Relays
Relays are a type of ship Module that increases your energy recharge rate - so you gain more energy per hour - but you do so at the cost of reducing your maximum energy level. You can equip four standard Relays at a time, but other modules may also be equipped later on in the game that also reduce recharge rate.
Many players feel that until a player has access to Cores relays should not be equipped. Also, be aware that there is a minimum max-energy requirement - if your max energy level is too low, the game will not allow you to equip a Relay. If this happens, spend some Rank Points on hiring more Engineers or build more Cores to increase your max energy!
Example
Power Conduit [-5 max energy, +1 charge*]
- This means each Conduit reduces the time between "ticks" by 1 second. At the start of the game, you recharge energy every 3 minutes (180 seconds) for a total of 20 energy recharged per hour. Equipping one Relay would then reduce your recharge time to 2 minutes 59 seconds (179 seconds), for a total of 20.1 energy recharged per hour.
But since you can equip 4 of these Relays, this means you can potentially increase your energy recharge rate by 4 seconds - at a cost of -20 max energy.
So say a player at the start of the game has a ship with 120 energy and no charge. The ship recharges every three minutes and gains 20 energy per hour. But after equipping four of these Relays, the same ship would have 100 max energy and would gain energy every 2 minutes 56 seconds (176 seconds), or 20.45 energy per hour.
But that's the poor man's example - as you research more Relays, they will significantly increase your energy charge rate.
If you want a REAL example, based around mid-game stats, let's assume that you have a heavy cruiser that has a base energy of 100, with not one, not even two, but THREE Singularity Core Mk. IV's. This ship would have a maximum 469 energy! However, with no energy recharge, it would take 23 hours and 27 minutes to fully recharge from 0 to 469 energy. That's not a fun wait at all! But if you install 4 X-Conduits (+15 Charge each), the max energy of the ship will drop down to 269, but the energy recharge time reduces from 3 minutes to 2 minutes. At this rate, the time to get to 269 energy from 0 energy would only be 8 hours and 58 minutes. Significantly faster than before, no? Plus, it's just long enough that, if you go to sleep, you should wake up to a full energy bank. :) And if you sleep for longer, uninstall one or two of the four conduits. It may not charge at full speed, but the extra max energy means your ship will have more energy when you wake up. ;)
| Name | Size | Charge Rate | Max Energy | Cost | Upkeep | Research Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Conduit | 5 | +1 | -5 | 1,000 CR | 50 CR per day | Advanced Power Systems |
| High Energy Relay | 5 | +3 | -10 | 5,970 CR, 119 Dynite | 299 CR per day | Superconductive Relays |
| Plasma Relay | 5 | +6 | -20 | 23,500 CR, 47 Chrisium | 1,200 CR per day | Plasma Relays |
| Wave Conduit | 5 | +9 | -30 | 97,000 CR, 19 Darrinyte | 4,900 CR per day | Wave Conduits |
| Positron Relay | 5 | +12 | -40 | 416,000 CR, 17 Hydium | 20,800 CR per day | Positron Relays |
| X Conduit | 5 | +15 | -50 | 1,800,000 CR, 36 Erixion | 90,000 CR per day | X Conduits |
| Transconduit | 5 | +18 | -60 | 8,100,000 CR, 32 Pawlacite | 405,000 CR per day | Transconduits |
| Isomophic Repeater | 5 | +21 | -70 | 37,000,000 CR, 32 Dysillon | 1,850,000 CR per day | Isomorphic Entanglement |
| Wormhole Relays | 5 | +24 | -90 | 200,000,000 CR, 90 Kurenite | 10,000,000 CR per day | Wormhole Channeling |
| HyperChannel Relays | 5 | +27 | -120 | 900,000,000 CR, 300 Kurenite | 45,000,000 CR per day | Flux Vibration Channeling |
Discoverable or Salvaged Relay Systems
| Name | Size | Charge Rate | Max energy | Gained From | Dropped by | Upkeep | Equip Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silthion T-Plasma Hub | 5 | +3 | -0 | NPC Combat | NPC: Silthion Hive Colony | 500,000 CR per day | 3 |