In this document we will examine how to use PI to produce the 5 resources required to fuel a POS that can be produced with PI: Oxygen, Coolant, Mechanical Parts, Enriched Uranium & Robotics (the other resources needed to fuel a POS cannot be produced using PI) - and how to do so with a 5 planet setup designed to produce approximately enough fuel every 2-3 days for 1 weeks worth of fuel for a Large Control Tower, which is approximately 10 weeks worth of fuel per month, or 2 Large Control Towers worth of fuel per month.

In the first sections I go into some of the basics of PI production that you need to know, from transporting the items, setting up your planet, and optimal use if your powergrid and links, and in the second half I examine the actual planets I am using and what I is being produced on each planet in detail, so you can see how to implement a POS Fuels PI production setup yourself.

Last Updated: 9th of August, 2010.

Safe Transport of Goods

On my main character I currently use an Amarr Destroyer (the Coercer) with 4 cargo expander II modules in the low slots and 3 small cargo expander I rigs, which gives me slightly over 1200ms cargo space, along with a tech II MWD and a prototype cloak, which produces a very nimble ship (good for making it through a bubble if needed) and allows me enough space as long as I do at least daily, or better twice daily, runs from my planets to move goods around and pick them up and bring them back to the station.

Even better is to use a Transport Ship which can use a Covert Op's Cloaking device which is what my alt that's training for PI can fly, and I may train up my main to fly these at some point in the future so I can make less frequent trips to my planets and do so more safely as well, for the moment the Coercer serves my requirements quite well though.

The other option is to use an Industrial Ship, which is easy to fly but is slow and not very agile. This can be countered by using warp core stabilizers or nanofiber modules in the low slots and making use of the ships natural cargo space rather than increasing it with cargo modules, and using only cargo rigs or even using speed/agility rigs to further increase the maneuverability of the ship.

When collecting your resources, use the time while you warp to a planet to go to the planet view and export the commodities for pickup, then when you land you can spend only the few seconds required to dump the materials in your cargo hold before warping off to the next Customs Office, again jumping into planet view in warp to export the materials or import materials you just dropped off. Never make adjustments to your planet while sitting in space, this is asking to be ganked, instead make all adjustments to pins safely while docked in Station.

Placement of your Command Center

When initially looking at a planet, I like to scan and note the hotspots for the resource you need to extract that is least abundant on the planet first, then look for overlaps or positions near the hotspot for the other resources you need in order to find the optimal position on the planet for your setup, and place my Command Center there so that when I visit the planet each time in the future and it auto centers on the Command Center, I don't have to swivel the planet around looking for my Launchpad locations.

On some planets you will find the best spots may already be taken by other players, so don't pin stack other producers, look around and with a bit of persistence you will normally find multiple spots on the planet with location of the 2 (or 3 or 4) resources you need in combination near each other. It may take a bit of scanning while you switch between resources comparing overlap, but every planet I have used so far has at least 2-3 prime locations of overlap I have found and a number of secondary locations that still provide fairly good distance between hotspots. Worst care you can split your processing between 2 location using a Launchpad in each location.

Placement of Extractors & Processors

When actually placing the pins on the planet, I start with placing 1 extractor in each location I think is the best spot for the right amount of resources per cycle, keeping in mind that 2 extractors producing around 1500 units per cycle on a 23 hour schedule is enough to feed 1 processor per day, that's how I then work out the ratio of Extractors to Processors I will need. After placing 1 of each extractor, I check how many units per cycle it will produce on a 23 hour schedule, then add more extractors in other locations nearby, checking them as well, until I find the spot that will give me approximately the right number of units per cycle.

I then place the right number of extractors that I think I will need, link them together and route them to the Launchpad, which I have usually placed next to the Command Center I create the route through at least 1 other pin if possible, be that the Command Center or a Processor, in order to slightly reduce the link length. There is a balance in between not making too many links in the chain and not overloading a single long link by too much, but keeping in mind that upgrading short links uses very little powergrid. I link all extractors through the other extractors of the same type and then run a single link towards the location of the Launchpad and Processors, upgrading the link if necessary to allow it to carry enough resources for the number of extractors that I have.

By keeping the extractors close to each other and the Processors close to the Launchpad allows you to not waste powergrid and still means you can route everything to a Central Storage location so you don't waste any resources along the way. Linking extractors directly to processors is a big no in my book, as this will result in wasted resources. I prefer to let the launchpad fill up over time with extra resources, then swap an extractor for an extra processor for a day then switch it back again, this way using all resources produced and never wasting any.

I have seen setups that use longer links, place the extractors further apart, but in most cases this is a waste of Powergrid that could instead be used instead to increase your overall production. After producing PI resources since it came out, I have not seen any evidence that placing extractors next to each other as I do decreases the overall extraction of that material, however this does save on powergrid usage.

Command Center vs Storage vs Launchpad

Using the Command Center as an export location is in the majority of cases useless, as it only holds 500ms in cargo (which fills up very quickly), and there is a delay time after doing an expedited transfer on a planet from one location to the other, after which you must wait before being able to transfer again, not to mention the delay time between being able to Launch from the Command Center into space, all of which means that the Command Center at best is mainly used to add another pin in between other pins to shorten a link and route goods through the Command Center

So this means a Launchpad is a necessity on planets for exporting the resources, and if you import materials from another planet is the only way to get those materials planet side for further processing. However the Launchpad has a healthy storage amount of 10,000ms in cargo space, meaning it is quite viable to use a single Launchpad as storage for all your processing. You can see on my setups below that all items are linked somehow back the Launchpad, and the extractors feed items in there, which then feed to the processors, which feed back to the Launchpad, which then feed again to other Processors, etc....

This way all items are at each stage along the way being stored in the Launchpad, so no materials are wasted in production, and with daily runs to your planets. or even collecting every 2-3 days, your Launchpad has more than enough storage space for all the materials being produced as your extractors eat up the larger amounts of P0 materials and process these into smaller amounts of P1 materials, and reduce the amounts even further as you process the P1 materials into P2 and P3 materials. At the very minimum I could collect only twice a week from my planets before running the risk of the Launchpad filling up and wasting resources.

Link Lengths & Optimizing Powergrid

When creating your setup, it is important to balance your overall link lengths from your extractors with optimal use of your powergrid. If in some cases you find even the base level link is using more than 800 powergrid, which you can check by clicking on the link and going to the Information section, then it is better to delete the link and add a 2nd Launchpad instead close by to where your other lot of extractors are. On the other hand if when you finish your setup you find you have a few hundred grid spare left over, it might be better to move some of those extractors slightly further out, from the edge of a hotspot more towards the center, thereby increasing the amount of resources you are extracting.

In most cases though the best link is one to a pin directly next to it, in the case of Extractors this means chaining them through each other and using 1 single link back to the source, if necessary upgrading it, keeping in mind that 1 upgraded link uses the same or less grid than 2 links of the same length next to each other. In the case of processors I like to chain together processors of the same type, using a single link back to the Launchpad, this also keeps things tidy as well (and looks more sexy in my opinion).

Some setups show me that some people seem to think each Extractor must be directly routed to a storage location, which it should be, but they don't realise the difference between the physical links and the route between locations, and the fact that you can chain links together as long as there is a route somehow along the way through other pins to the right place you need the goods to go to.

The one criticism I have of the series "Pale Blue Dots" by Keith Neilson - which is an excellent series of articles about producing Nanite Repair Paste and other PI advice and also worth reading (I Am Keith Neilson - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) - is the distance he places in between his extractors or processors, which is something I see on lots of other installations on planets in my area and in guides by other people.

This to me is a waste of powergrid and in most cases by grouping the pins closer to each other you could add an extra extractor or processor to the planet with the powergrid you will free up as a result. Do the math yourself on your planet and see how much powergrid each of your links is using, then examine how you could delete some duplicated links, chain pins together and run everything over a single link or place pins such as extractors or processors in groups by repositioning them (which is cheap), and you will probably find you can free up the 700 or 800 powergrid you need for an extra pin.

Producing Oxygen and Coolant

Producing Oxygen and Coolant is best done on Storm and Gas planets, which have all 3 resources we need to produce both materials, and are also fairly common planets, Gas being the most common - you will likely have multiple gas planets per system, and most people will also have at least 1-2 storm planets in their area as well.

Now it is important to note that Oxygen - being a P1 component - is easy to produce en-masse, and that Coolant, a P2 component, has skyrocketed in price and continues to climb still, so you will want to gear your planets towards producing mostly Coolant, then a bit of Oxygen on the side as well. This will allow you to produce more then enough Oxygen in ratio with the Coolant you are producing for what a Large Control Tower uses in fuel.

STORM PLANET:

Here you can see we have 4 of the Ionic Solutions and 4 Aqueous Liquids extractors, with both producing a bit over 1500 units a cycle, running on 23 hour cycles, ie: reset once a day. These feed via a processor into the Launchpad, where the Water and Electrolytes processors pull the minerals back out and feed the P1 components back in, where they feed to the Coolant processors, which itself feeds back into the launchpad once more for export.

On this planet I wasn't able to get a good location for Oxygen production close enough to the Coolant production, so instead of using an excessively long link I am using a 2nd launchpad on another part of the planet for this production. You can see 3 extractors pulling a bit over 1500 units a cycle feeding Noble Gas into the launchpad, which then feeds 1 Oxygen processor which then feeds back into the launchpad. As the minerals build up, I delete 1 extractor and add a 2nd processor then alternate back again as the minerals get used up.

GAS PLANET:

Here we have 6 Aqueous Liquids extractors producing a bit over 1000 units per cycle, and 4 Ionic Solutions extractors pulling about 1500 units a cycle each. These feed into 2 Water or Electrolytes processors via the Launchpad for storage, which then feed the 2 Coolant processors. 2 Noble Gas extractors pulling about 1500 units a cycle feed a single Oxygen processor, with very little power grid left over to spare.

Producing Mechanical Parts, Enriched Uranium & Robotics

Producing Mechanical Parts, Enriched Uranium and Robotics is best done with either a Plasma planet, or a combination of a Lava & Barren planet, extracting on one and processing on the other. Plasma planets are fairly rare so you may not have access to one of these, but Lava are fairly common and most people will have one of these nearby, and Barren are extremely common and you will likely have a number in the one system.

Both Mechanical Parts and Enriched Uranium are P2 components, whereas Robotics is a P3 component which uses both Mechanical Parts and Consumer Electronics in its processing. This means you will want to produce more Mechanical Parts than you do Enriched Uranium, keeping in mind the ratio that a Large Control Tower uses in fuel is approximately 4 parts Mechanical Parts to every 3 parts Enriched Uranium, so you will want to be producing double the Mechanical Parts you will need in fuel to have enough to produce Robotics as well.

In my setup I was initially producing Consumer Electronics myself initially on my Lava planet, but have now increased my production of the other components instead and am buying this quite cheaply off the market for use in my Robotics processing, and producing Mechanical Parts and Enriched Uranium from scratch.

LAVA PLANET:

Here you can see 4 Heavy Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1500 units a cycle feeding 2-3 Toxic Metals processors via the launchpad for storage, and 8 Base Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1500 units a cycle feeding 4-5 Reactive Metals processors via the launchpad again. I delete the extra processor and add an extra extractor for a 24 hour cycle, then alternate with an extra processor and back again as the minerals build up / get used up in order to make maximum use of the powergrid available. All processed metals from this planet are exported to my Barren planet in the same system for further processing.

BARREN PLANET:

Here you can see 8 Noble Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1800 units a cycle feeding 5 Precious Metals processors via the launchpad for storage, and 4 Mechanical Parts processors and 1 Enriched Uranium processor which use the Precious Metals produced here along with the Reactive and Toxic Metals imported from the Lava planet. The Mechanical Parts are then used along with the Consumer Electronics I purchase and import to make Robotics in the 2 processors here, which is then exported along with the Enriched Uranium produced.

PLASMA PLANET:

Here you can see we have 5 Noble Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1700 units a cycle, 4 Base Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1500 units a cycle, and 2 Heavy Metals extractors pulling a bit over 1500 units a cycle. All feed via the Launchpad into 3 Precious Metals processor, 2 Reactive Metals processors and 1 Toxic Metals processor respectively. This feeds the 2 Mechanical Parts processors and 1 Enriched Uranium processor for a fully self contained setup on this planet. ** This is how I will produce on my alts plasma planet, but I have altered the setup slightly on my main as explained below.

Check & Recheck Your Figures

I realised today that I am producing twice as much Toxic Metals as I need on my Lava planet, and had built up an excess of these on the Barren planet (after exporting/importing them), so I moved 3000 units to my Plasma planet, and have deleted the 2 Heavy Metals extractors and the Toxic Metals processor here, adding 2 more Noble Metals extractors and another Precious Metals processor.

I also had built up a large excess of Base Metals on the Plasma planet, so I deleted 1 of those extractors and added a 2nd Enriched Uranium processor to the planet. I will tweak this setup over the next day or so and from now on export half of the Toxic Metals I produce on the Lava Planet to the Barren Planet, and the other half to the Plasma planet, which will allow me to produce slightly more Enriched Uranium than before. :)

This shows you the importance of using a spreadsheet to calculate your production amounts after you have your setup the way you want it, so you can check for any errors in your calculations where you are producing too much or not enough resources, and can then adjust your setup as needed to correct the error.

Increasing Overall Production

The next step is I am currently training my alt (who flies cloaky haulers) for PI skills as well, and the plan for that character is to produce on 1 Storm planet and 3 Gas planets to increase the amount of Coolant (and Oxygen) I am producing, as this is becoming almost as valuable as Robotics now and is demand by my corporation especially currently. I will also produce on a Plasma planet as well for the alts 5th planet, to allow me to me to produce slightly more Mechanical Parts and Enriched Uranium which will bring back up the ratio of Mechanical Parts to Enriched Uranium, as I am currently producing more Enriched Uranium and not enough Mechanical Parts.

This could be corrected by my changing the Enriched Uranium processing on my Barren planet to Mechanical Parts and decreasing the Toxic Metals production on the Lava planet to compensate, which I may do at some point in the future. What is best for you depends on if you are trying to fuel your own towers or that of your corporations as in my case, or are looking to sell the items in which case Mechanical Parts are worth less than Enriched Uranium for example. Hopefully after reading this guide you will be able to see how you can tweak any of the setups yourself to produce more or less of each item depending on what you require.

Once my alt is up and running too, this should increase my production to at least 3 Large Control Towers worth of fuel a month with extra Oxygen and Coolant to spare. Once I have that setup up and running in about 10 days time, I will expand on this article covering the planets my alt is producing on with more pretty pictures, although the setups will basically be a mirror of the current Storm and Gas planet, and the Plasma planet will also be the same as my current setup as in the picture above, ie: before I made the changes to that planet as detailed in the "Check & Recheck Your Figures" section.

Liandra Xi

Ascendent. Corporation
On The Rocks Alliance

This article is Copyright of the player behind the EVE Online avatar known as "Liandra Xi" - © 9th of August, 2010. This document may be linked to, but not republished elsewhere without my prior consent. If you wish to republish this either in part or in whole contact me at " mordd [at] iinet [dot] net [dot] au ".