skill, training to level III or maybe level IV would offer the most return on time investment. Note that you still have to haul the materials and blueprint to the relevant station.
A Good Production Item Will Have:
- Inexpensive Materials - The material cost should be such that you can reasonably expect to manufacture a decent number of items, and you won't be bankrupt if you lose them while trying to sell them. There isn't a rule on how much cost is too much, but if you need a number then keep the cost of an item below 1% of your net worth. This will not be a problem for players with a large wallet, but can be an issue for new players starting out in manufacturing. Loading the potential BPO into the Industry window will provide an estimate of the material cost.
- Good Profit Margins - The difference between the selling price and the cost to manufacture should be worthwhile. Be sure to compare the absolute profit (ISK) and percent profit (% of selling price) and make sure both are worth your time. What makes it worth your time? It is up to the individual, but strive for at least 10% per item. Profits of 80% have been witnessed by players as young as 2 months to EVE, but they are rare and tend to disappear.
- Good Transaction Volume - If you find an item that is extremely profitable but is only sold once per week, then it has poor transaction volume. There is no guarantee that you can capture all (or even most) of the sales of a particular item! To check the volume of an item, use the Market window. If you choose an item, click on the Price History tab. If it shows a graph, you can see daily sales volume by clicking the Show Table button in the bottom of the window. This will show you how many of an item were sold each day in the region over the past year.
Basic T1 Production
- Blueprints
- Time Efficiency and Material Efficiency are improved through Reseach
Production of Tech 1 items - ships, modules, ammunition, rigs or even components - is the simplest of manufacturing tasks, within reach of even the newest player to EVE. Although whether they will actually be able to make a profit is another question entirely. Very few skills are needed for Tech 1 production, and the materials are often fairly easily acquired.
All Tech 1 manufacturing jobs require a blueprint. These come in two forms: originals (BPOs) with infinite runs and copies (BPCs) that can only be run a limited number of times. For most blueprints, a single run of a blueprint will produce a single item, but there are some exceptions - most obviously ammunition, which produces 100 units per run.
T2 production
Tech 2 manufacturing requires Tech 2 BPCs, which are 'invented' through the invention process. This is a chance-based process, requiring a lot of skill investment in advance, and you are not guaranteed to get a Tech 2 BPCs at the end of it. Some Tech 2 manufacturers do not invent, but instead merely buy Tech 2 BPC packs from dedicated inventors. See Invention for more details on the invention process.
There are also limited number of extremely valuable tech II blueprint originals in circulation. These were seeded years ago in the so called "Blueprint lottery" and new tech II blueprint originals will never enter the game.
Tech 2 production also requires much wider range of materials compared to tech I production.
Skills Required
The main difference between tech 2 and tech 1 manufacturing is the increased skill requirement, and the many more different types of input materials required. Not all Tech 2 manufacturers will have all these skills, some may specialize in (for example) constructing only Minmatar ships, and thus have only those skills. Most of these skills are the same as those required for invention. Different blueprints require these skills at different levels, but in general: the larger the ship or item, the higher skill level will be required. Most of these skills also give a 1% time efficiency bonus per level.
Tech 2 Required Materials
Whereas the majority of Tech 1 production requires only minerals, the range of input materials required hugely expands for Tech 2 production - moons, planets, items and components are all potential sources of materials for Tech 2 production. Not all Tech 2 blueprints require every single source of input material, but one particular additional input required for most Tech 2 manufacturing is a Tech 1 item of the similar type. For example building a Tech 2 nanofiber requires a single Tech 1 nanofiber, some Remote Assembly Modules (Armor/Hull Tech R.A.M.s), extra minerals (Morphite) and some planetary materials (Construction Blocks).
- Moon materials are produced via moon mining, which is an activity only possible in 0.5 security space and lower, and requires a Refinery anchored next to the moon mining beacon you wish to mine from and fitted with Moon Drill module. It is also very lucrative, and some moons are fought over regularly, so being able to defend your structure is necessary if you wish to maintain your moon mining operation. Moon mining is an activity carried out on the corporation or alliance level, and thus generally not possible (to run a profitable operation) as a solo player.
- Advanced components are the most common type, and are manufactured exclusively from moon materials. They are used in the majority of Tech 2 manufacturing, Tech 2 ships in particular using large numbers of multiple different types of component. Components come in Amarr, Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar flavours, with the icon coloured according to which race they 'belong' to. The advanced component manufacturing process is just like any other Tech 1 manufacturing process, except that the inputs are moon materials, and one particular science skill (see list of Tech 2 skills required above) is required for each component.
- Robotic Assembly Modules, more commonly known as R.A.M.s, are robotic assembly units that build things for you. They are manufactured from minerals just like any other Tech 1 manufacturing process. Nine different R.A.M.s exist, for different types of construction: Starship Tech, Ammunition Tech, Cybernetics, etc.
- Planetary materials from Planetary Industry
T3 production
Tech 3 ships, also known as Strategic Cruisers and tactical destroyers have their own specialized T3 construction process, which is a combination of invention using ancient relics from relic sites, and including data cores gathered from data sites - to discover the BPCs for hulls and subsystems, and then built using those BPCs with materials gathered from within w-space - including gas clouds (which are reacted in a reactor array), Sleeper salvage and normal minerals.
Invention
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 or rig BPC, and 10 runs on everything else. Regardless of the research performed on the T1 BPC, the result will have exactly ME 2% and TE 4%.[1] However, Runs, ME and TE levels on the created BPC can be adjusted using decryptors.
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 run 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.
- Not all items have T2 versions. To check this, open the Information window for a T1 item and look at the "Variations" tab. If a T2 version is shown there, then a T1 BPC for that item can be used to create a T2 BPC.
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.
Optional Item
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 the 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: https://eve-prosper.blogspot.com/2013/07/everything-you-never-wanted-to-know.html NOTE: pre-Crius guide, use with caution
Capital ships
Capital ship construction can be an extremely lucrative business, although requiring a large initial investment, and, depending on what capital you are constructing, may need to be based in lowsec, or even sovereign nullsec.
Capital Ship Construction is required in order to build capital ships or capital ship components. The following levels unlock the following blueprints:
- Level 1: all capital ship components, all capital modules, freighters, Orca
- Level 3: carriers, dreadnoughts, fighters, fighter-bombers
- Level 4: supercarriers, jump freighters, Rorqual
- Level 5: titans
Capital ships are built from capital ship components, which are in turn manufactured from minerals. There is no restriction on where capital ship components can be built, and apart from the increased skill requirement there is no difference from other Tech 1 manufacturing. Freighters and the Orca can then be constructed in any manufacturing facility using the relevant Tech 1 ship BPO or BPC, from the components previously built.
Carriers, dreadnoughts & the Rorqual are capital ships that may not enter hisec, and so you cannot build them in hisec either. They can be constructed in any station in lowsec or nullsec with a manufacturing facility, but apart from that restriction, are constructed in the same way as freighters or the Orca.
These ships may also be constructed at a Large or Extra Large size citadel or engineering complex (i.e. Fortizar, Azbel, Keepstar, or Sotiyo) with a Standup Capital Shipyard I module installed. This module is installable in lowsec and nullsec only. Engineering complexes, and structures with appropriate rigs, will provide their usual cost reductions as applicable.
Supercapital construction
Supercarriers and titans cannot even dock in NPC stations, never mind enter hisec, and so you cannot build them in stations either. They must be built at a Sotiyo engineering complex with a Standup Supercapital Shipyard I service module. installed. This module may only be brought online in systems where the complex owner has sovereignty, and has installed a Supercapital Construction Facilities infrastructure upgrade. Supercapital construction takes an exceedingly long time).
Note that while appropriately fit Sotiyo engineering complexes can build and launch supercapitals, such ships will not be able to re-dock once launched. The only structures that support supercapital docking are Keepstar citadels.
Because supercapital ship construction must take place in a player-owned structure, this means supercapital ships under construction are vulnerable to attack, unless you can defend your infrastructure effectively. Many titans have been 'aborted' by a hostile force destroying the POS and assembly array during construction.
Production Resources
Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Capitalism spreadsheet and forum post on how to use
Planetary Industry
Planetary Industry (PI) (previously called Planetary Interaction or Planetary Production (PP)), is a type of Industry that allows pilots to create industrial colonies on just about any planet in the EVE universe. The aim of this is producing goods from raw materials extracted from the planet. Planetary Industry can produce a range of commodities which can be used in blueprints to create POS Structures and Fuel Blocks, Sovereignty structures, Boosters, Nanite Repair Paste, and T2 components.
PI TL:DR
- Check your skills
- Select which System/Planets
- Acquire an Epithal (Ship)
- Acquire Command Centers
- Travel to your selected system
- Access your neocom for planetary interaction
- Determining where to build
- Place your structures
- Harvest your Construction Blocks
- Reset the Extractors to harvest for another cycle
Resources and Products
The items involved in Planetary Industry are known as Resources (extracted from Planets) and Products (produced from Resources or other Products on planets). Resources are considered Tier Zero (R0), and each level of processing increases the tier by one. You thus get Tier 1 products (P1) produced by Resources (R0), Tier 2 Products (P2) produced by combining two different P1s, and so on. Processing items from one tier to the next happens in a Processor on the surface of a planet, and each tier requires a different number of different items. Processing can then be summarized as such, one level of processing needed per column:
The actual Product combinations are performed as per "schematics" that are instructions for a Processor. Each schematic takes one to three items of varying tiers and quantities. You do not need to extract all the Resources you need on the same planet, nor process them to Tier 4. At any point you can supplement your "Colonies" from the market or sell your goods there.
Aside from leading to higher tiers of planetary Products, some PI goods can be used for T2 blueprints, Starbase / Sov structures, nanite paste, or POS fuel. For more information on the involved items, see Planetary Commodities. To find out how to get started looking for your initial Resources, read on!
Skills
None of the skills related to PI are technically required to try it out. However, you'll be limited to a single Command Center (and thus a single planet) of the lowest quality until you do some initial training. Additionally, unless you want to place your extractors blind, you'll want to train Remote Sensing to at least level I. Thus, you're most likely to get the best use out of training that first, then Interplanetary Consolidation and Command Center Upgrades.
- (Planet Management) Interplanetary Consolidation - Increases the number of planets you can install command centers on up to 6
- (Planet Management) Command Center Upgrades - Allows you to use better quality command centers. This in turns allow you to increase the number of installations on the planet.
- (Planet Management) Remote Sensing - Allows a player to scan planets remotely. Each skill level increases the distance at which it's possible to scan. Requires level 1 to scan at all, so train to level 1 before starting PI.
- (Planet Management) Planetology - Increases the resolution when scanning planets for resources. This is visible in the number of gradient bands displayed on the planet surface when scanning for a resource.
- (Planet Management) Advanced Planetology - Increases the precision when scanning planets for resources. Note that Planetology allows you to see more details while Advanced Planetology allows you to have a more accurate idea of where the resources are located. See the skills page for more info.
- (Trade) Customs Code Expertise - Reduces the NPC tax rate of Player Owned Customs Offices (POCOs) in high sec. It does NOT, however, have any effect on tax rates with NPC customs offices either inside or outside of high sec.
Finding good PI systems
So now it's time to shop for a suitable planet. You have read up on what is made from of what on the Setting up a planetary colony page, and you have decided to make something. Now you need to find one or more planets that will keep your assembly line going. As you might expect, the abundance of resources on a planet is affected by the system's Security Status, but this is not the only consideration. If you want to make a whole product chain on one planet, you need to look at the mix of resources available too.
Several variables come into play in making this decision:
- Whether you need a specific product for your goal, or are maximizing profit from resource extraction
- The abundance of the product you need for the goal
- The relative abundance of the multiple products you need to achieve the goal
- The radius of the planet, which determines the cost of all of its links
Planetary Buildings
To extract and produce resources and products you need buildings! Buildings match the planet they are constructed on, but players only need to worry about selecting the right type of command center, the rest are built in-place on the planet and thus always of the right type. Each building beyond the Command Center costs a set amount of Powergrid (PG) and CPU. At a glance, the following structures exist:
- Command Centers - The first building you must construct, deployed from orbit (or technically anywhere undocked in the system). Only a basic command center can be bought from the market. Command centers can be upgraded post-construction. Upgrades range from basic to elite, providing more CPU and Powergrid per level. Command Centers can store a small amount of material and offer a simple rocket-launch mechanism allowing the shipping of materials to orbit.
- Extractor Control Units - Extractor Control Units (ECUs) allow the installation of extraction programs and the building of extraction heads. To make use of the extraction programs, you must select the resource type for all heads, a duration for the program (up to 14 days), and a route for the raw material to follow once extracted, lest it be lost. Additionally, you must manually initiate the extraction of a particular "seam" of the resource and submit your action before extraction begins.
- Extractor Heads - Extraction of resources is done by extractor heads that are installable via the ECUs. The heads can be placed within the ECUs area and can be moved via drag and drop to resource hot-spots for a greater extraction amount.
- Processors - These come in three different types, Basic (used to transform raw materials (P0) to processed materials (P1)), Advanced (used to either transform processed materials (P1) in refined commodities (P2) OR refined commodities (P2) in specialized commodities (P3)), and High Tech (used to transform specialized commodities (P3) in advanced commodities (P4)). The latter can only be built on barren or temperate planets.
- Storage Facilities - About as simple as a planetary building goes, these hulks simply store materials or goods, potentially as part of a larger logistics system.
- Launchpad - A building dedicated to moving materials and goods to and from the planet. This building operates in a similar way to the rocket launch function of the Command Center, but it benefits from its connection to a Cargo Link in orbit above the planet. From there, the owner can import and export goods, albeit at great expense.
- Planetary Links - These can be thought of as railroads, connecting different structures. In addition to their construction (which has a base cost plus a distance cost), routes have to be defined using the links to route specific products across your planetary network. They have a finite capacity in m3 per hour and can be upgraded.
Extraction planets and best practices:
- Only one P1 per planet
- Keep all the links short
When setting up your planet, you route the materials from your extractor to a launchpad/storage. DO NOT route them directly to a factory.
Extractor -> storage -> Factory -> storage -> advanced factory -> storage.
There are two basic setups we recommend. The first is the P0->P2 setup, on a 7 day cycle. Your structures are arranged in a line connecting the two "hotspots" of the materials you are extracting. This saves on link powergrid/cpu costs. You have a launchpad, two advanced factories, four basic factories, and two extractors. The second is the P0->P1 setup. Not all P2s can be reacted on a single planet, so you will likely have a few of these in your farm if you are going to make P4s. This method uses two identical nodes (find the two biggest hotspots on the planet) and drop a launchpad, three basic factories, and an extractor.
We are using 7 day cycles here, so your P0 -> P2 setups will often go for a few weeks needing nothing but the occasional restart. Any P1 farms you have will need a little bit more frequent touches, just because P1 is bulkier than P2. But other than that, you don't have to think about your PI until next weekend when you restart. If your launchpads are full, you'll need to go to the system to export it to the POCO (this is what I recommend the Ares for). If you want to go ahead and move it to a citadel for safety, go for it, but your poco has quite a bit of room and can hold the materials if you want to mess with that every few weeks.
Resources for PI
DOTLAN can be used to find potential planets prior to undocking.
- Select your region name
- Select your system name
- Select Moons - This will display the type of moons and their stats
https://hanns.io/pi/ can be used to map out what PI you need to make based on the end result you wish to have
planetsin.space -- a PI management and reminder tool
Atrum's Planetary Interaction Primer. An interactive adventure, with pictures!
[Program] Free Command Centers for PI
Nodrakish PI Spreadsheet - Nodrakish's sheet is grad school for PI.
Delve Planetary Production - Someone made a google sheet documenting every system in delve, what corp owns the poco, and what the tax is.
Ragin Stirfry PI for Beginners Youtube Series - A very helpful series of youtube videos put together by Karmafleet's Ragin Stirfry.
GitHub IO Guide to PI - A pretty good "how-to" blog for setting up PI.
Eve University - Planetary Commodities - A little dated, but I still reference it quite often.
Eve Planets - Delve - I replaced Dotlan with this little application for all my Delve system/planet research. It's really good. Even has planet radius!
evehelper.tk - Interactive tool for seeing how the planets and PI materials interact.
Stretchmeat Crotchquake Teaches Advanced PI - A guide put together by stretchmeat on advanced PI setups. Read it over if you want to up your game.
Fuzzwork PI - I use this as a reference for materials only. The prices are kind of messed up, it's geared towards highsec factory setups, but it does help you get material counts quickly.
EveRef - If you want to know absolutely everything that uses the piece of PI you are thinking about making, look it up here.
Reactions
Reactions are processes through which moon ores and gases are turned into intermediate products necessary for the manufacture of Boosters, T2 items/hulls, or T3 items/hulls. Each reaction requires a Reaction Formula, which works similarly to Blueprints but cannot be researched, copied, or invented. Furthermore, reactions can only be conducted in Refineries that have the relevant reactor module installed.
Reactions TL:DR
- Choose Reaction formula
- Set number of runs
- Set input & output location
- Choose the proper wallet, if you have access to several
- Press Start
- After run time has passed, press deliver
Reactors
Reactors can only be equipped in a Refinery in solar systems with a security rating of 0.4 or lower (i.e., not in high security space). The reactor modules can be rigged for material and time efficiency using T1 or T2 rigs, though it should be noted that the rigs are specific to the type of reactor module, providing bonuses only for that type of reaction. When searching for a suitable refinery, look in the Facility tab of the Industry window and mouse over facilities that show up in the Reactions column. Look for a facility that supports (and ideally provides bonuses for) the specific type of reaction you wish you run.
Reactors come in three variants and support the following types of reactions:
- Standup Biochemical Reactor I - Allows reactions of k-space cosmic signature gases to create chemicals used in the production of Boosters.
- Standup Composite Reactor I - Enables reactions with moon ores to create materials needed as part of the T2 production supply chain.
- Standup Hybrid Reactor I - Supports reactions involving w-space Fullerite gases to create intermediate products for T3 item and ship production.
Skills
- Reactions – increases the speed you reactions go
- Mass Reactions – increases your number of reaction slots (6 total at level 5)
- Advanced Mass Reactions – further increase your number of reaction slots (11 total at level 5)
- Remote Reactions – the ability to start reactions from further away. Level 2 will be sufficient for most people.
Acquiring Formulae
Hybrid and composite reaction formulae are seeded in NPC stations, and can be purchased in many regions of New Eden. However, biochemical reaction formulae used in Booster manufacture are not. Biochemical formulae can be obtained as drops from some low-sec cosmic signature sites (with enemy rats), or from a null-sec "Gas" site that is really a combat site with rats and data cans. See Chemical Labs for a list of sites that may drop a biochemical formula. Blueprint copies to turn the reaction products into consumable Boosters can be bought using loyalty points at pirate faction stations.
Gas Reactions
Hybrid Polymer Reactions This is the process by which the fullerite gases mined in wormhole space are transformed into Hybrid Polymers, which can themselves be transformed into Hybrid Tech Components in the manufacture of T3 ships. In addition to fullerite gases, these reactions also require the appropriate type of fuel blocks and minerals from standard asteroid ores. After the reaction process the Hybrid polymer produced will typically have 40% or so of the feed materials volume, depending on the exact reaction and on the facility ME bonuses.
- Polymer Reaction Formulae are seeded on the NPC market under Reactions > Polymer Reactions. As with other reaction formulae these cannot be researched.
- Fullerites are obtained by harvesting gas sites in w-space. See Fullerenes for more details. Fullerites are bulky and shipping large quantities of these gases may become challenging.
- Minerals are obtained from mining standard ores (either from Ores sites in w-space, or asteroid belts in k-space). Compared to Tech 2 manufacturing, very little minerals are actually required to manufacture Tech 3 ships and subsystems.
- Fuel blocks are also required. These can be manufactured from ice and PI commodities or purchased on the market.
Biochemical Reactions Industry map of drugs. Manufacturing of improved and strong drugs requires multiple raw gas sources. Boosters are manufactured from mykoserocin and cytoserocin gas harvested from clouds in cosmic signatures found in known space. These signatures only spawn in specific regions of New Eden. See Nebulae for some known nebula locations. These gases are distinct from the fullerite gases found in wormholes, which are used to create T3 ships and subsystems.
- Gas must be processed into pure booster material before the final product is created. This is done using reactors at a refinery structure.
- Pure boosters use Simple Biochemical Reactions at a Standup Biochemical Reactor I. Besides the gas, the reactions also require an additional unit, which varies based on the grade of the booster. Synth reactions use mykoserocin gases and consume Garbage, while Standard reactions use cytoserocin gases and consume Water. Improved reactions yield 12 units of product while using 20 units of either Spirits or Oxygen plus two 15-unit Standard inputs and 5 fuel blocks, depending on the exact product. Strong reactions also produce 12 units, requiring 20 units of Hydrochloric Acid, plus 12 units of an Improved material, 15 units of a Standard material, and 5 fuel blocks. Inexplicably, the Pure Strong Frentix Booster reaction formula requires 100 units of Hydrochloric Acid.
- The schematic of biochemical reactions at right is drawn for Standard boosters, using cytoserocin gases. The schematic is mostly the same if using mykoserocin gas to create Synth booster materials, except that there are no "Improved" or "Strong" grade Synth boosters. Only Standard booster materials can be further refined to make the higher grade booster materials.
Moon Ore Reactions
Composite Reactions - Components are made using moon ores, and are used in T2 manufacturing. The basic procedure is as follows:
- Raw moon ore is reprocessed into basic moon materials (and some standard asteroid minerals).
- Moon materials are reacted together using the appropriate fuel blocks in a composite reactor to form intermediate materials.
- Composite materials are formed from reactions involving multiple intermediate ingredients, again using the correct fuel blocks in a composite reactor.
- Advanced components are then manufactured just like any standard T1 manufacturing process, using composite materials as inputs.
Intermediate material reactions produce 200 units of product, consuming 100 units of each input required, plus 5 appropriate fuel blocks.
Composite materials come in Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, and Minmatar flavours, with the icon coloured according to which race they usually (but not always) 'belong' to. Like the intermediate composite reactions, 100 units of each input are required, plus the appropriate 5 fuel blocks. However, the units produced varies, and some composite materials require three or four different intermediate inputs instead of the usual two.
Alchemy:
Alchemy was added last time goons broke the moongoo market to provide a release valve for when supply of the high-end goo is choked. Alchemy is a fairly cumbersome process which allows you to make an intermediate that would normally require expensive inputs out of less expensive inputs. If you’re new you can probably just pretend Alchemy doesn’t exist, but if you’re very much capital limited and not reaction slot limited it might be worth looking into. The reason it’s inconvenient is because you run 5x as many of Alchemy reaction to get the same amount of intermediate as if you’d just done the non-alchemy version of the reaction. If you see anything about reactions with “unrefined” in the title that’s an Alchemy reaction and you can ignore it unless you’re trying to do Alchemy. Alchemy is the reason R16 prices are so closely entangled with R64 prices. The intermediates that normally require R64s can all be Alchemized with R16s.
How to increase profit:
- Use buys, don’t just lemming off jita sells. This means you need to start buying before the day you want to start your reactions. Make sure to check 1DQ for goo too as it’s cheaper in some cases.
- React elsewhere. The 1DQ System Cost Index for reactions is quite high. There are other reaction Tataras you can do your reactions in if you have a jump capable ship.
- Build own fuel blocks. This is usually more profitable though not always, but it can add up.
- Look to buy cheap intermediates. Usually there isn’t enough market volume of intermediates to justify the hassle, but there are some cases where buying intermediates is a good idea. This is especially true for R4 based intermediates because there’s a non-negligible opportunity cost of using your slots to react cheap R4s instead of reacting higher end stuff.
- Timing the market. This is more skillful, but if you can learn to read the boom and crash cycles you can get inputs at a good cost. This is a little too complex for this post, but if you can possibly figure it out yourself to increase your profits.
- As you scale up, get an alt corp. If you have more than 2 or 3 alts all that contracting is going to get intolerable. This doesn't technically increase your profit, but it does stop you from burning out which is good for you bottom line.