So I was looking through the pack at the power options and wondering which one I would use? Normally, I break things down into early, mid and late game power options. This got me thinking about a few of the different tech trees in the pack.
I had wanted to add more information but ran out of time.
Personally... I jump around on what I'm using and when. Nothing wrong with that. Still out on the best source of begging power of the pack. One thing that is clear, the direction you go will kind of lock you into a path. Unless you start all over, once you go down that path... well... Honestly though, all roads in the pack seem to lead to draconic evolution end game... So how we get there... well that's your business honestly.
I'll be posting updates of my personal build as I move forward. I encourage all of you to take screen shots and post them in the community showcase forum.!!!!! Would love to see all of your bases.
Late game options being, for various reasons, things like the draconic reactor, a large extreme reactor, or rainbow gen.
Mid game being things like rftools ender pearl gen, deep resonance, higher tier environmental tech solar.
I have noticed a few threads discussing early game power and a few solutions. Honestly, I'd like to look at a few of those and how they influence build direction. For such a "kitchen sink" pack, there are many things that seem to be over looked or pushed aside for the sake of more efficient options.
For early game I came up with this list
canola oil (crystalized) 200 AA canola
canola oil (empowered) 350 AA canola (requires quartz)
coal gen 30 AA coal
Syngas fuel 1000 Advanced Gen Tree Stumps (requires lots of iron and redstone + nether ore to be powerful)
ET Solar 549 Environmental Tech sun (requires lots of diamonds)
Thermoelectric 30 Immersive Engineering water/lava? (requires lava)
Water Wheel 86 Immersive Engineering water
Coal Gen 60 rf tools coal
thermal expansion gens (but couldn't find the stats on them plus if I remember correctly, unless upgraded, they're not very good in comparison and upgrades cost bronze/invar for first upgrade then up to hardened glass for 2nd + electrum)
Really this comes down to cost to setup.
Active Fuel Setups
Actually additions Canola Oil
Takes some time to automate unless you manually do it. Automation for this isn't too difficult but takes some resources to do it properly which ever automation route you take.
EDIT: this is rediculous not worth the 100rf/t for the step two upgrade. 40, 80, 100, then... what 350? I think? Not worth it.
https://imgur.com/a/vCpC9
Coal generators
RFtools - requires lapis and gold to build, can be challenging depending on rng + redstone
Actually Additions - quick back up? not too expensive, stone, iron... no redstone
Extra Utilities Gen- surival gen - 5 rf/t and requires redstone
furnace gen - requires redstone (highest cost among the coal gen 6 pieces)
All of these require lots of coal and or tree farm to fuel
Advanced Gen
Syngass is very material heavy for starter power and honestly requires a higher tier fan to be effective which means trip to the nether.
Thermal Expansion Dynamo
Compression Dynamo
Dire did this and there's a few good setups for refined fuel. for what? 1k/t (for two dynamos) minus the upkeep for the machines. Plus coal. This is where I had a problem with this, had run into a rough rng for coal on the world I did this with.
steam possibly? but all others require a setup a little past starting out imo
IE Diesel Gen
I personally have tried to get this setup working, I know others have had great success but I've never gotten it working. It does require a good deal of fuel and production there in to get going.
Passive Fuel Setup
Immersive Engineering
Water Wheel
passively fueled by water and generates a little rf. But requires a coke oven to start up and without pam's clay or equiv in the pack clay, finding clay can be challenging.
thermo
not a bad passive but requires constantine metal and immersive infastructure. (didn't look at the recipe so may have changed. Honestly I overlooked this until I started writing this)
solar
Solar requires an empowerer for the actually additions version and it only puts out like 8 rf/t.
The environmental tech is certainly beefy but requires quite a few diamonds plus black concrete. Black dye not being as much of a problem since the dyes or dictionary with the flowers. But the diamond sink on this is incredible.
Arboreal Extractors
Someone had mentioned a setup for this. I haven't tested the cost vs rf benefit for this. seems like a good way to go to be honest. but requires 4 dynamos and a buffer for times of high use as it is passive.
honestly, it looks like you can go any way but cost benefit it seems like going tinkers to nether quickly + advanced gen or canola oil seems to be most cost effective as they put out good amounts of rf and can be expanded.
Environmental Tech Solar would be my first choice but with sooo many diamonds invested in the cost of setting it up makes undoable for starting out.
Lightning rod
requires a huge space to store the rf and transfer it as it is instantaneous but only when hit with lightning
Mid game being things like rftools ender pearl gen, deep resonance, higher tier environmental tech solar.
I have noticed a few threads discussing early game power and a few solutions. Honestly, I'd like to look at a few of those and how they influence build direction. For such a "kitchen sink" pack, there are many things that seem to be over looked or pushed aside for the sake of more efficient options.
For early game I came up with this list
canola oil (crystalized) 200 AA canola
canola oil (empowered) 350 AA canola (requires quartz)
coal gen 30 AA coal
Syngas fuel 1000 Advanced Gen Tree Stumps (requires lots of iron and redstone + nether ore to be powerful)
ET Solar 549 Environmental Tech sun (requires lots of diamonds)
Thermoelectric 30 Immersive Engineering water/lava? (requires lava)
Water Wheel 86 Immersive Engineering water
Coal Gen 60 rf tools coal
thermal expansion gens (but couldn't find the stats on them plus if I remember correctly, unless upgraded, they're not very good in comparison and upgrades cost bronze/invar for first upgrade then up to hardened glass for 2nd + electrum)
Really this comes down to cost to setup.
Active Fuel Setups
Actually additions Canola Oil
EDIT: this is rediculous not worth the 100rf/t for the step two upgrade. 40, 80, 100, then... what 350? I think? Not worth it.
https://imgur.com/a/vCpC9
Coal generators
RFtools - requires lapis and gold to build, can be challenging depending on rng + redstone
Actually Additions - quick back up? not too expensive, stone, iron... no redstone
Extra Utilities Gen- surival gen - 5 rf/t and requires redstone
furnace gen - requires redstone (highest cost among the coal gen 6 pieces)
All of these require lots of coal and or tree farm to fuel
Advanced Gen
Syngass is very material heavy for starter power and honestly requires a higher tier fan to be effective which means trip to the nether.
Thermal Expansion Dynamo
Compression Dynamo
Dire did this and there's a few good setups for refined fuel. for what? 1k/t (for two dynamos) minus the upkeep for the machines. Plus coal. This is where I had a problem with this, had run into a rough rng for coal on the world I did this with.
steam possibly? but all others require a setup a little past starting out imo
IE Diesel Gen
I personally have tried to get this setup working, I know others have had great success but I've never gotten it working. It does require a good deal of fuel and production there in to get going.
Passive Fuel Setup
Immersive Engineering
Water Wheel
passively fueled by water and generates a little rf. But requires a coke oven to start up and without pam's clay or equiv in the pack clay, finding clay can be challenging.
thermo
not a bad passive but requires constantine metal and immersive infastructure. (didn't look at the recipe so may have changed. Honestly I overlooked this until I started writing this)
solar
Solar requires an empowerer for the actually additions version and it only puts out like 8 rf/t.
The environmental tech is certainly beefy but requires quite a few diamonds plus black concrete. Black dye not being as much of a problem since the dyes or dictionary with the flowers. But the diamond sink on this is incredible.
Arboreal Extractors
Someone had mentioned a setup for this. I haven't tested the cost vs rf benefit for this. seems like a good way to go to be honest. but requires 4 dynamos and a buffer for times of high use as it is passive.
honestly, it looks like you can go any way but cost benefit it seems like going tinkers to nether quickly + advanced gen or canola oil seems to be most cost effective as they put out good amounts of rf and can be expanded.
Environmental Tech Solar would be my first choice but with sooo many diamonds invested in the cost of setting it up makes undoable for starting out.
Lightning rod
requires a huge space to store the rf and transfer it as it is instantaneous but only when hit with lightning
There are a few mining options in the pack.
Manually mining
Vanilla shovel and pick (and biomes a plenty)
included to be... well included
IC2 mining laser
requires a good deal of IC2 infastructure but really cool if you're going that way
IC2 diamond drill
Diamond drill is pretty sweet but again requires a lot of IC2 infastrustrue to use and make
Actually Additions drill
My personal favorite as it can be upgraded to do 1x1, 3x3, or 5x5, silk touch, speed and all are interchangeable at the simple swapping of a module, (would be nice mod author if you're listening to have the 1x1, 3x3, 5x5 changeable with the push of a button, 5x5, 3x3 in the drill, swich between modes based on a button hotkey... sigh) Oh, requires electricity
Tinker's Tools
Honestly, I feel like tinkers is loosing it's gloss and shine in many of the let's plays I see. People seem to make it almost as a right of passage. At least for mining, weapons, well, we still love making our beheaders and quartz upgrades . The upgraded height and width doesn't do well on picks and the hammer breaks 4 less blocks than the AA drill, requires durability and material cost each repair and is honestly awkward to aim as it breaks from center where the drill centers on where you break +1 up. It makes it easier to walk and mine. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this. That's not to say I'm shitting on the mod. I love the sling, the slime boots, most everything in the mod itself, even the aesthetics of the smeltry. Still trying to figure out the tanks and furnace though and if they're beneficial...
Actually Additions manual picks and all in one tool
all in one tool, really cleans up the hot bar but eats at the durability.
Botania Teraformer/Mana tools
Teraformer is amazing with all the upgrades but takes a good deal of investment.
These tools have the benefit of being mana powered and being able to be augmented.
Draconic Evo
Holy crap, late game and very overpowered. Able to manually move worlds with just a few clicks. By this time though, most make this as a novelty as automatic mining is already up and running.
PSI
Great mod, though I admit I'm terrible at it. I've seen some people make some really interesting spells with this for mining resources. high learning curve though (sorry vaskii, some us, cough me cough, aren't smart enough to utilize this to it's potential.
Immersive Engineering mining drill
This is an interesting item. Very Immersive as it is material intensive, is as good at mining as the head and requires fuel. Also will not function underwater unless upgraded. Still a neat experience for those going down the immersive engineering path.
Redstone Arsonal Tools
Interesting tools, can be empowered, expensive to use and make.
I think that covers the manual mining options.
Semi Automatic Quarry
RF Tools Quarry Card with Builder
This is semi auto because it requires a setup and moving every time it's done. Similar to the old buildcraft quarry ( I miss you BC ) and the old quantum quarry in this way. Once you have it setup and feed it power, there it goes. Very effective
Immersive engineering Excavator
LOTS OF STEEL!!!!! and a good amount of RF (though nothing compared to below)
Make sure you take a core sample. Unless they've changed this also, you have to move it once it's mined through the chunk.
IC2 Mining Well
I've seen some interesting builds with this and funky locomotion.
Meecreeps
My personal early game mining. I dig a straight tunnel with the creep then branch mine off the side with 4 of them skipping 2 in between each tunnel. Collect all the ore and stone and stuff (dank null + actually addition sacks + filters = awesome inventory. You could use iron backpacks if you wanted to with upgrades, your call... or ender chests and sorting system. Again the world is your oyster) Reminds me of the computer craft turtles.
Open Computers
Speaking of Computercraft (which isn't in this pack, sniffle). Open Computers has drones which I've seen people use on a few youtube videos but seems very complicated
Automatically Mining
Extra Utilities 2 Quantum Quarry
This takes tones of RF to run but also accepts filters. Downside is it accesses a mining dimension and can cause lag, though not as much as some others since you shouldn't ever visit the mining dimension. Can have an enchanting book placed in it.
Environmental Tech Quarry's
Void ore miners use power as well but can be upgraded and spit out a good amount of resources.
Side Note:
The pack does add aroma's mining dimension. So have fun.
Can't think of another source of mining?
Manually mining
Vanilla shovel and pick (and biomes a plenty)
included to be... well included
IC2 mining laser
requires a good deal of IC2 infastructure but really cool if you're going that way
IC2 diamond drill
Diamond drill is pretty sweet but again requires a lot of IC2 infastrustrue to use and make
Actually Additions drill
My personal favorite as it can be upgraded to do 1x1, 3x3, or 5x5, silk touch, speed and all are interchangeable at the simple swapping of a module, (would be nice mod author if you're listening to have the 1x1, 3x3, 5x5 changeable with the push of a button, 5x5, 3x3 in the drill, swich between modes based on a button hotkey... sigh) Oh, requires electricity
Tinker's Tools
Honestly, I feel like tinkers is loosing it's gloss and shine in many of the let's plays I see. People seem to make it almost as a right of passage. At least for mining, weapons, well, we still love making our beheaders and quartz upgrades . The upgraded height and width doesn't do well on picks and the hammer breaks 4 less blocks than the AA drill, requires durability and material cost each repair and is honestly awkward to aim as it breaks from center where the drill centers on where you break +1 up. It makes it easier to walk and mine. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this. That's not to say I'm shitting on the mod. I love the sling, the slime boots, most everything in the mod itself, even the aesthetics of the smeltry. Still trying to figure out the tanks and furnace though and if they're beneficial...
Actually Additions manual picks and all in one tool
all in one tool, really cleans up the hot bar but eats at the durability.
Botania Teraformer/Mana tools
Teraformer is amazing with all the upgrades but takes a good deal of investment.
These tools have the benefit of being mana powered and being able to be augmented.
Draconic Evo
Holy crap, late game and very overpowered. Able to manually move worlds with just a few clicks. By this time though, most make this as a novelty as automatic mining is already up and running.
PSI
Great mod, though I admit I'm terrible at it. I've seen some people make some really interesting spells with this for mining resources. high learning curve though (sorry vaskii, some us, cough me cough, aren't smart enough to utilize this to it's potential.
Immersive Engineering mining drill
This is an interesting item. Very Immersive as it is material intensive, is as good at mining as the head and requires fuel. Also will not function underwater unless upgraded. Still a neat experience for those going down the immersive engineering path.
Redstone Arsonal Tools
Interesting tools, can be empowered, expensive to use and make.
I think that covers the manual mining options.
Semi Automatic Quarry
RF Tools Quarry Card with Builder
This is semi auto because it requires a setup and moving every time it's done. Similar to the old buildcraft quarry ( I miss you BC ) and the old quantum quarry in this way. Once you have it setup and feed it power, there it goes. Very effective
Immersive engineering Excavator
LOTS OF STEEL!!!!! and a good amount of RF (though nothing compared to below)
Make sure you take a core sample. Unless they've changed this also, you have to move it once it's mined through the chunk.
IC2 Mining Well
I've seen some interesting builds with this and funky locomotion.
Meecreeps
My personal early game mining. I dig a straight tunnel with the creep then branch mine off the side with 4 of them skipping 2 in between each tunnel. Collect all the ore and stone and stuff (dank null + actually addition sacks + filters = awesome inventory. You could use iron backpacks if you wanted to with upgrades, your call... or ender chests and sorting system. Again the world is your oyster) Reminds me of the computer craft turtles.
Open Computers
Speaking of Computercraft (which isn't in this pack, sniffle). Open Computers has drones which I've seen people use on a few youtube videos but seems very complicated
Automatically Mining
Extra Utilities 2 Quantum Quarry
This takes tones of RF to run but also accepts filters. Downside is it accesses a mining dimension and can cause lag, though not as much as some others since you shouldn't ever visit the mining dimension. Can have an enchanting book placed in it.
Environmental Tech Quarry's
Void ore miners use power as well but can be upgraded and spit out a good amount of resources.
Side Note:
The pack does add aroma's mining dimension. So have fun.
Can't think of another source of mining?
RF storage. I won't go over the IC2 stuff since I don't use it and honestly IC2 is it's own beast and hasn't changed too much.
Actually Additions Battery Box
(yes I know it's CF but in use, interchangeable.. right? lol)
The battery box is actually pretty neat. It holds a battery and acts like a docking station for it, putting in and taking out power to the network as needed. You can remove the battery and upgrade it for more space. Pretty nice, and you never have to remove the box itself.
Thermal Expansion
Batteries are, imo, so much better now. Upgrading via upgrade kits instead of taking it off and building a new one.. so much easier. Batteries can be enchanted with holding as well.
Immersive Engineering
Capacitors store energy. HV can store up to 4 million rf. No gui but each side can be configured with the hammer. Excellent interaction with other mod items; pole, connectors, switches, etc.
Draconic's Big Ball of Energy
So the OP option for rf storage is the Draconic ball. The ingame guide and gui are very helpful with setting it up and getting it working. Very LATE game past Tier 3, imo.
RF Tools Powercell
The powercells can store RF 250k for simple and up. They can share pools of energy between them and thus transfer energy over distance, even dimensions with a small cost (10%) to the transfer.
NOTE:
Most rf producing machines have a small internal buffer
Advanced Generators has blocks that can upgrade the generator's internal capacity so it acts like a batter from the source.
Extreme Reactors also has a buffer in it.
These two are of note as they are large enough, with proper management you might not even need a battery.
That's all the rf storage I can think of...
Actually Additions Battery Box
(yes I know it's CF but in use, interchangeable.. right? lol)
The battery box is actually pretty neat. It holds a battery and acts like a docking station for it, putting in and taking out power to the network as needed. You can remove the battery and upgrade it for more space. Pretty nice, and you never have to remove the box itself.
Thermal Expansion
Batteries are, imo, so much better now. Upgrading via upgrade kits instead of taking it off and building a new one.. so much easier. Batteries can be enchanted with holding as well.
Immersive Engineering
Capacitors store energy. HV can store up to 4 million rf. No gui but each side can be configured with the hammer. Excellent interaction with other mod items; pole, connectors, switches, etc.
Draconic's Big Ball of Energy
So the OP option for rf storage is the Draconic ball. The ingame guide and gui are very helpful with setting it up and getting it working. Very LATE game past Tier 3, imo.
RF Tools Powercell
The powercells can store RF 250k for simple and up. They can share pools of energy between them and thus transfer energy over distance, even dimensions with a small cost (10%) to the transfer.
NOTE:
Most rf producing machines have a small internal buffer
Advanced Generators has blocks that can upgrade the generator's internal capacity so it acts like a batter from the source.
Extreme Reactors also has a buffer in it.
These two are of note as they are large enough, with proper management you might not even need a battery.
That's all the rf storage I can think of...
Armor Options
Vanilla
Diamond 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 legs, 3 armor total 20
Actually Additions
black quartz 3 helm, 6 chest, 5 legs, 3 boots for a total of 17.
Emerald (not reconstructed) 4 helm, 9 chest, 8 legs, 5 boots for a total of 26 (better than diamond)
Obsidian 4 helm, 4 chest, 8 pants, 1 boots for a total of 17. (equal to black quartz, less than diamond)
Restonia Crystal (redstone hit by a reconstructor) 3 helm, 7 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 19 (almost diamond and redstone is PLENTIFUL)
Palis crystal (lapis hit by a reconstructor) 3 helm, 7 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of19 (same as redstone but a little rarer)
Diamatine crystal (diamonds hit by a reconstructor) 4 helm, 8 chest, 7 pants, 4 boots for a total of 23 (slightly better than plain diamond..)
Void crystal (coal hit by the reconstructor) 1 helm, 4 chest, 3 pants, 1 boots for a total of 9
Emeratic crystal (emeralds hit by the reconstructor) 4 helm, 9 chest, 9 pants, 6 boots for a total of 28
Enori (iron hit by the reconstructor) 3 helm, 6 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18
Botania
Manaweave 1 helm, 2 chest, 2 pants, 1 boots for a total of 4. However, there are many other bonuses associated with this armor specific to botania
Mana steel 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus the set bonus for botania.
Elementium 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus the set bonus for botania
Terrasteel 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 20 plus the set bonus for botania
Deep Resonance
Radiation Suit 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus radition resistance
Draconic
Wyvern 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18 plus bonuses, enchants, modified setting, etc.
Draconic 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18 plus fire immunity, fall damage resistance, rf charge, flying, reduced mining time when flying, nightvision, cures negative potion effects, removes underwater mining penalty, immune to suffocation and drowning, added speed boost, plus all of them add various amounts of draconic shield. I mean but it's sooo hard to get, so it's balanced because it takes effort. - Vaskii (favorite quote)
Immersive
Faraday outfit, 1 helm, 3 chest, 2 pants, 1 boots for a total of 7. Looks really cool.
IC2
adds stuff but ... well I don't use ic2...
I think that covers the armor portion of the show.
Vanilla
Diamond 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 legs, 3 armor total 20
Actually Additions
black quartz 3 helm, 6 chest, 5 legs, 3 boots for a total of 17.
Emerald (not reconstructed) 4 helm, 9 chest, 8 legs, 5 boots for a total of 26 (better than diamond)
Obsidian 4 helm, 4 chest, 8 pants, 1 boots for a total of 17. (equal to black quartz, less than diamond)
Restonia Crystal (redstone hit by a reconstructor) 3 helm, 7 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 19 (almost diamond and redstone is PLENTIFUL)
Palis crystal (lapis hit by a reconstructor) 3 helm, 7 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of19 (same as redstone but a little rarer)
Diamatine crystal (diamonds hit by a reconstructor) 4 helm, 8 chest, 7 pants, 4 boots for a total of 23 (slightly better than plain diamond..)
Void crystal (coal hit by the reconstructor) 1 helm, 4 chest, 3 pants, 1 boots for a total of 9
Emeratic crystal (emeralds hit by the reconstructor) 4 helm, 9 chest, 9 pants, 6 boots for a total of 28
Enori (iron hit by the reconstructor) 3 helm, 6 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18
Botania
Manaweave 1 helm, 2 chest, 2 pants, 1 boots for a total of 4. However, there are many other bonuses associated with this armor specific to botania
Mana steel 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus the set bonus for botania.
Elementium 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus the set bonus for botania
Terrasteel 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 20 plus the set bonus for botania
Deep Resonance
Radiation Suit 2 helm, 6 chest, 5 pants, 2 boots for a total of 15 plus radition resistance
Draconic
Wyvern 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18 plus bonuses, enchants, modified setting, etc.
Draconic 3 helm, 8 chest, 6 pants, 3 boots for a total of 18 plus fire immunity, fall damage resistance, rf charge, flying, reduced mining time when flying, nightvision, cures negative potion effects, removes underwater mining penalty, immune to suffocation and drowning, added speed boost, plus all of them add various amounts of draconic shield. I mean but it's sooo hard to get, so it's balanced because it takes effort. - Vaskii (favorite quote)
Immersive
Faraday outfit, 1 helm, 3 chest, 2 pants, 1 boots for a total of 7. Looks really cool.
IC2
adds stuff but ... well I don't use ic2...
I think that covers the armor portion of the show.
I had wanted to add more information but ran out of time.
Personally... I jump around on what I'm using and when. Nothing wrong with that. Still out on the best source of begging power of the pack. One thing that is clear, the direction you go will kind of lock you into a path. Unless you start all over, once you go down that path... well... Honestly though, all roads in the pack seem to lead to draconic evolution end game... So how we get there... well that's your business honestly.
I'll be posting updates of my personal build as I move forward. I encourage all of you to take screen shots and post them in the community showcase forum.!!!!! Would love to see all of your bases.
Last edited: