Particle Accelerator

A building you use, not one you wait for

Unlike your mines, the Accelerator doesn't work on its own. You decide when to fire it up, what to put in, and what you want out. As soon as you launch a transformation, your resources change instantly and the building has to cool down before you can use it again. The higher you level it (up to level —), the more efficient it gets, the faster it recovers, and the luckier it becomes with Quantum Shards.

How a transformation works

You pick a resource to sacrifice, and you decide how much you want to receive in the two others. The Accelerator knows the real value of each resource — the same one used for the rankings (metal × —, silicon × —, deuterium × —). In short, 1 unit of deuterium «costs» as much as 3 units of metal. No worries: you don't have to do the math, the interface handles it.

• At level 1, you get back —% of what you put in (the other half is lost as heat)
• At level —, you climb to —% — almost balanced, but never 100%
• When you type the desired output amounts, the interface automatically tells you how much input it'll need
• If you ask for more than your stock allows, the «Launch» button stays disabled and tells you why

Cool-down time

After a transformation, the Accelerator needs time to cool down before being usable again. At level 1, you wait — between two uses. As you level it up, this delay shrinks down to only — at level — — you can then run it several times a day. Each level shaves — off the previous time, down to the floor.

Energy required

Firing up the Accelerator burns a lot of energy: if your power balance is in the red, the «Launch» button stays inactive. At level 1, you need at least — of available energy. This requirement grows with the level (×— per step), so plan to upgrade your power plants before pushing the building too high.

What about Quantum Shards?

Every transformation is a chance: the building rolls the dice, and if you're lucky, Quantum Shards magically appear in your account. The amount is random — between — and — QS at once. To keep the game economy healthy, your account can't earn more than — per day (across all your planets, reset at midnight UTC).

• Level 1: —% chance per use — be patient, you'll need it
• Level —: —% — a regular drop, but never guaranteed
• The amount per drop is random: one lucky roll can hit the daily cap in a single shot
• When a drop happens, you receive a message in your inbox

A few tips

• Build it on the planet that produces the most energy: a single Accelerator is enough for hunting Quantum Shards, owning several only helps you transform more resources in parallel
• Great for rebalancing your stockpile: drowning in metal but short on deuterium right before a big raid? This is the perfect tool
• At early levels the loss is too steep for the trade to be worth it outside QS hunting — focus on the Quantum Shards bonus
• If you're seriously chasing QS, don't spread your transformations across multiple planets on the same day: the daily cap is shared between all your colonies