In the last patch, Noralgis appeared in Perpetuum, making the T4 industry a lot more complex and expensive. The pivotal point of this chain is the placement of the incubators. We feel that the community doesn't have sufficient information on the topic, so let me sum up the rules in a few lines:
- Noralgis likes the soil where Prismocitae and Oryovia grows, so in general these two plants are the main indicators of the areas where it's worth trying to plant the incubators.
- Contrary to other plants Noralgis has no altitude limitation, so there are a lot of places on the map - for example on the shore - where it can grow, though it's very hard/expensive to find such spots.
- Within 8 hours Noralgis will turn into its first state, indicating whether the tile where you placed the seed is fertile or not. This applies to all islands.
- From the second growing state - when it starts to block movement - the incubator will produce material. This will be half of its full capacity which is more on beta and less on alpha islands.
- During consecutive cycles - which can be 8 hours or less - it either grows back some material, steps into the next growing state, or both. These events are random, so it could happen that your plant is not growing or not producing new material at all, when a field next to it is flourishing. Try working with as big numbers as you can!
- After a random number of cycles the plant reaches its last phase, and starts to have a chance to die. This will only happen at the last phase.
- On Alpha islands, this death-chance is higher, and the plant has a shorter life-cycle than on beta islands.
- If Noralgis is able to grow in a place, it means that the tile is fertile and it will stay fertile forever. Planting there will always be successful and this fertility condition never changes.
- Noralgis incubators can't be placed next to each other directly. Always leave one tile distance between each of them, otherwise they can kill each other. This also means you can kill a complete field by planting a lot of seeds among them; technically it can "reset" the field. Rather inefficient, but it's possible.
- When you empty a plant by harvesting all the material out of it, it will immediately kill the plant. So it's wise to leave some in, at least one.
- Each time when a plant steps into the next state, it produces a boost of minerals. Half of its physical capacity will be produced, but at the same time the plant is stepping closer to the state when it will die out.
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The freakiest one: do not leave your robot standing on a tile where you planted Noralgis - it will die. Practically speaking: plant it and do not let anyone close to it until it starts to block. Hiding it is a good practice.This mechanic has been removed since.
Hopefully this helped to shed some light on the plant system in Perpetuum. The ultimate practice is to kill a Prismocitae or Oryovia and place your incubator there, leaving one tile between each.
Have fun!
ps.: This text will also be included in the ingame help in some form.