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This tutorial is aimed at taking a new player from the first Osmium ore to the endgame fusion reactor and induction matrix.  This will show you, in tiers, what to do and when.
This tutorial is aimed at taking a new player from the first Osmium ore to the endgame fusion reactor and induction matrix.  This will show you, in tiers, what to do and when.


<big>'''Tier 1'''</big><br />
Breakdown:
First, you're looking to mine some [[Osmium_Ore|Osmium Ore]]. Throw it in the Furnace and get out an [[Osmium_Ingot|Osmium Ingot]].  Take these, four iron ingots, two redstone dusts and two furnaces and craft the [[Metallurgic_Infuser|Metallurgic Infuser]].
Tier 1
*[[From_A_To_Z#begins|And So It Begins...]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#power|Power Up]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#notEnough|It's Not Enough!]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#basics|Upgrading the Basics]]


This is where things really get moving. The Metallurgic Infuser is the root of all Mekanism technology. But there's a problem: we need power in order to make the infuser run.  SolutionThe [[Heat_Generator|Heat Generator]].  It has two modes: you can pump fuels into it (solid or liquid), or you can set it next to lava.  The differences between these two options is described on that previously linked page.
Tier 2
*[[From_A_To_Z#gasGen|You Don't Know the Power...]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#factories|Factories!!!]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#ore3|Three's A CrowdNot with ores...]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#otherT2|Sidetracking]]


There are three basic things you're wanting to make with the metallurgic infuser, but first we're going to make some [[Steel_Ingot|Steel Ingots]].  You make these by putting coal, charcoal or [[Compressed_Carbon|Compressed Carbon]] (more on that later) into the infuser and infusing it into iron ingots. This creates [[Enriched_Iron|Enriched Iron]].  Take that Enriched Iron and run it through the Infuser again with more coal-like fuel.  This will create Steel Dust, which you can run through the furnace to get the Steel Ingots we need.  Make at least a couple dozen for now.
Tier 3
*[[From_A_To_Z#elite|Covenant Tech]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#overkill|Overkill Begins]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#hCl|Hydrogen Chloride and the Thermal Evaporation Plant]]


With Steel now under our belt, we need to craft some [[Steel_Casing|Steel Casings]]. These are the basic framework of the machines in Mekanism. To craft these, you need four Steel Ingots and one Osmium Ingot, arrayed in a cross with the Osmium in the center. Next we need some [[Control_Circuit|Basic Control Circuits]]. These will be used very often in the first tier of machinery, so make a bunch of them. For the moment, we just need two. Make them by Infusing Osmium Ingots with redstone.
Tier 4
*[[From_A_To_Z#lastBasic|The Last of the Basics]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#ore5|5 Times the Ore Power!]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#tripping|Tripping on (Sulfuric) Acid]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#tanks|Fluid Dynamic (Tanks)]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#induction|What If I Told You...]]
*[[From_A_To_Z#fusion|Fuuuuuu.... sioooon.... HA!]]


The next thing to make is some [[Enriched_Alloy|Enriched Alloy]].  In fact, we need to make a bunch of them, because we're going to use them all over the place, too.  For now, make about a dozen.  You can make the Enriched Alloy by putting redstone and iron ingots in the Infuser.  You need one of each to make one alloy.  After that, grab two of them, four redstone dusts and three gold ingots and craft an [[Energy_Tablet|Energy Tablet]].  Make two of them. 
== Tier 1 ==


Next, take two of the Steel Ingots and a redstone dust and put them in a line to make [[Basic_Universal_Cable|Basic Universal Cables]].  You can run power remotely now! Yay!  You can also start arranging your machines along the Cables from the Generator, but for now, make another Steel Casing and those two Tablets and use them to make a [[Basic_Energy_Cube|Basic Energy Cube.]]  Place this on the power-output side of the Heat Generator.  Then, start running your Cables from there to the machines, wherever they are.
<div id="begins">'''<big>And So It Begins...</big>'''</div>
 
First, you're looking to mine some [[Osmium Ore]]. Throw it in the Furnace and get out an [[Osmium Ingot]].  Take these, four iron ingots, two redstone dusts and two furnaces and craft the [[Metallurgic Infuser]].
 
This is where things really get moving.  The Metallurgic Infuser is the root of all Mekanism technology.  But there's a problem: we need power in order to make the infuser run.  Solution?  The [[Heat Generator]].  It has two modes: you can pump fuels into it (solid or liquid), or you can set it next to lava.  The differences between these two options is described on that previously linked page.
 
There are three basic things you're wanting to make with the metallurgic infuser, but first we're going to make some [[Steel Ingot|Steel Ingots]].  You make these by putting coal, charcoal or [[Compressed Carbon]] (more on that later) into the infuser and infusing it into iron ingots. This creates [[Enriched Iron]].  Take that Enriched Iron and run it through the Infuser again with more coal-like fuel.  This will create Steel Dust, which you can run through the furnace to get the Steel Ingots we need.  Make at least a couple dozen for now.
 
With Steel now under our belt, we need to craft some [[Steel Casing|Steel Casings]].  These are the basic framework of the machines in Mekanism.  To craft these, you need four Steel Ingots and one Osmium Ingot, arrayed in a cross with the Osmium in the center.  Next we need some [[Control Circuit|Basic Control Circuits]].  These will be used very often in the first tier of machinery, so make a bunch of them.  For the moment, we just need two.  Make them by Infusing Osmium Ingots with redstone.
 
The next thing to make is some [[Enriched Alloy]].  In fact, we need to make a bunch of them, because we're going to use them all over the place, too.  For now, make about a dozen.  You can make the Enriched Alloy by putting redstone and iron ingots in the Infuser.  You need one of each to make one alloy.  After that, grab two of them, four redstone dusts and three gold ingots and craft an [[Energy Tablet]].  Make two of them. 
 
Next, take two of the Steel Ingots and a redstone dust and put them in a line to make [[Universal Cable#Basic Universal Cable|Basic Universal Cables]].  You can run power remotely now! Huzzah!  You can also start arranging your machines along the Cables from the Generator, but for now, make another Steel Casing and those two Tablets and use them to make a [[Energy Cube#Basic Energy Cube|Basic Energy Cube]]. Place this on the power-output side of the Heat Generator.  Then, start running your Cables from there to the machines, wherever they are.  The side of the Energy Cube that has the plate across it, which is by default the side facing you when you place it, is the output side.  Every other side is an input.


Phew!  That's a lot of work just to get things started, and we're not even a third of the way through Tier 1.
Phew!  That's a lot of work just to get things started, and we're not even a third of the way through Tier 1.


'''<big>Power Up</big>'''
<div id="power">'''<big>Power Up</big>'''</div>


Now it's time to make a [[Solar_Generator|Solar Generator]].  The heat generator is a very simple start, and we need to start getting some more reliable power in our systems.  We can also start talking about power usage.  The Basic Cube has a max capacity of 2000 kJ.  Interesting tidbit: one stack of coal in the Heat Generator makes 383.52 kJ, and it takes 10 kJ to run the Infuser once.
Now it's time to make a [[Solar Generator]].  The heat generator is a very simple start, and we need to start getting some more reliable power in our systems.  We can also start talking about power usage.  The Basic Cube has a max capacity of 2000 kJ.  Interesting tidbit: one stack of coal in the Heat Generator makes 383.52 kJ, and it takes 10 kJ to run the Infuser once.


So, the first step in making a Solar Generator is to make three [[Solar_Panel|Solar Panels]].  To make one, you need three glass panes, two redstone dusts, one Enriched Alloy and three Osmium Ingots.  Take those three Panels and put them right back in the crafting grid, along with two more Enriched Alloys, an Energy Tablet, an iron ingot, and two Osmium Dusts.
So, the first step in making a Solar Generator is to make three [[Solar Panel|Solar Panels]].  To make one, you need three glass panes, two redstone dusts, one Enriched Alloy and three Osmium Ingots.  Take those three Panels and put them right back in the crafting grid, along with two more Enriched Alloys, an Energy Tablet, an iron ingot, and two Osmium Dusts.


But wait!  Osmium Dust, you say?  How do I get that?  Well that requires two more machines we haven't made yet, the [[Crusher]] or the [[Enrichment_Chamber|Enrichment Chamber]].  The Crusher can make dusts out of ingots, but the Enrichment Chamber is what we really want, because it doubles our ingot output!  Yep, it's the macerator/pulverizer of the Mekanism world.  Luckily, we can make all the parts for both.  Their recipes are very similar, as well.  Throw a Crusher together by combining two Basic Circuits, two lava buckets and four redstone dusts surrounding a Steel Casing, then throw an Osmium Ingot or Ore into it to get some dust.  To make the Enrichment Chamber, combine the same components in the same order, just replace the buckets with iron ingots.  Throw an ingot into the Crusher, or an Ore into the Enrichment Chamber, and get you some Osmium Dusts.
But wait!  Osmium Dust, you say?  How do I get that?  Well that requires two more machines we haven't made yet, the [[Crusher]] or the [[Enrichment Chamber]].  The Crusher can make dusts out of ingots, but the Enrichment Chamber is what we really want, because it doubles our ingot output!  Yep, it's the macerator/pulverizer of the Mekanism world.  Luckily, we can make all the parts for both.  Their recipes are very similar, as well.  Throw a Crusher together by combining two Basic Circuits, two lava buckets and four redstone dusts surrounding a Steel Casing, then throw an Osmium Ingot or Ore into it to get some dust.  To make the Enrichment Chamber, combine the same components in the same order, just replace the buckets with iron ingots.  Throw an ingot into the Crusher, or an Ore into the Enrichment Chamber, and get you some Osmium Dusts.


OK, back to the Solar Generator.  Take those two Dusts and make your first Solar Generator.  Guess what?  One Solar Generator puts out 60 J/t.  The Heat Generator puts out about 100.  Take three Solar Generators and you have replaced your Heat Generator!  So now you have a renewable source of power that isn't all that expensive, and two of them more than replace the fuel burner!  Huzzah!  You'll need one Solar Generator for each machine you have running to break even on power, during the day.  At night, well... That's why we have the Energy Cube!  See, it's already taken care of.  You're welcome.
OK, back to the Solar Generator.  Take those two Dusts and make your first Solar Generator.  Guess what?  One Solar Generator puts out 60 J/t.  The Heat Generator puts out about 100.  Take three Solar Generators and you have replaced your Heat Generator!  So now you have a renewable source of power that isn't all that expensive, and two of them more than replace the fuel burner!  Huzzah!  You'll need one Solar Generator for each machine you have running to break even on power, during the day.  At night, well... That's why we have the Energy Cube!  See, it's already taken care of.  You're welcome.


Want more power?  Well, there are other steps we can take, as well.  First, there's the [[Wind_Turbine|Wind Turbine]].  You can make this by combining three Osmium Ingots, an Enriched Alloy, a Basic Circuit and two Energy Tablets.
<div id="notEnough">'''<big>It's Not Enough!</big>'''</div>
 
Want more power?  Well, there are other steps we can take, as well.  First, there's the [[Wind Turbine]].  You can make this by combining three Osmium Ingots, an Enriched Alloy, a Basic Circuit and two Energy Tablets.  At base height 0, the Turbine produces 60 J/t, but its output increases as its elevation does, to an upper limit of 480 j/t.  Got mountains?  Then you've got a viable replacement for up to two active Heat Generators.  The Turbine has only one viable output side: its front.  Keep that in mind as you design your power transfer systems.
 
The second option is to upgrade your Solar Generator into an [[Advanced Solar Generator]].  You need four Solar Generators, two Enriched Alloys and three iron ingots.  The Advanced version of the Solar Gens is better than the sum of its parts.  Whereas one Solar Generator outputs 50 J/t (making four of them a total of 200 J/t), the advanced Solar Generator generates 300 J/t.  There is a downside, though.  The Advanced Solar Generator takes up a 3x3 block space, which means that you could also have a 3x3 array of regular Solar Generators giving you 450 J/t for the same space usage.  The Advanced looks cool, and it does have the advantage of being able to output more at once, but it's just not worth it in the long run.
 
Hmm, 450 J/t... That brings us to the next problem: the Basic Universal Cable is only capable of transferring 500 J/t.  That just won't do, if we're to have the power that we need.  Solution?  Upgrade to [[Universal Cable#Advanced Universal Cable|Advanced Universal Cables]]!  These are really simple to make, you just have to wrap eight Basic Cables around an Enriched Alloy to get 8 Advanced Cables.  These babies can handle up to 2,000 J/t, or 2 kJ!  More than enough to handle the power requirements we have so far.
 
Side note: the Solar and Advanced Solar Generators get a 50% bonus on their output in desert biomes, so that would give the Solar Generator 75 J/t and the Advanced 450 J/t.  If you had an array of nine Solar Generators that would give you 675 J/t output.  Yeah, definitely need the Advanced Cables.
 
That reminds me, you'll probably want to upgrade the Basic Energy Cube, as well.  It's actually capable of outputting 800 J/t, which should technically be more than enough for the build we have so far, but we want to upgrade the storage capacity too.  Take the one you have (if you have one of the myriad mods that supply a wrench, you can shift-right-click the Energy Cubes to "break" it while saving the energy stored inside of it), and combine it with four Enriched Alloys, two Osmium Ingots and two Energy Tablets.  The new Advanced Energy Cube's capabilities are four times that of the Basic, giving it 8,000 kJ storage capacity and 3.2 kJ/t output.  Huzzah!
 
<div id="basics">'''<big>Upgrading the Basics</big>'''</div>
 
Now that we've gotten the power question answered, let's talk about pulling all of our processing needs into the energy side of things.  First off, naturally, would be the furnace (we've already talked about the Crusher and Enrichment Chamber).  To replace this we use the [[Energized Smelter]].  Works just like a furnace, except it runs off of the power network!  You need four redstone dusts, two glass blocks, two Basic Circuits and a Steel Casing to craft this.  If you have this hooked up to an Enrichment Chamber, you'll need two to keep up with the supply, as it takes just as long to smelt dusts as it does to enrich ores.
 
Next, just to get more wood, we're going to make the precision sawmill.  Now, this may not be particularly useful to you, but it could be good to have around just in case.  You need a Steel Casing, two Basic Circuits, two Enriched Alloys and four iron ingots, arrayed in the usual pattern.  The Precision Sawmill produces six wood planks (instead of the usual four) AS WELL AS a sawdust with each operation.  Now, the uses for sawdust within Mekanism itself are fairly limited, but you can use three sawdusts to make a stack of three paper.  Can be useful.
 
== Tier 2 ==
 
<div id="gasGen">'''<big>You Don't Know the Power...</big>'''</div>
 
I wanted to put the next level of power generation in Tier 2 simply because it requires so much setup, even though it doesn't actually require anything with Advanced Control Circuits.  But the generation capability of this setup is absolutely astonishing.  More on that in a bit.  Here's what we'll need:
* [[Pressurized_Tube|Basic or Advanced Pressurized Tubes]]
* [[Logistical_Transporter|Basic or Advanced Logistical Transporters]]
* [[Mechanical_Pipe|Basic or Advanced Mechanical Pipes]]
* [[Universal_Cable#Advanced Universal Cable|Advanced Universal Cables]] or better
* [[Energy_Cube#Advanced Energy Cube|Advanced Energy Cubes]] or better
* [[Crusher]]
* [[Configurator]]
* [[Chargepad]]
* [[Electrolytic Separator]]
* [[Pressurized Reaction Chamber]] or PRC
* [[Electric Pump]]
* [[Gas-Burning Generator]]
You'll also need an infinite water source, for the pump to draw from.
 
That's quite a list, eh?  Well, we've already made Advanced Universal Cables and Energy Cubes, not to mention a Crusher, so that's three off the list that aren't new.  The Pressurized Tube, Logistical Transporter and Mechanical Pipe are new, though, and the process for making Advanced versions of them is the same as for the Universal Cable.  However, the Basic recipes are different, with the differences being the Tubes need glass, the Pipes need a bucket, and the Transporters need Basic Circuits.
 
In order to use the Transporters properly, though, we'll need the [[Configurator]].  This thing, made from 1 Energy Tablet, 1 stick, 1 lapis lazuli and two Enriched Alloys, allows you to configure the various transport items after placement.  The thing about the Pipes, Transporters and Tubes is that they have four modes: Push, Pull, Normal (passive) and None (supposed don't allow interaction there?  Doesn't quite work like it should in the latest version).  You need to configure all the transports that are receiving item/liquid/gas output to Pull that stuff out of the inventory they're attached to.  You do this by crouching and right-clicking on the ends of the pipe when they're attached to an inventory.  You can also run the same type of transport next to each other and keep them separate by shift-right-clicking the middle section of the transports and assigning color networks to the transports.
 
In order to use the Configurator, though, you need to charge it.  And in order to charge it, you need a [[Chargepad]]!  Go figure!  One of these babies can be crafted with three stone pressure plates, two Steel Ingots and an Energy Tablet.  Attach it to a Cable and stand on it to activate the charging.  Be sure you only have the Configurator in your inventory when you do, because it will charge energy cubes, too.
 
Now that you're fully capable of configurating all of the necessary pipes, transports and tubes, we can move on to the actual build.  First in the build list is the [[Electric Pump]].  Create an infinite water source (2x2 water, if you're not familiar with the concept) then place the pump one block above one of the sources.  Hook up the power to the side of it (the only side that has a straight vertical face), and a pipe to the top.  I will only remind you once: if a pipe, tube or transport isn't doing what you expect it to, use the configurator to change the mode of the connection to pull.
 
Next, we make the [[Electrolytic Separator]].  Combine four iron ingots, two redstone dusts, two Enriched Alloys and an [[Electrolytic Core]] to make one.  Oops, we haven't gotten that one yet!  To make a Core, combine five Enriched Alloys, two Osmium Dusts, an iron dust and a gold dust.  Make two, while you're at it, you'll need the second one later.  When you've made the Separator, place it somewhere and hook up the water supply to it with more pipes.  Don't hook it directly up to power yet (or change the redstone sensitivity to high so it doesn't run without active redstone signal), because it's a bit of a power hog. However, you can go and set the oxygen side to Dump its contents.  There's a little button under the power bar at the right to let you do so.  If you didn't set it to do that (or to dump excess, if you're feeding the oxygen somewhere else), it would fill the oxygen side and not produce any more hydrogen, and we need the hydrogen.  Badly.
 
After that, we get to make the [[Pressurized Reaction Chamber]], or PRC for short.  This requires two Basic Circuits, an Enrichment Chamber, an Enriched Alloy, two [[Gas Tank|Gas Tanks]] and a [[Dynamic Tank]].  Wait, wait, wait, TWO new things AT ONCE?!  Yikes!  Well, let's buckle down for it.  The gas tank requires eight Osmium Ingots around an iron dust.  Fairly simple.  The Dynamic Tank, on the other hand, requires an empty bucket and four Steel Ingots.  That recipe actually makes four, so hold on to the others for the later machines.  Put the PRC close to the Separator, preferably on the blue tank side of the Separator.  The Separator's output cannot be configured, so the hydrogen gas is ejected out of the blue tank side.  Run some Tube between them and watch the hydrogen flow.  It shouldn't be necessary to change the side config to allow gas input on the side you put it on, but it would be good practice to be in the habit.  This is done in the Gases tab of the Side Config (Side Config is the top left tab, and the Gases tab of that is the top right tab).
 
Next we'll need to set up the supply for the PRC.  The PRC requires [[Bio Fuel]] to create the [[Ethylene]] that the Gas Generators run on, and this is made by crushing organic matter (wheat, seeds, saplings, etc) in the Crusher.  So, set up a crusher and a chest with some transporters between them set to take organics from the chest into the Crusher and then take the Bio Fuel from the Crusher into the PRC.  You'll also need to run the water pipes to the PRC and set up the Fluids Config to accept fluids from the side you hook it up to.  The Universal Cables can be hooked up on any side and don't require any configuring in the PRC GUI.
 
Finally, we get to the [[Gas-Burning Generator]].  This is where you use the extra Electrolytic Core you made earlier, combined with two more Steel Casings, two more Enriched Alloys, and four Osmium Ingots.  Place this in close proximity to everything else, and hook up the Universal Cables to the side of the Gas Generator that has the yellow coloring (yeah, only one output side), then hook up the Ethylene from the PRC to any of the remaining sides.  You may want to throw a couple of Advanced Energy Cubes between the Generator power output and the hookup to the rest of the system.
 
Apply a power surge to the system from your other setup (the Heat Generator/Solar Generators) to get the Separator started, and then from that point on, as long as you have plenty of Bio Fuel, you have a self-sustaining energy source.
 
Astonishingly, once you get this setup running, you can support a whopping 18 Gas Generators with the Ethylene that is produced (gaining 1-2 stored Ethylene per gas output from the PRC), making for a mind-boggling net gain of over 12 kJ/t!  When you think about the fact that most basic machines need only 50 J/t at their basic operating level, you're still netting over 10 kJ/t with your entire machine setup running at once!!!.  Now you see why I told you to use at least Advanced Cables and Cubes.  Elites would be much better (remember, the Advanced Cable is only capable of transferring 8 kJ/t, whereas the Elite Cable is capable of 32 kJ/t).
 
I'd like to make a mention at this point of the [[Bio-Generator]].  It utilizes Bio Fuel directly instead of using it to create Ethylene, but the power gains you get from using the Gas Generator instead and utilizing Ethylene are more than worth skipping over this one, as long as you have the space for the gas setup.  The Bio-Generator creates 700 kJ with two Bio Fuel, however the amount of Ethylene created using those same two Bio Fuel is almost 2 MJ, which is close to three times the amount.  It might be good for a stop-gap, but don't spend too long at this stage.
 
<div id="factories">'''<big>Factories!!!</big>'''</div>
 
Next thing to mention is the [[Factory]] upgrades.  Factories are basically pimped out versions of the regular machines: Crushers, Enrichers, Smelters, etc.  Each one requires the same recipe: the original machine, four redstone dusts, two Basic Circuits and two iron ingots.  Got a lot of stuff going?  Well, you don't have to break the machine to make the factory, you can just make a [[Factory Installers|Factory Installer]] of the various levels to upgrade them in place!  One thing I want to mention:  the factories are literally upgrades of the same machine.  They still work the same as their base machine, including requirements for gases/liquids/other catalysts.
 
<div id="ore3">'''<big>Three's A Crowd? Not for ores...</big>'''</div>
 
Now we can get to the real root of Tier 2: the [[Advanced Control Circuit]].  It's pretty simple: just a Basic Circuit with Enriched Alloy on both sides.  This will allow you to craft the [[Purification Chamber]], which is the base 3x ore machine.  The PC outputs ore clumps from ore blocks, and crystals too, but that will be addressed later.
 
The Purification Chamber needs Oxygen Gas in order to process the ores, but this is pretty easy to obtain by running water through the Electrolytic Separator.  Oh, would you look at that, we're already doing that in order to make the Ethylene Gas for the Gas Generators, and we're just dumping that oxygen, so an option is to switch over, instead, to the "Dump Excess" option, if you're not there already, and pipe that oxygen over to your Purification Chamber.  After the ore is processed, dump the clumps in the Crusher to make Dirty Dusts, and then to the Enrichment Chamber to make regular ore dusts.  You can choose then whether to keep the dusts or smelt them into ingots.
 
<div id="otherT2">'''<big>Sidetracking</big>'''</div>
 
The Advanced Control Circuit also enables you to build a few other things.  First, you can build the flamethrower.  Nothing like some good old fire spitting.  Second, it allows you to build the steam turbine setup.  I'm not going to go into that here, as for my purposes, the Gas Generator setup with the Ethylene is enough, even later, but the reactor was just too good to resist.
 
It also allows you to build the [[Osmium Compressor]], which in turn allows you to make Refined Obsidian Ingots and Glowstone Ingots.  These then can be used to make tools and armor, and the obsidian versions are significant improvements over their diamond counterparts.  For instance, the chestplates compare 2 armor toughness and 8 armor for diamond, whereas the obsidian type gives 4 toughness and 12 armor.  The obsidian pickaxe gives 7 more attack damage than the diamond!  There are other uses for Refined Obsidian Ingots and dusts, but those come later, in Tier 4.  Oh, you can make the dust by infusing obsidian dust with diamond in the Metallurgic Infuser.
 
== Tier 3 ==
 
<div id="elite">'''<big>Covenant Tech</big>'''</div>
 
Yes, that's a Halo reference.  The next level is Elite, Elite Control Circuits, to be specific, hence the joke.  They're as easy to make as the previous level, except this time you need a new alloy, the Reinforced Alloy.  You make this in the Metallurgic Infuser as well, putting diamond into the Enriched Alloy, then you put one on either side of an Advanced Circuit to make the Elite Circuit.
 
<div id="ore4">'''<big>Overkill Begins</big>'''</div>
 
If there could possibly be overkill, this is where it would start.  As if 3x ore processing wasn't enough, now we're getting to 4x!  It only requires one more machine in the lineup, but in order to feed that machine, we'll need several others.
 
First, let's build what makes the 4x possible, the [[Chemical Injection Chamber]].  This requires a Purification Chamber, four Reinforced Alloys, two Elite Control Circuits, and two gold ingots.  Craft it, hook it up to power, place it next to a Purification Chamber, and you're good to go, right?
 
<div id="hCl">'''<big>Hydrogen Chloride and the Thermal Evaporation Plant</big>'''</div>
 
Nope!  The Chemical Injection Chamber needs Hydrogen Chloride Gas in order to work.  In order to get this, you'll need several other machines.  Firstly, though, you need to build a [[Thermal Evaporation Plant]].  This multiblock structure requires three blocks, the [[Thermal Evaporation Block]], which is made by surrounding a copper ingot with 4 steel ingots in a cross-shape; the [[Thermal Evaporation Valve]], which requires an Advanced Control Circuit surrounded by four Thermal Evaporation Blocks in a cross; and the [[Thermal Evaporation Controller]], which requires a bucket, two Advanced Circuits, a glass pane of any kind, and five Thermal Evaporation Blocks.
 
The minimum size possible for this is 4x4 and 3 blocks high, but, of course, the bigger you build it, the faster and better it works.  It can never be anything but a 4x4 base, but you can make it up to 18 blocks high.  If you make the big one, you'll want to fill the bottom layer with valves that you can pump water through to keep up.  You'll also need four Advanced Solar Generators to complete the build, and if you want it to run at peak efficiency, you'll need some [[Heaters]] to blast the heat into the Plant (electric is recommended, since we have way more power than we need), and some [[Thermodynamic Conductors]] to transfer that heat.  The basic ones are made with one copper and two steel, and upgraded in the same was as the Cables or Pipes or Tubes.
 
As a side note, Thermal Evaporation Plants get a small bonus for operating in a desert biome, but it's not enough to run at peak efficiency.
 
You'll also need several Water Pumps and Mechanical Pipes to pump the water into the Plant, and some more Pipes to pull the Brine out.  Then, you'll have to pump the Brine into an Electrolytic Separator to get the Chlorine Gas that comes from it, and put that, plus some Hydrogen Gas, into a [[Chemical Infuser]] to produce the Hydrogen Chloride you need.  Oh, look, yet ANOTHER new machine!  Man, Aidan didn't want to make this easy...  Anyway, the Chemical Infuser is much lower level, requiring only two Basic Circuits, four Enriched Alloys, a Dynamic Tank block, made with a Bucket and four Steel Ingots, and two Basic Gas Tanks, made with four redstone dusts and four Osmium Ingots.
 
Finally, you can start producing the Ore Shards, which you can then feed into the Purification Chamber to continue the process.
 
== Tier 4 ==
 
<div id="lastBasic">'''<big>Epitome of the Basics</big>'''</div>
 
Tier 4 is the last level of alloy and circuit, the [[Atomic Alloy]] and the [[Control Circuit|Ultimate Control Circuits]].  The Atomic Alloy is made in the Metallurgic Infuser by putting Refined Obsidian Dust into a Reinforced Alloy.  The Ultimate Circuit is made by surrounding an Elite Circuit with two Atomic Alloys.
 
<div id="ore5">'''<big>5 Times the Ore Power!</big>'''</div>
 
Now, we can get into the nitty gritty of Tier 4: 5x ore processing.  This requires three new machines: the [[Chemical Dissolution Chamber]], the [[Chemical Washer]], and the [[Chemical Crystalizer]].  The Dissolution Chamber, which takes ores and makes them into slurry, requires [[Sulfuric Acid]] in order to operate.  More on that later.  To make the Dissolution Chamber, you need 4 Basic Circuits, two empty Gas Tanks, two Enriched Alloys, and an Atomic Alloy.
 
The Slurry produced by the Dissolution Chamber then goes through Pressurized Tubes to the Chemical Washer, where it's cleaned into Clean Slurry.  To make the Chemical Washer, you need only 4 Basic Circuits, 2 Enriched Alloys, one bucket, one empty Gas Tank and a Steel Casing.  The Washer requires only water to work.
 
Then, you pump that Clean Slurry out, again through Pressurized Tubes, and into the Chemical Crystallizer, which turns the slurry into, you guessed it, Ore Crystals.  To make the Crystallizer, you need, again, 4 Basic Circuits, two empty Gas Tanks, a Steel Casing, and two Atomic Alloys.  The Crystals can then be fed into the system you already have set up, starting at the Chemical Injector.
 
Note two things about this:  First, the Dissolution Chamber, Washer, and Crystallizer have no Factory versions of themselves, like the Injector and everything else in the line do, so you may need several of each to make the Injector and on work for a living.  The second thing to note is that these three machines each have fixed input and output points, like the Electrolytic Separator.  They each have their input on the left, and their output on the right, when just placing them.  The Washer's water input is on the top, so keep that in mind when you're running the power lines.
 
<div id="tripping">'''<big>Tripping On (Sulfuric) Acid</big>'''</div>
 
Now for some fun stuff.  There's at least a 3-step chain to make Sulfuric Acid, which fuels the Dissolution Chamber.  You first need to make Sulfur Dioxide from Sulfur in the [[Chemical Oxidizer]].  In order to make the Oxidizer, you need 4 Enriched Alloys, two Basic Circuits, a Dynamic Tank, a Personal Chest, and an empty Gas Tank.  In order to make the [[Personal Chest]], you will need 5 Steel Ingots, two chests, a Basic Circuit, and a glass block.  If you have a lot of cobblestone, or a way of generating it from another mod, there's actually a nice chain you can make, through Mekanism, to generate Sulfur from cobblestone involving four more machines.  You start of by feeding the cobble into the Crusher to make gravel, feeding the gravel into a Purification Chamber to make flint, then Crushing the flint again to make gunpowder, then finally, putting it into a Chemical Injection Chamber with Salt or Hydrogen Chloride to make Sulfur.  That way you don't have to find a bunch of the Sulfur Ore itself.
 
After making Sulfur Dioxide in the Oxidizer, you need to put the gas into the Chemical Infuser with Oxygen to make Sulfur Trioxide.  After that, you need another Chemical Infuser, but this time with Water Vapor, made in a [[Rotary Condensentrator]] with water.  To make the Rotary Condensentrator, you need four glass blocks, two Basic Circuits, one Energy Tablet, one empty Gas Tank, and one [[Basic Fluid Tank]].  In order to make the Fluid Tank, you'll need four iron ingots and four redstone dusts.  When you place it down, make sure to hit the T in the top left corner of the GUI to make it run in "Decondensentrating" mode, otherwise it won't take the water you feed it.  Pump that vapor into the Infuser with the Sulfur Trioxide, and you have your Sulfuric Acid.
 
At this point, it's up to you to expand and optimize your operation.  Be warned, if you're splitting up the clean slurry, it can sometimes get stuck in the Crystallizer because it needs 200 mb to make a crystal, and an odd number can sometimes make it transfer 100 to two separate Crystallizers.  All you need to do is grab the Dropper and pull the slurry from one and drop it in the other.
<div id="tanks">'''<big>Fluid Dynamic (Tanks)</big>'''</div>
 
This is actually a throwback to the first tier's technology, I just never saw a reason to make any until now.  [[Dynamic Tank|Dynamic Tanks]] are capable of storing massive amounts of fluids.  This can come in handy if you need to provide a lot of water without being able to make a bunch of Pump assemblies.  A Dynamic Tank is capable of storing 64000 mB (64 buckets) of fluid per block in the structure (including the Valve and Tank [frame] blocks, and the empty spaces between the blocks), which means a minimum-sized Dynamic Tank, which is 3x3x3, is capable of storing 1,728 buckets of fluid!  If you take it all the way up to its extreme, the 18x18x18, you can get a whopping 373,248 buckets of storage!  Astounding!
 
I want to mention, also, that the Basic Gas Tanks can be upgraded to Ultimate versions, as well, and can hold 512000 units of gases per tank, and are fully configurable as far as input and output, so you can still make a group of them all together for one gas, if you want.
 
<div id="induction">'''<big>What If I Told You...</big>'''</div>
 
Alright, now we're finally down to the end game here.  The fusion reactor is the be-all end-all of power generation.  It's so big, in fact, that I believe the Induction Matrix was made specifically to hold the power generated by the reactor.  So, we're going to start with the Matrix.
 
One thing I'd like to bring up now, that didn't seem relevant before, is the [[Induction Matrix]] multiblock structure you can make.  It's a massive power storage structure (you can make them up to 18x18x18), and the ultimate versions allow for hundreds of giga-joules of energy storage per cell, which really is mind-boggling, especially when you consider the fact that the reactor can only put out several dozen MJ per tick.  I can't imagine what you'd need to build to actually need all that power.  But, at this point you can build the Advanced versions of the blocks.  The Advanced Induction Provider can output 512 kJ per tick, and the Advanced Induction Cell can store 8 GJ per block.  If you had merely a 4x4 Matrix, which has a 2-block cube of cells, it would take almost 90 real-life hours to fill with just one Gas Generator.  What could you possibly need all that power for?  I honestly don't know.
 
You can make the two basic building blocks of the Matrix as things stand now.  First, the [[Induction Casing]] is made with an Energy Tablet and four Steel Ingots.  Then, the [[Induction Port]] is made using four of the Casings around an Elite Circuit.  But, that's only half of what we need in order to successfully make these things.  And in order to make that other half, we need to revisit and old friend, the Thermal Evaporation Plant, to make something altogether new: Lithium Gas and Dusts.


'''<big>Tier 2</big>'''
<div id="fusion">'''<big>Fuuuuuu.... sion.... HA!</big>'''</div>

Latest revision as of 14:25, 8 July 2019

This tutorial is aimed at taking a new player from the first Osmium ore to the endgame fusion reactor and induction matrix. This will show you, in tiers, what to do and when.

Breakdown: Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 1

And So It Begins...

First, you're looking to mine some Osmium Ore. Throw it in the Furnace and get out an Osmium Ingot. Take these, four iron ingots, two redstone dusts and two furnaces and craft the Metallurgic Infuser.

This is where things really get moving. The Metallurgic Infuser is the root of all Mekanism technology. But there's a problem: we need power in order to make the infuser run. Solution? The Heat Generator. It has two modes: you can pump fuels into it (solid or liquid), or you can set it next to lava. The differences between these two options is described on that previously linked page.

There are three basic things you're wanting to make with the metallurgic infuser, but first we're going to make some Steel Ingots. You make these by putting coal, charcoal or Compressed Carbon (more on that later) into the infuser and infusing it into iron ingots. This creates Enriched Iron. Take that Enriched Iron and run it through the Infuser again with more coal-like fuel. This will create Steel Dust, which you can run through the furnace to get the Steel Ingots we need. Make at least a couple dozen for now.

With Steel now under our belt, we need to craft some Steel Casings. These are the basic framework of the machines in Mekanism. To craft these, you need four Steel Ingots and one Osmium Ingot, arrayed in a cross with the Osmium in the center. Next we need some Basic Control Circuits. These will be used very often in the first tier of machinery, so make a bunch of them. For the moment, we just need two. Make them by Infusing Osmium Ingots with redstone.

The next thing to make is some Enriched Alloy. In fact, we need to make a bunch of them, because we're going to use them all over the place, too. For now, make about a dozen. You can make the Enriched Alloy by putting redstone and iron ingots in the Infuser. You need one of each to make one alloy. After that, grab two of them, four redstone dusts and three gold ingots and craft an Energy Tablet. Make two of them.

Next, take two of the Steel Ingots and a redstone dust and put them in a line to make Basic Universal Cables. You can run power remotely now! Huzzah! You can also start arranging your machines along the Cables from the Generator, but for now, make another Steel Casing and those two Tablets and use them to make a Basic Energy Cube. Place this on the power-output side of the Heat Generator. Then, start running your Cables from there to the machines, wherever they are. The side of the Energy Cube that has the plate across it, which is by default the side facing you when you place it, is the output side. Every other side is an input.

Phew! That's a lot of work just to get things started, and we're not even a third of the way through Tier 1.

Power Up

Now it's time to make a Solar Generator. The heat generator is a very simple start, and we need to start getting some more reliable power in our systems. We can also start talking about power usage. The Basic Cube has a max capacity of 2000 kJ. Interesting tidbit: one stack of coal in the Heat Generator makes 383.52 kJ, and it takes 10 kJ to run the Infuser once.

So, the first step in making a Solar Generator is to make three Solar Panels. To make one, you need three glass panes, two redstone dusts, one Enriched Alloy and three Osmium Ingots. Take those three Panels and put them right back in the crafting grid, along with two more Enriched Alloys, an Energy Tablet, an iron ingot, and two Osmium Dusts.

But wait! Osmium Dust, you say? How do I get that? Well that requires two more machines we haven't made yet, the Crusher or the Enrichment Chamber. The Crusher can make dusts out of ingots, but the Enrichment Chamber is what we really want, because it doubles our ingot output! Yep, it's the macerator/pulverizer of the Mekanism world. Luckily, we can make all the parts for both. Their recipes are very similar, as well. Throw a Crusher together by combining two Basic Circuits, two lava buckets and four redstone dusts surrounding a Steel Casing, then throw an Osmium Ingot or Ore into it to get some dust. To make the Enrichment Chamber, combine the same components in the same order, just replace the buckets with iron ingots. Throw an ingot into the Crusher, or an Ore into the Enrichment Chamber, and get you some Osmium Dusts.

OK, back to the Solar Generator. Take those two Dusts and make your first Solar Generator. Guess what? One Solar Generator puts out 60 J/t. The Heat Generator puts out about 100. Take three Solar Generators and you have replaced your Heat Generator! So now you have a renewable source of power that isn't all that expensive, and two of them more than replace the fuel burner! Huzzah! You'll need one Solar Generator for each machine you have running to break even on power, during the day. At night, well... That's why we have the Energy Cube! See, it's already taken care of. You're welcome.

It's Not Enough!

Want more power? Well, there are other steps we can take, as well. First, there's the Wind Turbine. You can make this by combining three Osmium Ingots, an Enriched Alloy, a Basic Circuit and two Energy Tablets. At base height 0, the Turbine produces 60 J/t, but its output increases as its elevation does, to an upper limit of 480 j/t. Got mountains? Then you've got a viable replacement for up to two active Heat Generators. The Turbine has only one viable output side: its front. Keep that in mind as you design your power transfer systems.

The second option is to upgrade your Solar Generator into an Advanced Solar Generator. You need four Solar Generators, two Enriched Alloys and three iron ingots. The Advanced version of the Solar Gens is better than the sum of its parts. Whereas one Solar Generator outputs 50 J/t (making four of them a total of 200 J/t), the advanced Solar Generator generates 300 J/t. There is a downside, though. The Advanced Solar Generator takes up a 3x3 block space, which means that you could also have a 3x3 array of regular Solar Generators giving you 450 J/t for the same space usage. The Advanced looks cool, and it does have the advantage of being able to output more at once, but it's just not worth it in the long run.

Hmm, 450 J/t... That brings us to the next problem: the Basic Universal Cable is only capable of transferring 500 J/t. That just won't do, if we're to have the power that we need. Solution? Upgrade to Advanced Universal Cables! These are really simple to make, you just have to wrap eight Basic Cables around an Enriched Alloy to get 8 Advanced Cables. These babies can handle up to 2,000 J/t, or 2 kJ! More than enough to handle the power requirements we have so far.

Side note: the Solar and Advanced Solar Generators get a 50% bonus on their output in desert biomes, so that would give the Solar Generator 75 J/t and the Advanced 450 J/t. If you had an array of nine Solar Generators that would give you 675 J/t output. Yeah, definitely need the Advanced Cables.

That reminds me, you'll probably want to upgrade the Basic Energy Cube, as well. It's actually capable of outputting 800 J/t, which should technically be more than enough for the build we have so far, but we want to upgrade the storage capacity too. Take the one you have (if you have one of the myriad mods that supply a wrench, you can shift-right-click the Energy Cubes to "break" it while saving the energy stored inside of it), and combine it with four Enriched Alloys, two Osmium Ingots and two Energy Tablets. The new Advanced Energy Cube's capabilities are four times that of the Basic, giving it 8,000 kJ storage capacity and 3.2 kJ/t output. Huzzah!

Upgrading the Basics

Now that we've gotten the power question answered, let's talk about pulling all of our processing needs into the energy side of things. First off, naturally, would be the furnace (we've already talked about the Crusher and Enrichment Chamber). To replace this we use the Energized Smelter. Works just like a furnace, except it runs off of the power network! You need four redstone dusts, two glass blocks, two Basic Circuits and a Steel Casing to craft this. If you have this hooked up to an Enrichment Chamber, you'll need two to keep up with the supply, as it takes just as long to smelt dusts as it does to enrich ores.

Next, just to get more wood, we're going to make the precision sawmill. Now, this may not be particularly useful to you, but it could be good to have around just in case. You need a Steel Casing, two Basic Circuits, two Enriched Alloys and four iron ingots, arrayed in the usual pattern. The Precision Sawmill produces six wood planks (instead of the usual four) AS WELL AS a sawdust with each operation. Now, the uses for sawdust within Mekanism itself are fairly limited, but you can use three sawdusts to make a stack of three paper. Can be useful.

Tier 2

You Don't Know the Power...

I wanted to put the next level of power generation in Tier 2 simply because it requires so much setup, even though it doesn't actually require anything with Advanced Control Circuits. But the generation capability of this setup is absolutely astonishing. More on that in a bit. Here's what we'll need:

You'll also need an infinite water source, for the pump to draw from.

That's quite a list, eh? Well, we've already made Advanced Universal Cables and Energy Cubes, not to mention a Crusher, so that's three off the list that aren't new. The Pressurized Tube, Logistical Transporter and Mechanical Pipe are new, though, and the process for making Advanced versions of them is the same as for the Universal Cable. However, the Basic recipes are different, with the differences being the Tubes need glass, the Pipes need a bucket, and the Transporters need Basic Circuits.

In order to use the Transporters properly, though, we'll need the Configurator. This thing, made from 1 Energy Tablet, 1 stick, 1 lapis lazuli and two Enriched Alloys, allows you to configure the various transport items after placement. The thing about the Pipes, Transporters and Tubes is that they have four modes: Push, Pull, Normal (passive) and None (supposed don't allow interaction there? Doesn't quite work like it should in the latest version). You need to configure all the transports that are receiving item/liquid/gas output to Pull that stuff out of the inventory they're attached to. You do this by crouching and right-clicking on the ends of the pipe when they're attached to an inventory. You can also run the same type of transport next to each other and keep them separate by shift-right-clicking the middle section of the transports and assigning color networks to the transports.

In order to use the Configurator, though, you need to charge it. And in order to charge it, you need a Chargepad! Go figure! One of these babies can be crafted with three stone pressure plates, two Steel Ingots and an Energy Tablet. Attach it to a Cable and stand on it to activate the charging. Be sure you only have the Configurator in your inventory when you do, because it will charge energy cubes, too.

Now that you're fully capable of configurating all of the necessary pipes, transports and tubes, we can move on to the actual build. First in the build list is the Electric Pump. Create an infinite water source (2x2 water, if you're not familiar with the concept) then place the pump one block above one of the sources. Hook up the power to the side of it (the only side that has a straight vertical face), and a pipe to the top. I will only remind you once: if a pipe, tube or transport isn't doing what you expect it to, use the configurator to change the mode of the connection to pull.

Next, we make the Electrolytic Separator. Combine four iron ingots, two redstone dusts, two Enriched Alloys and an Electrolytic Core to make one. Oops, we haven't gotten that one yet! To make a Core, combine five Enriched Alloys, two Osmium Dusts, an iron dust and a gold dust. Make two, while you're at it, you'll need the second one later. When you've made the Separator, place it somewhere and hook up the water supply to it with more pipes. Don't hook it directly up to power yet (or change the redstone sensitivity to high so it doesn't run without active redstone signal), because it's a bit of a power hog. However, you can go and set the oxygen side to Dump its contents. There's a little button under the power bar at the right to let you do so. If you didn't set it to do that (or to dump excess, if you're feeding the oxygen somewhere else), it would fill the oxygen side and not produce any more hydrogen, and we need the hydrogen. Badly.

After that, we get to make the Pressurized Reaction Chamber, or PRC for short. This requires two Basic Circuits, an Enrichment Chamber, an Enriched Alloy, two Gas Tanks and a Dynamic Tank. Wait, wait, wait, TWO new things AT ONCE?! Yikes! Well, let's buckle down for it. The gas tank requires eight Osmium Ingots around an iron dust. Fairly simple. The Dynamic Tank, on the other hand, requires an empty bucket and four Steel Ingots. That recipe actually makes four, so hold on to the others for the later machines. Put the PRC close to the Separator, preferably on the blue tank side of the Separator. The Separator's output cannot be configured, so the hydrogen gas is ejected out of the blue tank side. Run some Tube between them and watch the hydrogen flow. It shouldn't be necessary to change the side config to allow gas input on the side you put it on, but it would be good practice to be in the habit. This is done in the Gases tab of the Side Config (Side Config is the top left tab, and the Gases tab of that is the top right tab).

Next we'll need to set up the supply for the PRC. The PRC requires Bio Fuel to create the Ethylene that the Gas Generators run on, and this is made by crushing organic matter (wheat, seeds, saplings, etc) in the Crusher. So, set up a crusher and a chest with some transporters between them set to take organics from the chest into the Crusher and then take the Bio Fuel from the Crusher into the PRC. You'll also need to run the water pipes to the PRC and set up the Fluids Config to accept fluids from the side you hook it up to. The Universal Cables can be hooked up on any side and don't require any configuring in the PRC GUI.

Finally, we get to the Gas-Burning Generator. This is where you use the extra Electrolytic Core you made earlier, combined with two more Steel Casings, two more Enriched Alloys, and four Osmium Ingots. Place this in close proximity to everything else, and hook up the Universal Cables to the side of the Gas Generator that has the yellow coloring (yeah, only one output side), then hook up the Ethylene from the PRC to any of the remaining sides. You may want to throw a couple of Advanced Energy Cubes between the Generator power output and the hookup to the rest of the system.

Apply a power surge to the system from your other setup (the Heat Generator/Solar Generators) to get the Separator started, and then from that point on, as long as you have plenty of Bio Fuel, you have a self-sustaining energy source.

Astonishingly, once you get this setup running, you can support a whopping 18 Gas Generators with the Ethylene that is produced (gaining 1-2 stored Ethylene per gas output from the PRC), making for a mind-boggling net gain of over 12 kJ/t! When you think about the fact that most basic machines need only 50 J/t at their basic operating level, you're still netting over 10 kJ/t with your entire machine setup running at once!!!. Now you see why I told you to use at least Advanced Cables and Cubes. Elites would be much better (remember, the Advanced Cable is only capable of transferring 8 kJ/t, whereas the Elite Cable is capable of 32 kJ/t).

I'd like to make a mention at this point of the Bio-Generator. It utilizes Bio Fuel directly instead of using it to create Ethylene, but the power gains you get from using the Gas Generator instead and utilizing Ethylene are more than worth skipping over this one, as long as you have the space for the gas setup. The Bio-Generator creates 700 kJ with two Bio Fuel, however the amount of Ethylene created using those same two Bio Fuel is almost 2 MJ, which is close to three times the amount. It might be good for a stop-gap, but don't spend too long at this stage.

Factories!!!

Next thing to mention is the Factory upgrades. Factories are basically pimped out versions of the regular machines: Crushers, Enrichers, Smelters, etc. Each one requires the same recipe: the original machine, four redstone dusts, two Basic Circuits and two iron ingots. Got a lot of stuff going? Well, you don't have to break the machine to make the factory, you can just make a Factory Installer of the various levels to upgrade them in place! One thing I want to mention: the factories are literally upgrades of the same machine. They still work the same as their base machine, including requirements for gases/liquids/other catalysts.

Three's A Crowd? Not for ores...

Now we can get to the real root of Tier 2: the Advanced Control Circuit. It's pretty simple: just a Basic Circuit with Enriched Alloy on both sides. This will allow you to craft the Purification Chamber, which is the base 3x ore machine. The PC outputs ore clumps from ore blocks, and crystals too, but that will be addressed later.

The Purification Chamber needs Oxygen Gas in order to process the ores, but this is pretty easy to obtain by running water through the Electrolytic Separator. Oh, would you look at that, we're already doing that in order to make the Ethylene Gas for the Gas Generators, and we're just dumping that oxygen, so an option is to switch over, instead, to the "Dump Excess" option, if you're not there already, and pipe that oxygen over to your Purification Chamber. After the ore is processed, dump the clumps in the Crusher to make Dirty Dusts, and then to the Enrichment Chamber to make regular ore dusts. You can choose then whether to keep the dusts or smelt them into ingots.

Sidetracking

The Advanced Control Circuit also enables you to build a few other things. First, you can build the flamethrower. Nothing like some good old fire spitting. Second, it allows you to build the steam turbine setup. I'm not going to go into that here, as for my purposes, the Gas Generator setup with the Ethylene is enough, even later, but the reactor was just too good to resist.

It also allows you to build the Osmium Compressor, which in turn allows you to make Refined Obsidian Ingots and Glowstone Ingots. These then can be used to make tools and armor, and the obsidian versions are significant improvements over their diamond counterparts. For instance, the chestplates compare 2 armor toughness and 8 armor for diamond, whereas the obsidian type gives 4 toughness and 12 armor. The obsidian pickaxe gives 7 more attack damage than the diamond! There are other uses for Refined Obsidian Ingots and dusts, but those come later, in Tier 4. Oh, you can make the dust by infusing obsidian dust with diamond in the Metallurgic Infuser.

Tier 3

Covenant Tech

Yes, that's a Halo reference. The next level is Elite, Elite Control Circuits, to be specific, hence the joke. They're as easy to make as the previous level, except this time you need a new alloy, the Reinforced Alloy. You make this in the Metallurgic Infuser as well, putting diamond into the Enriched Alloy, then you put one on either side of an Advanced Circuit to make the Elite Circuit.

Overkill Begins

If there could possibly be overkill, this is where it would start. As if 3x ore processing wasn't enough, now we're getting to 4x! It only requires one more machine in the lineup, but in order to feed that machine, we'll need several others.

First, let's build what makes the 4x possible, the Chemical Injection Chamber. This requires a Purification Chamber, four Reinforced Alloys, two Elite Control Circuits, and two gold ingots. Craft it, hook it up to power, place it next to a Purification Chamber, and you're good to go, right?

Hydrogen Chloride and the Thermal Evaporation Plant

Nope! The Chemical Injection Chamber needs Hydrogen Chloride Gas in order to work. In order to get this, you'll need several other machines. Firstly, though, you need to build a Thermal Evaporation Plant. This multiblock structure requires three blocks, the Thermal Evaporation Block, which is made by surrounding a copper ingot with 4 steel ingots in a cross-shape; the Thermal Evaporation Valve, which requires an Advanced Control Circuit surrounded by four Thermal Evaporation Blocks in a cross; and the Thermal Evaporation Controller, which requires a bucket, two Advanced Circuits, a glass pane of any kind, and five Thermal Evaporation Blocks.

The minimum size possible for this is 4x4 and 3 blocks high, but, of course, the bigger you build it, the faster and better it works. It can never be anything but a 4x4 base, but you can make it up to 18 blocks high. If you make the big one, you'll want to fill the bottom layer with valves that you can pump water through to keep up. You'll also need four Advanced Solar Generators to complete the build, and if you want it to run at peak efficiency, you'll need some Heaters to blast the heat into the Plant (electric is recommended, since we have way more power than we need), and some Thermodynamic Conductors to transfer that heat. The basic ones are made with one copper and two steel, and upgraded in the same was as the Cables or Pipes or Tubes.

As a side note, Thermal Evaporation Plants get a small bonus for operating in a desert biome, but it's not enough to run at peak efficiency.

You'll also need several Water Pumps and Mechanical Pipes to pump the water into the Plant, and some more Pipes to pull the Brine out. Then, you'll have to pump the Brine into an Electrolytic Separator to get the Chlorine Gas that comes from it, and put that, plus some Hydrogen Gas, into a Chemical Infuser to produce the Hydrogen Chloride you need. Oh, look, yet ANOTHER new machine! Man, Aidan didn't want to make this easy... Anyway, the Chemical Infuser is much lower level, requiring only two Basic Circuits, four Enriched Alloys, a Dynamic Tank block, made with a Bucket and four Steel Ingots, and two Basic Gas Tanks, made with four redstone dusts and four Osmium Ingots.

Finally, you can start producing the Ore Shards, which you can then feed into the Purification Chamber to continue the process.

Tier 4

Epitome of the Basics

Tier 4 is the last level of alloy and circuit, the Atomic Alloy and the Ultimate Control Circuits. The Atomic Alloy is made in the Metallurgic Infuser by putting Refined Obsidian Dust into a Reinforced Alloy. The Ultimate Circuit is made by surrounding an Elite Circuit with two Atomic Alloys.

5 Times the Ore Power!

Now, we can get into the nitty gritty of Tier 4: 5x ore processing. This requires three new machines: the Chemical Dissolution Chamber, the Chemical Washer, and the Chemical Crystalizer. The Dissolution Chamber, which takes ores and makes them into slurry, requires Sulfuric Acid in order to operate. More on that later. To make the Dissolution Chamber, you need 4 Basic Circuits, two empty Gas Tanks, two Enriched Alloys, and an Atomic Alloy.

The Slurry produced by the Dissolution Chamber then goes through Pressurized Tubes to the Chemical Washer, where it's cleaned into Clean Slurry. To make the Chemical Washer, you need only 4 Basic Circuits, 2 Enriched Alloys, one bucket, one empty Gas Tank and a Steel Casing. The Washer requires only water to work.

Then, you pump that Clean Slurry out, again through Pressurized Tubes, and into the Chemical Crystallizer, which turns the slurry into, you guessed it, Ore Crystals. To make the Crystallizer, you need, again, 4 Basic Circuits, two empty Gas Tanks, a Steel Casing, and two Atomic Alloys. The Crystals can then be fed into the system you already have set up, starting at the Chemical Injector.

Note two things about this: First, the Dissolution Chamber, Washer, and Crystallizer have no Factory versions of themselves, like the Injector and everything else in the line do, so you may need several of each to make the Injector and on work for a living. The second thing to note is that these three machines each have fixed input and output points, like the Electrolytic Separator. They each have their input on the left, and their output on the right, when just placing them. The Washer's water input is on the top, so keep that in mind when you're running the power lines.

Tripping On (Sulfuric) Acid

Now for some fun stuff. There's at least a 3-step chain to make Sulfuric Acid, which fuels the Dissolution Chamber. You first need to make Sulfur Dioxide from Sulfur in the Chemical Oxidizer. In order to make the Oxidizer, you need 4 Enriched Alloys, two Basic Circuits, a Dynamic Tank, a Personal Chest, and an empty Gas Tank. In order to make the Personal Chest, you will need 5 Steel Ingots, two chests, a Basic Circuit, and a glass block. If you have a lot of cobblestone, or a way of generating it from another mod, there's actually a nice chain you can make, through Mekanism, to generate Sulfur from cobblestone involving four more machines. You start of by feeding the cobble into the Crusher to make gravel, feeding the gravel into a Purification Chamber to make flint, then Crushing the flint again to make gunpowder, then finally, putting it into a Chemical Injection Chamber with Salt or Hydrogen Chloride to make Sulfur. That way you don't have to find a bunch of the Sulfur Ore itself.

After making Sulfur Dioxide in the Oxidizer, you need to put the gas into the Chemical Infuser with Oxygen to make Sulfur Trioxide. After that, you need another Chemical Infuser, but this time with Water Vapor, made in a Rotary Condensentrator with water. To make the Rotary Condensentrator, you need four glass blocks, two Basic Circuits, one Energy Tablet, one empty Gas Tank, and one Basic Fluid Tank. In order to make the Fluid Tank, you'll need four iron ingots and four redstone dusts. When you place it down, make sure to hit the T in the top left corner of the GUI to make it run in "Decondensentrating" mode, otherwise it won't take the water you feed it. Pump that vapor into the Infuser with the Sulfur Trioxide, and you have your Sulfuric Acid.

At this point, it's up to you to expand and optimize your operation. Be warned, if you're splitting up the clean slurry, it can sometimes get stuck in the Crystallizer because it needs 200 mb to make a crystal, and an odd number can sometimes make it transfer 100 to two separate Crystallizers. All you need to do is grab the Dropper and pull the slurry from one and drop it in the other.

Fluid Dynamic (Tanks)

This is actually a throwback to the first tier's technology, I just never saw a reason to make any until now. Dynamic Tanks are capable of storing massive amounts of fluids. This can come in handy if you need to provide a lot of water without being able to make a bunch of Pump assemblies. A Dynamic Tank is capable of storing 64000 mB (64 buckets) of fluid per block in the structure (including the Valve and Tank [frame] blocks, and the empty spaces between the blocks), which means a minimum-sized Dynamic Tank, which is 3x3x3, is capable of storing 1,728 buckets of fluid! If you take it all the way up to its extreme, the 18x18x18, you can get a whopping 373,248 buckets of storage! Astounding!

I want to mention, also, that the Basic Gas Tanks can be upgraded to Ultimate versions, as well, and can hold 512000 units of gases per tank, and are fully configurable as far as input and output, so you can still make a group of them all together for one gas, if you want.

What If I Told You...

Alright, now we're finally down to the end game here. The fusion reactor is the be-all end-all of power generation. It's so big, in fact, that I believe the Induction Matrix was made specifically to hold the power generated by the reactor. So, we're going to start with the Matrix.

One thing I'd like to bring up now, that didn't seem relevant before, is the Induction Matrix multiblock structure you can make. It's a massive power storage structure (you can make them up to 18x18x18), and the ultimate versions allow for hundreds of giga-joules of energy storage per cell, which really is mind-boggling, especially when you consider the fact that the reactor can only put out several dozen MJ per tick. I can't imagine what you'd need to build to actually need all that power. But, at this point you can build the Advanced versions of the blocks. The Advanced Induction Provider can output 512 kJ per tick, and the Advanced Induction Cell can store 8 GJ per block. If you had merely a 4x4 Matrix, which has a 2-block cube of cells, it would take almost 90 real-life hours to fill with just one Gas Generator. What could you possibly need all that power for? I honestly don't know.

You can make the two basic building blocks of the Matrix as things stand now. First, the Induction Casing is made with an Energy Tablet and four Steel Ingots. Then, the Induction Port is made using four of the Casings around an Elite Circuit. But, that's only half of what we need in order to successfully make these things. And in order to make that other half, we need to revisit and old friend, the Thermal Evaporation Plant, to make something altogether new: Lithium Gas and Dusts.

Fuuuuuu.... sion.... HA!
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