Silicates
Economic role
Silicates are a foundation of construction and industrial development. Expanding infrastructure competes with military and research purchases for the same stock, so plan an upgrade sequence rather than spending the whole reserve on whichever queue is ready first.
Where it is spent
- Infrastructure examples: 🏛️ Main Building, 🛠️ Constructor Nexus, 📦 Warehouse, ⚔️ Barracks.
- Recruitment examples: Larval Scuttler, Chitin Mauler, Brood Titan, Syndicate Vanguard. Compare per-unit costs with ongoing upkeep.
- Research examples: Wide-Area Terrain Scanning, Photovoltaics, Storage Cells, Sun Tracking. Projects are paid through the 🔬 Research Hub.
Fields, storage and expansion
Develop 💎 Silicate Quarry for recurring supply. The table below is one field's base output, not the outpost's net income: labor, bonuses, power availability and spending can change the usable balance.
Field upgrades use increasingly expensive cost curves. Compare another field upgrade with the wider costs of founding and staffing another outpost when local capacity is constrained. Expansion requires settlers, a Colonization Hub and account-wide Exploration Data, rather than simply buying unlimited fields.
Plan 📦 Warehouse capacity and cargo deliveries alongside output. Saving for a major purchase is easier when storage and the destination's supply chain are ready before the next production increase.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | Material element |
| Produced by | 💎 Silicate Quarry |
Production per field
Base output of one 💎 Silicate Quarry at each level, before research, Race or tile bonuses.
| Level | Per hour |
|---|---|
| 1 | 30 |
| 2 | 70 |
| 3 | 120 |
| 4 | 180 |
| 5 | 260 |
| 6 | 365 |
| 7 | 495 |
| 8 | 665 |
| 9 | 880 |
| 10 | 1160 |
| 11 | 1510 |
| 12 | 1965 |
| 13 | 2545 |
| 14 | 3290 |
| 15 | 4240 |
| 16 | 5455 |
| 17 | 7015 |
| 18 | 9010 |
| 19 | 11560 |
| 20 | 14825 |
Key: dense_silicates