Blueprints

Blueprints

Blueprints are special items used to manufacture other items at a player station. They act as production plans, specifying the required materials, manhours, and workforce needed to create the desired product. Once acquired, a blueprint can be used repeatedly (or for a limited number of runs, depending on the blueprint) to produce items for the player. Blueprints can be obtained through DG drops, AI bases, or from killing bosses.

When inspecting a blueprint, the player will be able to view details such as the item the blueprint can produce, the tech level, maximum uses, workforce requirements, maximum workforce, and initial and periodic material requirements.

Blueprint Attributes

Item: The item(s) that one run of the blueprint will produce.
Manhours: The amount of manhours that are required to build the item(s)
Maximum workforce: The amount of workers that can work at one time on each production run.
Maximum uses: Many blueprints only allow so many production uses. Once the uses are exhausted, a new blueprint must be obtained to produce additional items.
Initial Materials: Blueprints can require materials to be present on the player station before a player can initialize a new production run.
Periodic Materials: Blueprints can require materials to be supplied periodically over the course of the production run or risk being halted.
Tech Level: Blueprints have a tech level associated with the blueprint. Unlike other station items, blueprints do not require the Station Management skill to use at a station and the tech level of the player station does not matter when using blueprints. Earthforce space player stations can only use blueprints up to tech 20, while Wild space player stations can use any blueprint.

Producing an item

To produce an item from a blueprint, a player needs to start by using a blueprint on a player station. First transfer the blueprint to the station and use the blueprint by either right clicking and selecting use or by double clicking the blueprint in the station's inventory. The blueprint will disappear and will be added to the station's construction tab. A player can simply double click on the item they wish to produce in the construction tab and enter the desired number of runs to start a new build. The station's free workers will then split their workforce evenly across all builds currently ongoing (excluding paused builds) on the station and will complete one manhour per worker every ten seconds. When the material requirements are fulfilled and the work is completed, the player will receive a notification in Event chat if docked at the station and the item(s) produced will appear in the station's inventory. The item may be built with modifications if applicable for the item type (requires Rare or higher and Tech Level 20 or higher).

Some blueprints will only allow a maximum amount of workers to work on a production run at any given time. These builds can only be accelerated by increasing the construction speed of the station, see Station Upgrades. Many builds do not have a maximum workforce and therefore have the potential to be produced very quickly if a proper workforce is available.

Station Workforce

The workforce bar shows how many workers are busy equipping items on the base and how many workers are free to produce items. A worker will produce one manhour every 10 seconds which can be further modifier by construction speed bonuses. Below is a screenshot of the workforce available at a station, seen under the Control tab.

Construction Discounts

Depending on the quantity of items being built the required materials may be discounted in that the blueprint will not use portion the credits/materials, giving an incentive to build in bulk (see blueprint description for per item exceptions). Teams typically build modules, station augmenters/gear, nanite, etc -- in a pooled fashion called "mass builds" to take maximum advantage of this. The blueprint savings is calculated via the Construction Formula page. The biggest discount is 27.1% which is reached when 1000 of an blueprint is being built.

Below are nice integer numbers to aim for when building consecutively to use up all the discounts in a cascading fashion:

Perfect Discount Cascades:

• 10 > 1
• 17 > 2
• 23 > 3
• 29 > 4
• 34 > 5
• 39 > 6
• 45 > 7
• 50 > 8
• 54 > 9
• 59 > 10 > 1
• 92 > 17 > 2
• 118 > 23 > 3
• 143 > 29 > 4
• 164 > 34 > 5
• 184 > 39 > 6
• 208 > 45 > 7
• 228 > 50 > 8
• 243 > 54 > 9
• 263 > 59 > 10 > 1
• 386 > 92 > 17 > 2
• 480 > 118 > 23 > 3
• 568 > 143 > 29 > 4
• 641 > 164 > 34 > 5
• 710 > 184 > 39 > 6
• 791 > 208 > 45 > 7
• 858 > 228 > 50 > 8
• 908 > 243 > 54 > 9
• 974 > 263 > 59 > 10 > 1