Wire is one of the first parts you automate. It feeds cables, circuit boards and almost everything electronic, so an early wire line pays off forever.
What you need
- Copper ingots from smelted copper ore.
- Constructors to turn ingots into wire.
- A miner on a copper node.
- Conveyor belts to move ingots and wire.
Step-by-step build
- Place a miner on a pure or normal copper node.
- Smelt copper ore into ingots with smelters.
- Feed ingots into constructors to produce wire.
- Belt the wire to a storage container or the next line.
- Overclock the miner if copper runs short.
- Keep the line balanced so neither stage backs up.
Throughput tips
- One smelter feeds several constructors
- Belt wire to a central storage
- Overclock the miner before the smelters
- Balance input and output rates
Practical notes
Wire is the first part that teaches the two-stage pattern: miner feeds smelter, smelter feeds constructor. One smelter feeds several constructors, which is why the wire line scales so cheaply. Copper demand climbs for the rest of the game, so build the line with headroom instead of exactly to today’s need.
Overclock the miner when copper runs short, since the miner is the first limit in the chain. Belt wire to storage; cable, circuit boards and computers all draw from it. This line never stops paying for itself.
Belt wire to storage, because cable and boards draw from it forever.
This line never stops paying for itself, so build it with headroom.
Common mistakes
- Under-feeding constructors with ingots
- Letting wire pile up with no output
- Not enough smelters for the constructors