Refinement
Refining is the process in which one material is transformed into another. This procedure is most often carried out in specialized refineries located on stations or colonies.
The refining process includes the following steps:
Equipment selection
Each type of refining process requires a specific kind of equipment, such as a smelting furnace, mill, or chemical laboratory.
Resource supply
Refineries operate with strictly defined raw materials such as ore, water, or sulfur, which form the basis for the final product.
Energy consumption
Every refining process requires a specific amount of energy, depending on the equipment used and the materials being processed.
Time requirements
The duration of refining varies depending on technological factors and the properties of the star system where the refinery operates.
Cards affecting refining
Refinery efficiency on stations
Station efficiency is calculated to prevent unlimited performance growth from building multiple identical facilities. The first facility of a given type provides the highest efficiency, while each additional one has a gradually smaller effect. This means that players can build more blocks with the same function, but their total benefit does not increase linearly. From the player's perspective, this creates diminishing returns — more identical modules still increase performance, but less significantly than the first one. This principle encourages diversity in station construction and pushes players to combine different types of equipment instead of maximizing only one type.
Refinery efficiency per station
| Number of refineries | Total efficiency | New refinery bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | +100% |
| 2 | 159% | +59% |
| 3 | 198% | +39% |
| 4 | 227% | +29% |
| 5 | 251% | +24% |
| 6 | 271% | +20% |
| 7 | 287% | +17% |
| 8 | 302% | +15% |
| 9 | 315% | +13% |
| 10 | 327% | +12% |
