Vanometric power cell?

[AMEI]

i got a vanometric power from an item stash, i have never seen it or even heard of it before. How rare is it?

[Javier Garcia]

are you playing on the unstable version? (1.0)

[Astasia]

They were added in B18, they aren't that rare. They suck pretty badly though, 1.0 provides a moderate buff to make them semi-useful.

[Security Cam #7]

They are cool in my opinion, they generate small amount of power without using anything. You can use them to create an emergency battery room without stealing energy from your solar panels/windmills/watermill/wood or chemfuel generators and geothermal generators

[Xilo The Odd]

im guessing they are intended to be used as a mobile power source? i've yet to go and get one.

[ignis]

They are good for powering deep drills.

[sbmarauderman03]

On a recent game I used it in conjunction with a battery to power 4 gun turrets when I attacked all the tribal outposts on the map. It produces 500W, which is not enough to keep 4 gun turrets powered, but it did slow down the power drain on the battery enough so the gun turrets could do their thing when the tribals came after me.

It's also useful to use as a power source for items that are far away from your main power source(s), so you don't have to run a long conduit.

[Terripan]

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

On a recent game I used it in conjunction with a battery to power 4 gun turrets when I attacked all the tribal outposts on the map. It produces 500W, which is not enough to keep 4 gun turrets powered, but it did slow down the power drain on the battery enough so the gun turrets could do their thing when the tribals came after me.

It's also useful to use as a power source for items that are far away from your main power source(s), so you don't have to run a long conduit.

IMO, Long conduits are good. They do cost steel, but that is almost more common than dirt. Fairly easy to build, since cables are low labor. And the return? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but having a large cable away from your base increases the chances that the ZZZT event doesn't do much damage to you, since it has a better chance of going off in the middle of nowhere. This means no half burned to death colonists before raids and no gear degradation from fire.

[Astasia]

For powering remote temporary projects like deep drills or turret creeping you can just use a charged battery or two, or three, or however many you need. The vanometric cell can be used in that situation, and in some cases might be slightly easier, but at the same time is it worth the effort it generally takes to get one compared to batteries which are super easy to make? Would you want to risk losing it by installing it on the other side of the map when a raid could spawn right near it? My answer will always be no. Drop it in your base and enjoy the free power, even if it's less than the daily power of a single solar. I think 1.0 puts it closer to a solar, with the advantage being it's immune to eclipses and can be installed under a mountain roof safe from sieges, I still wouldn't go out of my way to collect them though.

[sbmarauderman03]

Originally posted by Terripan:

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

On a recent game I used it in conjunction with a battery to power 4 gun turrets when I attacked all the tribal outposts on the map. It produces 500W, which is not enough to keep 4 gun turrets powered, but it did slow down the power drain on the battery enough so the gun turrets could do their thing when the tribals came after me.

It's also useful to use as a power source for items that are far away from your main power source(s), so you don't have to run a long conduit.

IMO, Long conduits are good. They do cost steel, but that is almost more common than dirt. Fairly easy to build, since cables are low labor. And the return? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but having a large cable away from your base increases the chances that the ZZZT event doesn't do much damage to you, since it has a better chance of going off in the middle of nowhere. This means no half burned to death colonists before raids and no gear degradation from fire.

I'm glad you feel that way; I did not say long conduits are bad. I simply stated that the vanometric cell can be used in lieu of long conduits.