Artisan Archive

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can find a detailed description of how resources in Galaxies work. Been kind of confused by the constant change in what I can and cant survey for, and just how the system operates in general, thanks.

Best I've been able to figure out so far, it works something like this:

* There is a big table somewhere with Resource Name, Resource Type, and the stats associated with that resource. Thus ALL of a given Name will have the same exact stats, regardless of which planet or vein you harvest from.

* When a resource becomes available on a planet, it also becomes available with a random number of units of that resource. This is designed to be about 1 weeks worth of that resource. (This process is bugged and occassionally resources get "stuck" on a planet or even entire galaxy.) (There is a second bug. The day a resource becomes available, it cannot be "sampled" only "harvested".)

* When a resource is used up, it disappears from the list you get with your survey tool. (As a corallary, if it's on your survey tool, it exists somewhere on the planet. If it doesn't, it doesn't.) It will then be replaced with a new resource, not necessarily of the same type. (There is widespread belief, but no proof, that once a resource leaves a planet, it will never come back.)

* Hand sampling is more efficient in the short run. But harvesters run 24/7 so they win out in the end. All harvesters are 1 lot, so you can have up to 10 of them. (But if you have 10 harvesters, you can't have a house or factory.)

* Power Harvesters (Wind, Solar, Fusion) all cost 1440 credits per day in maintenance. Wind & Solar often peak out around 50% & 60% respectively. Fusion draws off Radioactives so up to 90%+ sites can occassionally be found.

* Personal Harvesters cost 720 credits & 600 power per day. Mediums cost twice as much (1440 & 1200) but harvest twice as much. (The benefit is the same resources harvested with fewer lots, or more total resources.) Heavies cost three times as much as Personals (2160 credits & 1800 power), but haverset 3.5 times as much! (So not only do you get the benefit of Mediums, magnafied, but you also pay LESS in maintenance & power per unit harvested.)

* When hand crafting, any resource of the listed type will do. When using a schematic in a factory, however, only the named resources will do. So when a resource rotates out, schematics are only good as long as the stockpiles hold out. (Unless the named resource rotates in on another planet.)

* Some specific types of resources (Talusion Water Vapor, Duranium Steel, etc.) are required for certain advanced schematics. This makes these potentially more valuable, especially if they aren't currently available.

* If you're new to the resource game, plant power harvesters (the biggest you can afford since they all cost the same to run) and stockpile power to run your other harvesters later. (Power with a PE > 500 now works better than power with a PE <= 500!)

* If you're looking to harvest to sell, talk to Weaponsmiths, Armorsmiths, Architects, Doctors, Rangers, etc. to see what they need/want and harvest accordingly.