Your Second base

Building a second base is a significant milestone that requires careful planning. This guide covers when to expand, how to choose a planet, and what materials you'll need.

When to build your second base

Expanding to a second base is a major investment, so timing is critical. Expanding too soon can be less efficient than upgrading your starting base.

As a general rule, consider building your second base once your starting base is mostly filled with buildings at levels 2-4. However, the best time to build ultimately depends on your specialization and strategy.

• Delay Your Second Base if... you are primarily a manufacturer who won't benefit from new resources, increased fertility, or better abundance on another planet. It is often more profitable to continue upgrading your first base until your buildings reach levels 3-4. At that point, further upgrades become less cost-effective, making a second base a better investment.

• Build a Second Base Earlier if... gaining access to the resources on a new planet would significantly boost your profits. This is especially true if a new planet unlocks a critical material for your production chain or if its increased fertility/abundance would greatly enhance your output.

Choosing a Planet

Planet Tier

Higher tier have better abundance and fertility: Planets with a tier of 2 or higher have significantly better resource abundance and fertility.

Higher tier planets can have high tier resources Some of the high tier planets also offer some additional high tier resources that are not available on lower tier planets.

WARNING: Tier 2+ Planets Require Additional Materials

• The initial base construction requires extra high-tier materials.
• Every building requires these extra materials to construct, upgrade, and repair.

Note: Production buildings, excluding extractors and farms, do not benefit from a planet's tier.

Planet distance from the exchange

Higher Distance = Higher Abundance and Fertility

The average abundance and fertility of planets increase linearly with their distance from the exchange.

• Very distant planets (60ly+) have approximately twice the resource abundance and fertility compared to planets near the exchange.
• However, these planets take much longer to reach, and the increased travel time and fuel costs will significantly impact your logistics and profitability.

Early-Game Travel Limitations

It is not recommended to settle farther than 20ly from the exchange until your ships are equipped with Tier 3 (or higher) FTL emitters. Basic FTL emitters have a limited maximum speed, making trips beyond 20ly extremely time-consuming and fuel-intensive.

Even 20ly may be too far if you plan to ship heavy materials. In the early game, settling on a closer planet is often more cost-effective.

💡 Recommendation: Focus on planets closer to the exchange until you can build larger ships with T3+ FTL emitters.

Building Your Second Base

Required Materials

Headquarters Upgrade

Each level of your company Headquarters grants one additional base slot. To build your second base, you must first upgrade your Headquarters to level 2.

Base Construction Costs

Tier 1 planets:

• 250x Concrete
• 30x Construction Kits
• 10x Construction Vehicles
• 30x Prefab Kits

Tier 2+ planets: Includes all Tier 1 materials, plus one of the following:

• Tier 2: 40x Pressure Sealant Kit
• Tier 3: 40x Composite Shielding
• Tier 4: 40x Nanoweave Shielding

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Upgrade Headquarters in your starting base to level 2
2. Gather all required construction materials in your ship's cargo.
3. Fly to your destination planet
4. Click on the planet and select "Build Base."

💡 Tip: Bring extra construction materials to build your first few buildings, along with consumables and production inputs to start operations immediately.

Note: The base construction process can draw materials from all of your ships currently landed on the planet, so you can use multiple ships to transport the materials.

Building Slot Availability

Starting base:

• 12 open slots
• 10 terraformable slots
• 3 unlockable with stars
• Total: 25 slots

All subsequent bases:

• 5 open slots
• 15 terraformable slots
• 5 unlockable with stars
• Total: 25 slots

Terraforming Costs

The cost to terraform a plot increases with each one you clear. The first plot costs 1 Construction Vehicle, and each subsequent plot costs one additional vehicle.

• 1st Plot: 1 Construction Vehicle
• 2nd Plot: 2 Construction Vehicles
• 3rd Plot: 3 Construction Vehicles
• ...and so on.
• 15th Plot: 15 Construction Vehicles

This means terraforming all 15 plots on a new base requires a total of 120 Construction Vehicles.