Best Early Game Thorium?

[Jesus F. C.]

I am Early-Mid Game, trying to approach Extraction Outpost, and I want to stock up on thorium before I attempt it. What route would be the best to get a good amount of thorium?

[lonesh33p]

I'm sure the OP has moved on. Just in case this comes up for future searchers:

Simplest and probably best source is Tar Fields. I'm producing 334/minute from Tar Fields without full optimization. This is pretty obvious - presumably not what the OP was looking for.

#227 is just "northeast" of Tar Fields. I'm producing 347/minute there, despite leaving at least one un-mined patch. Actual elapsed time to capture #227 and then harvest would be longer than simply mining Tar Fields, but it would be less boring.

I'm producing 1.4k/minute from #125, just two steps "northwest" of Tar Fields. However, I wouldn't recommend that for harvestng as prep for Extraction Outpost. #125 is part of the Northern Hornet's Nest cluster of strong enemy bases.

For me, the struggle to clear out this cluster was the most epic part of the game. But the quicker way to complete the campaign would be to bypass the cluster, and let Impact 0078 and Nuclear Production Complex be recaptured once they've served their unlocking purpose.

[lonesh33p]

Belated amendment in case someone searches on thorium. Both sectors in this post were pointed out by bojianh/cybersol in common v6 campaign Q&A

Sector 162, next to Biomass Synthesis, has roughly 10 times as much thorium as Tar Fields. The only drawback being the adjacent enemy base. If I replay this, I'll max out thorium production before leaving #162. That didn't seem important at the time since I had not unlocked launch pads. But several upcoming research items need a lot of thorium. I'd also maximize the base capacity. Either that or check the thorium balance in my research tree frequently. (Someone correct me - I don't think auto-incinerated [thorium] counts towards your research total.)

Sector 133 is next to Overgrowth, so it isn't really applicable to the OP - Overgrowth may not even be unlocked before Exraction Outpost. Downside is that #133 is an enemy base. But the amount of thorium on it is a little crazy. At one point I was exporting 6.1k/minute, with no overdrive, no attempt at optimization, and big chunks left idle. One inconvenience is that most patches are far from water. (My recent play was on a tablet - I might replay with Steam client to see if there is some absurd-water-extractor-count achievement.)

[3nochinator]

Note for any one who finds this after v7: sector 162 no longer has thorium