Understanding Energy

Colony Ship

Energy is the most important resource in the game.

Workerbots need it to chop trees, mine mineable resources and carry out research. Energy is generated at residences by housebots.

There are three levels of the Energy resource (a 4th is added in the DLC New Lands).

You will need higher levels of Energy when you use higher-level buildings.

For example a Level 2 Workshop will require Level 2 Energy which can only be made by a Level 2 Residence.

Residences can but upgraded to produce higher-level Energy, but they will require additional resources.

Your Colony Ship provides a slow supply of Level 1 Energy to ensure you never run out.

Energy Pods

Energy Pods are a commonly used technique to improve the efficiency of producing Energy as well as keeping extra resources off of roads.

There are many configurations and often the available space determines of the best placement method. There are optimized set-ups that have been determined through testing, experience, and input from others. A visit to The Colonists Discord is a great place to read about and discuss those techniques.

Example

The example below shows different uses of roads and paths for an Energy L1 Pod (left) and an Energy L2 Pod (right).

On the left, the paths allow the Sheep Farm and Well stackbots to deliver meat and water to each residence directly. Then each residence stackbot delivers the Energy to the road post to be routed throughout your colony. Using this method keeps the high demands of meat and water off of the main roads.

On the right, the roads within the energy pod change the delivery of the resources needed. The Sheep Farm, Well and Cider Press stackbots deliver meat, water, and cider to the first road post nearest the residence with demand. The Apple Orchard's stackbot delivers apples directly to the Cider Press using the path. Then each residence stackbot delivers the Energy to the road post that it is connected to. The carrybots then move the resources between road posts. This method also keeps the high demands of meat, water, apples, and cider off of the main roads.