Diminishing return rates for Trade Port and Refineries

Also, determining refinery income

from Sins Forums

I noticed this awhile ago but never really bothered to figure out exactly what the rates were.I know the first Trade Facility in a gravity well gives like 1.8 credits/sec, without any trade routes established, correct?  And every added link to a trade route gives like .2 extra credits/sec to every Port.  So for every added Trade Port and Refinery added to a gravity well beyond the first, what are the incremental diminishing return rates?  At what point should I stop making Trade Ports and Refineries because the returns are too low?  Also, how do I determine the amount of metal/crystal I will receive per second from refineries?  It seems kind of random.  Every game my metal/crystal income from my starting planet seems to always vary.  Sometimes, after building my first refinery on my terran home, it gives me like .4 metal and .6 crystal/sec, and sometimes .6 metal and .4 crystal/sec.  I did figure out that the more asteroids of a specific type of resource you have in a gravity well, you'll likely get more of that type.  However, it's not very consistent, because I can place a refinery in a gravity well that has no metal or crystal asteroids, but still get like .1 metal or crystal income per second.  Any help is appreciated.

12,669 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

You actually have it wrong.  Trade ports give an increasing amount of return the more of them you make unless you decrease the trade chain.  (decrease the longest most efficient continuous trade route)

 

Refineries is based on surrounding grav wells also so if you have a planet that is next to other planets that you own and have high amounts of resource then you will want to make 3 refineries (max limit per grav well is 3, no overlaps allowed)

 

With that said it may be beneficial to make refineries at the start if you find a grav well that has many resource in it and its immediate surrounding neighbors, but if you can make a long trade lane then its better to make trade ports.

 

 

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting JohnJames, reply 1
You actually have it wrong. Trade ports give an increasing amount of return the more of them you make unless you decrease the trade chain. (decrease the longest most efficient continuous trade route)
End of JohnJames's quote

For a given trade length trade ports give neither increasing or diminishing returns. It increases linearly, so that if you double the amount of trade ports in a certain gravity well you will double the trade income from that planet. Increasing your trade chain is a global bonus to trade income, but is not directly determined by the number of trade ports.

As mentioned refineries give income based on the number of resource asteroids in the gravity well and every adjacent gravity well. However unlike trade ports there is a level of diminishing returns, or rather, a cut off point. A resource extractor can only have 3 refineries servicing it (look at the extractor info card to see how many refineries are servicing it). Once an extractor has 3 different refineries using it its like it doesn't exist, and any further refineries won't get additional resources.

Typically you'll want refineries on central planets with a lot of phase lanes to other planets with extractors, while trade chains are best made around the edge of the map in a linear fashion or in a curving pattern to get the longest chain possible. The vast majority of the time though trade is the better source of income.

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

So if I make a second trade port inside the same exact gravity well, it will give me the same as the first one?  I don't think that's right, is it?  I always seem to get less resources and credits for every trade port/refinery placed after the first, in the same gravity well.  At least, it really seems that way.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Manick2005, reply 3
So if I make a second trade port inside the same exact gravity well, it will give me the same as the first one? I don't think that's right, is it? I always seem to get less resources and credits for every trade port/refinery placed after the first, in the same gravity well. At least, it really seems that way.
End of Manick2005's quote

Nope. Wait a few minutes and check, you'll get twice as much credit income (once all the tradeships are built). I had to make a mod that creates that diminishing returns aspects because trade ports are so spamable that way. As mentioned refineries have a built in cut off point so you could see that with those.