How to start building an Asteroid Base (Mission in Alpha16)

A step-by-step tutorial how to start building a new Asteroid Base without getting stuck.

Mission selection tips

Check the destination

In the mission description, check where the Base needs to be build. As a player you cannot change the destination. If the destination is in a sector that you know is busy with (your) hostile factions, the mission will be that much harder as there's a chance you will be constantly harassed by their ships while you're forced to sit still in the sector. So, at least for your first base, pick a sector that is as friendly as it can be.

Check your time availability

Building a Base is time-consuming (10+ days of in-game time) and you will have very little time to do anything else from the moment you accept the mission until it's completed.

Before accepting the mission check that you have enough Power resources (Energium / Power Rods) to last you for the entire mission time as you will have no time to scavenge for resources.

Check your build resources

You will need a certain number of build resources (namely Hull Blocks, but others as well) to kick-off the building process. More on this below

Pick up the cargo for the mission

Collect the resources

For this mission your ships does not need to have a Cargo Bay because the ship you meet will join your fleet and carry all the Cargo Shuttles.

Jump to the sector where the mission says you need to rendezvous with another ship to pick up the Cargo Shuttle(s).

Hail the ship and allow them to you your flee. Then tell them to accept the Cargo Shuttle(s). Then jump to the destination sector.

Remember, you're already on the clock!

Claim the asteroid

First thing to do once you arrive at the destination is to claim the base (empty asteroid).

Click on the "base" icon in upper right corner (like you would on a derelict) and Claim it (same like you would claimable derelict).

Get access to Cargo Shuttle resources

To avoid getting stuck due to a few (unconfirmed) bugs, follow the steps below exactly as they are listed below.

Build the first two structures of the base

• build a 6x6 room on the edge (make sure X1 Airlock can be placed inside) [3 Hull]
  
• build an X1 Airlock inside the [1 Hull, 2 Infra]
  
• build Asteroid Cargo Port [2 Hull, 2 Infra]

Notes

• the total resources needed for this is: 6 Hull and 4 Infra
  
• the resources to build this will have to be provided from Player's ship so you should have them at the time you accept the mission or be able to buy/produce them quickly

Once this is built it will look like in the screenshots below:

Move the Cargo Shuttle to the base

• open the mission pop-up (click on the mission) and Release the resources
  
• wait for the Cargo Shuttle to land on the Asteroid Cargo Port

Once the Cargo Shuttle has landed it will look like in the screenshot below:

Get the Resources from the Shuttle Cargo

Select the Cargo Shuttle, open the inventory and release the resources from the Cargo Shuttle.

The loading bay of Asteroid Cargo Port has a limit so release only little by little as you need it for the next construction phase.

Additional resource cost

As the base facilities come online they will also need their own resources to start and keep running such as:

• Water (for Oxygen Generator)
  
• Energy Rod (or Energium) for the power generator
  
• Food for the Kitchen and/or Water and Bio Matter for Algae Dispenser

All those resources are not provided from the Cargo Shuttle and the Player ship's resources will be transferred over.

Use resources from the Cargo Shuttle

From this point on the base building is similar to ship expansion and the Mission tracker keeps a laundry list of items that still need to be built. How and where it's build is up to you, but you will need system points, power generators, tools... etc.

At this point anyone working on the base will grab the resources from the Cargo Shuttle / Cargo Port.

Also, to build further base hull it appears that Builder Pod will be loaded with 1 Hull from my ship's storage even though the Hull is available at the Base. This is probably until the Base has its own Builder Pod (which is not needed to complete the mission). To avoid using my own resources I transferred all of the Hull blocks to my ship and then kept using it from my ship's storage.

Reward for completing the mission

One of the mission reward options is "Reputation 2-15".

Upon successfully completing the mission your reputation will increase by a value between 2-15.

For the one base that I have built, I received +7 reputation. At that point I had 7.5 days left to complete the mission. That implies that the only factor is how quickly you can finish the mission.

Note: I will update this section as I get to understand its mechanics more.

[Xulf]

Yup, just tried it. I only deployed hull blocks from the transport shuttle and got a 17 rep reward. Which is max. So, it seems, the less deploy from the shuttle, the higher the reward.

[Xulf]

7 is the minimum score, if you choose the rep reward. I'm trying to figure out what gets you a better reward but I can't seem to find anything. I remember a while back it was somehow based on the resources from the shuttle, like if you used less, you get a better reward, but it was a while ago, and I haven't tested it so I'm not sure.