Crystal Mine

Description

What it is and why you need it

Crystal Mine — a building from the “Resources & Storage” category in Xterium. Produces the resource crystal. Crystal is needed for most research, advanced buildings, and higher-tier units.

When to build

Unlocks once the requirements listed below are met. At level 5 it unlocks Crystal Storage — build it right away, otherwise production will hit the storage cap and stop.

How it scales with levels

Each level raises production by roughly 1.1×. Base production: at level 1 — 10/h, at level 10 — 165/h, at level 30 — 1 900/h, at level 50 — 9 300/h, at level 100 — 541 600/h. Energy consumption grows in parallel: by level 100 — 135 000 units.

What to watch out for

Energy. The building consumes energy. Without it the effect drops or stops entirely.
Storage. When “Crystal Storage” is full, production stops too. Level up storage together with the mine.

How much it mines

Production grows with each level. Here is how much the building yields per hour and how much energy it consumes at key levels:

Level 1

10/h

⚡ 2 of energy

Level 10

165/h

⚡ 35 of energy

Level 20

710/h

⚡ 200 of energy

Level 30

1 900/h

⚡ 785 of energy

Level 50

9 300/h

⚡ 8 600 of energy

Level 75

62 600/h

⚡ 37 000 of energy

Level 100

541 600/h

⚡ 135 000 of energy

Caution: without energy, production stops. If the planet lacks energy, output drops in proportion to the shortage. With each level energy consumption grows faster than production itself — keep an eye on the balance and cover the deficit in advance with a Power Plant or a Thermal Power Plant.

When the storage is full, production stops too. The produced resource has nowhere to go, and the mine halts until space frees up in storage. Upgrade Crystal Storage together with the mine so capacity keeps up with production.

How final production is calculated

The numbers in the cards above are the base production on a server with multiplier 1, without bonuses and without planet anomalies. The final in-game value works out like this:

Total = base × server multiplier × (1 + planet bonuses in %) × (mine work percentage)

Where mine work percentage is a 0-100% slider (100% by default). If energy is short, the engine lowers this percentage by itself in proportion to the deficit.

For example: if the base production at level 30 equals X, and on the server the multiplier is 2 with a +30% metal-mining anomaly — the hourly total will be X × 2 × 1.3 × 1.0.

Build time depends on the level of the Robot Factory and the Nanite Factory, as well as any speed-ups applied. The higher these buildings, the faster.

Speeding up the build with DM: you can shorten the remaining build time for dark matter — the price depends on how much time is left. The less remaining, the cheaper.

Production and energy consumption by level
Level	Production/h	Energy	Points
1	10	2	1
2	20	4	2
3	25	6	2
4	35	9	3
5	50	12	5
6	65	15	6
7	85	20	8
8	110	25	11
9	135	30	13
10	165	35	16
11	200	45	20
12	235	55	23
13	280	65	28
14	325	80	32
15	375	95	37
16	430	110	43
17	490	130	49
18	560	150	55
19	630	175	62
20	710	200	70
21	790	235	78
22	880	270	87
23	980	310	97
24	1 080	355	108
25	1 200	400	119
26	1 325	465	131
27	1 450	530	144
28	1 575	600	158
29	1 725	690	173
30	1 900	785	189
31	2 050	900	207
32	2 250	1 000	225
33	2 450	1 150	245
34	2 700	1 300	267
35	2 925	1 475	290
36	3 100	1 650	314
37	3 400	1 900	341
38	3 700	2 100	369
39	4 000	2 400	399
40	4 300	2 700	432
41	4 700	3 000	467
42	5 100	3 450	505
43	5 500	3 900	545
44	5 900	4 400	588
45	6 400	4 900	635
46	6 900	5 500	685
47	7 400	6 200	739
48	8 000	7 000	796
49	8 600	7 800	859
50	9 300	8 600	925
51	10 000	9 500	997
52	10 800	10 400	1 075
53	11 600	11 000	1 158
54	12 500	11 500	1 248
55	13 500	12 100	1 345
56	14 500	12 700	1 450
57	15 600	13 300	1 563
58	16 900	14 000	1 685
59	18 200	14 700	1 816
60	19 600	15 400	1 958
61	21 100	16 200	2 112
62	22 800	17 000	2 278
63	24 600	17 800	2 458
64	26 500	18 700	2 652
65	28 600	20 600	2 863
66	30 900	21 600	3 092
67	33 400	23 800	3 339
68	36 100	25 000	3 608
69	39 000	26 300	3 899
70	42 200	27 600	4 216
71	45 600	29 000	4 559
72	49 300	30 400	4 933
73	53 400	33 500	5 339
74	57 800	35 200	5 781
75	62 600	37 000	6 263
76	67 900	38 800	6 787
77	73 600	42 800	7 358
78	79 800	44 900	7 981
79	86 600	47 200	8 661
80	94 000	49 500	9 402
81	102 100	52 000	10.2k
82	111 000	54 600	11.1k
83	120 700	57 300	12.1k
84	131 200	60 200	13.1k
85	142 800	66 300	14.3k
86	155 500	69 700	15.6k
87	169 400	73 100	16.9k
88	184 700	76 800	18.5k
89	201 400	80 600	20.1k
90	219 700	84 700	22.0k
91	239 900	88 900	24.0k
92	262 000	98 000	26.2k
93	286 400	102 900	28.6k
94	313 100	105 000	31.3k
95	342 600	110 000	34.3k
96	375 000	115 000	37.5k
97	410 800	120 000	41.1k
98	450 200	125 000	45.0k
99	493 600	130 000	49.4k
100	541 600	135 000	54.2k

Cost

Payback by level

How many hours of operation a building needs to pay back its construction. All resources (metal, crystal, deuterium) and production are reduced to a single equivalent at the rate: 1 crystal = 2 metal, 1 deuterium = 4 metal. The higher the level, the longer the payback, but the higher the production too.

up to 24h up to 30 days over a month

Price growth multipliers by ranges: lvl 30–49 ×1.23 lvl 50–74 ×1.14 lvl 75–99 ×1.11 lvl 100+ ×1.14

Construction cost at key levels
Level	Metal	Crystal	Deuterium	Time
1	740	185	—	01:24
25	110K	27K	—	03:25:00
50	3.2M	1.6M	—	4d 15:06
75	26M	26M	2.5M	50d 22:13
100	639M	540.5M	111M	939d 05:40

Full table of construction cost at all levels
Level	Metal	Crystal	Deuterium	Time
1	740	185	—	01:24
2	910	230	—	01:43
3	1 150	280	—	02:09
4	1 400	345	—	02:37
5	1 700	425	—	03:12
6	2 100	525	—	03:57
7	2 600	640	—	04:51
8	3 150	790	—	05:55
9	3 900	970	—	07:18
10	4 800	1 200	—	09:00
11	5 900	1 500	—	11:08
12	7 250	1 850	—	13:42
13	8 900	2 250	—	16:45
14	11K	2 750	—	20:38
15	14K	3 400	—	25:23
16	17K	4 150	—	31:00
17	21K	5 100	—	38:23
18	25K	6 250	—	46:53
19	31K	7 700	—	58:00
20	38K	9 450	—	01:11:08
21	47K	12K	—	01:28:08
22	58K	15K	—	01:48:08
23	71K	18K	—	02:13:08
24	87K	22K	—	02:43:08
25	110K	27K	—	03:25:00
26	135K	33K	—	04:11:15
27	165K	41K	—	05:07:30
28	200K	50K	—	06:13:45
29	245K	61K	—	07:38:45
30	300K	75K	—	09:22:30
31	265K	135K	—	09:17:18
32	305K	155K	—	10:40:38
33	345K	175K	—	12:03:58
34	395K	200K	—	13:48:08
35	450K	225K	—	15:37:30
36	510K	255K	—	17:42:30
37	585K	295K	—	20:23:58
38	665K	335K	—	23:10:38
39	760K	380K	—	1d 02:23
40	865K	435K	—	1d 06:07
41	985K	495K	—	1d 10:17
42	1.2M	560K	—	1d 15:24
43	1.3M	640K	—	1d 20:47
44	1.5M	730K	—	2d 03:23
45	1.7M	830K	—	2d 10:20
46	1.9M	950K	—	2d 17:58
47	2.2M	1.1M	—	3d 04:23
48	2.5M	1.3M	—	3d 14:48
49	2.9M	1.5M	—	4d 03:49
50	3.2M	1.6M	—	4d 15:06
51	2.2M	2.2M	205K	4d 04:58
52	2.4M	2.4M	225K	4d 14:25
53	2.6M	2.6M	250K	5d 02:13
54	2.9M	2.9M	280K	5d 16:23
55	3.2M	3.2M	310K	6d 06:33
56	3.6M	3.6M	345K	6d 23:05
57	4.0M	4.0M	380K	7d 17:41
58	4.4M	4.4M	425K	8d 14:56
59	4.9M	4.9M	470K	9d 14:16
60	5.4M	5.4M	520K	10d 13:53
61	6M	6M	575K	11d 17:56
62	6.7M	6.7M	640K	13d 00:38
63	7.4M	7.4M	710K	14d 11:46
64	8.2M	8.2M	790K	16d 01:33
65	9.1M	9.1M	875K	17d 19:46
66	10.5M	10.5M	970K	20d 11:23
67	11.5M	11.5M	1.1M	22d 12:16
68	12.5M	12.5M	1.2M	24d 11:30
69	14M	14M	1.4M	27d 10:20
70	15.5M	15.5M	1.5M	30d 09:10
71	17M	17M	1.7M	33d 08:00
72	19M	19M	1.9M	37d 06:26
73	21M	21M	2.1M	41d 04:53
74	23.5M	23.5M	2.3M	46d 00:10
75	26M	26M	2.5M	50d 22:13
76	28M	23.5M	4.8M	40d 21:15
77	31.5M	27M	5.5M	46d 13:42
78	36M	30.5M	6.2M	52d 20:45
79	41M	34.5M	7.1M	60d 01:40
80	46.5M	39.5M	8.1M	68d 10:42
81	53M	45M	9.2M	78d 00:55
82	60.5M	51.5M	10.5M	89d 04:37
83	69M	58.5M	12M	101d 13:30
84	78.5M	66.5M	14M	116d 02:27
85	89.5M	76M	15.5M	131d 17:27
86	102M	86.5M	18M	150d 14:35
87	116.5M	98.5M	20.5M	171d 15:47
88	133M	112.5M	23M	195d 07:30
89	151.5M	128M	26.5M	222d 20:57
90	172.5M	146M	30M	253d 16:32
91	196.5M	166.5M	34M	288d 20:17
92	224M	189.5M	39M	329d 10:15
93	255.5M	216M	44.5M	375d 15:37
94	291M	246.5M	50.5M	427d 22:50
95	332M	281M	57.5M	487d 20:20
96	378.5M	320M	65.5M	555d 18:32
97	431.5M	365M	75M	634d 07:57
98	491.5M	416M	85.5M	722d 20:57
99	560.5M	474M	97M	823d 03:12
100	639M	540.5M	111M	939d 05:40

What it unlocks

At level 5 unlocks: Crystal Storage

How to use

This mine is the backbone of your economy. Balance it with power plants and storages.

What improves production

Sources that boost this building. Open a source card to see the exact percentages and conditions.

Senators 1

The colony's permanent command staff. Each senator has a specialization and, once assigned, gives the colony a set of permanent bonuses that grow with their level.

Geologist Geologist — Senator for Economic Affairs.

Alliance Skills 2

Permanent alliance skills. Leveled up by the alliance using shared points and applied to all members.

Boosters 1

Temporary boosters from tournament and quest rewards. Give a percentage bonus to a building's effect for a limited time.

Production of mines Increases the output of metal, crystal, and deuterium mines.

Research 1

The empire's permanent research. Leveled up in the Laboratory and Technopolis, giving a global bonus to production, construction, or combat.

Extraction of resources Mining technologies are constantly improving, making it possible to reduce production costs and increase productivity.

If something is missing — where to look

Contextual alternatives for specific problems. Each block is a separate problem and the buildings that solve it.

What to build next

Development chain — what is worth building in parallel with or after this building.

Crystal Storage — The storage facility is being opened at the same time as the mine

Research Center — The crystal is needed for research—build a lab when you have a supply

How it differs from similar buildings

To choose what to upgrade — see how this building compares to the alternatives.

Questions and answers

What is «Crystal Mine» in Xterium?

“Crystal Mine” — a building of the “Resources & Storage” category in Xterium, mines the resource crystal, maximum level — 100, base production at level 1 — 10 units/hour.

At what level does the «Crystal Mine» building unlock “Crystal Storage”?

At level 5 «Crystal Mine» unlocks access to the “Crystal Storage” building.

What is the maximum level of the «Crystal Mine» building?

Maximum level — 100.

How much does «Crystal Mine» produce at level 100?

At level 100 «Crystal Mine» gives 541 600 units per hour. At level 1 — 10/h, at 30 — 1 900/h, at 50 — 9 300/h. This is base production on a ×1 server, without anomaly bonuses or alliance upgrades.

How much energy does «Crystal Mine» consume at level 100?

At level 100 «Crystal Mine» consumes 135 000 energy units. At level 30 — 785, at 50 — 8 600. If energy is insufficient, production drops proportionally to the shortage. With each level, consumption grows faster than production itself.

What happens if “Crystal Storage” fills up?

When storage is full, «Crystal Mine» stops production — there is nowhere to put new resources. To avoid downtime, level up “Crystal Storage” together with the mine.

What increases production for the «Crystal Mine» building?

Permanent bonus sources: Geologist, Mining Methods, Crystal Synthesis. Senator specialization, temporary boosters from special offers, and alliance upgrades also have an effect.