Plasma Tech does not make anything you own better. No gun hits harder for it and no ship flies faster. What it does is open the three heaviest units in SFC2: the Ares Class Bomber, the Plasma Cannon and the Zeus Class. Nothing else in the game gates on it, and nothing needs it above level 9.
What it unlocks
| Plasma Tech level | Opens up |
|---|---|
| 5 | Ares Class Bomber |
| 7 | Plasma Cannon |
| 9 | Zeus Class |
Plasma Tech on its own is not enough for any of the three. Each one carries its own list on top of it:
- Ares Class Bomber: Shipyard 8 and Pulse Drive 6
- Plasma Cannon: Shipyard 8
- Zeus Class: Shipyard 12, Laser Tech 14, A.I. Tech 12, Energy Tech 11, Weapons Tech 11, FTL Tech 9 and Warp Drive 8
So the Plasma Cannon is the one you can actually reach off the back of this research alone. The Zeus is a project of its own and the tech is only one line on the list.
The More Info button on the Research page spells all of it out, both what Plasma Tech opens and what you still need to unlock it.
What it does not do
Nothing in a battle reads your Plasma Tech level. It is not one of the bonus techs like Weapons Tech, Shield Tech or Armor Tech, which each add 10 percent of the base figure per level to everything you own. Plasma Tech has no percentage at all. An Ares built at Plasma 5 fights exactly the same as one built at Plasma 14.
Getting it
Four things have to be in place before Plasma Tech shows up on the Research page:
- Research Lab level 4
- Laser Tech level 10
- Energy Tech level 8
- Particle Tech level 5
Those three techs cost about 656,000 resources between them before you have spent a single ore on Plasma Tech itself. Particle 5 is the cheap one at 43,400. Laser 10 and Energy 8 are around 306,000 each.
Research belongs to your account rather than to a planet, so you pay for it once and every planet you own gets it.
Two rules that catch people out
Only one research runs at a time across your whole account. The moment you start Plasma Tech, the Upgrade button on every other tech goes grey until it finishes.
The other rule is that you cannot start any research while a Research Lab is upgrading anywhere on your account, not just on the planet you are looking at. Get the lab work out of the way first. And until you have ARCNet, you have to start the research from a planet whose own Research Lab is level 4 or better. Once ARCNet is up, the planet you happen to be standing on stops mattering.
Cost per level
| Level | Ore | Crystal | Hydrogen | Spent so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 1,000 | 7,000 |
| 2 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 21,000 |
| 3 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 4,000 | 49,000 |
| 4 | 16,000 | 32,000 | 8,000 | 105,000 |
| 5 | 32,000 | 64,000 | 16,000 | 217,000 |
| 6 | 64,000 | 128,000 | 32,000 | 441,000 |
| 7 | 128,000 | 256,000 | 64,000 | 889,000 |
| 8 | 256,000 | 512,000 | 128,000 | 1,785,000 |
| 9 | 512,000 | 1,024,000 | 256,000 | 3,577,000 |
| 10 | 1,024,000 | 2,048,000 | 512,000 | 7,161,000 |
Every level doubles the one before it. Going from nothing to level 9 costs 1,022,000 ore, 2,044,000 crystal and 511,000 hydrogen, which is 3,577,000 all in. Level 9 on its own is just over half of that, so the last step is as expensive as the first eight put together.
Crystal is the heavy one. It is twice the ore cost at every level, and the hydrogen bill is small next to either. Check your crystal before you start a level, not after.
Research time
Hydrogen does not count towards the time. Only ore and crystal do:
Hours = (ore + crystal) / (2000 × (lab + 1))
"lab" there is your effective lab level. Without ARCNet that is simply the Research Lab on the planet you are researching from. With ARCNet it is the sum of your best few labs, one lab per ARCNet level plus one, counting only labs at level 4 or higher.
| Level | Lab 4 | Lab 8 | Lab 12 | Lab 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36m 00s | 20m 00s | 13m 51s | 8m 35s |
| 2 | 1h 12m 00s | 40m 00s | 27m 42s | 17m 09s |
| 3 | 2h 24m 00s | 1h 20m 00s | 55m 23s | 34m 17s |
| 4 | 4h 48m 00s | 2h 40m 00s | 1h 50m 46s | 1h 08m 35s |
| 5 | 9h 36m 00s | 5h 20m 00s | 3h 41m 33s | 2h 17m 09s |
| 6 | 19h 12m 00s | 10h 40m 00s | 7h 23m 05s | 4h 34m 17s |
| 7 | 1d 14h 24m 00s | 21h 20m 00s | 14h 46m 09s | 9h 08m 35s |
| 8 | 3d 4h 48m 00s | 1d 18h 40m 00s | 1d 5h 32m 19s | 18h 17m 09s |
| 9 | 6d 9h 36m 00s | 3d 13h 20m 00s | 2d 11h 04m 37s | 1d 12h 34m 17s |
| 10 | 12d 19h 12m 00s | 7d 2h 40m 00s | 4d 22h 09m 14s | 3d 1h 08m 35s |
An alliance that has bought levels in the Research Relay perk cuts every one of those times, down to half at the top level.
Quests
Two quests pay out on the research itself:
- Plasma Powered I, at level 4: 300 ore, 19,700 crystal, 20,000 hydrogen
- Plasma Powered II, at level 9: 15,500 ore, 199,600 crystal, 134,900 hydrogen
That is 390,000 back against the 3,577,000 you spend getting to level 9, so call it a tenth of the bill. There are four more Plasma quests on the list, Plasma Protection I through IV, but those pay for building Plasma Cannons, not for the research.
How far to take it
Nothing in SFC2 needs Plasma Tech above level 9. You can keep researching past it and the levels still count towards your rank, but no new ship, defense or tech opens up. The More Info panel says the same thing.
A sensible order is level 5 as soon as you can pay for it, because that is the Ares gate and the Ares is what strips a defended planet. Level 7 next if you want Plasma Cannons in your own wall, though read the Plasma Cannon page first, since for the money it is not the best thing you can put on a planet. Level 9 can sit and wait until a Zeus is genuinely within reach. It needs seven other techs on top of Plasma 9 and 10,000,000 resources a hull, so there is no hurry.
Rank points
Research counts towards your rank the same way buildings, ships and defenses do: everything you have spent on it, divided by 1,000. Plasma Tech at level 9 is worth 3,577 rank points and level 10 is worth 7,161. Unlike ships, those points cannot be raided or blown up.
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