Asteroid Harvesting

Asteroid Harvesting

Asteroid Harvesting is a fleet-based resource extraction system where players deploy Orbital Refineries to process finite asteroid nodes.

Unlike mines, asteroid nodes:

• Have finite resource pools
• Require active fleet deployment
• Scale by realm
• Become contested in higher realms

System Overview

Asteroid harvesting consists of:

1. Discovering a node
2. Scanning it for composition
3. Deploying Orbital Refineries
4. Extracting refined resources
5. Transporting output via Orbital Refineries or Cargo ships

Nodes are temporary and disappear when fully processed.

Node Discovery

Spawn Sources by Realm

Realm	Discovery Source
Realm 2	Pirate Bases drop node coordinates
Realm 3	Expeditions reveal anomalous clusters
Realm 4+	Legendary pirate raids and alliance events

Nodes are visible but require scanning to reveal exact composition.

Node Properties

Each asteroid node contains:

• Finite resource pool
• Mixed composition
• Possible rare drops

Node Size by Realm

Realm	Node Size Range	PvP Risk
R2	5,000,000 – 30,000,000	None
R3	10,000,000 – 60,000,000	Pirate convoy risk
R4+	30,000,000 – 100,000,000	Full PvP enabled

Resource Composition

Resource Type	Distribution
Regular (Steel, Quartz,)	70–80%
Rare Traces (Realm-dependent)	20–30%
Special Drops	2–5%

Rare trace resources by realm:

Realm	Rare Resources
R2	Iridium (5–10%)
R3	Silicium (10–15%), Iridium (5%)
R4+	Elerium (10–20%), Silicium (10%), Iridium (5–10%)

Special Drops may include:

• Research Fragments
• Catalysts
• Alliance Tokens

Fleet Requirements

Orbital Refinery (Mandatory)

The Orbital Refinery is required to process asteroid nodes.

Base Stats by Realm:

Realm	Processing Power	Refinery Hold Capacity
R2	2,000 units/min	10,000
R3	3,500 units/min	15,000
R4+	5,000 units/min	20,000

Functions:

• Extracts and refines raw asteroid materials
• Stores processed output internally
• Halts if internal storage becomes full

Cargo Ships (Optional)

Cargo ships:

• Remove refined resources from refinery hold
• Allow continuous processing
• Prevent idle time

At later realms, without cargo ships, refineries frequently stop due to full storage.

Processing Mechanics

Core Processing Formula

Processing Time = Node Size ÷ (Number of Refineries × Processing Power)

Example (Realm 2, 200,000 node):

1 Refinery:
200,000 ÷ 2,000 = 100 minutes
3 Refineries:
200,000 ÷ (3 × 2,000) = ~33 minutes

Intel and Scanning

When discovered, nodes show limited information.

To reveal details, players must:

• Send Probe
• Use Espionage research

Scan Detail Levels

Espionage Level	Information Accuracy
Low	±20% estimation
High	Exact breakdown including rare drop chances

Enemy probes can reveal:

• Remaining node size
• Active refinery count
• Cargo presence
• Processing percentage