Efficient layout for resource extraction and P2 production in PI

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I played around with PI a while ago in high-sec, but chose a rather bad product and didn't earn enough money for it to be worthwile. I want to give PI a second shot now in low-sec and I'm wondering about the layout for my planet.

I want to minimize the amount of hauling required, so I'm planning to search for a planet where I can extract two resources and produce one P2 product on the same planet.

My basic idea would be to center everything around a Launchpad that also serves as final storage for the P2 product. My main concerns are how to efficiently buffer the intermediate products. Is it better to add storage facilites for that, or should everything go into the single launchpad and be redirected from there? Any other aspects I should take into account?

Best Answer

For P2 production, this is the kind of setup that I've found to be highly successful:

  • Create one extractor for one resource (say, Aqueous Liquids) right in the middle of the best constant source on the planet. Note that there are temporary "hot-spots" that you can mine out, and constant "resource production spots" that will always replenish. While the hot-spots are great sources of resources (ha-ha), they'll be gone in a day or two.
  • Repeat for another resource (say, Ionic Solutions).
  • Link each extractor to a Launchpad which is as close as possible to the extractor and also along a line (an imaginary line, but you can create a temporary link to help) that connects to two extractors, route all output from the extractor to its Launchpad.
  • Create a basic factory to process the resource into a P1 material (say, Aqueous Liquids into Water), also as close as possible to the Launchpad and also along a line connecting both Launchpads. Repeat until your average extractor output can reliably be processed into P1 materials. You don't want resources filling up your Launchpad, and you don't want factories with nothing to do. Each basic factory will take its input from the Launchpad, and output to the same Launchpad.
  • Create another basic factory on the other end of the line to process the other resource into another P1 material (say, Ionic Solutions into Electrolytes) the same way.
  • Create an advanced factory, again along the line connecting both Launchpads and as close as possible to one basic factory, to process two P1 materials (say, Water and Electrolytes into Coolant).
  • Repeat for the line of basic factories that doesn't have an advanced factory next to it.
  • Now create a ridiculously long link to finally connect the two advanced factories. Route one input for each advanced factory from each Launchpad. Route both outputs to the same Launchpad, the one that will build up less over time.

I found that I could run pretty reliably with 3 Advanced Factories, 6 Basic Factories, and about 5 Extractor Heads per resource. The overall picture is much like a barbell with a circle of extractor heads sprouting out of each end of a long bar connecting two points of high resource output on a planet. You'll have to find a way to make that line as short as possible to maximize your usage of power for resource extraction while also having the extractors on reliable extraction locations. It's a difficult balancing act, but preparing with planet scouting and choosing good locations will create a P2 production line that you can really crank the iskies out of.

Here's a link that talks a little bit more about the general process of doing PI for P2 production.
Note how he has to upgrade his long links (which is very expensive) and I've avoided that with 2 Launchpads. Note also how he's not using his factories to reduce the length of his link and I am. Those would be the main reasons I do it the way I do, but YMMMV.

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