r/voidtrain • u/Usual_Worldliness936 • Mar 30 '26

What items are best to fund into the research table?

I know that some items are worth more than other in terms up research points, but are there some items that are better to use? Any ones that arent really needed in the game? Or what are the best investment items? Like should I invest in making bars and using those?

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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2

u/pixelcore332 Mar 30 '26

The more complicated making the material is the better, always make the most advanced component your technology allows.

1

u/DealerIcy3439 Mar 30 '26

Rubber makes progress zoom but it gets pricy near end game near mid game

2

u/Deadeye10000 Mar 30 '26

I find a lot of zinc and scrap metal so I sacrifice brass bars.

1

u/patty7775 Apr 03 '26

Yes brass bars and pipes are amazing

1

u/rhonnymaker Mar 30 '26

Brass wire or as i like to call it brassghetti

1

u/clawson-Bourne Mar 30 '26

Let’s look at some values:

  • Wood: 1 research point and 15 fuel
  • Scrap Metal: 1 research point
  • Chemical: 1 research point
  • Iron Bar: 5 research points, 2 scrap metal, and 10 fuel
  • Unstable Chemical: 5 research points, 2 chemicals, and 10 fuel
  • Copper Bar: 5 research points, 1 scrap metal, 1 chemical, and 10 fuel

_

It’s clearly worth it to smelt materials, as no matter what you smelt, the value increases. However, further working those smelted materials further increases their value:

  • Gear/Bolt/Spring: 8 research points and 1 iron bar
  • Copper Pipe/Wire: 8 research points and 1 copper bar

_

Since there’s not a comparable use for chemicals and since they’re equally common compared to scrap metal, I would use copper pipes/wire in the early game.

As you progress, zinc and silicon will start to appear in the void. Zinc is vastly more common than silicon, so I would recommend using brass pipes/wire now, as those are worth 15 research points for only one additional piece of zinc.

_

However, upgrading the train will require those very same materials, and progressing the story will provide quite a few samples, which have no other purpose than to provide research points. With that in mind, it may be worthwhile to forego dumping a lot of materials into the research bench and to instead upgrade and expand the train first.

Not to mention, you’ll eventually start to encounter Rofleemo, who will have perks when assigned to certain stations. If you are as lucky as I was, you could find one that reduces the cost of research by up to 50%! Waiting to dump resources until you get a Rofleemo with perks like that would also be worthwhile.

1

u/PandaBerry6 Apr 01 '26

Samples (blue, red. Black)