BASICS
Resources
| Resource | Kind | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | Refined | Buildings, troops and research. The Scrap Yard refines it from Scrap. |
| Fuel | Refined | Buildings, some troops, research, hull builds and Datacenter mining. The Generator refines it from Crude. |
| Rations | Refined | Training, deploying and healing troops. The Grow Plot refines it from Raw Food. |
| Scrap | Raw | Earned from extraction runs and other rewards, refined into Metal. Cannot be sold. |
| Crude | Raw | Earned from extraction runs and other rewards, refined into Fuel. Cannot be sold. |
| Raw Food | Raw | Earned from extraction runs and other rewards, refined into Rations. Cannot be sold. |
| $ato | Currency | The Marketplace currency. The Datacenter mines it from Fuel while switched on. |
Raw resources and refining
The base does not make resources from nothing. Extraction runs pay RAW resources: Scrap, Crude and Raw Food. So do the daily free drop, redeem codes, the honor social chest and payouts from the alliance bank. Chests you earn by playing (Arcology and Megatower chests, world boss chests, arena crates and event prizes) and new player rewards pay refined resources.
Your base refines the raw ones: the Scrap Yard turns Scrap into Metal, the Generator turns Crude into Fuel and the Grow Plot turns Raw Food into Rations, each at its building's rate (raised by research and bonuses) for as long as raw stock lasts. Everything you build, train and research is paid in the refined forms. Paid packs pay refined resources directly.
Raw resources cannot be traded. The marketplace lists Metal, Fuel and Rations, never Scrap, Crude or Raw Food, so raw stock has to be refined before it is worth anything to another player.
Refining is a timer like every other wait, so a Temporal Catalyst can hurry it. Tap a resource on the resource bar and pick a grade, or use BOOST REFINING on the refinery in Upgrade Facilities. One catalyst instantly refines a fixed number of hours of that refinery's output, for that resource only:
| Catalyst | Refines |
|---|---|
| Standard Catalyst | 1 hour of output |
| Enhanced Catalyst | 2.5 hours of output |
| Advanced Catalyst | 5 hours of output |
| Prototype Catalyst | 10 hours of output |
Refining gets faster with Scavenger Protocols research, alliance membership, the Citadel Power Plant (+100% for the alliance that holds it) and Premium (+50% on every refinery).
$ato and the Datacenter
$ato is not produced from nothing either. While you switch it on (tap $ato on the resource bar, START MINING), the Datacenter mines $ato at its rate and burns Fuel for it: two Fuel for every $ato until you research Cold Hash, which brings it down to one for one at its top level. Switch it off to keep your Fuel. It stops on its own when the Fuel runs out.
Storage
Refined output has no storage cap: a refinery keeps working until its raw stock runs out. What a destroyed Crawler can lose from your bank is capped by your Barracks level, and the Hardened Vault research lowers that cap.
Upkeep
There is none. Troops do not eat Rations while they wait; an army costs Rations to train, deploy and heal, and every Ration your Grow Plot refines goes into your stockpile.