Maximizing Planets
There are ways to maximize your planets' production. Here are some of the ways. You don't HAVE to do these to have good planets but they will help.
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General
1) Colonize the best planet (terra, barren, desert) you can in terms of size and resources. 2) Maximize its size with Quasi-Spacial expanders to get it to very massive. 3) Maximize its resources using Planetary Data Optimizers and Terraforming Devices. 4) Use device (Gaia Seed, Planetary Sentox, Gamma Crystallizes) 5) You will be able to get a 17x resource, colossal planet. 6) Maximize your passive defense/cloak via artifacts.
Mega-Colossal
1) Colonize the best planet icy planet you can in terms of resources. If it is Very Large in size, move on to step 2. If the planet is Large or smaller, find a different planet or keep following step 2 until you make it Very Massive.
2) Maximize its' size with 2 Quasi-Spacial expanders to get it to Very Massive in size.
3) Use a Permafrost Sub-Network (if available).
4) Maximize its resources using Planetary Data Optimizers and Terraforming Devices (Note: this step can be completed both before and after step 5. If you have a Mass Surface Melter and have completed both steps 2 and 3, then use it).
5) Use a Mass Surface Melter artifact. (Note: you will NOT be able to build a Permafrost Sub-Network after you use a Mass Surface Melter, so build one BEFORE you complete this step).
6) Use a Quantum Hydro-Meliorator (if available).
7) Maximize your passive defense with Gravitic Amplifier artifacts and your passive cloaking with Interspacial Fold Generator artifacts. Both of these artifacts are dropped by rank 310 Lazuli Fabrication Plant NPC's.
Mega-Hyper Exotic
Start with a Very Large Icy, a Very Massive Gas Giant or a Very Large Volcanic Planet. I would choose an ok planet (resource wise). I would add artifact buildings and passive items as I get it, knowing it will end up being 13x. Personally, I would wait until later in the game to make transform it into the exotic as you get better bonus items (I waited until Cloaking Sats and Chron Shifters). You will have to start collecting the items early so you have them when the time comes.
Very Large Icy: Use a flux probe to make sure the planet has 0 other people who know about it. Use 2 Quasi-Spacial expanders to make it Very Massive Use Permafrost Sub-Network Use Mass-Surface Melter to make it Mega Colossal in size. Got to section marked 'all'
Very Massive Gas Giant: 1) Use a flux probe to make sure the planet has 0 other people who know about it. 2) Get Passive Attack to 1000 using Gas Rod Ignitors (20x) 3) Got to section marked 'all'
Very Large Volcanic: 1) Use a flux probe to make sure the planet has 0 other people who know about it. 2) Use 2 Quasi-Spacial expanders to make it Very Massive 3) Use Convoy Heat Seeker 4) Get Passive attack to 1000 using Eruption Channelers (20x) 5) Got to section marked 'all'
All: 1) Use 2 Gift of the Void to give you 80 cloak (if you have it). 2) Max Passive Defense to 1000 (10 Interspacial Fold Generator) and Passive Cloak to 1080 (10 Gravitic Amplifier). 3) Add as many artifact building as you can. This will entail holding onto some of them so you have them when you get to this point, they include but not limited to: 1x Omnibase (can only ever get 1!) 1x Captured Crimson Base (can only get 5) 2x Chron Shifter (can only get 10) 1x Silthion Gas Vesicle 1x Permafrost Sub-Network (if not already there, can only get 20) 1x Convoy Heat Seeker (if not already there, can only get 10) 2x Zolazin Analyzer (can only get 10) 1x Interrogation Center (not available after level 200 so make sure you save it!) 1x Zolazin Void Tower or Dark Pylon Shifter 1x Sha'din Grid Network 1x Silthion Gas Vesicle 4) Fill the rest of the space with whatever you'd like the best. Choose wisely as you can not change your decision later or you lose part of the 'bonus' of this planet. 4) Use Hyper-Terraformer. 5) Use 2x Terraformers (15x all). 6) Use Quasi-Spacial Expander (V Massive).
The big bonus is that by using a Very Massive or Larger planet, your items that were on the planet will stay on the planet. This means you have a size Massive (63 build slots) will actually have 69 or higher slots. Remember, these slots will not be there if you destroy a building. This is why I suggest doing it later on in the game when you have +10 or +12 buildings, good attack/defense and good stealth building.
If I did my math correctly, you'll get an extra 2k on attack/defense/cloak and about +17 mining, +17 artifact, +42 research onto a Very Massive planet with 15x all. This gives you about 1k in resources from one planet.
Personally, I don't think it is worth wasting 2 QSEs and/or a Mass Ice Melter to do this so I would recommend going with a VL Volcanic (no quasis) for this. It's got the best 'benefit' of both passive attack and an artifact building that will stay doubled when turned into an exotic. While the bonus spots on the VM gas is nice, in the end, you are going to destroy buildings for bigger and better artifacts that you will get in the future and you'll lose this benefit.
Toxic/Irradiated
1) Colonize a Very Large Toxic planet that is Very Abundant, Rich or Extremely Rich.
2) Use Toxic Purifiers to get to 16x Mega Rich Mining. (If you're on odd-numbered multipliers like 1x, 3x, 5x, etc... use one terraformer to get to even numbers BEFORE getting to 15x, so you can make a 16x.)
3) Maximize your passive defense/cloak via artifacts.
4) Maximize the planet's size with quasi-spacial expanders.
5) Once you have a 16x Mega-Rich Mining Toxic planet with max'd passive defense and cloak and size, you can go a step further by turning it into an 18x Mega-Rich Irradiated planet with an Isolytic Irradiator from the Potent Residuum mission