Gregtech Survival Guide

[gallowglass]

tl;dr: The most critical "machine" in GT is the EBF, but the next-most important is the Vacuum Freezer. In order to make a Vacuum Freezer you need HV, so it is a waste of materials to build a complete line of LV and MV machines. The goal should be to make as few of those tier machines as possible, and go straight to HV as quickly as possible.

I concur in part and dissent in part. The LV machines are very energy efficient. From an energy efficiency standpoint, a full suite of LV machines and even multiples in some cases are best. But MV, yes, it is not worth it to build a full suite, just what you need. If you care about energy efficiency, MV electrolyzer and centrifuge are good for those recipes requiring those voltages. HV gets you the good macerator, so you probably do need nearly a full suite there. And thinking about it more, I think you almost have to build all of the LV machines to progress at all. But MV does have a lot of stuff you can skip.

 

[asb3pe]

Good response gallowglass, there's no doubt we have to build many LV machines to get anywhere, I think I made 22 of them in total, and yes they are all still in use and probably always will be. It just kinda seems like a waste to have three versions of the Laser Engraver, Forming Press and Assembler but I didn't consider energy efficiency when I posted, so you are correct to point it out.

I was able to build the Vacuum Freezer after making those 3 HV machines, and just made my first Kanthal Ingot so I think I might have conquered the highest peak in the GregTech mountain range. Nichrome doesn't seem so far off now, which will get me that critical top-tier Steam Boiler (speaking of efficiency). HV machines are achievable, I've already built the three I mentioned - and suddenly the uphill climb has turned into a downhill glide! Still gonna have a raw materials shortfall on stuff like Ruby Ore for chrome, but I guess that will never end, always gonna run out and have to keep finding more. Today was a big day tho - "Vacuum Freezer Day".

Where can I find Tungsten? I finally found one recipe for a tiny Tungsten dust, a 6.25% chance when centrifuging Endstone Dust, is that really gonna be my best option? Time to start working on my bees? Or find an End Portal I guess.

 

[Someone Else 37]

I concur in part and dissent in part. The LV machines are very energy efficient. From an energy efficiency standpoint, a full suite of LV machines and even multiples in some cases are best. But MV, yes, it is not worth it to build a full suite, just what you need. If you care about energy efficiency, MV electrolyzer and centrifuge are good for those recipes requiring those voltages. HV gets you the good macerator, so you probably do need nearly a full suite there. And thinking about it more, I think you almost have to build all of the LV machines to progress at all. But MV does have a lot of stuff you can skip.

Several of the LV machines also have steam versions that you will have sitting around before you even get you blast furnace built. I know that the bronze LP versions are significantly more efficient than the steel HP versions, but how do they compare to LV electric machines?

Where can I find Tungsten? I finally found one recipe for a tiny Tungsten dust, a 6.25% chance when centrifuging Endstone Dust, is that really gonna be my best option? Time to start working on my bees? Or find an End Portal I guess.

In some older versions, I think tungstate ore was available in the End. I have no clue now, though, but if you haven't found any in the Overworld yet, the End's the first place I'd look. Though in Survival, I'd probably branch mine, spelunk, and/or quarry at all levels of the Nether first, simply because it's easier to get to.

 

[asb3pe]

Several of the LV machines also have steam versions that you will have sitting around before you even get you blast furnace built. I know that the bronze LP versions are significantly more efficient than the steel HP versions, but how do they compare to LV electric machines?

I was pretty successful in skipping the bronze age for the most part. I think I only made 5 machines, but I did make three Bronze Blast Furnaces because I needed all that steel to make my 22 LV machines. This was my fourth attempt at playing GregTech, and I've learned how to accelerate the early-game progression and get right into Electric Age. However, this is the first time I've actually gotten past the LV stage, in prior attempts something bad always happened and I quit in frustration. LOL

In some older versions, I think tungstate ore was available in the End. I have no clue now, though, but if you haven't found any in the Overworld yet, the End's the first place I'd look. Though in Survival, I'd probably branch mine, spelunk, and/or quarry at all levels of the Nether first, simply because it's easier to get to.

I've found Tungstate Ore in the overworld, but there's no Tungsten in Tungstate Ore. You get Manganese (which is important for making Stainless Steel) and a few other dusts from it, but no Tungsten.

There is an actual Tungsten Ore listed in NEI, however there is no entry for Tungsten in the Ore Chart found in The Guide. So that leaves it as a mystery ore.

I also haven't found an End Portal yet, and quite honestly I have no idea where the original spawn for this world is, I wandered around quite a bit searching for Tin and Tetrahedrite deposits before I settled down. If I recall properly, the three End Portals are roughly surrounding the original spawn location. I was rather foolish not to write the coordinates down immediately because now I have a real problem on my hands - finding the End Portal so I can gather some End Stone so I can obtain some Tungsten. I'm gonna need a LOT of it tho, I doubt a 6.25% chance of one tiny dust is gonna do the trick.

Finally, a bit of irony... I've probably complained as much as anyone about the scarcity of Tin Ore deposits (versus the importance of Tin for early-game play), however after processing a lot of my ores, it turns out that I have more Tin Ingots than any other ingot in the game right now. I just find that to be a bit funny.

 

[Pyure]

I also haven't found an End Portal yet, and quite honestly I have no idea where the original spawn for this world is, I wandered around quite a bit searching for Tin and Tetrahedrite deposits before I settled down. If I recall properly, the three End Portals are roughly surrounding the original spawn location. I was rather foolish not to write the coordinates down immediately because now I have a real problem on my hands - finding the End Portal so I can gather some End Stone so I can obtain some Tungsten. I'm gonna need a LOT of it tho, I doubt a 6.25% chance of one tiny dust is gonna do the trick.

The traditional trick of using ender pearls to find the end portal still works fine.

I also had to do the endstone dust grind, it was horrible :\

 

[asb3pe]

The traditional trick of using ender pearls to find the end portal still works fine.

I also had to do the endstone dust grind, it was horrible :\

Well... then I guess I'd better get crackin', as they say. I've got a lot of work to do today, thanks for reminding me about throwing Ender Pearls into the sky (actually, now that I think about it, I think I have to throw Eye of Ender).

If centrifuging Endstone Dust is truly the only way to get Tungsten... then I'm gonna start Bees today and give GregTech a much-deserved day of rest.

 

[Pyure]

Well... then I guess I'd better get crackin', as they say. I've got a lot of work to do today, thanks for reminding me about throwing Ender Pearls into the sky (actually, now that I think about it, I think I have to throw Eye of Ender).

If centrifuging Endstone Dust is truly the only way to get Tungsten... then I'm gonna start Bees today and give GregTech a much-deserved day of rest.

There's definitely veins, I've just never found one. Iridium veins yes, Tungstate, Tungsten etc, no.

A player on our server definitely found some (in the overworld btw) because he traded me a considerable amount at one point.

Our End dimension is mostly Tin veins for some reason, but that's probably a quirk of our pack and its configuration.

 

[asb3pe]

That's gotta be frustrating. I've always felt that once you get to the End, it should be populated with very rare and otherwise unobtainable ores. If I discover it's mostly Tin I'm gonna scream. LOL

I still remember one modpack I played, it had asteroids in the End which you had to have a jetpack and fly out to, in order to find them (and you could definitely get stranded or lost and die trying when you run out of juice). But once you got there, they had awesome ores. It might have been Ultimate modpack, which also had the older version of GregTech in it?

BeyondReality also has Galacticraft which I've never done before. However, after viewing some tutorial videos, I'm not sure if the Moon and Mars are gonna be similarly disappointing in terms of rare, unobtainable ores. Only one way to find out I guess...

 

[Pyure]

That's gotta be frustrating. I've always felt that once you get to the End, it should be populated with very rare and otherwise unobtainable ores. If I discover it's mostly Tin I'm gonna scream. LOL

I still remember one modpack I played, it had asteroids in the End which you had to have a jetpack and fly out to, in order to find them (and you could definitely get stranded and die trying). But once you got there, they had awesome ores. It might have been Ultimate modpack, which also had the older version of GregTech in it?

Dunno; we do have asteroids but we also have Hardcore Ender Expansion which adds crazy amounts of End material, including bosses, structures and other weird stuff. I never made it to the End in most packs I played until in the last year or so (never had reason to go)

 

[Optibane]

Gregtech adds asteroids to the End, so there will definitely be lots to explore once you get there. In Resurrection I'm finding mostly tin as well, but also lots of nickel or sodalite/lapis/lazurite and quite a bit of olivine too. Even found a few veins of naquadah which I haven't put to use yet, but is on the list for this weekend


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[Pyure]

Gregtech adds asteroids to the End, so there will definitely be lots to explore once you get there. In Resurrection I'm finding mostly tin as well, but also lots of nickel or sodalite/lapis/lazurite and quite a bit of olivine too. Even found a few veins of naquadah which I haven't put to use yet, but is on the list for this weekend


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Naquadah, another mythical ore I've heard of but never seen

 

[asb3pe]

Just to give people some idea of how GregTech works... I've been using a "cheat" (/cofh clearblocks) to remove all the overlying material and reveal the ore locations (I do it on a copy of my world and then I return to my "real" world). And yet, despite being able to see all the GT ore deposits and head right towards them, I still cannot find a Tungsten ore deposit.

How anybody can play GT "legit" and not cheat in some way like I've done... well it just boggles my mind. All of you folks playing SMP without any means of cheating, who can't use creative mode to fix any problems like when I blew up my entire base when I had a chunk error and my Steam Boiler ran out of water... well I really am in awe of your patience and fortitude. If I had to explore for all my ores, I'd probably still be trying to build LV machines... but here I am, almost fully in HV era (finishing the last of my Nichrome Heating Coils right now) and I have no regrets about a bit of cheating. Exploring for ores is a mind-boggling task, as my search for Tungsten shows. Even cheating, I can't find any! I've been playing every day for a full month to reach this point.

 

[SolManX]

Even cheating, I can't find any!

It's the Greg! He is the master.

 

[Pyure]

Regarding tungsten: yeah, I honestly ended up doing the endstone dust grind, and traded for some with friends. The nice thing about the dust thing (i suppose) is that its literally everywhere in the End, and you can scale up your industry to process it faster (more macerators and more centrifuges)

Regarding explosions: my titanium boiler did explode once and hoo-boy was that a mess. I sorta broke a water source and forgot to replace it.

Its now redstone controlled in all kinds of exciting ways: it only comes on when there's really a need, and only if the internal water reservoir is 100% full.

Sadly its still straddling a chunk boundary because I'm an idiot, but, well, I'm too lazy to do anything about that

 

[asb3pe]

If I can just find Tungsten, then I can skip the Titanium Boiler altogether and go right to the top-tier Tungstensteel version.

I'm still using a Steel Boiler to power my HV feed into the EBF, but I can only do a few ingots and then I have to wait many minutes for the steam and batteries to re-fill. I need Tungsten in the worst way!

Oh, and while I'm mentioning titanium... how odd is it that Greg added a tiny pile of Titanium dust into the Bauxite recipe? I don't think "titanium" is something found in the wild, I believe it is a manufactured material (so it should have a recipe similar to Stainless Steel dust). Oh well, at least he cut us a bit of a break with it. I have almost 6 stacks of titanium dust (and another 2000 Bauxite Ore blocks in storage) but hopefully I'll never have to waste it on a mid-tier Boiler.

 

[Pyure]

If I can just find Tungsten, then I can skip the Titanium Boiler altogether and go right to the top-tier Tungstensteel version.

I'm still using a Steel Boiler to power my HV feed into the EBF, but I can only do a few ingots and then I have to wait many minutes for the steam and batteries to re-fill. I need Tungsten in the worst way!

Oh, and while I'm mentioning titanium... how odd is it that Greg added a tiny pile of Titanium dust into the Bauxite recipe? I don't think "titanium" is something found in the wild, I believe it is a manufactured material (so it should have a recipe similar to Stainless Steel dust). Oh well, at least he cut us a bit of a break with it. I have almost 6 stacks of titanium dust (and another 2000 Bauxite Ore blocks in storage) but hopefully I'll never have to waste it on a mid-tier Boiler.

I take it you dont have railcraft? Its op in a GT pack even when minetweaked to hell and back, but has tanks for buffering steam, and a turbine which blows GT turbines away for efficiency. Buuuuut....OP.

Regarding Titanium: technically its an element unto itself found naturally in ores. I think the bauxite thing is a throw-back to 1.6 when there were fewer ores and titanium was only "found" in bauxite dust.

Now I guess the argument is that since bauxite is always found near ilmenite (which realistically does contain titanium) then its reasonable for it to contain traces of that dust.

Are you using battery buffers on your EBF by any chance? If you have the battery alloy for it and sodium (or lithium), you can probably benefit from a large battery buffer to let you do longer smelts at a time.

I love my titanium boiler btw

 

[asb3pe]

I take it you dont have railcraft? Its op in a GT pack even when minetweaked to hell and back, but has tanks for buffering steam, and a turbine which blows GT turbines away for efficiency. Buuuuut....OP.

Regarding Titanium: technically its an element unto itself found naturally in ores. I think the bauxite thing is a throw-back to 1.6 when there were fewer ores and titanium was only "found" in bauxite dust.

Now I guess the argument is that since bauxite is always found near ilmenite (which realistically does contain titanium) then its reasonable for it to contain traces of that dust.

Are you using battery buffers on your EBF by any chance? If you have the battery alloy for it and sodium (or lithium), you can probably benefit from a large battery buffer to let you do longer smelts at a time.

I love my titanium boiler btw

I've been totally focused on GregTech, I haven't made a single IC2 machine yet, for example. There are only a few things I went outside of GT for - a Forestry tree farm for my charcoal, an AE2 storage system which I always must have ASAP to get rid of ugly annoying chests, and a Big Reactor to power the farm and the AE2.

I know the GT Steam Boilers aren't very efficient but I was able to make a second huge Forestry tree farm so my Charcoal supply has been more than sufficient even with the reduced efficiency.

Def using battery buffers all over the place, I have 3 MV steam turbines into a 4-battery buffer box (outputting 4a of MV), then that goes into an inverted GT transformer to provide 1 amp of HV into the EBF. I think my problem is that I don't have unlimited steam going to the Turbines, they are sharing some supply lines which I've already learned is not ideal, and that's why my MV batteries slowly drop down to zero and need a recharge. But it's good enough to get me to a Nichrome EBF which I just finished. Couldn't have done it without the Buffer Boxes. I have HV power without a single HV Steam Turbine, that's what the Buffer Boxes are great for. For the rest of the day I'm gonna make many stacks of Stainless Steel so I can build all my HV machines.

It took me a while but I finally discovered what I think is the best way to lay out my LV machines. I use 4x Tin Cable which can handle 4 amps, and I use a four-battery Buffer Box for every 4 lengths of the Tin Cable. With those four lengths, I can place eight LV machines, one in front and one on top. So I have: Steam Turbines into Battery Buffer Box, then 8 machines, then another 4-battery Buffer, then 8 more machines, then another Buffer, etc. I plan to use the same setup for my HV line of machines, and I think I've decided to replace all the LV with HV even tho there was a discussion about LV being more energy efficient. I'd rather have the "overclock" feature of HV than the feature of saving energy by using LV whenever possible. No thanks. Speed is the key.

 

[asb3pe]

One thing I don't agree with about GregTech... there is only one version of the Pulverizer, requiring Extreme Voltage (2048 EU/t).

However, when you look at individual recipes using the Pulverizer, they will all say something like:
Total: 800 EU
Usage: 2 EU/t
Voltage: 2 EU
Amperage: 1
Time: 20 seconds

So in other words, a machine requiring a power input of 2048 EU/t (or else it will not run) is used to process ores using 2 EU/t. How ridiculous.

Yes, of course I fully realize that this was done because the Pulverizer is the "end-game" ore processing machine, it provides all the "good stuff" without having to jump thru hoops... but it's still bogus. The least Greg could have done is require the machine to use all of those 2048 EU's every tick. Or else make the machine operate at light speed - 800 EU divided by 2048 EU/t equals 0.39 ticks, which is approximately 1/40th of a second to process one ore block. LOL

 

[Pyure]

One thing I don't agree with about GregTech... there is only one version of the Pulverizer, requiring Extreme Voltage (2048 EU/t).

However, when you look at individual recipes using the Pulverizer, they will all say something like:
Total: 800 EU
Usage: 2 EU/t
Voltage: 2 EU
Amperage: 1
Time: 20 seconds

So in other words, a machine requiring a power input of 2048 EU/t (or else it will not run) is used to process ores using 2 EU/t. How ridiculous.

Yes, of course I fully realize that this was done because the Pulverizer is the "end-game" ore processing machine, it provides all the "good stuff" without having to jump thru hoops... but it's still bogus. The least Greg could have done is require the machine to use all of those 2048 EU's every tick. Or else make the machine operate at light speed - 800 EU divided by 2048 EU/t equals 0.39 ticks, which is approximately 1/40th of a second to process one ore block. LOL

Yeah I've always found that a little odd. I still have no idea how much eu/t it actually takes to pulverize a block of ore.

My understanding is that all Usage values are always based on LV, so what you see would get ramped repeatedly *4 until you reach EV, but I could be horribly, horribly wrong.
LV: 2 eu/t
MV: 8 eu/t
HV: 32 eu/t
EV: 128 eu/t

I'm sure @SpwnX could comment on this.

BTW: I also thought there was two versions of the pulverizer, for both EV and IV for the HV-tier and above

 

[SpwnX]

Well, the pulverizer list is shared with the rock crusher and TE pulverizer (or should somewhat).

The energy values shown are for a theorical LV pulverizing, but since there is no LV version, and only HV+, you have to scale them with the tiers.

You're right about the values being ramped repeatedly by 4, for the energy flow (EU/t). The total energy per operation is by 2 and time is by 1/2.

For a HV macerator (pulverizer) you get:
Total: 3200 EU
Usage: 32 EU/t
Amperage: 1
Time: 5 seconds

Edit: The Universal Macerator (HV) works as "pulverizer". The differences about the HV to IV versions are the amount of output slots (thus the amount of byproducts you can obtain/recycle)