# Economic Overview
## Turn Efficiency Theory
| Strategy | Profit per Turn (credits) | Alignment Shift per Turn |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| **SST (Solo, furbed)** | 14,035 | –15 |
| **Team SST (furbed)** | 14,139 | –15 |
| **SDT (Solo, furbed)** | 15,921 | –21.18 |
| **Team SDT (furbed)** | 17,271 | –21.18 |
| **Mega‑Rob** | 39,728 | N/A |
*Profits assume use of –65 MCIC ports and incorporate the average bust frequency of ≈ 1 in 50.*
---
## Red Cashing Methods
### Robbing and Stealing
When a Red player's alignment is **–100** or lower a new port‑menu option **R** (Rob) appears.
| Menu option | Description |
|-------------|-------------|
| `A` | Attack this port |
| `R` | **Rob** this port |
| `T` | Trade at this port |
| `Q` | Quit |
Selecting **R** opens a sub‑menu:
| Sub‑option | Action |
|------------|--------|
| `R` | **Rob** the port’s cash |
| `S` | **Steal** product from the dock |
| `Q` | Quit |
* **Robbing** extracts the port’s internal cash. The actual amount received equals the displayed amount **+ 11 %**.
* **Stealing** extracts cargo that is physically **On Dock**.
Experience‑based limits apply (see “Rob/Steal Settings” below). Bust chance for any rob/steal attempt is **≈ 1 in 50**.
#### Rob/Steal Settings
| Mode | Minimum experience to steal a full 250‑hold ship |
|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| **MBBS** | 5,251 exp |
| **Gold / Classic** | 7,501 exp |
#### Example Port Inventory
| Commodity | Trade Action | On Dock | On‑Board |
|-----------|--------------|---------|----------|
| Fuel Ore | Selling | 2,550 | 100 |
| Organics | Buying | 2,010 | 0 |
| Equipment| Buying | 2,640 | 0 |
*The example shows an SBB (class 2) port with > 2 k units of each commodity on the dock.*
### Busting Penalties
| Action | Penalty |
|-----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Rob bust** | Lose 10 % of experience and holds equal to **1 %** of the credits attempted to rob. |
| **Steal bust** | Lose 10 % of experience and holds equal to **9 %** of the equipment holds attempted to steal. |
| **Fake bust** (rob/steal same port twice consecutively) | Same base bust chance; each extra hold or each 1,000 credits above the experience limit increases bust odds exponentially. |
*Holds never drop below one; staying within experience‑based limits keeps bust chance at the base ≈ 1 in 50.*
---
## Red Money‑Making Tactics
### Sell‑Steal‑Move (**SSM**)
1. Locate an **evil pair** of ports (one sells Equipment, the other buys it).
2. Upgrade the Equipment on the first port to match your ship’s hold capacity plus a safety margin.
3. **Port** to the first port, **sell** any Equipment you carry.
4. **Steal** the freshly upgraded Equipment.
5. **Warp** to the second port and **sell** the stolen Equipment.
6. **Steal** Equipment back from the second port.
7. Repeat steps 3‑6 until a bust occurs.
*SSM provides a modest edge over basic paired‑port trading (PPT) and serves as a stepping‑stone to SST.*
### Sell‑Steal‑Transport (**SST**)
| Step | Action | Turns |
|------|------------------------------------------|-------|
| 1 | Position two COLT ships (initial setup) | – |
| 2 | Verify and upgrade port equipment as needed | 0 |
| 3 | **Port** and **Sell** Equipment (ship 1) | 1 |
| 4 | **Port** and **Steal** Equipment (ship 1) | 1 |
| 5 | **Transport** to ship 2 (planetary transporter) | 1 |
| 6 | Verify and upgrade second port equipment | 0 |
| 7 | **Port** and **Sell** Equipment (ship 2) | 1 |
| 8 | **Port** and **Steal** Equipment (ship 2) | 1 |
| 9 | **Transport** back to ship 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Repeat steps 2‑9 until busted | – |
| **Total per cycle** | | **6** |
The cycle yields roughly **10 million credits per 1,000 turns**.
### Steal‑Dump‑Transport (**SDT**)
| Step | Action | Turns |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------|
| 1 | Position COLTs and establish planets (if needed) | – |
| 2 | Verify and upgrade port equipment | 0 |
| 3 | **Port** and **Steal** Equipment (ship 1) | 1 |
| 4 | **Land** on a planet and **dump** Equipment | 0 |
| 5 | **Transport** to ship 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Verify and upgrade second port equipment | 0 |
| 7 | **Port** and **Steal** Equipment (ship 2) | 1 |
| 8 | **Land** on a planet and **dump** Equipment | 0 |
| 9 | **Transport** back to ship 1 | 1 |
|10‑14| Repeat steps 2‑9 (≈ 8 cycles typical) | 32 |
|15 | **Sell** Equipment at port 2 (usually a Blue ship handles) | 1 |
|16 | **Transport** to ship 1 | 1 |
|17 | **Sell** Equipment at port 1 | 1 |
| **Total for 8 cycles** | | **35** |
Average turns per cycle ≈ 4.375, faster than SST.
### Rob‑Transport‑Rob (**RTR**)
| Cycle step | Action | Turns |
|------------|--------------------------------------|-------|
| 1 | **Rob** port A | 1 |
| 2 | **Transport** to ship 2 (planetary transporter) | 1 |
| 3 | **Rob** port B | 1 |
| 4 | **Transport** back to ship 1 | 1 |
| **Total** | | **4** |
Profit is limited by the cash available on the ports and the experience‑based rob limit.
### Steal‑Dump‑Flee (**SDF**)
| Step | Action | Turns |
|------|--------|-------|
| 1 | Position COLTs, place planets, and station a non‑corp fighter | – |
| 2 | Verify and upgrade port equipment | 0 |
| 3 | **Port** and **Steal** Equipment | 1 |
| 4 | **Land** on planet and **dump** Equipment | 0 |
| 5 | Non‑corp attacks with 1 fighter (triggers flee) | 0 |
| 6 | **Flee** to second sector (0 or 1 turn) | 0 or 1 |
| 7‑11| Repeat steps 2‑6 for the second port | – |
| 12 | **Sell** Equipment at port 2 (usually a Blue) | 0 |
| 13 | Non‑corp attacks again (maintains flee) | 0 |
| 14 | **Flee** back to first sector (0 or 1 turn) | 0 or 1 |
| 15 | **Sell** Equipment at port 1 | 0 |
| **Total for 8 cycles** | | **24 average** |
Average cycle ≈ 3 turns (including any flee penalties), roughly twice the profitability of SST.
### Megga‑Rob (**MR**) – MBBS Only
| Step | Action | Turns |
|------|--------|-------|
| 1 | Upgrade **Buy** port (max equipment, optional organics/fuel) | – |
| 2 | Upgrade **Sell** port (max equipment, partial organics/fuel) | – |
| 3 | Move mobile planet under **Buy** port | 0 |
| 4 | **Buy‑down** equipment until ≥ 3.3 million credits spent (reverse haggle) | 131 or more |
| 5 | **Port** and **Rob** the cash spent back | 1 |
| 6 | Move mobile planet under **Sell** port | 0 |
| 7 | **Port** and **Negotiate** sale of equipment | 1 |
| 8 | Move to next XSS port and repeat | – |
| **Total Turns** | | **≥ 133** |
Effective turn cost ≈ 1.01 turn per cycle when executed optimally.
### Buy‑Dump‑Rob‑Transport‑Rob (**D/RTR**) – “Poor man’s Megga‑Rob”
| Requirement | Details |
|-------------|---------|
| Ports | Two **SXS** ports within 5 sectors (maximum transport distance for a **Merf**) |
| Upgrades | ≈ 2.5 k fuel ore and 5‑10 k equipment on each port |
| Ships | Typically a **COLT**, a **Havoc**, and optionally a **Merf** |
| Procedure | 1️⃣ **Buy‑dump** all fuel and equipment at first port (best‑price haggle).<br>2️⃣ Warp to second port, repeat **buy‑dump**.<br>3️⃣ Park ships under each port and execute **RTR** cycle.<br>4️⃣ **Sell** equipment at an **XXB** port. |
Average turn cost ≈ 1.2 turns per cycle (≈ 20 k exp minimum recommended).
---
## Planet Farming for Cash
Class (O) **Oceanic** planets provide the highest cash flow:
| Planet Class | Peak Daily Production (FOE) | Maximum Daily Org at 50 % population | Approx. Daily Credit Profit* |
|--------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| O (Oceanic) | Fuel Ore 5,000 | Organics 50,000 | 2.2 – 2.5 million credits (ports limited to 65,530 units) |
| M (Earth) | Fuel Ore 5,000 | Organics 2,142 | 0.1 – 0.15 million credits (equipment) |
| L (Mountainous) | Fuel Ore 10,000 | Organics 4,000 | Comparable to O for fuel‑heavy strategies |
| H (Volcanic) | Fuel Ore 50,000 | Organics 0 | Excellent fuel source, but citadel build time is long (≈ 2.5 weeks to level 3, > 7 weeks to level 6). |
\*Profit assumes ports purchase at the 50 % bell‑curve optimum and that the port’s daily intake limit is not exceeded.
**Key points**
* Oceanic planets reach peak production at **100,000 colonists**, delivering **50,000** organics per day.
* A port can accept at most **65,530** units per day; selling at the 50 % price point yields the highest revenue.
* Fuel‑rich Class H planets are ideal for defensive fuel reserves but are slow to develop citadels.
---
## Planet Farming for Fighters
Fighter output is a fraction of daily FOE production. The “2 produce 1” column on the Planet menu shows the number of colonists required for one fighter at the current production level.
| Planet Class | Fuel Ratio | “2 produce 1” at optimal population | Fighters per day (example) |
|--------------|------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| M (Earth) | 3/7/13 | 30 colonists | 50 fighters per day (with 1,500 colonists on Fuel) |
| L (Mountainous) | 2/5/20 | 24 colonists | 1,666 fighters per day (with 20,000 colonists) |
| O (Oceanic) | 20/2/100 | 15 colonists (n/15) | > 5,000 fighters per day at full colonization |
| C (Glacial) | 50/100/500| 25 colonists (n/25) | 64 fighters per day (max) |
| H (Volcanic) | 1/–/500 | 50 colonists (n/50) | 1,002 fighters per day (max) |
| U (Vaporous) | –/–/– | — | 0 fighters (no production) |
Higher fighter output is achieved by allocating colonists to the **Fuel** production line on planets with favorable ratios (L and O classes).
---
## Colonizing & Transport Mechanics
### Fast Colonization Loop
1. **Buy** fuel at a nearby port and **drop** it on the target planet.
2. **TransWarp** to Terra, acquire colonists, and **TransWarp** back.
3. **Land** on the planet and **dump** the fuel; the planet consumes 10 fuel per sector per transporter jump.
4. Repeat until the planet reaches Citadel Level 1.
*Using a ship with a TransWarp drive (e.g., **Imperial StarShip** or **Corporate Flagship**) dramatically reduces turn cost compared with manual movement.*
### Planetary Transporter System
- **First hop cost:** 50,000 credits (paid from ship’s cash, not the planetary Treasury).
- **Each additional hop:** 25,000 credits.
- **Fuel consumption:** 10 units of Fuel Ore per sector jumped.
- **Turn cost:** 1 turn per use, regardless of distance.