Power Guide: Generation, Batteries & Grid Safety

Power is the game's shared resource that runs buildings, boosts production, fires turrets and enables special effects; managing generation, storage, transmission and separate power networks is central to a stable base and advanced builds.

Power fundamentals

• Power is measured as a continuous rate (power units per second) and is transmitted instantaneously between connected blocks.
• Consumers that receive less power than their demand slow down proportionally; if they receive zero they stop. Generators increase network power supply; batteries and beam nodes store power for temporary deficits.
• Power networks: blocks connected via transmitters (Power Node, Large Power Node, Beam Node/Tower, Beam Link, Power Source, etc.) form distinct networks. A deficit in one network does not slow blocks in another unless they are connected.
• Battery Diode: moves stored energy from the upstream network into the downstream network without causing upstream producers to be slowed by downstream demand. Use diodes to isolate production networks from volatile consumption (e.g., heavy turrets or overdrive rigs) and to avoid base-wide brownouts.

Transmission and storage

• Power Nodes (range ~6), Large Power Nodes (range ~15), Beam Nodes (range ~10) and Beam Towers (range ~23) provide automatic connections to nearby blocks; Power Nodes let you manually connect blocks within their range by selecting targets.
• Beam Links must be manually paired and conduct power along their connection; they also conduct to adjacent blocks.
• Beam Nodes/Towers and Batteries store power and will output stored power into a network when generation dips. Beam Nodes/Towers do not spark when destroyed while holding charge and can be severed by Plastanium Walls.
• Standard storage capacities for node-style transmitters/batteries are listed as small (4000) and large (50000) units for several transmitter types.

Common generators — roles and tradeoffs

Generators differ by resource needs, placement constraints, startup requirements and volatility. Choose based on available resources and safety considerations.

• Combustion Generator (small, cheap): consumes coal/spore pods/pyratite/blast compound to produce modest power. Good for early game and remote, self‑sustaining installations. Note: it prefers the lowest‑flammability fuel it has (coal preferred over pods), so mixed inventories burn the lower‑value fuel first.
• Steam Generator (2x2): consumes fuel + water to produce high power for its cost; efficient replacement for Combustion Generators once Metaglass is available. Steam Generators consume water and fuel; different fuels give different power and efficiency.
• Thermal Generator: requires specific geothermal tiles (hot rocks, molten rock, slag liquid). Produces steady, maintenance‑free power once placed; excellent as a constant backup as it requires no inputs after construction.
• Solar Panel / Large Solar Panel: produce power proportional to ambient light (campaign/weather) or fixed small outputs on custom maps. Solar panels are good for jump‑starting production rigs or passive backup when paired with batteries.
• RTG Generator / Flux / other exotic reactors: RTGs and flux/neoplasia reactors use radioactives or heat mechanics. Flux Reactor and Neoplasia Reactor require heat/coolant/liquids and can explode if mismanaged (Flux accumulates instability without Cyanogen; Neoplasia builds up and leaves puddles on explosion). Flux reactors produce power proportional to heat units and need Cyanogen input scaled to heat.
• Thorium Reactor: power output scales with the number of thorium pieces loaded into the reactor; requires Cryofluid input to avoid heat buildup. Without Cryofluid heat accumulates and will cause a catastrophic explosion.
• Impact Reactor: special generator that requires significant startup power input (a continuous power draw) in addition to other resources; once running it produces extremely high net power but is fragile and explodes very violently if destroyed.
• Differential Generator: uses specific inputs (e.g., sulfide + cryofluid) and can be fuel‑efficient versus steam in some setups but requires cryofluid production infrastructure.

Notes on heat: several advanced generators and factories use or produce heat as a separate resource. Heat can be consumed by some turrets and factories to increase output; heat producers and consumers interact via dedicated heat blocks and redirectors.

Power for production and special blocks

• Overdrive Projector / Dome: boosting a zone multiplies every affected block's inputs and outputs, including power consumption and generation. Producers generate more power when overdriven but also use more coolant/items; overdrive can dramatically change network demand and must be fed accordingly.
• Many high‑tier factories (Phase Weavers, Exponential Reconstructors, etc.) demand large, steady power supplies. Confirm drill and resource throughput before building; overdriving those factories scales power needs too.
• Heaters and heat‑consuming buildings: Electric Heaters produce heat at high power cost and are generally very power‑inefficient; prefer heat from dedicated reactors/heaters when possible.

Defensive and operational considerations

• Isolate fragile or explosive generators (Thorium, Impact, Flux, Neoplasia) away from high‑traffic base areas. Reactor explosions have large radii and can chain‑destroy infrastructure.
• Use Battery Diodes, isolated transmitter networks and protected battery banks (e.g., behind Plastanium Walls) to prevent blackouts and to keep generation networks running during heavy consumption by turrets or projectors.
• Keep spare Large Batteries for emergency reserves; they can be configured with diodes to control when stored charge is used.
• Beam Towers/Nodes automatically connect to orthogonally nearest blocks; they are a convenient way to build long, high‑capacity transmission backbones but can be severed by walls.

Practical setups and ratios (design tips)

• Early game: use Combustion Generators or small solar + battery to power drills, turrets and initial factories. Steam Generators become attractive after Metaglass/kiln tech is available.
• Water‑based steam setups: Steam Generators need steady water; Turbine Condensers and Vent Condensers are water sources but compare net power (Turbine Condensers are often strictly better than Vent Condensers when factoring opportunity cost).
• Reactor support: Thorium Reactors need a Cryofluid supply (Cryofluid Mixers and Titanium), and Disassemblers can supplement thorium/titanium production but are variable in output.
• Overdrive planning: when using Overdrive, remember power consumption and production scale proportionally — wire extra generation and storage before turning on overdrive to avoid brownouts.
• Power routing: separate production and heavy‑consumption (turrets, overdriven industry, repair projectors) into different networks and use Battery Diodes to drip stored energy into the consumption network only when needed.

Troubleshooting and performance

• A single heavy consumer slowing down usually means a network deficit — find the consumer (turret, projector, overdriven factory) and either add generation, offload it to another network or isolate it with a Battery Diode.
• If reactors or heat generators are exploding or accumulating instability/heat, check coolant inputs (Cryofluid for Thorium, Cyanogen for Flux) and ensure heat outputs are being consumed or safely dumped.
• For long maps or remote outposts, use Power Nodes/Beam Links to create controlled transmission lines; place batteries at endpoints for local smoothing.

This covers core concepts, common generators, transmission/storage mechanics and practical advice to design stable, resilient power systems and avoid the most common failures.