Planetary Interaction For Dummies

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1	Goonswarm Federation presents: Planetary Interaction for Dummies
2	Last Revision: 11/09/2024. Moved to UALX-3. Updated taxes and variables to reflect current rates. Verified all the hyperlinks below still work. Removed some, added others.
3	The intended audience for this document is a new player who has never done Planetary Interaction and does not know where to begin. This page will provide a host of resources and guides for setting up their PI farm. The "Worksheet" page is a scratch pad for looking at your PI setup, while the Utilizes PI, P4, P3, P2, P1 sheets provide some research tools to help you determine if your should sell your materials in UALX-3 or Jita, and also whether it's more profitable to React an item or sell it's input materials.
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9	Helpful Resources:
10		Why do PI?	Planetary Interaction and why to do it
11		Dynex PI Emporium	Dynex wrote a good guide on PI that you should refer to
12		Single-system P4 Setup Guide	A guide put together by stretchmeat_crotchquake for P3 and P4 setups. It's helpful to look at more complicated setups if you want to go past the standard "make P2s" we are suggesting.
13		Ragin Stirfry PI for Beginners Youtube Series	A very helpful series of youtube videos for doing PI put together by KarmaFleet's Ragin Stirfry
14		Eve University - Planetary Commodities	A useful guide to familiarize yourself with what materials can be created on what planets
15		Github IO Guide to Planetary Interaction	This blog/guide is a fairly comprehensive overview of the process
16		Planetsin.space	This is an app snipereagle1 wrote to remind you when it's time to do PI
17		https://alysii.com/eve/pi/	Another webapp that provides a cleaner interface (if less information) to see how materials interact
18		Delve Planetary Production	Some dude documented every planet in Delve, as well as who owns the POCO. Not sure how up to date it is, but god-DAMN. May save you some time.
19		EveRef	Not a PI site per se, but a great reference for looking up all the possible uses of your PI product. Example: to see every T2 component that uses the P2 "Transmitter" commodity https://everef.net/type/9840/used-in
20		https://www.fuzzwork.co.uk/pi/	This tool assumes Jita sell for the input prices and output prices. So in my mind it's more geared towards a highsec factory player. However it shows you the inputs for making each thing. I would keep a big * at the prices fuzzwork shows you - it's Jita-centric and frequently wrong. Use it as a reference for materials, not for prices.
21		https://www.eve-webtools.com/Planetary/	Similar to alysii's tool, adds some additional information and capabilities
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24	General Tips:
25		1. Research. Pick the system(s) you want to do PI in. Dotlan is a good resource. Once I've picked a system or two I like, fly there and check the tax rate in the pocos (planetary customs office). The tax rate should be no more than 5% and it should be owned by a corporation in Goonswarm Federation (don't give your isk to enemies!). While you are there, check and see if there happens to be a barren or temperate planet with a 1% tax rate. If there is, that's been designated a factory planet and you can build or extract there at a lower rate. You should try to do your PI in as few systems as possible, because taking gates in industrials is bad and it also means restarting your farm takes longer, and this is supposed to be afk isk! There are two general paths for your extractor setup. The first is P0 -> P1 with the 2 extractors x 6 basic factory setup. This the simplest and highest volume setup, but it does require you to be present weekly to empty the launchpads. The second setup is the P0 -> P2 setup. The advantage of this setup is isk density. Using the same 7 week cycle, you can go several weeks without visiting your system to extract. This is generally a better setup for characters you may have on deployment. Both setups can be roughly equivalent in isk if you pick the right P2s to build, you really need to examine the tradeoffs and your personal playstyle. The P0->P2 can be annoying as you balance the P1s to be equal, but you don't have to be present as often. The P0->P1 is simpler and gives you a greater volume of material to work with if you are doing your own factories. If you are just doing PI for a little extra isk to sell straight to the market and don't want to be bothered with weekly trips to the PI farm, P0->P2 may work best for you. If you have bigger PI dreams, then P0->P1 is probably more efficient. This guide is assuming you are going the P0->P2 route, because it's a little bit more complicated so I'm going to take the time to explain it. P0->P1 I'll provide a screenshot of the extractor setup, but it's really very straightforward. Now, which P2s to make. If you do not plan to make P3 or P4, refer to https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Planetary_Commodities and look for any of them that have Immediate Uses. Those will typically have higher volumes. If you do plan to make P3 or P4, then refer to https://www.eve-webtools.com/Planetary/ and work backwards from the P3s or P4s you plan to manufacture.
26		2. Staging. Once you've figured out where you want to setup, go ahead stage all of the command centers and a couple of Epithals or Squalls. The epithals should be fit for alignment, warp speed, and warp core stabilizers. You should put at least two epithals in each system you are doing PI in. Once you finish in one system, you fly via pod or cheap frigate/interceptor to the next system. Do not take industrials through gates, warp core stabilizers don't help against bubbles, and losing a month's worth of PI in your hold sucks. When you are ready to sell your PI, moving it to market via ITL or NOFU will cost you a little bit of your margin but be overall much safer (especially during war). The epithal to your right is under 15mil isk to setup and is what I like to use when doing pickup/dropoff. You align in about 6 seconds, you warp a bit faster to get done faster, and you have enough EHP to generally survive an alpha strike. The warp core stabilizer and burst jammer may let you get away from tackle. There's no MWD because you shouldn't get bubbled on a gate, because this doesn't leave system, remember?					[Epithal, PI Epithal] Warp Core Stabilizer II Inertial Stabilizers II Inertial Stabilizers II Inertial Stabilizers II Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Multispectrum Shield Hardener II EM Shield Hardener II Burst Jammer II Prototype Cloaking Device I [Empty High slot] Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints I Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
27		3. Initial Setup. I'm not going to lie. This part sucks the biggest, girthiest donkey dong you can imagine (I can imagine some big ones, and it's worse than that). Get a stiff drink (whiskey is mine), fire up your favorite mind1 show, and be prepared to sign away 3 or 4 hours of your life with some tedious fucking clicking. A couple things to pay attention to while doing setup. Planet Radius matters! The bigger the radius of the planet, the more expensive your links will be! Not only is it important to get your nodes as close together as possible, it's double and triple important on "large" planets like gas giants so that you aren't wasting powergrid. Second tip: When you are done, look over your setup one final time and look for anything circled in red. The whole planet will show up in red in the PI planet selector if something isn't connected properly, and each facility without a route is also circled in red. Finally, once you've started, just check back in a few hours to make sure you routed everything properly. Kind of sucks to go a full week only to realize you missed one fucking extractor to input setup and all your shit is unbalanced. Read the guides/wikis linked above for the nuts and bolts of PI setup. IMPORTANT NOTE: You do NOT need to be at the planet to drop your command center. You need to be undocked and in system with the Command Center in your cargohold. If there's a cored citadel in system, you can set up PI in complete safety. You can also drop command centers while cloaked, so create a safe spot bookmark, warp to it, and cloak there during setup. ELITE HACK: You can be docked in a citadel and set up your planets. Just click "View Outside", click the system name in the upper left, go to Planetary Bodies, right click and View Planetary Industry to get to the planet and complete your setup in total safety. IMPORTANT NOTE #2: You route your extractors to your storage units (Launchpad or Storage and from there you route the materials to your factories. DO NOT route directly from extractor to factory.
28		4. Set a cycle time. If you ask in gs_isk what your PI cycle time should be, you'll get as many answers as there are assholes in that channel (and given dirk_johnwood is in there, that's a lot of asshole). This may sound trite, but the right answer is what fits in your eve schedule. If you are logging in every single day at the same time, then 24 hour cycles make sense. I personally don't want to think about PI much at all, so I set 7 day cycles and click through it on weekend. A lot of people like the 3 day cycle as a goldilocks "just right" compromise between the two. Just keep in mind that a 24 hour cycle setup usually follows the 6/3/6 pattern (6 basic industry, 3 advanced industry, 6 extractors). If you are aiming for a 3 day or 7 day cycle, you can go with a 4/2/X pattern (4 basic industry, 2 advanced industry, everything else extractors). Another reason why I like 3 day or 7 day setups? 4/2 is a lot less clicking to set up than 6/3 when you are doing it over multiple accounts. Keep in mind that the shorter the cycle time, the more effort, but more isk. Find the right level of effort and reward for you that doesn't result in you burning out.
29		5. Pickup. I highly recommend using epithals dedicated to a system and their entire purpose in life is to move PI materials from a POCO to a citadel. You will be tempted to move your PI by industrial back to UALX-3, don't do it! If you are just starting out, I recommend using one of the inter-region shipping services or asking someone in your corp to move it. You are less likely to lose your stuff that way. If you are willing to trade a little of your profits for ITL or NOFU to move your stuff for you (or have a friend who will do it for free/fuel cost), your options increase. Once you get to the big leagues and have your own rorqual or jump freighter... well then the world is your oyster.
30		6. A note about P1 production. When looking at the P1 tab and the movement in UALX-3, you may be tempted to create a P1 production farm and sell your materials directly in UALX-3. The P1 market in UALX-3 is a large chunk of the entire P1 market in Eve. Pay attention to the forums for information on where the factory systems are in our new home!
31		TLDR: Atrum I'm afraid of lots of words, tell me what to make and what planets to do it on!!! If the above describes you, then here is the setup I recommend. Produce P1 in 3-7 day cycles. If you don't mind using a courier service, set up outside of UALX-3 (bads sometimes camp the UALX-3 pocos). Produce whatever is on the P1 tab that is making the most isk. Try to pick planets that have 1 or more high volume / high price items so you can switch to a different type if yours gets goonrushed. Consider a P2 setup or factory setup once you get more comfortable and begin building other things. Research what planets are available in the systems you want to do PI in, decide P1 or P2, and use the appropriate tab to figure out what's most profitable, and go from there!
32	Isk Density (or why it's generally a better idea to go all the way to P4):
33		As anyone who has used one of our courier services to move things around Delve or to/from Jita can attest, moving big stuff is expensive. Well, moving a whole lot of little stuff can be expensive too! In this section, I'll explain why it is generally more cost effective to refine your PI goods all the way up to P4 to minimize transportation costs. I will illustrate this using a single P4 (Broadcast Node) and ITL's current rate of 850isk per m3 to show you the costs associated.
34		Level: Name	Quantity	m3 per unit	Shipping Cost	You were probably already aware from looking at the P1, P2, P3, P4 tabs in this spreadsheet that your margins generally improve as you go up the chain. In the current PI meta, there are a few basic paths, but as you can see from the isk density table on the left, your transportation costs decrease the farther you take your PI. The best ways to do PI from a simple to most complex perspective: 1) Make P1, sell P1 on market. 2) Make P1, turn into P4, sell P4 on market. 3) Make P2/P3 that is used in fuel block construction, make fuel blocks, sell on market. 4) Make P3 that is used in implant or industry. Make the implant or module. Sell finished product on market. In general, you want to make P1 or P4. Do not make P2 or P3 unless you have an intended use for them. Their volumes on market are not as high and you may not get the isk velocity you could expect by just selling the P1s.
35		P4: Broadcast Node	1	50	$42,500.00
36		P3: Neocoms, Data Chips, High Tech Transmitters	18	3	$45,900.00
37		P2: Biocells, Silicate Glass, Supertensile Plastics, Microfiber Shielding, Polyaramids, Transmitter	120	0.75	$76,500.00
38		P1: 12 P1s @ 80 units each needed.	960	0.19	$155,040.00
39		P0: 12 P0s @ 6000 units each needed.	72000	0.005	$306,000.00
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