Resources

Resources are required for all types of construction in Starborne - from Ships and Buildings to Stations and Outposts.

## Primary Resources

Primary Resource generation typically comes from Resource Fields and Planets.

* Resource Fields are loose aggregations of a single Resource akin to Asteroid Belts.
* Planet(oid)s typically have multiple Resources on them.

Resource Fields and Planet(oid)s are not interchangeable.

* If something says it affects Resource Fields then it does not affect Planet(oid)s and vice versa.

Resource Fields and Planet(oid)s each come in 3 sizes.

* Resource values are size appropriate.

Primary Resources: Metal / Gas / Crystals

* These resources are the building blocks of your Stations, Fleets and more.
* Found on Planet(oid)s and in Resource Fields scattered throughout space.
* Can be derived from Station Buildings and Outposts.
* Can be harvested from Solar Flares in a Plasma form.
* Cards applied to your Station can also generate these resources.
* Are used up in the construction of various things.
* Can be Exchanged at a ratio of 4:1 for each other. example: 4 Metal will get you 1 Crystal.
	+ Exchange Rates can be improved.

Buildings and ships require different proportions of resources to build depending on their branch. Each building type has a material type they require a greater proportion of. Military (green) buildings require the most metal and the least gas, Domain (blue) buildings require the most gas and the least crystal, and Industrial (orange) buildings require the most crystal and the least metal. In a similar fashion, Raider ships have similar "resource ratios" as Military buildings, Scout ships as Domain buildings, Assault ships as Industry buildings while specialised ships such as Industrial ships use equal amounts of each resource.

## Secondary Resources

### Secondary Resource: Labor

* This resource is a limiting factor for your Stations and Fleets.
* Found on Planet(oid)s and in Resource Fields scattered throughout space.
* Can be derived from Station Buildings and Outposts.
* You can go Negative this Resource, with corresponding penalties for your Fleets.
	+ Timed Cards applied to your Station can also generate this resource.

While metal, gas and crystal accumulate over time and are used as currency for construction and upgrades, labor acts as more of a supply limit. A station's labor is an indication of the maximum upkeep in ships and buildings it can maintain. Every building has a labor requirement, as does every ship that is in a fleet. If you run out of available labor, your station will go "Out of Supply", incurring a 90% penalty on ship hitpoints and firepower, while Industrial ships will not be able to upgrade or downgrade outposts in that stations influence. Ships in garrison do not require labor.

### Secondary Resource: Building Slabs

* These resources are available through Events.
	+ Tasks \ Events \ Select the Event that returns the Slab Resource you want.
* Used when building and upgrading Outposts.
* Additional Events are added every Sunday server time.
* The total gained through Events can be;
	+ Steel Slab: 216
	+ Carbon Plate: 120
	+ Titanium Block: 48
	+ Diamond Nanorod: 32
* While Steel Slabs may seem plentiful, they are used by every level of Outpost.
	+ So you can only get ~40 Outposts to Level 5 across your Empire.

### Secondary Resource: Administrators

* A Station specific Resource that is gained when you level up that Station.
* A Level 2/3/4 Station gains +6/+6/+5 Administrators for a total of 17 at Level 4.
* Administrators are required by each Administrative building in the 3 building trees.
	+ Administrative buildings can be identified by the little people icon in each.
* A Level 4 Station has 27 Administrative slots for your 17 Administrators. Choose wisely!
	+ You can recover Administrators by Downgrading Administrative buildings.

## Resource Gathering

### Station Harvest

Stations Harvest Resources within their Claimed Hexes.

* Planets and Resource Fields within your Borders are automatically Harvested by your Stations.

* Mining Facility Outposts can be placed to boost the Harvest of Resource Fields in their range.
	+ Mining Facility Outposts have a default 1 Hex range, so place optimally.
		- Mining Facility Outposts can harvest uncontested resources beyond your Station's Claim.

* Multiple Stations / Outposts can harvest the same resources.

* The Hexes your Station Claims is increased as it Upgrades.
	+ The Company 'WALL Industrial Security' in Tier 4 Industry adds an additional Hex radius.
	+ A Fortress can Claim additional Hexes for your Station from the edge of your currently Claimed space.

### Solar Flares

Solar Flares are a random occurrence at every star in the game.

* To receive a visusal notification of a Flare at a Star requires having Scan Strength on that Star's Hex.
	+ Exploration Fleets comprised of Scout Ships can Scan the Stars to leave Timed Probes.
		- A Station that Claims the Hex a Star is in can provide Scan Strength without a Probe.

* Flares last until either their Timer expires or the resources are completely harvested.
	+ Each Flare randomly generates one of Metal / Gas / Crystal.

* Industrial ships are used to collect the resources from Solar Flares.
	+ The Industrial Fleet must be capable of gathering Plasma.
		- Achieved via Industry Tree buildings and / or various Cards.

### Raiding

Raiding is the gathering of resources from enemy Stations.

* The starting NPC Camp near you is a good choice for this.
	+ Recommend 20 Corvettes initially to deal with the defenders.
	+ Use Industrials for more looting, but they will build more defenders eventually.

### Events

Events reward Building Slabs for use in building and upgrading Outposts.

* Each Event rewards only one type of Building Slab.
	+ Steel Slab
	+ Carbon Plate
	+ Titanium Block
	+ Diamond Nanorod
* The more commonly used the Building Slab, the shorter the Event.