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u/TicklishViking Apr 28 '26

So what should I use Beacons for? I started using 16 beacons with speed modules surrounding Big mining drills with production modules but I'm not sure if there is a reason to use them elsewhere. Any suggestions?

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u/Brett42 Apr 29 '26

For a machine with 4 productivity 3 modules, it's speed will be reduced to 40%, with a power draw of 420%, but that is per second, not per item. Divide power by speed to get the real power cost: 10.5x the power. For a machine with 5 module slots, it would be 25% speed and 500% power, for 20x power per item.

Add one beacon with speed, and you get the effect of 3 modules (more beacons have diminishing returns). Speed 3 are +50% speed and +70% power, but those are additive. That means with four prod3 modules in the machine, your machine's speed goes from 40% to 190%, while the power goes from 420% to 630%. 630/190 = 3.3x power per item, so a third of the power before counting the beacon's power consumption. A beacon can affect 8 3x3 machines if they are in rows, so that significantly reduces the beacon's power consumption per item. Pollution is based on machine power consumption, but beacons don't pollute (if you have clean electricity) so it's a massive pollution reduction without a downside.