Unbound Research quesiton. How does it work?

[PcbZorg]

I managed to drag my a55 to level 43 and hit a wall. With my synth speed, it takes days to get barely ANY red upgrade resources (3.0 weapons, but not enough salvage to effectively upgrade - upgrades are VERY slow).
My Base 1 is occasionally doubling the Damage/Shields output, but it's not enough to get me through LVL44. At about the same rate when Base 1 damage gets doubled, Base 2 adds 1.2 multiplier. Base 3 not worth mentioning. Extremely slow progress so far. Only unlocked first three cheapest slots.
My reactor boosts everything around level 122 without any penalty. I'm using destroyer with a combination of lasers and kinetic weapons. 2 recharging shields, one bulk.
I also unlocked unbound research, but i have absolutely no clue how that should work, and the tooltips don't help. Does it trigger only above e24 value of assorted functions?
Would anyone have a tip how to setup to significantly boost SYNTH production so i can start investing into RED upgrades?
I ran into a similar hump around level 40, but unlocking all base 2 upgrades and base 3 shard links ability helped me. But now i'm stuck again, and i don't see an obvious way forward. Is it a "let it idle for a week?" situation? Or am i missing something.
I'm also upgrading via warp drives everything i can, everytime i can. But i'm hitting a wall there as well. My 7x overcharge nets me around 2.5e6, and that's barely enough for ONE upgrade in Salvage/VP/Damage/Bases each. I already maxxed Synth. The next Synth upgrade costs 2e8.
V-Device is boosting synth, Salvage and damage.
Right now, i'm saving up for 24 red boosters, so i can upgrade the shield tier. After that i'm gonna try for damage, all the while getting as much red "ingots" as i can. But it's SOOO slow. Soo - which way to go? What to focus on?

TAAAAAANKS....

[phenir]

Unbound researches works just as described. Say at 1e24 you get 80% boost and it says you get 1.8x each e1 afterwards. So at 1e25 you'd get 224%(3.24x) total boost and at 1e26 you'd get 483.2%(5.832x) total boost. You can get a small jump in research if you use research set up in void device + research station.
Are you using advanced synth station?
Your warp essence gains sound a little low. Did you get the upgrades north of the center? Are you running all the warp locations so they are as high as you can get them? Did you unlock the new locations by doing the "elite" sector paths? I'm at sector 49 and get 1.7e9 per warp.

[PcbZorg]

Originally posted by phenir:

Are you running all the warp locations so they are as high as you can get them? Did you unlock the new locations by doing the "elite" sector paths? I'm at sector 49 and get 1.7e9 per warp.

Can you pretty please take a look at my USI profile screenshots? I just made a screenshot of the Warp upgrades. Most of the active ones visible are maxxed out. (Only the Warp upgrade screenshot is actual)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303455714

[RaptorSolutions]

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Originally posted by phenir:

Are you running all the warp locations so they are as high as you can get them? Did you unlock the new locations by doing the "elite" sector paths? I'm at sector 49 and get 1.7e9 per warp.

Can you pretty please take a look at my USI profile screenshots? I just made a screenshot of the Warp upgrades. Most of the active ones visible are maxxed out. (Only the Warp upgrade screenshot is actual)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303455714

Link your sector map or just mention if you've cleared everything up to where you are. And also your warp location list.

[PcbZorg]

Originally posted by RaptorSolutions:

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Can you pretty please take a look at my USI profile screenshots? I just made a screenshot of the Warp upgrades. Most of the active ones visible are maxxed out. (Only the Warp upgrade screenshot is actual)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303455714

Link your sector map or just mention if you've cleared everything up to where you are. And also your warp location list.

I cleared all sectors up to 43A, except 40B, 42B and 43B. I'll link warp locations screenshot in the next comment.

[PcbZorg]

Here are the Warp locations
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303466486

[Ningen]

You should bring all warp sectors to the highest you can get them, to max out your essence gains. That'll make upgrading your warp tree go a lot faster as well.

[PcbZorg]

Originally posted by Ningen:

You should bring all warp sectors to the highest you can get them, to max out your essence gains. That'll make upgrading your warp tree go a lot faster as well.

That was the plan, eventually, although it's true that i was more focused on getting as much as i can from the overcharged runs, instead of maxxing out each individual location.

[Ningen]

Overcharge runs are best after all of them are maxed out, since the levels directly influence your warp multiplier. At least until you unlock the AI for auto-warps.

[PcbZorg]

Originally posted by Ningen:

Overcharge runs are best after all of them are maxed out, since the levels directly influence your warp multiplier. At least until you unlock the AI for auto-warps.

Makes sense. Btw, i already do have the autowarps running. Well, at least the 1core autowarp.

[RaptorSolutions]

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Here are the Warp locations
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303466486

Yeah, you're doing it wrong. You see that warp multiplier above your warp location list? That's a pretty big deal, and it's basically influenced by how many unique levels you've cleared across all your locations. That multiplier also increases your warp battle bonuses, increasing your damage/shields.
You basically want all your locations unlocked and all of them at the highest level possible. Just pumping them up could potentially double your warp essence gain. And also unlock all warp locations, then getting them leveled up could triple if not quadruple it.
These also help autowarp as that takes your lowest non-capped warp level.

[phenir]

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Here are the Warp locations
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3303466486

As others said, bring your low level warp locations up. You should be able to level them up 4 or 5x per core and that will massively boost your warp essence income which in turn will boost your other systems.

[PcbZorg]

Thanks everyone!

[PcbZorg]

Oh wow. I started leveling up the locations, and the difference is quite big.. Really thanks. I had it in the back of my mind, but the overdriven stuff attracted me more. Didn't have a clue that if i just levelled up the most locations i can, it could eventually net more than the once per day active overcharge runs...

[RaptorSolutions]

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Oh wow. I started leveling up the locations, and the difference is quite big.. Really thanks. I had it in the back of my mind, but the overdriven stuff attracted me more. Didn't have a clue that if i just levelled up the most locations i can, it could eventually net more than the once per day active overcharge runs...

Overdrive is just QoL so you don't have to slowly use up each warp core. I don't think it actually gives you more warp essence.

[PcbZorg]

Originally posted by RaptorSolutions:

Originally posted by PcbZorg:

Oh wow. I started leveling up the locations, and the difference is quite big.. Really thanks. I had it in the back of my mind, but the overdriven stuff attracted me more. Didn't have a clue that if i just levelled up the most locations i can, it could eventually net more than the once per day active overcharge runs...

Overdrive is just QoL so you don't have to slowly use up each warp core. I don't think it actually gives you more warp essence.

It multiplies the gain for each core used per run. So, more cores used per run = more points for upgrades. But it might not be the best longterm. Dunno, haven't counted.