Science & Industry

Worth doing or is it better to stick with P0 - P2?

I'm starting a new job and will be likely only to be able to log in once per week. I'm hoping to setup a PI for very low maintence, but still able to turn a decent profit. Anyone got any advice or setups?

Depends where you are doing the PI. If you have access to a 0% tax customs office then making p3/4 is best by far. If not, then stick to p2.

You can set up a chain for p2 and only need to log in once every few days to restart the extractors and unless it's in null/wh space then only need to empty it out once a month or so.

The poaster is crazy if thinking chaining P0 - P4 on the same planet is an intelligent thing to do.

SEEMS like what IT is trying to say...............

the trick for low maintenance PI in null or W-space is you need less extractor heads out for the same income leaving more CPU/power grid for factories.

For example in high sec you can have a set up with two extractors pulling hopefully 6000 units of P0 each feeding two P1 factories, which in turn feed one P2 factory. With PI skills at 4 across the board you should be able to meet the 6000 units per hour of raw P0 to keep everything running. (3000 units per 30 min cycle of P1 factory). this generally requires 24hour or less cycle time on extractors.

In null sec and W-space you can still meet the 6000 units per hour with much longer cycles, only requiring you to reset your extractors every 4-7 days. This will still keep your single P2 factory per planet running 24/7 creating decent output for almost no effort.

In null or w-space on a good planet you can often find rich enough deposits to extract 12000 units of each per hour with less heads out, leaving hopefully enough cpu/power grid to keep four P1 factories and two P2 factories running 24/7. Some times this requires command centers skill to 5.

Keep in mind this is for low maintenance steady income, not optimum output. With PI the more time you have to spend on it the more isk you can make. for maximum output you want two extractor control units pulling the same PI material and balance the number of heads with the number of P1 factories so that the extracted P0 is slightly higher than the needed input of all factories. You then export the P1 to a factory planet where you make P3 or P4 products.

Some players export the P0 to a factory planet as this allows you to extract a maximum amount of P0 per planet. However this adds a lot of hauling, and much more need for storage at the factory planet, for very little extra isk. Exporting P1 has worked the best for me.

If you really want to make P3 and keep it low maintenance I believe you can go right from P0 to P3 robotics on a Plasma planet without importing anything. You will need command centers skill to 5 and a good null sec or w-space planet to pull enough P0 to keep all the factories running 24/7 without needing to reset extractors several times per day. All POS fuel ingredients can be made from scratch on at least on planet type.

I have found the best planet types for POS fuel components from scratch to be;
Gas > Oxygen
Barren > Mechanical parts
Storm > Coolant
Plasma > Enriched Uranium
Lava > Consumer electronics > Barren > Robotics

With these planet set-ups in high sec you need to reset extractors every day but only run a pick up run once per week. Just pick up the consumer electronics before stopping at the robotics planet and drop them off when you pick up the robotics. it is easy to make enough Consumer electronics off a lava planet to keep up eith the demand at the barren robotics planet. Before moving to NULL, with 4 PI characters I made well over 100 mil isk per week just off PI in high sec. I make 250-300 mil per week with a similar set up in null.

There are far more efficient higher income setups using factory planets, but I found this to give a great return with very low maintenance. Moving stuff once per week is far easier than moving P1 around every day to keep the factory planets running.

Extracting P0s is NEVER an efficient thing to do. The only reason I could ever think to do it would be extracting from a planet with a very rare and low-yield resource (like Felsic Magma). Even then a few token P0>P1 processors would still save you a ton of work and taxes.

The real choice is P1 extraction or P1 > P2 same planet extraction.


P2 extraction is tricky for a number of reasons. It relies on specific types of planets in order to get the P2 you want. The availibility of these planets may or may not be a hinderance. Even if a planet CAN support the P2 you want, it doesn't mean it'll have a really good spot for it. Finding an area with two hot spots (one for each product) is tricky. And eventually those hot spots will be depleted.


I'm a personal fan of P1 extraction and then factory planets. Not only does it let me get more raw materials out of my planets, I don't need to worry so much about the location. If my Gas planet has a hot spot of Ionic Solutions, I don't need to worry about missing it because it isn't near any water deposits. Better yet, If I want to, say, make Enriched Uranium (Precious Metals + Toxic Metals IIRC) I don't need to hunt down a plasma planet. I can find two planets with the individual resources and then combine them.

Further, unless I'm making P4s, the planet I use as my factory planet doesn't really matter. This gives further flexibility in your planetary network in terms of which planets are crucial for extraction versus which ones aren't and can be used for factories.

That said, nothing beats P2 extraction planets for laziness. Once setup, you can pretty much just restart the harvesters and watch the P2s trickle in until the launchpad is full with VERY little upkeep.

P1+ factory planets need to have hauling done every 3 days or so...but give a superior output.